Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Bluetile Courtyard was heavily defended and all the guards were carefully chosen. But, this didn’t mean there wasn’t any sand mixed within.

Of course, it was unknown how many people needed to die in order to accomplish this. And a long period of time was required to lay out the plan.

So in normal circumstances, these precious hidden spies were in a quiet state and never came into contact with the outside world unless necessary.

But now, an ‘unusual time’ had arrived. The throne of the new King was vacant and the three giants of the Nightmare Clan had gathered in Adversity Peak City.

These were arrangements that had been laid down with much effort and care. If they weren’t used now, then when?

After changing shifts and greeting the newcomers, Mosang found an excuse to turn down the invitations of his colleagues asking him to go out and drink with them.

“Haha, I think Mosang can’t hold back anymore. He’s going to find someone to spend the night with!”

“That boss lady from the Rabbit Clan has white skin and beautiful long legs. My eyes heat up when I look at her. Mosang really is lucky!”

“Hehe, it’s only a problem if they're beautiful. Mosang can’t spend all day and all those lonely nights with her. Be careful that you don’t lose all your demon crystals!”

Mosang jokingly cursed at them before sending them away. Then, he hurriedly changed clothes and left Bluetile Courtyard, entering a restaurant not too far away.

The owner of the restaurant had died early, leaving behind a charming lady proprietress. Mosang had spent a great deal of effort in order to win her over.

After not seeing each other for so many days, it was inevitable that they would spend some intimate time together. Like a drought that encountered a timely rain, the battle that occurred between them was quite intense.

When the clouds vanished and the rain disappeared, the boss lady got up and tidied her clothes. She sweetly smiled at him and said, “You rest, I’ll go prepare some tea and refreshments.”

Mosang looked at her attractive body and licked his lips. “It seems you’re planning on squeezing me dry today! But that’s fine, I happen to have extra time today, so you can spend some more time preparing. I only have strength when I’m full!”

The boss lady rolled her eyes, scolding him for being a devil before leaving the room.

Twisting his fingers, he sighed in satisfaction, an afterglow on his face. Mosang had bedded many women before, but the feeling that the proprietress gave him was unprecedented. Although he had tasted her many times, it only made him more and more excited.

But it was still time for proper business.

Mosang stood up and walked over to a wall and pulled a wooden table to reveal a gap. Reaching into it, he pulled out a jade slip.

Bluetile Courtyard was heavily guarded and their defenses were stern. Even as a guard, he couldn’t avoid an internal review every three to five days, so he could only put this thing here.

He smiled in satisfaction. He was confident that his disguise was perfect. No one knew anything and he would never be noticed by anyone.

After marking down the information, Mosang pinched his fingers together. With a soft ‘pa’ sound, the jade slip burst into fragments that vanished from sight.

After pushing the table back to its original position, Mosang returned to bed. As he thought about the stormy waves that were about to erupt at Bluetile Courtyard, he felt a bit uncomfortable. Although he had made preparations so that he wouldn’t be implicated, who could have absolute assurance when it came to such things?

He could only bet it on his character!

Taking a deep breath, Mosang closed his eyes. Moments later, the proprietress came back with several types of snacks. They were all his favorites.

Looking at this proprietress who was cold to others but was warm and gentle to him, Mosang felt his heart quicken. Once the contention for the new King settled down and he completed his mission, he would take her away from Adversity Peak City, going somewhere far away where they could start a new life together.

In fact, he even thought that he would be happy to have a few children.

“What are you staring at me in a daze for?” The proprietress said with a happy smile. She placed the snacks on a nearby table.

“Come and try these. I personally made them, so I want to see if they suit your taste.”

Mosang smiled and said, “If you made them, I will definitely like them.”

Sure enough, the flavor was fantastic. But maybe because of his unease or maybe because of what he was thinking before, after eating a few bites he pulled the proprietress close to him and fell back onto the bed.

But this time, the moans coming from the bed only lasted for a short time. Mosang wiped his face and discovered that black blood was gushing out from his nose and mouth. His eyes widened in shock as he looked down below at the proprietress who had been coyly crying out, but was now staring at him with cold indifference.

His lips lifted in a self-ridiculing smile. It seemed he wanted to say something, but the surging weakness in his body soon robbed him of all strength.

His field of vision turned black and he fell forward onto the proprietress. With that, no more sounds came from him.

The proprietress reached out and pushed him to the side. Then, she wiped off the stinking black blood that stained her snow white skin. She looked at the dead Mosang whose body had turned black. Her eyes were cold and without any emotion at all.

She pushed open the door and walked out. She said to a servant waiting outside, “Tell the Clan Elder that news had been sent out. The spy is now worthless and has been eliminated by me.”

The young servant nodded and left in a hurry.

On this day, a guard of Bluetile Courtyard died. And, Adversity Peak City was missing a beautiful and glamorously cold restaurant proprietress.

…

Qin Yu finally returned to Nine Nether Pagoda. As he sat down on the round cushion and felt soul tempering power surge into him, he smiled. No matter how he got here, at least he had achieved his original goal.

