Quinn Shepherd walked toward Goldenridge Academy in high spirits, fully aware of the deeper intent behind the Woodcutter Sage and Celestial Teacher Ethan’s moves.
After the Earth-Mother Origin World was unsealed, all sorts of powers emerged—Everpeace was just a drop in the ocean, looked down on and treated as an easy target.
When every power sees you as an easy target and comes to squeeze you, you really do get squeezed soft.
If Everpeace wants to survive in the perilous Origin World, relying only on the Pioneer Emperor’s old guard isn’t enough—they need to make a name for themselves first.
The title of ‘once-in-five-hundred-years Imperial Preceptor’ means nothing to the various heavens of the Origin World, but the banner of ‘Everpeace’s Overlord Body,’ undefeated across realms, is much louder—so it’s only natural to push Quinn out as the face of Everpeace.
The real key, though, is the Little Earth Sovereign’s Pact.
Little Earth Sovereign is the Netherworld Divine Son—actually Quinn’s other ‘self’ inside him, his brother Fenix Greenwood Keane.
The Woodcutter Sage made the pact with the Northern Heavens gods, swearing on Fenix Greenwood Keane and Quinn both: if the Northern Heavens champions defeat Quinn, even if Everpeace doesn’t surrender, Quinn won’t take it out on the Woodcutter.
Quinn is confident he can keep Fenix Greenwood Keane in line—Fenix will definitely grumble, but Quinn’s sure he can talk him down.
But if the Northern Heavens gods lose and refuse to honor the Little Earth Sovereign’s Pact, well, the gleeful Fenix Greenwood Keane will simply eat them.
Quinn’s long-standing headache over his brother’s feeding problem was suddenly solved.
The real trick is that Everpeace itself is the wager—Woodcutter Sage and Celestial Teacher Ethan only have this one chip to bet against the hundreds of Northern Heavens, a classic ‘empty-handed white wolf’ scheme.
It’s a sure-win deal. These two Celestial Teachers are full of cunning, so of course they’d come up with something like this.
Goldenridge Academy.
The academy was designed and built by the Imperial Preceptor, not inside Goldenridge City—which is mainly commercial and too cramped for a proper academy—so he built Goldenridge Academy out on the Golden River delta.
He even brought in Everpeace’s strongmen to move several mountains, building the academy right up against them.
He also invited Grandpa Blind, a master of formations, to create several floating palaces linked by cableways, ringing the mountains like petals around a flower.
Besides that, academy disciples experiment with formations, engraving all sorts of arrays onto the rocks—so not only palaces, but giant boulders orbit the academy.
Some students are too lazy to walk, so they just hop from floating boulder to boulder—one of Goldenridge Academy’s unique sights.
Quinn arrived with Heaven-Guide Venerable; from a distance, Goldenridge Academy was bustling. On the river, young people were dueling fiercely, waves exploding and divine arts roaring—so loud it sounded like giant beasts howling, stirring up the river.
Suddenly, the surface of the river surged as massive waves transformed into towering glaciers. The glaciers spun and soared, ringing out with a deafening clangor, and from within each mountain of ice, gleaming ice swords grew and shot forth, slashing in every direction!
More glaciers rose from the river, the spectacle utterly magnificent. Ice swords danced across the flying ice mountains, their swordplay so refined it left onlookers breathless.
Quinn Shepherd paused, unable to help but marvel at the scene.
Though Goldenridge Academy was famed for its formation arts, its true claim to glory was swordsmanship. This Glacier Sword Dao blended eighteen foundational sword forms into a single, rare masterwork.
"The Imperial Preceptor has nurtured many prodigies," Quinn mused. "The one wielding sword arts must be a sword-doctor from the academy."
He looked to the heart of the sword formation and saw a young woman, about twenty, demonstrating her sword arts. Though he didn't recognize her, she was surely one of Everpeace's rising stars.
Just then, a furious roar echoed from within the glacier sword formation—a towering demigod, well over ten yards tall, charged straight for the sword-doctor.
This figure was a four-armed brute, musclebound and savage, wielding both shield and hammer. He smashed through glaciers and shattered ice swords, the clash of shield and hammer sending shockwaves as formation patterns swept in wild arcs, pulverizing every flying sword in his path.
The four-armed demigod lunged at the young woman, vaulting high and bringing his hammer down with ferocious valor.
In technique, he was no match for the academy's sword-doctor, but as a demigod, his physique and raw power far surpassed any human.
Demigods have ancient god blood and special innate gifts, which give them a huge advantage over humans—they can use their sheer physical power to break through divine arts in close combat.
With a single strike of his hammer, the four-armed demigod shattered the river, sending the young woman flying—she lost, but stayed perfectly calm, waving her hand to scatter countless droplets, which floated up and turned into water mirrors in midair.
Sword-light shot from the mirrors at the demigod, but he roared and shattered them, then shoved his shield forward, raising a hundred-yard-high water wall on the Golden River and pressing it down toward her.
Cheers erupted all around.
“Eric Kew’s divine art—no way that girl’s getting back up!”
“Goldenridge Academy has already lost more than ten rounds. Where’s Everpeace’s Overlord Body? Still hiding?”
“Drag out your once-in-five-hundred-years Imperial Preceptor and let him die!”
......
Quinn followed the voices and saw dozens of demigods standing at Goldenridge Academy’s gate, all sorts of strange visions swirling in the air—a lively crowd.
