Chapter 55: Descendants of the Ancient Deities

After flying for nearly another hour, Qiu Han could already sense the strong fluctuations of spiritual energy in the area. Some hundred miles ahead, there must be a battle either between beasts or cultivators. As Qiu Han was raising his head, deploying his spiritual sense to survey the surroundings, a sudden thunderous boom erupted. A massive streak of blue lightning split the sky in the distance, crashing down a hundred miles ahead on the earth before him.

Caught off guard, Qiu Han staggered in midair and nearly plummeted from the sky. His mind rang with a deafening buzz as he barely managed to steady himself. Just as he was considering what to do next, the voice of Nangong Li, who had been silent in the Celestial Compass’ space, suddenly resounded in Qiu Han’s mind: “To be able to summon heavenly thunder... Though the power of that strike was still weak and hasn’t reached the level of tribulation lightning, my previous guess is now seventy percent certain!”

Nangong Li’s tone no longer carried its usual arrogance and was instead tinged with urgency—and faint, barely concealed excitement.

Before Qiu Han could grasp the meaning behind Nangong Li’s words, the latter spoke again, not waiting for Qiu Han to respond: “Focus your mind, draw your breath into your dantian. I’ll borrow your body to perform a divine art and cloak your form as we sneak in to investigate the place struck by the thunder.”

Qiu Han did as instructed. Instantly, an unprecedented sensation swept through his entire being. He felt weightless, his body suddenly surging forward at a speed far beyond his own full flight. Along the way, he passed several second-tier demonic beasts, yet they behaved as if they hadn’t noticed him at all.

About the time it takes to burn an incense stick later, within the range of his spiritual sense, Qiu Han spotted, on a distant hillside a thousand feet ahead, nearly ten demonic beasts gathered in a circle. They surrounded a creature about the size of a household dog, its fur pure white, resembling a wild horse. A closer look, however, revealed it was no horse, for a single silver horn, about a foot long, protruded from the center of its brow.

The surrounding beasts were of various forms, but Qiu Han recognized most of their types and had even slain some of their kind before. He observed that these nearly ten beasts were all late in the second tier. Yet, among them was one as large as an ordinary elephant whose body greatly resembled a wild horse. The spiritual pressure radiating from this beast made Qiu Han inwardly gasp in awe.

“A third-tier demonic beast!” Qiu Han nearly blurted aloud. He had only ever seen a third-tier beast—equivalent to a cultivator at the Core Formation stage—once before, years ago, when he and Chi Yi’s group ventured into the Great Ten-Thousand Mountains to seek the Flower of Perpetual Youth. The terror of that encounter was still etched in his memory; had his master not arrived in time to drive off the white-phosphorus python, he would have perished then and there.

Yet this third-tier beast was now covered in wounds, its aura weak, large patches of its flesh charred, with several gashes cut to the bone, still bleeding—a beast in dire straits.

Scattered not far from it lay dozens of demonic beast corpses, limbs twisted and bodies blackened like charcoal, motionless upon the ground—clearly dead.

Amid the circle of beasts, the unicorn appeared utterly spent, kneeling weakly on the earth. Though there were no visible wounds, its breath was shallow and labored; it seemed incapable of further resistance, as if a brutal struggle had just taken place.

The unicorn’s chest heaved rapidly, but its gaze was fixed fiercely on the surrounding beasts—especially the remaining third-tier beast, toward which its eyes burned with unmistakable hatred.

At last, with a piercing howl from the third-tier beast, the second-tier monsters around it raised their heads and snarled, claws digging into the soil as they prepared to attack the unicorn.

Just then, the unicorn’s silver horn flashed with blinding light. The overcast clouds, which had dissipated, gathered once more overhead, faint flickers of lightning dancing within.

“Just as I suspected,” Nangong Li’s voice sounded again as Qiu Han watched the scene intently. “It’s truly a descendant of the ancient divine race, and its bloodline is exceptionally pure—royalty among its kind. To bear a silver horn and summon heavenly thunder—its form is not yet like that of a mature adult, but I am certain: this is their descendant. After so many vanished years, to see an offspring of the ancient gods here... Fate is unpredictable indeed.”

Fortunately, despite his close proximity, Qiu Han remained undetected by the beasts.

“A descendant of the ancient gods? What is that?” Qiu Han asked. The unicorn had seemed strangely familiar to him, as if he’d seen it somewhere before, but the memory eluded him.

“I’ll explain later; there’s something more important now,” Nangong Li said. “I’ll help you tame that unicorn as your spirit beast. Do you want it?”

“A spirit beast? Senior, do you mean this unicorn can become my spirit beast?” Qiu Han asked, a touch of doubt in his voice.

With a snort, Nangong Li replied, “Do you have any idea what kind of spirit beast this is? It’s not an ordinary creature, but a primordial beast from the ancient era, with a bloodline so pure that it could one day revert to its divine ancestry. If another high-level cultivator found it, it would provoke a bloody war for possession. That you’ve encountered it here is your great fortune.”

Nangong Li’s manner was arrogant, even a bit smug.

“But, senior, how can you help me? There are still several second-tier beasts and even a third-tier one at the Core Formation level. With my cultivation, I can barely protect myself, let alone subdue it,” Qiu Han replied calmly, voicing his concerns.

“If I say I’ll help you, I have a foolproof method—but it comes at a price. Focus your mind; I’ll borrow your body to unleash the secret art that made my name in the past,” Nangong Li said. In the space of the Celestial Compass, his expression lost its earlier disdain and arrogance, now grave and solemn, as if even for him, the task ahead would not be easy.

Qiu Han hesitated no longer, fixing his gaze on the scene ahead. The light from the unicorn’s silver horn, which had moments ago blazed so brilliantly, was now quickly fading, unable to maintain its former intensity.