Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows, an amazed look appearing on his face. At this moment, an invisible strength appeared from within the world and slowly integrated into his body like a cool spring rain. His soul and body rapidly improved as he absorbed this power.

This was…a gift from the world?

Qin Yu didn’t think that he would have such a harvest after killing the abyssal being.

What was the reason for it?

“The reason is that you have killed an abyssal being.” The stone pagoda’s thought fluctuations suddenly resounded. Since being helplessly forced into recognizing Qin Yu as its master, this was the first time it spoke on its own initiative.

However, these words didn’t really explain much at all. Qin Yu coughed and rolled his eyes. What was the difference between saying this and saying nothing at all?

But this wasn’t the key point. The key point was that this stone pagoda fellow seemed to know something.

Qin Yu lightly coughed and said, “Be specific.”

Surprisingly, the stone pagoda didn’t seem to feel personally attacked by Qin Yu’s attitude this time. After a brief silence it slowly said, “With your cultivation level, you are not yet qualified to come into contact with these matters. But since you have become my master, you must face this sooner or later.

“The abyss is the greatest terror of the world. Or to be more exact, it is an existence that humanity, and even all blood and flesh beings of this world, still aren’t sure of. But there is one thing that is without doubt: they possess the ability to destroy the entire world.”

Without waiting for Qin Yu to tell it to continue, it said, “Many many years ago, so long that even I don’t know when it was, a channel suddenly appeared. From this channel, countless horrific creatures emerged. They seemed to control some kind of demonic energy that had the natural ability to restrain all flesh and blood creatures…this was an era that was submerged in catastrophe. Countless trillions of lives were mercilessly wiped out in the great war.

“Perhaps you might not believe it, but this world you see around you is born from after that catastrophe. And the world before didn’t look like this at all. Of course, I cannot tell you too much right now, otherwise once the causal karma draws you in, this will not help you but harm you. In short, what that channel connected to was the infinite abyss. And what emerged into this world, causing a dreadful catastrophe that almost wiped out all flesh and blood beings, were those abyssal life forms.

“They are born to be the natural enemies of all flesh and blood creatures. You should also have experienced this. When facing an abyssal being, any flesh and blood creature will instinctively give birth to the desire to completely kill the other. This is not just because these two different kinds of existence naturally oppose each other, but because it is a brand marked into the souls of every being born in this world.

“This is because what the abyss must destroy is not just all flesh and blood beings, but also this world itself…to describe it like that might be too general, but that’s the correct description and will allow you to more easily understand it. So after you killed that abyssal being, you will have obtained a gift from the world. This is a reward you have earned.”

As the stone pagoda spoke, its feelings fluctuated. This was because it knew how horrifying abyssal beings were, and it knew that with Qin Yu’s cultivation base, he shouldn’t even be able to withstand a single blow.

But now, Qin Yu had slain that creature from the abyss, and it wasn’t a weak opponent either. There were clearly secrets that it wasn’t aware of.

It seemed that this master, whom it hadn’t taken a liking to this entire time, wasn’t completely without merits.

Or to be more exact, he should have some extremely deep and hidden background.

But regardless of what the actual situation was, Qin Yu had been able to kill an abyssal being with his cultivation. Just this point alone was enough for him to earn its approval.

Although it didn’t want to shoulder any responsibility, it was still there. Since it had survived, it should take revenge for its old friends.

Those abyssal creatures…should all die!

Qin Yu could sense the extremely restrained feelings hidden behind the seemingly calm tone of the stone pagoda.

Although everything it said sounded inconceivable and even absurd, Qin Yu’s instincts told him that these things he had never come into contact with before really did happen a long time ago.

Abyss…

Just what was it that it was so terrifying, even to the point of eliminating all flesh and blood beings? It had to be known that ‘flesh and blood beings’ covered almost all existences that Qin Yu had ever come into contact with.

For instance, the Peach Blossom Spring Master he had seen one time before who was so strong that he caused the Origin God Xue Zheng to fall to his knees.

This kind of existence was still frail in front of the abyss? If so, how did this world manage to survive?

As Qin Yu’s thoughts raced, the stone pagoda seemed to sense something. A bitter smile was sent through a thought fluctuation. It said, “No one knows what the abyss is. Even the ancient texts of the past only have some blurry records, as if nothing was passed down.

“But right now, what you should care about is not the origin of the abyss, but this Path of 10,000 Souls…the channel that connects to the abyss has been suppressed by a seal, so why would a pure blood abyssal being appear here?”

The stone pagoda paused for a moment, its demeanor growing even darker and heavier. “Perhaps what my past master said was correct. The existence of the Path of 10,000 Souls in itself is a major problem.”

Qin Yu’s eyes brightened. The reason he came here wasn’t for the so-called inheritance of the Path of 10,000 Souls. What he wanted to find out was the secrets of the Path of 10,000 Souls, and now it seemed that the stone pagoda had some information.

