"Her Majesty the Empress's younger sister... How could her corpse be here?"
Quinn Shepherd's mind went completely blank—he could hardly believe his own eyes!
The Empress's corpse had been hidden aboard the Ghost Ship. Quinn's experience on that haunted vessel was so strange and unforgettable that it haunted him to this day.
To unravel the mystery of the Ghost Ship, he had memorized every detail, every cycle of its time‑loop. His memories of that place were etched into his mind, deeper than any other.
On the Ghost Ship, both the Empress and Absolute Dust's bodies were placed in the same imperial coffin. Quinn performed a Soul‑Calling Rite for Absolute Dust, only to discover she had no soul at all—she was an artificial beauty, a flawless woman created by Venerable Skysoar's arts as a perfect vessel to eliminate the ancient Heavenly Emperor.
But when he called the soul of the Empress, he was shocked to find she wasn't dead at all—she was still alive in the mortal world!
Afterwards, he deduced the entire process of how the Empress Sisters and the Heaven Alliance conspired to assassinate the ancient Heavenly Emperor.
The Empress Sisters worked together—the younger sister stayed behind in Heavenly Court to restrain the ancient Heavenly Emperor, while Empress Aurelia returned home, using the nearby Drakebar Dragon Kingdom to stage a rebellion. Drakebar’s king wounded the Empress, trapping her in Home’s End Abyss.
The Heavenly Emperor ordered Wayne Gale to lead the Feather-Guard Corps to suppress the rebellion and rescue the Empress. After Wayne Gale’s victory, just before their return to court, the Empress Ambush Incident erupted: dark currents surged in Home’s End, and two Empresses appeared under the night sky—one of whom truly died.
Wayne Gale carried the Empress’s corpse back to Heavenly Court, but on the Celestial River they were intercepted by Venerable Skysoar’s sorcery. Wayne Gale immediately escaped the Dragon-Han Era using the mist, returning to his own time, while the Feather-Guard Corps and their world-ark were transformed by Skysoar’s divine art into the time-wandering Ghost Ship.
However, the Empress did not die, but instead became Absolute Dust.
Heavenly Court also announced that the Empress was not dead. Quinn deduced that the Empress currently in the Heavenly Court must be the younger sister.
Based on this inference, both Empress Aurelia and her younger sister were involved in the plan to assassinate the Heavenly Emperor.
Yet here before him was the coffin of Empress Aurelia’s younger sister, her body lying within!
What if, at that time, the Empress’s younger sister did not stay in Heavenly Court to restrain the Emperor, but followed her elder sister to Home’s End, incited the Drakebar rebellion, attempted to strike her sister, and was instead killed by her?
The elder sister hid her younger sister’s corpse in Home’s End, feigned her own death, had Wayne Gale deliver her “corpse” to Heavenly Court, and then escaped aboard the Ghost Ship, becoming Absolute Dust.
Wayne Gale saw through the deception; the one who had truly died was the younger Empress Sister, so he left behind a map to guide Quinn to uncover the truth.
But there’s a flaw in this theory: why did Heavenly Court announce that the Empress was not dead?
Quinn steadied himself, lost in thought: “The Empress in Heavenly Court must be one of the sisters—but which one? Or perhaps there’s another possibility: at the time, the Empress Sisters staged a double act. The younger sister pretended to attack the elder, killed her in front of everyone, the elder faked her death and escaped as Absolute Dust, the younger sister returned to Heavenly Court and became the official Empress.”
After the ancient Heavenly Emperor was killed, the Empress eliminated her younger sister and sent her corpse here to bury the truth! Until Wayne Gale arrived and discovered the corpse of the younger Empress Sister...
There are still things that don’t add up! One sister’s body is hidden on the Ghost Ship, the other in Home’s End—so who are they now? Is the Empress still in Heavenly Court, or did she not kill her sister, but instead the two sisters merged into one and remain in Heavenly Court, controlling the Emperor’s flesh?
...
