Yuangeng held one hand behind his back and raised the newly forged Star Stele with the other. A faint radiance flowed over its intricate, obscure characters. Each resembled an ancient immortal seated in meditation, as though expounding the very origin of the Dao.
This was a method commonly used by cultivators in the Immortal Ancient Era: swearing upon their Primordial Spirits to establish an everlasting pact.
"A pact..."
The Qilin Emperor nodded. In the age when the Primordial Myriad Races coexisted, pacts were hardly uncommon. He carefully deciphered every character of the Immortal Ancient Script in the pact and soon understood.
The pact was detailed, its Immortal Ancient Script densely covering the entire Star Stele, but its terms were not harsh. It chiefly required both parties to watch over and aid one another, refrain from harming each other, and protect each other's peoples. It could be considered mutually beneficial.
Yet the pact also stated clearly that, although both parties were theoretically equal in standing, Yuangeng held the position of "Alliance Leader." Under the necessary circumstances, Yuangeng would have considerable authority to take the initiative.
"After all, we come from different eras and have known each other for only a moment. Human nature is as unfathomable as the sea. We need a written pact to bind us both," Yuangeng said with a nod.
He understood all too well that staking his own interests and safety on another person's morality was exceedingly foolish. Even in the Immortal Ancient Era, where cultivation conditions were favorable, people needed pacts to restrain and oversee both parties.
From what he knew of the original story, Yuangeng considered the Qilin Emperor a paragon of virtue among the emperors of Primordial Antiquity. But hearts changed, and no one could predict how. In particular, the brutal pressure to survive in the era of Shrouding the Heavens truly could drive a person mad.
As for his position as Alliance Leader in the pact, Yuangeng did not consider it excessive. In the world of cultivators, strength ultimately determined whose words carried weight. Whether in combat power or accumulated foundations, he surpassed the Qilin Emperor by far.
"I understand."
The Qilin Emperor continued reading the pact on the Star Stele. It used this universe as its medium and the Primordial Spirits of both parties as its witnesses. In other words, anyone who violated the pact would suffer not only a backlash from the universe itself, but damage to his Primordial Spirit as well.
Such a pact gave the Qilin Emperor pause. From his perspective, signing it meant willingly acknowledging Yuangeng as Alliance Leader. This was plainly placing himself beneath another.
He was the reigning emperor, after all. For twenty thousand years, he had roamed unchallenged across the universe, remaining upright and steadfast throughout. He had no desire to stand beneath anyone else.
The old Qilin Emperor hesitated for a moment, then finally made his choice.
"Roar!"
Surging Extreme Dao blood energy thundered forth. The Qilin Emperor's human form vanished, replaced by a great qilin whose aura was as vast as the sea. Azure from head to tail, he loomed as immense and majestic as a star. His divine might was oppressive as a hellish prison, crushing the myriad Daos until they wailed.
The Qilin Emperor revealed his true form. He nodded slightly to Yuangeng and raised a mountain-sized hoof, a drop of crimson emperor's blood appearing at its tip.
The emperor's blood was extraordinary, wreathed in surging Ultimate Dao Laws. Scarlet radiance billowed like clouds, and on listening closely, one could hear roars like those of dragons and tigers issuing from within.
The drop of blood fell squarely upon the heavenly stele forged from a river of stars. In that instant, every character on the Star Stele shone. Those characters of the Immortal Ancient Script, resembling reclining True Immortals, seemed to come alive, chanting an obscure and incomprehensible epic.
Seeing this, Yuangeng did not hesitate either. He pointed into the void, and a drop of Dao blood flew from his fingertip, likewise merging into the Star Stele.
Then the great stele forged from a river of stars split down the middle into two perfectly equal halves. One merged into the azure qilin's brow, while the other sank into Yuangeng's chest, where his Dao Seed absorbed it.
"Congratulations on making the right choice, Fellow Daoist Qilin."
Only now did the smile on Yuangeng's face truly come from the heart. His gaze toward the Qilin Emperor also lost some of its wariness.
