Chapter 1131, The Bronze Qilin Emerges

Translator: Silavin

 

After distributing the equipment, the group wasted no more time. Under Ouyang Bai Ge’s guidance, they set off to locate the Bronze Qilin.

 

The entirety of the Three Star Bronze Forest had already been saturated with Ouyang Bai Ge’s Void Insects. They were basically a silent, invisible net cast across every branch and root. Whatever the Bronze Qilin did, wherever it moved, it could not escape her awareness.

 

According to Ouyang Bai Ge, the Bronze Qilin had been hunting the other Bronze Monsters, devouring them, harvesting their components to replace parts of its own body, strengthening itself piece by piece.

 

And yet, for all its predatory activity, it seemed to share some kind of spiritual connection with the Three Star Bronze Forest itself. Throughout its hunts, it had maintained a calculated distance from the group. It was quite a consistent distance at that, always retreating when they got too close.

 

When the group advanced in its direction, it withdrew. When they pressed further, it simply moved farther away.

 

Could it be unaware of their position? That was impossible. It knew precisely where they were.

 

But Lu Fan and his companions were not in a hurry.

 

After all, the Three Star Bronze Forest only stretched so far. A Boss was still just a Boss, no matter how far it ran, where could it possibly go?

 

The group advanced at a deliberate, unhurried pace, steadily shortening the distance between themselves and the Bronze Qilin.

 

Before long, its territory had been squeezed into a single corner of the Three Star Bronze Forest.

 

It was at this point that the Bronze Qilin appeared to grasp the situation. Although the group maintained their distance, they had been methodically encircling it, cutting off every avenue of escape.

 

It immediately surged forward, attempting to break through the encirclement and resume its game of circles within the forest.

 

But the group held the advantage of terrain. Every time it moved to flee, they moved to intercept. They simply never gave the Bronze Qilin a gap to exploit.

 

After all, the Bronze Qilin’s speed was simply no match for Ye Sha, whose entire build was sculpted around his Agility Attribute. The comparison was not even worth making.

 

And so, the group continued tightening the noose, gradually suffocating the Bronze Qilin’s room to manoeuvre.

 

The Bronze Qilin could now say with certainty that these Humans, through whatever means, had become aware of its existence. Fury began to coil within its mechanical chest.

 

And yet it made no move to engage directly.

 

During their advance, Ouyang Bai Ge suddenly smiled. She told everyone she had finally worked out exactly how the Bronze Qilin had evaded discovery all this time. However, she declined to explain the specifics, saying only that they would understand once they arrived.

 

Shortly after, she brought the group to a halt at a seemingly unremarkable location. She simply declared. “We’re here.”

 

“Here?” Lu Fan frowned. The surroundings were identical to the rest of the Bronze Forest. There were towering Bronze Trees stretching in every direction, but nothing else. There was not a single Bronze Monster in sight, let alone the Bronze Qilin.

 

He smiled wryly, glancing at Ouyang Bai Ge. “Senior, where exactly is the Bronze Qilin? There isn’t even the shadow of a Monster here.”

 

“Precisely.” Ouyang Bai Ge smiled. “The Mechanics of this Map are just that unusual. I’m sure you’ve all noticed that much.”

 

“The Monsters here have Levels, but they share a certain connection with the Bronze Trees. When a Monster is injured, it can use the components shed by the trees. Bronze parts would fall and merge with them, healing them, or even generate entirely new Monsters.”

 

The group nodded. They at least knew that much.

 

Ordinarily, environmental objects were one thing, and Monsters were another. For the environment and Monsters to interact in this manner was exceptionally rare. There were virtually no records of it anywhere in Dragon Country.

 

The logic was simple: Monsters possessed life, environmental objects did not. It was the difference between carbon and silicon. Such materials should not be able to act upon each other at all.

 

And yet, here in the Three Star Bronze Forest, it had happened again and again in front of their eyes.

 

Ouyang Bai Ge walked to the nearest Bronze Tree and knocked against its trunk. “Which leads me to what I’ve found.”

 

She continued to explain. “The Bronze Trees and the Bronze Monsters in this forest are not as different as they appear to be. There exists between them a connection of life. Some kind of shared conduit that allows their vitality and their very nature to transform into one another. A Bronze Tree can become a Bronze Monster. A Bronze Monster can become a Bronze Tree. Likewise, a stone, or any other object nearby. So, every bronze thing in this forest, every last piece of it, can be treated as a living existence. And the reason we could not find the Bronze Qilin before is because it had gone dormant in a form other than that of a Monster. In that state, it is no longer the Bronze Qilin. It became something completely natural to the surroundings, something completely unremarkable that we failed to notice before.”

 

“Something like this tree.”

 

She struck the trunk again, but this time, the blow tore open a Void Rift.

 

Instantly, Void Insects poured out like a tide of ants, dense and countless, seething in every direction.

 

Each individual insect was small but their destructive capacity was horrifying. The moment they emerged, they began gnawing at the Bronze Tree’s surface.

 

The grinding, crunching sounds were continuous and excruciating, setting teeth on edge.

 

But the moment Ouyang Bai Ge unleashed her Void Insects, a deep metallic clanging resonated from within the tree. It was not the Void Insects’ work, but from something waking inside.

 

One by one, bronze parts peeled away from the trunk. They rose into the air and began assembling in mid-flight, clicking and locking together with mechanical precision. Within moments, a formidable beast had taken shape.

 

It resembled a lion at first glance, but its entire body was armoured in Dragon Scales, its construction far more intricate than any Bronze Monster the group had previously encountered. Its form radiated violent power.

 

Once its body was completely reconstructed, the group activated their Appraisal Skill to reveal its Level and Attribute Panel.

 

Their suspicion was confirmed. This was the Bronze Qilin.

 

A Legendary Grade Boss. Its Attributes surpassed the Bronze Serpent by a significant margin.

 

It must have been the apex predator of the Three Star Bronze Forest. The undisputed ruler of this Map.

 

The Bronze Qilin landed with a resonant *bang!* The ground trembled beneath it. Then it steadied itself and turned to face them, emitting a sound of metallic resonance, a low, warning tone, saturated with menace.

 

Ouyang Bai Ge regarded its threat with complete indifference. She waited until her Void Insects had retreated back through the Void Rift, then turned to the group with her usual unhurried casual manner.

 

“This Bronze Qilin is extraordinarily perceptive,” she said.

 

“The moment we entered the Bronze Forest, it went dormant, never revealing itself. Instead, it kept sending the other Bronze Monsters under its command to probe our strength. When it sensed our power had no visible ceiling, it stopped appearing before us. It transformed into a Bronze Tree and simply waited, intending to outlast us. It wished to wait until we left before resurfacing.”

 

“But we refused to leave. And with our small numbers, it was difficult to cast a net across the entire forest and identify every anomaly. So, it grew impatient and it quietly reverted back to becoming a Bronze Monster, intending to play a game of hide-and-seek with us on its own terms.”