Refining the Mountains and Rivers

On the way, Qin Yu met with another problem. “Why aren’t we staying in the main city? The incident that happened to Bull Bean occurred here. Great Qin does not wish to be implicated and will definitely try and stop this, right?”

If they could get the Qin Empire to intervene, then the threat coming from the four sects and four families would decrease by another level.

No matter what people said about a party being powerful enough that they were comparable to the strength of a nation, if they really had such confidence, the faction sitting on the throne of the Qin Empire would not be the Qins. In the Central Desolate Divine Area, no matter how one looked at it, the strongest was still the Qin Empire.

Rourou said something that instantly made Qin Yu understand. “How are you so sure that this matter does not involve the Qin Empire’s acquiescence, or even instigation?”

Qin Yu’s heart turned cold.

If this was really the case, then continuing to stay in the main city was truly dangerous. No one knew what was going to happen next. Furthermore, since Rourou said that, she would not have come up with this out of thin air. It seemed that something dirty was happening between the Qin Empire and the Bull Family.

With just this thought, Qin Yu could not help but come to a realization that indeed, no one in this world could live worriless.

Bull Dingtian was so strong and mighty, but the Bull Family still had enemies all around them. With one careless mistake they would fall into someone else’s schemes. They had to be careful. In the future, they had to be even more cautious and even more careful!

Qin Yu could not be complacent and careless just because Rourou was by his side. After all, even though she was unfathomable, at the end of the day, she was not all-powerful and all-knowing.

Their journey went smoothly and both the carriages reached the pier.

The ferry that was bound for Long Mountain Area was arriving soon. Qin Yu put in a deposit and successfully got three ferry tickets. Bull Bean, Yuan Qin, and Yuan Hu suddenly decided that they too wanted to board the ferry. However, the tickets were sold out.

Qin Yu had no choice but to put the ferry operators on the spot, because Bull Bean had perfectly shown what it meant to be rich and overbearing. She directly took money out of her pockets and threw it at a guest who had booked a ticket to stay on the top level of the boat.

Looking at this person whose face of frustration turned to one of delight and instantly gave his room up for Bull Bean, Qin Yu once again realized the power of money.

According to Bull Bean, even though the Bull Family was wealthy, they could not be considered to be the true rich men of the Central Desolate.

She said that the Great Qin Empire’s capital, Xianyang, had a family surnamed ‘Feng’. They were considered to be the second top household in terms of wealth. They truly possessed ‘mountains of gold and seas of silver’, and a wealth that could not be exhausted for hundreds of generations.

Something that stuck with Qin Yu was that the Feng Family had two members that were in the Half-King realm. One of them was an old ancestor and the other was the servant of a rogue cultivator.

The main point was this: originally, these two people could only at most cultivate to the peak level of the Ruler realm. It was very difficult for them to advance any further, but still, they used money and ended up producing two Half-Kings.

Qin Yu’s face was full of shock when he heard this. He found it very hard to imagine just how much wealth was needed to produce two Half-Kings. Just thinking about it made him feel incredulous.

Rourou looked at Qin Yu and asked, “Just this is enough to make you feel incredulous? Let me tell you something even more shocking. Using money to produce a Half-King gave them an empty realm. Their small worlds were built in an ordinary way so there were countless flaws and loopholes, and these Half-Kings could not even suppress peak Rulers. However, the Feng Family has endless wealth, so to prevent people from coveting their money and to protect their own interests, what did they do? It’s very simple, they continued to spend money to arm these two Half-Kings from head to toe. In the end, these two Half-Kings had the combined power of a True King! Does it sound more and more absurd now?”

This piece of shocking news was confirmed by Bull Bean who widened her eyes and nodded vigorously, “Sister Rourou is right. My family’s Old Ancestor has also mentioned this before. Those two Half-Kings from the Feng Family are like two mobile gold warehouses. Even when he looked at them, he could not help but feel envious.”

Only after she finished speaking did she realize that she seemed to have exposed something. Her face reddened and she quickly explained, “Old Ancestor only said this but he never did anything.”

