At the very center of Black Mountain's core region stood a peak that towered into the clouds.
At that moment, a demonic beast wreathed in pitch-black flames was slumbering in a cave halfway up the mountain.
Black flames danced incessantly over its body, so hot that the space around it hissed and gave off black smoke.
The figure of a young man in white slowly appeared halfway up the mountain.
In an instant, winds rose and clouds surged.
As though sensing something, the demonic beast in the cave abruptly opened its bell-sized eyes.
At once, fierce winds howled, heavenly thunder rolled, and lightning flashed amid thunderclaps.
Endless black flames surged violently toward the walls of the cave.
The terrifying power blasted the entire cave apart, severing the towering peak at its waist.
Countless flying rocks and swirling grains of sand were instantly reduced to ash beneath the scorching black flames.
The demonic beast, wrapped in blazing black flames, took a sudden step forward and glared at the young man with majestic eyes.
Then it spun around with lightning speed, pushed off hard with all four feet, and fled headlong into the distance.
Holy shit, what kind of existence is this?
How can his presence be so terrifying?
Dao resonance flows around him, laws intertwine, and his imposing presence shakes heaven and earth. How utterly terrifying!
Why would an ultimate powerhouse like this come looking for a puny sacred beast like me?
If you've got a fucking grudge, go find those old fossils! Why come after me?
I haven't even provoked you!
The demonic beast ranted furiously to itself, but its feet never stopped moving for even a moment.
It could guarantee that this was the fastest it had ever run in its life. It had even mustered the strength it had once used to suckle.
Its four hooves whirled through the air like spinning tops.
The young man in white was, of course, Ye Chen.
Watching the demonic beast flee headlong, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.
He had deliberately released a trace of Quasi-Emperor pressure just now. Seeing that the demonic beast seemed to want to fight him, he had found it rather strange.
He had just been about to give it a thumbs-up, say, "You're brave," and then mercilessly suppress it.
He had not expected the demonic beast to bolt like a puff of smoke. Judging by its movements, it had done this plenty of times before.
But not a single living creature in all of Heavenly Profound could escape him.
He casually slapped forward.
Smack!!!
A sharp, thunderous crack suddenly rang out in the air.
The black flames covering the demonic beast abruptly went out, and a bright red handprint appeared on its rear.
Against its pitch-black body, that handprint was particularly conspicuous.
"Eee, eee, eee..."
An enormous beast's cry rang out in the air.
Immediately afterward, the demonic beast slammed into the ground like a cannonball.
The terrifying shock waves shredded every flower, blade of grass, and tree within ten thousand li, forming a crater a thousand zhang across at the very center.
Around the crater, the ground split apart everywhere, countless fissures racing outward as fast as lightning.
Viewed from above, it looked like a gigantic spiderweb embedded in the earth.
The might of a single slap was terrifying indeed.
Luo Chen, still five kilometers away, was scared witless.
The terrifying impact had just made his already injured body suffer frost atop snow. Several more bones had broken, and many of his internal organs had ruptured.
He struggled up from the ground, and only after taking a pill did his complexion improve somewhat.
"Too terrifying! If I hadn't used the life-saving item the Manor Lord gave me just now, that shock wave alone probably would have killed me!"
He looked at the figure in the sky, like an immortal or a demon, his eyes filled with envy, reverence, fear...
One day, I'll definitely catch up to you.
He silently swore to himself.
Then he felt a pang of loss.
That life-saving item had been his greatest trump card, containing a full-power strike from the Manor Lord.
He had not used it even when those five assassins surrounded him earlier, yet now he had expended it merely because of the shock waves from a slap.
Still, there was some consolation. If his own state could be called miserable, the pests tailing him were a sight too wretched to bear.
When the five assassins sensed the terrifying shock waves, they were scared out of their wits. They immediately turned around and took to their heels.
They unleashed every secret art they had, from blood escape to earth escape, all at once.
They looked as though they wished they had been born with an extra leg.
Yet the shock waves were simply too fast.
Their figures were soon swallowed by the terrifying surge of power.
And then there was no more.
Only, before they died, their eyes were filled with terror, regret, and doubts about life itself.
Never could they have imagined that after a lifetime of commanding the winds and clouds, they would die in the shock waves of someone else's slap.
