Quinn Shepherd smiled faintly, leaving Bruno and the water kirin outside. He said, "Brother, let's go in."
Grace Gongsun led the way ahead, with Heaven-Guide Venerable following Quinn in a daze as they entered the underground palace.
Outside the hall, the water kirin hung his head, trembling with fear. He dared not look at the old dragon, much less glance up at the phoenix.
The phoenix stood before them, leisurely preening its feathers. The old dragon coiled around a pillar, lowering its massive head. Its dim, ancient eyes stared at them like a wary guard, its head bigger than Bruno and the water kirin combined.
The water kirin grew even more anxious. Beside him, Bruno rustled around, somehow producing a few spirit pills and offered them to the old dragon, "Want some?"
The water kirin inwardly groaned, but saw the old dragon stretch, descend from the pillar, and transform into an elder with a dragon's head and human body. He took a pill, tasted it, and praised, "Delicious! Why haven't you taken human form yet, youngster? You're still walking the primitive demigod path, growing by eating. This path's already proven to be a dead end. Only by taking human form can you open Divine Treasuries and Heaven Palaces to cultivate."
Bruno asked for advice, "Cult Master Quinn taught me the Ancestral Dragon Supreme-Mystic Art, said it's an Emperor's-Throne-tier technique, but it always feels off when I practice. He said my qilin bloodline makes it not quite suitable for me."
The old dragon replied, "So that's it. Dragons are born from dragon veins—I'm from one myself. The Ancestral Dragon Supreme-Mystic Art is already a top-tier technique. But with qilin blood mixed in, it's hard for you to cultivate it properly. I don't know any qilin arts myself, but there are plenty of qilin here. Go seek them out for some superior techniques. Come with me!"
Bruno followed him away.
The water kirin stared wide-eyed. "That easygoing?"
The old dragon led him to an imperial mausoleum and called out in a booming voice, "Lucius Lu! Lucius Lu!"
A stone qilin slowly shed its rocky shell, transforming into a majestic fire qilin. "Dragon King, why have you summoned me?" he asked.
"This junior here carries both dragon and qilin blood, but lacks qilin cultivation techniques. Pass him a few arts."
The old dragon said, "I've eaten his spirit pills, so I must give him something in return."
The fire qilin looked Bruno over and asked, "So it's that youngster from earlier. Got any more spirit pills?"
Bruno hurriedly produced more spirit pills and said, "I saw how fierce you were, Brother, so I didn't dare approach before."
The fire qilin replied with pride, "We're tasked with guarding the imperial tombs. Of course we have to be fierce."
Suddenly, the other qilin guardians at the mausoleums awakened, landing on auspicious clouds around Bruno, laughing, "What a delicious aroma!"
Bruno took out even more spirit pills and handed them out. "I just passed through here and was so scared by you all I nearly lost control of myself," he admitted.
The qilin were delighted, laughing, "We were just trying to scare you—keeps little thieves from sneaking in."
Bruno handed over all his spirit pills, with the old dragon taking a share too. The group quickly bonded with Bruno, calling him 'brother' and growing lively.
Bruno was deeply moved: "Thankfully, Cult Master Quinn crafted these spirit pills to suit both dragon and qilin tastes. That's the only reason I could connect with them."
"Brother, your bloodline has both dragon and qilin in it. That makes things tricky—no wonder you struggle to take human form."
A qilin demigod said, "If you try to cultivate two arts at once, it's hard to master either. We'll help you adjust them."
In front of the palace, the water kirin watched as the demigod elites surrounded Bruno, teaching him hand-in-hand how to cultivate. He couldn't help but envy them: "We're both mounts—so why does he get to mix with the upper crust while I have to sit here under the phoenix's stare...?"
The phoenix kept staring at him, then suddenly asked in a soft voice, "Do you have any spirit pills?"
The water kirin replied honestly, "No."
The phoenix lost interest and resumed staring at him.
The water kirin sighed, "When will Old Blue finally learn to refine spirit pills?"
The underground palace was so vast, even passing through the gates took time. Quinn felt as if he'd returned to the wild, untamed Dragon-Han Era.
Heaven-Guide Venerable gazed at the palace, looking lost. He murmured, "I feel like I've been here before. It seems familiar..."
Quinn slowed his pace, hopeful. "Brother, can you remember anything?"
Heaven-Guide grew even more confused, tapped his own head, and shook it. "I can't remember anything... Brother, I think I'm not really your blood brother!"
He looked deadly serious.
Quinn couldn't help but laugh. "What are you saying? Your surname is Lan, mine is Qin. Of course we're not real brothers."
He hurried after Grace Gongsun, surveying the great hall's layout. The interior was simple—no murals on the walls, only some drawings spread across the smooth floor.
Quinn's Primordial Spirit appeared behind him, rising up to look down and finally see the floor drawings clearly.
The drawings were enormous. One showed the world's beginning—a giant tree rooted in ancient earth, stabilizing the surging earth, water, wind, and fire.
Beneath the tree lay a woman, waking from sleep. Beside her, a man reached out as if to help her up.
