Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The crack through the earth wasn’t too wide. Spreading out his hands and feet, Qin Yu could just barely push himself upwards. On other days he would easily have been able to make this climb, but at this moment he found even taking a single step upwards incredibly difficult. Each breath he drew in was like the bellows of a forge, causing his chest to ache with a burning pain, and even his field of sight to turn a little dark.

Ning Ling held tightly onto him, as if she could fall at any moment and plunge to her death. But even in this tense situation, she had reached an unprecedented state of tranquility. After nearly dying, the tight strings that wrapped around her seemed to relax, revealing the true side of her heart.

Qin Yu finally crawled through the crack. He slumped face-down and the two people fell to the ground. They were in a cave with a hole above them. Rays of sunlight poured in, sprinkling over the two.

After taking several deep and heavy gasps, Qin Yu untied the rags covering his body and struggled to sit down. He took out several pills and swallowed them. To manage to escape for this long, he had relied on continuously eating pills. But now the effects of the pills had no way to rejuvenate his exhausted and scarred body and restore his strength.

He was only following his instinct to put up a last ditch effort and not submit to destiny.

The person behind him seemed to hesitate. She gently leaned against his back, “In East Stream Town, there was no alchemy grandmaster, right?”

Qin Yu remained silent.

“Even if you don’t say anything, I know that the so-called Grandmaster was you. Otherwise, would all these pills you ate up have fallen from the skies? Don’t bother trying to say that this whatever Grandmaster gave them to you; even you wouldn’t believe such a lie.” Ning Ling chuckled and shook her head. “Who could have imagined that everything that occurred within East Stream Town was a great play directed by yourself. Even those demonic cultivators suffered greatly at your hands. Hah, I really have no choice but to sigh in admiration.”

Her voice paused and guilt flooded her face. “I’m very sorry. To have such amazing alchemy skills at the Foundation Establishment realm, you definitely should have an unimaginably broad and glorious future awaiting you. But, you were dragged into this mess by me and ended up like this. Qin Yu, can you be honest with me? When I first arrived at East Stream Town that day, did you see anything? We’re going to die anyways, so I don’t want to die with any regrets. If you admit you did then I will also forgive you. Consider this a tiny compensation I can give you.”

Qin Yu stiffened. He wryly smiled, “It was an accident.”

Ning Ling’s eyes widened. She mumbled, “You really did see!” Her complexion suddenly filled with anger. She bit down on his back.

“You said you would forgive me!”

Ning Ling drew back. “Before I forgive you, don’t try to stop me from giving you a bite, you pervert!” Before Qin Yu could respond, she laughed and let out a loose breath, “I suddenly feel much better. However, the price you paid for being a pervert for a mere moment is far too steep. Qin Yu, in truth, I feel that dying like this is a pretty good end for me…”

Her voice gradually faded and she fell asleep. She couldn’t open her eyes again to look at the bright and dazzling sunlight.

In the eyes of others, Ning Ling was a proud daughter of heaven. But hidden within her heart were pains and worries that no one knew about. Her final words left Qin Yu’s heart shaking and he suddenly thought of what he should do. At the very least, he shouldn’t be passively waiting here for death to come.

After several breaths of time, Qin Yu turned and laid Ning Ling on the ground. He looked at her and said, “If a person goes on living, it's always better than two people dying together. Just consider this as me having owed you from a past life.” His hands glowed as he took out a black robe and covered Ning Ling’s body.

The black robe could isolate one’s aura. This was all he could do. As for whether or not he could survive, that would depend on the will of the heavens. He turned around and left the cave. The dazzling sunlight drowned out his figure, as if he were being pulled into another world.

He took a deep breath of crisp mountain air. He checked out his location and raced deep into the mountain forests. Soon, eagles cried above his head. Their sharp eyes had already locked onto his form.

Qin Yu raced forwards, ignoring them. His only thought was to delay Blacksky Demon for as long as possible and try to give Ning Ling a chance to live. He didn’t know whether or not these actions of his were stupid, but what youths didn’t have burning blood flowing through their veins? Maybe dying for a woman he liked and who also liked him back was wrong, but he wouldn’t regret his choice!

