Lu Chen's worries soon came true.
Three hundred years after Yuanfeng's divine sense departed.
An unusual tremor suddenly rippled through the Northern Sea's earth veins beyond Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
At first, only a few undersea mountain ranges swayed gently.
Then faint, earthy-yellow divine light rose from beneath the Blackwater.
The divine light was not overbearing, yet it was immensely weighty.
Every wisp seemed to bear down upon an entire landmass.
Ancestor Xuan Jia was the first to notice something was wrong.
He walked to Dragon-Suppressing Pass's inner gate and looked into the distance.
"Qilin Clan."
Ao Lie also opened his eyes atop the black reef outside the outer gate.
"The aura of a Water Qilin."
Han Jue hurried over as soon as he received the news.
There was a trace of excitement on his face.
"They've finally come."
Ao Lie glanced at him.
"What are you excited about?"
Han Jue smiled. "The Dragon Clan has you, the Phoenix Clan has Feng Li, and if the Qilin Clan sends another one, Dragon-Suppressing Pass will get lively."
Ao Lie said coldly, "You'd better not talk nonsense."
Han Jue raised an eyebrow.
"When have I ever talked nonsense?"
Ao Lie fell silent.
There had been too many times. For the moment, he did not know where to begin refuting him.
Feng Li also arrived atop the pass walls.
She looked toward where the earth-vein divine light was rising, and her gaze shifted slightly.
"It's Lin Yue."
She had met this Water Qilin descendant in the Northern Dark Water Palace.
He acted steadily, unlike Ao Yin's domineering manner, nor did he possess Zhu Yan's oppressive forcefulness.
During the treasure struggle that day, seeing Abyss held the advantage, he had taken the initiative to withdraw and had not formed a mortal enmity.
She had not expected him to bring his clansmen to Abyss now.
Not long after.
A group slowly appeared outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
The one at the front was Lin Yue.
He wore a long robe patterned with water-blue qilins, and his aura was steadier than it had been in the Northern Dark Water Palace.
Behind him were several thousand members of the Water Qilin Branch.
Among them were many elderly, weak, and wounded.
There were also many young qilins who had yet to take human form, protected in the center by their clansmen.
They looked rather bedraggled.
Some clansmen still bore fresh wounds.
Lan Shuang arrived atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass holding the Book of Cause and Effect.
"Fellow Daoist Lin Yue."
"Why have you come to Abyss?"
Standing outside the pass, Lin Yue solemnly bowed toward Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
"Lin Yue of the Water Qilin Branch seeks an audience with the Mysterious Abyss Emperor."
"My clan is willing to be examined by the Book of Cause and Effect and enter Abyss for Calamity Evasion."
A wave of quiet discussion immediately arose atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
A branch of the Qilin Clan had come to Abyss as well.
The Dragon Clan had Ao Lie.
The Phoenix Clan had Feng Li.
And now the Water Qilins had arrived outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
This meant that branches of the three clans had gathered in Abyss for the first time.
Han Jue murmured, "I really did call it."
Ao Lie shot him a glare.
"Shut up."
Lan Shuang's expression remained unchanged.
She was no longer the Sea Spirit Clan chieftain who had once been hunted to the brink of death by Ao Zheng.
Abyss had now accepted the Ancestral Dragon's Reverse Scale and Yuanfeng's Frost Feather.
The arrival of the Water Qilin Branch was startling, but it did not make her lose her composure.
"Why did the Water Qilin Branch leave the Qilin Clan?"
Lin Yue was silent for a moment.
"The Qilin Main Lineage ordered my clan to construct an earth-vein defensive line near Buzhou Mountain."
Ancestor Xuan Jia's expression changed slightly at those words.
"Near Buzhou Mountain?"
Ao Lie's gaze darkened as well.
The conflict between the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans was growing ever fiercer.
Near Buzhou Mountain, earth veins, water veins, and fire veins converged. Sooner or later, it would become one of the central battlegrounds of a great war.
Sending the Water Qilin Branch there to construct an earth-vein defensive line was equivalent to pushing them into the most dangerous place in the conflict among the three clans.
Lin Yue continued, "My clan excels at harmonizing water and earth, making us suited to stabilizing battlefield earth veins."
"But the killing intent among the three clans is growing heavier by the day. The area around Buzhou Mountain has become a dead land."
"If I bring my clansmen there, the younger generation will not survive."
"So I brought them to Abyss."
At this point, Lin Yue raised his head and looked toward the sky above Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
"I know Abyss does not accept those who seek hegemony."
"The Water Qilin Branch is willing to lay down the Qilin Clan's war orders and submit to Abyss's rules."
"If the Book of Cause and Effect deems our clan's slaughter karma too heavy, we will leave of our own accord."
His words were exceptionally forthright.
Lan Shuang nodded slightly.
"Open the Book of Cause and Effect."
The Book of Cause and Effect hovered in the air.
Black-and-white radiance descended from Dragon-Suppressing Pass, shining upon the Water Qilin clan.
The Water Qilin Branch's past soon emerged within the water mirror.
This clan had long lived where water and earth met, repairing earth veins and regulating floods.
