Chapter 430: The Divine Beast's True Form
In the center of the untamed land was a pit. At first glance, it appeared to be a bottomless abyss due to the color of the rocks and soil that made up it. However, once a day, when the light hit it at the perfect angle, the pit exuded a maroon sheen.
Slumbering at the center of the black pit was a beast with a deer-like body and antlers, cloven hoofs, and a horse-like tail. But the most eye-catching feature of the beast was the blood-red scales covering its body. Not just the carp-like scales, but even the beard flowing down from his chin, wild mane, and antlers were of a similar color.
To the clueless observer, the beast resembled the legendary qilin. At least at first. As an auspicious beast associated with good fortune, there was no way a qilin would be surrounded by such a bloody aura. Only qilins who went against their nature or fallen to darker influences would produce such a contrary aura, but the beast at the center wasn’t a true qilin.
It only had the form of a qilin. Suddenly, the blood-red qilin beast snapped its eyes open and stood up. It bared its teeth and growled. Its eyes only revealed its bestial instincts. A true qilin would have sentience upon birth, possessing wisdom beyond an adult man.
Still, this did not mean that the qilin-like beast wasn’t related to a qilin.
The qilin beast’s eyes scanned its surroundings. Aside from the rustling of the wind and a few clumps of soil rolling down the pit, nothing was amiss. At least, it seemed so at first glance. However, the qilin beast was not fooled.
The unnatural beast reared back onto its hind legs and stomped the ground. The ground quaked, and a crack appeared in front of the qilin beast’s front hooves. It didn’t stop there as it stretched outward, causing black soil to fall into it and emitting a red light in the process.
Once the fissure reached midway from the center to the perimeter, it intensified, forming a hole. From within the hole, several figures jumped out. Most of them were inhumane beasts like tigers, foxes, and bears, except for two humanoids. The two humans wore white robes with black accents, identifying them as elders of the White Beast Sect.
“Sure enough, we were discovered,” a grandmaster of the White Beast Sect, Elder Ringbear, said.
The other grandmaster elder didn’t say anything and looked at the hole with an ugly expression. Inside the hole was a beast's corpse. The beast had the front half of a mole and the back of a bear. It was his spiritual beast.
“Dammit,” Elder Foxclaw said. To increase the success in subduing the divine beast, both of them had brought their strongest tamed beast. Each one was at the grandmaster level, and losing one was a catastrophic loss.
“Don’t dwell on it. We should focus on the divine beast. The sect will reimburse you once you get back,” Elder Ringbear said. “Careful, it’s coming.”
The two elders of the White Beast Sect separated as the blood-red beast charged at the duo. Ringbear stood atop a fifteen-meter tall bear with gold-fur, while Foxclaw stood atop a twenty-meter long two-tailed fox with razor-sharp claws. Those two spiritual beasts managed to dodge, but three of them didn’t.
Although those three beasts didn’t immediately die like the mole-like beast, their combat potential had dramatically dropped from the injuries inflicted by the qilin beast’s ram. The qilin beast should have continued and eliminated the three beasts as soon as possible, but instead, it charged toward the brown-gold bear that roared at it.
The qilin beast charged at the fifteen-meter bear and punctured its thick hide with its antlers. The bear roared in pain, but it still held onto the qilin beast’s neck. “Now!”
Foxclaw didn’t need Ringbear’s cue, as he had already ordered his lifebound spiritual beast to attack the qilin beast. The two-tailed fox released a high-pitched yelp and jumped into the air. It spun its body and slammed its tails onto the qilin beast like a whip.
The qilin beast only grunted as a metallic clang echoed in the air. Two white marks remained on the blood-red scales. The qilin beast roared and lifted the gold-brown bear off its feet before launching it into the distance. Even then, it didn’t let up as it charged at the down beast.
Foxclaw attempted to stop it by having the two-tailed fox ram it, but it did nothing to dampen the qilin beast’s momentum. In their haste, the two could only command the other spiritual beasts to delay or block him. Their power paled in comparison to the qilin beast.
“How is this possible?” Ringbear asked. Although he managed to save his lifebound spiritual beast, two of his spiritual beasts and one of Foxclaw’s spiritual beasts died to defend him. The price was heavy, but it was better than having his gold-brown bear severely injured or killed, as that would have left him a sitting duck.𝒻𝓇𝘦𝘦𝘸𝘦𝒷𝓃𝑜𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂
Both Ringbear and Foxclaw could discern that the divine beast didn’t surpass the grandmaster-level, yet why was it so powerful?
“Should we retreat and regroup?” Foxclaw suggested.
Ringbear shook his head. “No! We’ve made it so far. How can we go back without the divine beast? It was only through luck that we made it all the way here. Who knows when we can find the divine beast again after this? We cannot give up.”
Foxclaw wanted to say something, but he didn’t have time as the qilin beast attacked them once more. He could only counterattack and do his best to subdue the qilin beast with Ringbear’s aid. Alas, the two underestimated the power of the qilin beast. It was as if the qilin beast had an endless supply of energy.
The battle dragged on for over an hour. By then, both Ringbear and Foxclaw were left with only their lifebound spiritual beasts. Cracked scales covered the qilin beast’s body, and blood dripped from its wound. Though it was hard to tell on its scales.
