Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu's version of 'Xu Anyu' respectfully said yes.

He had already seen the powerful figure that was backing this woman, and had also received their promise of protection.

It was obvious that the next thing he had to do was to offer the treasure to her to show his loyalty.

This was something the peak-level Ruler from the Royal Family had mentioned before.

The problem was that Qin Yu did not really know what they were talking about.

Therefore, he could not progress as per usual. He had to ask questions to get the answers that he needed.

"Your Excellency!" Qin Yu suddenly said, "Anyu wants to know the real situation of the Barbarian King's tomb. I hope you can tell me the truth."

That woman who was standing beside the Royal Family's peak-level Ruler looked slightly anxious, but she glared fiercely at him, about to say something. However, before she could speak, she was interrupted by the Ruler, who waved her hand. With an indifferent expression, she asked, "What do you want to know?"

Qin Yu was apprehensive. He knew very well that he was playing with fire, but since he had already asked, he could only keep on going.

"Your Excellency, Anyu would like to know…whether the situation in the Barbarian King's tomb is really as simple as you said."

The hall fell silent.

The Royal Family's peak-level Ruler frowned slightly before plastering on a calm expression again. "You are a smart person, it seems like you've noticed something. You're right, the tomb holds even more secrets. This is also the most critical part of the entire plan."

She turned and looked into the depths of the hall, where there was a stone statue. Even though it was completely submerged in darkness, it still gave people a faint feeling of oppression.

"In this Tomb of the Barbarian King, there is a hidden treasure which can help a cultivator at the peak of the Ruler realm cross into the Half-King Realm…"

The Royal Family's peak-level Ruler glanced at Qin Yu, "With the strength of your Xu Family, I'm sure you have known about this since a long time ago. But in actual fact, the Half-King realm is not that easy to achieve. Treasures…no matter how powerful, they are just objects; how can they help to complete the key transformation from a Ruler to a Half-King?"

In his chest, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Qin Yu's eyes widened, feeling as if he had grasped something.

"In order to become a Half-King, other than this treasure, a catalytic intermediary is also needed. Since dead objects can't be used, of course a living object is required." She looked at the stone statue wrapped in darkness, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, revealing a bit of mockery. "The ancient Barbarian Kings were once rulers of the world, yet now, they are like drowning dogs, being chased everywhere and having to hide. It is such a shameful thing."

So, this was what the truth was!

Qin Yu laughed bitterly to himself. He had once again underestimated the West Desolate and the West Barbarians' power. Since they were coveting the Tomb of the Barbarian King, how could they not be fully prepared?

They had long since known that the Barbarian King in the tomb had not died yet…no, more accurately, he had not completely died, but his strength had been greatly reduced, becoming what the Royal Family's peak-level Ruler referred to as a 'drowning dog'.

Whatever the West Desolate knew, the West Barbarians who lived here had no reason not to know. It was no wonder both sides were so calm. It turned out that all of them had a card up their sleeves.

This also meant that everything Qin Yu had done so far was useless, because he never had a complete grasp of the situation.

But everything has to be seen from two sides. Even though he felt slightly embarrassed, at least he managed to get confirmation and clarity on this matter, which made him feel like a big stone had been lifted from his heart.

"Xu Anyu, have you had enough? Our lady has already given you an explanation, so hurry up and give us that thing!" the woman beside the peak-level Ruler shouted coquettishly, turning her back to the Ruler and giving Qin Yu looks.

From the way they acted, they seemed rather sincere.

Qin Yu coughed lightly, cupped his hands and said, "Please wait a moment, Anyu will immediately go and fetch it for you…" As he spoke, embarrassment appeared on his face. "As you know, it is not safe in the tomb; to ensure my safety, I have to be careful."

The Royal Family's peak-level Ruler frowned, feeling like something was wrong, but the person in front of him was indeed Xu Anyu. Since it was him, he would not dare to lie to her.

To her, it was very simple logic.

Therefore, with only a slight hesitation, the peak-level Ruler suppressed her thoughts and waved her hand, "Go."

Qin Yu turned around and left, and he breathed a sigh of relief when he was far away from that hall.

