Quinn Shepherd looked at the young man, his eyes flickering, and thought to himself, "Loren Shaw—the prophet of the Creator race in the Grand Void Expanse—delivered three astonishing predictions to the Creators there. The first: the Supreme Emperor will invade, and a human Cloud-Venerable will come to help them resist, allowing them to survive the calamity."
The first prediction was swiftly fulfilled: Cloud-Venerable went to the Grand Void, helped the Creators set up defenses, trapped the Supreme Emperor's flesh, and managed to kill part of him.
Loren Shaw's second prediction concerned the Void Bridge and the Beyond-Shore World, and this too came true.
After the Supreme Emperor's death, the ensuing war rendered the Grand Void uninhabitable, so the Creators, led by God-Queen Langwo and other leaders, visualized the Void Bridge and forged the Beyond-Shore World.
Loren Shaw's third prediction was that a Saint Baby would arise from among the Creators, bearing the Taichu Primal Stone. At birth, this Saint Baby would embody the highest authority of the Creators, cradle the Supreme Emperor Seal, and be born atop the Supreme Emperor Altar.
And that prophecy was Quinn Shepherd himself.
Quinn Shepherd smiled at Loren Shaw, who sat beside him. Loren Shaw, uncomfortable under Quinn's gaze, darted his eyes nervously and thought, "Has he seen through my identity? Impossible. My flesh is shaped by the collective divine sense of my clan's strongest, making me appear perfectly human—no ordinary ancient god could see my true form..."
Even the vertical eye at his brow was hidden, leaving only a faint red mark down the center. His clothes, too, were not those of the Creators, but matched the style of the current era.
The one who told Loren Shaw those three predictions was probably me. This young Creator mistook me for an ancestor-spirit of the Creators, then returned to the Grand Void to deliver those prophecies.
Quinn Shepherd blinked and mused, "Someday, when I enter the Grand Void and become one of their Creators, then meet him again in the ancestor-spirit realm, he'll see me and suddenly go mad. If I don't tell him these three predictions, will it change the future? But I have to tell him—only then can I keep Carefree Haven safe, and only then can I become the Creators' Saint Baby and have them serve me..."
Loren Shaw was also sizing him up. He saw that Quinn Shepherd had what looked like a scar at the center of his brow, and beneath that scar was an eye. Loren thought, "This Quinn Shepherd gives me a strangely familiar feeling. Could he be a Creator too? But outsiders are cunning—I mustn't slip up. After all, I'm the cleverest of all the Creators..."
Quinn Shepherd glanced out the window and mused, "Loren Shaw left the Grand Void a million years ago to check if the outside world was safe. He asked me for directions to Heavenly Court, which means the Dragon-Han Heavenly Court has already been founded. But what year is it now...? If it's the early Dragon-Han era, will I run into my past self causing havoc at the Jade Pool...?"
His expression grew odd. Back then, he appeared in Heavenly Court under the name Mark Shepherd, not his real face.
If he really did encounter himself in Heavenly Court, wouldn't that mean there'd be two of him at once?
According to the laws of matter conservation, one of him would have to disappear—it's impossible for two identical physical entities to exist at the same time!
Loren Shaw covertly sized him up again, thinking, "This Quinn Shepherd fellow really is strange... Ah—"
He nearly jumped in shock—Quinn Shepherd's face was changing before his eyes, and in just a moment, he'd swapped for a completely different appearance!
Now Quinn Shepherd looked like a youth of fifteen or sixteen, his face still carrying a trace of childish innocence.
"Don't be alarmed, Brother Loren,"
Quinn Shepherd said kindly, "I have plenty of enemies, so I need to change my appearance to stay safe. Swapping faces is just a precaution."
Loren Shaw's heart raced as he blurted out, "You're dressed so finely and riding in such a splendid palanquin—I thought you were someone important, that you'd be able to reach Heavenly Court safely, so I asked you for a ride. But since you have so many enemies, maybe I'd better get off!"
Quinn Shepherd quickly grabbed him and laughed, "With a different face, I don't have any enemies, do I? Loren, don't be so jumpy—acting like you've never seen the world. Honestly, Heavenly Court is heavily guarded. If you want to get in, you need the right credentials. You'll have to stick with me..."
Suddenly, Dragon-Qilin's voice sounded from outside: "Cult Master, look down below!"
Quinn Shepherd stepped out of the palanquin and looked down at the Celestial River, surprise flickering across his face.
He saw tens of thousands of human cultivators gathered on the plain below the Celestial River, hard at work constructing palaces. They mined ore, used their magic to conjure flames, and smelted divine metal.
They'd already built a sizable city and were now constructing a grand gate, modeled after the South Heaven Gate of Heavenly Court.
"Are humans building a Heavenly Court?"
Quinn Shepherd stared, then told Dragon-Qilin to halt the palanquin, amazed. "The human Heavenly Court is the Sky-River Court... But are they building this court on the ground, not floating in the sky?"
This was nothing like the Sky-River Court he'd imagined!
At that moment, many humans who'd reached the god-realm flew up from the city toward the Celestial River—some were Daoists, some monks, and Quinn Shepherd even spotted Venerable Ling and Moon-Venerable among them!
Those Daoists and monks were none other than Dao Ancestor and Great Brahma King Buddha!
Besides them, there were also some young human experts, all at the god-realm, their cultivation far from weak.
Quinn Shepherd's expression turned odd. These ancient pioneers already had high cultivation—Heaven Palaces floated behind them, and some had their Primordial Spirits standing atop the Jade Pool, others on the Execution Platform.
"It's been many years since I left the Jade Pool Grand Assembly," Quinn Shepherd thought.
He stood atop the palanquin as Venerable Ling, Moon-Venerable, and the others flew close to the Celestial River. He heard Moon-Venerable say, "Old Daoist, the Celestial River floats above us. If we use its waters to lift our human Heavenly Court into the sky, we must make sure your calculations are perfect. Every palace's stress points must be exact, or the court will come crashing down."
"Don't worry, Moon-Venerable."
Dao Ancestor, holding a compass with calculation runes swirling around him, replied, "My calculations are flawless. When Shepherd Heavenly Venerable enlightened me back then, I realized the mysteries of numerology—I intend to enter the Dao with numbers. Once I'm finished, I'll need your space arts to fold the Celestial River. Do you have enough power for that, Moon-Venerable?"
"Of course," Moon-Venerable answered.
Moon-Venerable, bold and charismatic, turned to Venerable Ling and said, "Ling, stop fussing with your matter-conservation and time-nullification arts—come help us out."
It was clear she was the backbone of this group.