Chapter 35: Taming the Mount

Bai Jing actually had little interest in the path of artifact refining; he spent time contemplating it only to build a relationship with the Three Pure Ones.

Beyond the fact that the Three Pure Ones were top-tier innate sacred beings who possessed thirty percent of the merit from the creation of the world, Bai Jing was particularly covetous of the Innate Five-Direction Flags held by Laozi and Primordial Heaven.

Of course, covetousness was one thing, but Bai Jing was not reckless enough to bluntly ask to trade for those two flags. Their current relationship was not exactly intimate. Furthermore, the Three Pure Ones were destined saints with their own pride; while Bai Jing could use the art of artifact refining to draw closer to them, dreaming that this alone would make them acknowledge him as an equal was pure fantasy.

Bai Jing had long since figured it out: the best way to obtain those two flags was to stand at the same height as the Three Pure Ones. As long as he could achieve the seventh turn of his profound arts and attain sanctity through his physical body, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Therefore, after the discussion on the Tao with Primordial Heaven concluded, Bai Jing took his leave.

"Is Fellow Daoist Bai Jing leaving already? I was just hoping to exchange some artifact refining techniques with you!" Primordial Heaven instinctively spoke up to persuade him to stay.

Before Bai Jing could respond, Laozi shook his head and said, "Second Brother, Fellow Daoist Bai Jing follows the path of proving the Tao through sheer power and must seize the time to contemplate the laws of the universe. You and our Third Brother should also focus entirely on comprehending the Primordial Purple Vapor to break through to the late stage of the Quasi-Saint realm as soon as possible. We, the Three Pure Ones, are the orthodox descendants of Pangu; among all the destined saints, we should be the first to achieve sainthood. We must not be distracted by other matters and delay that moment."

Upon hearing this, Primordial Heaven’s expression became solemn, and he immediately replied, "Big Brother is absolutely right. Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, let us continue our discussion after we have attained sainthood!"

"Very well!" With that, Bai Jing bowed to the Three Pure Ones. After they returned the gesture, he took to the skies and departed.

...

After leaving Kunlun Mountain, Bai Jing had intended to visit Mount Buzhou to see how the Wu Clan was faring, but halfway there, he suddenly felt a palpitation in his heart, as if he were about to miss some predestined opportunity.

Bai Jing stopped and began to calculate with his fingers.

"The northwest direction?" Bai Jing muttered to himself. He unleashed his White Lotus Evasion technique to its full potential, transforming into a streak of white light that sped toward the west.

After flying for a dozen days, Bai Jing stopped before a mountain range. His intuition told him that the opportunity he had sensed was located here. However, as his divine sense swept over the area, he could not help but frown.

There were no innate restrictions here, nor was there any significant concentration of spiritual energy. It did not look like a place holding any treasure. Could it be that the item had already been taken?

Bai Jing performed another calculation, but the result still indicated that the opportunity remained here and had not been taken by anyone else.

"Could it be that the opportunity is not an inanimate object, but a living creature?"

Thinking of this, Bai Jing swept his divine sense down once more. Before long, he discovered a strange little beast hidden among the rugged mountains.

The creature was just over a meter long, its body covered in scales that shimmered with a cyan-gold light, each one looking like a delicately carved work of art. Its appearance was somewhat similar to a Qilin—featuring the head of a dragon, antlers of a deer, eyes of a lion, back of a tiger, waist of a bear, and scales of a snake. The only difference was that while a Qilin’s tail should have been like that of an ox, this beast’s tail resembled that of a Stegosaurus, which Bai Jing had seen in pseudo-documentaries in his past life: long, slender, and covered in sharp barbs.

This appearance made the small beast look quite formidable. What surprised Bai Jing even more was that although the beast had clearly been born only recently, its innate physique was remarkably robust, already comparable to that of a Golden Immortal. Yet, its spirit was extremely weak and filled with violent, bloodthirsty aura.

Bai Jing descended and landed before the beast. Seeing him, the creature attacked without hesitation. Bai Jing let out a cold snort, and his immense pressure pinned the beast to the ground, leaving it unable to move.

Bai Jing then inspected the creature’s soul, finally confirming its origin: it was the offspring of an unknown fierce beast and a Cyan Qilin of the Qilin race. The Cyan Qilin, its mother, had been an early-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal, a core combatant of the Qilin race at the time. The fierce beast that had forced itself upon her, however, was at the peak of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

After giving birth, the mother had used restrictions to seal the infant, then utilized her own bloodline and the secret arts of the Qilin race to cleanse the fierce beast's blood from its body, helping it to be reborn as a true Cyan Qilin. Unfortunately, just as she was on the verge of success, the three clans—Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin—were manipulated by the Demon Ancestor, leading to the eruption of the Dragon-Han Catastrophe. The mother had been forced to interrupt the cleansing to join the war, ultimately meeting her end.

Fortunately, with the help of the secret arts, the beast had already gained consciousness within its soul. During its time in the seal, it had been constantly battling the fierce beast's bloodline. However, the fierce beast’s blood was superior to the Qilin’s; if not for the nearly completed cleansing and the mother’s restrictions, the little creature would never have survived this long. Now, as time passed, the restrictions had completely failed, and without that support, the beast’s reason was being devoured by the bloodlust and murderous intent of its fierce beast lineage.

If it had not encountered Bai Jing, the creature would likely have soon been noticed by a passing innate sacred being due to its frenzied slaughter and been killed offhand.

Bai Jing tapped the center of the beast’s forehead with his finger. In the blink of an eye, the Great Dao of Purification scrubbed away all the bloodlust and murderous intent, leaving behind only the purest bloodline strength.

The murderous intent in the beast's eyes quickly faded. It then lowered its head on all fours, respectfully thanking Bai Jing: "Thank you for saving me, Senior."

"No need for thanks. I am currently in need of a mount. I see that you possess two powerful bloodlines and a sturdy physique. Are you willing to be my mount?"

The beast pondered for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"Very well. Since you retain the form of a Qilin, I shall call you Qing Lin henceforth."

"Thank you, Master, for the name."

"Good. Open your mind; I will leave a mark on your soul so that you may officially be my mount."

Qing Lin obeyed, and Bai Jing left a mark on its soul, completely subduing it.

Since Qing Lin had only just been born, Bai Jing naturally would not use it as a mount immediately; he needed to let it grow for a while. He waved his hand and tucked Qing Lin into his Origin Sun Cauldron, providing it with resources to cultivate and break through to the Great Luo realm as soon as possible.

"Since my recent discussion with Primordial Heaven gave me some insights into artifact refining, I might as well forge a collar for this little guy."

No sooner said than done, Bai Jing took out some materials and began to refine. Soon, a golden collar was completed. It contained thirty layers of restrictions; when worn, it acted as a defensive spiritual treasure, and when removed, it could be used for offense—a fine, high-grade acquired spiritual treasure.

Bai Jing placed the treasure into the Origin Sun Cauldron for Qing Lin, then rose and flew toward Mount Buzhou.