Quinn felt as if his head was about to explode, and suddenly shouted, “Dragon-Qilin, get down here and open the coffin!”
The Dragon-Qilin trembled all over, lying atop the crystal coffin, too frightened to move. Quinn raised his hand, lifting both the coffin and the Dragon-Qilin together, tossing them aside before activating the Overlord Three-Core Art.
Behind him, the Gate of Bearing Heaven appeared. Yet strangely, the gate was extremely dim and almost insubstantial, unable to take shape at all!
Quinn frowned. Home’s End was bizarre, suppressing Netherworld divine arts, so he couldn’t use the Soul-Calling Rite to test whether the Empress’s younger sister was truly dead or alive.
Wayne Gale had treated the corpse of the Empress’s younger sister as a treasure and left it here. Was he hoping I would take it away?
He furrowed his brow even tighter, pacing around the coffin and staring at the Empress’s younger sister’s body inside, lost in thought.
Should I really take it away?
Suddenly, the roar of water came from outside. Quinn was startled, quickly striding out of the red palace and looking up. The sound came from beyond the sky, but it hadn’t penetrated into the flower-world.
“The Celestial River is cut off—where is that water sound coming from?”
Quinn was stunned. “Could it be...?”
Just then, mist began to drift down from the sky, seeping through the cracks of the flower-world, gradually filling it with fog.
Annie and the beauty-serpent formed from the flower’s stamens were still locked in battle, their figures flickering in and out of the mist.
After a moment, the mist dispersed and the sound of water vanished. All that could be heard was a loud booming, as the flower-world trembled violently. Quinn could feel the two giant flowers slowly rising!
“These two flowers are about to rise out of Home’s End!”
Quinn’s heart stirred. He immediately returned to the red palace, grabbed the Dragon-Qilin, and pulled him off the coffin lid.
Quinn closed the crystal coffin and said, “Dragon-Qilin, stop shaking—I’ll give you an extra meal. Go call Annie over, and we’ll leave while the two flowers float out of the abyss!”
The Dragon-Qilin perked up instantly, dashed out of the red palace, glanced around, and shouted, “Cult Master, the flowers are blooming! Annie and that ancient god have fought into the dark world! It’s too dark—I don’t dare go in!”
“Two extra meals!”
The Dragon-Qilin rushed into the dark world to look for Annie. Quinn hefted the crystal coffin and laughed, “Who knows what tricks the Empress Sisters are playing, but once I carry this coffin out, I’ll know whether you’re dead or alive...”
He had just stepped out of the red palace when a middle-aged man approached. He wore coarse linen clothes, dusty and travel-worn, with big hands and feet, thick eyebrows and eyes, a rough hemp belt at his waist, and a sheepskin scroll floating before him, moving as he walked.
In front of the sheepskin scroll was a brush, automatically writing and drawing on the parchment, mapping the terrain of the flower-world.
The two met face to face, both pausing in surprise.
“Founder... First Senior Brother!”
The coffin on Quinn’s shoulder dropped to the ground. He stared blankly at the middle-aged man, stammering, “W-Wayne Gale!”
“Who are you?”
The middle-aged man was startled, his gaze shifting to the crystal coffin on the ground. The coffin had been opened, and a woman’s corpse had rolled out, face down, a hole broken in the back of her head with a peach-wood hairpin stuck in it.
The man grew wary, immediately putting away the sheepskin scroll and brush. “Who are you? How do you know me? What are you planning to do with this woman’s corpse?”
Quinn’s mind was a chaotic mess—the mist, Wayne Gale’s sudden appearance, the peach-wood hairpin in the Empress’s younger sister’s skull, a string of events that left him unable to make sense of it all.
The middle-aged man was indeed Wayne Gale, the founding ancestor of the Cult of the Heavenly Saint. His portrait hangs in the cult’s main hall atop Saint Arrival Mountain, and every Cult Master who undergoes the Saint’s Training Stone ceremony will see a vision of Wayne Gale receiving the Woodcutter Sage’s teachings.
