Logan Cross’s little boat drifted away, and behind him on the river, an unimaginably terrifying Netherworld miasma erupted. Even without turning to look, he could picture the horror unfolding there.
It was as if the most fearsome, monstrous demon god had reached out from another world, ripping and crushing everything with overwhelming power, devouring anything it could consume!
Logan wasn’t kept in the dark about the Netherworld Divine Son—Zechariah Lee had told him the truth. So the moment Logan sensed trouble, he withdrew immediately.
“Master Logan, about Zechariah Lee...” one of his disciples ventured timidly from the little boat.
Logan’s face was as dark as water. He stared at his empty sleeve, and the pain of his severed arm seemed to surge back, stabbing deep into his heart.
“Forty thousand years ago, the Supreme Sovereign Overlord Body took one of my arms. Now, he’s taken another.”
Logan closed his eyes, then opened them again and spoke softly: “Zechariah Lee has already chosen his own road. On that road, he won’t walk with us—he’ll go against us. I once thought he was my left and right hand, but now... If you meet him in the future, be careful. Fight to the death if you must—show no mercy! He’s forged his Dao through the blade, and his strength is formidable. His future achievements will be extraordinary!”
The ripples on the river’s surface gradually stilled.
Chiming Divine Son, First Human Emperor, Village Chief, and the others were still shaken—the previous scene was too terrifying, sending chills down their spines.
The river had been dyed red, and those two Heavenly Court visitors died shockingly fast—faster than anyone had expected.
Qin Mu, on the other hand, seemed unbothered. He took out his willow leaf talisman and pressed it to his brow, then hurried to the riverbank to check the progress of Connor Hayes, Ethan Shaw, and the other Human Emperors’ cultivation.
“Zechariah Lee, what happened on the boat—was it real?” Village Chief asked.
Zechariah nodded and recounted what had happened on the Ghost Ship. The others were stunned; Chiming Divine Son felt a lingering dread and glanced at the river below, but the Ghost Ship had long since vanished without a trace.
“Ancestral Dragon King and Autumn Cloud Phoenix entered the Ghost Ship. Whether they’re alive or dead, no one knows.”
Village Chief felt a surge of warmth in his heart: “Qin risked his life to save me, solving a crisis that even the Four Ancient God Emperors couldn’t resolve. He’s truly grown up—and so confident. Whether or not the Overlord Body legend is real doesn’t matter so much anymore.”
He wanted to tell the First Human Emperor that he’d actually invented the Overlord Body legend himself. But, knowing that if he confessed, he’d probably get beaten up by all the Human Emperors—and maybe even by the First Human Emperor himself—he suppressed the urge.
They arrived at the riverbank. For the Human Emperors, Qin Mu and the others had simply gone to the river’s center for a brief battle; not much time had passed. But for Qin Mu, more than a month had elapsed aboard the ship.
At dawn, Connor Hayes and Ethan Shaw sensed the power of the Celestial River, opening the Celestial River Treasury as their Seventh Divine Treasury. The crowd was overcome with excitement.
Their success meant that the Celestial River Treasury could replace the Divine Bridge Treasury as the seventh realm!
But the process of replacing it would surely be a long one.
“Cult Master Quinn, did you create this Celestial River Treasury?” Zechariah Lee stared at the newly opened Celestial River Treasuries of the two Human Emperors, utterly astonished.
Quinn Shepherd smiled, unfazed. “I once made a wager with Victor Bloom to see who could open a new Seventh Divine Treasury first. Whoever won would be the true Overlord Body, and the loser would be the ‘female.’ Honestly, I wasn’t confident I could beat him—until Earth Mother Primordial Lady gifted me an Earth-Origin Dao Fruit. That let me break through the Life-and-Death realm in one leap. Victor Bloom is incredibly talented; anything I can think of, he can too. But his cultivation progressed just a bit slower than mine, so I managed to create the Celestial River Treasury ahead of him!”
Zechariah Lee’s heart swelled with admiration. “To have a Dao companion who constantly pushes you to improve—truly, that’s one of life’s greatest fortunes.”
He stayed behind to study the Celestial River Treasury, while Quinn Shepherd gathered his things and headed for the opposite bank of the river.
Now that the Celestial River Treasury could be opened, there was no need for him to intervene further. The Everpeace Empire would spread the Celestial River Treasury far and wide, and the Imperial Preceptor would develop techniques to seal the South Heaven Gate, allowing Everpeace’s gods to cultivate the Celestial River Treasury as well.
At the heart of the river, Quinn Shepherd rode atop the Dragon-Qilin, seated on the Dragon-Keeper Lord’s head as he steered the clouds and mist toward Hundred-Years Hill on the opposite shore.
From the blue depths, a treasure-blue old Dragon King surfaced, trailing behind as Quinn Shepherd floated swiftly toward the opposite bank and Hundred-Years Hill.
After last night’s battle, the Dragon-Keeper Lord was riding high, practically bursting with pride. He charged across the river, wishing every Dragon King and demigod in the waters would know he now had a formidable master.
The sun rose in the east, its rays spilling down as Quinn Shepherd looked eastward. It was as if the sun leapt straight out of the Celestial River, golden waves surging across the water like a tangle of dancing serpents.
Quinn Shepherd and the Dragon-Qilin exclaimed in unison, “What a sight!”
But Quinn Shepherd’s face soon darkened, for in the east, the rising sun twisted and warped, as if a crooked melon had split open—an image so strange it defied description.
Ever since the Primordial Realm reappeared, the celestial tapestry spanning ten thousand li could no longer shield Everpeace. Even the Heavenly Court’s gods, who maintained the workings of the heavens, grew more sluggish by the day.
It wasn’t really their fault. The celestial tapestry stretched ten thousand li wide and three hundred zhang thick, but now that the Primordial Realm had reappeared, countless magnificent mountains within it soared higher than the sky itself. The tapestry was left bulging here and sagging there, throwing the sun, moon, and stars into chaos and leaving the Heavenly Court’s gods scrambling to keep up.
Quinn Shepherd withdrew his gaze, no longer interested in watching. Suddenly, the river surged, and an elderly dragon-headed man rose from the water, leaning on his staff. He stood upon the surface, a crowd of dragon sons and grandsons behind him, blocking their way.
Divine mist billowed over the river’s surface, swirling with radiant light.
Among them, two dragon maidens took on human form—one carried a tray of glittering jewels, their light dazzling; the other held tea and snacks.
Quinn Shepherd had Dragon-Keeper Lord halt. “Why do you block my way, old sir?” he asked.
The old Dragon King bowed repeatedly. “My clan has guarded this stretch of the Celestial River as Dragon Kings since the Dragon-Han Heavenly Court, for a million years now. Generation after generation, we’ve protected this place and maintained the Celestial River’s flow. Yesterday, I witnessed Upper God’s divine might on full display; today, Upper God passes through once again, so I have come to pay my respects.”
“Upper God?”
Quinn Shepherd burst out laughing and shook his head. “I’m not an Upper God yet—I’ve only opened the Celestial River Treasury, nothing more. I’m still a long way from the god realm.”