# Chapter 2008: Repaying a Favor with a Demand
The surging dust and sandstorm carried Yun Che's roar, spreading to even more distant space.
But in the next instant, the surroundings suddenly fell into an eerie and terrifying silence.
The sound stopped spreading. The shifting sand ceased to roll. The dust mist and sandstorm froze in place.
The entire world seemed to have been suddenly sealed, except for a yellow qilin light that began to spread, covering the space for a thousand miles around.
A vast, infinite deep-sea-like aura descended upon Yun Che... However, Yun Che's face showed no alarm; instead, his heart relaxed heavily.
This aura was as overwhelmingly powerful as expected, heavy as the sky collapsing. But there was no violence, no anger, and certainly no killing intent... With this, he was already more than halfway to success.
His gaze swept into the distance. The continuously spreading yellow qilin light had actually formed a giant profound light palace, and the position he was in was the very center of this massive palace.
A record from his memories was heavily triggered.
During the era of the gods, the strongest defensive divine powers below the Creation Gods were the Xuanji Pagoda of the Black Tortoise and the Qilin Sacred Hall of the Lin God.
Could this be the Qilin Sacred Hall that, in ancient records, was known to every god during the era of the gods!?
Within this "Qilin Sacred Hall," the world outside the hall seemed to have vanished.
Sound, aura, even light... as if the entire world was left with only a yellow hall, and everything else had eternally faded away.
Yun Che secretly attempted to extend his spiritual sense beyond the "hall," but what he touched was only a complete void.
Bidirectional isolation... and so thorough it was chilling.
At such a terrifying degree, even if a desperate battle raged within the "hall," not a single sound or trace of aura would reach outside, just ten steps away.
Earth force specializes in defense, and isolation is undoubtedly a form of defensive power. At this moment, for the first time in his life, Yun Che so clearly perceived how terrifying extreme isolation force could be.
In the space ahead, a pair of massive divine eyes slowly reflected into view.
These divine eyes were thirty meters in size, nearly circular. A pair of pupils were like aged bedrock, yet they condensed a glow like yellow jade.
The giant pupils were like an endless rock abyss, clearly reflecting Yun Che's figure.
Yun Che's appearance, gaze, aura, power... everything about him was sealed within the Qilin Sacred Hall, all under its scrutiny.
Yun Che took a step forward and slightly bowed: "Junior Yun Che is honored to finally meet Senior Lin Shen."
Beyond the formalities, his posture was neither humble nor arrogant.
The world remained in a terrifying silence, and even the sound Yun Che made seemed to be sucked into an invisible black hole.
Receiving no response, Yun Che was not anxious. He quietly stared into the qilin divine eyes ahead, allowing that vast, boundless spiritual sense to probe his external and internal auras over and over again.
Finally, a majestic and heavy ancient voice resounded in his ears and soul sea simultaneously:
"A mere human Divine Sovereign dares to disturb my slumber? Do you want to be forever buried in this sand abyss!"
Yun Che calmly said, "If Senior Lin Shen wanted to bury me in the sand abyss, it would take but a snap of your fingers. But Senior will certainly not do so, because I am the inheritor of the Element Creation God, Ni Xuan!"
He released his profound energy, flames igniting in his left hand, ice condensing in his right, a wind vortex swirling beneath him, and thunder crackling around his body.
Of course, he did not manifest his dark force.
"One of the Element Creation God's element seeds is within your body. Whether my words are true or false, you should have had the clearest answer the moment you sensed my aura."
The place where the Abyss's earth element force was most dense and active—this alone was enough for Yun Che to instantly think of the only missing earth seed from the Evil God's Mysterious Vein.
Aside from the Dragon Clan, all other beast clans had been eroded into Abyss Beasts. Yet this qilin had survived until now. Then, a very likely possibility was that the Evil God Seed had saved it.
Now, facing this qilin god so closely, his earlier speculation had fully become reality.
Just these eyes, flowing with bright yellow divine light, allowed him to clearly sense the aura of the Evil God Seed.
Likewise, this Lin God could instantly confirm that the power flowing through him was that of the Element Creation God.
"You... come from another world?"
"Another world"—that was the "Eternal Pure Land" endlessly yearned for by Abyss beings. But when the Lin God asked this, there was not too much shock or excitement, only the calm weight of ten thousand mountains.
"Yes." Even though it was the greatest secret that should never be leaked, Yun Che responded without hesitation: "My purpose in coming here is to retrieve the element seed left on your body. I hope Senior Lin Shen will grant this request."
