Li Guanyi, his brush tip heavy with ink, almost landed on General Xue’s face, but he stopped at these two words, not just because of this exotic beast that existed only in myth and legend, but also because in the story of Yue Qianfeng, Taiping Duke came to Jiangnan after subjugating the Southwest area, holding the beads of barbarian chiefs.
He rode upon a qilin.
Such a divine beast, so vast is Chen Country, it was unlikely there were two.
General Xue smiled and said, "Yes, a qilin."
"If you have heard of Chen Xingyuan’s story, there should be a line where he brandished his sword and killed a fierce tiger with wings, making the giants from the Northern Domain beat a hasty retreat. Chen Xingyuan made his name, but have you ever wondered why such a winged tiger suddenly left its dwelling and came to the Central Plains?"
Before Li Guanyi could answer, General Xue had already stated the reason.
"The ancient winged tigers were called Qiongqi, and in the Southwest district, there was a great exorcism ceremony featuring the Twelve Divine Beasts, among which was the Qiongqi, its body as large as city gates, unobstructed by human cities—a pounce capable of bursting into towns and devouring people as if squashing ants."
"Roaring like thunder, Chen Xingyuan drew his sword and fought fiercely for three hours. He killed the Qiongqi, and with the final Mountain Shattering move, he pierced the Qiongqi’s head, elevating his weapon to a Divine Weapon. The reason why the Qiongqi came here was all because of the small divine beast in its belly."
Li Guanyi said, "A qilin."
General Xue responded, "Correct, a qilin, the king revered by all beasts."
"Similar to the tiger but also possessing the traits of a dragon, scale armor and fur coexist."
"The reason Chen Xingyuan chose Jiangzhou, a place far from Central State as his own domain, was not only to avoid the royal family but also to preserve this secret. Nearly everyone who knew this secret was killed by him."
General Xue smiled faintly and said, "Because he couldn’t defeat me."
"When he discovered I had moved the ancestral land of the Xue family to his doorstep, you didn’t see his face. It was more sufficient than a performer’s, enough to elicit grand amusement."
Li Guanyi, ignoring the proud General Xue, asked, "A small qilin?"
General Xue stretched out his hand to gesture and said, "Yes, at that time, it could fit inside a fighting robe, about the size of a large dog. Rather than an auspicious beast, it was more like a slightly larger Li Nu’er."
"That was also a Fire Qilin, as orange as a ’golden quilt and silver bed’ Li Nu’er."
"Considering its size."
"I suspect it had just been born when Chen Xingyuan captured it. Good and evil, like the two ends of Yin and Yang, coexist. Qiongqi personifies evil, qilin represents auspiciousness. That Qiongqi was guarding that spot, probably to eat the qilin upon its birth, turning itself into a more pure evil spirit."
"To kill the Qiongqi, Chen Xingyuan ended up finding the qilin."
"At first, he was very excited. Throughout history, Divine Generals cherished divine weapons, treasure armor, and exotic beasts. In the ranks of exotic beasts from ancient times to the present, the qilin is always within the top ten, and although the Fire Qilin is one of the Five Elements Qilins, it’s not the most original and auspicious."
"But for a Divine General, a four-footed beast that treads on fire, once grown can soar through the skies. When it roars, all beasts submit—a Fire Qilin more suitable for charging into battle than any Phoenix or the like. What Iron Futu? A breath of fire and it’s reduced to molten iron."
"I suspect that old fellow had even prepared the royal robe."
"Just short of draping it over himself."
"Sadly, he later found out that a divine beast like the qilin takes at least five hundred years to mature."
"And it only reaches adolescence at five hundred years old."
"It lives for at least eight thousand years."
"Although Chen Xingguo was a famous general, commanding a hundred thousand soldiers, without the foundation of Golden Muscle and Jade Bone and having fought many savage battles, he was riddled with countless wounds and couldn’t outlast the qilin. In the end, he had no choice but to hide the Fire Qilin within Jiangzhou City, hoping that a peerless general of future generations would gain the qilin’s recognition."
"In your era, has the qilin matured? Even if it hasn’t matured, it should at least be rideable. A qilin aged five hundred to two thousand years can breathe fierce flames, its body bathed in fire, terrifying all creatures."
Li Guanyi raised an eyebrow and said, "What good is the news of the qilin? Even if I know, what of it?"
"I can’t take it with me."
General Xue replied, "That may not necessarily be the case. Back then, Chen Xingguo couldn’t defeat me, and I held and played with the qilin for a long while. I had Shaking Light help leave a trace, a spell. A divine beast like the qilin has a very good memory; it will not forget a person it recognizes, even after a thousand or several thousand years."
"With this mark, you can at least walk up to the Fire Qilin."
"Tell it an old friend has come. Whether or not you can gain the Fire Qilin’s recognition afterwards is up to you."
General Xue smiled and said, "How about it?"
Li Guanyi sighed, threw down his brush, and said, "Alright, I accept it."
General Xue extended his hand and manipulated the White Tiger Dharma Form to emit a special fluctuation, as if inviting play, pouncing and frolicking, the movements lifelike. General Xue smiled and said, "Back then, when the qilin was young, it was I who used the White Tiger shapeshift to let the Dharma Form accompany it to play for many years; after parting for hundreds of years, seeing its childhood playmate again, it won’t remain inactive."
"I will teach you how to play with it."
Li Guanyi smirked, dubious, "...just ?"
General Xue burst into laughter: "Haha, as human beings, even if we have the power to shatter mountains and fill the seas, our lifespan compared to divine beasts like the qilin is as different as heaven and earth. But after hundreds of years, if converted to human age, it’s like the elderly days, even facing the end of life. When they see a childhood friend again."