God of Pets

Ji's residence, inside a dark room.

An elderly man with gray hair sat on the sofa, watching a video captured by the Spirit Shadow Jade.

The content of the video was the entire process of the Blood Qilin battle.

The old man repeatedly watched the sequence from when Chen Guan stepped forward to gather the Vanguard Team to the death of the Blood Qilin.

After a long while, the old man stopped the Spirit Shadow Jade from playing, leaned back on the sofa, and with his eyes closed, remained motionless for quite some time.

"Old buddy, what do you think of this person?" The old man opened his eyes, looking at the paused image, which was now showing Chen Guan standing atop the serpent's head, accepting the petification of the Blood Qilin.

In the darkness, it seemed as if a transparent shadow stood behind the sofa, but its features were indistinct, almost merging with the darkness.

"Your daughter can't contain him." A deep, hoarse voice, as if mixed with the eerie sound of metal scraping, echoed behind the old man like the whisper of a devil.

"Indeed, someone like him cannot be controlled by Nanhong. If he is chosen and has a change of heart, the Celestial Court Army might change hands," the old man sighed.

"If you know this, what are you hesitating for? Your thousand-year lineage is meant to inherit the Celestial Court Army. Someone like him cannot be kept." The shadow swayed as if leaning towards the old man's ear.

The old man smiled, and the wrinkles that time had etched on his face deepened with the smile, yet it did not appear ugly, instead giving a sense of natural harmony.

"I want to take a gamble," the old man said softly.

"A gamble? On human nature? Haven't you lost enough already?" The devil's voice echoed back and forth between the old man's left and right ears.

"What does it matter if I lose? I've lost many times in my life; I don't mind losing once more," the old man smiled.

"But this time is different. This is your last chance in life. You can't afford to lose," the shadow said coldly.

"Precisely because I am running out of life, I can afford to lose more. If life is already gone, what does losing matter?"

"Aren't you afraid your daughter will become a sacrificial lamb?" The shadow was somewhat aggressive.

"I brought her into this world, and she chose this path. She should have such awareness. The winner gains everything; if she loses, she loses everything. Besides, it was her own choice," the old man looked at the image of the figure seemingly bathed in thousands of starlights, his eyes deepening with amusement.

"What do you plan to do?" The shadow also looked at the person in the picture, its voice becoming much gentler.

"Old buddy, you've accompanied me for so many years. There's no feast that doesn't end. Our time for farewell is near," the old man said calmly. "If before I die, Nanhong cannot fully control the Celestial Court Army, please protect them for me."

"Him or her?" The shadow asked after a long silence.

"Him." The old man smiled.

"Okay." The shadow gradually receded, silently melting into the darkness.

...

The matter of selecting someone to inherit the Secret God's pet from the Dushan Sect, though irrelevant to most cultivators, caught the attention of many.

That is, after all, a Secret God level pet, with only a few dozen known to exist in the world.

Owning a Secret God level pet, at the very least, would elevate one to the status of a local emperor, incomparable to ordinary pets.

If it were not for understanding the King of Du and the Dushan Sect's ways, no one would believe someone would undertake such a thing.

Even a Celestial King pays great attention to this matter.

Unfortunately, the invitations sent out by the Dushan Sect were only for young cultivators, even those bigwigs in the Grotto Heaven couldn't attend the pet inheritance event in the Blessed Secret Realm and could only watch helplessly.

Most young talents who received the invitations chose to attend, among them princes and princesses from Celestial families, as they too lacked Secret God pets.

With only so many Secret God pets, and many descendants of Celestial families, only a very few had any chance of obtaining such a pet inheritance.

Now, with such an opportunity, those who received invitations—and even those who heard of it but did not receive invitations—were eager to try their luck.

Unfortunately, without an invitation, no matter who comes, they will be turned away by the Dushan Sect, not even getting the chance to step onto the mountain.

No one knows the invitation standard of the Dushan Sect; in any case, many Celestial offspring were denied entry.

Chen Guan and Duan Shulin arrived at the Dushan Sect when there were only a few hours left until the pet event began.

Duan Shulin had to arrange many things before he could take the time to attend this pet event, hence the delay and late arrival.

Ji Nanhong did not come, nor did Jiang Qiemo, Xiu Jie Ming, and others.

The answer given by Ji Nanhong surprised Chen Guan. Ji Nanhong told Chen Guan she had heard of the Dushan Sect's Secret God pet and didn't find it necessary to attend.

According to Ji Nanhong, the Dushan Sect's Secret God's child had been born not recently but hundreds of years ago. The King of Du obtained the Secret Spirit Egg and took hundreds of years to hatch the Secret God's child inside, only succeeding two years ago.

The resulting Secret God pet had an inherent special state, resembling a sickly creature, unsuitable for battle, and even when well-cared-for, its condition deteriorated by the day.

It was less a Secret God pet and more like Lin Daiyu.

The King of Du sought help from many to eliminate the pet's special state, but even powerful figures at the level of the top ten Celestial Kings could not remove it.

Letting it go now is indeed an act of kindness from the King of Du, holding on to a last hope.

Ji Nanhong knew she couldn't remove the pet's special status, so she didn't waste time and energy; there were too many tasks to do for the Qilin Corps, and she didn't want to waste time on those matters.

Chen Guan and Duan Shulin presented their invitations and entered the Dushan Sect, seeing many outstanding figures of the younger generation.

Though Chen Guan recognized few, Duan Shulin, who felt like a fish in water, greeted the young people warmly and introduced Chen Guan to them.

Yet most of them showed little interest in Chen Guan, having no knowledge of him.

Chen Guan only had some renown within the Celestial Court Army; outside, few knew him.

Finally, Chen Guan saw a familiar face, the long-lost Qin Ziyu, who was also invited to this pet event.

Qin Ziyu noticed Chen Guan and quickly approached. He too knew few people there, and those who noticed him were also scarce, feeling bored until he saw Chen Guan.

They had barely exchanged a few words when they sensed that the surrounding atmosphere had shifted; everyone's gaze turned towards the garden's entrance.

Chen Guan and others looked too, instantly feeling unable to avert their eyes.