Rourou pursed her lips, “That is because your Old Ancestor is very aware that even if he tried to do something, it would amount to nothing. I know you don’t believe me, but the next time you meet him, you can ask him yourself and see if I’m right.”

Bull Bean bit her lip and did not say a word. Even though Old Ancestor sometimes gave people the feeling that he was unreliable, he treated her the best.

Qin Yu coughed lightly, “Alright, I’ve already asked just now. We will be able to board the ferry soon. Why don’t we find a place to have a rest and wait?”

After changing the topic, the group went to find a teahouse at the pier. Qin Yu looked calm on the exterior but he was actually very tense inside. After all, no one knew when an assassin was going to attack.

Thankfully, Rourou was here. In terms of detection, cultivators below the King realm would not be able to hide from her. However, just like what was mentioned earlier, he could not be careless just because Rourou was here. He still had to be cautious and vigilant.

There were many people in the teahouse and most of them were waiting for their ferries. Other than that, there were cultivators who were just visiting the pier to walk around and shop. Everyone was drinking their tea and chit-chatting with each other, and the atmosphere in the teahouse could be considered to be rather quiet and peaceful.

The young waiter was very enthusiastic. After inviting them to have a seat, he named about seven or eight different kinds of tea. His verbal skills were pretty good.

Qin Yu did not hear about any one of them before but he played along with the young waiter and randomly picked one of the teas that the waiter introduced. When the tea was served, Yuan Qin took the initiative to raise the teapot and pour some tea for Qin Yu and Rourou first, before she poured some for Bull Bean too.

She was quite clever and had experienced the pain of losing both her parents. She matured very early on; of course she could tell that these two cultivators in front of her were extraordinary people.

For example, back then at Heaven Fragrance Residence, everyone had knelt down to Old Ancestor to thank him for saving them. However, these two people did not.

Since they did not kneel, it meant that they did not think that they needed Old Ancestor to save their lives. Afterwards, Old Ancestor’s attitude towards them also proved this point. Therefore, the fact that Old Ancestor told these two people to accompany Bull Bean on this journey meant that things were not as simple as they seemed.

Yuan Hu stood beside his older sister and continuously looked at Sprout. However, Sprout was expressionless the whole time.

This made him feel a little bit depressed. His budding feelings for Sprout made him uneasy inside. Putting down the teapot, Yuan Qin returned to the side. She reached out and pulled on Yuan Hu’s arm and looked at him sternly.

After being glared at by his sister, Yuan Hu completely withered and his head drooped listlessly.

Bull Bean picked up the teacup and just at this moment, Rourou spoke, “Wait, I suddenly feel that your cup has a nice flower pattern on it. Let’s exchange cups.”

Without waiting for her to object, Bull Bean’s hands were now empty and suddenly, another cup was in her hands.

Rourou drank from Bull Bean’s original cup and closed her eyes, “Indeed, the taste is not bad.”

Qin Yu’s heart was full of awe.

After sweeping his gaze across everyone in the teahouse, he did not manage to find that young server who was attending to them just now. A cold feeling poured out of Qin Yu’s heart and he had to take a long breath in order to not let it show on his face.

Bull Bean looked at Rourou and then at Qin Yu, before she obliged and took a sip from Rourou’s original cup of tea. Thankfully, it was very peaceful after this and nothing else happened. When the ferry slowly arrived from afar, it cast a huge shadow on the ground. Qin Yu then settled the bill and the group left the teahouse.

“There was poison in the tea?” Qin Yu asked Rourou telepathically.

She nodded in response.

Qin Yu’s eyes widened.

The corner of Rourou’s lips turned up, “If I did not drink it, how would I be able to kill him? It has been a very long time since I’ve seen such an interesting poison.”

In a dark room at the basement of the teahouse, the young waiter who served them just now was now sitting cross-legged. His face was pale and his body was trembling lightly. Suddenly, his eyes flew open. His eyeballs were red and the tiny capillaries that could be seen started to swell and burst.

“Ah!”

After a painful cry that stopped abruptly the next moment, his corpse fell onto the ground. He started to decompose quickly until he was just blood and liquified flesh.

There were two more people in the room. When they looked at the young waiter who had collapsed dead onto the ground so suddenly, a heavy expression formed on their faces.

