Sef continued into the cave, sticking to the paths with the most ores. Although the density of the earth elemental energy grew tremendously, Sef could feel himself reaching his limit. He couldn't remember when, but he no longer felt the waves of spiritual sense that had worried him. He believed that even if he were to stop now, he would be safe, but his curiosity pushed him forward. He had no water or food left so he might end up dying even if he turned back now, but he wasn't thinking about that. He simply trudged towards what lied at the end of the cave.
Some time after his legs had failed and he started crawling forward, Sef saw a bright red pulsating light from an open space. He believed that he should be deep underground so it was strange for such a bright light to be here, but he crawled forward anyways. At the entrance of the open space, Sef found the source of the pulsating light. Under a dome sprinkled with precious ores, there was the shape of a mysterious creature that glowed with the same pulsating light as the ground. The creature had the antlers of a deer, the scales of a dragon, the legs of a horse and the tail of a wolf. Although he had never seen one before, Sef was certain of its identity the moment he laid eyes on it.
"Qi, lin."
The glowing qilin was only the size of a normal horse, but Sef could feel a powerful aura radiating from it. When he saw it, it had been resting, but soon after he arrived its body shook. The entire cave seemed to shake with it, causing debris to fall from the ceiling. Sef was already stuck to the ground so he didn't have to worry about losing his balance, but he knew that that didn't mean he was safe.
'That's right. If this is the sacred qilin, then it could kill me with just a breath. Is there where my journey ends?'
While Sef fretted over what the qilin would do to him, it slowly stood on its four legs and turned to him. At that moment, a voice that seemed as ancient and inexorable as time itself entered his mind.
"Fallen descendant of the Deus, why have you sought me?"
However, Sef wasn't the only one to receive the qilin's message. Like an indiscriminate broadcast, everyone who had gone deep enough into the cave and was still conscious heard that voice. Unfortunately, simply receiving its message provided a burden heavy enough to create a headache that knocked them unconscious. Like the rest of them, Shui had been shocked by the message, but the state of the two with him quickly gained priority.
"Serina! Fatty!"
Both of them dropped to the ground while holding their heads with anguished expressions. He also felt a dull pain due to the message, so he immediately understood the cause of their conditions.
"Damn it! The intent is too powerful."
For cultivators on their level, intent communication didn't come with many risks, but intent came hand in hand with soul strength. Generally it wouldn't have much of an effect, but if there was an overwhelming gap then simply receiving the intent was an act that could lead to insanity. This was the reason why priests and shamans that called upon foreign gods often found it hard to receive prophecies in full. Shui was able to understand the message, but it would be a miracle if they even heard a single word.
"I need to close off their minds."
Since they were unconscious they would be less at risk, but just in case Shui drew 'Seal' mentally while focusing on their souls. It would stop them from waking up so he also laid a quick protection array before dashing off. He had been limiting his speed so that they could keep up with him, but the situation was now far too urgent for that. Although he needed to check the ore concentration to decide which path to pick, Shui's highest metal affinity made that simple so there was no need for him to slow down. In under a minute he arrived next to the unconscious Sef and witnessed what he saw.
'A real qilin?!'
The moment he saw the red qilin, information about its race came flooding out of the Primordial Library. With this information, Shui was able to assemble the truth to the puzzles that had been bothering him since arriving in Stonefield. After using 'Seal' on Sef's mind, he entered the open space to face the qilin.
"This humble one greets the guardian of Mother Nature," Shui greeted the qilin with a bow.
"You, are you an angel?"
The hint of hatred in its intent rocked Shui's soul with a tearing pain, but he bit his lip and stood firm.
"No, this humble one has merely been graced with the inheritance left by the Great Father."
Shui then activated his Sage God Eyes to prove his identity. The Sage God was respected by all gods and the qilin had served under one of them so he believed that this would be enough to satisfy the qilin.
"Hmm, it appears you are the result of some machinations planned by the Creator. Very well, tell me descendant of the Deus, how much time has passed since the fall of my master?"
"According to the records left by the Great Father, over 300,000 years have passed since the Divine Uprising. However, as you know, time is under the command of 'that one' so this is no absolute measure."
"Mmm, so that much time has passed and yet I still remain in this world."
The qilin then went silent. The rich energy present in the open space made Shui eager to begin cultivating, but he didn't dare be that impolite so he simply left his body to passively absorb the energy. At the same time, he also thought about when the qilin came to this realm, and how it ended up in this state. Based on what he saw in the short moment when he activated his Sage God Eyes before the qilin, it would actually be fair to say that the qilin was dead. Although qilins were sacred beasts known to be as resilient as nature itself, this qilin had expended its life force. The image before him was only a scant remainder of the qilin's soul and couldn't compare to the true size of the creature. It had originally been buried at this location, but its corporeal form had long been lost.
Nonetheless, the qilin still couldn't be underestimated. Shui was proud of his soul cultivation and he had the right to be so, but just the sliver of emotion from the qilin caused him pain. Not to mention the fact that this qilin was the cause of the waves and high concentration of earth elemental energy in Stonefield. When he realized, with help from the Library, that its body's instinctive attempts at revival was behind the waves, even Shui felt small. However, he didn't feel discouraged because he believed that he could reach this level of power one day.
'So this is what it means to have stood beside gods. And I'm supposed to fight someone much stronger than this... I can only hope I have enough time.'