The ancient underground stone cave trembled violently, dust cascading down, rubble tumbling.

A scarlet blood light surged upward like an inverted waterfall, only to be pierced by a chilling, spectral glow.

"This is the fragment of the Qilin Wedge, a companion artifact of an Ancient Supreme. Legend says that 2,500 years ago, the Qilin Venerable used the Wedge to devour the life force of the entire East Sea, turning a vast ocean into a dead sea. Such power—looking through all of history—only a handful could compare."

Jing Shangxiu cheered fervently, his face a mask of devout zeal: "And now, with the Qilin Venerable trapped deep within the Immortal Palace, unable to contact the outside world, the Qilin Wedge has become an unclaimed treasure."

In the blood sheen, his face appeared sickly and twisted, consumed by fanaticism.

The ten withered corpses suddenly crumbled into dust, as if drained of their final essence.

All that remained were charred black Dragon Bones.

If an archaeologist were present, they would undoubtedly be struck dumb, grieve, and lament.

For these ten corpses, unbelievably, were the remains of Ancient God Seeds!

Ancient God Seeds that belonged to the Candle Dragon Clan!

Even as lifeless shells, they were invaluable treasures.

And their origin? An unsolvable mystery.

Through the unique alchemy techniques of Ying Province—specifically the Spirit Communication Secret Technique—they were summoned by this old man.

Forming the framework of the alchemy matrix.

At its center, a pitch-black Dragon Scale was placed.

It was a Dragon Scale left behind 2,500 years ago by the Candle Dragon Venerable!

For eight years, they had been probing and researching within the underground ruins of the Returning Burial Forest. After combing through countless Ancient Documents, they finally confirmed that the ruins were the corpse of an Ancient God. Moreover, deep within lay a time-space seal.

This alchemy matrix was painstakingly constructed at an enormous cost.

Especially that Dragon Scale.

It was the most critical key to unlocking the seal!

Without this Dragon Scale, no one could break the time-space seal here.

—And without it, the Qilin Wedge could never reappear in the world!

"What I'm more curious about is, why would the Candle Dragon Venerable go to such great effort to bury the Wedge here?"

Si Wei'an's smile grew increasingly frenzied, a pale temptation burned on his forehead, and a gigantic skeletal Spiritual Body loomed behind him, stepping toward the overwhelming blood light.

But at that moment, Jing Shangxiu stepped forward first, walking into the surging blood light.

He extended his aged, trembling hands and grasped the Wedge.

"Thank you, Candle Dragon Venerable."

The old man bared yellow teeth in a sinister smile: "Thank you for finding the Wedge for us."

Si Wei'an narrowed his eyes, contemplating the perfect moment to strike and seize the Wedge.

And at that exact instant.

The fragment of the Qilin Wedge began to tremble, as a voice devoid of any warmth echoed out of nowhere:

"Alright, I'll make sure to pass that on to her."

It resembled a single drop plunging into a silent abyss.

Like a ghost appearing out of nothing in a horror film.

Or the deafening roar of thunder exploding in the dead of night.

It sent chills down the spine.

It made one… shatter in terror!

Every hair on Si Wei'an's body bristled, yet his Life Perception detected no living entities!

Jing Shangxiu's throat emitted a choked sound before abruptly cutting off.

His clouded pupils widened in shock.

For upon the fractured, pitch-black hilt of the broken sword, a face had emerged.

The face of a God.

A world-toppling divine pressure descended, as if reality itself was being torn through the mirror-like sword.

"I also want to thank you for unsealing the Wedge."

The God wore an Ink Jade Mask, crowned with menacing and majestic black Qilin Horns, with golden eyes blazing fiercely. Within the depths of those eyes, divine wrath flashed like crackling thunder, detached and authoritative: "Then allow me… to bid you farewell."

BOOM!

Jing Shangxiu, terrified beyond measure, discovered that he was being inexorably consumed!

With a thud, he fell to his knees.

It wasn't just his life force.

It was his soul, his mind, his will, his memories, his body.

The Authority of the Qilin Venerable.

—Devour!

In an instant, it was as though he were plunged into Hell, with infinite darkness surging like a tide.

Suffocation.

Despair.

Fear.

Terror.

A monstrous roar echoed in the old man's ears, like an abyss throwing open its maw, a vortex ravenously consuming everything he was, dragging him into endless darkness!

No, it wasn't some abyss.

It was unmistakably a black Qilin!

It was so ancient and majestic, with its blazing golden eyes as radiant as the Sun, its body dripping with blackened blood, its shattered Dragon Scales exuding an eerie beauty. Half of its body was withered like dead wood, while the other had grotesque veins bulging, a macabre fusion of vitality and decay.

And behind this black Qilin, there was… a human face!

A cold, unyielding boy, his golden eyes burning as he gazed down at him from above with disdain.

As if regarding an insect!

This was… an Ancient Supreme!

"The Qilin Venerable! He's actually… awakened!"

Jing Shangxiu let out a silent, frightful wail. His body and soul were abruptly swallowed up by the swirling black vortex, buried within the abyssal void.

Along with all his fears and tremors, utterly obliterated.

And in his final moments, he seemed to see that face clearly.

It was… the face of Gu Jianlin.

This was an earth-shattering secret, but he would never again have the chance to share it with anyone.

Jing Shangxiu vanished entirely from this world.

As if he had never existed.

BOOM!

The entire underground ruins trembled violently, teetering on the brink of collapse.

What a nightmarish sight it was! In merely a breath, the fragment of the Qilin Wedge utterly consumed the elderly man in his kimono.

Not a single trace was left behind.

