Shen Lian left Diqiu at that moment of time, but ultimately he decided to continue staying in Diqiu.

　　After all, Shen Lian had injured the High Priest and although he was able to resolve Emperor Xia’s dragon fist, his body was slightly wounded throughout the process.

　　Emperor Xia’s dragon fist was a killer blow for all strength training cultivators. When the dragon fist came into contact with Shen Lian, the impact of the punch seeped into Shen Lian’s body and ruptured the tiniest blood vessels and meridians. If it was someone else who was taking the punch, the person’s organs would have ruptured into a puddle of blood.

　　It had been a while since Shen Lian had a taste of defeat. Emperor Xia had taught him a good lesson.

　　Up till then, the impact of Emperor Xia’s dragon fist was still lingering inside Shen Lian’s body. It was the Primordial Spirit that was keeping it suppressed.

　　But it was not entirely fair to say that Empire Xia had the upper hand. The Avici and Yuantu Swords’ will were not easily removable. Emperor Xia would most probably have to go through excruciating pain during his cultivation at night. But what Shen Lian did not know was that Emperor Xia had tested out the killing sword will prior to this.

　　Shen Lian was resting in a dark solemn forest. He laid against a big tree while the Pegasus chewed on the leaves to ease the tension from before.

　　Suddenly the Pegasus stopped chewing and took several steps backward towards Shen Lian.

　　A stout black calf appeared. Its breath was terrifying. It almost felt like an immense stagnant pressure that suddenly emerged and it was almost at the same level of Yinglong.

　　The owner of the stout black calf was most probably a divine creature as heavenly as the dragon or phoenix in order to inflict such fear on the Pegasus who possessed dragon blood.

　　Shen Lian set his gaze ahead and the owner of the stout black calf was finally revealed. It was an ink black Qilin with smooth shiny fur.

　　A man dressed in linen was sitting on the back of the Qilin. There were clouds under his feet, and he had a green headband that held onto his black and grey long hair.

　　From Shen Lian’s angle, all he could see was the profile of the man in linen. He seemed cold and arrogant, as if he walked out from a piece of art carved from stone.

　　The man riding the ink black Qilin seemed to not notice the Pegasus and Shen Lian and walked past them.

　　Shen Lian was moved, “Fellow Daoist, please stay for a moment.”

　　The man dressed in linen heard Shen Lian and the huge Qilin appeared out of nowhere in front of Shen Lian. The breath of the Qilin was scorching hot and it almost sprayed on Shen Lian’s face.

　　Fortunately, the Pegasus had passed the test of the Black Dragon and was able to stay composed when it encountered the Qilin. It kept itself motivated with the inspirations of becoming the king of Pegasus and that prevented it from collapsing.

　　“I am Wen Zhong and I am heading to Diqiu. May I know why did you tell me to stay?” The man in linen may looked unapproachable but he was warm with his words. He had some grey hair but he looked like he was in his the prime of his early thirties.

　　Shen Lian smiled and asked, “May I know why are you heading to Diqiu? I just got out from Diqiu actually.”

　　“Oh, you just got out from Diqiu? When I first saw you, I thought that you were a fellow cultivator from a famous mountain. I wanted to approach you but you looked like you are not feeling well. Nowadays, the world can be so chaotic and I do not dare to approach you directly as I did not want you to misunderstand. That was why I ignored you earlier. But I did not expect you to call for me.”

　　There was a bulging scar on Wen Zhong’s forehead that looked like a closed eye. His words were very contagious like the spring breeze and it was hard to be careful towards him.

　　Regardless if he was sincere or pretentious, the Qilin was proof that Wen Zhong definitely came from an impressive background.

　　Furthermore, Shen Lian once read a novel known as the ‘Investiture of the Gods’ that had a charismatic antagonist known as Wen Zhong who was the Grand Preceptor of Yinshang.

　　A thought came to Shen Lian’s mind. Maybe this world was somewhat related to the legends and history he had read of in his previous world. But it was not exactly similar to what he had read and he could only use it as a reference.

　　For instance, Emperor Xia’s name was Si Qi and not the tyrant Xia Jie Si Gui.

　　According to the legend and history, Shen Lian read, Si Qi was the son of Si Wenming, and not the descendant after uncountable generations.

　　However, Emperor Xia Si Qi was such a hot-tempered person that he was more similar to the tyrant Xia Jie who compared himself to the sun.

　　Shen Lian smiled, “You have great eyesight and it seemed that your techniques are a class above. It was no wonder that you can tame a unique creature like this ink black Qilin.”

　　Wen Zhong was embarrassed, “You compliment me too much. I did not tame this Qilin, it was a gift from my master as I did not have a mode of transportation after honing my art.”

　　“Based on your description, I am certain your master must have been a powerful person. If I have the chance, I would love to meet him,” Shen Lian said with a smile.

　　He wondered if Wen Zhong’s master, who was generous enough to gift a Qilin, was the legendary Jinling Shengmu. Even if it was not her, the master would still be someone extremely powerful.

　　With all these interweaving legends and history, it was as if Shen Lian was not straddling between two different worlds but went on a time travel.

　　The best thing Shen Lian could ever hope for was it to be the reversal of time. It would be thousands of times better than reincarnation as Daoist master and Buddha took a leap out of time in order to attain Dao.

　　In order to leap out of the River of Time of the three realms of six Dao, it was necessary to go against the flow and also to go with the flow. That way, the past, current, and future would condense into one to form a special biomass that could leap from the River of Time.

　　Shen Lian had yet to arrive at that point of being and thus naturally would not know the details of it.

　　Wen Zhong sighed, “I would love to meet my master again. But unfortunately, my master’s mana is deep and all these while, she would be the one who comes and meet me. It would be extremely difficult if I want to go and see her.”

　　Shen Lian became serious all of a sudden and said, “So that is why Daoist Wen would be the one who takes the initiative to go and meet your disciples. You indeed lived up to the standards of your master. No wonder, no wonder.”

　　Wen Zhong was stunned by Shen Lian who said ‘no wonder’ twice while having a serious face on. He reacted, “Are you teasing me? Looks like you have known that my disciple is Zi Zhao, and you had already known of my identity.”

　　“I have admired you for long and that was why I decided to play around a little. I hope you don’t mind,” Shen Lian smiled sincerely with humility.

　　Wen Zhong was a carefree person and there was no reason for him to get angry.

　　He laughed and said, “Since we are fated to meet here, let me offer you an elixir to heal your injuries.”

　　He immediately took out the black elixir.