Chapter 184

Spiritual rain fell from the sky; countless plants, trees, flowers, and fruits grew; and the heavens and earth became clear.

Zulong also walked to the Sea Eye, gave a smile to the clansmen seeing him off behind him, and then calmly stepped into the Sea Eye.

As Zulong's figure disappeared, the originally frenzied Sea Eye instantly became much calmer, and the previously turbulent water vapor also grew more tranquil.

Qinglong walked toward the place where Yinglong was sealed, constantly forming hand seals and murmuring incantations.

Seven days later, a huge whirlpool rose from the sea floor, and Yinglong walked out from it, his gaze bewildered as he said:

"Elder brother, how is the dragon clan faring now? Why don't I see the eldest brother? Has the second brother, Zhulong, returned?"

Qinglong heard Yinglong's question, his eyes instantly turning red; he had never imagined that Yinglong would not ask why they had sealed him, nor ask how long it had been.

Instead, the first thing upon emerging was to ask about his elder brother and the dragon clan, which nearly brought Qinglong to tears.

Seeing Qinglong like this, Yinglong felt an ominous premonition arise, sensing the accumulated karma and karmic force on Qinglong's body; his voice hoarse, he asked, "Have you lost?"

merit

Nether Heaven Revered God

Shi Qilin

Yuan Huang

"He has no face to meet you; in order to repay the dragon clan's karma, he has sealed himself within the Sea Eye."

kirin clan chief

auspicious beast

kirin cliff

primordial wilderness earth veins

clan chief (clan chief) generic? but we already have kirin clan chief; we could also include generic "clan chief" but it's not a proper noun; maybe skip.

kirin clan territory

Kunlun Mountain

earth veins

After a while, Yinglong spoke in a muffled voice: "Alright, I understand; Yinglong will not fail the elder brother's trust."

Three Pure Ones

Qinglong genuinely revealed a smile, then transformed into a giant dragon and flew toward the sky.

"The Heavenly Dao above, I am the ancestor of the dragon clan, Qinglong Mengzhang, deeply feeling my sins are grave, I wish to guard the eastern extremity of heaven and earth, repay the karma of heaven and earth, no longer meddle in the affairs of the primordial wilderness, and hope the Heavenly Dao will observe."

kirin cliff skull

Cloud vapors gathered into azure clouds, falling before Qinglong and lifting him up as he headed toward the extreme east.

Upper Clarity Daoist

Great Clarity Daoist

Yinglong, too, was greatly grieved; now he has been sealed for too long, his cultivation has made no progress, and at present he remains as he was when first sealed, having just entered the Luotian Zunshen stage.

At this moment, Yinglong felt somewhat bewildered, gazing at the weeping clansmen before him, among whom some, judged solely by cultivation realm, were even higher than him.

three clans

little kirin (little kirin) -> maybe "little kirin" but generic; we could include as "little kirin". However it's not a proper noun; but it's a named entity? It's a descriptor; maybe skip.

The flow of qi has almost run out; the entire clan finds it hard to make any progress in cultivation, newborns are nearly nonexistent, and if this continues, the clan's extinction looms.

Shi Qilin had no choice; he originally did not want to resign himself to fate, so after Yuan Huang, Zu Long, and Qing Long, he persisted for another ten thousand years, but the situation only grew worse.

This left him with no way out; it seemed that his people and he had begun to go their separate ways. The roar of Shi Qilin echoed in the sky, drawing nearly all the clansmen together. Shi Qilin watched silently, wishing to remember every face of his people.

"From now on, you shall wander less in the Primordial Wasteland; the future is no longer ours."

Shi Qilin watched his people's flustered expressions; to let them speak more, he stepped onto auspicious clouds and walked into the sky.

"Under the Heavenly Dao, I, Shi Qilin, chief of the Primordial Wasteland Qilin clan and leader of all beasts, feel my sins are deep; I wish to become Qilin Cliff, my body to fortify the earth veins of the Primordial Wasteland."

