"Heavenly Yin Demonic Beast: Water Qilin!"
"Water Qilins are born of heaven and earth, with a connection to both yin and yang!"
"Only when yang fire and yin water intermingle can such a Soul Beast be born!"
Seeing how much Yu Tianming knew, the city lord couldn't help being somewhat surprised.
"It seems the deputy hall master truly has wide-ranging knowledge. You've even heard of a rare beast like the Water Qilin."
Yu Tianming recalled, "It's a divine beast mentioned in the ancestral records of our Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. I only happened to come across that passage."
"Water Qilins are rarely seen. They almost never appear in the world."
Yu Tianming said speechlessly, "A Soul Beast like that is rarely seen even once in thousands of years. How could anyone possibly run into one?"
"Besides, even if you were lucky enough to meet one, who could beat it!?"
"Against a powerful rare beast like that, anyone below the rank of Titled Douluo would only serve to fill the gaps between its teeth."
According to Yu Tianming,
Water Qilins were born and nurtured by heaven and earth.
Only one was born every few thousand years, and they had great difficulty producing offspring.
Anyone who encountered one, unless they were a Titled Douluo, would almost certainly meet their death!
"A rare beast like that would be the equivalent of a Heavenly Flame on our Dou Qi Continent." Even Yao Lao was moved, and he was very interested in this so-called Water Qilin.
"If you combined Bone Spirit Cold Flame with a Water Qilin, tsk, tsk!"
Everyone was somewhat afraid of the legendary Heavenly Yin Demonic Beast.
Only the city lord remained unperturbed.
"If you've got something to say, spit it out. If you've got a fart, let it fly. Stop pretending to be a big bad wolf!" Certain that the city lord had something to say, Yu Tianming lost patience and urged him on.
"No hurry, no hurry. We should first hear what our young friend Xiao Yan thinks." The city lord glanced at Xiao Yan with a faint smile.
He wanted me to speak up.
Yao Lao chuckled. "It looks like this city lord really wants to win you over!"
"Back when I mastered medicine refining, countless people flocked to me too."
"You've got the same style I had back then!"
Xiao Yan was speechless. The old fellow really knew how to put gold on his own face.
"City Lord, if you know something, please tell us. If you ever have need of me in the future, as long as it doesn't go against my wishes, I'll make sure the task gets done!"
"Those are the words I wanted to hear!"
The city lord laughed heartily and stopped holding back.
Yu Tianming cursed, "Old fox, hurry up and tell us!"
"Water Qilins are born of heaven and earth and appear only once every few thousand years. That's quite true!"
"The Water Qilins of the past have all disappeared and are nowhere to be seen."
"But who says Water Qilins are born powerful?"
"Every carbon-based life-form has to pass through the stage of growing up!"
"Even today's Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were once little critters that drank beast milk and babbled!"
Xiao Yan's face twitched.
The city lord's analogy really was down to earth.
"Could it be that a young Water Qilin has now been born in the Star Dou Great Forest!?" Yu Tianming drew a sharp breath, and even his voice grew urgent.
The city lord smiled and nodded.
Buzz!
Everyone's heads seemed to tremble.
A young Water Qilin!
If word got out, it would undoubtedly set off a heaven-shaking storm in the Soul Master World!
This was news enough to punch a hole through the heavens!
Such a powerful Soul Beast, rarely seen even once in thousands of years, had actually appeared again!
And it was a youngster!
"Only when one Water Qilin dies can another be born," the city lord said softly, but the news rang out like a great bell striking another.
Everyone was absorbed.
Even Xiao Yan understood the implication.
"Does that mean the previous Water Qilin has already died?"
"And now there's a newborn young Water Qilin in the Star Dou Great Forest!?"
The city lord gave Xiao Yan an appreciative look. "Quick-witted. Young friend Xiao Yan guessed it at once!"
"According to news from the Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Family, there is indeed such a Hundred-Year Soul Beast in the Star Dou Great Forest now."
He looked at Xiao Yan with a faint smile. "It would be quite a match for Xiao Yan's First Soul Ring."
