His body frantically drew in the rich life essence lingering in the air.
When the qilin flicked a drop of green Treasure Liquid onto him, it swiftly sank into his body the moment it touched him.
His body absorbed the drop of Treasure Liquid in an instant, and he felt the runes binding him within begin to tremble.
Inside him, wherever the green Treasure Liquid flowed, his flesh and bones glowed, slowly growing stronger.
He felt that his lifespan had increased as well.
When the green Treasure Liquid reached the runes imprisoning Shi Qingyun from within,
they faintly showed signs of shattering, but recovered a moment later, while the Treasure Liquid dissipated completely.
He had never imagined that such a tiny drop of life essence could bring him such enormous changes.
He turned his eyes toward the enormous dark green qilin floating above the black egg and could not help licking his lips.
But he quickly suppressed the greed in his heart. A person's capabilities determined how much they could accomplish.
Though he desperately coveted that Treasure Liquid, and the thought that a few more drops would advance his strength kept circling through his mind,
his reason swiftly suppressed that terrifying idea. As he was now, he was no match whatsoever for that qilin.
If he angered it, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Just as Shi Qingyun was considering the benefits that life essence had brought him, the qilin circling above the black egg stamped two feet in midair.
Crack, crack!
Space shattered inch by inch like glass, revealing a pitch-black void that seemed poised to devour everything. The qilin charged forward at tremendous speed.
Its aura surged continuously, tiny arcs of lightning flickering around it. It threw back its head and howled, the piercing sound driving straight into the heart.
Under its roar, Shi Qingyun felt even the Dao Platform beneath his feet trembling.
The dark green qilin plunged down, charging into the black mist with the force of thunder.
The dark green qilin collided with the black mist, but none of the earthshaking commotion he had expected followed.
As though it had struck something exceptionally soft, the dark green qilin slowly sank into the black mist.
Only a moment later, an enormous explosion erupted from within the mist.
Runes flashed across the formation, transforming into a protective barrier that enveloped the Ninth-Rank Dao Platform and blocked the powerful shock wave.
Watching the ripples spreading across the barrier under the relentless bombardment and listening to its teeth-grating cracks, Shi Qingyun could not imagine how powerful the blast must have been.
The dark green qilin flew backward out of the explosion, shook its head, snorted heavily, and charged in again.
When the qilin plunged into the black mist, the mist churned and instantly swallowed its enormous figure.
The black mist transformed into jet-black chains that wrapped around the qilin's body.
Chain after chain scraped across the qilin, tearing away its tightly packed scales. Dark green blood seeped out and dripped into the black mist.
Hissing rang out instantly. The qilin stamped down hard with its powerful limbs, and every chain binding it shattered inch by inch in a flash.
They turned into wisps of black mist and returned to the mass of dark vapor.
The qilin raised its head and opened its enormous jaws. A tremendous suction poured from its mouth, drawing in streams of black mist and clearing everything around it in an instant.
It was about to turn toward the mist ahead and draw that in as well, but the black mist churned, and an enormous, pitch-black snake burst out.
Its body coiled, its enormous head bobbed within the black mist. Flicking its tongue, it stared at the divine qilin without the slightest trace of fear in its eyes.
Its jet-black pupils fixed on the qilin. Watching from below, Shi Qingyun felt a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to his brain.
He no longer had any intention of leaving the Dao Platform. The thought of escaping this place vanished instantly.
He was certain that if he ventured out now, not even a scrap of him would remain.
What worried him more now was whether the barrier could withstand the aftershocks of their battle.
As Shi Qingyun watched in trepidation, the two enormous beasts slammed viciously into each other.
Chapter 59: Recovery
Bang, bang! Clang, clang!
Streaks of light flared within the black mist, accompanied by the tremendous sounds of their collisions.
Within the black mist, the dark green qilin raised both forehooves high and stomped toward the black snake.
Space shattered inch by inch beneath its feet. The black mist surging around it hissed fiercely at the slightest contact, like cold water meeting red-hot iron.
Within moments, it turned into wisps of white smoke and vanished.
The black snake watched the iron hooves descending toward its head, its tongue flicking ceaselessly.
The next moment, its enormous tail tore through the void and slammed into the falling hooves.
A tremendous blast of air rose from the point of collision. Waves of force piled atop one another like ocean swells, battering the blue-gold barrier.
Shi Qingyun instantly felt the ground beneath his feet rock. Even the river of flesh-and-blood essence pouring into the black egg stalled for a moment.
The dark green qilin and the black snake remained locked together in midair, both exerting force without pause. White blades of air slashed outward from the center of their clash.
Wherever they passed, the black mist was swiftly sliced apart.
Energy surged within both creatures. They exerted themselves again, then swiftly separated when neither could overcome the other, each retreating to one side.
Standing opposite each other, they stared at one another, both remaining on guard.
