The Pioneer Divine grew anxious and tugged at Quinn, trying to hurry him out of the Umbral World before disaster struck. But no matter how hard he pulled, Quinn wouldn’t budge.
Quinn glanced back and could vaguely see the black sand in the Umbral World suddenly growing dense and violent. Everywhere, the air was filled with frenzied streams of black sand, swirling in massive arcs like dragons, rampaging through heaven and earth!
But the entire Umbral World was filled with this stuff, so his eyes couldn’t see very far.
"Take care, Lady Umbral!"
Quinn knew he wasn’t even qualified to watch the battle. He grabbed the two Glutton Dragon Pouches, hugged the Heavenly Fire Crystal Pillar, and left the Umbral World with the Pioneer Divine, making their way into the long fissure beneath the mountain wall.
The Pioneer Divine staggered, drowsy and on the verge of sleep.
Quinn frowned. His Primordial Spirit appeared behind him, taking charge of the Glutton Dragon Pouches and the Heavenly Fire Crystal Pillar, while Quinn himself activated the Creation Demon Art from the Grand Nurturing Demon Scripture, using his qi as a needle to tap repeatedly on the Pioneer Divine’s body. He said in a low voice, "The Woodcutter Sage’s seal on you is too heavy. It’s suppressing your soul too harshly—he never expected you’d be this weak. Let me loosen it a bit for you!"
He worked quickly, and the Pioneer Divine immediately felt a bit better. Just then, a gentle voice drifted out from the Umbral World: "Lady Umbral, it’s been a long time."
The moment Quinn heard that voice, his mind grew hazy and sluggish. He snapped to attention—Prince Umbral’s voice carried soul-bewitching powers!
He hurriedly dragged the Pioneer Divine along the mountain fissure, using the motion to keep himself alert. His Primordial Spirit followed close behind, step for step.
"Lady Umbral has returned from the dead—what a joyous occasion! May I ask, Lady Umbral, where is the Dao-friend who resurrected you?"
Prince Umbral’s voice continued, gentle and refined—not only did it carry soul-bewitching powers, it also made you feel as if he were your most understanding, intimate lover. Of course, this didn’t work on men.
"That Dao-friend is remarkable indeed, to have created a divine art capable of reuniting shattered souls. With such unparalleled talent, he truly deserves to be called my peer. I must meet him myself and seek his guidance. Lady Umbral, why not introduce us?"
Lady Umbral’s voice rang out: "That great one has already left, Prince Umbral. There’s no need to waste your efforts on him. It’s been so long since we last met—shouldn’t we have a proper talk?"
Her voice snapped Quinn awake. He looked around and felt a chill run down his spine, cold sweat soaking his body.
Right in front of him, the Umbral World Stele stood silently!
Just moments ago, he’d thought he was heading out along the fissure—yet somehow, he’d ended up right back in front of the Umbral World Stele!
Clearly, he’d fallen for it without realizing—Prince Umbral’s voice had bewitched him.
He thought he was escaping, but the divine art woven into Prince Umbral’s voice had dulled his senses. He hadn’t even noticed when he turned around.
If Lady Umbral’s voice hadn’t broken Prince Umbral’s spell, he’d probably already be back inside the Umbral World by now.
"This person’s mastery of souls is leagues beyond Lou Qianchong!"
Seizing his brief moment of clarity, Quinn yanked the Pioneer Divine and bolted forward at full speed.
Behind them, Prince Umbral’s voice sounded again: "We should indeed have a good talk. But this great one created a soul-reuniting divine art right on the spot, triggering changes in the Dao itself—how could I not be curious?"
Quinn’s mind grew foggy again. He stopped in his tracks, not daring to take another step—terrified that moving forward would mean falling under Prince Umbral’s spell.
Lady Umbral laughed, "Of course, of course. If the opportunity arises, I’ll be sure to introduce him."
As her voice rang out, Quinn seized the chance to dash forward, dragging the Pioneer Divine in a headlong rush out of the mountain fissure. Ahead, light shone through—Quinn leapt, slapped the stone gate at the fissure’s mouth, twisted in midair, and vaulted over the cliff’s edge.
But behind him, the Pioneer Divine was struck by sunlight from outside—black smoke burst from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, and he turned into a limp human skin. Quinn still clung to his hand, and together—one man, one skin—they drifted down from the sky.
Quinn’s Primordial Spirit also shot out of the fissure, drifting down with them.
Crystal Blaze, Ivy He, and the others had waited anxiously for days and nights outside the cliff. They’d already opened up High-Emperor Heaven and paved a road, but Quinn still hadn’t appeared, and their worry grew.
Crystal Blaze said, "Fat Dragon, are you sure you saw the Cowherd Brother go into that fissure?"
Bruno the Dragon-Qilin shook his head, "I was dozing off. I just heard the Cult Master speak and was about to open my eyes to see where he was, but I felt someone pressing down on my eyelids, so I didn’t open them…"
Just then, Quinn burst out of the cliff with someone, startling everyone with joy and fright. Then the person beside Quinn screamed, black smoke gushing from his features, turning into a human skin, which gave the crowd another shock.
