Quinn Shepherd submitted his memorial requesting to leave Heavenly Court and journey across the realms to the Lingxiao Hall in Jade Capital City. Not long after, the Heavenly Emperor approved it—granting him the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin to display the dignity of a Heavenly Venerable.
Of course, Quinn knew it wasn't the Heavenly Emperor who had allowed him to leave Heavenly Court, but rather the Ten Heavenly Venerables.
There were already rifts among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, each restraining the others. Even the Grand Void and Carefree Haven were beyond their attention now. Whether Quinn stayed in Heavenly Court or not made no difference to them—they would just send a few people to keep an eye on him.
Sure enough, Elaina Cloud showed up.
Quinn's expression shifted, dark and uncertain. He thought, "Leaving Heavenly Court this time, I'm not just seeking the Creators' Ancestral Court and visiting ancient gods from every realm—I also have to dodge Heaven's spies and summon Cloud-Venerable's soul. Yet you insist on meddling and spying on me. Heh, the Rosary Blade has already cut you once; I don't mind cutting you again!"
Quinn was actually quite pleased with the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin. It was pulled by nine divine dragons of Jade Capital stage, and the carriage itself was incredibly lavish. Of course, it couldn't compare to God-Queen Langwo's Phoenix Palanquin, but it was still the most luxurious palanquin Quinn had ever ridden.
"You're dead for sure!" Elaina Cloud trembled with excitement when she saw the palanquin, and said to Quinn.
Quinn shot back, "You're the one who's dead! I'm Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you know. Is that any way to talk to me?"
"These nine Heavenly Dragons are of the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon's bloodline. Aren't you heading east to meet the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon?"
Elaina Cloud was delighted, laughing, "When the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon sees you using his bloodline to pull a carriage, he'll definitely be furious. Aren't you doomed?"
Quinn's heart skipped a beat and he stammered, "Then let me invite the nine brothers to sit in the carriage while I have Dragon-Qilin pull it instead."
Elaina Cloud examined the palanquin's canopy, laughing, "Still doomed. Look—the canopy is imprinted with the laws of Heaven, and the star patterns above trace Heaven Duke's likeness. When you reach Heaven Duke, he'll kill you himself!"
Quinn's face darkened as he entered the carriage. Looking up, he saw that it really was the laws of Heaven forming Heaven Duke's image—meant to shield him from wind and rain, but offending Heaven Duke was no small matter.
"There's more underneath the carriage."
Elaina Cloud stuck her rear out to peer under the carriage and waved him over. "Come look! The patterns underneath are Black Tortoise motifs—riding the waves, with Black Tortoise crushed beneath the wheels. When you meet the Northern Emperor Black Tortoise, he'll take your life too!"
Quinn joined her, and the two of them both stuck their rears out to look under the carriage.
Sure enough, the underside was decorated with Black Tortoise patterns, and Quinn's face grew even darker.
"The gold trim on the carriage is adorned with White Tiger motifs—unbreakable, able to pierce any obstacle, and the White Tiger patterns run all the way up to the armrests."
Elaina Cloud hopped into the carriage, checked the seats, and exclaimed with delight, "You're sitting right on top of the Western Emperor White Tiger, and the armrest is her head! How could the Western Emperor White Tiger possibly tolerate that?"
Quinn shivered inside. "Is there more?" he asked.
"The tail of the carriage is adorned with Vermilion Bird patterns and painted with its colorful wings. If the Southern Emperor Vermilion sees you using her as a tail, do you think she'll let you off?"
Elaina Cloud hopped onto the carriage shaft, swinging her legs. She picked up the whip hanging from the shaft and laughed, "The driver sits here, whip in hand, and the shaft is etched with Netherworld Daos. This lets the palanquin ignore the Netherworld Dao and drive straight into Youdu."
Quinn sighed in relief. "I'm on good terms with Tu Bo, the Earth Sovereign. Having Netherworld Daos etched here is no problem."
Elaina Cloud sneered, "Tu Bo uses a whip! And here your driver sits with a whip too—do you think Tu Bo will be pleased with you?"
Quinn's face was as dark as iron. He snapped, "This carriage was given to me by you Ten Heavenly Venerables! It's not my fault! And aren't you one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables too? Who knows if you didn't have a hand in this!"
He really was planning to visit the ancient gods of every realm, and his memorial to the court said so—traveling the realms, meeting the ancient gods. This carriage from Heavenly Court was clearly meant to make things difficult for him.
Elaina Cloud swung her legs and giggled, "Exactly! I recommended the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Palanquin to everyone—they all said it was perfect, so they gave it to you."
Quinn snorted angrily. God-Queen Langwo was already walking over, gracefully boarding the palanquin and taking a seat beside the main throne. She said, "This carriage isn't bad. Venerable, when do we depart?"
Annie stood on Dragon-Qilin's head as he trotted over. The Nethervault Demon King straddled Dragon-Qilin's back, came to the carriage, and leapt into the air to land on the carriage shaft.
Elaina Cloud grinned wickedly and handed over the whip. The Nethervault Demon King took it and praised, "This carriage is great—it's bound to be fast!"