And that pitch-black vortex continued to ravage the Void, like an infinite black hole threatening to tear apart and engulf the world!

A surge of sheer terror exploded in Si Wei'an's mind. At that moment, he had no thoughts at all.

Only one instinct remained—flee!

Yet he didn't flee like a panicked coward but instead drew a dagger from his robe.

Crunch!

He pierced his own heart.

Giving no one a chance, he committed suicide!

However, his corpse decayed rapidly, crumbling into a pile of bones.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Massive stones crashed down, and fissures in the cavern walls blazed with scarlet vertical pupils.

The monsters had broken free of the seal.

Everything was collapsing.

The fragment of the Qilin Wedge abruptly flickered and dissipated without a trace.

·

·

Gu Jianlin had once found some documentation on the Qilin Venerable within the Soul Skywell.

Among them was a mention of the Qilin Wedge.

And the Wedge's property made it impossible for anyone to take it away.

As long as the Ancient Supreme was willing, the corresponding Wedge could return to its owner at any time.

Unless that Supreme fell into slumber and sealing, or had perished entirely—or willingly allowed it—the companion Wedge could never fall into an outsider's hands.

There was no other possibility.

However, the case of the Qilin Wedge was unique; it had been shattered and sealed, which made it imperceptible and, naturally, unable to return to its owner.

But when its seal was broken, things changed again.

Su Youzhu's current life-or-death trial rested on the necessity of reversing the Authority of the Red Qilin Ancestor.

And reversing the Authority of the Red Qilin Ancestor required the Qilin Wedge.

Gu Jianlin didn't have the Qilin Wedge, didn't know its location, and had no knowledge of how to break its seal.

However, what he didn't know didn't mean others were equally in the dark.

For eight years, Si Wei'an of the You Ying Group and Jing Shangxiu of The Order of the Hidden had cooperated in secret.

Who knew how many resources and lives they had expended?

Or how many life-threatening crises they'd endured?

Finally, they discovered the solution.

Except this solution belonged to the Qilin Venerable.

Everything had been in service of another.

BOOM!

As the blood-red cavern rumbled, countless cracks spread, teetering on the edge of collapse.

"Butcher, hold it up!"

Gu Jianlin, carrying the girl in his arms, approached the blood-colored Crystal Stone with an expressionless face.

The brain of the Red Qilin Ancestor!

The Butcher, though unsure of his intentions, acted immediately with his no-nonsense nature, standing and channeling his Qi to prop up the collapsing cave roof, like a colossal pillar!

"Youzhu, hold on a little longer."

Gu Jianlin walked up to the blood-colored Crystal Stone and abruptly raised his right hand.

His movements were swift and decisive.

The force was so immense it caused his sleeves to billow.

Su Youzhu, curled in his arms, had already been entirely invaded by the domain left behind by the Red Qilin Ancestor. In her vision, the end of the world unfurled in scarlet tones, the world crumbling before her. She huddled in the boy's arms.

Clinging to the last remnants of warmth.

"Gu Jianlin, are you my god?"

She spoke softly: "But I've seen gods before, and they don't look like you."

Gu Jianlin replied just as quietly: "How do I look different?"

Su Youzhu smiled faintly, her life like a flickering candle flame, her long lashes fluttering and drooping, her voice barely audible: "You… are a little more handsome than a god."

Gu Jianlin said calmly: "If you find me handsome, then live on, and keep looking."

Su Youzhu lifted her delicate, drowsy gaze, her eyes brimming with reluctance.

It was, after all, the first time she had removed her mask in front of the person she liked.

The first time she had shed all her disguises.

She made no effort to conceal her emotions and feelings of love.

For once, she could gaze at him unabashedly, let him hold her without reservation.

Watch him worry over her, watch him act frantic and helpless for her.

It made her feel genuinely needed, an unprecedented importance in someone's heart, greater than the joy of receiving her first birthday gift, outshining the pleasure of wearing a pretty dress and glancing in a mirror, luckier than meeting her teacher at the Qilin Immortal Palace, and far more fulfilling than the occasional teasing seduction.

In some sense, this was their proper first encounter.

An unvarnished, genuine meeting.

Although, for many years, a world had separated them, never interfering with each other.

Gu Jianlin, to Su Youzhu, was the reflection of another world.

And Su Youzhu, to Gu Jianlin, was the shadow that had silently protected him for eight years.

The shadows of their two worlds gradually overlapped.

The memories buried deep in the recesses of their minds sharpened into clarity.

On the school's basketball court, in the corner coffee shop, in the bustling shopping mall.

And on the moonlit coastline, in the brightly lit city.

Loneliness dissipated, replaced by the presence of another.

"I'll share a little secret with you."

Gu Jianlin smiled faintly as well: "I'm not just more handsome than a god."

Su Youzhu's consciousness was fading; she could only feel the scarlet-hued world crumbling as her fragile body trembled and sank further into the abyss.

Fear seemed to consume her utterly.

The colossal Fire Qilin loomed above, its crimson eyes threatening to incinerate the entire world.

As it roared in fury, the world shattered, reeking of death.

Yet amidst the cacophony of a collapsing world echoed the crisp clarity of the boy's voice.

"I'm also stronger than a god."

In that fleeting moment, a spectral light condensed in Gu Jianlin's hand, forming a broken, pitch-black sword!

He flipped the hilt and thrust it into the shattered blood-red Crystal Stone!

BOOM!

The Fire Qilin at the world's end emitted an enraged, unwilling howl.

Because its domain was shattered and crumbled!

A colossal black Qilin tore through the blood-red world with a thunderous roar, ascending dominantly to reign supreme!

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