Quinn Shepherd devoted himself to copying the runes inscribed on the Creation Divine Wheel. As the saying goes, 'a good memory is no match for a worn-out pen.' While transcribing, layer upon layer of insights surfaced in his mind; some runes, once written, naturally revealed their meaning, and along the way, he grasped several new flesh-creation divine arts.
But there were still many rune marks that needed to be deduced and calculated before their mysteries could be understood.
"I really should've brought hundreds or even thousands of Everpeace scholars to study and copy these together. The speed would be unbelievable—so many minds, so much wisdom! With all those scholars transcribing, all sorts of wild ideas would burst forth!"
That's the power of an empire: in every field, you can gather a whole crowd of talent for large-scale research, making progress far faster than working alone.
"Unfortunately, Chi Creek is the stubborn type—he only yields after a good beating. You have to thrash him hard before he'll be truly subdued and willing to cooperate with us."
Quinn tried using his own vital qi to light up the runes on the Creation Divine Wheel, activating their changes and continuing his transcription. He thought, "The First Ancestor's skills aren't bad—just not sure if he can really subdue Chi Creek."
Inside the Chiming Heavenlock Tower, the First Ancestor Human Emperor fought with unmatched valor, battling his way up from the three-hundredth floor.
This tower was a supreme treasure built to suppress a Celestial Palace, its power immense. Every floor enshrined a famed god-weapon from the Chiming Era, and each set contained six blades—the signature Chiming configuration.
Chi Creek channeled his own magic power to activate the god-weapons, unleashing a surge in strength. Combined with the thousand treasures hanging outside each floor, these formed a grand array, their might immense, attacking the First Ancestor alongside him.
A thousand god-weapons shook, their divine might blasting at the First Ancestor within the tower. Chi Creek's six treasures spun and soared, power surging sky-high—only to be smashed apart by the First Ancestor, who shattered the treasure array and sent Chi Creek flying, forcing him to retreat to the next floor.
The higher the floor, the more powerful the treasures enshrined within, and the stronger the arrays of god-weapons hanging outside. By the time the First Ancestor Human Emperor had fought his way up to the eight-hundredth floor, even he was feeling the strain.
In fact, after the three-hundredth floor, it was no longer Chi Creek controlling these treasures—they were controlling him. Compared to the power of the treasures and arrays, Chi Creek’s own cultivation was insignificant!
The First Ancestor Human Emperor was battling the Chiming Heavenlock Tower’s treasures and arrays themselves, forcing his way up all the way to the eight-hundredth floor!
"If I keep fighting, I’m afraid I’ll end up injured too."
The First Ancestor’s eyes flashed as he thought, "Looks like Chi Creek can’t hold out much longer either. His Seamless War-God Art isn’t truly flawless—it only works by absorbing the opponent’s blood and essence to keep himself at peak condition. But there’s a catch: he has to injure his opponent first. If the opponent is unhurt, he’s helpless and can only burn his own vital qi, growing weaker and weaker."
Chi Creek’s three-headed, six-armed battle body was indeed formidable, but still much weaker than the First Ancestor. By now, he’d been beaten bloody all over and could barely keep going.
The only reason Chi Creek could still hold out was because the First Ancestor wanted to impress Quinn Shepherd—he wanted Quinn to see just how overwhelming his Heaven–and-Earth Seal technique was, so Quinn would willingly ask to learn it.
The First Ancestor fought his way up to the eight-hundredth floor just to show Quinn his imprint technique. As long as Quinn saw its intricacy and wanted to learn, the First Ancestor could offer it at just the right moment, and everyone would be satisfied.
"I’ve reached the eight-hundredth floor—everything that needed to be shown has been shown. Time to finish this!"
Suddenly, the First Ancestor erupted with full power, unleashing the Heaven–and-Earth Everlasting Seal. With one strike, the space within the tower nearly solidified; Chi Creek was pinned in midair, his body violently shaken as if struck by an invisible force!
His body trembled a hundred times, as if struck by a hundred terrifying blows!
Suddenly, the treasures in his hands spun out of control, their power erupting as they blasted toward the First Ancestor Human Emperor!
These six great treasures no longer needed his guidance—they attacked the First Ancestor on their own.
The First Ancestor drew his sword from his waist. With six light thrusts, a crisp clang rang out—the six treasures snapped, their power snuffed out, destroyed by the divine sword in his hand!
The First Ancestor’s swordsmanship wasn’t particularly refined; what truly dominated was the sword itself. The divine might within it could match the entire Chiming Heavenlock Tower head-on—clearly, this was no ordinary treasure!
The Human Emperor Hall was built inside Jadebright Heaven Palace, one of the Thirty-Six Heaven Palaces. This sword—the Jadebright Sword—was the palace-suppressing treasure of the Kaihuang Heaven Court, the royal prince’s waist sword, and naturally extraordinary!
As soon as the sword appeared, all the god-weapons hanging outside the tower shuddered violently, their power sweeping in chaotic waves. Beams of divine light, hundreds of miles long, flashed through the air, slicing the surrounding space again and again.
The First Ancestor dispersed his imprint technique, and with a thud, Chi Creek crashed to the floor. The god-weapons hanging outside the tower came tumbling down—thousands of floors, all the weapons falling, a spectacular sight.
This was the clash of the Chiming Heavenlock Tower and the Jadebright Sword. Overwhelmed, the tower’s treasures were cut down by the sword’s radiance!
Though the sword’s power was immense, the First Ancestor’s swordsmanship was not advanced, so he rarely used it.
Ben Coates saw all this and shivered, hesitated a moment, then slowly faded away and vanished.
