Quinn Shepherd lifted his gaze toward Luofu Heaven. In the distant haze, pyramidal altars rose up one after another, their golden shapes just visible through the thin clouds. He could faintly make out the Woodcutter Sage and Furylo standing atop one of those altars.
Luofu Heaven itself looked like a painting set upright—a world of stark black and white, with little color except for the eruptions of volcanoes in the distance. Each explosion was like festival fireworks, dotting the landscape and keeping this mountain-water scroll from becoming too monotonous.
They could also see fragments of fallen stars streaking through the sky—fire-serpents dropping from the heavens, seemingly slow but in truth terrifyingly fast.
The altar where the Woodcutter Sage and Furylo stood was a thousand li away. Even to the naked eye, they were mere specks at such distance.
Yet Quinn could see the brilliant light and swirling clouds emanating from that spot. The altar itself looked tiny, but its radiance was fierce—like a miniature sun suddenly igniting, far more intense than ordinary sunlight, so dazzling that even here it stung the eyes.
Meanwhile, on Granny Sue and the Black Tiger God’s side, the battle was spectacular—every move of the four gods and demons was clearly visible from afar.
Quinn stopped walking; Zechariah Lee and Young Master Cyrus Qi did the same, the three youths standing atop the massive star-core, surveying their surroundings. The sky was high, the clouds thin—a place that felt open and refreshing, rare and serene amid the chaos.
Suddenly, a gigantic planet started drifting toward them—so enormous it seemed it could crash down at any moment.
As it passed, the sky twisted and the ground heaved—mountains and valleys sprang up in an instant, the whole scene turning nightmarishly chaotic.
Far off, the Black Tiger God, Granny Sue, Matthro Rook, and Jade Raxa darted through the abruptly rising mountains, launching fierce attacks at one another.
“Zechariah Lee, do you know why Luofu Heaven ended up like this?” Quinn asked curiously.
Zechariah hesitated before replying, “I heard Master Furylo mention it once. He said that an alien star appeared and hovered over Luofu Heaven, warping the space and triggering disasters. Since then, this realm became uninhabitable.”
The so-called alien stars were those broken planets hanging in the sky—seen from here, they looked abnormally huge, their mountain ranges clearly visible.
“Though my master and I aren’t of the same race, I can feel his deep, unwavering devotion.”
He continued solemnly, “Master Furylo wasn’t originally the Sovereign King of the demons. The previous king led many demon gods to the alien stars, hoping to shatter or push them away from Luofu Heaven. But those stars were inhabited by terrifying beings. The king and his retinue never returned. Later, Master Furylo went there himself and found that both the old king and those monsters had died in battle.”
Quinn frowned. “Then why didn’t Furylo try to destroy the alien stars? Why spend twenty thousand years attacking High-Emperor Heaven, sacrificing so many demons and humans?”
Zechariah shook his head. “He keeps that secret—never speaks of it.”
Quinn turned to Young Master Cyrus Qi. “Brother Qi, you’re a guest from the Heavenly Court—do you know anything about these alien stars?”
Cyrus was about to answer when the massive planet loomed directly overhead. All three suddenly felt themselves go weightless—a sign of trouble.
Quinn hurriedly activated his Sword Pill, sending a pillar-thick sword-light into the star-core beneath their feet, trying to anchor himself in place.
At the same time, Zechariah Lee stabbed his spirit-saber into the star-core, while Cyrus Qi’s shoes burst apart and transformed into phoenix claws, scraping desperately at the core to avoid being swept away by the planet’s geomagnetic force.
But in the next instant, cold sweat broke out on all three foreheads.
Quinn’s sword-light was bounced off by the star-core, Zechariah’s saber couldn’t pierce it at all, and Cyrus’s phoenix claws—though formidable—were nearly shattered by the core’s impossible hardness.
Whoosh—
The geomagnetic force whipped up an electric-light hurricane, sweeping over them like the auroras on Everpeace’s northern ice fields. With a single brush, all three were hurled helplessly into the air.
Even in crisis, the three youths kept their cool, each unleashing their own arts to break free from the geomagnetic storm. Quinn shifted into his Fire Star Lord form—bull-headed, human-bodied, riding twin fire dragons that roared as they carried him outward.
Zechariah raised his saber, unleashing a thousand flickering blades in a bid to slice through the hurricane.
Cyrus Qi, meanwhile, shook his body and morphed into a nine-headed phoenix, wings beating furiously as he shot forward—even faster than Quinn and Zechariah!
But even as the top prodigies of their generation, none of them could escape the geomagnetic hurricane. The storm swept them higher and higher.
“That genius idea from Black Tiger God—getting us onto this star-core! We’re way too exposed up here, and now the planet’s geomagnetic force has locked onto us…”
Quinn wiped sweat from his brow, then drew a deep breath, sucking all the surrounding air into his chest.
Since there was no escaping the geomagnetic storm, all they could do was wait and hope it would weaken. With no air at high altitude, Quinn made sure to store a breath in his chest. Luckily, his cultivation was strong enough to hold far more air than most.
