Under Bai Chen's threat, First Qilin let out a bitter laugh. Clearly, he had already made his choice.
First Qilin did not answer Bai Chen immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the Three Pure Ones and the Queen Mother of the West and said:
"Four fellow Daoists, I am willing to give you sixty percent of the Qilin Clan's resources. In return, I ask that you protect my son and my three subordinates when the time comes."
Bai Chen flew into a rage upon hearing this and cursed loudly:
"First Qilin, you've got some nerve! Are you forcing this Great God to kill the hostages?"
"Since that's the case, this Great God will let them perish, body and soul!"
After all, Bai Chen still had hostages in his hands, and all the wealth on First Qilin was something he had his eyes on.
First Qilin actually wanted to give the treasures and resources belonging to this Great God Bai Chen to the Three Pure Ones and the Queen Mother of the West. That was a challenge to his authority. His opponent was practically begging to die.
(●?(work)?●)
Furious, Bai Chen immediately intensified the Nirvana Phoenix Flame, preparing to burn Jade Qilin to death first and show First Qilin what this Great God was capable of.
"Bai Chen, stop!"
Seeing the Primordial Spirit True Spirit of his old subordinate Jade Qilin gradually being refined, First Qilin hurriedly called out to Bai Chen.
"As long as you release Si Bu Xiang and the others, I will give you and Nuwa twenty percent of the Qilin Clan's resources. In addition, I promise that I will sever all my remaining life force."
First Qilin chose to give in. He agreed to cut off all his life force and exchange his own life for the lives of Si Bu Xiang, Ink Qilin, and the others.
"Not enough!"
(●?(work)?●)
Bai Chen's vicious triangular eyes were filled with fury.
Twenty percent of the resources and First Qilin's life were still not enough to quell his anger.
"This seat will give you an Innate Spiritual Root as well—the Five Needles Pine. The Five Needles Pine undergoes a transformation every five thousand years, and it takes fifteen thousand years for one crop to mature. Its fruits are divided into the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, with ten fruits of each kind, fifty fruits in total.
"Eating one fruit of each type will gather the Five Elements Qi, condense the Five Qi in the Chest, and form a Mid-level Golden Immortal Dao Fruit!"
First Qilin took out an Innate Spiritual Root. Innate Five Elements Qi flowed over its surface. It was none other than the Innate Spiritual Root—the Five Needles Pine!
Its only flaw was that it did not have a single fruit on it. Clearly, they had all been eaten.
"This Great God was wondering why your Qilin Clan had so many troops that the allied armies of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans had to attack you. So the Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine, was in your hands."
Bai Chen had heard of the Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine. Among the Innate Spiritual Roots of the Primordial World, it could rank in the top twenty.
Besides forming a Mid-level Golden Immortal Dao Fruit, the fruits of the Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine, had two other abilities.
The first was that they could help someone cultivate the laws of the five elements. The Qilin Clan excelled at the laws of the five elements, so this was clearly related to the Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine.
As for the Five Needles Pine's second ability, even its owner, First Qilin, probably did not know about it.
That was that the fruits of the Five Needles Pine could remove the side effect of the fruits of the Innate Spiritual Root, the Yellow Middle Plum.
The fruits of the Innate Spiritual Root, the Yellow Middle Plum, were said to allow one fruit to produce one High-level Golden Immortal—in other words, a Great Luo Golden Immortal in later generations.
However, the fruits of the Yellow Middle Plum had an extremely terrifying side effect.
Consuming a Yellow Middle Plum fruit and condensing the Three Flowers on the Crown to become a High-level Golden Immortal was equivalent to severing one's path of cultivation.
Trying to increase one's cultivation any further would be extremely difficult.
The fruits of the Five Needles Pine, however, could just happen to remove the side effect of the fruits of the Innate Spiritual Root, the Yellow Middle Plum.
"First Qilin, the Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine, alone isn't enough. This Great God wants the Qilin Seal as well."
The Innate Spiritual Root, the Five Needles Pine, was still not enough to quell Bai Chen's anger. He also wanted the Qilin Seal.
The Qilin Seal could command the Qilin Clan. Once he had it, he could do many things—for example, enslave the Qilin Clan.
"Fine. I can give it to you!"
First Qilin knew why Bai Chen wanted the Qilin Seal, but after gritting his teeth, he still agreed.
"Bai Chen, let us swear our oaths simultaneously. Only then can this seat trust you."
"(ˉ▽￣~) Tsk~~"
"This Great God doesn't trust you either!"
Bai Chen was afraid that after he released the hostages, First Qilin would refuse to give him the resources or sever his life force.
First Qilin was likewise afraid that after giving Bai Chen the resources and treasures and severing his life force, Bai Chen would break his promise.
In such a situation, the Great Dao Oath was the best guarantee.
"Great Dao above, I, First Qilin—and Bai Chen..."
Thus, Bai Chen and First Qilin simultaneously prayed to the Great Dao and established a Great Dao Oath.
After both sides swore their Great Dao Oaths, they felt reassured. Neither of them realized that the other was harboring ulterior motives and had tampered with the oath.
Seeing Bai Chen swear the oath, First Qilin finally felt at ease, believing that he had completed one of his tasks.
