Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The Divine Stone Tribe elder quickly left.

The Green Willow Tribe Leader had a calm expression as he watched him leave. He thought to himself, ‘That old monkey is not foolish. After he gets my reminder, he will surely know what to do. After all, the Perishing Star is a good and powerful treasure, but even after a few hundred years, they have not found a way to use it.’

Giving the Perishing Star that they were unable to use in exchange for the advancement of their tribe totem was a very cost-effective transaction. After all, for these barbarian tribes, the strength of a tribe totem was related to many other things, and most importantly, the foundation of their tribe.

……

The next day, the Divine Stone Tribe elder returned hurriedly once again and expressed his agreement to Marquis Chongwu’s request.

The old Green Willow Tribe Leader frowned, “Since you’ve already agreed to his request, did you bring the Perishing Star with you?”

The Divine Stone Tribe Elder shook his head.

The Green Willow Tribe Leader frowned even more, “What does the old monkey mean by this? He is asking someone for help, but he is not being sincere in his actions!”

The Divine Stone Tribe elder smiled bitterly, “Tribe Leader, please don’t get angry. You have been longtime friends with my Tribe Leader; don’t you know what his personality is like? Even though it is a bit…hehe, though he likes to exchange tribal treasure with others, he is still a very cautious person. Tribal treasures are hidden in a rather deep place. The Perishing Star is hidden somewhere especially deep…even if we want to take it out now, it will require a bit of time.”

The Green Willow Tribe Leader raised his hand to rub his face and sighed. This was indeed…embarrassing!

Opposite him, the Divine Stone Tribe elder also looked slightly embarrassed and said, “However, old Tribe Leader, please rest assured. My Tribe Leader is working as fast as he can. As soon as Marquis Chongwu arrives, he will definitely be able to get his hands on it.”

Taking a deep breath and suppressing whatever strange feelings he had, the Green Willow Tribe Leader smiled bitterly and got up, “What else can we do now? Let’s go, I’ll bring you to meet Marquis Chongwu. However, whether things change or not is up to your tribe’s luck.”

The Divine Stone Tribe elder added, “You have to add in some compliments for my tribe and help us express our sincerity!”

The Green Willow Tribe Leader merely scoffed.

This time, they only had to wait for a few moments before being able to meet with Marquis Chongwu.

“Tribe Leader, this is…?”

The Green Willow Tribe Leader replied, “Marquis, this is an elder from the Divine Stone Tribe. You can call him ‘Third Stone’.”

Third Stone, who had not been called that in many years, bowed politely, “Greetings, Marquis Chongwu!”

Qin Yu nodded his head, “Elder Stone, get up quickly. It seems that the Tribe Leader has already conveyed my intentions to your tribe.”

Third Stone replied respectfully, “Yes. My tribe is willing to hand over the Perishing Star as compensation for you. However…” He looked at the Green Willow Tribe Leader to save him.

The Tribe Leader scoffed. After hesitating for a while, he still decided to help Elder Stone explain the whole situation, “Sigh! I’m sorry Marquis, my old friend truly makes me speechless. It is his tribal treasure, but he’s making it seem like someone is trying to steal it away from him. Even taking it out is so troublesome! However, I am willing to guarantee that the Divine Stone Tribe will definitely not go back on their words. When you arrive at their tribe, you will be able to get your hands on it immediately.”

Seeing that Qin Yu did not have much of a reaction, the Tribe Leader gritted his teeth and continued, “This time, I will make a trip with you!”

Third Stone’s face was full of gratitude, knowing that the Green Willow Tribe Leader was indeed doing them a huge favor this time.

Qin Yu thought about it before slowly nodding his head, “Since Tribe Leader is willing to guarantee this, I naturally believe you. Then, I invite the both of you to wait for a moment while I make some preparations.”

Third Stone rejoiced, “Thank you, Marquis!”

The old Green Willow Tribe Leader stroked his beard lightly and said, “Marquis, please take your time. We will wait.”

After Qin Yu got up to leave, Third Stone turned around and bowed politely, “Old Tribe Leader, you are truly my Divine Stone Tribe’s best ally. Thank you so much for doing us this favor!”

The Green Willow Tribe Leader merely smiled and waved his hand, “It’s alright. I just happen to be more familiar with Marquis Chongwu.”

