Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Shua –

Space twisted and Shang Lingyu’s figure appeared in the private school. The open wooden door was right in front of him. Although he had sensed it, when he truly witnessed it with his own eyes his pupils shrank.

It had to be known that this was the lord’s seal and was an embodiment of the lord’s will. Even he didn’t dare to offend it.

If Qin Yu could open the wooden door, this alone was enough for his danger level to rise considerably in Shang Lingyu’s heart.

The lord’s work could not be disturbed. He absolutely could not take that risk! While he would be greatly restricted when attacking in the daytime and would even suffer a backlash from the city, he couldn’t worry about that right now.

Killing intent surged in Shang Lingyu’s eyes. A trace of red appeared in his eyes. His warm and gentle aura shattered, transforming into endless cruelty.

But at this time, the teacher who was standing near the wooden door suddenly turned around and glanced at him.

The gaze was calm and without emotion. But Shang Lingyu’s heart trembled and he felt an instinctive sense of fear.

As if he was facing those noble, ancient, and extremely formidable beings of his clan!

His eyes widened and even the spatial fluctuations that surrounded him paused for a brief moment. He took a deep breath and suppressed his surging strength before bowing respectfully.

But at this time the teacher had turned away, no longer looking at him. It was as if nothing had happened just now, or maybe it was even just a coincidence.

It was impossible for it to be a coincidence and even less likely that it was an illusion. Shang Lingyu’s thoughts raced. He had no idea why the lord would stop him, but since the lord’s will had arrived, he could only stand by and watch.

He restrained his strength and stood motionless, quietly waiting for the lord’s orders.

In order to show respect, Shang Lingyu kept his head deeply lowered. Besides the first time, he didn’t dare to look up any further. As a result, he didn’t notice the mocking and disdainful look in the teacher’s eyes.

…

Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun had already started. Yun Feng and the others carefully restrained their auras in fear that Qin Yu would be unhappy with them. None of them sensed what happened on the other side of the door.

Of course, this didn’t include Qin Yu. The moment Shang Lingyu arrived he had already sensed unusual fluctuations.

He tensed up and the beating of his two hearts began to accelerate. If he said he didn’t feel any dread or fear, he would just be lying to himself.

But now, it wasn’t like he had no means to contend with Shang Lingyu. Not to mention strong juniors like Yun Feng and the others, even the walnut he had gave him considerable confidence.

So what if you are an abyssal being? If you really provoke me and I detonate the power of this walnut, no matter how powerful you are you will still be left crying out loud.

What surprised Qin Yu was that the aura of the abyssal being fell into silence soon after appearing. He didn’t leave but he didn’t do anything else, as if he were waiting for something.

His thoughts turned and his eyes sparkled. He looked at the teacher who was quietly standing at the entryway.

It was unknown if this was a coincidence, but the teacher also glanced at Qin Yu. Their eyes met, but they didn’t sense the thoughts in each other’s eyes.

However, Qin Yu suddenly discovered that the teacher’s pupils were as dark as ink. It embellished his scholarly demeanor, making him seem much more handsome and elegant.

Still…these pupils were too pure and too black. They were like the densest and darkest night, as if they were connected to an unfathomable abyss.

Qin Yu’s scalp tingled and he discovered that he seemed to have made a terrifying lapse in judgment. But if this was true, then why didn’t the other party attack rather than allowing them to open the channel and extract the city’s source?

It had to be known that the source which was being suppressed beneath the city didn’t belong to the city itself, but likely came from a terrifying existence that originated from the abyss.

He had no idea how formidable this existence was, but its terror was without a doubt. With just a thought, it could likely kill everyone here and disperse their souls.

Should he escape now?

No, there was absolutely no chance of this happening. If the other party had any evil thoughts, running now would only accelerate his death.

It seemed that…his only choice was to stubbornly keep walking forward.

After all, since that person hadn’t attacked, perhaps there was a chance to make a favorable turn…the reason for why this city was constructed was to suppress. Even if it was corroded by the power of the abyss, that didn’t necessarily mean it had no strength remaining.

With this thought in mind, the fear and anxiousness in Qin Yu’s heart faded by a great deal. He thought further. The abyssal being that entered the city had maintained an unusual degree of silence. In fact, not too long ago before they entered the private school, he had only vaguely threatened them and hadn’t truly torn apart all pretense of face.

This further confirmed Qin Yu’s guess – even if this city had been corroded by the power of the abyss, the abyss hadn’t fully obtained the authority of control yet!

