Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu frowned. He looked at the maid’s stunned and dull expression and then at her chest which was wetted with tears. He was immediately startled and then coughed, hurriedly asking, “Congcong, where is Aunty Hong?”

The maid suddenly developed a bit of resentment in her heart. But as she thought about how this person had saved the miss’ life, she suppressed herself and bowed, “Mister Qin, Aunty Hong has asked me to pass a message on to you. After you come out, you should immediately leave, otherwise disaster might befall you.” She continued to sob as she said, “Aunty Hong…Aunty Hong, she…she went to Waterfall City…”

“Waterfall City?”

What was this puzzled expression for? Even though the maid had a weak and obedient personality, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t become annoyed. She clenched her teeth, “That is where the inn’s headquarters is located. Aunty Hong was the one who strongly advocated to accept Philosophy Watch’s pill commission request, so now she has no choice but to go to Waterfall City and accept punishment.”

Qin Yu looked at the maid’s indignant appearance and rubbed his chin. “Who said I failed in refining the pill?”

The maid’s eyes popped open. “Eh!?”

Time rewinded back to yesterday night.

Within the alchemy room, the little blue lamp’s brilliance was like deep blue sea water, clear and profound. The pitch black mass that was bathed in it began to dissolve without warning. Then, once all the blackness was separated, all that was left over was a dazzling green light.

Qin Yu, who had been preparing to leave, suddenly revealed a stunned expression. He bitterly smiled. How could he know that the god blood would separate at the last moment? And it seemed extremely different from how it was in the beginning.

But, he couldn’t keep his mind lingering on such things. Because there was still four hours before the sun would rise. If he grasped this time he still had a chance of completing a single refinement attempt. But if he were to delay things for too long, it would influence his withdrawal plan and even cause him to fail.

After a short period of hesitation, a look of resolve flashed in Qin Yu’s eyes. Since he had one more chance then he shouldn’t give up. After all, the opportunity that the inn gave him was of critical importance. If he could handle it correctly then it would greatly improve his current situation and allow him to step onto the path towards the Immortal Sect sooner.

Qin Yu had always been a decisive person. Since he made his decision, he rid himself of all excess thoughts. His finger cut through the void as he lit the Fleeting Flame Furnace.

He abandoned all extraneous thoughts, fully immersing his mind into what was before him. Then, the pill refining process continued at an inconceivably smooth pace. It was as if the Divine Blood Pill already existed and all he needed to do was toss in the various materials according to their order.

At dawn, the Divine Blood Pill had been successfully refined in the final moments. When the first ray of sunlight emerged across the horizon, the Fleeting Flame Furnace opened and a deep blue pill appeared and fell into Qin Yu’s hand.

There was no sound and no strange occurrence. Qin Yu had a certain degree of understanding regarding the Divine Blood Pill, so he was surprised by this. Did he succeed? Or did he fail? He thought for a moment. Then, relying on the little blue lamp, Qin Yu was finally able to find out the reason for why the phenomenon hadn’t occurred. Because of this, he had delayed until this moment to come out.

The maid’s face flushed red. She stammered. “M-m-Mister Qin…y-y-you…refined it?” She bit down on the tip of her tongue. “But when the Divine Blood Pill is born, there must be a phenomenon.”

Qin Yu lightly coughed. “Well, I’m not too sure about that.” This was something that involved the little blue lamp. Since he couldn’t explain it, he might as well pretend to know nothing.

As Liar Qin was muddling his way through an explanation, in the far-off Waterfall City, a meeting of directors was already underway. The chief alchemist was stern and regal as he pointed out the difficult predicament that the inn now faced.

“Philosophy Watch may have been the one to send the pill commission request, but after this failure, it is impossible for them to be the only ones who will take advantage of the inn while we are down. All of our other competitors will ruthlessly attack us.” He swept his eyes around the meeting room, a bitter and pained look on his face. “I already said that Qin Yu would never succeed in refining the pill. But, no one believed me, otherwise how could things have reached this point?”

All of those in attendance felt a chill run through their hearts. They knew that the chief alchemist was only using this incident as a pretext to begin clearing out his opposition.

Lin Weiwei sat in the first seat, her eyes calm and serene, as if she didn’t hear any of this at all. Behind her, the assistant kept her head lowered. But from just a single glance, one could see the cold chill that lingered around her, so much that it chilled one to the bone!

Jin Cheng frowned. He was surprised by how Lin Weiwei was. But now that today’s momentum was with him, there was no way he would retreat. “Miss, on that day you said you would undertake every consequence of failure. Do your words from then still apply?”

