Quinn Shepherd lured Heavenly Dragon King's massive head into another ancient ruin, where the ground was littered with bones and blood seeped from cliffs and earth, saturating the air with an ominous aura.
As they ventured deeper, more and more white figures began to appear around them.
At first just one or two of these white figures showed up, then their numbers grew. Some suddenly appeared on mountaintops, others on the plain, all staring blankly at them, motionless.
Quinn looked at them, but couldn't make out any of their faces.
"Young master, there's a person in white riding on your neck," Annie whispered.
Quinn quickly turned his head but saw nothing, a chill running down his spine.
He hurriedly took out a mirror and looked into it; sure enough, a white figure was perched on his neck. Its face was hidden, peeking out from behind him as if examining the mirror.
Quinn’s scalp tingled as he glanced at Dragon-Qilin—at some point, several white figures had climbed onto Fat Dragon as well, their forms hazy and indistinct.
He looked at Annie, and saw a white figure clinging to her back, miming a sucking motion toward the back of her head.
Quinn glanced at Heavenly Dragon King's giant head—there were even more white figures clinging to him.
"We shouldn't stay here any longer!"
Quinn acted immediately, opening the Gate of Bearing Heaven. Dragon-Qilin leapt through, carrying them all out of the ruin and into the Netherworld.
The instant they stepped into the Netherworld, Quinn faintly heard shrill, ghostly cries coming from their backs. He looked up and saw the outside of the Gate of Bearing Heaven packed with white figures, all reaching their hands into the Netherworld, trying to grab them.
Quinn closed the Gate of Bearing Heaven, and severed arms tumbled down from where the portal vanished, dropping into the darkness below.
"Origin World ruins really are bizarre..."
Quinn was still shaken, while Dragon-Qilin and Annie flailed as they fell into Netherworld darkness. Quinn reversed his divine treasury, switching to Demon-Path Divine Treasuries, and used Netherworld arts to catch them.
Quinn chuckled, "You can't use your powers here, so I'll have to bring you along. Let's not rush to leave—someone will come pick us up. We'll hitch a ride."
Annie looked around, puzzled. "Where's this ride you're talking about?"
Quinn was confident, smiling, "It'll be here soon!"
After a while, his face darkened and he muttered, "Is Nether-Venerable slacking off today? He still hasn't shown up. Usually, as soon as I open the Gate of Bearing Heaven, his little boat comes right over to pick me up..."
"Usually it's the Cult Master standing on my head—this time, can I stand on his?" Dragon-Qilin exclaimed, both startled and delighted.
Quinn lifted the willow leaf from his brow, sent his divine sense into the Keane-sigil Continent, manifested his image, and asked, "Tu Bo, why didn't Nether-Venerable come to fetch me today?"
Lava Tu Bo sensed his true body and replied, "One of the heavens was destroyed—too many dead. Nether-Venerable went to guide the souls there."
"I see. Tu Bo, could you send an expert to escort me to River Lee Academy?" Quinn asked.
Lava Tu Bo stared at him. Quinn met his gaze with sincere eyes and calmly said, "If we travel through the Netherworld, I don't know the way to River Lee Academy."
Lava Tu Bo was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll take you myself. How about that?"
Quinn was overjoyed, exclaiming, "How could I accept such an honor?"
He withdrew his divine sense, feeling secretly pleased, and humbly told Dragon-Qilin and Annie, "Tu Bo said he'll personally escort us to River Lee Academy."
Dragon-Qilin looked a bit disappointed, but just then, a wild gale roared up from the depths of the Netherworld, sweeping Quinn, Dragon-Qilin, and Annie away. They tumbled and spun, not knowing how far they'd flown.
The three of them were dizzy and disoriented when the wind finally stopped. Dragon-Qilin found himself embedded face-first in a cliff outside River Lee Academy, Annie had turned into a blue sparrow and was hanging belly-up from a treetop, and Quinn was headfirst in the River Lee itself.
After a moment, the three tidied themselves up. Quinn's face was dark as he threatened, "What happened today stays between the three of us. If anyone talks, I'll kill them. Got it?"
Dragon-Qilin and the blue sparrow nodded repeatedly.
Quinn stared at Dragon-Qilin, his tone gentle: "Do you know how Great Sun Star Lord died, Fat Dragon?"
Dragon-Qilin hurriedly replied, "Cult Master, I'm tight-lipped! Look, I've never spilled any of our ancestor's embarrassing stories!"
Two months later, Quinn picked up Heaven-Guide Venerable and arrived at the source of the Yong River. Now, the river no longer flowed from the Great Ruins cliff, but passed through a chain of suspended heavens.
The Celestial River poured down from the heavens hanging outside the world, cascading like flying jade and streaming pearls—a spectacular sight.
He waited at the river's source for half a day, sitting on the water, but the familiar mist never appeared.
"Venerable Skysoar must have severed the Celestial River here and replaced its matter with herself, casting that astonishing divine art."
Quinn got up and made his way to Tianyin World.
