Strongest War Emperor

Chapter 488: Chapter 474: Divine Beast Qilin

The Profound Dao Sect. The summit of Extreme Thunder Peak. The Thunder Pool.

The Thunder Pool was not a pool, but a Stone Forest. Countless stalagmites and stone pillars stood within, shrouded in mist.

This was the place most yearned for by the disciples of the Profound Dao Sect.

Above the Thunder Pool, Shen Lang hovered in the air. First Ancestor Jiang Haitian and Second Ancestor Feng Buping stood silently behind him.

This was the highest point on the summit of Extreme Thunder Peak, so high it felt as if one could reach out and touch the sky. Above, in the Nine Heavens, Thunder Power crisscrossed day and night, a sight that could chill one’s very soul.

When a Profound Dao Sect disciple’s Cultivation reached the Spirit Martial Realm Fifth Heaven or higher, their physical body met a certain standard, and their Thunder Control Divine Technique attained a certain level, they would earn the right to cultivate here.

In the sky above, thunderbolts and lightning flashed without end, instilling fear and making one hesitate to advance.

However, those from the Profound Dao Sect who practiced the Thunder Control Divine Technique used this Nine Heavens Thunder Power to cultivate their technique, temper their bodies, and advance their Cultivation.

At this moment, the Stone Forest was completely empty, without a single soul in sight.

Shen Lang looked up at the sky and saw the weather shifting unpredictably. Wildly surging black clouds gathered together, forming a gigantic vortex.

Within that vortex, endless thunder and lightning churned, creating an infinite sense of pressure.

A colossal, sky-piercing pillar stood in the very center of the Stone Forest, reaching up to the heavens and down into the earth.

Endless Thunder Power, channeled by the Grand Array, surged into this giant pillar and was funneled into the mountain’s depths.

The Primordial Qi between Heaven and Earth was also drawn to this pillar, making the Spiritual Qi in the Thunder Pool Stone Forest incredibly dense. In fact, of the Nine-Nine Eighty-One Peaks, Extreme Thunder Peak had the most abundant Spiritual Qi.

Around the pillar, ball lightning continuously erupted. Pitch-black Thunder Balls expanded outward like water droplets before bursting away.

It was as if the pillar was a river cascading down from the Nine Heavens, and the bolts of lightning were the splashing droplets.

Yet even these splashing droplets were enough to make a King Martial Realm expert’s expression turn grim.

In truth, layers of Arrays had been set up around this sky-piercing pillar. No one dared to approach within a ten-li radius.

The First Ancestor glanced at the sky-piercing pillar and said in a deep voice, "This pillar is a taboo of the Profound Dao Sect. No one is allowed to touch it, nor would they dare. The secrets passed down through the generations of the Profound Dao Sect only state one thing: this pillar runs through Extreme Thunder Peak, all the way to the earth’s core."

"It seems that a close relative of the founding ancestor is sealed within it."

"But as for who it is or why they were sealed, even the four of us know nothing."

"The only thing we know is that the wording in the ancestral teachings is extremely strict, forbidding anyone from getting involved with or investigating this matter."

Shen Lang gave a slight nod, saying nothing.

To be honest, he had no interest in who was sealed here.

He had only come because he suspected this place might be related to the Elemental Power Fragment.

Shen Lang had already activated his Silver Eyes of Truth, peering through the colossal pillar.

He saw an Energy of Supreme Yang and Firmness constantly being channeled into the earth below. And that space beneath the earth was like a bottomless Abyss.

The endless Thunder Power was terrifying enough, but Shen Lang was shocked to discover pitch-black Demonic Qi continuously surging up from underground!

From beneath Extreme Thunder Peak, an infinite, vast, and surging torrent of Demonic Qi billowed forth, as if trying to escape through the giant pillar and ascend to the heavens!

