In the Land of Heavenly Punishment, flesh surged across the desolate plains, flowing toward a single point. Slowly, the world's meat gathered into one mass, pulsing and contracting.
It shrank further, condensing until a humanoid shape emerged, layered in halos of light.
The figure stood and walked. Behind it, another figure appeared — identical, also wrapped in halos. Then a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth. In moments, an endless chain of selves materialized.
From behind, only one figure was visible. From the front, only one. But shift your gaze slightly, and the chain stretched to infinity — countless humanoid shapes linked like a centipede of gods.
They occupied no space at all.
The figure looked up, searching for Jiucai Ridge. Finding nothing, it turned to the lone temple doorway still standing in the wasteland.
The seal characters on the door had worn away. Only the frame remained.
It raised a hand. The shattered temple rebuilt itself from dust and stone, rising as if it had never fallen.
Inside, it studied the murals. They had been painted by its enslaved prisoners, and time had not yet erased them.
It stopped before one painting. The scene showed beings like itself hunting prisoners. Among them, no image of itself appeared.
Its gaze fixed on a great bird — three-legged, blazing with sunfire. Jin Buyi in his prime, even more terrifying than now.
It searched further and found the bird's rider. A young man, familiar.
"Heavenly Dao breath. You are my path back to the Dao."
Its voice chirped like a bird. Powerful consciousness poured into the void, searching the Ten Thousand Worlds for the Taiyi Minor Xuantian's spiritual root — the Yin-Yang Vine.
It found the vine's location and established connection. Its body shot upward, becoming a vast sheet of flesh that pressed against the sky. It wriggled, squeezing through a tear in space like a leech finding a wound.
The sky snapped shut behind it. The Land of Heavenly Punishment became a lifeless husk.
In Yuanzhou, above Jiucai Ridge, the sky convulsed. Beams of light rained down, and where they struck, stone figures appeared — tall and short, fat and thin, their heads triangular.
The stone beings grew rapidly, becoming giants dozens or hundreds of zhang tall. Divine light shot from their eyes as they scanned the land. Their heads creaked, turning to survey their surroundings.
Then they shrank and flew in formation above the ridge, racing through the sky.
Their gaze swept Jiucai Ridge but found nothing. They descended before the Carefree Palace and became small stone figures again, walking with stiff, awkward steps.
Xue Ying'an stood ready, sword raised, the remaining disciples behind him.
The stone beings ignored them. One paused, sensing something unusual. "The one whom the Heavenly Dao cannot punish — he was here. And old god blood. A suppressed deity once dwelt nearby."
Another stone being spoke, its face vicious. "The old gods once governed the Heavenly Dao. But after the battle forty-eight thousand years ago, they fell from power. The strongest were cast into the lower realms, unable to return. We seized authority from those who remained. When they resisted, we purged them."
A third, sly-faced stone being added, "A broken Heavenly Dao is worse than a dog. They became heretics, rotting in the mortal dust. Their stench sickens me."
The stone figures reached the Carefree Palace and turned their creaking heads toward Xue Ying'an.
"It's been too long since we had a feast," one said.
Xue Ying'an's palm sweated around his sword. These beings were no taller than him, but their pressure crushed his spirit.
The stone figures sighed, turned, and left the palace. They became streaks of light and vanished.
"A pity," their voices drifted back. "We descended without our true bodies. First, we find him."
Xue Ying'an nearly collapsed. He steadied himself, heart pounding. "What were those things? Their aura was terrifying."
The disciples behind him gasped for breath. When the stone figures arrived, their Dao hearts had shattered, their consciousness scattered. Without Xue Ying'an and the Eight-Faced Sword holding the line, they would have lost their minds.
"Were they hunting Brother Su?"
Xue Ying'an watched their flight path — the same direction Su Yan had taken. Worry gnawed at him.
"Brother Su, stay safe."
Far away, Beichenzi and the Divine Land Earth God watched the stone figures pass and breathed easier.
"This time, we can rest easy," they thought.
Su Yan stood on Yuan Qi's head, looking back. "Jin Buyi, stop pecking Seven Lord's tail. He's going bald."
Yuan Qi had been slowing down. When Su Yan looked back, he saw Jin Buyi nibbling at the serpent's tail. Blood marked their trail.
Jin Buyi looked up with cloudy eyes. "I thought it was an earthworm. I wondered why it kept growing back after I ate it."
Yuan Qi endured the pain. "Lord Jin, that's my tail. You ate a piece, and I used Mud Pill vitality to regrow it."
Jin Buyi rumbled, "No wonder there was always more. Little brother, you're worth befriending."
Yuan Qi's hope flickered. "Because I'm loyal?"
"No. Because you grow back. Friendship with you means unlimited meals."
Yuan Qi deflated.
Su Yan smiled at their banter. "We're going to Haojing to find Zhu Chanchan. Bell Lord is badly wounded. She can fix him."