Quinn landed, still holding the Pioneer Divine’s hand. He looked back, but the fissure was calm; Lady Umbral and Prince Umbral’s voices had vanished. He finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Crystal Blaze stared blankly at the limp Pioneer Divine Quinn was dragging, her voice trembling: "Cowherd Brother, what’s that in your hand…?"
Quinn quickly laid the Pioneer Divine flat, rolled him up like clothes, and said, "This is a god from the Pioneer Era I met in the Umbral World, sent by the Woodcutter Sage to investigate the source of darkness. He’s lost his flesh; his soul is sealed in the skin. I’ll roll him up for now—he’ll revive at night."
"Umbral World? Source of darkness?"
Crystal Blaze and Ivy He stared wide-eyed, having no idea what he was talking about.
Quinn took out a small rope, tied up the rolled Pioneer Divine, and said, "Fat Dragon, you keep him. Fat Dragon?"
Bruno the Dragon-Qilin buried his head in the mountain stream, his rear sticking out, trembling.
Quinn shook his head, strapped the Pioneer Divine to his back, and asked, "Is the cave open yet?"
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Ivy He said, "With Crystal Blaze’s help, High-Emperor Heaven is open. The cave is huge—even a Solar Ark can fit, but we need to put away the sun first. This human skin…"
She shuddered, creeped out.
Quinn chuckled, "Don’t be scared. He’s actually easy to talk to—just like Grandpa Mute. Both of them are pretty chatty."
His Primordial Spirit stepped forward, set down the Heavenly Fire Crystal Pillar and Glutton Dragon Pouches, and Quinn took out some Umbral Gold. "He’s just in a weird state now. Once I craft a container to store darkness for him, he’ll be normal again… Well, still pretty weird."
The two girls exchanged confused glances.
A human skin, chatty?
Just like Grandpa Mute, chatty?
It really is weird.
Quinn pulled a medium-sized forge from the Glutton Dragon Pouch, placed Umbral Gold on it, shoved the Heavenly Fire Crystal Pillar into the furnace, carefully controlled his qi, and activated the pillar. Suddenly, a flare melted and vaporized the entire platform, leaving nothing behind.
Quinn stared in shock, at a loss—everything was gone, even the Umbral Gold had been vaporized!
"Using this fire to open a path is incredibly fast!" Crystal Blaze exclaimed happily.
Ivy He’s eyes filled with fear. She quickly shook her head and whispered, "If we’re not careful with this fire, it’ll burn us to nothing too!"
Crystal Blaze didn’t understand. "Just control the heat," she said.
She looked completely matter-of-fact, as if controlling the fire should be simple.
Quinn’s heart stirred. "Crystal, this is Profound Capital’s Heavenly Fire. I’m nowhere near as skilled at controlling the heat as you are. Give it a try."
Crystal Blaze stepped forward, using her qi to activate the Heavenly Fire Crystal Pillar. The flame seemed to come alive, stretching and splitting into crystal-like tongues, growing serene.
Quinn carefully placed more Umbral Gold, controlling the sand-like divine metal in the flames, which slowly melted.
"See? Easy!" Crystal Blaze laughed.
Quinn beamed. "Crystal, you’re a master at fire control—I can’t compare. You could join me going door-to-door, sharpening knives and scissors, forging ladles and shovels. You’d be great!"
He used the molten Umbral Gold to craft a delicate hourglass, marked with time graduations and inscribed with many runes.
This hourglass resembled Prince Umbral’s Tian Dou, but it was just a replica.
Prince Umbral’s system was far more complex—the soul-black sand cycled through the Great Ruins, the Umbral World, and all the heavens.
Quinn planned to use the Umbral Gold hourglass to store some soul-black sand, letting it flow between the Pioneer Divine’s body and the hourglass.
This would form a small cycle—so long as the time calibration was precise, the Pioneer Divine would alternate between human skin and human form with each day and night.
Umbral Gold is a divine metal from the Umbral World, one of the few substances able to contain black sand, making it ideal for this artifact.
Next, Quinn crafted a tiny base, filled with gears precisely calibrated to sunrise and sunset, not ordinary time.
Each gear was inscribed with runes that would resonate with the Pioneer Divine, maintaining the system.
This created a miniature Umbral World cycle.
When finished, Quinn placed the hourglass on the base, refining both until they were just a couple fingers tall—extremely delicate.
Quinn made a ring to hold the hourglass and base, like a slightly large pendant. With a chain, it could hang on the Pioneer Divine’s neck and sustain the cycle.
Once finished, he breathed a sigh of relief and stretched.
Crystal Blaze took the oddly shaped necklace. Not only was it functional, it was beautiful—she loved it.
Quinn glanced back at the cliff wall, thinking, "I wonder how Lady Umbral’s fight with Prince Umbral is going? If she can’t keep him bottled up in the Umbral World, she might still die…"
Within the Umbral World, atop the sea, a towering woman stood at the ocean’s center, driving a colossal tower, battling Prince Umbral across worlds.