If there was a chance to survive, it was here.

Qin Yu took a deep breath. He put away these thoughts and looked at Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun. They had already started to open up the channel left behind by their ancestors.

But now, Qin Yu couldn’t help but suspect something…from the start, this channel wasn’t much of a secret at all.

At the very least, the abyssal being that occupied Shang Lingyu’s body was aware of it.

Qin Yu had no idea how things would finally turn out, and he didn’t have the qualifications to influence the situation either. It was like being caught in the dark undercurrent of a river flowing beneath the earth, rushing towards somewhere unknown.

Beads of sweat started to appear on Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun’s faces. White mist drilled out and rose upwards.

The channel was here, but opening it was much more difficult than they anticipated. It seemed to be filled with some sort of extremely thick and sticky material. If they wanted to cut it and separate it, it required an astonishing amount of strength.

If it was just this, then while the difficulty was greater, it would simply require more time before the channel was opened.

But soon they discovered that as the channel continuously opened all the way down, after a certain section, everything started to turn hard and solid. It was similar to a dense accumulation of energy that, after being influenced by external factors, had solidified into this almost crystalline form. It felt as if an extremely hard stone had been stuffed into the channel, and no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t even shake it.

“Fellow daoist Qin Yu, we’ve encountered some trouble.” Pure Summer weakly smiled. They had confirmed that Qin Yu was the key to obtaining the source. Since they met with trouble, they couldn’t conceal it from him. “There is a high density strength blocking the inside of the channel. We cannot disperse it.”

Qin Yu stood at the mouth of the well and looked down. The quiet, mirror-like surface was now gurgling.

It tumbled around as if it was boiling.

Faint traces of ice cold aura emanated from it, forming a thin layer of ice crystals along the inner walls of the well that spread upwards. Now, a layer or white frost covered the mouth of the well. Qin Yu could feel the astonishing cold coming from it.

Dark golden light surged deep in his eyes. After looking at it for a moment he said, “I need someone to go down there alone. They need to follow my instructions and disperse the power that is blocking the channel.”

The backyard fell into deathly silence. Yun Feng and the others widened their eyes with fear and alarm.

Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun were using all their strength to open the channel. If Qin Yu asked in such a situation, he clearly wanted to choose one of them.

This…would absolutely not be a pleasant experience!

Although they had no idea where the well led to, the ice cold aura coming from it indicated how frightening it was.

Going in was easy, but coming out…was likely much more difficult. Or to say it in other words, they would enter alive but leave completely dead!

Not me! Not me! Don’t choose me!

Yun Feng and the others knew that unless they tore apart all consideration for face, they could not defy his will.

Of course, in their opinion, going against the incomparably mysterious and formidable Qin Yu would lead to an even more pitiful fate.

They could only pray that they wouldn’t be chosen.

“I’ll go!”

Yun Feng’s eyes flew open. She watched Jiang Yuanyi walk forward with a stoic expression and relaxed. At the same time, she was left in utter disbelief.

She felt as if she was seeing Jiang Yuanyi for the first time. She used to think that while this boy had a good background and decent talent, he was a bit narrow-minded and too mean-spirited in how he acted.

But none of that mattered anymore. Instead, he seemed to radiate bravery.

Of course, the so-called bravery didn’t exist at all. The only reason Yun Feng changed her opinion of him was because Jiang Yuanyi sacrificed himself, meaning that they were safe.

That’s right, he was sacrificing himself. To them, Jiang Yuanyi’s decision meant he was halfway past the doors of death.

Qin Yu looked at him with some surprise and then nodded. “Alright, you’ll be the one.”

Jiang Yuanyi shivered and clenched his teeth. He walked to the mouth of the well, and then seeing that Qin Yu didn’t stop him, leapt inside.

He quickly sank down. He could feel the ice cold aura drilling into his body rapidly through every pore. While he felt fear, there was also a manic craziness rising in him. He shouted in his mind, “I’ll risk it all! If I complete this task, the previous matter of offending Qin Yu can be forgiven. Otherwise, even if I survive today, I might not be able to leave the Path of 10,000 Souls alive.”

It could only be said that judging something from only one perspective could be a dangerous thing. If something happened, it could lead to something like this current situation.

Qin Yu could approximately guess Jiang Yuanyi’s thoughts. While he felt it was strange and laughable, he was completely calm inside.

Right now, he didn’t even know what sort of fate he would end up in, so how could he care about the others?

Every person here was a player in the game. Whether they lived or died, that depended on their skills and luck.