100: Have you ever regretted it?

"Fellow Daoist, it has been a long time."

Qing Wu greeted him, but directly ignored the many members of the Qilin Clan.

He had reason to suspect that if he spoke up, the First Qilin would start promoting his descendants.

To reduce the impact of the Karmic Obstruction, the Qilin Clan had completely restrained their sharpness over the years and lowered their posture significantly. They no longer showed the arrogance of the former overlords of the Great Desolation, constantly offering auspiciousness throughout the land.

And from time to time, there were situations where young Qilin "accidentally entered" the grotto-heavens of Great Desolation powerhouses to seek refuge.

Because the Qilin Clan did not refine divine weapons using the blood and Qi of living beings during the Great Tribulation like the Dragon Clan did, and instead offered protection to some weak clans.

Therefore, the image of the Qilin Clan was much better than that of the Dragon Clan.

Their status as Auspicious Beasts was gradually recognized by the Great Desolation.

Regarding the young Qilin who intruded into their grotto-heavens, general Great Desolation powerhouses would not kill them.

Seeing a fate with them, they might even take them in, or at most just send them back to the Qilin Clan.

Such a situation had not yet occurred at the Immortal Volcano.

The Immortal Volcano was indeed very far from the current territory of the Qilin Clan, and young Qilin did not yet have the ability to "accidentally enter" it.

Furthermore, with a fierce dog guarding it, ordinary living beings truly could not get close.

Seeing that the two did not take the bait, the First Qilin temporarily set aside those thoughts.

"Fellow Daoists, you have come from afar. Please come to the Holy Land of my Qilin Clan for a chat."

"Excellent!"

Under his leadership, the group quickly arrived at the Holy Land the First Qilin mentioned, where some Qilin Clan Elders were already waiting.

Although called a Holy Land, it was actually the place where the First Qilin had sealed his own true body.

The great war between the Three Clans back then had severely damaged the Ley Lines across the Great Desolation. As a result, the Qilin Clan was tainted with heavy Karmic Obstruction, and the clan's fortune withered rapidly, almost collapsing.

For the continuation of the clan, the First Qilin had to swear an oath to the Heavenly Dao, seeking that slim chance of survival.

The price was for the First Qilin to suppress the Central Land with his true body and stabilize the broken Ley Lines.

Now, he was already integrated with the Ley Lines of the Central Land and could not easily manifest.

Moreover, affected by the infection of Evil Qi and Earthy Turbid Qi, he had become increasingly aged, looking as if he were at death's door.

It seemed that the First Qilin had indeed concentrated the vast majority of the clan's Karmic Obstruction onto himself to seek a better development for the Qilin Clan.

Before them, that Incarnation of the First Qilin smiled and slightly cupped his hands toward the two, "Please wait a moment, you two."

After saying that, he turned into a streak of Xuanhuang light and sank into the ground.

In the next moment, the true body of the First Qilin, deeply imprinted within the Ley Lines, suddenly opened its eyes.

His aura rose rapidly, and his body shook incessantly, as if he wanted to break out of the Seal.

The surrounding Elders all showed expressions of being unable to bear it, yet they were helpless.

Regarding the Old Ancestor's decision, they could only follow suit.

Many Elders exerted their strength together, wanting to briefly lift the Seal.

But the Seal the First Qilin had placed on himself was too strong, and it also had the blessing of the Heavenly Dao. The power of several Elders was clearly insufficient, and the Seal did not change at all.

A flash of helplessness appeared in the First Qilin's eyes.

The blow the Qilin Clan suffered during the Great Tribulation was too heavy, to the point that the top-level combat power was almost completely wiped out. Now, they didn't even have the strength to help him break the Seal.

Just as the First Qilin was about to break the Seal with brute force, regardless of the backlash.

"Wait!" Seeing this, Yuan Feng wanted to take action.

At this moment, Qing Wu had already taken the lead, manifesting the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler, its golden light of Karma shining brightly.

