While the qilin remained silent, Shui stayed in place thinking about its circumstances, what it would do next and how he would handle Sef's matter, among other concerns. Of course, with the outrageous gap in power, if the qilin felt like erasing them then their fate would be sealed at that moment, so Shui could only hope that it had a benevolent nature.
After a few hours had passed, the qilin finally transmitted its intent once more.
"Descendant of the Deus, I have a request I'd like you to grant."
"Please, go ahead and make your request."
"Very well. Please put an end to this old one's time. Unfortunately, I lack the ability to do it myself."
"This... I'm sorry to say this, but I'm not sure if I have the ability to carry out this request. At least not at present time."
A mere trace it may be, this qilin was still in the domain of gods, and there was no way for a mere mortal to slay a god. Furthermore, only the spiritual attacks could be used and Shui knew that his soul wasn't nearly as strong as the qilin's.
"You need not worry descendant of the Deus. Though a small trace of this old one's self remains, I will offer no resistance so there should be no impediment to you who possesses the eye of the Creator. If you merely will it, my existence shall unravel."
Shui was surprised by the qilin's suggestion as it meant that the Sage God Eyes had offensive abilities as well. Of course that didn't mean he was eager to test this out since 'looking' at the qilin directly would still come with considerable risk, but the faint grief and despair he sensed within its intent made it hard to refuse.
"Very well."
After agreeing, Shui straightened his back and looked straight at the qilin. It appeared calm and steady as it waited for him to take action. Once he braced himself for possible repercussions, Shui activated the Sage God Eyes. As he expected, his eyeballs felt like they were on fire as he stared at the creature, but he operated the Omniscient Eyes method and peered into the qilin's source while his consciousness waned fiercely. All he had to go on was the qilin's words, but once he found the core that laid beneath the qilin's image, the ability came to him instinctively.
"You may now rest."
Like the end of a mirage, the qilin's image began to waver and it sent him its last message.
"Descendant of the Deus, I leave behind the energy and traces I have left over the years. Get from them what you can. I wish you well in your future endeavours."
With the disappearance of the qilin's image, a surge of natural energy burst from the ground. Although he would love to absorb it all, Shui immediately recognized that it would be impossible, especially since he was barely maintaining his consciousness after using that unraveling technique, so he sat in a meditative position and entered the flow. Surprisingly, there were also memories hidden within the natural energy.
They were only mere fragments that popped into his mind, but Shui was able to glean some things from them. He saw the qilin drifting through starry space before eventually landing on a desolate flat region. It had lost its master, but that gracious one would never agree with suicide. Its body had already begun crumbling, and as time went on dirt and sand slowly accumulated on top of its body. By the time its body had completely crumbled, there was a mountain above it, but there were no precious ores or rich earth elemental energy. It was only after its consciousness became too weak to control its body, that these changes began.
The qilin instinctively activated its core talent. The earth around it was directed to become metal, and overtime a miraculous dew, known as lifewater, formed on the surface of the metals. When this dew dropped on the ground where the qilin rest, its core shook with the intention of awakening. The dew should have spawned the essence of wood and given it a body, but this mortal realm that relied on nature energy couldn't produce lifewater pure enough for the task. And so ages went by of it reacting to the dewdrops but never fully awakening.
At the end of the tale shown by the qilin's memory fragments, the final drop of lifewater fell from an ore above Shui's head. When the lifewater touched the top of his head, Shui's soul was expanded beyond his body and rose out of the mountain.
'Huh?'
Before he knew it, Shui found himself floating above the mountain, but before he could question this, he was mesmerized by what he saw. The earth birthed metal, water condensed on metal and plants were nourished by this water and sprouted on the mountain. Finally, animals gathered around these plants, lured by the fire of life and once these animals eventually died, they would return to the earth. It was as if the cycle of life and the five elements had been compressed to a few key moments. The significance of this led Shui to ponder more deeply about the link between mountain's transformation and the qilin's inherent ability.
'It started with earth, but a qilin doesn't have a preference for any of the five elements. Earth simply happened to be the most powerful and so it was used to begin the cycle. The resulting processes appeared miraculous, but in truth they were simply emphasized mundane events. The qilin did not bend the laws of the world, it only blended them to suit its needs. It showed the cycle of the five elements, and their eternal prosperity...'
Even after the phenomenon ended, the qilin's remnant energy had completely dispersed and the five elements were balanced, Shui remained in an enlightened state. With his mind devoted to the task of comprehending the qilin's ability, he ignored the world and entered the Still Heart state. The events of today would change everything the residents of Stonefield had become accustomed to, but the one who knew that had already become entranced in something else.