Inheritance

"Hum!"

Brilliant golden light shone from Little Golden Spider's body. Holding nothing back, it assumed its strongest defensive stance.

A layer of precious light also rose automatically around Shi Yi, and the reverberations of a great bell rang out within him.

The human and spider had barely readied their defenses when the mist ahead of them eerily dispersed, replaced by a sea of purple vapor.

Shi Yi remained calm, but Little Golden Spider's eyes widened in disbelief, and even a hint of terror.

An unparalleled force swept toward them from within that purple vapor, blanketing heaven and earth, as though some colossal creature were about to emerge.

The next instant, heaven and earth thundered, the mountains and rivers shook, and a clear footstep sounded in the human's and spider's ears.

Before long, a second followed, deep and muffled, as though it had landed on a divine drum. It shook heaven and earth, making their hearts clench with discomfort.

Then came the third, the fourth...

With every footstep, its destructive power rose dramatically. Eventually, the pressure alone made heaven and earth roar, as though they were about to shatter.

At the fifth, a murderous blast erupted, like tens of millions of people shouting in unison, shaking both heart and courage.

Little Golden Spider trembled all over, nearly unable to hold on and about to collapse. Fortunately, Shi Yi lent a hand and pulled it up.

At that moment, they saw what lay within the purple vapor. A qilin covered in purple scales was striding toward them. Those terrifying footsteps came from it.

Shi Yi's expression remained unruffled. His Double Pupils had already pierced through everything and discerned the truth. That majestic purple qilin was not alive, merely a manifestation of a divine ability from ages past. Its destructive power was limited; they only needed to withstand those terrifying steps.

Little Golden Spider was clearly terrified. As a pure-blooded creature, it was noble in the Lower Realm, its bloodline inspiring awe. Yet before Purple Qilin, it was as lowly as an ant. Its bloodline was naturally suppressed, and that fear seeped into its marrow and froze its soul.

"Boom!"

The sixth step landed. Space thundered, and billowing purple mist surged over them.

Even someone as powerful as Shi Yi could not help shuddering, his body swaying slightly.

The final, seventh step made bright red blood trickle from the corner of Shi Yi's mouth. Precious light blazed across his body, and vast waves of bell chimes surged within him. He was defending with all his strength, yet he had still been injured.

As for Little Golden Spider, Shi Yi shielded it. With its strength, taking the Qilin Seven Steps head-on would inevitably leave it gravely wounded and affect its upcoming Blood Pool Baptism.

Since he had promised to protect Little Golden Spider, he would not go back on his word. Besides, leaving the safe route had been his idea.

After taking all seven steps, the enormous Purple Qilin abruptly dispersed, vanishing with the wind as though it had never appeared.

Only seven enormous footprints remained.

Shi Yi had already discerned that this was the inheritance of the Qilin Step. Not far from the qilin's footprints, within the thick mist, stood several boulders engraved with qilin symbols.

Beyond those, he also saw many traces of great battles. Even now, they exuded terrifying auras, leaving everything blurred and indistinct even to Shi Yi's Double Pupils.

Shi Yi withdrew his gaze and focused on the seven footprint craters. Patterns and symbols flickered within them, concealing the inheritance of the Qilin Remnant Technique.

Little Golden Spider also knew how precious those seven footprint craters were. This was undoubtedly a tremendous opportunity.

Yet they were too far away for it to obtain anything.

With his Double Pupils open, Shi Yi gazed into the footprint craters, committing their symbols and patterns to memory and analyzing them within his pupils.

Soon, he seemed to enter a meditative trance, standing motionless where he was. Only his eyes shone, as dazzling as two suns.

Envy appeared in Little Golden Spider's eyes. Without Double Pupils, it could only let this opportunity slip past.

As for Shi Yi passing the inheritance on to it after obtaining it, such a fanciful notion could never possibly come true.

After a long while, Shi Yi's eyes gleamed with vigor. He gathered the entire inheritance together, forming seven mysterious purple symbols. This was the complete Qilin Step, without the slightest omission.

If the technique mastered by the Purple Qilin that left those footprints had been complete, then what Shi Yi learned was complete as well.

After obtaining the Qilin Step, Shi Yi turned his gaze toward the boulders lying amid the dense mist.

Numerous qilin patterns were engraved upon them, glowing with mysterious purple light.

With practiced ease, Shi Yi began using his Double Pupils to decipher the qilin patterns on the boulders.

These, too, held an inheritance of the Qilin Precious Technique, but it was incomplete and badly fragmented.

Even so, these fragmented techniques were far stronger than the innate Treasure Techniques of Primordial Remnants and pure-blooded creatures that Shi Yi had previously obtained.

He devoured them hungrily, his Double Pupils working without a moment's rest.

Only when a blaze of brilliant purple light burst from Shi Yi's eyes did his study of the Qilin Precious Technique reach its end.

Besides the Qilin Step, he had obtained individual techniques from the boulders, including the Qilin Plate and Qilin Seal.

The gains from this trip were tremendous indeed.

Having finished comprehending the techniques, Shi Yi turned, ready to head for the Blood Pool.

Little Golden Spider cast an envious glance at Shi Yi, said nothing, and followed closely behind. It was certain that Shi Yi had obtained some inheritance of the qilin, one of the Ten Fiends. After all, he possessed the astonishing gift of Double Pupils.

Still, none of that had anything to do with it. Securing an excellent spot for the baptism on this trip was already a tremendous blessing.

The human and spider retraced their steps to the safe route they had left, then headed toward the Qilin Blood Pool.

By then, all the pure-blooded younglings from the Primordial Divine Mountain had reached the Blood Pool. They gathered in twos and threes, waiting for the final piece of the key that would activate the baptism.

The younglings had already fought over the allocation of baptism spots. The strong occupied the best positions, while the weak had no choice.

Demon Spirit Lake was the only uncertainty left.

"What are those from Demon Spirit Lake doing? Why aren't they here yet after all this time?" a pure-blooded creature asked with a frown.

Everyone was waiting for Demon Spirit Lake, which naturally provoked their displeasure.

"Heh, I bet those two from Demon Spirit Lake have already died along the way. Bringing a human into this was a mistake."

A creature spoke with a cold sneer.

The pure-blooded younglings discussed it among themselves. Some gloated, while others looked worried. After all, it did not matter if someone died; they were not the ones dying. What mattered was the key fragment. If it had been lost on the safe route, that would be manageable. But if it had been lost in a dangerous area, wouldn't this Blood Pool Baptism go down the drain?

Just as the pure-blooded younglings were speculating about Shi Yi and Little Golden Spider, the silhouettes of a human and spider emerged from the dense mist, growing clearer and clearer as they approached.

At once, the Blood Pool fell silent. Every pure-blooded youngling's attention was drawn toward them, and all turned to look.