Seeing that his pursuers were dead, Luo Chen's taut nerves abruptly relaxed. For a moment, he felt heaven and earth spin around him, and he fainted.
Meanwhile, Ye Chen hovered in the air. He looked at his hand and asked in puzzlement, "Female?"
He smiled sheepishly. Had he struck too hard?
All it had wanted was to run away. It had not attacked him.
No, he had only given it a light slap, without using any force. He could only blame it for being unable to take a hit.
Below, the pitch-black demonic beast slowly flew up from the deep crater.
With the black flames gone, the demonic beast revealed its true form.
It was one chi and eight cun long and one chi and seven cun tall, with a deer's head and an ox's tail. It unmistakably had the appearance of the auspicious beast, the qilin, and looked imposing indeed.
Only, the bright red handprint on its rear rather spoiled the picture.
The demonic beast glared fiercely at Ye Chen, its eyes carrying a humanlike embarrassment and anger, though shock and fear filled them even more.
That slap had seemed utterly ordinary, but its power had actually been terrifying beyond compare.
It was, after all, a sacred beast that had entered the Saint realm. Its body was protected by Saint Dao laws, and demonic beasts naturally possessed extraordinary physiques. Even a Great Saint could not have reduced it to such a sorry state with one blow.
In this age when Great Emperors did not appear, Quasi-Emperors lived in seclusion, and Saint Kings remained in closed-door cultivation, Great Saints stood at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Profound Continent's pyramid.
Yet the strength of the person before it absolutely surpassed that of a Great Saint. He had to be a Saint King.
At that thought, it sucked in a breath of cold air.
It no longer even considered running.
The gap was simply too vast.
But it absolutely would not submit.
So what if you're a Saint King? I'm a noble qilin sacred beast!
Once I grow a little bigger, just see if I don't swallow you in one bite! Hmph...
Seeing the qilin demonic beast like this, Ye Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"Become my beast companion and help guard the Ye Lineage. I'll grant you an immortal opportunity!"
He came before it and spoke with a smile.
An immortal opportunity?
Your feet might not stink much, but your mouth sure blows big.
The qilin gave Ye Chen a scornful look.
Forget becoming an immortal-even the path to becoming a Great Emperor has already been severed!
Do you take me for one of those silly, sweet, innocent heroines? That easy to fool?
Seeing that it did not believe him, Ye Chen condensed Emperor Dao laws in his palm, then caught its tail with one hand and dangled it upside down in the air.
When the qilin sensed those vast, profound laws, like the Heavenly Dao itself, its eyes bulged almost out of their sockets, and towering waves surged through its heart!
"Th-this is... Emperor Dao law!"
It had never imagined that after secretly sneaking out of its clan and hiding in this remote corner, it would actually encounter a Quasi-Emperor!
Why am I so unlucky?! Boohoo!
It cried outright in frustration, whimpering there.
But so what if you're a Quasi-Emperor?
You make it sound nice, guarding your Lineage. Put bluntly, isn't that just watching the gate?
With the noble bloodline of a qilin, it absolutely could not do something that disgraced its clan's traditions!
Seeing how stubborn the qilin was, Ye Chen casually took an immortal pill out of his storage ring.
With his strength, the qilin naturally had no power to resist him.
Still, he had seen at a glance that this qilin was pure-blooded, a true auspicious beast capable of anchoring a clan's fortune. Moreover, it was powerful enough to deal with ordinary Saints without the effort of blowing away dust, and it had plenty of room to grow. It was worth nurturing.
If he could make it submit wholeheartedly, that would naturally be ideal.
The qilin suddenly sensed a presence unlike the Spiritual Qi of the Heavenly Profound Continent, and its large eyes swiveled toward Ye Chen's hand.
Then it could no longer look away.
Brilliant light glittered in its eyes, more dazzling than the stars.
"Th-this... is an immortal pill???!!!"
It was so shocked that it wanted to cry, and tears involuntarily flowed from the corners of its mouth.
It could guarantee that after eating this immortal pill, it would face no more cultivation bottlenecks before reaching Quasi-Emperor. Even becoming a Quasi-Emperor would not be impossible.
At that moment, clan traditions and bloodline were all nothing but floating clouds in its heart.
Only because that immortal pill was truly irresistible!