In his heart, he felt extremely satisfied and was even more grateful towards Qin Yu.

As the saying went, ‘long-term friendship goes both ways’. Friendships where people only gave or only received were not going to last for a long time.

In the past few hundred years when the Green Willow Tribe was faced with all kinds of difficulties, they had obtained a few hundred years’ worth of help from the Divine Stone Tribe. This was a burden that sat heavily on the Green Willow Tribe Leader’s heart. Additionally, if it were not for the fact that they were good friends, the Green Willow Tribe Leader would not try so hard to help the Divine Stone Tribe.

The advancement of the Divine Stone Tribe’s totem was a major matter. Being able to provide timely help in this aspect meant that in the future, when the Green Willow Tribe Leader met its old friend, it would be as equals.

Although it seemed like these favors were all for a utilitarian purpose, in actual fact, this was how true friends interacted with each other.

Qin Yu’s ‘making preparations’ was just him needing to find out when it was convenient for Rourou to get on the move. When he walked to the two trees, before he could open his mouth to speak, a branch landed in front of him and Rourou walked down.

She looked at Qin Yu and frowned for a while before returning to a calm expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Rourou extended her hand and pointed behind her, “Two of you, follow me.”

Hong-long-long –

The earth started to shake violently and crack open as countless thick roots were plucked from the ground. The two big trees shrunk quickly until they were about the size of a fingernail. They jumped and hopped until they landed and clung tightly onto Rourou’s ears, like two fancy and intricate earrings.

Qin Yu frowned, a heavy expression in his eyes, “Is there something wrong?”

Rourou thought about it for a while before she said, “I don’t know, but I feel strange, like things have been going too smoothly so far. It feels like something is going to happen.”

As she spoke, she looked towards the sky.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and said, “I’ll go and reject them then, let’s not go anymore.”

Rourou shook her head and spoke calmly, “Whatever is going to happen is bound to happen; we can’t hide from it. In short, you should be more careful.”

Qin Yu felt reverence in his heart.

If there was something that could make Rourou look so unconfident, it must be something very dangerous and unknown.

Rourou blandly added, “Let’s go.”

After a few moments, several carriages rode out of the camp. The news about the Divine Stone Tribe coming out on top and managing to get Marquis Chongwu’s help first quickly spread.

In an instant, waves of envy and jealousy were ignited. However, they had nothing to say about the Green Willow Tribe’s choice. After all, in these few hundred years, the Divine Stone Tribe had given massive help and assistance to the Green Willow Tribe. This was something that everyone was clear about.

It was a gamble, but they had actually managed to gain such a world-changing opportunity. This made many strong barbarians feel endlessly resentful inside their hearts. At the same time, they became even more polite and friendly towards the Green Willow Tribe.

The Divine Stone Tribe was indeed strong and powerful, but in the Western Barbarian Territory, there were many other big tribes that were on par with them. Why did Marquis Chongwu choose the Divine Stone Tribe out of all the other tribes? It was obvious.

As for why the various big barbarian tribes were so impatient…the reason was simple. It was because no one knew how long they could bargain with Marquis Chongwu for.

Back then, when Black Pagoda, Heavy Mountain, Long River, and Purple Forest joined forces, many other barbarian tribes held their silence. Of course, the strength of the four tribes was a key reason why they kept silent, but the most basic reason was because they…also had such suspicion.

The Barbarian Clan and the Desolate cultivators were blood enemies for generations. They had been killing each other since the beginning of time and hoped for each other to completely disappear or for the other’s bloodline to cease. Why would the Desolate cultivator, Marquis Chongwu, be so kind to help in the advancement of a tribe totem?

Furthermore, after he helped the Golden Crow Tribe and Green Willow Tribe, there was no trouble for him even after he returned to the West Desolate. On the contrary, he was promoted at an astonishing speed. Anyone could tell that there was something wrong with all of this.

As for the reason why the Holy Land would take the initiative to defend Marquis Chongwu, no one could guess, but no one wanted to know why either.

In short, the most important thing now was to quickly and successfully invite Marquis Chongwu to their tribe!