And the rumors were indeed true. Because the contention for the throne of the new King had begun, the strength of the Nightmare Ancestral Land had become active.

The change that occurred was that Qin Yu’s soul could absorb even more special energy. This accelerated the transformation of his connection with the Nightmare Ancestral Land.

And this acceleration was not just a little bit…it was now at least several times faster than before!

Qin Yu could clearly feel his connection with the Nightmare Ancestral Land constantly deepening. It was like something was breeding and once it achieved some peak value or triggered some boundary, an amazing change would occur.

Qin Yu had no idea what this change would be, but his intuition told him that this time it really might be possible for him to fulfill his greatest wish since entering the abyss – to discover the secrets of the Path of 10,000 Souls!

It was impossible for him to waste such precious cultivating time. Let alone two hours, he wouldn’t even waste a minute!

Qin Yu had already decided that as long as the Nightmare Clan didn’t drive him away, he would stay on the eighth floor and settle himself here!

But in truth, Qin Yu had no idea that as he decided to ‘settle down’ on Nine Nether Pagoda’s eighth floor, another plan involving him had already gotten underway.

It would thoroughly tear apart Qin Yu’s thoughts of quietly staying here!

…

“This matter is too significant. If we are caught, we will be left in a passive state.”

“Rest assured. We have prepared for all possibilities. Nothing will go wrong.”

“I hope that is true.” A tall demon stood with his back against a window. A dim light shined from behind him, outlining a blurry figure. “Remember, you have one hour.”

“If you are successful, you will be the heroes of the clan. If you fail…the clan will not acknowledge that you ever existed.”

“Yes.”

With a bow, the demon wearing a black robe drew several steps back as he vanished into the darkness.

“Old King’s lineage…who would have thought that after so many years, you were singing a great drama all along.

“But no matter how wonderful that play is, there will be a time when the curtains must come down. When the truth is revealed, that is when you will all vanish into nothingness.”

The tall demon standing in front of the window spoke quietly in the darkness. He was like a poisonous snake roaming the grass, patiently waiting for an opportunity to attack and harvest his enemy’s life.

…

Because of his special connection with the Nightmare Ancestral Land, Qin Yu should have been the first person in Nine Nether Pagoda to sense something was wrong.

He furrowed his eyebrows together and opened his eyes, revealing a look of surprise.

The strength of the Nightmare Ancestral Land had suddenly become unstable, as if an outside force was interfering with it. But, Qin Yu couldn’t determine the reason behind this. And when a new King was about to be born, the ancestral land should become lively. Maybe this was the reason?

But before he could think about it further, his complexion changed. He lifted a hand and pressed it against the ground. Power exploded from the ground, pushing him away from the round cushion.

The next moment, his ears hummed as if he had suffered a heavy blow to the head.

Fortunately, that negative feeling disappeared in an instant. But his complexion became extremely ugly to behold.

His first suspicion had been right!

Just now, he had felt traces of manipulation from an outside force. Moreover, in a normal situation, such a terrifying outbreak should never appear in the Nightmare Ancestral Land.

After all, the people cultivating at Nine Nether Pagoda were all demons from the Nightmare Clan.

Just who was it?

This involved the Nightmare Clan and also their ancestral land. Once something like this happened it would be investigated down to the smallest detail.

No matter who it was, once they were discovered their fate would be pitiful!

But right now, Qin Yu had no intention of contemplating the fate of this person. His first thought was – what did they want?

Then, a figure rushed into his mind without warning.

Cloud Billow!

The old King’s lineage had pushed forth a powerful candidate to compete for the throne of the new King. He definitely had enough weight to drive his opponents crazy, to the point where they would be willing to do anything to destroy him.

Could it be that all of this was aimed at him?

Bang –

A fluctuation transmitted from the side. Qin Yu’s complexion changed again. It seemed that his guess had become a fact. Some people had already started, and judging from the direction of the fluctuations, it just so happened to be where Cloud Billow was.

Because of his connection with the Nightmare Ancestral Land, Qin Yu was able to sense the shaking impact of soul tempering power ahead of time and avoid it. But this wasn’t necessarily true for others.

In other words, Cloud Billow had likely suffered a grievous injury. And since this enemy dared to take such a big risk, they must have prepared themselves for all possible contingencies.

He would likely die soon!

Qin Yu’s eyes clouded over. Strictly speaking, there wasn’t much of a relationship between him and the old King’s lineage. There was no need for him to risk any danger for them.

But he also knew that no matter what the old King’s lineage was plotting for him, the only reason he was able to cultivate at Nine Nether Pagoda was based on the premise that they supported him.

If looked on helplessly as Cloud Billow was killed and didn’t do anything…it was one matter if the old King’s lineage didn’t flip the table on him, but continuing to stay at Nine Nether Pagoda to cultivate would become a dream.

And in addition to that, there was another reason that caused Qin Yu’s complexion to grow even uglier and made him not want to face it – that was, he discovered that in his heart, he didn’t want that boy to die!

Have I really developed thoughts that I shouldn’t have towards a man?

With a pale face, Qin Yu kicked open the door and rushed out!