The Dao principles manifested; at this moment, he wanted to measure the profundity of this Seal.

The Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler flew into the air, its purple-gold light instantly illuminating the entire ley line space.

The markings on the ruler lit up one by one, and each notch extended into Law chains that bored into the gaps of the Seal.

The First Qilin's sealing formation immediately took shape. It was composed of 129,600 ley line shackles outlined with the Kirin Origin, integrated seamlessly with the Central Land.

Qing Wu pointed his finger, and the measuring heaven ruler suddenly enlarged, turning into a giant ruler spanning heaven and earth.

The clear Qi at the tip of the ruler rose to become a pillar supporting the sky, while the turbid Qi at the end of the ruler sank to form the foundation for suppressing the earth.

The sealing formation suddenly emitted an overwhelmed wail.

Those shackles connected to the Ley Lines were now being forcibly measured and analyzed by the Laws of the Hongmeng Measuring Heaven Ruler.

"Open!" Qing Wu shouted softly.

The measuring heaven ruler trembled violently, and the core three thousand ley line shackles were stretched several times over.

A gap was pried open in the sealing formation, and the First Qilin's true body was finally able to lift its head.

A flash of shock appeared in the old Qilin's weathered eyes; this ruler could actually measure the Heavenly Dao's Seal and even temporarily rewrite the local ley line rules.

But there was no time to think more. The First Qilin's true body seized this opportunity, roared toward the heavens, and then broke out of the Seal.

A tall, noble, and holy Qilin true form was revealed before everyone.

The First Qilin first glanced up at the sky to confirm that his brief appearance had not caused the Heavenly Dao to send down punishment.

Only after that did he manifest his Dao Body and cup his hands in greeting to the two, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for your assistance. I have made a fool of myself before you two this time."

Qing Wu shook his head and withdrew the measuring heaven ruler.

"Fellow Daoist appeared in your true body despite the backlash, which shows your respect for us. How could we just sit by and watch?"

Although they didn't have much of a relationship with the First Qilin—at the end of the day, they were just casual acquaintances who called each other Fellow Daoists.

But seeing the First Qilin's sincerity, it was perfectly fine to lend a hand.

The First Qilin looked at the two of them, his eyes clearly filled with pleasant surprise.

He then invited them into a palace.

The group sat facing each other, and the First Qilin personally poured tea for them.

His palms trembled slightly, and the tea rippled in the cups.

He looked at the ripples in the cup, slightly dazed, as if he were seeing the scene of their first meeting in a trance.

At that time, he had even extended an invitation to the two, promising them they could establish their grotto-heavens on Qilin Cliff.

It was just that things had changed now; Qilin Cliff could no longer accommodate these two.

Qing Wu took a sip of tea and found it slightly bitter. "Fellow Daoist, have you ever regretted participating in the Great Tribulation?"

The First Qilin's teacup stopped mid-air, and it was a long time before he gave a bitter smile.

Regret? Naturally, there was some. But more than that, there was helplessness.

"Back then, when the Ancestor Dragon refined the divine weapons specifically targeting my clan, I knew the Great Tribulation was coming, but at that time, it was already unavoidable..."

The Dragon Clan's power was too great, and they had started targeting the Qilin Clan.

As a Clan Chief, could he just watch the clan be devoured without doing anything?

But the irony was that the Three Clans fought to the death, only for there to be no winner in the end, having merely paved the way for others.

The First Qilin pondered for a long time and finally shook his head. "I cannot blame anyone else. Ultimately, we were too conceited."

Knowing the great trend was coming, the Three Clans still held onto the hope that "why wouldn't I be the one to emerge victorious from the Great Tribulation?"

Driven by this mentality, the Devilish Qi invaded, and there was no turning back.

After a moment of sentimentality, the First Qilin immediately pulled himself out of it.

"Let's talk about the main business."

"Fellow Daoist, your visit this time is for this item, isn't it?"