Chasing the Wind and his human companion quickly arrived at Sword Peak.
The relationship between their Dan Peak and Qi Peak was fairly good, so Chasing the Wind didn't act too arrogantly. He stopped at the sword practice plaza halfway up the mountain, then trotted towards Tian Wenjin's residence.
He had a restless nature, completely unlike his father, and there were few places in the Dao Sword Sect he hadn't been to.
Of course, he had visited Tian Wenjin's cave dwelling before.
But he had barely pranced a few steps, not yet leaving the practice plaza, when his ears caught a few sentences from the noisy discussions there.
He heard a voice say: "...it's a baby qilin, a divine beast. They say qilins carry sacred light, and mortals who smell their aura can cure all illnesses and live to be a hundred years old. Cultivators only need to look at one for a moment to be blessed with good fortune. From then on, their cultivation path will be free of mental demons, and they'll face no obstacles in breaking through realms..."
Another voice added: "...it's from a place extremely far from the Land of Immortal Legacy... if you keep going southwest, cross the Hengduan Mountains, and continue southwest, there's a place called the Demon Region. It's a realm dominated by beast demons, where humans are lower-class beings. It has all kinds of divine beasts and mythical creatures - they say there are phoenixes, dragons, qilins, celestial cranes, and even ancient evil beasts like taotie, chaos beasts, and torch dragons..."
"This baby qilin came from the Demon Region."
Someone asked: "If it's so far away, how did a baby qilin end up in the Land of Immortal Legacy?"
"Who knows?" someone replied, "But rumor has it that there's been a big change in the Demon Region. Some lower-bloodline beasts who achieved the Dao are questioning the status of the Four Divine Beasts and have issued a challenge..."
"Four Divine Beasts?"
"Dragon, Phoenix, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise."
"No Qilin?"
"The Qilin is an auspicious beast."
"What's an auspicious beast?"
"An auspicious beast is..."
As they spoke, the group flew off on their swords towards the outside of the Dao Sword Sect.
"Qilin?" Chasing the Wind murmured, "Divine beast? White Tiger?"
...He seemed to have White Tiger bloodline himself.
The strength of demon beasts was classified by bloodline potency. From level one to nine, compared to human cultivators from Foundation Building to Great Perfection, a level one demon beast was only slightly stronger than an ordinary wild animal, but a level nine demon beast could rival a Great Perfection realm cultivator.
Bloodlines stronger than level nine demon beasts were considered divine beasts. Divine beasts and celestial creatures were comparable to human cultivators in the Immortal realm, beyond Great Perfection.
Chasing the Wind's bloodline was originally that of a level seven demon beast, the Xuanming Spirit Tiger... which had some divine White Tiger bloodline mixed in. But Chasing the Wind had experienced some fortuitous encounters:
For instance, he went through the Golden Core Tribulation with Qin Ran, taking the lightning tribulation in Qin Ran's place, and then ate a bei wind, strengthening his physical body and refining his bloodline. Another time, when the Extreme Devouring Demon Willow fell, its spiritual energy dispersed, and combined with the world's compensation for this disaster-stricken area, a wind of life blew up. Chasing the Wind's innate wind-controlling ability allowed him to devour most of this life wind, comprehensively strengthening his body, bloodline, and soul. He also befriended the flood dragon Ao Yi, who taught him many divine abilities and secret techniques...
His bloodline now was close to the strength of a level eight demon beast.
And now a divine beast qilin had appeared in the world?
Chasing the Wind looked back at Li An, his big eyes full of mirth, and said: "Come on, big brother will take you to see a qilin."
"Qilin?" Li An expressed confusion.
"A divine beast!"
Chasing the Wind rode the wind and flew up, following that group of people out of the Dao Sword Sect.
The group was flying towards the depths of the Hengduan Mountains, but not towards the central core area of the Land of Immortal Legacy. They were heading off-center, more towards the direction of the highest peak in the Hengduan Mountains, the snow-capped Hengduan Peak.
As they flew towards the snowy mountain, people came flying from other directions as well, and the closer they got to the snow mountain, the more people there were.
