The Daynight Qilin

Three Emerald Poisonous Flood Dragons rose from Dugu Yan's palm, hissing as they lunged at the Thousand-Year Spirit Healing Flower King.

Wherever the poisonous dragons passed, the pale blue healing pollen sizzled as it corroded, and a strange, sweetly rank smell filled the air.

The Flower King's trunk trembled, and hundreds of vines surged toward them like giant pythons.

Flowers bloomed simultaneously at the end of every vine, scattering countless pale golden specks of light—the Flower King's Healing Domain. It could rapidly heal allies within its range while weakening the effects of poison.

"Yanzi, be careful!" Ye Lingling called, as the Nine Heart Begonia above her head spun faster. Violet-gold light enveloped Dugu Yan. "My healing can temporarily counteract the suppression from its domain!"

A flash of emerald light passed through Dugu Yan's eyes as she darted between the vines.

Controlling the three poisonous dragons with both hands, she executed a sophisticated coordinated attack. One dragon charged head-on to draw fire, while the other two circled around the flanks, targeting three faintly glowing nodes on the Flower King's trunk.

Those were the Flower King's healing cores!

"Clever," Yu Tiancheng silently praised from the sidelines.

Dugu Yan had a ruthless fighting style, but her tactical eye was just as sharp.

She had realized that although the Flower King was a healing-type Spirit Beast, its healing ability must have a source. Destroying its cores would break down its ability to keep fighting.

The vines lashed wildly, gouging deep furrows into the ground.

But Dugu Yan moved with a snake's agility, always dodging at the last possible moment.

The control afforded by the Fourth Soul Skill, Emerald Phosphorous Flood Dragon Poison, far exceeded expectations. The three poisonous dragons seemed almost alive, striking from cunning and ruthless angles.

"Riiip—!"

One poisonous dragon finally tore through the protective layer on the Flower King's trunk and sank its teeth into a glowing node.

The Flower King shuddered violently, and the healing light it scattered instantly dimmed by a third.

Dugu Yan seized the opportunity. The other two poisonous dragons struck at once, ripping open the remaining two nodes!

With all three cores damaged, the Flower King's vine attacks fell into disarray. Its Healing Domain began to collapse, and the pale golden specks of light flickered like candles in the wind.

"Now!" Dugu Yan cried. The three poisonous dragons abruptly merged, becoming a streak of Green Streamer that shot straight through the flower at the center of the Flower King's trunk—

That was its true weak point.

"Pfft—!"

The emerald light pierced straight through.

The Flower King froze.

Its vines drooped lifelessly, its pale blue flowers withered rapidly, and the enormous tree visibly lost its vitality.

Three breaths later, the trunk cracked apart with a snap, collapsing into a heap of rotten wood.

Ye Lingling stepped forward and bowed solemnly to Dugu Yan. "Yanzi, thank you."

Then, with a swift stroke, she cut off the Flower King's last blossom.

A pale violet Spirit Ring slowly rose, its warm glow radiating a soothing healing aura.

"Between us, there's no need to thank me." Dugu Yan wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled. "Go absorb it. This Spirit Ring is excellent quality."

Ye Lingling sat cross-legged and began absorbing it.

The process went exceptionally smoothly. As fellow healing types, the Flower King's Soul Power was naturally compatible with hers.

Two and a half hours later, she opened her eyes. Her Soul Power had stabilized at rank forty-two, and faint golden patterns shimmered through her pale violet Fourth Spirit Ring.

"Fourth Soul Skill: Flower Rain Resurrection."

As Ye Lingling demonstrated, pale golden petals rained down with a wave of her hand. Everyone felt their fatigue vanish, and even their Soul Power recovered slightly. "It heals everyone within range and can continuously restore Soul Power. It can last for up to thirty breaths."

"With Miss Ye's healing ability now, I doubt even many healing-type Spirit Masters at the Spirit King level can match her," Liu Erlong praised without hesitation.

With that, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling had completed their Spirit Ring acquisitions. Everyone turned to look at Yu Tiancheng.

The target was a twenty-thousand-year Spirit Beast.

In the deepest part of Sunset Forest, the surroundings were utterly different from those near the outskirts.

The ancient trees towered a hundred zhang high, their canopies blotting out the sun and dimming the light until it was like night.

Thick moss covered the ground, muffling every step. An ancient, heavy, and unsettling presence flowed through the air.

"This is the forbidden core of Sunset Forest," Dugu Bo said, his expression graver than ever. "Spirit Beasts with cultivation bases of ten thousand years or more dwell here. Kid, are you sure you want to find a twenty-thousand-year Spirit Beast here?"

"I'm sure." Yu Tiancheng swept his gaze across the surroundings. "Only an environment like this could give rise to the Spirit Beast I need."

He closed his eyes and focused, sensing with his Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul. A moment later, he opened his eyes and pointed northeast. "Over there... There's a strong disturbance in space and time."

The others followed in the direction he pointed.

The farther they went, the stranger the scenery became. Some trees were lush on one half but withered on the other. Some rocks were smooth as mirrors on one side and badly weathered on the other. They even saw several birds hovering in midair, their wings flapping, yet making no progress...

"The flow of time is in disarray," Yu Tiancheng murmured. "Some force has warped the laws of space and time here."

Dugu Bo drew a sharp breath. "A Spirit Beast capable of affecting the laws of the world around it... must have a cultivation base of at least thirty thousand years. Kid, I'm afraid this is beyond what you can handle."

"Let's see before we decide," Yu Tiancheng said, continuing forward.

They passed through a stretch of warped forest, and the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a circular clearing a hundred zhang across. No vegetation grew in its center, only bare, gray-white rock.

But what shocked them most was the strange, shifting scene within the clearing—

On the left, plants grew wildly, flowered and bore fruit, then withered and rotted, completing an entire cycle of life in just ten breaths. On the right, time seemed to have stopped. A fallen leaf hung motionless in midair.

And at the very center of the clearing stood a gigantic beast, its entire body silver-gray.

It resembled a qilin, but had a majestic dragon's head. Crystal-like scales covered its body, and light flowed beneath each scale as if stars had been sealed within.

Most awe-inspiring were its eyes: the left was pure white, like the midday sun, while the right was black as the abyss at midnight. Deep within its pupils, a river of time seemed to surge.

"The Daynight Qilin..." Dugu Bo's voice trembled, a tremor mixed with shock and fear. "The legendary supreme Spirit Beast of the space-time element, master of the cycle of day and night and the passage of time... It really exists!"

Liu Erlong's face turned pale. "That pressure... Its cultivation base is definitely over twenty thousand years!"

Yu Tiancheng stared at the giant beast, his heart pounding.

He could clearly feel his Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul resonating violently within him—the stir of kindred forces drawing together, and the battle intent of mighty beings repelling one another.

The Daynight Qilin slowly turned its head and looked at them with those uncanny eyes.

Its left eye blazed with light, and the world around them suddenly became as bright as midday, so dazzling they could barely keep their eyes open. Then darkness swallowed the light from its right eye, and everything plunged back into shadow.

Day and night alternated in its gaze, while time itself lost its natural order around it.

"It's found us," Dugu Bo said gravely. "Prepare to fight—no, prepare to retreat! We can't handle this Spirit Beast!"