With that breath sealed inside, he could go a whole day without inhaling—even if hurled into space, he’d have a chance to survive.
Cyrus and Zechariah did the same, both sharp enough to catch on quickly—matching Quinn’s move without missing a beat.
The geomagnetic hurricane swept them ever higher, the star-core and Luofu Heaven shrinking far below.
Cold sweat trickled down Quinn’s forehead—because above them, countless wandering bolts of thunder were gathering!
Crack—
Suddenly, a bolt of heavenly lightning shot straight at him—then, as if a hornet’s nest had been struck, a sea of thunder erupted overhead.
Quinn tossed out his Sword Pill. Flying swords whirled around him, then fused into a metal sphere that enclosed him, shielding against the lightning.
Thunder crashed down on the Sword Pill, which creaked and hissed as it was baked red-hot—threatening to melt at any moment.
Cyrus and Zechariah weren’t faring any better—the thunder rolled in, drowning all three in a flood of lightning.
After a moment, the thunder faded. Quinn quickly retrieved his Sword Pill. The geomagnetic hurricane still churned, snaking around them in dazzling waves of light that shifted colors in an instant.
But when Quinn looked up, his heart sank. They’d already left Luofu Heaven behind and entered the sky of the alien planet.
“This is bad…”
A chill ran down Quinn’s spine—until he noticed the alien planet’s mountains were lush and green. That eased his nerves a little. There were trees and flowers here, which meant there must be air—though whether it was fit for humans, he couldn’t be sure.
Whoosh—
They were hurled out of the geomagnetic hurricane, tumbling through the air before finally steadying themselves.
The three youths hovered in midair, exchanging uneasy glances. Cyrus’s nine heads wobbled, then shrank back into his chest until only one remained—restoring his human form.
“How are we supposed to get back to Luofu Heaven…?”
They looked in Luofu Heaven’s direction—and felt a chill. Luofu Heaven was gone!
It was true—Luofu Heaven had vanished, leaving only the dark starry void.
The three exchanged glances, each seeing fear and uncertainty in the others’ eyes.
This alien planet orbited outside Luofu Heaven. No one knew when it might pass above Luofu Heaven again.
Quinn swiftly pulled out his spirit-calc engine, intending to compute the full celestial cycle and predict when this planet would next cross Luofu Heaven—but he froze.
He looked up—the stars overhead were completely different from those above the Everpeace Empire. Everything he’d learned about celestial calculation arrays was useless here!
He could try to observe the star patterns and deduce this planet’s orbital path, but calculating the array would take at least a year.
A chill crept into Quinn’s heart: “How long is a year on this planet? Is it a few months in Everpeace, or years, centuries… or millennia?”
Cyrus scanned the surroundings, his eyes lighting up as he strode off. “There are traces of battle over there! We should check it out—maybe there’s a way to get home.”
Quinn and Zechariah hurried after him, and sure enough, they found the aftermath of a titanic clash—mountaintops sliced clean off, lakes formed from giant palm-prints, and the bones of colossal demon gods sprawled across the battlefield, their flesh long since dissolved.
In the distance, atop a lofty divine mountain, a grand temple gleamed gold and jade—apparently untouched by the destruction.
Quinn paused, suddenly stopping in his tracks and shooting up into the sky.
Zechariah and Cyrus saw this and quickly followed him into the air, scanning the surroundings warily.
“Did you sense danger, Quinn?” Cyrus squinted, asking cautiously.
Quinn didn’t answer. From above, he surveyed the mountains and rivers below, a tremor running through his heart.
The lay of the land on this alien planet looked strikingly familiar!
He suddenly recalled the canyon temple outside the Ark, where the Heavenly Saint Cult’s founding master used the yellow star-sand from the great cauldron to conjure a series of maps. The terrain of this alien world matched one of those maps exactly!
One map marked a divine temple—surely the one atop the mountain ahead!
“Senior Brother has been here! Could he still be here now?”
Steeling himself, Quinn remembered how the founding master used star-sand to create many maps. The first led Quinn to the reclusive Elder Qinghuang in the Great Ruins, solving the dragon script mystery once and for all.
What might this new map reveal?
“Maybe my eyes played tricks on me just now.”
Quinn blushed. “I thought it was lingering god or demon magic—false alarm. Let’s keep moving.”
Cyrus and Zechariah weren’t entirely convinced. Cyrus coughed. “This is an alien world—anything could happen. If you notice something, speak up. Only by working together can we survive… huh?”
Cyrus eyed the looming mountain with growing suspicion, while Zechariah’s gaze flickered. “You see something, Cyrus?”
“Doesn’t this mountain look awfully familiar to you?” Cyrus murmured.
Zechariah studied the mountain, a flicker of recognition passing through him. He nodded. “It’s a lot like the divine mountain in the Celestial Court—but this one can’t be real.”
Cyrus glanced at Quinn ahead, a sly smile on his lips. He whispered, “No need to tell him. Victory is in our hands!”