I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

After the last array pattern shattered, the entrance to the rift opened completely. The golden light curtain that had shrouded the valley for hundreds of years peeled away layer by layer from the edge to the center, turning into countless tiny specks of light that dissipated into the gray mist, just like a curtain blown away by the wind.

The ancient sealing runes lit up one last time before dissipating, like a silent sigh that echoed for a few breaths among the rock walls of the valley before falling completely silent.

Without hesitation, Lin Che sheathed his gun and slid into the crevice, his figure like a stream of blue water being forced into a fissure.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon King stood at the edge of the rift, not following down. His gaze was calmly fixed on the churning hot mist below, waiting quietly, his long silver-white hair swaying slightly in the rising heat.

The crack was deeper than expected.

The descent lasted for several dozen breaths. The heat beneath our feet grew stronger and stronger. The heat waves surging up from the depths of the earth were visibly distorting the air, causing the stalactites hanging on the rock walls to drip slowly like melting candles.

The black, glassy rock surfaces all around gleamed with a dark red glow, the lingering effects of subterranean fire burning deep within the rock strata, enveloping the entire fissure in a dim halo, like that between dusk and midnight.

Lin Che's protective aura flickered slightly upon contact with the heat waves, then stabilized, keeping the continuous high temperature and corrosive effects outside his body.

A few breaths later, his feet finally touched the ground.

The space at the bottom of the fissure was much more open than he could see from above.

The circular valley floor is about 500 zhang in diameter, and the surrounding rock walls are as smooth as a mirror. They have been polished by the earth's fire for hundreds of years and have a luster like solidified glass.

The ground was covered with black ash, several inches thick, which made a slight rustling sound when stepped on. Gray mist rose from the ground and flowed slowly at knee height. The mist carried a faint scent of embers, mixed with a faint rusty smell like ancient metal. With each breath, one could feel the air, which had been repeatedly refined by high temperature, slowly seeping into the lungs.

And in the deepest part of this gray fog, that being is slowly, like a mountain being awakened, raising its head from its slumber.

It was a translucent, crimson soul, its shape vaguely recognizable from its previous form, resembling a giant lion with four feet treading on fire and its mane like burning mountains.

Its size was so enormous that people had to look up at it. Even though it was just a remnant soul, the oppressive feeling was still like that of a physical entity, causing the surrounding gray mist to surge to both sides.

However, the soul body is damaged and broken in many places.

The left hind leg was missing below the knee, and soul fire dripped continuously from the stump like lava, each drop of which stirred up a small heat wave upon hitting the ground.

There was a crack running from his spine to his chest, and the hollow soul core could be vaguely seen through the crack. Those cores that once carried all the power were now just a vast, dark red void.

Most of his right side face had been burned away by the earth fire, revealing an empty soul bone and a single, eternally burning crimson-gold eye. The light flickering in that eye was like the embers that had been repeatedly tempered, and each flash distorted the surrounding air as it burned.

The soul beast was surrounded by blazing dark red soul flames, within which sometimes appeared phantoms of the battlefield: human figures, beast shadows, flashing swords, and military flags, appearing and disappearing in a flash, like old images being played over and over again.

There was also a dark golden brand on its forehead, shaped like a talisman chain, which was the seal mark of the Great Qian Dynasty. The brand constantly seeped out tiny red sparks, continuously burning its soul.

However, the seal has now been broken, and the mark is slowly dissipating. The sparks have gone from dense to sparse, from intense to dim, like embers scattered by the wind.

The remnant soul, gradually regaining consciousness, did not attack Lin Che. Instead, it repeatedly murmured its obsession: "I... did not lose." Its voice was hoarse and deep, like an echo from the depths of the earth, carrying a stubbornness that refused to shatter even after being repeatedly ground down by time.

Without a doubt, this is why the remnant soul can remain intact.

It wasn't hatred, but rather "unyielding spirit."

Back then, it blocked the army's path, knowing it would surely die but refusing to back down. Even after death, its remnant soul, facing the scorching heat of the earth for a thousand years, still refused to bow its head, relying on this indomitable spirit.

Lin Che activated the Heart of Ten Thousand Beasts, attempting to communicate with it.

But the remnant soul suddenly regained full consciousness, its single crimson-gold eye locking onto him with a burning, sharp gaze: "The Ten Thousand Beasts Sect... you have time to bother with me now?"

