Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told, Chapter 153: Thirty Thousand Years

Being beaten is never a solution. Seeing that the qilin wouldn’t give him a chance to explain, Wukong swung his iron rod at it. Unaware of the rod’s power, the qilin didn’t dodge, and the strike landed right on its back.
“Roar!” The qilin let out a furious cry. Even a divine beast couldn’t withstand such a blow. It soared into the air like a fireball exploding in the sky, filling the heavens with colorful clouds and dazzling red light. The qilin bent low, opening its mouth wide, emitting a deep growl from its throat. Its red lion-like eyes fixed intently on Wukong like flaming balls.
The qilin spat out a huge blue-purple fireball, which swiftly enveloped the ground. At the same time, cracks appeared in the earth, from which blinding red light flashed. Scorching flames and heat waves surged forth, unbearably hot.
Wukong, having mastered the art of controlling fire, could remain unharmed in such flames. But the fire spat out by the qilin was of an unknown kind, and he felt extremely hot amidst it. He thought to himself, “No wonder Zhu Rong keeps losing—this qilin is truly powerful.”
Wukong used a teleportation technique to barely escape the flames. The qilin was slightly surprised to see Wukong free himself. It slammed its front claws downward, unleashing ice dust mixed with divine power. A fierce wind blew like an ice storm, instantly turning the scorching heat into extreme cold. Wukong didn’t dare confront it head-on and instead used another technique, “Whipping Mountains to Move Stones.” The mountain seemed to come to life, flying diagonally toward the qilin.
Seeing the mountain coming down on it, the qilin didn’t know what spell to use. Instead, the mountain spun in the air and struck Wukong. Wukong then used “Pushing Mountains to Fill Seas,” and the two began to battle with spells.
What an amazing qilin—possessing all five elements, and mastering every kind of spell heard of, executing them with perfection. After a few exchanges, Wukong fell behind, unable to control the mountain. Since earth spells weren’t his strength, he swung his iron rod, shattering the mountain into pieces.
The qilin, seemingly losing patience, flew straight down from the sky and engaged Wukong in close combat. Though huge in size, it was extremely agile. Wukong tried countless moves with his iron rod but couldn’t even touch a single hair of the qilin’s.
After fighting for a while, the qilin finally spoke, “Brave kid. I see your cultivation is only at the Taiyi level—how come you’re so strong?”
Wukong put away his iron rod and said, “Elder, you’ve finally spoken. I am sworn brother to the Nine Spirits Sacred One. He once mentioned you to me. When I came to this realm and learned you were here, I came to find you.”

Upon hearing the words “Jiuling Yuansheng,” the Qilin appeared slightly dazed. He put aside his combat form, called the little Qilin to his side, and sighed, “If it weren’t for you, why would I let your brother suffer alone?” The little Qilin shook its head and said, “Why has Father never mentioned him?”
The Qilin replied, “It’s pointless to talk about it. Just forget it.”
Wukong, listening to their father-son conversation, realized that Jiuling Yuansheng was indeed the son of the Qilin. Yet he still had one question, so he asked, “Please forgive my rudeness, but why does Brother Yuansheng look so different from you?”
The Qilin said, “That’s precisely why I came to this realm.”
Dayu had previously said that the Qilin was different from them—not because it had come here to escape after killing the God Ape—but Wukong never expected it to be related to Jiuling Yuansheng.
Wukong continued, “This is… very strange. Brother Yuansheng is gentle and simple-minded; he surely wouldn’t anger you. I don’t understand how this could be related to him.”
The Qilin smiled and said, “My son and I have never met. What you’re saying is nonsense.”
“Ah!” Wukong couldn’t possibly imagine that Jiuling Yuansheng had never even met his own father. So he asked directly, “Why don’t you go back?”
The Qilin shook his head and said, “I certainly want to go back, but… I dare not.”
Wukong was even more surprised. With the Qilin’s cultivation level, there was no place in the world it couldn’t go. It was truly unbelievable that it would say “dare not.”
“How is Yuansheng now?” the Qilin asked.
Wukong replied, “In that realm, I have seven brothers in total. Brother Yuansheng is the most skilled among us, so we regard him as our eldest brother. The other seven include the Golden-Winged Roc, the Sea-Submerging Dragon, and the White Ox King—all of whom are at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level. You needn’t worry.”
The Qilin sneered and said, “Taiyi Golden Immortals? What do they count for? I was already a Hunyuan Golden Immortal tens of thousands of years ago, yet I still had to flee in desperation and come here to avoid disaster.”
Wukong asked, “What kind of enemies did you accumulate that they pursue you so relentlessly?”
The Qilin lowered his gaze, as if pondering the past, then raised it again and said, “The Phoenix, Xiangliu…”
Wukong had only heard of the Phoenix and Xiangliu from Dayu. He never expected that the King of Birds and the King of Insects would be enemies of the King of Beasts. From the Qilin’s tone, it seemed their grudges were extremely deep—otherwise, why would they have driven the Qilin to such a plight? Yet just the Phoenix and Xiangliu were enough to make the Qilin flee at the mere mention of them, which still remained unexplained.
All three were ancient divine beasts, surely possessing great supernatural powers. Even if they couldn’t defeat their enemies, they could at least escape. And if they couldn’t escape, hiding so that the enemies couldn’t find them shouldn’t be that difficult, right?

