Ling Yun and the creature met each other's eyes. He knew at a glance: this was the beast he'd been looking for.
For a moment, neither of them made a move.
Dugu Bo held his breath, secretly gathering his strength. If he struck, he would make sure his attack couldn't fail.
He was afraid that even the slightest sound would scare the Qilin away.
The Qilin poked its whole head out, glanced from side to side, then saw Dugu Bo and ducked back beneath the earth.
The Yin-Yang Mirror Martial Soul suddenly blazed with light. An aura that brought all things into being and brimmed with life enveloped the area.
The Five-Needle Pine withdrew its needles, which had been aimed at Ling Yun, and its branches stretched slightly—a sign that it felt very comfortable.
The Yin-Yang Mirror in Ling Yun's mind stirred as well, sending him a stream of information. It revealed a Contract Array and laid out requirements for his future Soul Rings: he had to gather the Four Divine Beasts.
That meant the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and White Tiger, with the Qilin at the center to harmonize yin and yang and the five elements.
The information sent by the Yin-Yang Mirror made it clear that this was tied to his path to godhood.
Sensing the aura of creation enveloping the area, the Qilin poked its head out again and looked at Ling Yun.
Ling Yun gave it a polite smile, showing his goodwill.
As an auspicious beast, the Qilin could sense other people's good and ill intentions from birth. Ling Yun's goodwill, combined with the aura of creation, made it feel close to him. It poked its head aboveground again, its large eyes studying him.
The Qilin's eyes were full of curiosity. But the moment it looked at Dugu Bo, wariness filled its gaze, and it looked ready to bolt at any second.
"Qilin, I won't hurt you. With me here, that old man over there can't hurt you either."
"Come on, come here!"
Ling Yun waved as he spoke. He wasn't worried that the Qilin wouldn't understand him. A Qilin just over two thousand years old was certainly as smart as a five- or six-year-old child. The Qilin glanced at Dugu Bo, seeming a little hesitant.
Still, it poked its head out, stepped forward, and slowly approached Ling Yun.
Dugu Bo's eyes widened. Was this right? This couldn't be right!
Douluo Continent had become a place he no longer recognized.
Dugu Bo, still questioning everything he knew, didn't move at all. The Qilin grew bolder, trotted over to Ling Yun, circled him, then rubbed its head against him, plainly delighted.
Ling Yun studied it closely. It stood one meter at the shoulder and measured two meters and sixty centimeters from nose to tail—not very big.
It was strikingly handsome, with a dragon's head, tiger's eyes, deer's horns, horse's body, ox's tail, and fishlike scales, as though it had gathered the spiritual energy of countless creatures into one.
The features of all those different creatures looked remarkably harmonious on its body.
Its main color was earthy yellow, with the other colors distributed in a regular pattern across its body. As Soul Power flowed through it, it gave off a multicolored glow.
At a glance, it was an Earth Qilin. After awakening its bloodline, it had become a Five-Elements Qilin.
Ling Yun slowly reached out. The Qilin didn't shy away, and his small hand settled on its head, giving it a gentle rub.
The Qilin relaxed all over, its eyes narrowing slightly. It looked as if it was thoroughly enjoying itself.
"Stay right here for a moment!"
The Qilin didn't understand why, but obediently remained where it was, watching Ling Yun.
Ling Yun began setting up the Contract Array. Before long, he had finished a hexagonal formation. The Yin-Yang Mirror's light fell upon it, turning the array red and white.
The two colors shifted constantly. In the center of the array, a faint, illusory orb hovered in the air.
"Qilin, are you willing to become my partner and walk the path to godhood with me? If you are, press your forehead against this orb."
After hearing all that, the Qilin had understood only one thing: if it pressed its forehead against the orb, they would become partners!
The Qilin stepped into the array and pressed its forehead against the orb. Ling Yun reached out and placed his palm on it as well.
In the next instant, the array blazed with light, enveloping Ling Yun and the Qilin. They exchanged their memories of life.