The Energy of Supreme Yang and Firmness poured down from above, while the Demonic Qi of Supreme Yin and evil surged up from below. The two energies treated the colossal pillar as their battlefield, constantly clashing and fighting.

However, although the Demonic Qi of Supreme Yin and evil was terrifying, it was completely suppressed by the Energy of Supreme Yang and Firmness.

Furthermore, in relative terms, the Demonic Qi was far weaker in both quantity and power than the Thunder Power of Supreme Yang and Firmness and the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

From the Nine Heavens, endless Thunder Power flowed down unceasingly, operating at all times to disperse the rising Demonic Qi.

It was then transformed into Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, which emanated outward and dissipated into the air.

’The Profound Dao Sect was founded nearly five thousand years ago, and this Grand Array has been operating for just as long. For the Demonic Qi underground to still be so vast and chilling... what kind of existence could possess such tyrannical Cultivation?’

Shen Lang subconsciously recalled the pair of eyes he had seen in Mo Ge’s memories.

It was on the Outer Battlefield, in the Heaven-Reaching Canyon, where a narrow crack had appeared on the Sealing Gate, revealing a pair of eyes.

The Demon Race had countless experts, but for one to detect Shen Lang’s prying gaze from within a memory and attempt to cross time and space to obliterate his Divine Sense... only an expert on the level of the Demon Ancestor could possibly achieve that.

But since the person sealed beneath Extreme Thunder Peak was a close relative of the founding ancestor, Chi Zunxin, they couldn’t possibly be a member of the Demon Race.

Yet the Demonic Qi was so overwhelmingly powerful that just a single glance made Shen Lang’s heart shudder.

The War Emperor had sealed these memories but hadn’t hidden anything about the Sect Protection Array. This was a backup plan he had left for Shen Lang.

He knew that Shen Lang couldn’t yet come into contact with the person sealed beneath Extreme Thunder Peak, so he didn’t want him to investigate at this time.

The Sect Protection Array, then, was like a protective gate left for Shen Lang... With this gate in place, even a peerless expert at the Quasi-Emperor Martial Realm like Xue Shiyin would find it difficult to do anything to this Grand Array.

Shen Lang could deduce all this, but because of the Elemental Power Fragment, he had no choice but to investigate this place.

His Silver Eyes of Truth pierced through the layers of Energy, continuously probing deeper and deeper.

The deeper he looked, the more profound and pitch-black it became.

A gloomy mist shrouded everything. The Demonic Qi was monstrous, and the entire scene was bizarre and mysterious.

"ROAR!"

As if sensing Shen Lang’s presence, a roar suddenly erupted from the dark, deep space underground!

The sound seemed to echo only in Shen Lang’s mind; Jiang Haitian and Feng Buping, standing behind him, were completely unaware!

Shen Lang felt his blood churn, as if every drop in his body was about to burst out of him at any second.

The sound was laced with a violent aura that seemed capable of shattering mountains, splitting the earth, and overturning rivers and seas.

This violent aura was tyrannical and brutal, capable of breaking one’s heart and spirit, tearing them apart from the inside.

A tickle rose in Shen Lang’s throat, and a mouthful of fresh blood welled up.

Before he could spit the blood out, the churning Demonic Qi below suddenly converged, forming a gigantic Demon!

This Demon had the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the eyes of a lion, the back of a tiger, the waist of a bear, the scales of a snake, the hooves of a horse, and the tail of a pig—a truly bizarre amalgamation.

Shen Lang was slightly stunned. With a roar like a volcanic eruption, the Demon shot upward, carrying a heaven-piercing, mournful resentment!

"CRACKLE... CRACKLE..."

Within the sky-piercing pillar, a massive, crisscrossing net appeared out of thin air, instantly blocking the Demon.

Sparks of electricity flashed across the great net, eroding the Demonic Qi on the Demon’s body while entangling it tightly like a spider’s web, making escape impossible.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

Following several loud bangs, dozens of Locking Chains formed from thunder and lightning suddenly shot out from all directions, instantly piercing the Demon and locking it down tight!