After five hundred thousand years of cultivation, there were still only a handful of people he could trust unconditionally. He had suffered for it before and had no desire to wade into the waters of human nature.
"Ah!"
In response, the great qilin, majestic as a star, assumed human form again. Leaning on the Qilin Staff, he approached Yuangeng and manifested the great stele forged from a river of stars, carefully studying its Immortal Ancient Script.
He had already made his peace with it. Some heard the Dao before others. Having a cultivator whose cultivation, knowledge, and combat power far exceeded his own offer him regular guidance would greatly benefit his future cultivation.
More importantly, the Qilin Emperor was already very old, with little lifespan remaining. The Longevity Art could not grant him a third life, and the method of becoming an immortal was much the same. Even if he calculated the correct location, he lacked the courage and confidence to force his way through.
It was a brutal truth.
He believed that if he refused Yuangeng's pact, he would almost certainly die of old age three thousand years later, just like those ancient Dao Provers who had been as unremarkable as himself, destined to be buried utterly beneath history.
The Qilin Emperor wanted to live. He wanted longevity. He wanted to witness a vaster world.
In fact, a thousand years earlier, he had visited the Primordial Ancient Mine, the Immortal Mausoleum, the Divine Ruins, the Reincarnation Sea, and other places, seeking a fallback for himself. If a day came when he truly could no longer hold on, he would inevitably have to keep company with a million years of solitude and decay.
Fortunately, before his twilight years truly arrived, he had found a better choice.
"After all, Dao Brother Yuangeng is also a destined opportunity for me."
The Qilin Emperor spoke from the heart. Through the connection established by this Star Stele and the Immortal Ancient Pact, he had finally glimpsed Yuangeng's true strength and aura. Such foundations would probably remain beyond him even if he lived a third life.
"I told you. Once we seal our alliance in blood, we are on the same side."
Yuangeng nodded, accepting the address of Dao Brother without the slightest qualm. Even setting cultivation aside, he was an old man who had lived for over five hundred thousand years. Across two lives, the Qilin Emperor had lived fewer than twenty thousand years. In the Immortal Ancient Era, someone that age would only just have begun the long road of cultivation.
At the same time, through the connection of the Immortal Ancient Pact, he gained a tangible sense of the Qilin Emperor's state. It was a wondrous feeling: united with the myriad Daos, embracing the roots of the universe, as though he were the ruler of the entire great world, holding everything in his grasp.
Yuangeng understood that this was the power of the Heavenly Heart Imprint. For the Dao Provers of this world, merging with the Heavenly Heart Imprint was a crucial part of what they called proving the Dao.
As he considered this, Yuangeng involuntarily reached out and pressed a hand against the Qilin Emperor's shoulder. He focused on sensing the Heavenly Heart, his body and mind resonating with that unique imprint of the universe.
Rumble!
At that moment, the Qilin Emperor felt the Heavenly Heart Imprint within him grow unstable. A terrifying Dao resonance came from Yuangeng. His Great Dao was so profound and unfathomable that it directly suppressed the Qilin Emperor's own Dao laws. The Heavenly Heart trembled, forcibly stirred by Yuangeng's Dao laws.
Faced with this, the Qilin Emperor had no choice but to resist with all his strength. If Yuangeng truly tore the Heavenly Heart Imprint out of his body, he would suffer grievous harm.
Fortunately, Yuangeng also realized that something was wrong. He decisively withdrew his hand and stopped trying to stir the Heavenly Heart Imprint.
Only then did the Qilin Emperor's aura gradually stabilize.
"So this is the Heavenly Heart Imprint... truly a supreme treasure."
His composure sent a chill through the Qilin Emperor. With only the slightest move, he had nearly shaken the emperor's Heavenly Heart Imprint. Such a means was truly beyond fathoming.
"Did you never merge with a Heavenly Heart Imprint in the Immortal Ancient Era?" He drew a deep breath and waited for the Heavenly Heart to settle before asking.
"The Heavenly Heart?" Yuangeng met the Qilin Emperor's gaze. "In our era, there was no Heavenly Heart Imprint."
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