In the sky above was a giant formed of light; underground, a monster with bull horns and a tiger's head.
Heaven-Guide's expression grew even more forlorn. He whispered, "I knew I was adopted. Where are my real parents?"
Quinn nearly tripped at the question, shaking his head. "What kind of nonsense is rattling around in Heaven-Guide's little brain?"
He looked at the second drawing. This one showed the woman and the tree standing tall, the tree's leaves transforming into countless heavens. Within those heavens, demigods and ancient gods lived happily, while the tree's roots stretched across the continent, forming mountains, rivers, and various dragon veins.
Some of the dragon veins gradually gained spirit and turned into divine dragons, undergoing transformation.
[Irrelevant meta message: This chapter isn't over yet ^.^, please click next page to continue reading!]
"Real parents?"
At that moment, Earth Mother Primordial Lady's divine sense rippled through. She asked in puzzlement, "Heaven-Guide Venerable, your parents passed away long ago. Don't you remember?"
Heaven-Guide was stunned, turning away to quietly wipe his tears.
Quinn stopped looking at the floor drawings and followed the voice. He saw that the divine sense came from a patch of light—distinct from the harsh brilliance of the palace, this glow was gentle, as if filled with the power of life.
Within the light, ancient divine consciousness rippled like waves, and a woman swam back and forth amid the radiance.
Behind the woman, a heart formed of solidified light floated, pierced by a rusted iron sword.
Quinn studied her face closely—she looked just like the goddess statue in the temple, with a full forehead and square jaw.
He noticed many tree roots, like blood vessels, stretching out from the heart.
Could those roots beneath the earth... and that heart be...?
He felt a stir in his heart—the heart in the light was immense, as if hidden in a vast space, seemingly in the hall yet impossibly distant.
"You must be Heaven-Guide Venerable. I sense my blessing upon you."
The woman swam before the heart, gazing at them through layers of light. Her ancient divine sense rippled, but when it entered Quinn and the others' minds, it echoed like a great bell: "When you opened the Spirit Embryo Treasury, I and other ancient gods descended and bestowed blessings. My blessing remains in your body—I would never mistake it. Why don't you recognize me, or remember the past?"
Quinn replied, "Earth Mother Primordial Lady, his soul is incomplete—he's lost his memory."
"So that's it."
The woman in the light said sadly, "When did Heaven-Guide Venerable die? Was it at the Jade Pool Grand Assembly, killed by treachery a million years ago? Later, when three Heavenly Courts stood side by side, I heard rumors he was active in the world. I went to see for myself and met a Heaven-Guide Venerable—brilliant, but not as dazzling as the one I remembered, and lacking the blessings of the gods. I suspected that one was not the true Heaven-Guide."
Quinn said, "Heaven-Guide Venerable was indeed assassinated at the Jade Pool Grand Assembly."
The woman in the light asked, "Then how did you preserve his body and restore his soul after all this time?"
Quinn remained composed and smiled. "Why do you say that, Primordial Lady? I didn't preserve his body. The underworld officials of Youdu summoned me, asking me to revive someone. Only then did I bring Heaven-Guide Venerable back to life."
The woman gazed at him through the light, then smiled after a moment. "I thought you might've been at the Jade Pool Grand Assembly too."
Quinn was taken aback, then laughed. "Primordial Lady, you're joking! That was a million years ago—how could I have been there?"
The woman said, "At the Jade Pool Grand Assembly, Heaven-Guide Venerable was killed. I spread my divine sense over the Jade Pool and saw someone whose temperament resembled yours, though the face was different. That's why I asked. Lady Umbral mentioned you to me—you should know why I've invited you here, right?"
Quinn replied solemnly, "Primordial Lady, I suppose you saw Lady Umbral rise from death, so you want me to perform a ritual to resurrect you as well."
The woman smiled. "Lady Umbral spoke highly of you, said you're a peerless grand archmage. That's why I asked you to come."
Quinn stepped forward, studying the woman in the light. After a moment, he shook his head. "Primordial Lady, you have no physical body. Even if I could restore your three souls, you couldn't be revived. Where is your body?"
The woman in the light replied, "Those traitorous ministers hacked it away. The sword in my heart is their doing too. Luckily, they underestimated me and didn't realize my vitality—my earth soul escaped into my heart. But the other two souls were destroyed. Don't worry, if you gather my other two souls, I have my own way to revive."
Quinn let out a breath. "If it's just gathering two souls, it'll be difficult, but I should manage. But your cultivation far surpasses Lady Umbral's—I'm not sure my current realm is enough."
He removed the willow leaf from his brow and slowly channeled his magic, forming a Gate of Heaven behind him. "Who were the traitorous ministers who killed you? How did they have such terrifying power to slay someone like you?"
The woman in the light gritted her teeth, hatred overflowing. She said coldly, "The Heaven Alliance!"
Quinn's heart thudded violently.
The woman's gaze flashed like lightning, fixing on him. "Grand archmage, why did your blood and qi surge, and your heart race, when you heard the words 'Heaven Alliance'?"