"From now on, the Qilin clan shall no longer partake in any strife of the Primordial Wasteland, becoming auspicious beasts; when a Qilin appears, auspicious signs follow—I pray the Heavenly Dao will bear witness!"

Countless divine lights poured down, heavenly blossoms scattered across the Primordial Wasteland, and Shi Qilin's vow, bolstered by the Heavenly Dao, echoed throughout heaven and earth.

Shi Qilin's form kept swelling, turning into a huge stone shaped like a Qilin, which came to rest upon Kunlun Mountain.

As the stone fell, countless merit rained down upon the Qilin clan, washing away their sins.

Within the original territory of the Qilin clan, space suddenly twisted, forming a vortex; seeing this, the few remaining children of Shi Qilin raised their heads and roared.

Leading his people gradually into it, within ten years the Qilin clan's members basically all moved inside, leaving only a few behind in the Primordial Wasteland.

As the vortex vanished, the stone that Shi Qilin had become fully merged with the mountain range; the earth continually trembled, and inscribed upon the stone read 'Qilin Cliff'.

Yet many could feel that the ground beneath their feet had become much more solid; the countless fractured earth veins began to gradually heal, or form new veins.

Thus, the three tribes that once dominated the Primordial Wasteland withdrew completely from heaven and earth, no longer participating in its affairs.

In East Kunlun, the Three Pure Ones sensed the change in the earth veins; their forms vanished from their grottoes, and upon reappearing, they found themselves beside Qilin Cliff.

At the foot of Qilin Cliff, a few young Qilin watched them warily, but the three ignored them.

The Jade Pure Daoist glanced at them lightly, waved his hand, and tucked the few young Qilin into his robe sleeves.

He snorted coldly again and said:

"Even those who wear fur and armor, the viviparous and oviparous kind—how could they, even with a hint of pride, deserve such blessing?"

Having spoken, he waved his hand; a sword qi shot forth, directly severing the skull of Qilin Cliff, which he collected into his sleeve.

The hegemon of the Primordial Wasteland, the chief of the Qilin clan among the three tribes, the leader of all beasts, Shi Qilin, thus fell silently.

Seeing this, the Upper Pure Daoist and the Great Pure Daoist furrowed their brows slightly, yet they said nothing more.

Then the three exchanged a glance, and three streams of pure qi fell into the place where the vortex had been, instantly accompanied by sounds of shattering.

The previously sealed space was forcibly opened once more, and the Three Pure Ones joined hands to enter it together.

After several years, the three had fulfilled their ambitions, their faces glowing with red light, and they departed from this place.

After the Three Pure Ones departed, not long later another Daoist arrived, likewise forcefully opened the passage, and after several years likewise departed with a pleased look.

In the intervening period, evil guests kept arriving; only after ten thousand years did visitors leave holding just two qilin calves, after which no one came at all.

When no one visited the qilin clan of Kunlun Mountain any longer, attention shifted to the phoenix clan's immortal volcano.

Yuan Huang remained conscious, but she knew she could no longer intervene and might often slip into sleep; the phoenix clan could no longer safeguard its former stores.

She simply cast all spiritual treasures and the clan's hoard into the volcano vents, letting those able to take them, thereby attaining tranquility.

The dragon clan still had Yinglong active; as fellow innate divinities they mostly still offered a little aid, and they also petitioned for a divine edict at the Yunmeng Ze prayer site.

Hence, despite the occasional evil visitor, they never sank to the plight of the phoenix and qilin clans.

Yunmeng Ze.

Qi, Nüwa, Taiyi and the others, beholding this, could not help but sigh; a single great catastrophe's transformation had turned the former rulers, the three clans that once dominated the wilderness, into what they are now.

Those who come after and never lived through the three-clan era may never imagine how splendid the three clans—whom they see as weak and easy to bully—once were.

(End of chapter)