Chapter 542: Human Youth…

It is said that this clan is born close to the Fate River, wields Fate Power, and stands as the Absolute Peak achiever and epithet of a Fate path!

Every move they make can stir ripples in Fate.

Their anger can cause a whole tribe's fate to decline into ruin.

Their blessing can reverse the destiny of those about to die!

Legend says that the strongest among this clan can wield divine miracles, briefly stirring or even interfering with the Fate Current of the Zhutian Huanyu!

Terrifying to the extreme!

Being ranked among the Ten Fierce Beings naturally grants it unmatched terror and uniqueness!

"Indeed! Treading Fate Imperial Qilin! One of the Ten Great Emperor Fiends, the Fate‑Stepping Imperial Unicorn Clan!"

Ye Wuque's eyes burned as he stared at the massive skeleton before him, his heart roiling, deeply shocked.

"No wonder it exudes such pure Fate Aura, no wonder its pressure is so supreme!"

"This is a Treading Fate Imperial Qilin, and from the hue of its bones and the lingering Dao Rhythm, its former cultivation likely reached the level of a Great Accomplishment Imperial Fiend, truly a being perched atop the pinnacle!"

Yet at the same time, a huge question surfaced.

What exactly happened to this Great Accomplishment Treading Fate Imperial Qilin, whose cultivation pierced the heavens and wielded Fate?

Why did it fall here?

And… only its skeleton remains?

One must know that an Imperial Fiend‑level being, especially one that has reached the Great Accomplishment Realm, possesses such tenacious vitality and myriad survival methods that it is almost beyond imagination!

To utterly kill a Great Accomplishment Imperial Fiend and leave its corpse here is no easy task!

Behind this must involve a cataclysmic past, perhaps… linked to the mysterious No Return Path that even Great Accomplishment Imperial Fiends might fall upon?

Ye Wuque suppresses the myriad doubts in his heart, his gaze steadies anew.

Regardless, since he has arrived here, guided by the True Dragon Bone, the remains of the Treading Fate Imperial Qilin before him are the destiny and trial he must face.

He draws a deep breath and begins to step forward slowly, attempting to approach the massive skeleton seated on the Jade Platform.

However, as soon as he takes the first step, an indescribable terrifying pressure, like billions of Divine Mountains collapsing simultaneously, crashes onto him!

It is not mere energy pressure, but a blend of the absolute suppression of the Supreme Imperial Beast's Divine Beast Bloodline, the supreme Dao Might of the Great Accomplishment Realm, and the Force of Fate's instinctive rejection of an intruder's destiny!

The threefold pressure stacked, making Ye Wuque instantly feel as if he bore the weight of countless Ten Thousand Ancient Star Domains!

"Crack— crack—…"

His bones emit strained groans, veins bulge on his skin, capillaries burst, leaking fine blood beads.

The surrounding air becomes as thick as lead mercury, each breath demanding enormous effort.

Worse yet, that Force of Fate is like an invisible shackle, trying to warp his movement path, disturb his judgment, and even subtly threaten his own Fate Foundation!

"Indeed… a further glance would explode, a bit closer and I'd melt…"

Ye Wuque clenches his teeth, a strand of blood spilling from his mouth corner, and whispers a line with a grim smile.

This is indeed his most genuine feeling at this moment!

Under this ultimate Great Accomplishment Imperial Beast pressure and Fate Rejection, he feels his flesh as if being ground to powder, his soul like a candle in the wind, ready to be scattered or melted at any moment!

His body, under the massive pressure, hunches slightly, skin cracks, blood streams, and he seems ready to shatter completely in the next instant!

Yet his eyes remain bright as stars, burning with unyielding will.

"I, Ye Wuque, have walked this road, endured life and death, crossed Corpse Mountain Blood Sea, how could I be frightened back by the pressure of a dead relic?!"

A roar erupts within, Ye Wuque's Undying Indestructible Divine King Art and Battle Sage Method origin spin wildly, the pale golden blood Qi surges like an Angry Dragon inside, repairing damage and resisting pressure.

In his sea of consciousness, the Soul Light shines brilliantly, steadfast to his core, repelling the intrusion of the Force of Fate.

One step, two steps, three steps…

He bears pressure that could crush the heavens, resists the invisible yet more dangerous Fate Rejection, trudging forward with difficulty, slowly yet unwaveringly.

Each step leaves a deep, blood‑stained imprint on the unyieldingly hard Jade.

His bones emit a tooth‑aching grinding sound, the Seven Orifices begin to bleed, and his vision blurs and distorts under the pressure.

But he does not stop.

Ten Zhang, Fifty Zhang, Hundred Zhang, Three Hundred Zhang…

As he draws nearer to the skeleton, the pressure and Fate Rejection increase geometrically!

Ye Wuque feels like a small boat in wind and rain, ready to be torn apart at any moment.

His consciousness begins to scatter, hallucinations appear, as if he sees his Fate Threads being torn one by one, sees himself collapsing midway, turning to ash…

"No! My Fate, I command! My path, none can block!!"

A roar from deep within his soul refocuses Ye Wuque's eyes that were about to shatter!

He ignites a fiercer fighting spirit, driving the Undying Indestructible Divine King Art, Battle Sage Method, Undying Indestructible Imperial Golden Body, and other holy origins to their limits, even summoning the Dao Rhythm of several other powerful inheritances within his body to jointly resist.

Five Hundred Zhang, Seven Hundred Zhang, Nine Hundred Zhang…

When he finally drags himself to about a Hundred Zhang from the massive skeleton, he feels his limit truly reached!

His entire skeleton seems riddled with cracks, internal organs displaced, blood Qi exhausted, Soul Swaying, even his thoughts sluggish.

This Hundred Zhang feels like an insurmountable Heavenly Moat!

He knows this is the closest he can get to the skeleton in his current state!

One more step forward, and his flesh would surely collapse, his soul annihilated!

And as he pauses at this extreme distance, laboriously raising his head to gaze at the Qilin skeleton a Hundred Zhang away—

A mutation rebirth!

The ever‑still seated Treading Fate Imperial Qilin skeleton's skull, at the brow, suddenly glows a faint, flickering pale golden light!

Immediately, that speck of light drifts outward, coalescing in the void a short distance ahead of Ye Wuque into a faint, hazy imprint of pure Guangying formed of thought.

The imprint shows no clear face, only a vague humanoid outline bathed in a gentle pale golden halo.

It hovered there silently, as if it had been waiting for endless ages.

A grand, world‑worn voice that seemed to have traversed the Eternal Time and Space, bearing endless Exhaustion and a hint of Indifference, slowly resonated in the vast, oppressive Stone Hall, directly reaching Ye Wuque's heart and spirit:

"Human youngster…"

The voice paused briefly, seeming to carry a faint, barely perceptible surprise, and continued:

"You are, in all these years… the first Young Being who could walk within the Thousand Zhang…"