Chapter Seventeen: A Pyrrhic Victory, The Qilin Meets Its End

Pain only made the Qilin Celestial Beast more savage. If not for its injured leg, it would have already caught Li Chengzhu and torn him to pieces again and again. Even so, on several occasions, Li Chengzhu barely managed to dodge its attacks by a hair’s breadth.

He realized now that the creature was playing for keeps. Perhaps he shouldn’t have provoked it—he might have bought himself a little more time. Ever since that first arrow found its mark, none of the subsequent flying swords he shot managed to hit. His storage ring held nothing suitable for ammunition, save the one sword beneath his feet.

Danger sharpened Li Chengzhu’s mind to a razor’s edge. Strategy after strategy flashed through his thoughts, only to be discarded one by one. Then, he remembered the seven Heavenly Mechanism Stones.

He could set up an Immortal Binding Demon Subduing Array.

If he could just restrain the beast for a moment, he could finish it off. Having witnessed the destructive power of that celestial weapon bow, Li Chengzhu’s confidence was placed more in the weapon than in himself.

But he had only one chance—there was just one flying sword left to serve as an arrow.

Resolute, Li Chengzhu, while running and taking advantage of the Qilin Celestial Beast’s inattention, tossed the Heavenly Mechanism Stones into their designated positions. He had to be sure the beast’s Fivefold Elemental Fire didn’t burn the stones, or all would be lost. In this peril, his mind calculated furiously—where should the stones be placed to avoid destruction? Several times, he risked his own body, using himself as bait to lure away the spirit energy blasts, just to protect the positioning of the array.

After running seven circuits around the area, the seven Heavenly Mechanism Stones were finally in place, safely deployed without the beast noticing. Now, only the final step remained—if he could return to the array’s core and activate it, his plan would be half complete.

Once more, Li Chengzhu narrowly eluded the beast’s attack, quickly stepping into the array’s focal point. He drew out a Wood Essence and placed it at the center, bit through the last few pills in his mouth, and, as the Qilin Celestial Beast charged in, he formed hand seals and roared, “Immortal Binding Demon Subduing Array, activate!”

The Qilin Celestial Beast, ready to attack, suddenly felt its body weighed down as if a mountain pressed upon its back. Vines erupted from the ground, wrapping tightly around it. For all its innate divine strength, it could not break free—if it snapped a few, more took their place.

At that moment, it sensed a terrifying energy gathering before it, swelling ever stronger. Without hesitation, it opened its maw and began to muster its most potent spirit energy bomb.

Li Chengzhu drew the bowstring, forcing all his spirit energy into the dark green bow. The entire weapon trembled violently, its glow intensifying until it engulfed him completely.

The trembling of the dark green bow grew wilder; Li Chengzhu nearly lost control as his spiritual energy poured uncontrollably into the bow. Seeing the Qilin beast gathering energy for its own attack, Li Chengzhu hesitated no longer. He bit through his tongue, splattering the bow with a blood arrow infused with the power of his very soul.

At that instant, pain seared his back. Suddenly, an enormous surge of spirit energy erupted from his dantian, but before he could circulate it through his body, it was all drained away into the bow as well.

He had intended only to use his soul force to empower the arrow, but when his blood hit the bow, the Seal of Spirit Suppression planted by the Celestial Envoy on his back was broken. At the same time, new knowledge flooded his mind, and he cried aloud, “With my blood as the medium, with my flesh as the vessel, I become one with you! Whoever blocks my path shall die, whoever opposes my will shall be slain! Sweep away all injustice in this world; let the enemy before me fall into eternal sleep—Heaven-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Arrow!”

A suffocating beam of dark green light shot from the bow, colliding in midair with the Qilin beast’s spirit energy bomb.

Green and red, the two colors bloomed into the most beautiful flower under heaven. In a heartbeat, the green light devoured the red, and surged on, unstoppable, toward the Qilin beast.

Silent as death, the beam struck the beast’s massive head, which instantly vanished into thin air.

A green meteor, outshining all the stars, streaked across the sky trailing a long tail, and disappeared far into the distance.

The headless Qilin Celestial Beast, drained of all power, crashed heavily to the ground.

Li Chengzhu’s spirit relaxed entirely, and he collapsed to the ground. Forcing himself to stay awake, he unfastened his travel bag and set it beside him before falling back, unconscious.

The dark green bow transformed into a stream of light and vanished into his body the moment he lost consciousness. On his flawless right wrist appeared a lifelike tattoo of a bow, deep green in color, exactly like the one he had wielded.

In the darkness, scenes flashed through Li Chengzhu’s mind.

Heaven-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Bow…

With my blood as the medium, with my flesh as the vessel, I become one with you; whoever blocks my path shall die, whoever opposes my will shall be slain; sweep away all injustice in this world, let the enemy before me fall into eternal sleep…

Heaven-Slaying Demon-Exterminating Arrow…

The source of power…

The essence of wood…

…

Li Chengzhu awoke with a start, his head pounding fiercely, his body weak as if drained of all strength—just as he had felt upon first arriving in the Immortal Realm.

He turned his head with effort. The little creature still slumbered in his travel bag, while not far away, the corpse of the Qilin Celestial Beast sprawled upon the ground. Forcing himself upright, Li Chengzhu assumed a meditative posture, slowly restoring his spiritual energy.

But this time, something was different. Energy that used to take half a day to recover returned within just two hours, and his cultivation had even broken through another level in the battle, reaching the late Nascent Soul stage.

To have grown from a complete novice to a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator in just over two years—if those cultivators who chased after the Heavenly Dao day and night to improve their cultivation heard of this, they would go mad with envy.

Yet Li Chengzhu himself felt uneasy. His master had warned him not to advance too quickly—did this count as violating that teaching? But regardless, he had won this battle. Though it was brutal, to have vanquished a high-level celestial beast as a Nascent Soul stage cultivator was an accomplishment that filled him with pride.