“What do you know?”

The stone pagoda said, “My past master only proposed his suspicions; he never spoke much about the Path of 10,000 Souls. After all, the person who established this place in the past was a peak existence of the world. Without accurate evidence, he couldn’t randomly cast doubt on it. Moreover, the original purpose of establishing the Path of 10,000 Souls came out of good intentions. It was hoped that flesh and blood beings would be able to open up the path to their own unsurpassed Great Dao and solve the threat that came from the abyss.

“However, it seems that a problem has occurred with the Path of 10,000 Souls. What we must do is to find out what this problem is. Qin Yu, perhaps this might be dangerous, but since you are a human and have encountered this matter, you absolutely cannot retreat from it. This is a mission you must bear, even if it means your death.”

Qin Yu: …

He really didn’t expect that the stone pagoda could also say such bold and righteous words. He felt that this scene was too unconventional. Moreover, something didn’t seem right. Why was he the only one mentioned from beginning to end? That he had to die to find out the cause? What about the stone pagoda, hm?

He thought for a moment and asked this question.

The stone pagoda lightly sighed, “Fewer and fewer people know of what happened in the past. I must continue living on so that all future generations  can know what sort of terrifying threat our world is facing. Thus, I must survive no matter what. No matter how painful it is, I persevere until the end of time! Even if I must endure infinite loneliness…so what?”

To describe its greed for life and fear of death in such an eloquent and fresh way, besides this stone pagoda, Qin Yu really couldn’t think of anyone who had thicker facial skin.

Haha!

However, Qin Yu didn’t have any intention of tearing through its façade. In any case, he wanted to seek out the true secrets of the Path of 10,000 Souls and thus figure out how to undo it. No matter how dangerous the process was, this never changed.

If so, why did he have to waste any more words on the stone pagoda? And if he truly did experience some bitter danger, well, they were both grasshoppers on the same tightrope. If something happened to him, did it really think it would escape unscathed? How naïve!

Mm?

At this time, Qin Yu’s thoughts stirred. Through the contract, he could feel fluctuations being transmitted over.

They had succeeded in obtaining the second platform!

Now, they were only missing one final platform to complete the contents of the contract. East Zhou Duly would be able to truly enter the land of inheritance and they would be able to act on their own free will.

This was the essential condition of the follower’s contract. Even if the East Zhou Family had revised the contract to be as generous as possible, they couldn’t change this point.

However, just after East Zhou Duly and the others left, he encountered an immediate surprise attack. And, an incomparably terrifying abyssal being was hidden within the group. Could this really be a coincidence? Or was there something else going on?

Qin Yu looked up at the direction East Zhou Duly and the others left in, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

…

The current Path of 10,000 Souls, after being fully opened, was not any different from a true world. Because the mountains and rivers that appeared in front really did exist.

After leaving East Zhou Duly to guard the second platform, Shang Lingyu and the others hurried along, searching for the traces of a third platform.

But their luck wasn’t good. As they followed along in this direction, they spent a great deal of time but found nothing.

Qin Yu and East Zhou Duly were both defending their own platforms. Even though they both had their own methods, there was still some danger. And the more time passed, the more chances there were for problems to arise. They were only missing a single platform before they could complete the contract. No one wanted any issues to occur.

At the front, Shang Lingyu suddenly said, “Everyone, how about we split up and search in two different directions? Once we find a platform, we can send each other a signal through the contract.”

He looked at Fairylike, “Miss Fairylike, would you like to come with me?”

Fairylike covered her mouth and tittered. “Of course. I would be glad to.”

Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun frowned. They glanced over the two and nodded after a brief hesitation. “That’s also fine.” They thought that even if these two were flirting around so brazenly, they couldn’t do anything with how urgent the current situation was.

If they split up to search, they would only need half the time!

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

The four people split up and howled away in two different directions.

Fairylike glanced at Shang Lingyu. Right now, his expression seemed a bit sour and pained. He couldn’t help but clamp onto his thigh. She smiled and said, “Are fellow daoist Shang’s injuries really healed? If you need it, I can lend you a helping hand.”

Shang Lingyu looked into her eyes. “I won’t hide it from Miss Fairylike, I indeed feel a bit uncomfortable. How about we stop searching for a moment and you can help me diagnose and treat it?”

Fairylike was stunned. She had just been speaking out of boredom and taking the opportunity to tease him, but she never thought that he would be so forward. There seemed to be something off with his eyes. Did he really want to do something with her right now?

She certainly didn’t mind. Even if this happened a hundred times she wouldn’t mind either. But the problem was that the situation wasn’t right.

But Shang Lingyu seemed anxious. Without giving her time to hesitate, he turned around and landed on the ground.

Fairylike bit her lips. Do you think this old lady is afraid of you? She wiggled her waist and followed close behind.