Qilin Saint Emperor

"Luo Yu has fallen, and you think a mere Quasi-Emperor weapon can suppress me!" the Eight-Winged Saint King roared. His armor released boundless white light, boosting his combat power.

"It is not a Saint weapon, but a Dao Treasure," said a ruler with a discerning eye. The aura of the Great Dao on the white armor was too dense, similar to the Eight-Winged Saint King's yet different.

Dao Treasures lay hidden in chaotic spacetime, each with its own powers. Most were inauspicious objects, and there had even been cases of emperors falling because of them.

In the end, no one was controlling the Great Luo Dao Bell. That peerlessly majestic man had gone far away, and the bell was gradually losing. Boundless white light broke through its strongest technique and battered its body again and again.

But it refused to yield, tolling ceaselessly, longing for its master to return and lead it into battle once more to suppress their enemies.

"Fifth Ancestor!" Tears of blood streamed from the eyes of Great Luo's Venerables. Faced with a powerful enemy, they were too weak. Under that pressure, they could barely move, much less fight back.

Luo Sanxian, the seventh King of Great Luo, looked resolute. He was ready to die, burning his Saint Dao Fruit to unleash his strongest strike.

The glory of Great Luo could not be sullied.

"Brother Qilin, I'm counting on you," Fu Yangping said. At first, he had not wanted him to intervene; it would cause too great a stir and set the Three Thousand Worlds ablaze.

"A small matter!" a voice rang out. A golden avenue appeared, countless starry rivers cascaded from the heavens, and boundless Dao resonance spread. What manner of being was this?

He came treading the golden avenue, bringing boundless Chaos Qi with him. His presence flowed across far more than a single star region, suppressing far more than billions of living beings.

"What kind of existence is this? Another peak Saint King?" an Ancient Saint exclaimed. All the arrogance he had shown upon emerging was gone. This world was too vast, its history too long. So many supreme experts had appeared in a single day.

"Too powerful. He is even more powerful than the Eight-Winged Saint King." An Ancient Saint from the primordial era was shaken. The newcomer was a Saint Emperor at the very least, perhaps even a Quasi-Emperor.

Countless stars changed their courses and streamed into the golden avenue, accompanying the man as he advanced. To the Saints, he seemed a golden qilin thousands of miles long, his Qi surging to the heavens, his might bearing down upon the firmament.

"A Qilin Saint Emperor!" A supreme elder of the Dragon Clan looked on in shock. Qilins were among the strongest divine beasts, able to stand alongside True Dragons. That aura was too ancient, far beyond his comprehension.

"What era did he come from? This is staggering." A ruler's black hair streamed around him as he struggled to contain his astonishment.

The Qilin Saint Emperor was terrifying, as though he had stepped out of the river of time and space, arriving from a distant age. That aura which suppressed the starry rivers was too ancient, different from the Dao of the present age.

"An ancient ancestor of our clan?" A Fire Qilin at the Great Sage Realm was overjoyed. He sprang out of Qilin Cave, hoping to cross the realms and acknowledge his kin.

Their lineage was spread too thin. Their clansmen were vanishingly few; in many eras, there were only one or two, and they would go thousands or tens of thousands of years without seeing another of their kind.

"Back!" the Qilin Saint Emperor shouted. The golden avenue moved at his will, bearing down on the Eight-Winged Saint King with unparalleled might.

It was a magnificent strike. A golden river of stars swept over, an astonishing sight.

"Fight!" the Eight-Winged Saint King bellowed. He abandoned his attempt to seize the Great Luo Dao Bell, and boundless white light poured from his armor, gathering around his fists.

A golden river crossed the void; two radiant suns battled the golden river.

Boom!

The entire starry river trembled, and billions of living beings prostrated themselves. In a clash like this, Venerables were ants, and Divine Fire was no more than dust.

The strikes were evenly matched, and both were Saints at their peak. Yet the spectators were horrified: one had struck casually, while the other had met him in earnest. A single exchange had revealed who stood above the other.

"An old monster from the Mythic Era. Since when has your Qilin Clan been so close to Great Luo?" Beneath his white armor, the Eight-Winged Saint King's face darkened, and his exposed eyes shone with a piercing white light.

