Wayne Gale’s divine ability swept across the sky for hundreds of thousands of miles—its sheer length was astonishing. This wasn’t a power Wayne Gale could normally unleash. His cultivation was formidable, but not to such an extreme.
That means there’s a method here to use the Grand Void Expanse to amplify one’s own divine abilities!
Moreover, Wayne Gale has already discovered this method!
This technique probably only works inside the Grand Void Expanse, since only the Grand Void contains such pure, ownerless divine sense.
“Maybe Wayne Gale hid this method within his divine ability, using the arrangement of stars to send a message...”
Quinn Shepherd’s eyes flickered, tracking the path of each star and calculating rapidly. But to his disappointment, Wayne Gale’s divine ability contained no hidden information—it was simply a single divine ability.
“The direction of this star river...”
Quinn Shepherd paused; this star river looked just like an arrow, pointing toward the depths of the Grand Void Expanse.
This divine ability was probably Wayne Gale’s way of marking the path.
At this moment, the tower-ship was sailing along this star river—clearly, Heavenly Court also understood the purpose of Wayne Gale’s divine ability.
Elaina Cloud saw him studying the star river and smiled. "That divine ability was left here by Cloud-Nether Emperor during his exploration, used to pinpoint directions in the Grand Void. You should know Cloud-Nether Emperor—he’s quite formidable and once caused a big stir in Heavenly Court."
Quinn Shepherd nodded. "Cloud-Nether Emperor Wayne Gale is my First Senior Brother."
"In the past twenty thousand years, no new Emperor’s Throne cultivator has emerged. He’s the only one to reach that stage, so Heavenly Court valued him greatly, appointing him as the Great Emperor of Cloud-Nether Heaven Palace, ruling over 256 subordinate heavens and countless Cloud-Nether star domains."
Elaina Cloud said, "But later, Heavenly Court investigated his background and discovered he had forged his origins, faked his name, and even tampered with the Book of Life and Death belonging to Black Emperor and Prince Umbral. He didn’t just alter Heavenly Court’s ledger—there are nine Books of Life and Death, and he managed to change all nine! Even the one in Tu Bo’s Netherworld was altered by him. Truly audacious!"
Quinn Shepherd couldn’t help but laugh. "My senior brother really is reckless—fearless to the point of courting death."
"Heavenly Court can investigate anyone’s origins with ease, but tracking him down took endless effort. They eventually traced him to Prince Umbral, where he’d changed his face and name, becoming Prince Umbral’s disciple for centuries. Prince Umbral cherished him, treated him as his most gifted student, and gave him important responsibilities. When Wayne faked his death to escape, Prince Umbral grieved for ages."
Elaina Cloud continued, "Heavenly Court kept digging and uncovered even more shocking facts—he didn’t just go to Nether City, but also visited the courts of the Red, White, and Green Emperors, apprenticed under several Heavenly Venerables, and even hung out with Heaven Duke and the Great Sun Star Lord as sworn brothers. Each time, he used a different alias and face, blending in for centuries before faking his death and vanishing!"
Quinn Shepherd could only shake his head in exasperation.
He actually knew Wayne Gale had once infiltrated Nether City—Wayne’s geographic atlas included a map of the Nether Prison, which the Woodcutter Sage used to sneak into Nether City and rescue Emperor Yue.
"Heavenly Court considered him a talent, and if he hadn’t committed any great evil, they’d have entrusted him with more. But when they finally traced his roots, they discovered he came from the ruins of the Pioneer Era—a mere remnant among the Pioneer refugees! That’s when Heavenly Court got truly scared."
Elaina Cloud said, "At the time, those refugees numbered at most ten million, and their inheritance of divine arts and Dao techniques was broken—even their Divine Bridges were severed. They were abandoned by the gods, with no future. But from such a pit, an Emperor’s Throne powerhouse still emerged! Heavenly Court was stunned, realizing the gravity of it, so they captured and suppressed him. Still, Cloud-Nether Emperor is a true genius—he did a lot for Heavenly Court, like exploring the Grand Void Expanse. He went deeper than anyone."
Ahead of the world-ark, another star river appeared, guiding their way forward.
"He even ventured farther than most Heavenly Venerables, leaving behind these star rivers and several void fortresses to help us chart the geography of the Grand Void Expanse."
Elaina Cloud said sincerely, "Shepherd Venerable, you and your senior brother are both prodigies."
Quinn Shepherd shook his head. "First Senior Brother truly is a genius. I’m not."
"How modest." Elaina Cloud smiled. "Cloud-Nether Emperor may have made a stir, but in the end he was discovered, captured, and suppressed by Heavenly Court—he didn’t inflict any real damage on them."
Elaina Cloud smiled. "But you’re different. You entered Heavenly Court openly and caused division, even sowing discord among the Ten Heavenly Venerables. I doubt this peace will last much longer. Yet despite all this, Heavenly Court can’t touch you, and plenty of people are willing to risk their lives to protect you. That’s where you surpass him. What your senior brother did is nothing compared to your achievements."
Quinn Shepherd gave a faint smile.
The world-ark sailed onward for a long time before real stars suddenly appeared ahead.
These must have been stars forged by the Creators—five stars linked by chains, each chain’s center holding a massive fortress, together forming a gigantic war machine.
Blood and bones floated around the fortress, clear evidence of many battles fought here.
Divine beings from the fortress came out to greet them, verifying the identities of those aboard the ship before inviting them inside to rest.
Because of the heart demon riot triggered by Logan’s unconsciousness, many had died—of the original three hundred, only about two hundred sixty remained, with plenty wounded.
Quinn Shepherd entered the fortress and looked around. The garrisoned god-demons here had numb faces, their skin and bodies covered in scars that healed into red, centipede-like marks crawling across their flesh.
Most of these god-demons had three heads and six arms, wielding all kinds of weapons. They seemed utterly devoid of emotion, their eyes hollow and empty.
Quinn Shepherd was puzzled. "What’s happened to these god-demons?"
"They’ve lost all emotion."
Elaina Cloud smiled. "They’re Heavenly Court prisoners, refined to strip away every feeling, leaving only their capacity for battle. When Heavenly Court first discovered the Grand Void Expanse, the losses were horrific, so they decided to 'recycle waste'—deploying these prisoners here to garrison the void fortresses and establish a foothold. Since they have no emotions, they’re walking corpses, and won’t generate heart demons."
Quinn Shepherd studied the three-headed, six-armed god-demons, a thought stirring in his heart. "Are they from the Chiming Era?"
Elaina Cloud called over a Daoist. "This is Shepherd Venerable, here by imperial order to assist Flame Venerable and Vast-Sky Venerable. Go and bring out the big fellow from the void fortress."