Honghuang: My understanding is against the sky, I use the Gu Dao to prove the origin of the universe
Chapter 23 - Slaying a Da Luo, Spirit Root of Fire Element

Chapter 23  Slaying a Da Luo, Spirit Root of Fire Element

The fire qilin, caught in a moment of mental upheaval, was seized upon by Chu Yuan. Under the tolling bell, its body and magic power stiffened for a brief instant. That brief moment was all the Pure Yang Gu Corpse needed.

“Roar!”

The innate Pure Yang Divine Light was incomparably powerful, but for a Gu Corpse, the greatest strength lay in its physical body. With a furious roar, the Pure Yang Gu Corpse suddenly appeared before the momentarily paralyzed fire qilin.

“Stop! I am the son of the Primordial Qilin!”

“If you dare to kill me, my father will never let—”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Before the fire qilin could finish speaking, a series of muffled explosions rang out like thunder from the Ninth Heaven. The massive true body of the fire qilin shattered inch by inch like porcelain under the ferocious assault of the Pure Yang Gu Corpse!

Its divine flames extinguished, its vitality cut off!

In the end, with a cry of extreme unwillingness, this son of the Primordial Qilin—a mighty being at the level of a Da Luo Golden Immortal—followed in the footsteps of the cloud qilin, completely falling from the stage of existence!

Not even a chance to let his primordial spirit escape—he was directly erased by Chu Yuan through a formation, body and soul utterly destroyed!

Whoosh—

Chu Yuan let out a long breath of turbid air and slowly withdrew the Xuan Yin Grand Array along with all the Gu Corpses.

Gazing at the enormous, lifeless corpse of the fire qilin lying on the ground, and the Eight-Directional Flame Mirror beside it, its light now dim, a cold gleam flashed in Chu Yuan’s eyes. The fire qilin had fallen.

In this battle, Chu Yuan had only employed his Gu Corpse techniques. It was far from his full strength. Yet in less than half an hour, he had slain the fire qilin. This alone was enough to show that Chu Yuan’s current strength was worlds apart from what it had been before his ascension.

More importantly, the death of the fire qilin served as a powerful reminder to Chu Yuan. This was the Great Desolation.

Cruel and unforgiving.

One wrong step—and there is no redemption!

He must never become arrogant over small gains in strength. For there is always someone stronger, always a greater heaven above.

“Beneath the Sage, all are ants!”

“Beneath the Heavenly Dao, even the Sage is an ant!”

“The Fire… the Fire Qilin was slain by the master!”

What Chu Yuan saw as a natural outcome of battle left Feng Ling utterly dumbfounded. Among the many descendants of the First Qilin, only a few had earned real renown — namely, the Five Virtue Qilins of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. All five were Da Luo Golden Immortals!

Among them, the Fire Qilin wasn’t necessarily the strongest, but he was the most hot-tempered and fiercely protective. He had led the Beast Tribe into battle against the Scaled and Winged Tribes more than anyone else.

Many powerful members of the Dragon and Phoenix races had perished at his hands. Among the Five Virtue Qilins, his fierce reputation was second to none. And yet such a formidable figure had fallen to Chu Yuan in such a short time.

If word got out, who knew what kind of storm it would stir?

When Feng Ling looked at Chu Yuan again, her gaze was filled with growing reverence!

As a Golden Immortal, he defied and defeated a Taiyi!

As a Taiyi Golden Immortal, he slew a Da Luo!

At this moment, Feng Ling felt more fortunate than ever for the decision she had made earlier. Chu Yuan didn’t dwell on it. He stepped forward and began quickly sorting through the spoils of battle.

First was the Fire Qilin’s magical treasure: the Eight Directions Primal Fire Mirror, a high-grade innate spiritual treasure with considerable power. Among innate fire-attribute treasures in the Great Desolation, it ranked near the top. Next was Fire Qilin’s physical body!

Though of acquired origin, it was still of Da Luo Golden Immortal level. The Qilin race was known for its formidable physical strength, making it an excellent material for crafting a top-tier Gu Corpse!

In Chu Yuan’s eyes, its value was no less than that of the Eight Directions Primal Fire Mirror. Never assume that acquired things are forever inferior to innate ones.

In later ages, Kong Xuan — son of the Primordial Phoenix — wielded the Five-Colored Divine Light, beating the disciples of both the Chan and Ren teachings into utter humiliation.

He was hailed as the strongest being beneath the Saints.

Gu Corpses are precious in cultivation and refined through crafting. Finally, Chu Yuan found an unremarkable fire jade ring on the shattered claw of the Fire Qilin. It was a top-grade postnatal spiritual treasure.

With its master dead, the ring had also become ownerless. The storage space inside the ring was vast, filled with all kinds of heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and immortal crystal ores—clearly the Fire Qilin’s treasured collection from millions of years.

As Chu Yuan quickly scanned through the contents, his gaze was suddenly drawn to a corner, where a massive tree about a hundred zhang tall stood. It was entirely crimson, shrouded in faint flames.

The tree bore eighteen fist-sized fruits, seemingly condensed from pure fire, radiating strong fire-type law fluctuations and a tempting aroma.

“This is… a mid-grade innate spiritual root, the Fire Origin Fruit Tree?”

Chu Yuan’s heart filled with joy.

The Fire Origin Fruit Tree blooms once every ten thousand years, bears fruit after another ten thousand years, and takes yet another ten thousand years for the fruit to ripen. Every thirty thousand years, it produces exactly eighteen fruits.

These fruits, called Fire Origin Fruits, grant immediate Golden Immortal-level power when consumed and form a postnatal fire-element Dao body.

Once the Dao body is achieved, the gap in cultivation realms can be bridged, and condensing a Golden Immortal Dao Fruit would become only a matter of time.

…

“As expected of the child of the Primal Qilin!” Chu Yuan was satisfied as he stored the Fire Origin Fruit Tree along with the other treasures from the ring.

A spiritual root of this level should have originally been kept in the Qilin Clan’s ancestral treasure vault at Qilin Cliff to nurture the younger generation of Qilins. But family assets are family assets—what’s private is still private!

The Fire Qilin had selfishly kept this spiritual root for itself, never expecting that it would end up in Chu Yuan’s hands.

With this tree, eighteen Golden Immortals could be cultivated every thirty thousand years. Even among the three great Innate clans, this would be considered an extremely precious treasure.

After finishing his inventory of the spoils, Chu Yuan looked toward Feng Ling, who was still a bit shaken, and Nuwa, who wore a curious expression.

“This place is not safe to stay in for long. The Qilin Clan’s power is not to be underestimated…”

“With the Fire Qilin dead…”

“Let’s first head to the East Sea and find a cave dwelling to settle down.”

After pondering for a moment, Chu Yuan gazed into the distance. At this time, the killing aura that permeated heaven and earth was even thicker than before he had climbed the mountain.

It was so intense that even ordinary creatures would feel restless and uneasy. The Great Calamity… it seemed to be drawing ever closer!

“We await the master’s command!”