After activating a connection with his Divine Nation to ensure that he was not being followed, he did not stay any longer and went quickly in the opposite direction of where the West Desolate cultivators were.

Since he found the answer that he was looking for, naturally, he could no longer stay there. He was not very fond of teetering on the edge of a rope.

With a thought Qin Yu returned to his original appearance, and just like this, Xu Anyu ceased to exist and the scout of the Dark Night Tribe disappeared forever.

Since both the West Desolate and the West Barbarians knew that the Barbarian King was not dead yet, then what he needed to do now was to hide and wait for the right moment quietly.

It was very simple logic. Qin Yu could not afford to provoke any of these three parties, so he decided to let them fight against each other first.

As for the issue of his identity in the future…if he really needed to disguise himself as someone else, he could find it at the last minute. It would not be difficult.

However, accidents often happened when people let their guard down. Qin Yu, who was pondering about where to hide, suddenly squinted his eyes, as if noticing something.

The next moment…

Hum -

A deafening sound exploded in his ears, causing him to blank out. A sense of panic surged out from the bottom of his heart, which made him regain consciousness instantly.

The whole process only lasted for a second, but Qin Yu's face was extremely gloomy.

He had been 'caught'!

"Little brat, I've finally found you," a calm and old-sounding voice rang in his head.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and said, "Your Excellency, who are you?"

The old voice sounded again, "Since you've already managed to guess who I am, why do you pretend not to know?"

Cold sweat slid down Qin Yu's forehead and onto his cheeks. Qin Yu felt like he was trapped in an ice cave for an eternity.

His heart had trouble beating, and the blood in his body seemed to freeze. It was him…the Barbarian King!

Not long ago, the West Desolate Royal Family's peak-level Ruler was still mocking the Barbarian King as a 'drowning dog', but at this moment, Qin Yu realized that even 'drowning dogs' could be really strong.

Perhaps in the Rulers' eyes, the Barbarian King was rather weak now, and as long as he showed himself he would be suppressed. However, to Qin Yu, this was definitely not the case. He sensed very clearly that if the Barbarian King wanted to kill him, it would be a very simple thing to achieve.

It was not intuition, just that Qin Yu was wrapped up by an invisible aura at this moment. It was extremely soft to the touch, but if necessary, it could also turn into an indestructible terrifying fang in an instant, stabbing Qin Yu's body hundreds of times until he turned into a piece of worn-out sackcloth!

"Little brat, you are a smart person, so it's best if you could keep this intelligence going." The Barbarian King's voice was calm, revealing his strong confidence that everything was in his control.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Your Highness…"

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking, "I am the king of the barbarians, and I have nothing to do with your kind. Your way of trying to stall for time is actually very lame and embarrassing."

Qin Yu groaned internally and his face instantly paled.

"I'm giving you a small lesson so you can be more aware and avoid doing any more stupid things in the future."

Hu -

Qin Yu gasped heavily like a drowning man that had been rescued.

"Now, follow my instructions and go forward into the right passage."

Qin Yu clenched his fists tightly in his sleeves. Countless thoughts ran through his mind, but he chose to suppress them for now…he was not confident that he could protect himself if the Barbarian King wanted to kill him.

Of course, the most important thing now was that the Barbarian King had not yet expressed any intentions of killing him.

At least, not yet. If he continued to hold on, perhaps he could find a chance to escape.

Stepping forward, a fork in the road soon appeared. Qin Yu glanced at it, took a deep breath, and walked into the right passage.

It was pitch black inside, like an endless abyss that could swallow everything.

The sound of his footsteps became increasingly distant, becoming less and less audible, and his whole aura completely disappeared.

……

The deep darkness that was as thick as ink poured into his seven orifices, sealing all communication he had with the outside world.

Qin Yu did not know where was going, but the soft and terrifying aura that wrapped around him was still there.

So, he could only move forward in silence.

During this process, the Barbarian King did not speak again. However, Qin Yu knew that the king was monitoring him from beginning to end.

As time went by, he could feel that the Barbarian King became increasingly passionate, like a long-starved beast that saw its delicious prey. He could vaguely hear the other party's repressed, deep, and extremely greedy panting.

