Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Life was so hard!

He was just about to head out of the hall and escape to safety when these strange markings suddenly caught his eye. He could not help but look at them.

Buzz –

Stone Pagoda’s illusion appeared and surrounded Qin Yu. He said, “Fire Spirit, go and look at that door. Can we really leave through there?”

Fire Spirit nodded. This was another instance of Stone Pagoda dictating what she should do. She obeyed Qin Yu’s instructions, but Stone Pagoda…never mind, she did not dare to resist him.

If she had known that the life of a spirit was so pitiful, she should have just disappeared back then…Oh well, she was still alive. At least she still had a chance to see the beauty of the world.

She floated over towards the door and pushed it open silently. The entire process went smoothly.

Stone Pagoda instructed, “Go out and have a look around.”

Don’t bully a spirit!

Fire Spirit gritted her teeth and flew out of the hall. A few moments later, she returned and reported, “It is safe.” Her tone was cold and it was obvious she was unhappy.

Qin Yu and Stone Pagoda were the same. Why was she being bullied? Who would be happy under such circumstances?

Stone Pagoda sighed deeply. Alright, thank goodness. If a real danger popped up, Qin Yu could escape through the door.

Stone Pagoda thought lightly of Fire Spirit’s poor attitude. He could pacify and satisfy her wants later on.

However, what caused Qin Yu’s wondrous expression when he looked at the strange markings on the wall? Stone Pagoda finally took a look at it. After a few moments, a sharp breath escaped him. It felt like he had been hit on the head after being caught cheating on an exam by the teacher.

Damn it, how would he have known? How could Qin Yu be the only person allowed to look at the wall? Furthermore, Stone Pagoda had not looked at it for long. Did the force have to be so harsh to him?

If Stone Pagoda had eyes and could see, all he would be seeing now was a black screen.

Urgh.

Another blow!

Stone Pagoda was speechless.

Couldn’t he even think about it? So harsh!

He shrugged his shoulders and secretly prayed that the force would let him off.

Fire Spirit was shaking. She had seen Stone Pagoda jerk backwards twice in pain. She could also feel the terrifying pressure in the air.

The will of the Ruler!

Time ticked by and the hall was silent. After an hour, Qin Yu shivered and his eyes regained focus.

Right as he regained consciousness, the markings on the stone wall disappeared.

The markings were erased from the wall. A blank hole started from the middle and spread through the stone wall until all the markings were gone.

In the end, there wasn’t a trace of the markings.

Stone Pagoda sighed, “So it seems it was left for only one person to read…” He had peaked at it and desperately tried to memorize the markings. Now, it felt like something had swept through his mind and wiped his memories clean.

The Ruler’s item!

Without question, these markings were left by the Ruler. Was Qin Yu so lucky that he got a treasure right from the first room of the hall?

“Master…”

Stone Pagoda was interrupted immediately. Qin Yu said, “It isn’t like what you think. Don’t be impatient, let’s leave here first.”

Shoosh –

His body flashed and he appeared outside the hall.

The Fire Spirit was speechless.

Why didn’t she just die back then?

Was she invisible? Qin Yu ignored her completely.

She was the one who opened the door and checked the outside. Although there had been an accident previously, it was not her fault.

She felt so wronged!

Gritting her teeth, she chased after Qin Yu. The desire for freedom slowly started to grow in her heart.

She wanted to be free and experience the life of a spirit!

Qin Yu stood outside the hall. There were numerous mountains all around but this was a place that was originally a flat square.

The Ruler wanted him to pass through the hall and not head to other directions. However, this hall was really frightening. Entering a wrong area could mean certain death.

Qin Yu sighed and explained, “The writings on the stone wall described a Divine Way of refining the body. It needs the Rule System Body as a requirement and it is difficult to explain the details. All in all, it is very strong.”

This was an explanation for Stone Pagoda. Right now, Stone Pagoda was so curious he was about to explode. He nodded his head eagerly and his eyes were passionately locked onto Qin Yu. Obviously, this was not the only thing he was curious about.

Qin Yu frowned, “Don’t ask me. I am still a little confused.” He did not understand why the statues suddenly let him off and proceeded to kneel before him.

Stone Pagoda coughed lightly, “Master, are you hiding something related to your birth and background?”

