Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Sacred Qilin (Part Two)

"Damn!" Zhou Yu couldn't help but curse. On his way here, he'd tried to imagine what the Sacred Qilin might look like, but what he now saw far exceeded his expectations. He had thought, at most, it would resemble those super beasts that Ultraman battered left and right, but the Sacred Qilin before him was absurdly large.

"This is only a juvenile!" someone exclaimed.

"Look at the horn on its forehead!"

Hearing this, Zhou Yu glanced at the Sacred Qilin's head, where two strange protrusions rose.

"A Qilin has horns; its maturity is measured by its horns," Nan Fenglang explained, noticing Zhou Yu's confusion.

"Are you sure?" Zhou Yu asked.

Nan Fenglang smoothed her hair and replied, "That's how the stories go. Sacred beasts haven't appeared for nearly ten thousand years, so everything about them is shrouded in legend."

Zhou Yu eyed Nan Fenglang. He had many questions about the sacred beasts, but doubted she had all the answers, so he refrained from asking further. Instead, he said, "Shouldn't we be joining them? They seem to be struggling."

The Ice Valley was a world of snow and frost.

The massive Sacred Qilin juvenile lay sprawled across the ice, its eyes tightly shut. On its enormous forehead gleamed the shining character 'Sacred.' Its fur was as white as snow, covering its entire body, while its two enormous ears quivered adorably.

Hua Queyue and more than a dozen disciples from the Spirit Realm were scattered across the snow before the Sacred Qilin’s forehead. Each held a chain of energy that bound the creature.

On both sides of the Sacred Qilin, the Beast Sect members worked in groups of four, forming several formations. Before each group lay a long scroll, glowing and casting light onto the Sacred Qilin, forming shackles that tightly restrained it. The Beast Sect disciples continuously poured energy into their scrolls.

"Hua Queyue is using the Spirit Realm’s unique Beast Imprisonment technique, while the Beast Sect employs their Beast Sealing scrolls. Both came prepared. If we rush in blindly, we might ruin everything," Nan Fenglang shook her head.

"Weren’t we here to seize the sacred beast?" Zhou Yu asked.

"Sacred beasts cannot be seized so easily. Their methods are among the best. If we enrage the sacred beast, the consequences would be unthinkable. I really shouldn't have come here," Nan Fenglang replied.

An envoy from the Northern Star clan approached Nan Fenglang and whispered, "Miss Nan Feng, since they’ve gotten ahead of us, should we..."

"We must stand guard for them," Nan Fenglang said.

The envoy looked at the clan disciples, then turned and announced, "Everyone, stand guard! Northern Star clan disciples, form the Big Dipper formation!"

A portion of the crowd scattered, leaping across the ice, landing quickly in various positions. They sat cross-legged, light streaming between their palms.

The Big Dipper formation, composed of seven beams, raised a radiant, multicolored barrier that covered the entire valley.

Zhou Yu felt a pang of resentment. They had fought so fiercely to claim the sacred beast, and now suddenly everyone had become righteous guardians?

The old man quietly tugged at Zhou Yu’s sleeve and mouthed something as Zhou Yu turned.

Zhou Yu nodded and turned back to watch the valley.

Sweat began to trickle down Hua Queyue’s face. The Sacred Qilin’s power was astonishing. Though they knew it was a juvenile, the Spirit Realm had prepared meticulously. The juvenile had opened its eyes three times so far, each time radiating intense fury and unleashing suffocating waves of energy. Without Hua Queyue’s desperate protection, the Spirit Realm disciples would have already been frozen to death.

A drop of sweat slid down his nose. After another surge of energy, Hua Queyue took a deep breath and glanced at the Beast Sect with the corner of his eye, sighing inwardly. If not for them, the sacred beast would already have gone berserk. Despite the careful planning, and the supposedly flawless scheme, how had they ended up in such a precarious position?

Was the intelligence wrong? The intelligence and the plan to capture the sacred beast had all come from Jin Buhuan—what was he really after?

A sharp crack startled Hua Queyue from his thoughts. He looked up, eyes wide with surprise, and channeled more energy, the green chains thickening.

"I think I saw it move," Zhou Yu pointed at the Sacred Qilin.

Nan Fenglang's face grew tense. She said, "The sacred beast is about to awaken."

Zhou Yu felt the wind around him swirling gently, converging toward Nan Fenglang. His brow arched; he realized Nan Fenglang was preparing—no doubt the moment the sacred beast awoke would be crucial.

Was it like many animals, recognizing the first person it saw upon awakening as its parent? Zhou Yu wondered.

The old man tucked his wine flask into his coat and suddenly stepped closer to Zhou Yu, shielding him with his body.

Nan Fenglang’s slender, snowy fingers trembled minutely. Invisible wind energy gathered under her palms, compressed and shifting in form, gradually taking shape as countless sharp, slender needles.

The Northern Star envoy clenched his fists behind his back, his ears twitching, his face grave.

In the Ice Valley, the sacred beast’s enormous body suddenly shifted, sending cascades of ice fragments tumbling from the walls, like snow dust rising into the air.

Hua Queyue gritted his teeth and shouted, "Withdraw!" The Spirit Realm disciples spared no energy, pouring out all their strength. The sacred beast was waking; it was the most critical moment.

Zuo Hou's face was twisted, and he shot a vicious glare at Hua Queyue’s group, spitting thick phlegm and bellowing, "Seal!" The second scroll was unfurled before each group, its radiant light forming a gigantic ‘Seal’ character in midair, slowly pressing down on the sacred beast.

With a rush of wind, Zhou Yu turned to look—Nan Fenglang had vanished. He turned again—the old man was gone too. Zhou Yu quickly looked toward the valley, but could not see either of them. Where had they gone?

Suddenly, Zhou Yu felt a strange sensation behind him—a surge of heat approaching. He recognized this feeling well: it was the power the old man unleashed after sacrificing blood to his sword.

He turned instantly, and saw, far beneath the ice wall in the snowy expanse, a burst of red light blooming in the night—a flower of dazzling crimson.

The red light exploded, emitting an enormous thunderous roar. The blast drew everyone’s attention, making them turn and look.

Brilliant light from the explosion illuminated the snowy ground and lake as if it were midday. Near the blast’s edge, three figures stood. The old man held an enormous sword, glowing red and blinding. The snow beneath his feet began to melt as he stood fixed, gazing at the opposite side, unmoving.

Beside him, Nan Fenglang’s robes fluttered, her black hair swirling in the air, her skin faintly visible. She hovered in midair, like a fallen fairy.

The Northern Star envoy remained standing, hands behind his back, at the far right of the trio, lips moving silently, clearly chanting some incantation.

"Well, well, impressive—you actually noticed me," came a strange voice from across the blast. Cloaked in black, wearing a white mask painted with a demonic tiger, the figure spoke with a chilling tone, sounding like a soul-snatching call from the underworld, or the wailing chorus of countless evil spirits.

"One, two, three—tsk, tsk—three demon generals, is it? How interesting..." The black-robed figure continued, his body trembling beneath the cloak as black mist seeped from his sleeves and hem.

"Evil fiend," the old man declared, stepping forward with his sword.