In that instant, Shen Lang and the Demon seemed to lock eyes, and both were momentarily stunned.

Then, looking past the Demon, Shen Lang saw something like a sun deep within the roiling Demonic Qi, from which a vast and immeasurable Spiritual Qi was being released...

"PFFT!"

Shen Lang suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying violently in the air!

"How could this be?"

Behind him, Jiang Haitian and Feng Buping were stunned and thrown into a panic!

Shen Lang waved his hand lightly. "My mind was shaken, but it’s not too serious. Don’t worry."

The two ancestors were full of shock and suspicion, their faces etched with horror.

This sky-piercing pillar was no small matter; it withstood the endless Nine Heavens Power. Even they wouldn’t dare probe it with their Divine Thought.

Shen Lang was as cunning as a demon; he naturally would have seen the danger of the sky-piercing pillar and known not to probe it with his Divine Thought.

But without using Divine Thought, it would be impossible to discover the situation inside, and impossible to get injured... So how was it that Shen Lang’s mind was wounded and he was coughing up blood?

While the two ancestors were deeply shocked, a monstrous wave was crashing through Shen Lang’s own mind!

What he had seen in that single instant was far too shocking.

’A Qilin!’

’An Elemental Power Fragment!’

Those were the two things Shen Lang had seen.

The Demon formed from the roiling Demonic Qi was none other than the legendary Divine Beast, the Qilin!

And in the Abyss below, what else but an Elemental Power Fragment could release light like the sun and emit an endless, pure Spiritual Qi?

Shen Lang sat cross-legged in the air. Jiang Haitian and Feng Buping acted at once, placing their four palms on his back to help him circulate his energy and heal.

The Silver Eyes of Truth had "seen" all this, but in reality, they were inextricably linked to Shen Lang’s Divine Thought. Only by strengthening his Divine Thought could the Silver Eyes of Truth become more powerful.

Therefore, when using the Silver Eyes of Truth, Shen Lang’s Divine Thought was actually infused within them.

Facing the legendary Qilin, Shen Lang had been careless for a moment and suffered a grievous injury.

From just that single glance, Shen Lang’s mind was in turmoil, and he found it difficult to calm himself.

Countless questions bubbled up in his mind, one after another...

Why was the legendary Auspicious Beast, the Qilin, the one sealed beneath Extreme Thunder Peak?

Why had this Qilin, known as an Auspicious Beast and a benevolent creature, become the source of Demonic Qi?

And how did the Elemental Power Fragment Shen Lang had been searching for end up entangled with a Qilin reeking of monstrous Demonic Qi?

Finding an Elemental Power Fragment was enough to drive a person mad;

And the awakening of Shen Lang’s Chaos Divine Body required the Essence Blood of the Ten Divine Beasts, of which the Qilin was one!

The problem was, given the current situation, these two things that could have allowed Shen Lang’s Cultivation to soar in a short time, leaping across many levels... he could only watch them, sealed underground, completely out of reach, to say nothing of actually obtaining them!

Shen Lang gasped for breath, countless thoughts flashing through his mind.

Whether it was collecting the Elemental Power Fragment or obtaining the Qilin Essence Blood, the first step was to get past the Qilin, or rather, to release it... This wasn’t like pulling a tooth from a tiger’s mouth; it was absolute suicide!

This Qilin was filled with sky-high resentment, constantly emitting Death Qi and hatred. The very first thing it would do upon being released would be to slaughter everyone in the Profound Dao Sect and raze it to the ground!

With Shen Lang’s current Cultivation and the Profound Dao Sect’s strength, they were far from sufficient to deal with such a heaven-defying Divine Beast.

In front of such an Exotic Beast, more than twenty King Martial Realm experts were no different from twenty infants.

’This is really a huge pain...’

For a moment, Shen Lang felt completely helpless.