The dark green qilin shook its enormous head, and energy streamed from within its body toward the top of its head.
A green gleam shone on its branching horns, radiating a razor-sharp aura.
Tiny cracks appeared in the space above its head. It exhaled heavily, and its breath struck the black mist ahead with another burst of hissing.
It thrust its sharp horns toward the black snake. Wind howled, and waves of sharpness washed over Shi Qingyun, making him feel as though his body were about to be sliced apart.
The enormous black snake kept flicking its tongue. The surrounding black mist flowed in and out of its mouth, constantly replenishing its spent energy.
It coiled its body into an enormous wheel, resting its massive head at the center before slowly concealing itself in the black mist.
The next moment, its body snapped straight, shooting toward the qilin like an arrow loosed from a bow. As it flew through the air, it lashed out viciously with its tail.
A tremendous howl rang through the space. Space instantly shattered beneath that sweeping tail, and the dark green qilin swiftly raised its head.
The divine radiance on its horns rapidly receded. As the black snake swung its tail, the qilin stamped all four feet hard against the air and swiftly closed in.
Seeing this, the black snake tried to pull its tail back, but it was already too late.
The dark green qilin opened its enormous jaws and bit savagely into the giant snake. Its sharp teeth instantly pierced the snake's body, and the black snake seemed to recoil in pain.
It turned its head and swiftly wound itself around the qilin's body.
Exerting its full strength, it pulled its body taut. The dark green qilin's scales were crushed together and swiftly began to crack.
Green blood seeped from beneath the broken scales, landing on the black snake with a hiss and leaving tiny pits.
The qilin was in pain, but it refused to loosen its jaws, instead biting down even harder.
Drops of black blood trickled to the corners of the dark green qilin's mouth.
The black snake wrapped around the qilin rapidly tightened its coils. Its enormous head slid along the qilin's body, poised to bite down.
Just as the black snake bared its sharp fangs and prepared to strike,
the qilin galloped through the air and charged viciously toward the smooth valley wall. As it approached the wall, it twisted sharply.
It slammed the black snake's body hard against the valley wall. Flecks of light flashed across the wall, and blood-red stone pillars were visible through the gap smashed into it.
Pain swiftly surged through the snake's body, assaulting its soul. In its dazed state, its head also slammed heavily into the wall.
Black blood poured down like water, landing on the smooth valley wall and swiftly being absorbed by the blood-red stone pillars.
The coils wrapped around the qilin immediately loosened. Seizing its chance, the qilin shook the snake off its body.
Without giving the black snake another chance to react, it tugged on the tail gripped between its jaws, whipping the snake's body through the air with a tremendous crack.
The qilin raised a foot and stomped down heavily. The black snake swiftly recovered from its daze, but its chance had long since passed.
With the black snake's tail clenched in its jaws and one leg pinning its body down, the qilin pulled hard, swiftly tearing off a section of the snake.
The black snake writhed ever more violently, black blood gushing from the severed end.
Before it could reach the ground, the qilin obliterated it.
The surrounding black mist still needed to enter the black snake's body to heal its wounds, but the qilin would never give it that chance.
Its body kept expanding, green liquid visibly flowing beneath its scales.
It opened its enormous jaws and swallowed the giant black snake along with the black mist surrounding it. No matter how the snake struggled, it was futile.
After swallowing all the black mist, the qilin's body steadily shrank.
Streams of white smoke rose from its body and drifted into the air. In an instant, the qilin was completely enveloped.
When the white smoke dispersed, a dim, illusory qilin appeared in midair.
Green life essence flowed intermittently within it, barely keeping its form from dispersing.
Having watched the entire battle from below, Shi Qingyun had gained a great deal. Although they were merely creatures forcibly formed from life energy and deathly energy, without any intelligence,
they had still taught him much. He gained new insights into the Dao of Yin-Yang, and his own path became somewhat clearer.
While Shi Qingyun was still reflecting on the insights the battle had brought him,
the illusory qilin plunged straight down, passed directly through the blue-gold barrier, and burrowed into the black egg.
It transformed into a mass of green liquid that enveloped the black egg. The flesh-and-blood essence in the grooves also flowed rapidly, all reaching the Ninth-Rank Dao Platform before long.
It surged toward the black egg. In an instant, the black egg glowing red was wrapped in two liquids, one green and one red.
An unending stream of flesh-and-blood essence swirled around it.
Inside the black egg, the curled-up body slowly stretched out. With life essence and flesh-and-blood essence pouring into it, the enormous wounds covering its body
were slowly healing. Nearly all the black mist clinging to the little fellow's flesh had already been eradicated.
Gradually, what flowed from those wounds was no longer pitch-black mist, but vivid crimson blood.
Shi Qingyun watched the glowing cocoon with anticipation. An intoxicating fragrance wafted from it, refreshing his spirit with a single breath.
He could hear the heartbeat growing stronger and more rhythmic.
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