He would never mistake someone’s identity.
“That water sound just now was the Celestial River reappearing, and then the mist exploded, sending this place back twenty thousand years.”
Quinn’s mind cleared up, and he quickly sorted out the clues.
Venerable Skysoar’s divine art had sent him back twenty thousand years. At this time, Wayne Gale was investigating ancient mysteries to achieve the three perfections—establishing teaching, words, and deeds—to become a saint, and so he came to Home’s End.
And the peach-wood hairpin in the Empress’s younger sister’s skull was because Venerable Skysoar was the one who killed her—not the Empress.
It was Venerable Skysoar who hid the younger Empress Sister’s corpse here!
“Why aren’t you saying anything?”
The middle-aged man carried all sorts of weapons on his back. Suddenly, with a shudder, all the weapons clattered to the ground and quickly assembled themselves into new forms. He watched Quinn warily and said, “How do you know me? Are you an agent left here by the Outer Heaven Court, or a grave robber?”
His weapons were extremely unusual—various components that could be freely combined into different weapon shapes.
Quinn figured out the key point and smiled. “First Senior Brother, I’m your second junior brother. We’re fellow disciples, both taught by the Woodcutter Sage...”
The middle-aged man reached back and grabbed the newly assembled divine weapon, which landed in his hand. He sneered, “You’re my junior brother? The Sage never took any other disciples! Who are you really?”
The weapon in his hand looked like a bamboo hat, but that was only one of its forms.
“I’m your junior brother from twenty thousand years in the future.”
Quinn hurried to explain, “The Woodcutter took me as his disciple twenty thousand years later. I’m also Cult Master of the Heavenly Saint, separated from you by twenty thousand years. Did you encounter the mist just now? That mist is why I crossed into the past. I followed the map you left behind to find this place—this coffin and the woman inside were left for me to uncover the truth of history. She’s the younger sister of the Empress from the Outer Heaven Court...”
As he spoke, he found himself unable to continue.
If he were in Wayne Gale’s shoes, he wouldn’t believe it either!
It was just too absurd, too unbelievable!
Quinn sighed. “If I say all that, you definitely won’t believe me, will you?”
“You think I’d believe you?”
The cold sneer on the middle-aged man’s face deepened. “Leave the coffin and the woman’s corpse, and I’ll let you go.”
Quinn sighed again. “Teacher said you’re incredibly stubborn. Once you set your mind on something, not even nine oxen could pull you away—no one can change your mind. Looks like there’s only one way: we’ll have to fight, and when I win, you’ll have to admit I’m your junior brother. The three of us brothers have never truly sparred before.”
The middle-aged man’s appearance was simple and unadorned. He smiled and said, “So I have a third junior brother? I came to this perilous place of Home’s End today, and suddenly I’ve gained two junior brothers—how strange.”
Quinn said seriously, “You’ll meet us in the future. But today...”
Before he could finish, Wayne Gale suddenly tossed his bamboo hat. It spun and floated in the air, then vanished. Quinn looked up and saw a sky full of stars glittering overhead!
Countless starlights wove together and pressed down from above.
“Stardust? No, it’s the myriad divine arts from the Great Nurturing Demon Scripture!”
The thought had barely crossed his mind when he was swallowed by a sea of stars!
Wayne Gale reached out, and the bamboo hat fell back into his hand. He said coolly, “Trying to fight me? Taking you down is as easy as lifting a finger...”
Boom—
Suddenly, the bamboo hat in his hand exploded, sending countless divine weapons flying through the sky. Quinn burst through the hat, leaping upward and laughing, “First Senior Brother, you’re using Teacher’s skills against me, aren’t you...”
Wayne Gale’s expression changed. The divine weapons assembled again, and before Quinn could rise, they transformed into a cauldron, trapping him inside once more!
“Galaxy Burial!”
Rivers of stars coiled around him, then a mighty river surged forth, sending countless stars pouring into the cauldron!
——Brothers, don’t forget to send Quinn your hearts! You can give him ten a day.