In Tianyin World, barges loaded with Umbral Gold sailed out, following the Celestial River toward Everpeace.
Quinn boarded a sand barge and asked around. The divine arts practitioner guarding the barge replied, "The Imperial Preceptor ordered us to transport Umbral Gold. He said Everpeace is now split and hard to defend, so we're refining Solar-Shooting God Cannons—every major city needs one."
"What about medicine and supplies?" Quinn asked.
"That I don't know."
Quinn asked again, "Is the journey safe?"
The practitioner replied, "Lord Dragon-Tamer leads the River Dragon Kings to guard the barges, so it's mostly peaceful—just the occasional river monster causing trouble and destroying a few boats."
Quinn nodded and let them go.
At the Umbral Palace by the sea in Tianyin World, Quinn gazed at the shore. Many divine arts practitioners were hard at work, dredging sand from the sea to collect Umbral Gold and ship it out.
There were towns along the coast, where people from Everpeace and the Great Ruins lived, avoiding the chaos outside. Many divine arts practitioners taught here, making the place lively again.
"I never imagined Tianyin World would turn out like this."
Behind Quinn, black sand swirled and formed the body of a majestic man. He spoke: "Everpeace really is extraordinary. Given time, how powerful could you all become? You even make me feel fear."
Quinn turned and smiled, "I should've guessed long ago that Your Majesty's soul-black-sand was hidden in Tianyin World. Because your soul was here, Lady Umbral died for it. Prince Umbral didn't seize Tianyin World to fight Lady Umbral, but to keep watch over your scattered soul. Too bad Lady Umbral never realized, and fell victim to his schemes."
Within the swirling soul-black-sand, a vague figure could be seen. When he spoke, the sand billowed outward, but never escaped its bindings.
"Shepherd Heavenly Venerable can resurrect Lady Umbral—and me. When you revived her, I realized my chance had come. But Shepherd Heavenly Venerable truly lives up to his name—always a headache, always washing me away."
The figure in the black sand said, "But you're right. I am a deceased ancient god, and you do have the right to bargain and ally with me."
Quinn looked him up and down, then suddenly asked, "Who gathered your soul?"
The figure in the black sand paused, then smiled, "Why would you ask that, dear minister?"
"Soul-revival arts are my creation. I can tell at a glance if someone gathered your soul."
Quinn said coolly, "There aren't many in this world who can resurrect ancient gods—just me. But plenty can gather souls. Back then, I invited five people here to organize Tianyin World's rune system: King Yan of Fengdu, the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor, Xu Shenghua, the First Human Sovereign, and Saint Woodcutter. They perfected the rune system and engraved it on the coastal cliffs. Even so, deriving soul-gathering arts from the runes isn't something ordinary people can do. To gather the Heavenly Emperor's soul takes a true master. Who was it?"
The Heavenly Emperor in the black sand didn't answer.
Just then, a figure stepped out of the Umbral Palace, laughing, "It was me. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, long time no see. Remember that time you fiddled with my compass?"
Quinn stared wide-eyed at the figure. A scruffy old Daoist emerged, hair wild and unkempt, holding a compass.
Though he looked old and down-and-out, his eyes shone with boundless wisdom.
Quinn took a deep breath and smiled, "Dao Ancestor, long time no see."
The scruffy old Daoist stepped forward and saluted. "Heaven Alliance elder Daoist, greetings to Shepherd Heavenly Venerable."
Quinn was shaken, his eye twitching as he blurted, "Dao Ancestor, you're part of the Heaven Alliance too?"
The scruffy old Daoist smiled, "Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you've met the old monk, haven't you? He's an elder of the Heaven Alliance too."
Quinn's mind reeled.
Great Brahma King Buddha is part of the Heaven Alliance too?
One of King Buddha’s incarnations had always stayed in the Keane-sigil Continent at his brow. Even when napping, nothing that happened there escaped him!
Could they be running the Heavenly Court too?
Lady Umbral approached and said, "Everyone, please come into the palace and rest."
Quinn steadied himself and followed her into the Umbral Palace. He called back, "Fat Dragon, Sister Yan, you two stay outside. Imperial Younger Brother, you... you come in!"
Heaven-Guide Venerable, still dazed, followed Quinn inside. The group took their seats, with no distinction between host and guest.
Quinn calmed himself, thinking, "If push comes to shove, I'll just merge with my brother and become Little Earth Count, turn this place into Youdu, and bring Earth Count in to wipe them all out!"
He smiled at the thought and said, "Dao Ancestor led me to the Treasury Pavilion and really opened my eyes. So when did you realize Tianyin World's rune system was established? And when did you find this place? To train a disciple like Yan Qiling isn't something that can be done in a year or two. Even if you revived the Heavenly Emperor, he couldn't have raised such a talented disciple so quickly."
The scruffy old Daoist smiled, "The Heavenly Emperor still has one soul hidden in the Heavenly Court. That soul is also a Heaven Alliance elder, and naturally taught many disciples."