After Moon-Venerable and the others raised Sky-River Court into the sky, there was a brief bustle, but they did not linger in the court. Instead, everyone packed their belongings and went together to preach the Dao among the human tribes.
Quinn hesitated for a moment, then had Annie carry the lantern before joining them to spread the Dao.
"Cloud, you're acting a bit strange."
Moon-Venerable sized him up, shaking her head: "Carrying a lantern in broad daylight."
Venerable Ling had no interest in ordinary folk and stayed behind in Sky-River Court to pursue her own research. Only Moon-Venerable, Dao Ancestor, and a few other human gods accompanied this journey.
The place they built for teaching the Dao was quite simple, set in the center of the tribe. When Quinn and Moon-Venerable arrived, Dao Ancestor was already there preaching.
"How can we survive? What's the point of learning these arts!"
A grown man pulled his child to leave, grumbling, "It's not like this fills our bellies!"
The people in this tribe wore ragged clothes and looked malnourished. Dao Ancestor's teaching hall was just a rundown thatched hut, where a dozen or so teenagers sat inside, listening intently as Dao Ancestor taught them arts.
Quinn looked around: the tribe had over a thousand people, living by hunting and farming. All were laborers, toiling in the fields, and in the village stood a shrine with a god statue—he couldn't tell which demigod it was.
This place wasn't far from Sky-River Court; if you looked up, you could see it floating in the sky. Yet the shrine here worshipped a demigod, showing that at this time, human gods still held little status.
Dao Ancestor lectured for a while, explaining how to use arts to calculate the celestial cycles and locate the Five Luminaries within the body, so as to open the Five Luminaries Treasury. But then more parents arrived, pulling the few remaining children away for farm work, leaving only a handful behind.
Dao Ancestor finished, sighed, and quietly packed up his things.
Quinn and Moon-Venerable waited outside with the others. Dao Ancestor came out, bowed, and said, "To dispel ignorance and awaken wisdom is the hardest task. For now, all I can do is teach them how to open the Spirit Embryo Treasury and the Five Luminaries Treasury, hoping one of them becomes a practitioner of divine arts. If even one child masters divine arts, the villagers will see that humans too can wield great power, and they'll no longer fear the gods."
"That's what it means to break the god in one's heart," Quinn agreed, feeling the same struggle. This was the hardest step.
For a million years, human reformers had tried to break the god in their hearts, but even now, in the Everpeace Era, people were still troubled by it.
Moon-Venerable comforted, "Don't lose heart, old Daoist. Sooner or later, people will stop fearing and revering the gods."
Dao Ancestor hesitated, then voiced his thoughts: "Moon-Venerable, I feel there shouldn't be a 'god' realm at all. Realms are something we define—why must the Heaven Palace Realm be called the God Realm? Calling it the God Realm gives later generations the false impression that once the primordial spirit reaches the South Heaven Gate, they become a god."
"Well..." Moon-Venerable had never considered this, and turned to look at Quinn.
Quinn said, "You may not know, old Daoist, but we call it the God Realm to break the god in our hearts. 'God' refers to the ancient gods—born of the Dao, wielding powers mortals can't imagine, immortal, and one with heaven and earth. Through cultivation, mortals too can gain such powers, live forever, and become one with the world. That way, we can dispel the fear of ancient gods from people's hearts."
"So that's how it is," Dao Ancestor said, suddenly enlightened.
Quinn continued, "Back then, Heaven-Guide Venerable actually didn't want to call it the God Realm. The seven Heaven Palace realms are just realms, no different from the seven Divine Treasuries. In his and my view, the Heaven Palace is really just a great Divine Treasury, the eighth treasury. Those who reach the god stage are still just practitioners of divine arts. But to help people break the god in their hearts, we kept the name 'God Realm.'"
Moon-Venerable was surprised. "Cloud, I've never heard you mention this before!"
Quinn hesitated. "But I do worry that in the future, those who cultivate to the Heaven Palace might become existences like the ancient gods. That's why I've always had doubts about calling the Heaven Palace Realm the God Realm."
Moon-Venerable fell into deep thought.
Dao Ancestor muttered, "You two can debate these tricky matters yourselves. I'm off to the next tribe to preach." With that, he left.
Quinn too stood there, lost in thought.
The establishment of the god realm was actually decided by Heaven-Guide Venerable, Vast-Sky Venerable, and himself. But in essence, the seven Heaven Palace realms are just one vast Heaven Palace Divine Treasury. So-called gods are simply immortal practitioners of divine arts, not ancient gods in the traditional sense.