“Junior!” Blacksky Demon’s voice sounded out like rolling thunder. It was obvious he had restored a great deal of his strength in these past three days. His eyes blazed with anger before turning into pure disdain.

“You actually led me here alone. Are you trying to delay for time so that Ning Family woman can live? I never thought you would be such a passionate person. But, do you have the qualifications? First I will kill you, and then I will dig three feet deep through this entire mountain until I find her. I will send her off to meet you on the road to the yellow springs!”

Bang –

Magic power thundered out. Without another word, Qin Yu blazed forwards.

Blacksky Demon’s complexion darkened, angry at being ignored. In addition to his previous failures, his rage blazed like an inferno. “There’s nowhere for you to run!”

Woosh –

A Golden Core cultivator stimulated his movement technique to the limit. He was like a vicious tiger rushing towards its prey.

Strong winds blew past Qin Yu’s face and pain tore through his body, nearly leaving him unable to breathe. Even though he knew that his death would soon arrive, he still remained abnormally calm. And it was in this calm that he noticed something ahead which caused a terrifying feeling to develop in his heart.

There was danger!

But with a thought, Qin Yu didn’t stop but instead used the final dregs of his strength to soar towards that danger. He arrived at a cliff and leapt off. Before his consciousness blurred he only saw a deep pool below him, so dark that he couldn’t see the bottom.

“Prepare to die!” Blacksky Demon diabolically grinned, his terrifying aura quickly approaching. But in the next moment, he shouted out in shock, “Just what is this place!?”

Pa –

Qin Yu crashed into the waters. As the waves tumbled around him, he fell unconscious.

It was like he had fallen into an unbelievably long dream. Qin Yu felt something on his chest that was as heavy as a mountain, leaving him unable to breathe. The pain from the lack of oxygen nearly caused him to go crazy, but no matter how much he struggled he couldn’t break free.

Just as Qin Yu thought he would die in this dream, a precious puff of air entered his chest, giving him life like withered seedlings being given a shower of rain beneath a scorching sun.

Hu –

A loud gasp rang out in the darkness. Qin Yu fiercely sat up. He wiped off the blood that flowed from his nose and mouth, finally restoring his ability to breathe. As he thought that he had nearly died by choking on his own blood, he felt as though he had survived a calamity. But these feelings immediately turned to fear.

How am I still alive?

Qin Yu’s thoughts raced and he became much more alert. There was not a single inch of his body that didn’t hurt. He coughed and tumbled into the ground, catching his breath. It seemed that there were temporarily no dangers in this place, otherwise he would have already been chopped into pieces instead of staying alive until now.

He forcefully took out some pills and a few leaves from his storage bag and started chewing them. As Qin Yu recalled the decision he had made to not fall unconscious without any defenses set up, he bitterly smiled and fell asleep once more.

After an unknown period of time, Qin Yu woke up in the darkness again. With a small movement his body popped and cracked. Although he felt sore, it was much better than before and the burning feeling that raced through his organs had dissipated a great deal. These Snake Orchids he ate were definitely effective. They were truly worthy of being medicinal plants that had grown for several hundred years; their effects were astonishing.

He had managed to live!

Qin Yu opened his eyes, his body stiff. It was incomparably dark all around him, but with his naturally amazing eyesight he could just barely make out his surroundings. Around ten some meters away, a strange fish lay on the ground. Its eyeballs were popped out and wide, filled with blood vessels, and hanging from the fangs of this broken fish was something like a human leg.

This strange fish was five to six meters long. Compared to the monster fish that attacked Qin Yu before, it could only be described as an ancestor against a junior. From that, one could imagine how fierce this strange fish was. The question was who had killed it. Could it have been the owner of the leg that was hanging from the strange fish’s mouth?