Qin Yu’s lips twitched, “Your imagination is so wild. There isn’t that much trickery and scheming in this world.”

Stone Pagoda thought about it and nodded. He had been with Qin Yu for a while now. If Qin Yu was hiding a secret, Stone Pagoda would have sensed it by now.

“Then that is so strange!”

Qin Yu raised his hand and rubbed his forehead, “If we can’t figure it out, then let’s cast it aside for now. The answer will reveal itself in the future.”

He had a few guesses about his birth origins. But he did not think it would be related to this hall or the Mysterious Clan.

If that was the case, then why would they try so hard to find him for all these years? In the end, they failed miserably. Qin Yu worked with the ancient Saints instead of them.

Forget it, it wasn’t worth telling Stone Pagoda about this.

Qin Yu glanced at Fire Spirit. She quietly floated beside him but her bad mood was apparent.

He frowned, “Do you feel wronged?”

Fire Spirit quickly denied, “I wouldn’t dare to.”

“That’s right!” Qin Yu scoffed coldly. “You saw for yourself how I almost died in the hall. Didn’t you say that it was safe? Because of this, you don’t have the right to feel wronged.”

Fire Spirit was so angry she cried. You did not sense anything wrong either and that is why you entered. Furthermore, when I went in to scout the hall, nothing was wrong. You saw this for yourself too!

However, Qin Yu was not going to reason with her. “Continue to survey the area! Remember, you are not allowed to make the same mistake twice. Otherwise don’t blame me for being harsh.”

Fire Spirit cried sulkily and left.

Stone Pagoda coughed lightly, “Master, aren’t you going too far? After all, she is a girl. You should take care of her.”

Qin Yu snorted, “Do you really not know the reason?”

Stone Pagoda was silent. Then, in a soft voice, he said, “I think I might.”

Qin Yu scoffed, “Then what nonsense are you talking about?”

From the beginning, Fire Spirit seemed to have ill intentions. As such, Qin Yu made sure to give her cold treatment.

He wanted to force aside her evil thoughts so as to ensure that she did not do anything stupid.

Treat her well? Qin Yu really did not know how the Fire Spirit of the Spirit Array could come up with such thoughts.

What a joke!

There was another important reason. The Fire Spirit would be integral for him to obtain the Inextinguishable Flame and other precious flames.

The furnace could evolve as it absorbed precious flames from the world. Absorbing the Fire of Eternal Night was the first step. Next, he would retrieve the Inextinguishable Flame. Following that, he would get his third, fourth, fifth…flames.

The more flames the merrier. Qin Yu did not yet know how many such precious flames there were in the world.

Although the furnace would not be able to absorb all the flames, it should be able to handle at least ten flames. This meant that it would be very helpful for him to keep the Fire Spirit by his side. For Qin Yu to be able to trust her and use her to her full potential, he needed to make sure that she knew her status very well.

Otherwise, it would be a disaster if she took advantage of his kind heart. Hehe, not only would he destroy the Fire Spirit, he would seal her away.

Qin Yu sat down and started to heal his wounds.

On the surface, the wound he sustained from the sword flash seemed to have healed really well. However, his internal wounds were severe.

He was like a ceramic vase that looked beautiful from the outside but had an inside lining filled with cracks.

However, Qin Yu did not mind having these words now.

It wasn’t that his mind was twisted and he enjoyed the pain from his injuries. Instead, he wanted to test the body refinement technique that he had just learnt from the writings on the wall. This was a Divine Way that required the Rule System Body and high level cultivation techniques.

That’s right. Qin Yu felt that this body refinement technique was good enough to be classified as a Divine Way.

Star Retrieval!

This was the name of the body refinement technique as written on the walls. When the user mastered this technique, he would be able to use the strength of his physical body to pluck the stars from the sky.

Qin Yu also knew that each of the stars in the galaxy was linked to a Small World.

If he understood the writings properly and the author was not lying, mastering this technique would allow him to wield destructive power with his hands.

Truthfully, when Qin Yu first read the writings, he felt that the author was exaggerating the capabilities of the technique.

After cultivating the Rule System Body, Qin Yu had a good understanding of body refinement techniques. It was possible to cultivate an indestructible body but to say that pure physical strength would be able to crush worlds seemed too good to be true!