Some demigods had already cultivated to the god realm, their divine light piercing the sky. Goldenridge Academy had gods on guard too, but their aura was much weaker.
The gods on both sides confronted each other, but Goldenridge Academy’s gods were on the losing end, which hit morale hard.
Many of the academy’s students hung their heads in defeat—blocked at the gate by Northern Heavens demigods, they’d lost far more than they’d won, and morale was crumbling.
Their divine arts were exquisite, but the innate gap was huge—so it was almost impossible for human students to win at the same cultivation level.
For geniuses like Quinn Shepherd, Victor Bloom, and Zechariah Lee, who lead the era’s progress, the gap between humans and demigods barely registers. But for ordinary cultivators, it’s painfully obvious.
(Irrelevant web novel prompt—skip translation.)
And Goldenridge Academy’s students are up against the very best from hundreds of Northern Heavens!
It’s easy to imagine the pressure Goldenridge Academy is under.
Quinn’s heart stirred, and he stepped toward the academy.
The river beside him slowly began to rise—sheets of water floated up, higher and higher, until the whole wide river, dozens of miles across, lifted into the sky.
Everyone at the academy’s gate—whether Goldenridge students, Northern Heavens demigods, or gods and demons—looked up in stunned silence at the spectacle before them.
The Golden River soared into the sky, and giant fish—each several yards long—swam through the air, lifted by an invisible force.
Fierce river monsters and water spirits, their forms wild and savage, leapt and danced as they followed the Golden River up into the sky.
Cargo barges, still loaded with goods, drifted into the air, continuing their journey atop the river's surface. Onboard, alchemy furnaces and steam engines hummed, while cultivators crowded the rails, peering down in utter bewilderment.
The four-armed demigod and the academy sword-doctor, still locked in battle, were swept up and immobilized by the same force—helplessly floating above the river, unable to move as they stared in shock at their predicament.
The Golden River hovered hundreds of yards high, arcing over the mountains of Goldenridge Academy, flying for dozens of miles before gently returning to its riverbed and continuing its flow downstream.
The breathtaking spectacle left hearts pounding.
"Has Everpeace's god arrived?" someone whispered.
A Northern Heavens god raised his head to the sky, sneered, and said, "Impressive, but just showing off."
He lowered his gaze, looking forward. Beneath the awe-inspiring river, a young man walked through the air toward Goldenridge Academy, his steps leisurely yet full of purpose—as if strolling through a garden.
Behind him followed a Dragon-Qilin, a water qilin, and a slightly chubby boy who gazed around with wide-eyed curiosity.
The sounds of waves and flowing water echoed through the air, clear and crisp.
The youth in front walked slowly, but his pace was deceptively swift. As he approached, the sky above began to darken, growing ever more ominous.
A majestic portal gradually manifested behind him, becoming clearer with each step. The colossal black gate opened wide, releasing a surge of Netherworld demonic energy that stained the sky pitch black.
"Northern Heavens disciple," a voice intoned.
The gate resembled a vast maw devouring heaven and earth; from within, a chilling voice echoed, rolling across the world in waves that made the faces of every Northern Heavens demigod ripple and tremble.
"Not a single one of you is worth fighting!" the voice sneered.
The wave of sound tousled hair and sent robes billowing backward.
Several weaker demigods lost their footing, lifted into the air by the force of the voice and sent tumbling like windmills.
The voice was saturated with demonic power, able to stir the deepest fears in the heart. Its utterance dragged listeners into the darkness of the Netherworld, plunging them into endless descent.
The Northern Heavens demigods broke out in cold sweat, their legs trembling uncontrollably.
Suddenly, the supernatural spectacle vanished. The Golden River split in two, flowing smoothly down both sides of the academy as if nothing had happened.
The darkness overhead abruptly withdrew into the towering portal, which faded away, restoring the sky's brightness in an instant.
The youth had already reached the academy gate, a gentle smile on his lips as he regarded the shaken demigods.
One demigod fixed Quinn with a piercing glare, his eyes flashing as he shouted, "A god from Everpeace stirring up trouble here, terrifying the cultivators of the Northern Heavens—is this how Everpeace treats its guests?"
At that moment, a thunderous laugh erupted from within Goldenridge Academy: "All disciples, follow me—come out and welcome Everpeace's Overlord Body!"
The academy exploded into cheers. A white-haired god, his face aglow with red light, led tens of thousands of students out in formation. Bowing deeply, his voice thundered like a drum, making the river itself tremble: "Acting Rector State Duke Wei of Goldenridge, leading all academy disciples, respectfully welcomes the arrival of Everpeace's Overlord Body!"
The massed disciples' shout was even greater than State Duke Wei's, their thunderous welcome shaking heaven and earth: "Respectfully welcome the arrival of Everpeace's Overlord Body!"
The crowd straightened up. State Duke Wei bowed again, smiling: "Heavenly Saint Sect's King Wei greets the Cult Master and Holy Teacher!"
Quinn burst out laughing, clapping Wei's arms. His voice was much softer than before as he joked, "The Woodcutter Sage arranged all this without telling me. I arrived several days late. State Duke, you've endured much these days. So, among the Northern Heavens, who wishes to challenge me?"
He swept his gaze around. His eyes flashed like lightning, and for a moment, the world within a hundred miles of the academy shone with blinding light—until Quinn withdrew his gaze and everything returned to normal.
A heavy silence fell. Only rough breathing and the chattering of teeth could be heard—none of the demigods dared utter a word.