Although he took out the Jade Pendant, he did not remove it, hesitating as he said, "Lord Hades said this pendant is meant to suppress the demonic nature in my body. I can't show it to others lightly, and if it leaves my body for too long, something bad might happen."
The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "With me by your side, what bad thing could possibly happen? At worst, some curses or a bit of lightning—petty tricks, nothing I care about."
Quinn Shepherd gritted his teeth, took off the Jade Pendant, and thought to himself, "I've taken it off before to show the villagers and to show Crystal, and nothing bad ever happened. It should be fine this time too."
The Woodcutter Sage accepted the pendant, studied it closely, and nodded. "It really is a Keane-line Jade Pendant. Hm, this one isn't quite the same as the usual Keane pendants—there's a deeper layer inside, hiding a strange sealing array. That formation must be meant to seal something. Could it be what's suppressing your demonic nature?"
Quinn said, "Someone carried me out of the Netherworld and brought me to the Great Ruins. Granny Sue found me there—aside from the basket and swaddling cloth, all I had was this pendant. The person who brought me was mortally wounded and died soon after..."
His face darkened as he continued, "Granny Sue is the Saintess of the Cult of the Heavenly Saint—she raised me to adulthood. I've always worn this pendant. Granny Sue and the others never discovered any other use for it, only that it could repel the darkness of the Great Ruins, but it only protected infants. Later, our Village Chief realized the pendant could guide us to Carefree Haven, but it turned out to be a trap—the pendant led me to Nether City, where demon gods ambushed us outside."
"This Jade Pendant really does hold more secrets."
The Woodcutter Sage fiddled with the pendant, his eyes showing a hint of surprise. "It doesn't just guide you to Carefree Haven—it can guide you to the Netherworld too. Because it was forged in the Netherworld, and the one who made it is far stronger than I am. Strange... with such a powerful seal, just what is it meant to contain?"
His gaze grew distant, curiosity stirring. "If I suppress the sealing array inside this pendant, I can find out what it's really meant to seal..."
Quinn felt a bit of anticipation too. Last time in Nether City, Lord Hades tried the same thing, but Quinn lost consciousness and didn't see what happened afterward.
He was also intensely curious about what the pendant was actually sealing, and what might happen if the seal was broken.
The Woodcutter Sage saw the look of anticipation on his face, hesitated for a moment while holding the pendant, but ultimately handed it back to him.
Quinn was puzzled.
"Whoever forged this pendant is truly formidable—an extremely powerful existence in the Netherworld. The Netherworld has always been mysterious; very few have ever glimpsed its true nature. Even the Keane Emperor doesn't know how many experts are hidden within."
The Woodcutter Sage said, "There must be a deeper purpose to keeping this pendant on you. I think it's best not to meddle with it. Since Lord Hades instructed you never to let it leave your body, you should follow his advice."
He also wanted to know what would happen if the seal in the pendant was suppressed, but he forced himself to hold back.
Quinn had no choice but to put the pendant away and hang it back around his neck.
By now, many High-Emperor Heaven cultivator armies had already garrisoned the City of Departure, repairing the ruined buildings and fortifying the defenses. Quinn looked around but saw no weapons like Primordial-Energy Cannons or Solar-Shooting God Cannons.
High-Emperor Heaven's cultivators are indeed powerful—much stronger than those of the Everpeace Empire—but their skills in numerology and engineering are poor. Weapons like the Primordial-Energy Cannon require advanced numerological expertise, which they simply don't possess.
Even if Quinn drew up blueprints for the Primordial-Energy Cannon or Solar-Shooting God Cannon and handed them over, they probably couldn't build them. Only the Everpeace Empire has enough numerology experts to actually forge such weapons.
Quinn sat down; the steps before the tower were icy cold.
He glanced back; the Black Tiger God stood below the tower and hadn't come up.
'All the divine arts I know are hidden within the scripture. If you study it carefully, you can learn any technique you wish. That scripture was actually passed down to me by the Keane Emperor. I've learned too much, too many things. Even with the highest teachings from the Keane Emperor, I couldn't advance further—among gods and demons, I'm only average.'
The Woodcutter Sage said, 'Later I realized that learning too much isn't always good. Come, let's watch the sunrise.'
'Sunrise?'
Quinn's eye twitched. He looked up and saw a twisted, half-broken sun in midair, slowly emitting red light—so dazzling it hurt to look at.
His face immediately turned pale, and he quickly looked away, suppressing his urge to stare. The Woodcutter Sage beside him also grew pale and lowered his head.
The sunrise in High-Emperor Heaven made both of them feel as if they were sitting on pins and needles, unable to relax.
Quinn is the Heavenly Demon Cult Master, an expert in numerology who also studied carpentry with Master Mark. He strives for perfection in architecture—even Granny Sue's handmade furniture, Quinn would modify. So how could he ignore such a glaring flaw in the sun above?
The Heavenly Demon Cult has both a Craftsmen Hall and an Artisans Hall, each with strict standards for workmanship. Both halls originate from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra, extending its numerology and craft methods into specialized branches. The Sutra itself was passed down by the Woodcutter Sage, so it's clear he has astonishing skill in numerology.
The divine arts practitioners of High-Emperor Heaven are quite proud—the sun in the sky was created by their gods. But to the two of them, it was an eyesore.
In the sky, another intact sun gradually brightened. Both suns hung motionless in the air.
The Woodcutter Sage's eye twitched; he tried not to look up. 'The people of High-Emperor Heaven have completely lost their craftsmanship!'
'The god who forged the sun is called the Sun-Creator Deity,' Quinn said, lowering his head.
'Bah! Sun-Creator Deity? I know that guy—he was originally just a cook in the Heavenly Court!'
Quinn was stunned.
The Woodcutter Sage stood up. 'The way to become a Teenage True God is best comprehended by yourself, not taught by me. What I teach is mine; what you comprehend is truly yours. I've led you to the door—the rest, you must walk yourself.'
He looked off into the distance. In the south, west, and north of the City of Departure, demonic energy still surged like giant cauldrons covering the world. 'I came to High-Emperor Heaven this time only to stop the demons from blood-sacrificing it. Furylo is the demon strategist. He retreated this time because he lacked the strength to face my sudden arrival. Next time, his attack will shake the heavens!'
Quinn's heart skipped a beat. He quickly asked, 'Can High-Emperor Heaven withstand it?'
Boom—
The earth trembled. Quinn quickly looked toward the sound and saw that on the distant battlefield, many High-Emperor Heaven practitioners were piling the bodies of fallen demons and humans into mountains of corpses.
Suddenly, the ground split open and a massive altar slowly rose from the earth. The light of blood-sacrifice flickered, and a red beam shot skyward. In that red light, a towering stone statue appeared atop the altar.
Boom, boom—violent tremors echoed as more and more altars surfaced on the battlefield, each resembling the character 'gold' with its top cut off.
On these tower-like altars, beams of red light shot into the sky as stone statues appeared one after another!
Quinn's heart surged with excitement. He looked up at the Woodcutter Sage, eagerly awaiting his answer.
'No, it can't be stopped.'
The Woodcutter Sage dashed his hopes: 'We can only delay it for a while.'