Chasing the Wind noticed that it wasn't just disciples from the Dao Sword Sect, but also disciples from other sects like Zhican Valley, Boundless Sword Sect, and even smaller sects, all flying towards the snow mountain.
However, no matter how many people there were, the combination of a white tiger and a baby was truly strange.
Those with lower cultivation levels kept their distance, fearing that the white tiger might go berserk and eat them;
Those with higher cultivation recognized the Dao Sword Sect identity token hanging around Chasing the Wind's neck and knew this wasn't an ordinary beast, but a disciple of the Dao Sword Sect;
Some from the three major sects even recognized Chasing the Wind and Li An's identities from the purple starry sword aura around them.
Over the years, Li Shiyin and Chasing the Wind had actually built up quite a reputation in the Hengduan Mountains region.
After flying for a long time, Chasing the Wind brought Li An to the foot of the snow mountain. Hundreds of cultivators had already gathered here, creating a lively atmosphere. They stopped in the air and on the ground, all looking up the mountain. It seemed the qilin was up there.
But when Chasing the Wind looked up the mountain following their gazes, he couldn't see anything.
He brought Li An closer to the crowd, hearing occasional commotion arise from within.
...Every time a prodigy arrived, whether they were a true prodigy or a false one, whether they had such a great reputation or had secretly paid for supporters, the crowd would erupt with voices like this:
"Look! That's Hua Wuji from the Flying Immortal Sect. They say when he built his Foundation, it caused heaven and earth to resound and the wind and clouds to change color, triggering countless unusual phenomena. He's the strongest of the younger generation in the Flying Immortal Sect, comparable to the core disciples of the three major sects."
A wave of agreeing voices would rise, and a jade-faced young master with extremely good looks would bow to everyone, seeming to be very popular.
"Quick, look, that's Fairy Miaoyi from Zhican Valley. Her alchemy skills are extremely high, able to revive the dead and regrow flesh on bare bones, achieving instant ascension. Moreover, her combat power is also extremely high. It's said she once received a sword strike from Lu Junxing of the Dao Sword Sect. She's an incredibly formidable person."
Fairy Miaoyi was not only very beautiful but also a disciple of Zhican Valley and an alchemist, so her arrival caused no small stir. The crowd buzzed with excitement as if the qilin had appeared again.
"The War God Body from the Divine Body Sect!! He actually came too! Could he be planning to take the qilin's blood to further refine his War God Body?"
Someone asked who that was, what a War God Body was, and which sect the Divine Body Sect was. After receiving explanations, they were also bewildered and shocked.
"It's actually the Sorrowful Sword Saint's Son from the Dao Sword Sect! It's said he once contended for the top spot on the Dao Sword Sect's Prodigy Ranking and is an extremely terrifying figure."
Someone asked: "How does the Sorrowful Sword Saint's Son compare to Lu Junxing?"
No one answered.
From the Dao Sword Sect? Chasing the Wind looked far into the distance and saw a cold-faced male cultivator holding a sword, but he didn't recognize him. Chasing the Wind had met most of the prodigies in the Dao Sword Sect, but he had no impression of this one at all. He didn't know who it was.
Ignoring these famous prodigies, Chasing the Wind slightly reduced his size and squeezed into the crowd.
He reached out a paw and tapped the cultivator in front of him, asking: "Hey! Brother! Wasn't there supposed to be a qilin? Where's the qilin?"
"Ah, don't be impatient! That's a qilin, not just any demon beast," this cultivator replied, "How could it be seen so easily?"
As he spoke, he turned around and saw a huge tiger head. In an instant, he was scared out of his wits and fled in a panic.
"Was that really necessary?" Chasing the Wind scoffed, "I was just asking about the qilin!"
He tapped another cultivator on the back: "Fellow Daoist, where's the qilin?"
"It was just up there a moment ago, but it disappeared..." this Daoist pointed for Chasing the Wind, "But it's a divine beast, after all! It's understandable if it has some abilities beyond our mortal comprehension, right?"
As he spoke, he also turned around to look, but there was nothing behind him.
"Strange..." he muttered in puzzlement.