“Even someone from Thousand Poison Valley is unable to do it; it seems like using poison is not a feasible option anymore,” one of them said blandly.

The other one replied, “Let them know to proceed with Plan B.”

However, at this moment, both their faces changed greatly. ‘Bang!’ A muffled sound rang out and the blood and liquified flesh on the floor exploded.

Scarlet blood mist instantly filled the whole room. The two people did not have time to escape and were trapped within. When they realized that something was wrong, they quickly held their breath and at the same time, they released some power that isolated themselves from the outside world. However, this blood mist continued to seep through all their orifices and forced its way into their bodies.

Their eyes widened and they clawed at their necks desperately. Their throats produced hoarse groans of pain as they found it hard to speak. ‘Pu-tong!’ They, too, collapsed to the floor and died.

Because the accommodation that Bull Bean bought was a small courtyard on the ferry, it was a place big enough for a few people to stay in. Before Qin Yu boarded the ferry, he sold his tickets to a young couple. The woman was even carrying an infant in her arms.

Originally, Qin Yu wanted to sell his tickets to someone else. However, after looking at them for a while, he decided to sell it to them at a cheaper price than what was discussed.

The couple thanked him and they happily boarded the ferry first. Qin Yu watched them leave with their child and narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t always copy me. Your eyes are not that big already; if you squint them anymore, they are going to become small slits,” Rourou said without any expression.

After being ‘suffocated’ by Rourou once again, Qin Yu thought to himself, ‘I should be the one saying that. Furthermore, these are my eyes. I can squint them if I want to; what can you do about it?’

Cough!

Forget it, men should have a more forgiving heart. It’s not like her words would cause him to lose some of his flesh.

“Hmph!”

Rourou scoffed and gave Qin Yu a look that said, ‘Good on you for being tactful.’

After successfully boarding the ship, the cultivators that were in charge of operating the ferry brought them to the top-level courtyard.

Since this was a long-distance ferry, the ship was shockingly huge. If the size of the ship that Qin Yu sat on before was comparable to a small town, then the size of this long-distance ship that belonged to the Sky Sea Sect was comparable to a small city. It had all kinds of buildings. As they boarded the ship and passed by a long street, Qin Yu even saw a huge entertainment building. There were people singing and dancing and the environment was very lively.

However, the most shocking thing was that this ship that belonged to the Sky Sea Sect was actually a living being – it was an incomparably enormous cyan crab!

Its two huge front pincers shone with a golden metallic luster. Like two small mountains, just looking at it would make one feel chills. Its eight legs seemed to be following some movement pattern as they continuously moved up and down in the air, carrying all the buildings atop its shell. It was very stable, as if it was moving on solid ground, but it was actually suspended in the air.

After dismissing the Sky Sea Sect members, Rourou lowered her head and looked at the ground. Unconsciously, she stuck out her tongue and lightly licked the corners of her lips.

Chengshan Crab! This thing was considered to be a strange and ancient creature. It must have lived for at least ten thousand years and there must be a lot of crab roe in its body.

Suddenly, the ship shook which caused much alarm. The Sky Sea Sect members took to the skies and hurriedly tried to investigate the cause of this.

Thankfully, the Chengshan Crab very quickly regained its composure and did not create too much trouble. The Sky Sea Sect cultivators tried to appease their guests on one hand and investigate the matter on the other hand. Regretfully, they did not manage to find anything out in the end.

The ferry docked at the main city’s pier for half a day. After conducting a round of thorough inspection and confirming that there was nothing wrong, it rose to the sky and started to depart.

The Chengshan Crab’s eight long legs were like enormous oars as it glided in the air, bringing everyone who was onboard it away at a fast pace.

At the top-level courtyard, Qin Yu continued to cultivate. According to what Rourou said, whatever was going to happen eventually. If he continued to accumulate more power now, he could have a better chance of winning in the future.

She said these words calmly, yet it made Qin Yu very tense and nervous. He knew that the attempt to assassinate Bull Bean using poison was only the beginning. In the future, before the Bull Family’s supporters arrived to help them, they would still face countless problems and troubles.