Meanwhile, Creek King remained inactive as if she didnât see the fight at all. Perhaps she was biding her time until the best possible opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
This wouldnât be considered an ambush either because she had already expressed her intention prior instead of attacking from the shadows.
At the same time, Li Qiye seemed to be in no hurry to attack her. Sooner or later, the result would still be the same in his eyes.
The crowd was still shaken to see him destroying the three-legged golden crow so easily. His power continued to surpass expectations.
Of course, Zhe Long wasnât going all out either since he didnât resort to his true form. Nonetheless, something told them that Zhe Long was a heavy underdog.
This intuition was hard to believe because Zhe Long was a famous Fardao Everlasting. On the other hand, Li Qiye was a late newcomer. He shouldnât have an advantage in any category.
âFellow Daoist, for this next round, any wound will potentially become fatal. Be careful now.â Zhe Long spoke, wielding the proper manner of a dignified senior.
âIâm eagerly waiting.â Li Qiye smiled.
âBoom!â Another divine beast arrived and made the ground tremble, seemingly unable to withstand its weight.
This was a qilin standing not far away from Li Qiye. It emitted a sparkling radiance, seemingly made from a perfectly polished crystal. Its radiance looked like particles flying around the sky, seemingly a manifestation of time.
âStrange, looks like the flow of time.â One ancestor murmured while looking at the crystal qilin.
Everyone else took a closer look and came to the same conclusion.
They found that the light and the particles were flowing towards one particular direction. This might be the flow of time turning into various streams and strands inside the qilinâs body.
When it took one step forward, the ground immediately suffered extreme weathering akin to the passing of millions of years.
âYes, this is the temporal affinity.â The ancestor shuddered.
In the next moment, the qilin moved its other foot forward and touched the ground. The seeds buried deep below suddenly bloomed with an unbelievable speed. A lush lotus grew and raised the qilin into the air. It should have required thousands of years to bloom to this level.
âOne death, one life?â Many experts exchanged glances.
Each foot of the qilin seemed to represent two completely different powers - life and death.
âNo, itâs still just one.â An Everlasting disagreed and revealed: âItâs the power of time from this avatar of Zhe Long named crystal qilin. Itâs not the best but definitely among the top three.â
Many shuddered and held their breath after hearing this, eagerly awaiting the power of this top avatar from Zhe Long.
âItâs beautiful beyond words. This is time.â Li Qiye praised while looking at the qilin.
âYes, nothing else is more beautiful than time or makes people long for it more.â Zhe Long sentimentally said.
The young ones didnât think about time as much. Only the existences that have lived for years like Zhe Long understood the preciousness of time.
âThis is not time control yet but you are not letting down the title of Fardao to be able to understand its profundity to this level.â Li Qiye nodded approvingly.
âFellow Daoist, youâre too kind. Iâm actually embarrassed that this is all I have learned after five full generations. My foolish aptitude canât compare to the great sages.â Zhe Long humbly revealed.
The crowd couldnât believe it. The mighty Zhe Long took five generations but only learned a bit about the temporal affinity? Just how difficult was it then?
Of course, most believed that he was only being humble with his words. How could a Fardao be foolish in any way?
âLet me see your temporal power then.â Li Qiye seemed interested for once.
âBe careful, Fellow Daoist.â Zhe Long spoke seriously because a wound caused by temporal power would be difficult to reverse.
This particular exchange was very important to Zhe Long. If his qilin couldnât injure Li Qiye, he would need to increase his assessment of the guyâs power even further.
Meanwhile, the crowd could see that Li Qiye appreciated the qilin while Zhe Long respected having such a powerful foe.
The qilin moved forward, looking quite beautiful. In terms of appearance, people felt as if it wouldnât be that much offensive potential. It looked cute more than anything. Plus, it was walking towards Li Qiye like a docile pet, devoid of any aggression.
Nonetheless, the crowd took it very seriously, especially the mighty Everlastings. The latter had a good understanding of the temporal affinityâs potential. This was one of the most terrible forces in existence, extremely hard to defend against.
The qilin didnât attack after arriving. It simply circled around him like a cute beast wanting to make him its master.
Appearance can be deceiving. The qilin was actually leaving behind temporal strands with the rotations.
Most importantly, space ceased to exist in the vicinity. This meant that no longer where one tried to run off to, they wouldnât be able to escape their own timeline - forever trapped by the qilin.
Thus, the only thing around Li Qiye right now was the fabrics of time; the fabrics of space were no longer present.
More and more temporal strands were being piled up in this unique dimension.
âNothingâs happening to him.â A few disciples murmured.
âIdiot, this is because Li Qiye is too strong. Any of you kids would have been turned to ashes after one rotation. Look at the spatial fabrics.â A senior immediately scolded them.
These disciples took a closer look and sure enough, chaos began to fill the area due to the spatial damage.
The qilin wasnât disrupting space but simply withering it. The area experienced millions of years and became aged. Space started flowing away.
âTime can wither down anything.â One expert trembled after seeing the spatial degradation.
The temporal affinity - perhaps this force was strong enough to make even the high heaven older.