However, he had already learnt the technique and it was only natural that he proceeded to cultivate it. After all, it was a technique left behind by a Ruler. While it did not have anything to do with breaking through to the realm of Ruler, it could still be a very powerful technique. Qin Yu was confident of this even if he factored in the possibility of the author bragging.

Eventually, Qin Yu was not disappointed. When he activated his internal strength following the instructions of the Star Retrieval technique, it felt like the Rule System Body came alive.

It was strong and sturdy. It felt like he could support the heavens without feeling any pressure of its weight.

Boom boom –

This was the sound of his strong heart beat against his chest. His blood circulated through his body quickly.

Heat radiated off his body and a white cloud formed above Qin Yu’s head. His exposed flesh was as red as a piece of iron being submerged in fire.

Like an awakened beast, it was fierce, domineering, and violent.

The cracks in his body started to heal speedily under the high heat of his physical body.

Crackle, crack –

The sound came from the stone tile Qin Yu sat on. It could not bear the aura coming off him and cracks started to form on its surface.

Just then, Fire Spirit returned from her expedition. She was still fuming angrily when she saw what was happening.

“Ah!”

She cried. The flames that outlined her body wavered and her body was almost crushed from the aura Qin Yu gave out.

Star Retrieval! Incredible!

The Ruler had truly left behind something marvelous.

No, it could not just be described as marvelous. This was too weak a description of Star Retrieval’s might.

Having tested the body refinement technique out, Qin Yu could not conclude that mastering this technique would grant him the strength to crush the skies with just his physical strength. However, it would definitely be the decisive blow if he used this technique to kill someone. A single punch from him would ruin his enemy!

By now, Qin Yu felt that he could use his pure physical body strength to fight against a True Saint!

This was only the first step. He had just grazed the surface of the whole learning journey and was still a far cry from actually learning it.

If he continued to cultivate this technique and practice it….its name, Star Retrieval, would be very appropriate!

Under normal circumstances, anyone who chanced upon such a powerful Divine Way would immediately close himself in cultivation and practice it for a hundred years.

However, he was definitely in an extraordinary circumstance now.

Qin Yu sighed and forced himself to shut down his impatience. As he calmed his wildly circulating blood flow, the heat around him dissipated as well.

Thud –

Fire Spirit fell to the ground and her flame body cracked. She had shrunk into a fist-sized ball of flame from her fear.

Too scary, way too terrifying!

The aura from Qin Yu was so destructive and she did not even dare to run away!

All the hateful feelings in her heart instantly disappeared.

With Qin Yu being this strong, she did not dare to play any tricks on him. She would be shouting for her own death.

All her previous thoughts of wanting to die early was nonsensical. She was somewhat similar to the Shadow of the Abyss in her unwillingness to die.

This ill-fated Spirit Array managed to survive against all odds and it even had the chance to merge with a Fire Spirit and live longer in this world.

The percentage of this chance was very small.

Before she had seen the world and experience a good life, why would she die? It wasn’t bad to continue living even if she had a hard life!

Qin Yu definitely had not imagined that the lessons that he wanted to teach Fire Spirit would have gotten through to her from this mere event.

Stone Pagoda was very excited. After learning that the Mysterious Clan was a superpower as strong as the West Desolate, and knowing that they might have come from another world, he had been quite disappointed and hesitant.

The possibilities of revenge appeared to grow smaller. Although Qin Yu was strong, would he be able to go against the Half-King that was as strong as a divine dragon? It was obvious that a Half-King was not the strongest individual that that clan had.

This was something that could make anyone despair. Furthermore, the hopes of taking revenge had just been given before they were crushed again…the disappointment had made Stone Pagoda depressed.

However, the fire had ignited again.

So what if that clan was very strong? Qin Yu was someone who always gave surprises. Back when Stone Pagoda first started to follow Qin Yu, he was an insignificant weakling who was ignorant of the world.

However, his wings took flight and he was now a top martial artist in the Vast Brightness World. Beneath the realm of Ruler, he could definitely be considered very powerful.

Furthermore, Qin Yu was exceptionally lucky. He had obtained a treasure left behind by a Ruler.

Star Retrieval was the best example!

Was he far from being a Ruler? No! He was very close to it!

Even if that powerful clan was in another world, so what? One day, Qin Yu would go there to kill them.