"Do not disturb me for now, I am going into seclusion."
With these words, Panshi immediately sat in meditation, his consciousness sinking deep into the Chaos.
Not long ago, he had used the Chaos Bead to swallow one-third of the thunder sea of the Heavenly Tribulation. Now, a vast sea of lightning had formed inside the bead.
It was an unimaginably terrifying sea of lightning; Panshi estimated that even if a Sage were thrown into it, they would be stripped of a layer of skin.
Panshi's divine soul avatar lingered outside the thunder sea, controlling Innate Spiritual Treasures such as the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler and the Qiankun Cauldron to help suppress it.
"I must thank the Heavenly Dao for this gift, but this sea of lightning contains the power of the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World, and that is a hidden danger."
Hum—
Just as Panshi was pondering how to resolve the power of the Heavenly Dao contained within the thunder sea, the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler suddenly emitted a soft glow.
Bathed in the radiance of the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler, wisps of Heavenly Dao power were extracted and drawn toward the ruler, swallowed up by it.
"This..."
Panshi did not stop it. He had fully refined the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler and could clearly perceive the changes within it. After devouring the power of the Heavenly Dao, the ruler was growing stronger.
"It can swallow the power of the Heavenly Dao to strengthen itself. It seems I may have underestimated this Hongmeng Measuring Ruler."
Outside.
Many powerful beings of the Primordial World had also realized that this earth-shattering Heavenly Tribulation had come to an end. Once the aura of the Heavenly Dao completely dissipated, one divine sense projection after another arrived to investigate.
Naturally, those capable of this were at least at Da Luo Golden Immortal Perfection. However, all traces of aura had been wiped clean, and they failed to obtain any useful information.
As for the Ink Jade Qilin, he had taken Panshi and left at the very first instance, and had now entered the ancestral land of the Qilin clan—the Qilin grotto-heaven.
To the pleasant surprise of the Ink Jade Qilin, other Qilins still lived within the grotto-heaven. Although they were ordinary Qilins with impure bloodlines, they were still his clansmen.
In particular, he spotted an acquaintance among them.
"Crown Prince, it really is you! You're still alive!"
A crimson streak of light flew toward the Ink Jade Qilin at an extremely fast speed.
"Yanlin, I remember you were at mid-stage Da Luo Golden Immortal? Why have you dropped to early Early Da Luo Golden Immortal?" the Ink Jade Qilin asked as he looked at the newcomer.
Yanlin used to be one of his guards, so the Ink Jade Qilin was very familiar with Yanlin's past cultivation level.
"Thanks to your concern, Crown Prince, Yanlin merely sustained injuries, which caused my cultivation realm to drop. The Qilin clan is a shadow of its former self now, and I am the only Da Luo Golden Immortal left. Therefore, I have temporarily assumed the role of the Qilin clan leader. However, now that the Crown Prince has returned, this position rightfully belongs to you."
As Yanlin spoke, his gaze suddenly landed on Panshi resting on the Ink Jade Qilin's back, and his expression sank.
"Crown Prince..."
"This is my master. Show some respect."
As if guessing what Yanlin wanted to say, the Ink Jade Qilin quickly interrupted, "It was Master who saved me. If not for Master, I would have died beneath the Heavenly Tribulation."
"But Crown Prince, your status is noble..."
"That was in the past. Now I am simply Master's mount, and I wish only to be Master's mount. Do you understand?"
The coercion emanating from their bloodline caused Yanlin to lower his head, not daring to voice any further objections.
"I understand."
"As long as you understand." The Ink Jade Qilin nodded slightly.
"Crown Prince, would you like to meet the other clansmen? They will be overjoyed to learn of your return," Yanlin said.
"Not for now. Master is going into seclusion, and I must guard him," the Ink Jade Qilin replied.
Hearing this, Yanlin desperately wanted to point out that in the Qilin grotto-heaven, no one would dare disturb Panshi's seclusion. But the words died on his lips when he saw the look in the Ink Jade Qilin's eyes, and he swallowed them back.
...
"It should be right here. After searching for so long, I've finally found it."
Outside the Qilin grotto-heaven, a middle-aged Daoist descended, his gaze fixed on the Qilin grotto-heaven hidden within the void.
The newcomer was none other than Yuanshi, who had left Kunlun Mountain to search for treasures.
Guided by some dim, karmic intuition, Yuanshi had traveled all the way toward the Qilin grotto-heaven. However, the karmic guidance only pointed in a general direction, so he had stopped and gone along the way.
Earlier, he had been not far from the core of the Heavenly Tribulation. The moment it ended, his true form had rushed straight to the epicenter, hoping to pick up scraps from any beings who had perished in the tribulation. Regrettably, he had wasted decades of time for absolutely nothing.
Consequently, Yuanshi was in a rather foul mood at the moment.
Staring at the Qilin grotto-heaven concealed in the void, Yuanshi didn't waste words, directly unleashing a bolt of Jade Qing Divine Lightning toward it.
Rumble—
In the void, the divine lightning was blocked by a golden barrier.
"Such a profound barrier! However, whoever laid this barrier down must have had a cultivation level superior to mine. But since they have likely perished, the barrier retains less than one percent of its power."
Yuanshi's heart suddenly grew hot. Such a powerful being must have left treasures behind—perhaps even a top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure.
If he could acquire a top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure, what would Tongtian's measly two high-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures even amount to?
Since his intuition had guided him to such a treasure land, it seemed the Heavenly Dao favored him.
Without hesitation, Yuanshi raised his hand and unleashed several more bolts of Jade Qing Divine Lightning against the barrier of the Qilin grotto-heaven.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Qilin grotto-heaven, the entire realm shook violently, and massive spatial rifts tore across the sky above, refusing to heal for a long time.
"What is happening? Why is there a sudden earthquake?"
"The sky is splitting open! Is the Qilin grotto-heaven about to be destroyed?"
"What should we do?"
Panic gripped every Qilin living within the grotto-heaven; the scene before them felt like the end of the world.
Right at that moment, two streaks of light shot up into the sky—the Ink Jade Qilin and Yanlin.
"Crown Prince, someone is attacking the barrier of the Qilin grotto-heaven, trying to force their way in," Yanlin said.
"I know. And that person is extremely powerful—at least at Late Da Luo Golden Immortal, and possibly even Da Luo Golden Immortal Perfection," the Ink Jade Qilin said with a grave expression.
As the two spoke, a giant face materialized in the sky above the Qilin grotto-heaven. It was so enormous that it completely covered the sky of the entire realm.
"I am Jade Qing Yuanshi," the giant face proclaimed.
The Ink Jade Qilin took a deep breath and spoke respectfully, "This junior, Ink Jade Qilin, greets Senior."
"A Qilin possessing primordial bloodline."
Yuanshi looked at the Ink Jade Qilin and let out a surprised gasp. "Weren't the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans possessing primordial bloodlines all wiped out? How are you still alive?"
Hearing this, Yanlin quickly flashed in front of the Ink Jade Qilin to shield him, asking nervously, "May I ask why Senior has descended upon our Qilin grotto-heaven?"
"I was guided by fate to come here and retrieve a top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure destined for me," Yuanshi said indifferently.
"Senior must be joking. There are no top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures in our Qilin grotto-heaven," Yanlin said.
"None?"
Yuanshi let out a cold snort and fully unleashed his aura. Instantly, the entire Qilin grotto-heaven began to destabilize, on the verge of shattering.
"I am in a bad mood right now. If you hand over the top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasure, I might spare your lives. Otherwise, I don't mind destroying the entire Qilin grotto-heaven to find it myself."