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Chapter 50: This is Our Home

The Qilin shifted its curled-up belly, and only then did Vilyric notice that something seemed to be hiding beneath it.

No wonder this strange beast had only been crawling on the ground all this time, hardly standing up or moving around in front of others.

“What’s with the mysterious air… what’s going on?”

Saying this, the girl’s expression suddenly turned a bit odd.

“Don’t tell me you feel your time is up and you’re preparing to leave your kids or something to me? Come on, don’t recycle such old clichés, okay? If you have kids, raise them yourself; I’m not playing the babysitter!”

【……?】

The Qilin paused for a moment in its motion to reveal whatever was hiding beneath it and then lifted its head. Although Vilyric couldn’t quite decipher the expression of the mystical beast, it was evidently unimpressed.

【You really have a carefree and nonchalant personality. Perhaps that’s why you can earn the recognition of someone like Ya Zi… Vilyric, you can rest assured, the Qilin is a spirit nurtured by heaven and earth, with no offspring I wish to entrust to you; rather, it’s something else entirely.】

With the declaration from the holy beast, the true form of what it had been protecting finally came into Vilyric’s view.

It was… a feather.

A colorless feather, only the size of an adult’s palm, which seemed to have pierced straight into the land of the deserted island.

Colorless—sounds strange and hard to comprehend, right? But that’s just how it appeared, as if it were capturing countless rays of light in a peculiar manner.

Yet the feather itself emitted no aura, seemingly an ordinary object without any special attributes.

But since it could be treasured and kept so close by the West Saint Beast Qilin, it was impossible for it to be truly ordinary.

“So, what is this?”

The Qilin fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering how to begin.

【Vilyric, have you heard of the ‘Divine Calamity’?】

“Hmm?”

The girl lightly furrowed her brows but kept it to herself.

“If you’re referring to that war that happened over a thousand years ago, I’ve certainly heard of it, but that should be a war belonging to the gods of the Primordial Land, right? Even creatures from the Ancient Spirit Realm are aware of this?”

【How could one not know…】

The Qilin shook its head helplessly and sighed.

【You think that was just a war among the gods of the Primordial Land simply because you come from there and understand it mainly from that perspective. Moreover, only the gods from the Primordial Land had the power to unite against destruction, making them the primary force in that brutal war.】

【But in reality, many other worlds, especially those powerful beings whose homes were ruthlessly destroyed, participated in that war too, such as my Ancient Spirit Realm’s Ancestor Dragon, and God Fox.】

【During your time in the Ancient Spirit Realm, you must have seen the persistent evil demons and heard the tales of the ‘Four Saints’ Calamity’ from a thousand years ago, right? But Vilyric, have you ever wondered where this calamity came from and why it specifically happened a thousand years ago?】

“Are you saying…?”

The girl instinctively shifted her gaze to the colorless feather hidden under the Qilin, her face showing surprise.

【Yes, that divine war, though it occurred far away in some other place, still had its impact reach my Ancient Spirit Realm.】

The Qilin’s thoughts, now shaped into words, took on a more somber tone.

【Feather of Destruction.】

Miss Priestess blinked in surprise, but the Qilin continued to speak.

【Back then, the most ancient Ancestor Dragon of the Ancient Spirit Realm, a former guardian of the world, fell due to destruction in that war. Perhaps to retaliate against this world that dared to resist it, the Feather of Destruction fell from the skies along the chains of fate, bringing disaster that overturned all things.】

【That incredible power twisted the laws of the Ancient Spirit Realm, birthing the chaotic entities known as evil demons, which existed solely to destroy life, causing the originally harmonious cyclical system to gradually collapse. Evil demons sprang forth in the land, disasters ensued, and thoroughly dismantled the world’s order.】

【Though we, the holy beasts, aren’t as powerful as the ancient dragon, we too are beings birthed by the world of the Ancient Spirit Realm, protectors of order. How could we simply stand by and watch our home succumb to annihilation?】

【At the behest of Lingyin Fairy Island, we selected heroes we were satisfied with, imparted a portion of our bloodlines and powers to them, and together resisted the chaos unleashed by the Feather of Destruction, ultimately sealing away that terrifying power as much as we could.】

“Ah, I see…”

Vilyric looked enlightened, glancing again at the colorless feather that faintly protruded from the earth beneath the Qilin.

“No wonder I sensed that the laws of this world felt exceptionally bizarre, rewriting the originally pure powers like pollution. Could it be that this tiny feather gave birth to the evil demons in the Ancient Spirit Realm?”

The Qilin shook its head slightly.

【Evil demons arise from the distorted laws of the Ancient Spirit Realm and bear no direct connection to the Feather of Destruction. Just like Ya Zi’s malevolent aura, that power was initially incapable of spawning evil beings, but the environment changed, and thus the results followed suit.】

【We cannot eliminate the factors of destruction. To protect all living beings, we can only make do…】

After a brief silence, the holy beast formally made a request.

【Vilyric, I want to entrust this Feather of Destruction to you.】

【For thousands of years, Yuan Qianqiu and I have used the Seven Stars Anti-Evil Seal to disperse its influence into nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine overlapping spaces, finally sealing it on this lonely island.】

【But even so, the power of the Feather of Destruction continues to erode my existence. It is pure annihilation capable of changing even the laws… I can no longer bear to suppress it.】

【But the matter of destruction is significant; it cannot be lost control just like that, so a successor must be found.】

“…Why me?”

The Qilin looked at her with profound meaning.

【Because the God Fox once said that only the fated one can truly withstand and eliminate the influence of the Feather of Destruction, and my duty is to suppress it by any means, waiting for your arrival.】

“Phew…”

To be honest, Vilyric wanted to refuse.

Yet she also understood that this matter was entirely on a different magnitude compared to what Ya Zi had presented before; the Qilin wasn’t coercing her with benefits or other methods to agree. Rather, it seemed more like a plea.

Even without initiating the [“Information Detection”], she could clearly sense the current condition of the holy beast.

This creature would not survive for long—not due to lack of vitality or reaching the end of its lifespan, but rather a different kind of… direct disappearance of existence. Although it wouldn’t make the world forget it like Hao Miao Yi Meng, it wasn’t something ordinary methods could heal.

Perhaps this was what it called the “Feather of Destruction” and the pure annihilation it brought.

If the beings that battled the gods back then indeed possessed a similar, yet vastly more potent power than this feather, the puzzlement of how they could kill gods on the verge of eternal existence could perhaps be resolved.

【Vilyric, I can feel you are strong and have no expectations for worldly matters. Though some treasures still remain here, they probably bear little significance to you.】

【We paid too high a price to establish the Seven Stars Anti-Evil Seal. By now, I can’t think of anything that could match this heavy responsibility as a reward.】

【But… if you don’t mind, once I die, the fur, bones, blood of this body, especially my horn, are excellent materials you can take at will…】

“…That’s enough.”

The girl suddenly interjected, stopping the holy beast’s final words as if pouring everything into persuading her to accept the Feather of Destruction.

The silvery-blue gleam in her eyes flickered with unspeakable emotions as it met the dim red gaze of the Qilin, seemingly trying to discern something or determine if the other was putting on an act.

But she failed.

This strange beast… the Qilin was serious.

“Is it truly worth going to such lengths for this world?”

【……Worth it.】

The Qilin slightly closed its eyelids, exuding a hint of sorrow mixed with more determination.

【Because the Ancient Spirit Realm is our home.】