Wukong asked, “But isn’t the Phoenix and Xiangliu inherently meant to counteract the Qilin lineage?”
The Qilin replied, “We are all kings of five different categories, each with its own powers. The Phoenix rules the heavens, the Dragon King rules the waters, the Qilin rules the forests, and Xiangliu rules the earth—there’s no such thing as mutual restraint. It’s not that I fear those two, but they somehow obtained a golden ring magic artifact that’s truly terrifying.”
“I have been close friends with the Phoenix for countless years, but I’ve never had any dealings with Xiangliu. The Phoenix is always proud and noble; he would never even glance at someone like Xiangliu.”
“I don’t know what despicable trick Xiangliu used to make the Phoenix willing to serve him. They came to capture me out of nowhere. At first, out of old friendship, I didn’t use my killing skills, but then the Phoenix took out a golden ring that nearly trapped me. I had a vague feeling that if trapped by that ring, I would be doomed forever.”
“You must know that though I am the king of all beasts, I am the only egg-laying creature among them and also the only one that is hermaphroditic. Laying eggs is a minor matter; what’s crucial is the hatching process. The divine powers of our Qilin clan are transmitted to the Qilin egg step by step during this process, which is long and delicate, often taking two to three hundred years.”
“When the Phoenix and Xiangliu attacked me, I had only laid eggs for about a hundred years and was immersed in beautiful dreams. I could sense that the little Qilin inside the egg—oh, it couldn’t yet be called a Qilin—was extremely intelligent. There were no obstacles to the transmission of divine powers between us. If everything went well, hatching would succeed within a hundred years. As the saying goes, dragons give birth to nine sons, but the same is true for the kings of the five categories. Qilins also have nine sons, each with a different name depending on the amount of divine power they inherit.”
“The Phoenix knew me well and also knew when I would lay eggs. Attacking at such a critical moment was clearly part of their plan. At first, I fought off enemies while hatching, but gradually I fell behind. If I stopped hatching now, that little one in the egg might no longer be a Qilin. Then, the terrifying golden ring was used by the Phoenix. Fortunately, thanks to my innate Qilin powers, I managed to escape. I hurriedly fled with the Qilin egg, knowing that once I used my innate powers, the hatching process would be interrupted, and nothing could repair it afterward.”
“I took the Qilin egg to a hidden place, waiting for it to hatch on its own. Unexpectedly, the Phoenix and Xiangliu followed closely, like persistent pests. I didn’t know how they found me, so I had to flee again. Within just two days, they caught up with me.”

“The terror in my heart at that time was indescribable. You see, no one had ever been able to uncover my hiding skills. Then I thought of that circle—based on my understanding of the Phoenix, even he didn’t have the ability to find me. Xiangliu was far less capable than the Phoenix, so it was utterly impossible. I had no idea what kind of magic artifact that circle was, but every time I saw it, I was filled with fear.”

“I investigated carefully and indeed found an extremely hidden mark on my body, located in the dantian. No matter how hard I tried with my magic, I couldn’t remove it. Since that was the case, I had no choice but to take a gamble.”

“With the Qilin egg about to hatch any day now, and my own life in danger, I thought of the Kunpeng I met many years ago. Perhaps only he could save me. So, I made the most regrettable decision of my life.”

“In my panic, fearing that I might be captured by the Phoenix or Xiangliu during my escape, I hid the Qilin egg and went alone to search for the Kunpeng. Unbeknownst to me, the separation between me and my unborn child would last for tens of thousands of years.”

“From what I guessed, he must have acquired great inheritance. Even if he isn’t the Lion King, he must be a Pixiu. Only by meeting you today did I realize my guess was correct.”

Wukong asked in surprise, “Has that mark not disappeared even to this day?” He saw how deeply the Qilin loved its child. If there had been a safe way, it would have gone looking for its child long ago. Its absence must have a reason.

The Qilin seemed slightly surprised that Wukong’s guess was correct, then nodded sadly and said, “This mark seems to be burned into the soul itself; it can never be removed.” It looked at the little Qilin nestled at its feet and said with a bitter smile, “A Qilin gives birth only once every thirty thousand years. If it weren’t for this child, I might have already lost all interest in life. Do you know what it’s like to feel constantly threatened? Thirty thousand years!”

Wukong fell silent, deeply saddened for the Qilin. The mighty King of All Beasts was forced to take refuge inside the Kunpeng. Though this place was safe, it had no sky or sun. No matter how great one’s ambitions, how could they be fulfilled here?

What was even more surprising was that the Nine Spirits Sacred One had practiced for over thirty thousand years. No wonder he was so powerful. Likely, he had never used his full strength in previous battles.

Suddenly inspired, Wukong said, “Uncle, may I examine that mark inside you?”

The Qilin was stunned. Wukong no longer called him an elder but instead referred to him as uncle, clearly showing the extraordinary relationship between them. This single phrase bridged a great deal of distance between them.

The Qilin thought to itself, “I’ve reached the rank of Hunyuan Golden Immortal after tens of thousands of years, yet I still can’t remove it. How could you, a mere Taiyi Golden Immortal, possibly find this mark?”

But he didn’t want to disappoint Wukong, so he transformed into human form—a tall, handsome man with red hair. The qilin stretched out its left hand and said, “It’s fine for you to take a look.” Wukong reached for the qilin’s pulse point and said, “Uncle, it’s best if you release your true energy; otherwise, I’m afraid my cultivation level isn’t high enough to detect it.” Releasing one’s power to allow someone to examine one’s dantian is like handing over one’s life to that person—even close friends would not ask for such a thing. Seeing Wukong’s sincere and concerned gaze free of any distractions, the qilin laughed and said, “Why not trust you this once?” The qilin’s skin was as fair and smooth as jade, and its pulse was strong and resonant, emitting a sound like bells. Wukong had no time to pay attention to these details; he simply directed his energy toward the qilin’s dantian.