“Dammit, after all that, we’ve only managed to crack the scales on its body,” Foxclaw said from atop his spiritual beast. The two-tailed fox’s shiny fur was covered in dust and blood, and one of its legs was bent in an unnatural direction.
“I hate to say this, but we have no choice but to retreat. If we continue to stay here, then we will die without any meaning,” Ringbear said.
Foxclaw and Ringbear both nodded. They ordered their lifebound spiritual beasts to flee, but how could the qilin beast allow the two intruders to do as they wish?
The qilin beast roared and chased after them. At this time, the two grandmasters formed several hand seals. The corpses of the beasts the qilin beast killed started to thrum. Then they emanated waves of spiritual qi, and the next second, they exploded.
The ground quaked as craters filled the ground. What was left was a bleeding qilin beast. Despite its injuries, it still roared and charged after the two elders of the White Beast Sect, obviously far from its limit.
“Dammit, I thought those beast explosions would have injured it more,” Ringbear said.
Foxclaw said nothing and focused on fleeing. Perhaps if it had been their grand elder, he might have stood a chance at subduing the divine beast.
Just as the two reached the perimeter of the bit, a tortoise shell filled their vision. They slammed into an invisible wall before bouncing back toward the charging qilin beast. “Black Beast Sect!”
The two only had time to howl those last words as the qilin beast was upon them. He tore through their spiritual beasts, damaging their spiritual cores in the process. They didn’t even have time to compose themselves as the qilin beast was upon them.
The sounds of cracking bone and squashing flesh filled the air as the qilin beast chewed. While it did so, the beast glared at the thirty-meter long tortoise with hostility. Standing atop the tortoise was a man wearing black robes, the signature color of the Black Beast Sect. He was the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect.
“Tsk, so useless. Even at the moment of their deaths, they only injured the divine beast so little? I guess I’m going to have to work harder,” the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect said.
Under his control, the black tortoise under him lumbered forward. The qilin beast roared and charged at the colossal tortoise. The tortoise did nothing as the qilin beast rammed it. It shrieked as part of its shell dented, but simultaneously, an explosive crack rang from the qilin body, in the exact same position as the tortoise.
The grand elder cast a spell to heal the tortoise. “I can heal, but can you?”
Just as the grand elder was about to laugh at his imminent victory, it was caught in his throat. The red light that was spilling from the fissure gathered upon the qilin beast. And its injuries healed at a pace faster than even the tortoise spiritual beast.
His expression darkened. “Even if I can outlast you, the others from the Azure and Vermillion Beast Sects will arrive. In that case, it’s better to drag them here and use them as cannon fodder. All I need to do is to outlast them.”
The grand elder’s spiritual beast hidden in the distance began to move. Under their deliberate control, they led the elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect to the crater.
“Hahaha, aren’t you sneaky, Grandmaster Guidun?” an elder from the Vermillion Beast Sect, standing atop a fiery sparrow with over fifteen meters in wingspan, asked.
At this time, a blue-scaled serpent slid past the tortoise and charged at the qilin beast. Standing atop the serpent was an elder of the Azure Beast Sect. His actions caused the Vermillion Beast Sect elder to click his tongue and join.
With all the actors on stage, the fight continued. The elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect used everything in their arsenal to attack the qilin beast. Due to the low offensive power of the tortoise, the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect could only allow his rivals to use him as a distraction whenever they weren’t attacking.
The battle raged on. Had it not been for the fact that all three forces were present, they might have retreated. However, they couldn’t risk a rival sect subduing the divine beast, which forced them to stay until the bitter end. Finally, after many sacrifices, the qilin beast fell to its knees.
The Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sects elders only had their lifebound spiritual beasts left, but they were in terrible shape. Even Guidun, the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect, had nearly run out of true qi, which made it all but impossible to heal his tortoise. Said beast had a large crack spreading from end to end on its shell.
With the qilin beast down for the count, the three opposing grandmasters focused on each other. The elders of the Azure and Vermillion Beasts Sect shared a look, and as if they had premeditated, attacked the grand elder of the Black Beast Sect.
“Hmpf, don’t think you two can defeat me. Just look at yourselves. You can barely stand,” Guidun mocked.
The two opposing elders didn’t say anything. They didn’t have the spare energy.
Unfortunately for the three, they made a grave miscalculation.
The qilin beast, which seemed to be on its last legs, started to change. Its steel-like scales started to warp and merge together, forming a singular surface. Its legs and head shrunk into its body. After a few seconds, it had transformed into a floating sphere of blood.
This was the divine beast’s true form, a drop of blood spilled by a qilin thousands of years ago.
The drop of qilin blood exuded a blood-colored ray. The radiance penetrated the three spiritual beasts and grandmasters, finally catching their attention. However, it was too late for them to do anything. Everything under the spiritual light withered at a visible pace. Oh, the three grandmasters struggled, even attempting to detonate their spiritual beasts, but they found themselves shackled.
And so, the three grandmasters and the spiritual beasts were reduced into husks. Their corpses shattered as they fell to the ground. Still, the drop of qilin blood didn’t stop as its radiance filled the entire Untamed Lands. Just as it wanted to absorb the blood of all life within and evolve, a sphere formed of a thin, black membrane encased it.
Daoyi and Tianyi looked down at the drop of blood from the sky. The space around them was the only place where the blood-red radiance failed to reach.