"Heh." A low laugh shook the heart and soul. The Lin God's eyes also condensed a pressure that almost wanted to snap Yun Che's body: "Even if you are the inheritor of the Element Creation God, so what? You are merely a mere human Divine Sovereign!"
"The element seed you seek is indeed on me. It has long been linked to my life. If I give it to you, I will surely die. What reason or qualification does a mere human Divine Sovereign have to demand something that concerns my life!"
This was the pressure from the Lin God. Although it was clearly restrained, it was still terrifying beyond measure. For a Divine Sovereign, it was enough to crush them in an instant.
But in the Lin God's divine pupils, Yun Che still stood proudly, with no trembling in his body, and not even a hint of tremor in his eyes.
He said slowly: "The reason you need, I will give you!"
"First," Yun Che's voice was calm, every word resounding under the Lin God's soul pressure: "The erosion of the Yuan Chen on the Abyss beast clans is far greater than on the human clans. Thus, aside from the Dragon Clan, which relies on its powerful body and strength to survive until now, all Abyss beast clans have been eroded into Abyss Beasts, including your Qilin clan."
"Only you have survived until now. And what saved you is undoubtedly the element seed you obtained. Otherwise, you would have long perished or become an Abyss Beast wandering in the Mist Sea."
The Lin God's divine pupils showed no turmoil. But when Yun Che mentioned "Abyss Beasts," those abyss-like pupils visibly contracted... It seemed to be a wince of pain.
"Therefore, the Element Creation God saved your life, allowing you to extend the qilin light of your clan to this day. Such a great kindness is hard to repay even with your life, let alone merely returning this great kindness object to his inheritor."
"Second!" Without waiting for the Lin God to respond, Yun Che continued: "My world of origin has no Yuan Chen, nor conflict. Then do you know why I would risk countless dangers to come to this world full of Yuan Chen and calamity?"
The Lin God's divine pupils gathered expectation, waiting for Yun Che to give him the answer. Yun Che raised his head, his voice slowing, a face full of remembrance: "Back then, after the God-Demon War, the Element Creation God, who had become the Evil God, struggled on for many years under the poison of the Myriad Tribulations of Oblivion. At that time, he discovered the anomaly of the Abyss. Therefore, before his demise, he cast an Evil God Seed... that is, the element seed within your body... into the Abyss."
"As one who inherited the Element Creation God's Mysterious Vein, I can naturally sense the location of the element seed. His actions back then were to guide me into the Abyss."
"Because only his power can save the countless beings forced to survive in the Abyss!"
Yun Che extended his hand, gathering the power of water, fire, wind, and thunder in his palm...
At the same time, he also gathered the Yuan Chen in the surrounding space.
Yuan Chen was colorless and formless. But in this space completely covered by the Lin God's aura, the existence and movement of Yuan Chen were incredibly clear to his spiritual sense.
Those already massive pupils instantly enlarged nearly three times.
"You... can control Yuan Chen!"
"You can actually control Yuan Chen!!"
Yun Che lowered his hand, and the Yuan Chen scattered. His expression was calm as before, and his aura was not the slightest bit disordered, as if he had only done a trivial little thing: "Senior Ni Xuan was the Element Creation God. And Yuan Chen, its essence is also a form of high-level element. The beings of this world cannot control it, but how could it escape the control of the Element Creation God's power?"
All of this was, of course, Yun Che's nonsense.
What allowed him to control Yuan Chen was the Void Law, which transcended all existing laws.
But it was undoubtedly extremely useful to bluff this Lin God.
"Such a thing... Yuan Chen can actually be controlled! This is something that even he could not do!"
If it were mere words, the Lin God would certainly not believe them.
But the movement of Yuan Chen between Yun Che's palms was exceptionally clear in his perception.
He?
Yuan Huang?
Yun Che was very satisfied with the Lin God's reaction, but his expression remained utterly unruffled: "Because the element power is not yet complete, my control over Yuan Chen is quite limited. When my power is sufficiently complete and strong, I will use the Element Creation God's power to gradually turn this Abyss world into a true Eternal Pure Land, fulfilling the Element Creation God's entrustment!"
"Therefore!"
His gaze was solemn and resolute: "On a personal level, you should repay the Element Creation God's life-extending kindness."
"On a world level, you have no reason to abandon the future of this era."
A long silence.
But the world was no longer quiet.
The dust mist before him rippled, and the shifting sand beneath his feet made a rustling sound... Every subtle sound and disturbance was a ripple in the Lin God's heart and soul.
"Heh heh heh heh!"
The Lin God laughed, still as low: "This element seed was not personally bestowed by the Element Creation God, but obtained by me by chance. Where is the great kindness?"