"Great Dao above. Today, I, First Qilin, Clan Chief of the Qilin Clan, sever the karmic connection between the Qilin Seal and the Merit and Fortune of the Qilin Clan. From this day forth, the Qilin Seal shall no longer be the supreme treasure of the Qilin Clan, nor shall it be able to command the Qilin Clan."
First Qilin offered up the Qilin Seal and prayed to the Great Dao, severing its connection with the Qilin Clan and stripping away its most powerful ability.
First Qilin knew that if he did not completely abolish the Qilin Seal's ability to control the Qilin Clan's Merit and Fortune and command the Qilin Clan, then once he gave the Qilin Seal to Bai Chen, the entire Qilin Clan would be enslaved by Bai Chen forever.
Now that he had abolished those abilities, the Qilin Seal was, aside from nominally being the former supreme treasure of the Qilin Clan, no different from any other Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.
"Bai Chen, take the Qilin Seal!"
First Qilin handed Bai Chen the Qilin Seal he had altered, along with twenty percent of the Qilin Clan's resources. He then signaled for Bai Chen to release Si Bu Xiang and the others.
Of course, First Qilin was not afraid that Bai Chen would go back on his word. With the Great Dao Oath restraining him, Bai Chen had no right to break it.
"First Qilin, you dare trick this Great God?"
Bai Chen flew into a rage. He wanted the Qilin Seal precisely so that he could use it to enslave and rule the Qilin Clan.
Now that First Qilin had removed this ability from the Qilin Seal, its value to Bai Chen had greatly diminished.
"Bai Chen, don't forget the Great Dao Oath you swore. You won't be able to withstand the consequences of violating it."
Seeing Bai Chen enraged, First Qilin warned him with the oath, telling him not to break his promise.
"First Qilin, rest assured. This Great God is the most trustworthy."
Bai Chen's gaze was icy cold. After storing away the items, he sneered at First Qilin:
"First Qilin, since you chose to play tricks with me, don't blame this Great God for doing the same."
Because Bai Chen had once carelessly sworn, "I'd rather be a cat than a beast of burden," he had become unable to take human form.
As a result, Bai Chen had always held back when swearing oaths ever since, just in case.
When he and First Qilin established the Great Dao Oath earlier, he had held back as well, precisely to guard against the unexpected.
Now that an unexpected situation had arisen, the hidden loophole he had left could finally be put to use. He would let First Qilin learn the consequences of playing tricks with this Great God Bai Chen.
Bai Chen summoned the Hammer of Reason with a backhand motion and smashed it into Si Bu Xiang, completely crippling his cultivation and beating him back into his original form.
Bai Chen's actions were not over yet. He extracted most of Si Bu Xiang's origin, then drove some filthy matter into it, causing it to merge with Si Bu Xiang's origin.
"No!"
Seeing this, First Qilin let out a heart-wrenching roar.
"First Qilin, didn't you mock this Great God for being unable to take human form?"
"From this day forth, your son Si Bu Xiang will never be able to take human form either, and his cultivation will be hindered."
"Hahaha!"
Bai Chen burst into laughter. Sure enough, happiness was built upon the pain of others.
As for what other people's pain had to do with him, so long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.
Back then, First Qilin had mocked him for being unable to take human form. Now, Bai Chen had made sure that his son Si Bu Xiang would be unable to take human form as well.
Why wasn't First Qilin laughing anymore? Was he simply born without a sense of humor?
"Bai Chen, you actually dared to violate the Great Dao Oath? Aren't you afraid of the oath's backlash?"
First Qilin angrily rebuked Bai Chen. If Si Bu Xiang, Ink Qilin, and the others had not still been in Bai Chen's hands, he would have attacked him already.
"Did I?"
Bai Chen spread his claws innocently, though his eyes were filled with amusement and provocation:
"This Great God's oath only said that I would release their lives. It never said I couldn't cripple them, did it?"
Bai Chen had not originally wanted to do this. He had left a loophole in the oath merely as a precaution.
But First Qilin had insisted on playing tricks with this Great God Bai Chen, so Bai Chen could hardly be blamed.
"Bai Chen..."
First Qilin was so furious that he ground his teeth. He had tried to trick Bai Chen, only to be tricked by Bai Chen in turn. How hateful!
Yet even if he could start over, First Qilin would still make the same choice. He would still sever the connection between the Qilin Seal and the Qilin Clan rather than let Bai Chen enslave the Qilin Clan.
First Qilin was Si Bu Xiang's father, but he was also the Qilin Clan's ruler and father.
As the Qilin Clan's ruler and father, First Qilin had to take responsibility for the clan, even if it meant sacrificing his own child.
After crippling Si Bu Xiang, Bai Chen repeated the process on Ink Qilin, Gold Qilin, and Jade Qilin.
Since he had skipped the steps of beating Ink Qilin and the others back into their original forms and crippling their cultivation, Bai Chen was rather grateful to the Eight Great Protectors of Demon Ancestor Luo Hou for saving him some effort.
Bai Chen tossed the Primordial Spirit True Spirits of Si Bu Xiang and the three Qilins over to First Qilin.
First Qilin hurriedly caught Si Bu Xiang and the others and examined their condition, hoping it was still possible to save them.
"What? It's actually the origin of the Fierce Beast Clan!"
After examining Si Bu Xiang's condition, First Qilin's expression changed dramatically.
The filthy matter Bai Chen had driven into the four of them was the origin of the low-level Fierce Beast Clan.
Before you continue