Where did it all go wrong? Why did he become the prey chosen by the Barbarian King? Qin Yu could not figure this out. After all, no matter the destructive power or the degree of threat, he was far from being on par with the West Desolate and the West Barbarians.

The Barbarian King could directly kill him; why was he taking his time to torture him? He must have his reasons for doing this!

Qin Yu's mind was not strong enough to think calmly in such a situation. However, this was the only way he could prevent himself from falling into panic completely.

Bathed in darkness, the future uncertain, that greedy and fiery gaze…anyone else in this situation would panic, do not even bother refuting this.

Suddenly, there was a low voice in the darkness. It rumbled, like a heavy object that was rolling on the ground.

Qin Yu could even feel the ground trembling, and his face changed slightly.

"Little brat, countless years have passed, and you have been my only visitor. Come in." It was an invitation, but it was clear that Qin Yu was not in a position to refuse.

He could not hide at all…taking a deep breath, he moved forward.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

As he took his fourth step, the boundless darkness in front of him receded like a tide.

The light fell into his eyes. It was not very bright, but it still felt piercing, making his eyes reddish and slightly blurred.

He blinked twice forcefully, before he was able to see everything in front of him clearly.

The grand and majestic hall was like a palace where gods lived. The scale was magnificent, and just one glance would make people feel endless awe from the bottom of their hearts.

The huge throne had two black dragons intertwining with each other to form the back of the chair. A figure sat upright and his eyes were shining as they looked at Qin Yu.

Without any reason, Qin Yu knew his identity the moment he saw him…this person was the owner of the imperial tomb.

The Barbarian King!

But the Barbarian King was not the only person in the hall now. On both sides, there were many long tables. On every table, there was a figure sitting there.

No…to be more precise, it was a statue…most of them were half-resurrected statues!

The reason why the word 'half-resurrected' was used to describe them was because most of the statue heads were cracked and were falling off, exposing the shriveled flesh below the neck. However, below the chest, it was still grayish white stone.

At this moment, these 'half-resurrected' stone statues were staring at Qin Yu, their adam's apples rolling up and down. He could hear the sounds of swallowing coming from them.

"Your Majesty, is this your prey? Since you've brought him here, why don't I eat him? Maybe I can be fully resurrected!" a barbarian behind a long table roared loudly as he stared at Qin Yu.

The hall burst with laughter. Although they were laughing, their eyes were cold, as if they were saying…'I would like to eat him too!'

On the black dragon throne, the Barbarian King smiled slightly, "Jiushan, this little brat is not for eating, because he is our only hope for resurrection."

The hall was suddenly quiet, and those laughing 'half-resurrected' stone statues continued to stare at Qin Yu in disbelief.

"What Your Majesty is saying is…"

"That's right, he is exactly the person I was waiting for!" the Barbarian King spoke loudly, his eyes full of fire as he looked at Qin Yu, like he was staring at the most valuable treasure in the world.

Hong -

Violent aura rose into the sky in an instant, and at this moment, the entire hall seemed to have turned into a sea of raging and turbulent waves.

All the 'half-resurrected' stone statues behind the long tables almost went crazy. 'Ka-cha' sounds rang out in the air, as cracks started to appear on the surface of their bodies.

Dark red and viscous liquid started flowing out from these cracks like blood.

Too much time had passed, and they had been asleep for so long that they did not even know how long they had waited. Now that their only hope appeared in front of them, none of them could stay calm any longer.

They needed to vent!

The Barbarian King raised his hand and pointed forward. The darkness behind Qin Yu suddenly lit up. A halo appeared, wrapping Qin Yu within, protecting him from the impact of external forces.

"I know all of you are anxious, but you need to control yourselves. We have waited for countless years for this little brat to arrive. If we kill him accidentally because of our excitement, it will be a huge pity."

The wave of violent aura in the hall slowly subsided, and all the 'half-resurrected' stone statues looked at the Barbarian King with fiery eyes.

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty!"

The Barbarian King smiled and waved his hand, "Yes, we don't have to wait anymore. The time has come to kill everyone and use their flesh and blood to resurrect ourselves."

Roar -

Roar -

As the stone statues roared in excitement, a gust of wind swept through the hall. Then, the 'half-resurrected' statues vanished in a puff of smoke.