As a result, the Green Willow Tribe did not quiet down because the Tribe Leader had left. Instead, it became even more boisterous and lively. Streams of gifts poured in desperately, with many people trying to rely on their connections to get into the good graces of Marquis Chongwu, and people were saying things like, ‘If you do not accept these gifts, you are looking down on us!’

……

The team that rushed towards the Divine Stone Tribe was quiet and peaceful. Whilst on the journey, Qin Yu had already received information regarding the Divine Stone Tribe totem, the Divine Stone. He had also received a fragment that was sent specially to him.

This fragment was the size of a knuckle and was black throughout. Under the sunlight, it shone with a luster similar to jade.

Rourou had already taken a look at it and confirmed that there was nothing wrong with it. Even though Qin Yu never doubted Rourou’s abilities, he could tell that Rourou did not look too relaxed when she was nodding her head.

In actual fact, after he learned from her that something did not seem right, Qin Yu’s spirits had been on high alert all the time. He used his divine sense to examine the Divine Stone’s fragment, but could not find anything wrong with it.

Rourou looked at him and said, “Don’t waste your energy. If you have the time, you should cultivate…” She leaned on the couch, her eyes half-closed as she added, “With your cultivation realm, if something really were to happen, you would not be able to be of much help.”

Qin Yu rolled his eyes at Rourou’s comment. He thought to himself, ‘Even the powerful assassin outside the marshal tent who was in the Ruler realm was directly injured by me. You just did not see what I’m capable of!’

Rourou scoffed, “Yes, you’re indeed very capable. So when something happens, remember to stand in front of me.”

Qin Yu directly rejected her offer, “The most important quality is self-awareness…thank you Lady Rourou for this constant reminder.”

Rourou raised her hand to rub her temples and her face was full of helplessness. She could not help but think that this brat Qin Yu was becoming more thick-skinned by the day. She touched her ‘earrings’ and a soft green light emanated from them.

A light flashed in Qin Yu’s eyes. “Before we left, those words that you said…did they have a double meaning?”

Rourou changed her posture and faced away from Qin Yu as she said, “Think about it yourself.”

Her body lines were enchanting.

It must be because he had been drinking a lot of wine recently, as Qin Yu was astounded to realize that he was starting to feel some things that he could not control.

This…this would be seeking death!

Instantly, beads of forehead formed on his forehead. Qin Yu quickly looked away, closed his eyes, and breathed slowly.

Rourou, who was still facing away from Qin Yu, knitted her eyebrows together. However, deep in her eyes, there was an unmistakable glint of satisfaction.

A day later, they had arrived at the Divine Stone Tribe.

The reason why they could provide help to the Green Willow Tribe in these last few hundred years was because they were very close together.

Otherwise, the two Tribe Leaders would also not have been able to be friends since they were young.

Outside the carriage, Elder Stone’s respectful voice could be heard, “Marquis Chongwu, the Tribe Leader has personally come to welcome you.”

The carriage doors were pushed open and Qin Yu walked down. The Green Willow Tribe Leader was a step ahead as he jumped in front of a skinny old man. The first thing he did was to raise his hand to examine the difference in their heights and he scoffed, “It’s been a hundred years since we last met, yet, you haven’t changed a bit.”

The skinny old man rolled his eyes, “How old are you already, why are you still so childish? The younger ones are looking at us from the side. You old fart, you might not want your reputation, but I want to keep mine!”

The people from the Divine Stone Tribe who were standing at the side had a strange expression on their faces.

The Green Willow Tribe Leader’s lips twitched. “We have an esteemed guest today, so I’ll let you keep your reputation. Go and meet with Marquis Chongwu.”

While he spoke, he took a glance at the marquis.

The skinny old man nodded his head. The Green Willow Tribe Leader sighed before turning around with a huge smile on his face, “Marquis, this is the Divine Stone Tribe Leader, Old Stone!”

“Greetings, Marquis.” Old Stone was just his nickname. His real name was Shi Gan, and he smiled brightly as he greeted Qin Yu.

Behind him, a bunch of barbarians from the Divine Stone Tribe followed suit and bowed together with him.

Qin Yu smiled in return and said, “Tribe Leader, you don’t have to be so polite. Everyone, get up quickly.”

After a brief chat, Shi Gan extended his hand. “Everyone, let’s enter the camp. We have already prepared a banquet to welcome our esteemed guest.”