At the city gate, facing endless darkness, Quinn Shepherd couldn't help but feel his heart race. That deadly darkness—touch it and you die—was right in front of him, surging and shifting as if alive, only kept at bay by the glow of dragon pillars and the light spilling from the temples within the city.
Now, he was about to step into that darkness.
Behind him, Granny Sue, Grandpa Mark, Crippled Joe, and the rest were even more tense than he was. The city gate creaked open, making everyone’s hearts clench.
From deep within Village Chief’s body came seven thunderous booms, as if seven hidden treasuries had burst open at once. His aura suddenly erupted—wild, immense, and sacred—as he floated toward the darkness. "Quinn, let’s go."
Quinn hurried after him. Activating his Ninefold Heaven Eyes, he looked at Village Chief—and was stunned. What he saw wasn’t a limbless old man, but a towering god!
At this moment, Village Chief appeared in his eyes as a complete, whole-bodied deity—just like the gods he’d seen in the temples. The only difference was, Village Chief was alive, while the temple gods were just carved statues.
I knew it—the old man’s still the old man.
Grandpa Blind, leaning on his bamboo cane, sighed, "The old man’s still a cut above us!"
Mute Smith nodded vigorously, "Ah ah, ah ah ah!"
"Mute’s right," someone chimed in.
Deaf nodded, "Who knows how long the old man can hold out? If he can’t, both grandfather and grandson are done for."
Granny Sue spat twice, "Peh! Don’t jinx it—say something lucky!"
In the darkness, Quinn’s jade pendant glowed faintly on his chest. He carefully followed Village Chief, drifting forward into the black. Looking back, he saw Dragoncrest shining like a city of a hundred gods—dragons coiling along the walls, giant divine statues standing guard, protecting the land and keeping the darkness at bay.
"Village Chief."
Suddenly remembering something, he blurted, "My Spirit Embryo has gone quiet again."
Village Chief staggered, the light blazing around him nearly flickering out. He quickly steadied himself and said, "Quinn, you haven’t told the other old geezers, have you?"
Just as his resolve wavered, strange demonic whispers slithered out of the darkness, as if monsters in the black were murmuring, trying to rush in while the light faded.
Quinn glanced cautiously around and shook his head, "I haven’t had a chance to tell Granny or the others yet. Village Chief, didn’t you say the Overlord Three‑Core Art awakens one core each time? I’ve awakened three times—three cores—and now my Spirit Embryo is dormant again. If it awakens next time, that’ll be four times. Did I mess up my cultivation…?"
Village Chief let out a breath and smiled, "That’s a good thing. The ‘three’ in Overlord Three‑Core Art isn’t just the number three. It’s like ‘the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, and three gives birth to all things.’ So the ‘three’ means creation—there could be any number of awakenings."
Quinn’s eyes lit up. "Village Chief, you really know everything!"