Qin Yu’s eyes brightened. Blacksky Demon hated him to his bones and had no reason to let off, so he was surprised he was still alive. If so, then there was the possibility that it wasn’t that Blacksky Demon didn’t want to kill him, but that he didn’t have the chance to!

His mind bubbled with excitement. With strength that came from nowhere, Qin Yu forced himself to stand. Carefully, he walked over to the strange fish. And soon he discovered that he had been too careful. This was because from the strange fish’s shattered lips, he could clearly see a dead Blacksky Demon within, his body pierced through by countless fangs. However, that old demon had also been extremely fierce. Before he died he had punched through the palate of the strange fish and even his arm was still trapped inside.

They had perished together!

Qin Yu laughed after a moment of shock. His laughter was so loud that it echoed all around him. He could imagine what had occurred after he fell unconscious. The dangerous aura he felt had come from this strange fish, and when Blacksky Demon followed him down here, he had become entangled in a battle with it. Eventually the two of them killed each other, leaving only him alive.

Otherwise, if one lived, no matter which side managed to win, his fate would have been miserable.

Qin Yu was surprised by his own luck in this matter. Could he really be one of those legendary individuals he had read about, who received the great destiny of the world and was given some invisible and intangible protection? But as he had this thought, he pushed it down into his heart. If he really had such a great destiny then shouldn’t he find amazing magic tools at every corner, find mighty masters at every outing, and be able to surge forwards smoothly and without problems before laughing arrogantly at the world all around him?

When he compared this to himself, it didn’t seem right at all. He was simply overthinking matters. Forget about his luck, it was good enough that he survived! Moreover, since Blacksky Demon died here then his Blacksky Beast Dominion Art should have expired along with him, meaning Ning Ling was safe.

Thinking of this, Qin Yu was in a wonderful mood. He grinned widely. Although he inexplicably became the fisherman who benefited from disaster, this didn’t stop him from profiting from this also. Since Blacksky Demon and the strange fish and died, perhaps he would obtain another storage bag like he did with Li Yunmo?

He took out a short sword from his storage bag. The blade shined with a cold brilliance in the darkness. This was a weapon that a young elite had given to Qin Yu back in East Stream Town in hopes of being on good terms with the ‘Grandmaster’. Although it was only a common magic weapon, it should be sharp enough.

Pah –

The short sword tore through the fish’s lips, revealing the hard gums beneath. Qin Yu was too excited to care for the blood that splashed out in all directions and began to wildly hack away at the giant corpse.

He certainly wasn’t a freak. Blacksky Demon was still pierced through like a hedgehog, so if he wanted to pull the corpse out, he would need to extract the strange fish’s fangs first. Since he didn’t have the strength to push open the fish’s mouth, he could only directly pull out the teeth one at a time! Moreover, this strange fish was likely a Golden Core realm fish monster, so its fangs must be precious; they could even be materials used to refine into magic weapons. This was a truth he didn’t forget.

Pata –

When the last fang was pulled out by Qin Yu, he was still left exhausted by his work. His entire body smelled like blood, but there was actually a smile on his face.

The sharpness and hardness of the fish’s teeth had exceeded his expectations. Altogether, there were a total of 108 of them. If they could be forged into flying swords and he could use his divine sense to control them so that they moved around him, that sort of scenario was so beautiful it let him drooling!

It was definitely necessary to put away such good items for future use. Although controlling objects was a method that Golden Core realm cultivators used, his divine sense far surpassed ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators’, so perhaps he could make use of them someday.

After a period of rest, Qin Yu reached into the tattered fish’s lips and dragged out Blacksky Demon’s corpse. This infamous and mighty demonic powerhouse had eventually become nothing but a pitiful corpse.

Qin Yu wasn’t in the mood to sigh over these things. He tossed the corpse onto the ground and reached back into the fish’s mouth to find the hole that Blacksky Demon had made with his arms. He reached in, wriggling through the brain, until he felt a round bead in his hand.

This round bead was the size of a little stone and there was a small version of the strange fish that seemed to swim inside. It roared at Qin Yu, as if questioning why he was messing with its corpse!