The broken bell around Yuan Qi's neck thrashed in protest.
"See? Bell Lord is happy," Su Yan said.
Yuan Qi said carefully, "A-Ying, I think Bell Lord is worried, not happy."
"Worried about what? That Grandmother Chanchan will trick us like she tricked the Zhou Son of Heaven? We're sworn friends!"
Yuan Qi's heart sank. "She can save him, but he'll probably come back smaller. Thinner too. And his backside will be covered in her private maker's marks."
The broken bell trembled.
Su Yan felt some worry too, but not about that. *Has the Zhou Son of Heaven returned from the Other Shore? If so, Zhu Chanchan has probably been reincarnated by now. Her crimes were execution-worthy.*
He sighed. "Villains live long."
Then he noticed the silence behind him. He turned — Jin Buyi was gone.
Su Yan soared into the air and flew back, finding the old crow standing motionless, confused and lost.
"A-Ying!" Jin Buyi saw him and hurried over, smiling. "You disappeared in a blink. I was afraid of losing you again, so I didn't dare move. I knew you'd come back!"
Su Yan's eyes stung. "I'll always come back. Can you shrink your size?"
Jin Buyi tried, but he was still one zhang and five chi tall — too large for Su Yan's shoulder.
"Stand on Seven Lord's horns."
Jin Buyi flew over and straddled Yuan Qi's black-and-white horns, one leg tucked into his feathers.
"You could stand on just one horn," Su Yan suggested.
Jin Buyi shifted to the black horn. The old crow shook his feathers, opened his beak, and spat a mouthful of sunfire downward.
He was used to warming the Fusang tree.
Su Yan frantically saved the scorched Yuan Qi. The serpent gasped, swearing he would never carry the crow again.
Jin Buyi apologized. "I thought your horn was a tree branch. By the time I remembered, it was too late."
Fortunately, Yuan Qi had opened his Mud Pill secret realm and recovered.
Jin Buyi felt guilty. When he perched on the horn again, he offered advice: "Your black-and-white horns have hidden talents. I once met an awakened yuan-serpent whose horns channeled yin-yang energy, slaying gods and demons."
Yuan Qi was thrilled. "How do I activate my bloodline?"
"Channel yin-yang energy into your horns."
Yuan Qi drew yin-yang energy from his Jade Capital secret realm and poured it into his horns. Blinding light erupted, slicing a distant mountain peak in half.
Yuan Qi yelped. "My bloodline is this strong? Was that serpent you met powerful too?"
Jin Buyi nodded, recalling. "It tasted excellent."
They traveled toward Haojing. Su Yan cleared his mind and reviewed everything he had learned — martial arts, nuo techniques, sword arts, techniques. It was a mess.
Martial arts moved qi and blood. Nuo techniques awakened secret realms and shaped Inner Realms. Sword arts sought the sword Dao. Qi cultivator techniques required visualizing Dao manifestations.
His Xiyi Domain was cluttered with random Inner Realms and manifestations.
His techniques were equally chaotic. The Grand Unity Daoyin Art, the Eight Yuan Tones, six secret realm techniques — even simplified, running them all was complex.
Nuo arts differed from qi techniques. Mud Pillow techniques could control life and death in ways qi cultivation never approached.
And now he had encountered Heavenly Dao runes, which combined into Heavenly Dao techniques. Heretic techniques existed too. And immortal runes.
Su Yan thought until his head spun. Three days passed without eating.
Meanwhile, Yuan Qi and Jin Buyi got along famously. They hunted ancient beasts together, Jin Buyi roasted them with fire, and they feasted.
In Haojing, Zhu Chanchan was supervising the city's reconstruction when she felt something. Her face lit up.
"My snake-skin pouch is coming!"
She ran for the city gates, ankle chains clanking, her powers sealed. Before she got far, a whip cracked across her back.
"Craftsman Zhu, you're a criminal. Trying to escape?"
The whip-bearer was Minister of Works Gongyang Ce. Zhu Chanchan stopped. "I'm not escaping! Your Heavenly Principle Lock seals my powers. I'm basically mortal. Where could I go?"
Gongyang Ce sneered. "You designed that lock yourself. I don't believe you didn't leave a back door."
Then Jiang Qi arrived. "Craftsman Zhu's old friend is visiting. Someone extremely important. Zhu, you're pardoned for today."
Zhu Chanchan rejoiced. She broke the Heavenly Principle Lock, restored her powers, and ran toward the gate.
"A-Ying, is my baby still intact?"
Gongyang Ce pointed at the broken lock on the ground, stammering. "Grand Preceptor, I told you! This woman would steal materials from the Other Shore Ship!"
Jiang Qi rubbed his temples. "What can you do? Cut off her head, and who rebuilds Haojing? Besides, she is greedy, but the ship reached the Other Shore without major failure. Replace her with another craftsman..."
He shook his head. "Even with all the materials, they probably couldn't get the ship to the Other Shore at all."