Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Of course, complaining was just complaining. In the end, Qi Zhen and Thousandhonor Marquis would eventually explain the situation to Qin Yu.

Unless these two old bastards never thought about cooperating to begin with, Qin Yu wouldn’t have haphazardly followed them.

The guests and host took their seats. Qi Zhen casually took the seat of honor. Thousandhonor Marquis paid him no attention and stood across from Qin Yu.

Like before, as Qi Zhen pointed a finger, the space within the tent was isolated from the outside.

“Do you want to tell him or do you want me to?” Qi Zhen lazily said, fiddling with the leaf of a demon plant.

A plant that would be carried around by Thousandhonor Marquis was of course not ordinary. Although it looked like a small and ordinary plant right now, once its true form was restored it would gain man-eating features.

But now, the demon plant that Qi Zhen was playing with, even tearing the leaves off of, would tremble in fear but actually didn’t dare to resist.

This demon plant had sharp senses. It had no idea who Qi Zhen was, but it could feel the possibility of complete destruction from his aura.

Resisting was impossible. As long as it wasn’t pulled out and eliminated, even if its branches and leaves were broken, it had no choice but to endure it!

No…even if it knew it was going to be destroyed, it still didn’t dare to resist…the demon plant shivered even harder, emanating a sense of fear and despair.

Thousandhonor Marquis glanced over. He took a breath and said, “I’ll tell him. If I’m missing anything, you can chime in.”

Qi Zhen made a random gesture and continued to focus on messing with the demon plant on the table, as if he was a pervert who grew more excited the more horrified the plant was.

“Qin Yu, you should know who I am, so I won’t speak about that.” Thousandhonor Marquis looked at Qin Yu and spoke after a brief hesitation. “Simply put, I am in a similar situation to Qi Zhen. We both want to break the current state of things.”

Qin Yu was shaken. He looked at Thousandhonor Marquis. Was this another person who didn’t want to live anymore?

Qi Zhen didn’t look at Qin Yu but he seemed to guess Qin Yu’s thoughts. He curled his lips and said, “Thousandhonor Marquis doesn’t want to die. He is the same as…that person. He is far from having lived enough! Tsk tsk…this tenacity, it’s hard not to admire it!”

Thousandhonor Marquis glanced at him, not paying attention to these strange words. “In short, Qi Zhen and I have a common goal, and that is to destroy the Nightmare Ancestral Land. And you, you are the person who can help us complete this plan.

“Only the Nightmare King can enter the ancestral land. So, we will do everything in our power to help you defeat your opponents and obtain the throne. As for what happens after entering the ancestral land…”

He took a deep breath and his expression became especially dignified. From this look, Qin Yu could even sense fear.

Just mentioning it caused Thousandhonor Marquis to subconsciously feel fear…there was undoubtedly some great terror in the Nightmare Ancestral Land!

Qin Yu said, “Then, I must ask Thousandhonor Marquis to tell me what I need to do.”

Qi Zhen was terrifying. And if this seemingly not-scary Thousandhonor Marquis could cooperate with him, then he had to be equally terrifying.

Facing such a terrifying character, and two of them at that, it would be a lie to say he didn’t feel any pressure.

But there was a point that Qin Yu was aware of. They both needed his help to complete their plan.

Perhaps they would conceal some things, but they at least wouldn’t harm him. So, he could just barely maintain his composure.

Qi Zhen glanced at him with a look of appreciation. This was also a core reason why he had decided to place his bet on Qin Yu.

If Qin Yu was a gutless and weak-hearted boy, what did it matter even if he managed to enter the Nightmare Ancestral Land?

Courage wasn’t necessarily a good thing, but it was a key requirement that a person needed to destroy the Nightmare Ancestral Land.

Thousandhonor Marquis’ voice deepened. “There is an ancient existence in the Nightmare Ancestral Land. Its name cannot be spoken out loud, so let’s call it ‘Shadow’ instead.”

“Use a different code name!” Qi Zhen raised his head and stared at Thousandhonor Marquis, upset. “You know that I do not like that name.”

Thousandhonor Marquis didn’t refuse. He hesitated and asked, “Change it to what?”

“Anything works…Thousandhonor Marquis, you are careful enough that you don’t even want to be contaminated by any cause and effect. Then, let me think about it.” Qi Zhen’s eyes brightened. Although he sounded dissatisfied, he was actually fully invested in this matter. He slapped his forehead and said, “I know, what about Old Turtle?”

Qin Yu could clearly see Thousandhonor Marquis’ expression stiffen and his pupils shrink with unconstrained fear.

“Haha, that’s appropriate, it really is appropriate!” Qi Zhen clapped his hands and laughed out loud, “I’ve suddenly found that I have a talent in creating nicknames. Thousandhonor Marquis, you’ve used your title for so many years, aren’t you tired of it yet? How about I give you a new one?”

“No thanks!” Thousandhonor Marquis categorically refused. His face was sullen and pale, “There’s no need to trouble yourself!”

Qi Zhen curled his lips, “As you wish. It’s your loss if you refuse anyways…but the name I chose cannot be changed, otherwise you can think of one yourself.”

Thousandhonor Marquis took a deep breath, “Fine!”

It was just a code name and not something he said, so he shouldn’t be aggrieved…how hateful, it was ridiculous if Qi Zhen died so easily…he was just courting death!

Uh…but this seemed to be Qi Zhen’s original goal. If he really could disappear like that, he would be even happier.