"The Abyss world is selfish in all beings. Since I can obtain peace, what do the other things in the world have to do with me!"
Yun Che was not flustered at all. A smile even appeared on his face: "If it were another being, saying such words, I would be neither surprised nor doubtful."
"But you are a qilin, and moreover a qilin god." His gaze lifted another fraction, staring into the Lin God's divine eyes with undisguised respect: "Whether in ancient times or the present, everyone knows that qilin are benevolent and auspicious beasts. Though they possess great power, they are only gentle, never bullying, extremely averse to evil and conflict, most fond of bestowing kindness on all beings, yet never willing to owe kindness to others."
"They are the noble beasts most admired and respected by all beings in every era!"
"This is also why this junior dares to disturb Senior Lin Shen's slumber with my mere Divine Sovereign body." His smile remained unchanged as he continued: "I think that this element seed that fell into the Abyss falling into Senior Lin Shen's hands is no accident. Because only a qilin is worthy of obtaining this protection from the Creation God; and only a qilin would be willing to endure endless monotonous years to stubbornly guard it."
"Senior Lin Shen's words just now were false. I think... my disturbance did not anger you; on the contrary, it might be the greatest surprise in your long years."
The divine light in the Lin God's eyes no longer focused tightly, but resumed natural flow. The soul pressure that had been pressing on Yun Che also dissipated instantly.
"Haha, hahaha!"
Loud laughter resounded in the Qilin Sacred Hall, extremely ancient, yet extremely hearty and carefree... He had not laughed for far too many years, let alone laughed so freely.
"What certainty! What boldness! What intelligence! Truly worthy of being the Element Creation God... no, the inheritor of the Evil God, the successor of the one most respected by our ancestral Lin God!"
"My years have not been in vain. My survival has actually received a miraculous response... hahahaha!"
Ancestral Lin God?
Yun Che's heart moved sharply... Could it be that this Lin God before him was not the original qilin god that fell into the Abyss, but its descendant?
The Lin God's laughter and his exclamatory words made Yun Che's secretly tensed soul string finally relax completely.
"Young human, it seems that in that other world, you have a deep friendship with our qilin clan."
Yun Che smiled without speaking.
A deep friendship... not exactly, but indeed enough understanding.
The world called qilin benevolent and auspicious beasts—that was a matter of opinion. But Yun Che very much agreed that qilin were gentle and disliked conflict.
In the Western Divine Region, the Dragon God Realm was supreme, followed by the Qilin Realm.
The overall strength of the Qilin Realm was not only second in the Western Divine Region; it was not an exaggeration to say it was second in the entire Divine Realm.
But such a powerful Qilin Realm never bullied the weak, never fought with anyone, and certainly never participated in or interfered with others' conflicts. They were willing to bestow kindness but never willing to owe kindness. Back then, when Long Bai led the entire Western Divine Region in a strong attack, Yun Che was still in the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, and the Northern Divine Region fell into complete desperation. As the second strongest combat force in the Western Divine Region, under such absolute advantage, the Qilin Realm, led by Qi Tianli, was completely passive throughout... or rather, it was a false battle.
A dignified Qilin Emperor plus four strongest Ink Qilins were easily "held back." Throughout the entire process, not a single Northern Domain person died at the hands of the Qilin Realm; instead, quite a few qilins were lost at the hands of desperate Northern Domain profounders.
If not for this, the Northern Divine Region would never have lasted until Yun Che left the Zhou Tian Divine Realm.
Later, the Qilin Realm was the first to kneel and submit to Mo Beichen.
Was Qi Tianli deserving of death?
Of course he was. Just as he said at the time, if betrayers are not punished, loyalty becomes a joke.
Was Qi Tianli hateful?
At that time, Chi Wuyue said that when facing Mo Beichen, whom there was no hope of contending against, Qi Tianli made the wisest, most correct, and even the only choice. Otherwise, the Qilin Realm would have already perished at Mo Beichen's hands.
Later, Qi Tianli bound himself to confess his crimes. He had no fear of death, and not a single word begging for his life, only asking that his death might save the Qilin Realm.
It was also because of this that Yun Che saw the nature deeply planted in the qilin's bones.
The Lin God before him was a qilin god, like the Dragon God of the dragon clan. It originated from the same source as qilins, and as a qilin god, this nature might be even purer.
Therefore, when he learned that this Evil God Seed's "carrier" was a qilin, he had already thought of a countermeasure.
Use kindness to coerce, use virtue to manipulate! So far, it seemed to be going far more smoothly than he had anticipated.