Within the Qilin Clan, they were not the strongest combat branch, but they were exceptionally skilled at protecting mountains, rivers, and water veins.
They had participated in the Qilin Clan's wars and killed many enemies as well.
Yet compared with those branches devoted purely to slaughter, the Water Qilins bore far less killing karma.
They even possessed much clear Merit light from repeatedly repairing earth veins and rescuing small clans caught in the fires of war.
The Book of Cause and Effect turned a page.
A line of text appeared.
"Water Qilin Branch may enter Abyss Outer City."
"Lin Yue has rendered merit in protecting his clan and possesses profound Merit from repairing earth veins."
"He may enter the Abyss Guest Official Seat."
The expressions of everyone atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass shifted slightly.
Another guest official.
Feng Li of the Frost Phoenix Lineage had already entered the Abyss Guest Official Seat.
Now Lin Yue had also received the Book of Cause and Effect's approval.
The arrangement among the branches of the three clans was becoming increasingly clear.
Just as Lan Shuang was about to speak, Lu Chen's voice came from the depths of Abyss.
"You may enter."
"Follow the rules."
"You may not participate in the Qilin Clan's internal disputes in Abyss's name."
Lin Yue immediately knelt with his clansmen.
"Lin Yue shall obey the Emperor's decree!"
The Water Qilin Branch knelt and bowed in unison.
"Thank you, Emperor, for taking us in!"
Lu Chen watched this scene, his feelings immensely complicated.
Dragon, Phoenix, Qilin.
They had finally all gathered.
He had clearly only wanted to cultivate in seclusion in the Northern Sea and keep his four legs intact.
Yet now branches of all three clans had run to Abyss.
Could this place still keep a low profile?
The system's voice rang out at that moment as well.
"Detected the Water Qilin Branch entering Abyss."
"The Dragon Clan's Reverse Scale, Yuanfeng's Frost Feather, and the Water Qilin earth-vein karma have begun to converge."
"Conditions for the evolution of Abyss's land and mountain ranges have been fulfilled."
"Host, please continue stabilizing the Abyss Minor World."
Lu Chen's heart stirred.
Conditions for land and mountain range evolution?
That was good news.
Inner Realm of the Abyss currently contained the Northern Darkness Sea, and its water aura was extremely heavy.
If true mountain ranges could be born, the inner realm's structure would become more complete.
In the future, Old Shell Fate-Bearing would also require water and earth to harmonize.
"Forget it."
"They're already here."
"As long as they can reinforce Abyss, that's enough."
After the Water Qilin Branch entered the pass, Abyss Outer City expanded once more.
Lin Yue did not immediately go to rest.
He first led his clansmen to register with the Bureau of Cause and Effect, then voluntarily requested to go to the shore of the Northern Darkness Sea to inspect the imbalance between Abyss's water veins and earth veins.
This greatly pleased Lan Shuang.
He could work.
He followed the rules.
He did not put on airs as one of the three clans.
Abyss welcomed branches like this.
Han Jue, meanwhile, ran off to find Lin Yue.
"Can you fight?"
Lin Yue had just finished inspecting a spirit vein. Hearing this, his expression froze slightly.
"A little."
Han Jue's eyes lit up.
"Martial Practice Arena?"
Lin Yue shook his head.
"I'll repair the earth veins first."
Han Jue was dissatisfied.
"What about after you're done?"
Lin Yue thought seriously for a moment.
"After finishing this area, there's still the eastern shore of the Northern Darkness Sea."
Han Jue: "..."
Ao Lie sneered nearby.
"At last, someone who won't go crazy with you."
Feng Li said softly, "Fellow Daoist Lin Yue has a steady temperament. Abyss needs people like him."
Han Jue sighed.
"He's steady, all right. Just boring."
Lin Yue raised his head and glanced at Han Jue.
"If you can wait three hundred years, I can fight you."
Han Jue instantly perked up.
"It's a deal!"
Lin Yue nodded.
"It's a deal."
Three hundred years was not long for cultivators of the Primordial World.
But Han Jue always felt that when this man said three hundred years, he probably meant he would truly cultivate for three hundred years in the earth veins before fighting him.
His temperament was even steadier than Ancestor Xuan Jia's.
At Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
Lan Shuang watched Ao Lie, Feng Li, Lin Yue, and Han Jue standing together, feeling something strange in her heart.
The Dragon Clan.
The Phoenix Clan.
The Qilin Clan.
The Abyss Guardian Team.
These four young people might one day become the true new pillars of Abyss.
On the seventh day after the Water Qilin Branch entered Abyss.
The depths of the Northern Darkness Sea suddenly shook.
A heavy aura of earth virtue rose from the clan seal brought by the Water Qilin Branch.
Lin Yue's expression changed drastically, and he immediately dropped to his knees.
"His Majesty Primordial Qilin!"
Everyone atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass changed expression once more.
Ancestral Dragon had come.
Yuanfeng had come.
And now, Primordial Qilin had come as well.
Deep within Abyss.
Upon hearing that name, Lu Chen went completely numb.
"He really came."
"Have the three great leaders of the Primordial World mistaken my Abyss for a reception hall?"