Within the cave, it was hazy and indistinct, Liu Zixuan couldnât clearly see what was inside, but when he sensed that mysterious power, he suddenly stopped walking.
Old Qing raised his eyebrows slightly: "You sense it?"
"The thing inside seems to be quite unusual!" Liu Zixuan muttered.
Old Qing asked provocatively: "What? Afraid Iâll kill you inside this cave?"
Liu Zixuan immediately rolled his eyes: "Iâve pulled teeth from a tigerâs mouth, why would I be afraid of an old man sweeping the floor?"
After saying that, he strode forward into the cave.
The further he walked in, the lower the temperature dropped, and he could faintly see some ice shards on the mountain walls.
Liu Zixuan rubbed his hands together, lit a cigarette, and asked, "What exactly is it?"
Old Qing walked over to a part of the mountain wall and slightly twisted a protruding stone, instantly, a giant rock blocking their way slowly split into two halves, opening up like a grand door.
Liu Zixuan fixed his gaze upon the scene in front of him, and seeing that sight, his mouth twitched twice involuntarily, drawing in a sharp breath.
"That... that..." In his astonishment, he was at a loss for words to describe it.
Because the thing before him, in Liu Zixuanâs knowledge, shouldnât exist in this world at all!
In front of Liu Zixuan was a massive ice cave, not very large, where a very peculiar creature lay.
This peculiar creature combined a lionâs head, deer antlers, tiger eyes, moose body, dragon scales, and bull tail all into one, with a body entirely of fiery red color, and faintly visible golden scalesâclearly the legendary figure of a Qilin!
Seeing Liu Zixuanâs astonished expression, Old Qing smiled: "You guessed right, this is a Qilin."
"But... how is this possible." Liu Zixuan muttered.
"When I first saw this creature, my expression was just like yours now, extremely shocked that such a peculiar being would appear in this world, but after consulting some information and thinking it over, I gradually understood."
Old Qing explained: "The Qilin is the Star Seaâs auspicious divine beast. In ancient records, there wasnât just one; âQiâ is male, âLinâ is female. This notion is correct, but the one before us is a Qilin Beast, both male and female in one."
"Both male and female?" The appearance of the Qilin had already overturned Liu Zixuanâs worldview, and hearing it was both male and female struck him like a thunderbolt.
Old Qing chuckled wryly: "Although it sounds absurd to explain, this is the reality. Besides, Qilins do truly exist and are not just from mythological tales."
"In the Earth Book, there are records of Qilins as well, but I only thought of it as a record," Liu Zixuan slowly said, his mind flashing back to the Blood Luminous Flood Dragon from Lingxiu Villageâs back mountain!
Blood Luminous Flood Dragon was also documented in the Earth Book and appeared in this world. Why couldnât a Qilin appear then?
Realizing this, Liu Zixuan understood.
Seeing Liu Zixuanâs understanding, Old Qing smiled: "Seems you have some secrets yourself. Youâre right, Qilins are recorded in the Earth Book and mentioned in our Star Sea ancient history."
"Star Sea ancient history?" Liu Zixuan asked with a frown.
"The human ancestry comes from the Tai Diâs two great Emperors, and this Qilin belongs to the lineage of the Grand Emperor. The starting ancestor of the Grand Emperor was Yinglong. The ancient history says: the Yinglong gave birth to Jianma, Jianma gave birth to Qilin, Qilin gave birth to beasts, and beasts rule over all things in the world."
"This means, the Qilin belongs to humanityâs ancestral lineage, except not as a human but as a beast, which is why early humans instinctively considered Qilins as auspicious beasts!"
Listening to Old Qingâs explanation, Liu Zixuan asked: "In other words, thatâs why Star Sea descendants are called the descendants of dragons!"
"Exactly." Old Qing gazed appreciatively at Liu Zixuan, then laughed: "I assumed Iâd have to explain for a while, but you grasped it quickly."
Liu Zixuan spread his hands: "Honestly, itâs still quite shocking."
"Thatâs normal, considering this is the last Qilin in the Star Sea." Old Qing laughed.
"The last one? Since it really exists, why did it disappear from humanityâs sight? And why is there only one left?" Liu Zixuan asked.
"Thatâs difficult to explain simply. In short, in ancient times, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was so abundant that these mystical beasts could thrive. But as humanity grew, they damaged the environment, leading to a sparse Spiritual Qi and causing these mystical creatures to decrease, even leading to extinction."
This was how Old Qing explained it.
Once again, it was about Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
Back then, his beautiful master said the reason the highest Martial Artist realm was above Emperor Realm was largely due to the scarcity of Spiritual Qi, which prevents Martial Artists from breaking through to higher realms.
Unexpectedly, humans werenât the only ones affected, but also these mystical creatures.
For some reason, upon pondering this, Liu Zixuan unintentionally thought of Lingxiu Villageâs Little Blue, which was unique as well; what category did it belong to?
Seeing Liu Zixuan in contemplation, Old Qing began: "All things in Heaven and Earth are mutually balanced, but once this balance is broken, some things gradually disappear. Perhaps billions of years from now, after the environment is destroyed, humanity might follow the path to extinction too."
Liu Zixuan smirked: "Those scenarios are too far for us; letâs talk about what exactly you want me to do."
"The Qilin Beast has been recorded in the Profound Sword Sectâs chronicles, existing in this cave since the first Sect Leader founded the sect. But due to special circumstances, only each Sect Leader knew of this."
"And how do you know?" Liu Zixuan asked.
"By a chance encounter, I stumbled into this cave when the previous Sect Leader was here, who told me about the Qilin." Old Qing explained.
Liu Zixuan nodded: "Please continue."
"The Qilin Beast is the greatest secret of the Profound Sword Sect and was called the sectâs guardian divine beast by successive Sect Leaders, providing many special things to the sect with which it has thrived to this day! But over a hundred years ago, this Qilin Beast showed signs of dying, and its body color gradually dimmed. After several Sect Leaders experimented, they finally retrieved millennium Cold Ice from Snow Mountain and made this ice cave to sustain the Qilin Beastâs life. But it only maintains life."
After hearing these things, Liu Zixuan suddenly stepped back two paces: "What the successive Sect Leaders couldnât achieve, do you want me to heal this Qilin Beast?"
What a joke! Healing humans or ordinary animals was something Liu Zixuan could do, but this was a Qilin Beast, an auspicious beast from ancient times with a body structure entirely different from modern animals!