The reason they all agreed to call it 'god' was to break the worship of ancient gods.
Yet as Quinn looked at the demigod statue in this tribe, he felt a little dazed. In the Dragon-Han Era, people hadn't escaped worshiping ancient gods, and now they revered demigods who wielded even greater power than humans.
Moon-Venerable entered the thatched hut to teach. Just then, the people of the tribe scattered in panic, crying, "King Spiritmount is coming!"
"Quick, bring out the offerings!"
The villagers herded cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs to the wooden altar in the center of the tribe. The animals trembled on the altar.
Men, women, and children of the tribe knelt before the demigod statue, bowing and chanting prayers.
Suddenly, the sky darkened. A demigod descended on wind and thunder: two massive bird claws landed before the altar, wings folded, and a Heaven Palace swayed behind him, shadowing half the tribe.
King Spiritmount glanced at the altar, dissatisfied with the cattle and sheep. His voice was shrill and piercing: "Today I won't eat livestock. I want a change—bring me some boys and girls to enjoy!"
The old clan chief trembled, "Great King, these animals are for you. If it's not enough, we can gather more..."
Boom!
Lightning and thunder crackled around King Spiritmount as he roared, "Silence! Cattle and sheep are livestock—aren't you livestock too? You're just the intelligent livestock I raise. You worship me, I give you rain, harvests, protection from beasts. Isn't that enough for you animals? And now you complain when I eat a few boys and girls!"
Quinn frowned and pointed. A sword-light shot out. King Spiritmount sensed it, turned, and laughed, "So you've called a human god to help, you herd of livestock..."
As he spoke, his head suddenly fell to the ground—slain in one sword stroke, body and spirit alike.
Moon-Venerable rushed out from the hut and frowned at the scene.
The villagers were stunned. Suddenly, an elder wailed, pointing at Quinn and cursing, "You've doomed us all!"
An old woman stood up, spat thick phlegm at Quinn, and shouted, "King Spiritmount serves the God-Emperor! You killed him—the God-Emperor will wipe out our nine clans!"
"Don't leave! We’ll take you to the God-Emperor to pay for this!"
People surged forward to seize Quinn, shouting, "Don't let him go—he must pay! It's not our fault!"
"Seize him!"
Dragon-Qilin stepped in front of Quinn, roaring so loudly that houses all around shattered and collapsed.
Dragon-Qilin shook himself and transformed into a massive beast, blocking everyone. He was even larger than King Spiritmount had been.
The villagers were thrown off their feet by the shock. Seeing the enormous creature, many collapsed to the ground, some even fainting.
Quinn frowned. "Pi, that's not necessary."
Dragon-Qilin shrank back to his normal size.
Quinn surveyed the devastated tribe, then waved his hand. Miraculously, the collapsed houses rapidly rebuilt themselves, as if time were rewinding—they looked just as they had before.
Quinn lowered his hand and saw Moon-Venerable staring at him in shock, as if meeting him for the first time.
Quinn walked to Dragon-Qilin and looked at the people still lying on the ground, his gaze complicated.
Moon-Venerable stepped forward. "King Spiritmount was a subordinate of God-Emperor Jadecrest. Jadecrest rules most of the Primordial Realm and is unfathomably powerful. You were a bit reckless this time..."
"Then let's go meet God-Emperor Jadecrest."
Quinn strode forward. "The demigods under Jadecrest rule many humans. Now that the human Heavenly Court is founded, humans shouldn't be treated as livestock by his demigods anymore."
Moon-Venerable hesitated. "Jadecrest is the world's first demigod, his power is unfathomable. He was invited to the Heavenly Court summit by the Celestial Emperor himself. We're no match for him..."
Quinn said calmly, "I'm no longer Cloud-Venerable; I am Shepherd-Venerable, who establishes the Dao through divine arts. What Cloud-Venerable and the others couldn't do, I can."
As Quinn was about to leave, an old woman clung to his leg, wailing, "You can't go! You have to stay and pay for King Spiritmount's death!"
Moon-Venerable stepped forward and helped the old woman up. "We're going to see God-Emperor Jadecrest. You don't need to worry..."
"He can go, but you can't!"
The old woman grabbed her hand, shouting, "Keep this woman here—let her pay for King Spiritmount's death!"
Moon-Venerable tried to break free, afraid to hurt her. But the other villagers crowded around, grabbing at her, crying, "You can't leave!"