Chi Creek’s three heads were bleeding as he struggled to crawl toward the eight-hundred-and-first floor. He tried to climb the stairs, but slipped back down again.
"Brother, there’s no need for this to end in life or death."
The First Ancestor sheathed his sword, stepped forward, and helped him up. "I truly bear you no ill will—you can see that. If I’d used my full strength from the start, you wouldn’t have survived. Both your Chiming Era and my Pioneer Era suffered the same fate. You’ve hidden away all these years; why let a moment’s pride turn into endless strife?"
Chi Creek’s three heads panted, struggling to speak: "You want the gods and demons of the Chiming Era to fall under Everpeace’s control? Everpeace is just a tiny country—a single Chiming god or demon could wipe it out! If I submit, how could I ever accept it? If I surrendered, how would I face the Divine Son when I returned?"
The First Ancestor said solemnly, "You misunderstand me. My true intent is alliance, not subjugation. The Chiming Era’s heroes have resisted the Heavenly Court for hundreds of thousands of years—why would they ever yield to Everpeace? I deeply admire the integrity of your generation, and would never humiliate you. Please consider it, Brother Chi Creek."
Chi Creek sat up, staunched his bleeding, and sneered, "Why didn’t you say so earlier?"
The First Ancestor shook his head. "I did say it—you were dead set on killing me and soul-searching my spirit."
Chi Creek staggered to his feet, finally yielding. He bowed in apology, "I was wrong. I offer you my apologies."
The First Ancestor quickly supported him. "I was a bit heavy-handed myself."
After tending his wounds for a while, Chi Creek limped down the tower. "My Chiming Divine Dynasty can join forces with you, but we’ll never submit to anyone. Besides, the decision isn’t mine to make—I have to contact the Divine Son first."
The First Ancestor frowned slightly. "Do I really have to fight this Chiming Divine Son too? Is everyone from the Chiming Era this stubborn? What a headache."
For twenty thousand years, he’d been consumed by guilt and self-blame for not fighting on the front lines when the Pioneer Era fell. He’d always kept out of worldly affairs—and now, all he wanted was to pass the Chiming Era’s mess off to someone else. 'Let Human Emperor Quinn handle this headache,' he thought.
He didn’t know that Quinn Shepherd was notorious for shirking responsibility—always coming up with ideas, but leaving the actual work to the Celestial Saint Cult, Everpeace’s Grand Preceptor, or Emperor Yan Feng and the others.
The First Ancestor Human Emperor and Chi Creek descended the Chiming Heavenlock Tower and arrived beside the Creation Divine Wheel, where Quinn was still absorbed in activating the Wheel and studying its shifting runes.
The First Ancestor smiled slightly, thinking, 'He’s still just a kid—too proud to ask me to teach him the imprint technique. I’ll give him an easy opening soon, and then he’ll come asking.'
"You two are finished fighting?"
Quinn looked up in surprise. "Already? I haven’t even finished copying these runes yet."
"Just keep pretending."
The First Ancestor forced a polite smile. "I’ve come to an agreement with Brother Chi Creek—at least we managed to keep the peace between our two sides."
Quinn looked toward the Chiming Heavenlock Tower. Moments ago, it was glittering with treasures shooting up to the sky—now it stood bare and dim. He glanced at Chi Creek, the Overseer, whose bones were broken all over, flesh mangled, and one head drooping as if his neck had snapped.
"So much for not hurting anyone," Quinn thought to himself.
Chi Creek’s face was grim. "Young Quinn, you took my God-Slaying Headsman’s Blade—please return it."
Quinn shook his head. "That little box was given to me by the Saint Teacher—I can’t give it back. In the Great Ruins, our rule is: if you snatch it, pick it up, or someone steals it and gives it to you, you never return it."
He added earnestly, "I was picked up by Grandma herself, and she always said never to give me away! My Grandpa Cripple steals things and gives them out all the time, and he never returns anything either."
Chi Creek was furious, shaking all over. The First Ancestor quickly interjected, "Brother, he’s still just a child."
Chi Creek couldn’t vent his anger and said coldly, "Every time the God-Slaying Headsman’s Blade is opened, it must drink blood to moisten its edge; otherwise, it’ll turn on its master. You’ve already used it once, haven’t you? I see blood aura swirling around you—next time you open it, the blade will try to kill you for blood!"
Quinn jumped in fright, suddenly uneasy.
The First Ancestor asked, "What blade? Bring it here and let me see."
Quinn produced the little box. The First Ancestor examined it carefully, studied it for a while, but couldn’t open it. His face changed. "A God-Slaying Blade from the Chiming Era—a truly ominous thing. There’s the grudge of an Emperor’s-Throne existence inside—extremely dangerous!"
He wanted to return it to Chi Creek, but Quinn hurriedly said, "Careful—he might use the blade on you!"
The First Ancestor grew solemn, handing the box back to Quinn. "If you can avoid using it, do. I sense the grudge and killing intent of an Emperor’s-Throne master inside. You’ve used it once already, haven’t you? Last time it didn’t drink blood, so its resentment is latched onto you. Best let it drink blood and calm its grudge against you."
Quinn nodded, pressing the box, and said to Chi Creek, "Senior, could you call out your ruined disciple—the one with the two deer legs?"
Ben Coates, hiding in the shadows, heard this and was about to step out—then realized with a start and roared in fury, "That scoundrel wants to use me as a blood sacrifice for the blade!"
——Xing’an’s box opened and closed: snap, snap, snap... (Dragon Fatty’s translation: The box is begging for votes for the Shepherd God Chronicles!)