Lin Che remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking: "The Beast Taming Sect is gone, long since turned into dust of history. A thousand years have passed since that great war."

"Hmph... A thousand years... Has it really been that long?" Its gaze pierced through Lin Che, landing on the slowly dissipating gray mist, as if recalling the past. The blurry outlines swirled in its single crimson-gold eye for a moment before finally settling back on Lin Che. The scrutiny in that single eye deepened even further than before. "You didn't come here just to see me, did you?"

"I need your power." Lin Che didn't beat around the bush and stated his purpose directly. "There is a special puppet that is about to collapse and needs a powerful enough main soul to bear the power of the scattered soul fragments. You are very suitable."

"I see..." Its gaze gradually moved upwards, its single crimson-gold eye meeting Lin Che's gaze. "But why should I help you?"

"It's simple. Although the Myriad Beasts Sect is gone, the Great Qian Dynasty still exists." Lin Che spoke each word clearly, his eyes calm. "The person who sealed you back then might still be around. Don't you want revenge? I mean, to seal your remnant soul here and let it burn away a thousand years of hatred!"

Lin Che was so calm because he knew that the other party would definitely agree.

The remnant soul before me appeared outwardly calm and deeply weary, yet its interior was ablaze with raging flames.

A terrifying fighting spirit, a tenacious spirit of defiance, and the rage of a remnant soul facing the prolonged scorching of the earth's fire were suppressed within the flames.

Those years of being sealed away did not diminish its will; instead, like iron being repeatedly tempered, it became even harder.

The remnant soul remained silent for a moment.

A hint of crimson appeared on its single, golden eye, as the rage it had suppressed for millennia surged forth again as the seal dissipated: "Why should I believe you?"

"Just because of this..." Lin Che said, activating the Myriad Beasts Paying Homage to the Ancestor Technique. The unique spiritual energy fluctuations flowed around him. "I obtained the inheritance of the Beast Taming Sect, which makes me a natural adversary of the Great Qian Dynasty. Once they find out about the cultivation method practiced by my Lin family, they will inevitably become hostile. We are natural enemies. Is this reason enough?"

For the Daqian Dynasty, the Lin family could be summed up in one word: "remnants of the previous dynasty".

Even if the Lin family and the Beast Taming Sect have no real relationship, the Great Qian Dynasty will definitely not sit idly by when it learns of this news.

Lin Che is someone who always plans for the worst, so naturally he wouldn't harbor any wishful thinking that so much time has passed and the Great Qian Dynasty wouldn't care about them.

This is one of the reasons why Lin Che and the Lin family have decided to stand on the opposite side of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Looking directly into Lin Che's eyes, the remnant soul's gaze hardened: "Good! You have guts! I, Lieshan, agree to form a soul contract with you, come on!" Its voice echoed in the valley, and the dissipating soul flames surged around it, then gathered, condensed, and settled again.

Without hesitation, Lin Che activated the Myriad Beasts Paying Homage to the Ancestor Technique, and a soul imprint appeared, slowly descending towards Lieshan.

The soul imprint was entirely azure, with fine spiritual patterns flowing along its edges, resembling a ignited spark in the dark valley.

"I didn't accept this back then, but I didn't expect that even after all this time, I still couldn't escape it." Lieshan did not resist, letting the soul imprint fall into his sea of ​​consciousness. A complex emotion flashed in his single crimson-gold eye, as if he was saying goodbye to something, or as if he was welcoming something.

The moment the soul imprint touched Lieshan's brow, the incomplete soul body trembled violently.

Dark red soul flames erupted from Lie Shan's body, like a volcano being ignited, burning the hot mist at the bottom of the valley into a transparent white.

But in the end, the remnant soul offered no resistance.

Gradually, Lin Che felt an invisible connection being established between himself and that remnant soul.

The fighting spirit and indomitable will that once belonged to Lieshan are gradually seeping into his senses along the spiritual path of that soul imprint.

He sensed a blazing will, as if repeatedly tempered by the fires of the earth, extending outwards again, using his consciousness as a bridge.

Lin Che closed his eyes and poured more spiritual power into the soul imprint, reinforcing, shaping, and stabilizing the forming connection layer by layer.

A moment later, he opened his eyes: "The contract is complete. Go inside and wait. I'll release you shortly." He then took out a spirit beast pouch and put the remnant soul inside.