After being left speechless, Thousandhonor Marquis restrained his thoughts and continued, “The reason the Nightmare Ancestral Land…can continue to exist, is because of this Old Turtle…and that’s also the reason why I and Qi Zhen are limited. So by eliminating it, you can complete your mission.”

It really was that simple. There was an existence code named ‘Old Turtle’ in the Nightmare Ancestral Land. Although Qin Yu had no idea what it exactly was, he would call it that for the time being.

And once this Old Turtle was killed off, the Nightmare Ancestral Land would be destroyed. Qi Zhen would be able to close his eyes and not wake up, and Thousandhonor Marquis could break out of his difficult situation.

But the simpler it sounded, the more dangerous it was. Thousandhonor Marquis’ various reactions were a clear warning of how dreadful this Old Turtle was.

Qin Yu thought that with his current methods, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to do this…no, it wasn’t that he was just afraid, but that it was absolutely impossible!

Qi Zhen was so strong and yet he was limited by Old Turtle. Thousandhonor Marquis was almost as strong as him, yet he also had to use this code name.

Then, just how terrifying was this Old Turtle? Just thinking about it left him breathless.

Qi Zhen laughed out loud. “That’s enough. I’ve discovered that Thousandhonor Marquis is lacking in courage and he has no idea what to say. Look at the nonsense you’ve spouted. You’ve frightened Qin Yu before he’s even gone in.”

He finally let go of the shivering demon plant on the tabletop. But, the torn leavens scattered around showed that it had been sufficiently hurt and humiliated.

Now, it shrank into itself, wishing it could hide away.

Qi Zhen rubbed is chin, “Mm…to be exact, Thousandhonor Marquis’ reaction isn’t wrong. This is just how the situation is like.”

Qin Yu: …

Weren’t you reprimanding him a second ago? And now this is the answer you give instead? Hohoho!

Qin Yu felt heartbroken.

Qi Zhen curled his lips. “What are you scared of? If there is no chance of success, do you think we would be wasting our time here with you? We would have killed you a long time ago, refined your soul, and then taken it into the ancestral land to take credit from Old Turtle.

“Old Turtle is indeed strong, but it isn’t without weakness. For instance, if it wishes to live on, it has to supplement its strength. This is the reason why Thousandhonor Marquis provoked a war with the Nightmare Beast Territory.”

Thousandhonor Marquis nodded. “That’s right. I only started these arrangements after receiving the order.”

Qi Zhen snapped his fingers, “So right now, you can say that Old Turtle is in its weakest state and this is the best time to get rid of it! And there’s another point. To a degree, Old Turtle is the same as me. It might seem strong, but these are just minor methods. Even its true strength cannot be compared to yours.”

These words were a bit confusing. What did he mean not strong? Strong was strong. At the very least, in Qin Yu’s eyes, the methods Qi Zhen had displayed so far were extremely scary.

And this old fellow had said that if he wanted to kill him, it would be a simple matter. Now he was using this comparison to comfort him? He was simply speechless!

Qi Zhen lightly coughed, feeling that he was being too deceptive. “In short, you don’t need to be too scared. Old Turtle is strong, but a major reason for it is that we have no means to resist it when we face it. But Qin Yu, you are different. There is no connection between you and Old Turtle, so it will be difficult for it to control you.”

Thousandhonor Marquis said, “That’s right, you are…an existence that stands beyond the rules. You can break open all possibilities. Of course, I and Qi Zhen will help you…for instance, we can do something to the nightmare beast crystal nucleuses that are going to be brought into the Nightmare Ancestral Land.”

Qin Yu was silent. Although there were still many things he didn’t understand, a general outline of the plan had appeared.

He already knew there was danger and never thought of escaping. But since a chance appeared, he had to obtain as many chips as he could to ensure his own safety.

Little blue lamp…should he contact it at this time? After entering the abyss, his connection to it had become extremely weak, as if they would be separated at any moment.

Qin Yu wasn’t sure what this meant exactly, but he guessed it was restraining its aura as best as it could to hide itself.

After hesitating a little, Qin Yu discarded any thoughts of contacting the little blue lamp…

Qi Zhen faintly smiled. “Qin Yu, we’ve basically said all that we can say to you. Although we know that you likely won’t refuse, there’s always a chance, right? So I should be more honest with you.”

He pointed at Thousandhonor Marquis and then at himself, “You might not know everything about our statuses, but you should have guessed enough. Don’t deny your cleverness; I am very confident in you. So, if you agree to cooperate with us, you will be good, we will be good, we will all be good…otherwise, hehe, don’t blame me for being impolite. The reason this secret is a secret is because people can die for it!”

This was a threat, a stark naked threat that wasn’t concealed at all and brightly placed in front of him.

Do you accept or not? If you don’t accept then you will die!

Qin Yu was at a loss of words for a second. He felt a bit of regret for telling him about Ning Ling before, otherwise this old fellow wouldn’t have dared to be so unscrupulous.

But this also confirmed something else. It would be even more difficult to obtain more information from them.

After a brief silence, Qin Yu said, “I can agree to this, but I hope you two can tell me something. What are the chances that I will survive?”

All of this only had meaning if he survived.

“If you fail you will certainly die. And after you die, the two of us will meet with disaster.” Qi Zhen replied without hesitation, “As for succeeding…you will be at death’s door. It will be a 99% chance of death and only a sliver of a chance to survive. And it will all depend on your luck.”

He was straightforward enough!