Moon-Venerable grew anxious. She gently roused her yuanqi to push the crowd back. The old woman, angry and distressed, rolled her eyes and fainted.
"The education of a people is simply to advance virtue, awaken wisdom, and strengthen their power."
Quinn strode forward, his voice tinged with barely suppressed anger: "If virtue doesn't advance, wisdom doesn't awaken, and strength doesn't grow, then even after a million years, people will remain just as ignorant as they are now!"
Moon-Venerable hurried after him. "If one generation can't change, then two! If two can't, then three, four! Someday, change will come!"
Quinn half-smiled. "If even a million years can't bring change, would you still have the same fighting spirit you do now?"
Moon-Venerable paused, speechless.
Quinn said decisively, "Moon, where does God-Emperor Jadecrest live? I'll go find him!"
Moon-Venerable was surprised. "Jadecrest naturally lives in the Jadecrest Divine Palace—it's incredibly luxurious. When we were planning the Human Heavenly Court, you even visited him there."
"I forgot," Quinn replied blandly.
Moon-Venerable grew more puzzled, but led the way. Behind them, Dragon-Qilin and Annie followed. Annie still carried her lantern, Loren Shaw trailed after Quinn, feeling anxious: "This man is so impulsive, no wonder he has so many enemies. Now he's going to fight someone called Jadecrest... Should I go too? Jadecrest—my ancestors' memories mention him. He fought in the Blood-Rust Belt..."
The Jadecrest Divine Palace dwarfed the Human Celestial Court—opulent on a scale beyond imagining. From afar, it looked like the true Heavenly Court, while the Human Celestial Court was but a poor little town in comparison.
This celestial palace was unique—though built in the sky, it was borne aloft by countless massive demigods, each carrying a palace on their backs as they stood on the earth, their muscular forms fierce and terrifying.
The spectacle was breathtaking—a testament to the demigods' might.
"When we reach the Jadecrest Divine Palace, you must restrain yourself and speak politely to God-Emperor Jadecrest."
Moon-Venerable instructed, "He admires you. Last time you visited, he personally received you, offered you fine wine, and called you Dao-friend. He holds you in high regard..."
"Jadecrest—"
Quinn suddenly spoke, his voice booming. Dark clouds gathered in the sky, thunder roared, and for thousands of miles the storm swept toward the Jadecrest Divine Palace.
The clouds thickened, tens of miles deep, heavy as lead. Lightning crackled within them, and suddenly the entire storm formed a colossal face. The face opened its mouth and roared at the countless halls and palaces below: "Come out here!"
A fierce wind swept through the Jadecrest Divine Palace, tearing roofs from the halls. A branch of the celestial river was drawn in, forming a Jade Pool whose waters nearly emptied, flying off in all directions!
Within the palace, countless gods looked up in terror at the horrifying scene.
Suddenly, from the High Heaven Hall, dazzling sunlight rose and evaporated the storm clouds overhead. Layers of divine light burst forth, illuminating the land for miles.
Jadecrest's voice rang out, furious: "So it's Shepherd-Venerable! You madman, what are you yelling about in my domain? I am the ancestor of all demigods—do you think I wouldn't dare deal with you?"
Behind him, another celestial palace leapt forth. His Primordial Spirit stood upon the Jade Terrace, dominating the realm.
In terms of cultivation, he was at the Jade Pool Stage, a true god. Yet his demigod bloodline was so pure that, as an adult, his power rivaled ancient gods—he hardly needed to cultivate.
Jadecrest was the son of the ancient God-Emperor and Queen Serena Gong, one of the three great Maker sovereigns. His bloodline was exalted, and he was already grown.
The ancient Seven Venerables and Quinn defined the realms of Divine Treasury and Heaven Palace together, but these have never truly measured one's battle strength.
As the ancestor of all demigods, his power was utterly terrifying!
Quinn strode forward toward the Jadecrest Divine Palace, his yuanqi erupting like a razor-sharp sword aimed straight at the Southern Heaven Gate.
The Southern Heaven Gate suddenly split down the middle, sliced in two by his essence and spirit!
A deep sword scar appeared on the Heavenly Street, crackling as it lengthened, slicing forward at lightning speed. Every hall it passed split open, and even the main gate of Jade Capital City was sliced cleanly in two—the gatehouse divided perfectly down the center!
The sword qi sliced through the Undertaking Heaven Gate, coming to a stop before the High Heaven Hall!