"Alright, I'd like to see what tricks you're up to." Lie Shan's voice came from the spirit beast pouch, radiating a mixture of anticipation and wariness.

"Let's go." Two figures emerged from the crevice, one after the other, passing over the dissipating gray mist, over the cooling array base, and over the rock walls blackened by the earth fire.

They didn't stop or look back, heading straight for the teleportation array that was still in operation.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Demon Queen stood at the edge of the great formation, her long silver-white hair fluttering slightly in the wind. Her gaze lingered on Lin Che for a moment, then she slightly curled the corners of her lips: "It's done?"

"It's done." The silvery-white light shone again, engulfing the two figures.

The space before me twisted, folded, and reassembled once more, and the low mountains a hundred miles away reappeared at the edge of my field of vision.

The monster remained standing in the same spot.

However, its shape was no longer as complete as before.

The gaps between the pieces were widening at an increasingly rapid pace, and the dark red aura had dimmed considerably, like layers of paint being peeled away, revealing the grayish-white metallic base beneath under the sun.

Its left shield was mostly broken, and the array patterns that once covered the shield were extinguishing, breaking, and falling off piece by piece from the edge to the center.

The blade of the right arm was curled in several places, and the cracks that had once been filled by dark red spiritual light were cracking again, revealing the charred marks that had been burned by golden light underneath.

The dark red ball of light that had once pulsed violently on its chest had become as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

Each flicker was longer than the last, each pulse consuming its last bit of spiritual energy, like an oil lamp about to burn out, using its last few drops of oil to keep the flame from going out.

Meanwhile, a small figure appeared beside the monster, looking it up and down.

With his hands behind his back, Qin Yulin walked around the monster from its left to its right, and then from its right to its left, as if examining an experimental subject being dismantled.

She was still muttering something under her breath, her head tilted slightly, her round eyes gleaming in the sunlight: "Tsk tsk tsk, this thing was never designed to be repaired, was it? Look at these interfaces, they only considered splicing when they were designing it, not disassembly, let alone maintenance. What a bunch of people who only care about the present and not the future."

Something this big is easy to take apart and put back together, but once it starts to break, all the internal spiritual pathways will sever, unless someone redesigns all the interfaces.

She extended a finger and poked a piece of armor plate that was slowly peeling off the edge of the monster's left arm shield, then quickly withdrew her hand and shook it as if she had been burned.

The armor plate swayed slightly in the night wind, and a few more fragments fell, splashing up a few faint sparks on the ground, like the last flicker before it was about to go out.

She leaned closer to examine the slowly pulsating ball of light on the monster's chest, her brows furrowing slightly as if she had discerned something: "However, to be fair, while the design of this thing is crude, the idea of ​​soul fusion is quite interesting. It's a pity that the person who crafted it wasn't skilled enough; the connection between the souls wasn't handled well. Otherwise, this thing could have lasted at least another hour or two."

Suddenly sensing the movement behind him, and seeing Lin Che return, Qin Yulin immediately jumped over, his round eyes filled with a hint of smugness.

"Master Lin, you're finally back! I was on tenterhooks the whole way, afraid we'd be ambushed by those monsters that hadn't completely retreated. You have no idea how many mountains I had to navigate around to avoid those scattered packs of beasts, and I almost fell into a cave that led to who-knows-where. I've brought what you wanted!"

As she spoke, she took out a jade box from her bosom, which was entirely ice-blue and covered with sealing array patterns, and carefully placed it on the rock in front of Lin Che.

The surface of the jade box was covered with a very thin layer of white frost, which emitted a slight chill in the night breeze, making the surrounding air feel a bit colder.

Even through the jade box, Lin Che could feel that familiar aura. The presence of that Time Crystal was like starlight compressed to its limit, still trembling slightly even inside the sealed jade box. Each tremor deepened the frost patterns on the surface of the jade box.

He nodded slightly: "Thank you for your hard work. I will have someone make arrangements later. I remember all the help you have given to the Lin family over the years. You can start applying for the research materials you need after you get back. I will have Xuan Qi use the family treasury to allocate them to you with priority."

He didn't open the jade box, but instead put it away and turned his gaze back to the disintegrating monster.

At this moment, Lieshan's soul power was also surging in the spirit beast pouch, clearly indicating that it had also sensed this complex soul power.

Let's begin!