A Qilin, wreathed in lightning, suddenly appeared in the manor, leaving Sun Bugui utterly stunned.
He couldn't fathom why a mythical beast from legends would descend upon his Sun family!
Why was this happening?
Sun Bugui's mind was a mess!
"Return my son!"
The Qilin glared menacingly at Sun Bugui and Kong Xuhan, roaring in a low voice. The lightning crackling around it immediately reduced the entire Sun family manor to ruins!
The vast Shanghai city was covered by dark clouds, with fierce winds and rumbling thunder, instilling fear in countless people.
"Return... return my son?"
Terrified, Sun Bugui sat down on the ground, his face pale with fear as he looked at the Qilin, trembling all over. "What are you talking about?"
Kong Xuhan, however, remained silent. But judging by his deathly pale complexion, he was clearly guilty and seemed to be hiding something.
Ye Ling observed the reactions of Sun Bugui and Kong Xuhan with amusement. He walked over to the Qilin's side and asked, "Little Qilin, what grievance do these two have with you?"
The Qilin's gaze was fixed on Sun Bugui and Kong Xuhan, and it hadn't noticed Ye Ling at first.
But when Ye Ling spoke to it, it suddenly felt an immensely powerful aura pressing down on it, causing it to tremble violently.
"Great... Great Lord..." The Qilin's imposing aura vanished instantly. It looked at Ye Ling with extreme shock, its eyes filled with palpable fear.
Seeing the once arrogant divine beast acting like a docile cat in front of Ye Ling, Sun Bugui was completely dumbfounded!
How was this possible?
Kong Xuhan, seeing the Qilin's aura recede, didn't hesitate any longer. He bolted out like a madman, trying to escape the scene.
Ye Ling glanced at the fleeing Kong Xuhan, flicked his finger, and sent a wisp of demonic energy towards Kong Xuhan's head. It directly sent him tumbling down in a "backward buttocks, flat sand wild goose style."
In short, he face-planted.
Seeing that Ye Ling hadn't let Kong Xuhan escape, the Qilin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said to Ye Ling, "Great Lord, you may not know, but this scoundrel stole my child. I finally found a clue and followed the scent of my child all the way here."
"Stole your child?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow and scanned Kong Xuhan with interest. "This fellow has such skills?"
The Qilin currently present at the Sun family manor, though slightly weaker than Ji Xue, still possessed the strength of a half-step Ninth Rank Mortal Immortal. For Kong Xuhan, with his meager cultivation, to abduct a young Qilin from under this Qilin's nose would be quite difficult.
Curious as to how Kong Xuhan managed it, Ye Ling directly wrapped Kong Xuhan's head with demonic energy, dragging him into his grasp to conduct a soul search.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The demonic energy violently surged into Kong Xuhan's head. His piercing screams echoed through the Sun family manor. Even the enraged Qilin, upon hearing Kong Xuhan's cries, was filled with immense fear.
After reading Kong Xuhan's memories, Ye Ling's brow furrowed slightly, a hint of gloom flashing in his eyes. "So it was like this..."
Kong Xuhan's method of stealing the young Qilin wasn't particularly sophisticated. He had taken advantage of a moment when the Qilin was entangled in a battle with another cultivator, stealthily entered the Qilin's lair, and drugged the young Qilin, which had no cultivation, before taking it away.
However, after stealing the young Qilin, Kong Xuhan's actions towards it were utterly heinous and went against all natural order!
He had painstakingly pulled off the young Qilin's scales one by one, chopped off its horns, and ground them into powder for medicinal use. He then fixed the young Qilin's limbs and head onto an iron plate, creating holes in its vital organs to drain its blood.
The so-called Elixir of Immortality was refined by Kong Xuhan using the young Qilin's flesh and blood.
Even now, the young Qilin was still confined in Kong Xuhan's cave, being used as material for various alchemical concoctions.
If the Qilin were to discover how its child had been treated by Kong Xuhan, it would likely not be enough to grind Kong Xuhan into dust. It might even transfer its rage to other humans.
Given this Qilin's ability to summon heavenly lightning, if it were to go berserk, the entire Shanghai city might have to pay the price for Kong Xuhan's actions!
However, Ye Ling did not wish for the Qilin to be treated unjustly, as it was also a victim in this matter.
"Great... Great Lord, how is it..."
The Qilin nervously asked Ye Ling. Upon seeing Ye Ling's solemn expression, it already had a bad premonition.
If it couldn't still sense that its child was alive, it would have gone mad by now!
Ye Ling tossed Kong Xuhan in front of the Qilin and said, "It's not impossible for me to tell you, but we need to make an agreement."
"An agreement?" the Qilin asked, confused.
Ye Ling continued, "I can help you rescue your child, and Kong Xuhan can be at your disposal. But as a condition, you cannot harm anyone else besides Kong Xuhan."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the Qilin's heart was filled with a vague premonition. It suppressed its anger and asked Ye Ling, "Why? This is unfair to me."
"Humans were the first to violate me!"
Ye Ling added, "The others are also innocent. Your misplaced anger is unfair to them as well."
The Qilin asked again, "What will you do if I insist?"
"I will still help you rescue the young Qilin, but if you harm others..."
Ye Ling pointed to the sky, then drew a line across the ground.
*Boom!*
A bolt of black lightning descended from the heavens, as if the entire world was enveloped by it, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
The ground in front of the Qilin was struck by the black lightning, creating a deep, bottomless crater!
Seeing the lightning condensed to its absolute limit, the Qilin's pupils contracted sharply!
It could clearly feel that if that bolt of lightning had struck it, it would have been utterly annihilated!
Understanding Ye Ling's intentions, the Qilin fell silent for a moment before saying, "I understand..."
Upon hearing the Qilin's reply, Ye Ling didn't concern himself with the Qilin's true thoughts. He sent Kong Xuhan's memories into the Qilin's mind.
The Qilin was momentarily dazed, then its eyes turned blood-red, and its aura became even more suppressed and terrifying. The dark clouds in the sky layered one upon another, and bloody lightning churned within them.
Countless people in Shanghai, looking up at the pitch-black sky, felt as if the apocalypse had arrived.
"Why..."
"Why would you treat my child like this!!!"
The Qilin roared, and the lightning from the sky struck down, destroying buildings in many parts of Shanghai and igniting raging infernos!
The entire Shanghai city plunged into chaos!
Siren sounds were incessant!
All cultivators in Shanghai could clearly sense the surging spiritual energy emanating from the Sun family manor.
It was terrifying!
The Dragon Department was in turmoil, with all personnel mobilized. Troops were being dispatched towards the Sun family to prevent further chaos.
Ye Ling calmly watched the Qilin, making no move to intervene.
Although the Qilin had gone berserk, it hadn't completely lost control.
What surprised him even more was...
In its extreme rage, the Qilin had actually broken through to the Ninth Rank!