Ling Yun's life on Douluo Continent appeared in the Qilin's mind, while the Qilin's memories, from its birth to the present, appeared in Ling Yun's.
When this Qilin first hatched, it was only a Qilin subspecies. It was intensely curious about everything and would eat anything it came across. More than once, it ate poisonous plants and teetered on the edge of death, yet each time it failed to learn its lesson.
There was great terror between life and death, but also great fortune.
Under those circumstances, the bloodline within its body was awakened. After surviving nine near-death experiences, its bloodline transformed, and it became an Earth Qilin.
At that point, it gained the ability to burrow through earth and became even tougher.
Some of the foods that had once made it suffer terribly tasted wonderful. Unable to resist its appetite, the Qilin lived by the principle of eating poisonous food to its heart's content as long as it didn't kill it. The thrilling sensation danced across its tongue.
It continued opening its mouth to poisonous foods.
The result was obvious: once the poisonous plants piled up, even its tough constitution couldn't take it. The Qilin was once again left hopping back and forth along the line between life and death.
It was lucky. After going through this eighty-one times, the bloodline hidden deep in its genes transformed once more, and the Earth Qilin became a Five-Elements Qilin.
After absorbing the Qilin's memories, Ling Yun didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Its path of evolution had truly opened his eyes!
More than anything, this Qilin's Luck Chart was absolutely heaven-defying. Even the Grim Reaper wouldn't dare claim it.
Ten breaths later, the barrier of light faded. A purple Soul Ring appeared on Ling Yun's Yin-Yang Mirror. The Qilin's body turned into specks of light and merged into the Soul Ring, then appeared inside the Yin-Yang Mirror.
Using the Ice and Fire Dragon King's divine power, the Yin-Yang Mirror had opened up a small plane with an environment just like Sunset Forest.
Combined with the Yin-Yang Mirror's power to bring all things into being, the place teemed with life.
Perhaps because of the divine power, the Qilin felt incredibly comfortable there. It pranced about, playing to its heart's content.
All the creatures in there were ordinary beasts; there wasn't a single Soul Beast. The Qilin chased them all over the place.
Outside.
Ling Yun began testing the Second Soul Ring's skill, and its effects pleased him greatly. The Soul Skill was called Five Elements Divine Light. With one thought, it could give life; with another, it could take it away.
When the five elements flowed in their natural sequence, the light could bring the dead back to life and restore flesh to bare bones, further enhancing the Yin-Yang Mirror's abilities.
When the five elements were reversed, the light gathered into a beam of destruction. The beam's destructive effect was absolute, ignoring defenses.
The only way to counter this move was with an energy attack. Trying to fight it hand-to-hand would only bring trouble upon yourself.
The Soul Power in the Soul Ring flowed into Ling Yun's own Soul Power as smoothly as rivers pouring into the sea.
Ling Yun focused on circulating the Universe Creation Art, refining the foreign Soul Power.
Cultivating the Universe Creation Art was essentially a process of simulating the great universe of heaven and earth and constructing a microcosm within the body.
The two-thousand-year-old Five-Elements Qilin Soul Ring acted like a catalyst, accelerating the process.
As Soul Power flowed through him, it nourished Ling Yun's internal organs, strengthening them more than twice as much as before.
The distinct fluctuations of a breakthrough appeared. Under Dugu Bo's gaze, Ling Yun's Soul Power soared before finally stopping at level 23.
The process of absorbing the Second Soul Ring went unusually smoothly, ending perfectly in less than half an hour.
Ling Yun had grown a little taller. He would have to buy new clothes again!
Dugu Bo had witnessed the entire unbelievable scene, his worldview seeming to collapse around him!
There had been no need to hunt a Soul Beast, and this wasn't like the legendary sacrifice of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Could this really produce a Soul Ring?
He couldn't understand it!
And the Qilin had turned into specks of light and merged into the Soul Ring. Did that mean the Qilin had died?
Before you continue