He had acted today, first to avenge an old grudge and perfect his state of mind, and second, seemingly to announce his return and contend for the imperial throne of the present age.

But the situation now was beyond his control. The rich aura of the Mythic Era on his opponent and that peerless Blood Qi seemed to proclaim his defeat.

Only at the tenth heaven of the Saint realm could one become a Saint Emperor, capable of contending against a Quasi-Emperor.

A difference of a mere minor realm was an enormous chasm.

"A qilin from the Mythic Era!" Every living being was shaken by the news he had revealed. That was the first era after heaven and earth were cleaved open and chaos was reborn, the glorious age when Heavenly Venerables vied for supremacy. It was ancient beyond measure.

Even the overjoyed Fire Qilin stopped in his tracks, suddenly feeling a measure of sorrow. That age had been one of immortal mountains and grotto-heavens. Whether the Qilin Clan or the True Dragon Clan, they had been divine beasts and mounts that guarded the homes and courtyards of supreme experts.

Only after the Heavenly Venerables established forbidden zones one after another and withdrew from the world did the first divine beast attain the imperial throne and take the title Heavenly Emperor. Only then did the beast clans enjoy millions of years of glory.

"The Great Luo Dynasty, the Indestructible Lineage?" The Fire Qilin was deeply conflicted, sorrow welling up in his heart. He turned back, his departing figure utterly desolate.

"Someone from the Indestructible Lineage really has emerged!" The ruler of Great Qin's expression changed drastically. The emperors were all making their schemes, and the Heavenly Court, Dao Venerable Mountain, and the Indestructible Lineage had entered the game one after another.

"A great tide is coming. Heaven and earth are on the verge of a tremendous upheaval!" an old Saint of the Ji Clan lamented. They had a blood feud with the Indestructible Lineage. A great war was inevitable between the two sides, a battle for life and death.

"Ancestor Ji Yang was muddleheaded," the current head of the Ji Clan sighed. It had been far too unwise to provoke such an enemy.

"The times truly have changed. Since when has even a Saint King dared question me?" The Qilin Saint Emperor exhaled softly. He was a follower of the Indestructible Heavenly Venerable and had fought living beings from beyond their domain, earning illustrious merit.

Even the Heavenly Venerables of the Mythic Era had associated with him as equals, addressing him as a fellow Daoist.

The Eight-Winged Saint King was furious. Mocked in such a manner, how could he have any face left? He retorted sharply, "You old fool, throwing your seniority around! Do you really think you are an emperor, able to subdue heaven, earth, and the myriad Daos?"

"However strong you are, you are still only a Saint Emperor."

The Eight-Winged Saint King spoke, making it clear that the Qilin Saint Emperor's Dao was too ancient and incompatible with the present age. It would clash with the myriad Daos and be restrained, perhaps even suppressed, by them.

"Would heaven and earth dare? Would the myriad Daos dare?" The Qilin Ancient Emperor was contemptuous. He struck, and the starry rivers flowed backward, the heavens wept blood, and billowing Chaos Qi covered the starry rivers. His indestructible Dao principles suppressed time and space.

Through his actions, he told the Three Thousand Worlds that Great Emperors were not the only ones who could do this. The Saint Emperors of the Indestructible Forbidden Zone could do it too; they possessed that privilege.

The myriad Daos of heaven and earth did not dare press down on him, and the rules of the heavens did not dare descend upon him.

"Kill!" The Eight-Winged Saint King erupted with all his strength. Eight enormous white wings stretched ten thousand miles, and a terrifying aura emanated from his white armor. His flesh and blood were being devoured bit by bit.

This was an inauspicious Dao Treasure: it sacrificed something in exchange for great power, an equivalent exchange.

Boundless White Qi surged forth, and the eight white wings became like ten-thousand-mile sword lights, severing the firmament and the starry rivers.

But the Qilin Ancient Emperor was too ferocious. He let the white light, capable of killing Saints, strike his body with a tremendous crash, without being hindered in the slightest. The onrushing white light was full of inauspiciousness, but it too was blocked by the sweeping Chaos Qi.

Such was a Saint Emperor who had broken the limit of nine, almost invincible beneath the emperor realm.