Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1563A – Heaven Inquiry

Qin Yu smiled bitterly in response, “Please, Your Majesty, on account of me having risked my life to serve you, protect me and my mansion. Do not let the Night Demon Sect Master kill us in a fit of anger!”

There was a lot of meaning behind the king asking Qin Yu, ‘Are you anxious?’

However, Qin Yu…was truly not anxious at all!

Since Rourou took the initiative to follow Qin Yu back to the Imperial Capital, naturally, she would have made the necessary preparations. Even if the Night Demon Sect Master was a peak-level Ruler, whether it was his cultivation realm or his shrewdness, he could never compare to the mysterious being from space time!

“Hmph! What you said made sense. I can put in a good word for you, but whether or not the Demon Sect acknowledges you as a son-in-law isn’t up to me.”

The king leaned back and stretched his knees a little. It was not a majestic posture, but the gaze in his eyes became deeper and more obscure, unfathomable like the deep ocean.

“Tell me everything about what happened after you joined the West Border Army. I am interested to know.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Qin Yu started from the beginning and recounted his experience with ‘just the appropriate amount of details’.

When he was with the barbarian tribes earlier on, he already expected that such a day would happen.

And this was the result of his early preparation – to be able to tell a flawless story from beginning to end that was reasonable and had no loopholes.

The king nodded from time to time and he did not interrupt. He also did not think that this storytelling session was a waste of time.

After a while, Qin Yu bowed and said, “That’s all. If Your Majesty has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.”

The king tapped his finger on the table and said, “I have sent a Half-King to take a look at the curse in the mine before. It was created by sacrificing millions of dead warriors, which makes it very tricky. How did you break it?”

Qin Yu cupped his hands, “I can only thank Your Majesty for giving the lantern to me. Its aura was able to naturally restrain the power of the Barbarian Curse. Otherwise, I would not have been able to have a smooth journey or gain a firm foothold in the army.”

As he said this, he flicked his fingers and a strand of aura belonging to the lantern was suspended in front of him.

The Desolate King glanced at that aura and then nodded, “Alright, that’s the only question I have. Let’s talk business now. What was your intention for doing what you did in the barbarian tribes?”

Qin Yu looked solemn as he bowed, “To complete the important task entrusted by Your Majesty!”

Since His Majesty knew about Qin Yu’s eating and drinking at the barbarian tribes, it meant that he had placed some eyes and ears in the smuggling team.

Qin Yu was not surprised by this; he even thought that this was the norm.

Of course, having some spies in the smuggling team was not enough for His Majesty to know about everything. For example, the ones with the good cooking skills were the ‘root people’ formed by the wine trees, and not Rourou.

The two trees seemed to be right there; they could be seen if one looked up.

However, in reality, it was not that simple. One could only see what the trees wanted one to see, and vice versa.

And this gap in the king’s knowledge created room for Qin Yu to operate in.

Back then, when Qin Yu had a discussion with Prajna and confirmed their plans, he was already mentally prepared to respond to the West Desolate’s inquiries.

Qin Yu got up, “Next time, I will lead a team to the Western Barbarian Land and I’ll station us at the Green Willow Tribe.”

He did not need to explain himself any further. This sentence alone was enough to explain everything.

There was a glimmer of light in the king’s eyes. Until now, everything that General Jinwu Ning Qin said matched what he knew. There were no omissions and there was an explanation for everything.

The answers that Qin Yu gave were perfect.

Thinking that the Golden Crow Tribe and Green Willow Tribe could rise to power once again after regaining their tribe totems was merely viewing things through rose-tinted spectacles. Once the Boundary Breaking Seals had been arranged, everything would be destroyed in an instant.

With one word from the enemy, everything they had done would go to waste!

The great hall fell silent once again.

Qin Yu sat upright and his eyes were lowered slightly as he looked at the ground, showing his respect for the king. He knew very well that his performance had been perfect, even better than what he expected. However, he had not passed the test completely yet.

Qin Yu only came to a realization when he stepped into the palace and sat opposite the Desolate King. His only reason for returning to the Imperial Capital was to gain the absolute trust of the West Desolate King. 

This should be his final test, and it had already begun from the moment he received the imperial decree. 

The young eunuch was part of the test, so was the incident that happened in Seascape City, and so was the General’s Mansion. Today, having a meal one-on-one with the Desolate King was also part of the test!

However, all this was just the precursors; they had not really gotten to the main part yet.

“General Jinwu, Ning Qin.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

……

The West Desolate’s Imperial Palace was brightly lit at night. The noble aura of the Royal Family soared to the sky, which made people feel daunted.

Right at this moment in the huge Imperial Capital, there were many hidden in the dark with their eyes wide open looking at the Imperial Palace.

They clearly sensed the mighty power that was coming from it. The next moment, above the Imperial Capital, the night sky was splendid. Hundreds and millions of stars started to shine brightly at the same time, leaving their radiance behind.

They were shining on the great Imperial Palace, as if they were making a holy cape made out of stars that wrapped around it.

At the same time, an extremely mysterious and indescribable aura descended from the sky. 

At the General’s Mansion, which had no plaque hanging at the front gate, the Night Demon Sect Master excitedly and happily left after seeing this phenomenon. At the back courtyard where Rourou was staying, her eyes became bright as she turned her head to look over, and subconsciously licked the corner of her mouth.

“I’ve eaten many things in the world, but you really taste the best. Unfortunately, I can only watch from a distance. How miserable I am.”

Rourou mumbled to herself, her eyes filled with brilliance. If one looked closely, one could see a bottomless vortex that could swallow the sun, moon and stars.

“Borrowing power from the heavens to launch a Heaven Inquiry…before, there would definitely be problems. But now, of course, it is useless.”

Gu-dong –

Rourou swallowed her saliva, then sighed as she threw herself on the bed.

Go to sleep, go to sleep. After falling asleep, I will not feel so miserable any more!

At sunset, General Jinwu Ning Qin was summoned to the Imperial Palace.

It seemed to be an inconspicuous matter, but at this stage, it had already become a point of focus for countless people.

After waiting for a long time, there was still no activity. Just when everyone started frowning, the king finally responded to the situation.

They were surprised to find out that the king did not mean to protect General Jinwu, who he had single-handedly promoted.

On the contrary, the king took this matter extremely seriously. It was to the point where he did not consider his role as a monarch and mobilized all the luck of his empire to borrow power from the heavens…it was to launch a Heaven Inquiry!

This was obviously something that could only be done with the consent and authorization of the Imperial Clan. After all, all the monarchs in this world were not able to get true, absolute power without any scruples, other than the Central Desolate.

Launching a Heaven Inquiry could expose some information about matters that people could not understand, which for that General Jinwu Ning Qin could be…what his true identity was!

Because the Imperial Clan would never allow the wasting of the empire’s fortune for just a ‘trivial matter’, now that a Heaven Inquiry had been launched, it meant that General Jinwu Ning Qin was indeed qualified to receive such a treatment.

This made many people, who were secretly anticipating his downfall, reveal looks of surprise, hatred, and panic.