"A hundred-year-old Water Qilin..." Even someone as powerful as Yu Tianming swallowed.
He came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and knew a great deal about Soul Beasts.
It could be said that this Jade Qilin was an outlier among Soul Beasts.
It was one of those born powerful.
"In all of history, no one has ever obtained a Water Qilin's Soul Ring," Yu Tianming murmured.
He looked at Xiao Yan and cautioned him, "Water Qilins are demonic beasts that live at the Lake of Life. There are Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts there that even Titled Douluo fear!"
"Even if this one is young, it's almost impossible to obtain."
Hearing this, Xiao Yan's excited heart calmed down.
That was true.
It was good and powerful.
But obtaining it was far too difficult.
He was only a Soul Scholar below level ten, yet he had actually set his sights on a Soul Beast like that.
The city lord saw their concerns and immediately burst out laughing.
He pointed in the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest and said with a smile, "Normally, that's true. Even among Titled Douluo, how many would dare set foot in that forbidden zone of life?"
"But there are exceptions to everything."
"And now, such an opportunity has appeared!"
Xiao Yan's eyes lit up, and Yu Tianming looked astonished as well.
Dean Du's eyes widened even further.
The city lord looked slightly pleased with himself and said loudly, "Three hundred years ago, something strange happened in the Star Dou Great Forest."
"Intense fluctuations of power swept across the entire forest, and a suffocatingly powerful force of extreme cold enveloped the world."
"Afterward, several powerful Ferocious Beasts fell asleep together."
"In the end, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape, two great Ferocious Beasts, took over the Lake of Life."
"It was also at this time that another Heavenly Yin Demonic Beast, a Water Qilin, was born!"
"This Water Qilin happens to be a little over four hundred years old, just within the age requirement for a First Soul Ring."
"How do you know all this? Since when has news of the Soul Beast world's secrets traveled so freely?" Yu Tianming stared suspiciously at the city lord. The man knew far too much.
The city lord smiled. "I come from the Imperial Family. Naturally, I have extraordinary channels for information."
Though Yu Tianming still had doubts, he couldn't press the matter further.
"An opportunity missed will never return. This is the safest era for the forbidden zone of life, young friend Xiao Yan. You can seize this chance," the city lord said with a smile.
A faint glimmer of golden light flashed through his eyes.
"This fellow is no simple character. Don't agree just yet." Yao Lao's voice was low.
A city lord of Nuoding City, even if he were a prince or noble,
how could he know so many secrets?
There was definitely something wrong!
Something very wrong!
After Yao Lao's warning, Xiao Yan grew even more suspicious of the city lord.
He was definitely an old fox.
The kind who kept his abilities hidden.
Could Teacher have already discovered something!?
He could only hurry to play along. Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Since this is a heaven-sent opportunity, I'll certainly go and try my luck."
"But for now, I'm only level seven. I don't dare think too far ahead."
The city lord smiled faintly. "Then I'll await your good news, young friend."
With that, the city lord took Dean Du and left.
Beside them, Yu Tianming frowned deeply.
"There's something wrong!"
At the same time, Yao Lao's deep voice slowly rang out.
"This city lord isn't human!"
(After thinking it over, I decided not to be an annoying riddler.)
(Three hundred years ago, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm arrived, the ten great Ferocious Beasts fell asleep, and the Water Qilin happened to be born.)
(The hopes they had originally placed on cultivating with the help of the Emperor Auspicious Beast were all transferred to Brother Sky Dream.)
(And because of this, a certain Soul Beast that could take human form, but had yet to reach a hundred thousand years of age, escaped the forbidden zone of life.)
(There's an extra chapter today as well. Thank you all for your support.)
(Also, thanks to [Kuaile] and [Qingfeng], and special thanks to [Kuaile] for the tip.)
(One more thing: these words in parentheses at the end aren't padding the word count. The main text is guaranteed to be over two thousand Chinese characters, so please don't misunderstand.)
(End of chapter)