The sky suddenly turned calm, and the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin froze instantly. It stared blankly at the clear sky, its mouth agape.
"This, this..."
The Blood-Slaughterling Qilin didn't know how to describe its current feelings, unable to utter a complete sentence.
It had prepared itself to be annihilated by heavenly lightning moments ago, yet Ye Ling had merely spoken a single sentence, dispelling the lightning and even allowing it to ascend unharmed!
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin felt as though it could ascend to the Immortal Realm and attain immortality at any moment if it wished.
However, because it had not undergone the full tribulation, its ascension was not mandatory.
In other words, it had become an immortal but could choose not to abide by heavenly laws and remain in the mortal world, living freely!
It was as if the world had a bug!
Could someone truly achieve this?
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin looked at Ye Ling, swallowing nervously. Despite its greatly increased strength, its reverence for Ye Ling grew even deeper!
Ye Ling, who had accomplished all this, acted as if nothing had happened. He walked leisurely to the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin and asked, "How do you feel now?"
Hearing Ye Ling's question, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin trembled and quickly regained its senses.
It immediately prostrated itself before Ye Ling and said with a tremor, "I, I feel great! Thanks to your peerless divine might, my lord, your great kindness is beyond words! I truly don't know how to repay you!"
"From now on, I am at your command, willing to be your beast of burden!"
The benefits the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin had received were far beyond description.
Previously, when Di Zhu's bloodline was purified and evolved into an ancient Qilin, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin, though excited and happy, harbored envy and jealousy towards its offspring.
After all, bloodline purification was the ultimate dream of their clan, and the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin was no exception.
Now that its bloodline had also been purified, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's excitement was immense.
This was not just an increase in strength but the realization of a dream!
It had no regrets in this life!
Seeing the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's excited state, Ye Ling merely smiled and said, "It seems you are unharmed, so the favor I owed you is repaid."
"As for your offer to be my beast of burden, I will pretend I didn't hear it. Take it back."
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin hurriedly said, "I dare not, I dare not! How could I accept your favor... If anything, it is I who owe you a favor!"
"Whether you accept it or not, as long as you utter a word, I will go through fire and water for you."
"You..."
Ye Ling smiled and shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the matter with the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin.
What the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin thought was its own business; he only needed to be at peace with himself.
Without continuing the topic, Ye Ling said to the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin, "I need to go somewhere next. Follow me, there are some things you need to see."
"Yes!"
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin nodded repeatedly, not asking where they were going, and followed Ye Ling out of the Jianlong Mountain Valley.
Soon, Ye Ling, accompanied by the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin and Di Zhu, returned to the edge of the living swamp.
After the mass of mud was gone, Ye Ling could no longer sense any life force from the living swamp, confirming that the mass of mud that had stolen the treasure bone was the fundamental reason for the swamp's animation.
And according to the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin, this swamp did not have those tentacles before, and Yuan Long lived well within it. This meant that the mass of mud was an external entity, and someone had deliberately placed it there with a hidden agenda.
"My lord, why have you come here? Are you still thinking about those tentacles from before?" the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin asked, walking up to Ye Ling and glancing at the situation in the swamp.
Its cultivation was now vastly different, and it could see through the swamp's condition at a glance. There were no Yuan Longs, not even a trace of any living creature; it was a completely ordinary swamp.
In its opinion, coming here now was meaningless.
Ye Ling did not answer the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's question. He took out the mass of mud he had subdued earlier and tossed it back into the swamp.
The mass of mud sank back into the swamp.
Soon, the swamp came alive again, with numerous tentacles emerging from it and writhing on the surface!
Even the Yuan Long that had been devoured was now condensed from a large amount of mud, roaring within the swamp and shaking the entire Jianlong Mountain.
"This, this is?"
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's eyes widened in shock as Ye Ling merely threw something into the swamp, causing the entire swamp to come alive. Its heart was in turmoil!
What had just happened?
The Blood-Slaughtering Qilin quickly looked at Ye Ling, "My lord, this..."
As the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin was in shock, Ye Ling's gaze sharpened. He quickly enveloped the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin and Di Zhu with his spiritual energy, concealing them together.
"It's coming. Be quiet."
Ye Ling said softly. Although the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin was still confused, it quickly shut its mouth and quieted down, looking around in bewilderment.
Since encountering Ye Ling, one event after another had happened beyond its comprehension, and it had grown accustomed to it, gradually abandoning the need to think.
It didn't need to ask anything; it just needed to do as Ye Ling instructed!
That was enough.
Not long after Ye Ling concealed their presence, the evil spirit that had fought for the treasure bone in the cave dwelling earlier flew to the sky above the swamp again. It stared grimly at the mud-formed Yuan Long in the swamp below, its face contorted.
Shortly after the evil spirit escaped the cave dwelling, Ye Ling's crow, formed from demonic energy, had been following it, monitoring its actions.
Seeing the evil spirit appear, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's pupils contracted sharply, and it exclaimed in a low voice, "Isn't this the spiritual body left behind after the fall of that supreme mighty being? How can its aura be so strong?"
"It even makes me feel immense pressure now!"
Ye Ling was not surprised by this and said calmly, "It has devoured all the spiritual bodies in this mountain. It would be surprising if it didn't have this power."
Under Ye Ling's gaze, the evil spirit, having absorbed all the souls in Jianlong Divine Mountain, stood in the air. A long sword condensed in its hand, surging with extremely powerful spiritual energy.
From the evil spirit's perspective, the mud had returned to the swamp only after absorbing all the power from the treasure bone.
It had come now to reclaim the power of the treasure bone from the mud!
The mud released by Ye Ling, having been imprisoned by Ye Ling for some time and not yet having obtained the power from the treasure bone, was now extremely agitated. Seeing the evil spirit appear, it became even more violent!
"Roar!!!"
The mud Yuan Long roared, and a large number of tentacles emerged from the swamp, shooting rapidly towards the evil spirit in the air!
For a moment, the living swamp and the evil spirit were locked in combat once more!
However, this time, both the scale of the battle and its intensity had changed qualitatively.
Jianlong Divine Mountain trembled!
Witnessing the fierce battle between the evil spirit and the living swamp, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin became increasingly shocked, "Why are they fighting? If they continue like this, Jianlong Divine Mountain might not be saved!"
After crossing the lightning tribulation with Ye Ling's help, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin's strength had greatly increased. It had believed itself to be invincible in the mortal world, and even in the Immortal Realm, it would have a certain status!
But now, both the living swamp and the evil spirit displayed strength that surpassed its own!
Seeing the battle before it, the Blood-Slaughtering Qilin was completely stunned.
In the end, was it still the weakest one?