Lin Weiwei looked up. But before she even opened her mouth, her assistant spat out icy cold words. “Chief alchemist, please remember your position and recognize the status of the miss. Do you plan on revolting?”

Jin Cheng remained indifferent. “As one of the inn’s chiefs, I have the qualifications to act in a supervisory role. Moreover, this matter was willfully done by this miss alone, and everyone here today can bear witness to that. I do not dare to defy my superiors, but this matter has caused enormous harm to my inn, and thus it’s natural to expect an explanation.”

The assistant coldly said, “If there is an explanation required, you shouldn’t be looking for the miss. Chief alchemist, you should fully clarify the situation before you continue speaking.”

Jin Cheng furrowed his eyebrows. “Does the miss plan on shifting responsibility onto someone else?”

The assistant’s eyes turned even colder. She clapped her hands and the doors to the meeting room opened. Aunty Hong stepped in, her eyes calm as she said, “In this matter, all wrongs were due to me. It has nothing to do with the miss.”

Jin Cheng spun around, his eyes as sharp as arrows. “Hong Rui, with you alone, I fear you lack the qualifications to shoulder all of the responsibility for this.”

Aunty Hong’s remained calm. “Miss went to cultivate and temper herself in an area that was within my jurisdiction, thus she owed me a favor. And it was me that used this favor to ask the miss to consent and allow Mister Qin to accept the commission request. I originally wanted to use this opportunity to push up Mister Qin in exchange for merits so that I could enter Waterfall City and become a genuine manager. But in the end I failed and created enormous troubles for the inn. Every fault that occurred is because of me, and I am willing to accept any punishment.”

The meeting room was sent into an uproar. Many eyes fell on Lin Weiwei and revealed looks of stunned surprise and awe.

Concerning this matter and what really happened, everyone here was smart enough to know the truth of the situation. This crafty escape plan was like a cicada shedding its shell, leaving nothing behind, and it was beautifully executed. It easily pushed all troubles onto Hong Rui’s body. And most importantly, the miss was able to have her accept all punishments without any complaints at all. Such methods left everyone shocked.

Jin Cheng paled. He was well aware that if Hong Rui stubbornly insisted on this, there was no way he could launch any more attacks against Lin Weiwei. Like this, his great opportunity would come to an end. He took a deep breath and said, “Hong Rui, do you know what you are saying right now? Do you know how severe the consequences will be? Are you really prepared to accept the punishment for undertaking the consequences of this?”

The atmosphere was cold and tense!

Aunty Hong fell silent and then said, “It’s my mistake; it’s always been my mistake. There isn’t anything else to say about it. If the chief alchemist wishes to punish me, I can only accept my fate.”

“Good! Good! Good!” Jing Cheng smiled in anger. “Despite all of this today, the miss is still part of the reason why we have today’s troubles, so she still must bear some responsibility. So, as far as punishment for Hong Rui is concerned, the miss cannot intervene at all.”

It seemed he was planning on being ruthless.

Lin Weiwei frowned. The assistant hurriedly reached out and pulled at a corner of her clothes, saying, “Everything is as the chief alchemist says.” Then she continued to speak in a lowered voice, “Miss, as long as you can retain your current authority, there will always be a chance in the future to pardon Hong Rui.”

Lin Weiwei glanced at the calm Aunty Hong. She sighed inwardly and slowly nodded.

Jin Cheng’s ice flashed with savagery. “Hong Rui, for your own selfish interests you have harmed the inn’s interests and caused the inn tremendous harm. Today, with my status as the chief alchemist, I punish you to enter the Cave of Eternal Cold to pick ice cold plants for the rest of your life, never to be forgiven!”

…

The young maid had never felt her heart beat so quickly. But as she thought about Aunty Hong’s situation and the trouble that the miss was in, she felt endless strength surge out from her small body.

She stood outside the meeting room, tensing her expression and making sure her voice didn’t waver. She took out a token and said, “I am the miss’ close assistant. There is an important matter that I must immediately see the miss about. Open the door!”

The guards glanced at each other. The token was real, but it only represented this young maid being close with the miss. Right now in the meeting room there was a high-level meeting occurring between directors. The chief alchemist had passed down strict orders that no one was to enter.

Just now when Hong Rui entered, it was because the assistant had already made earlier arrangements. The guards were already at a loss on how to explain this to the chief alchemist. If they also allowed this young assistant to enter, then they really feared there would be no chance for them to explain and they would be thoroughly placed on the side of the miss. If that happened, things would become far more troublesome for them.

The guard commander replied without expression, “While the meeting is underway, no one is allowed to enter and cause a disturbance. If you wish to see the miss, then wait here.”

Indeed, they won’t open the gate for me. The young maid was flustered, but she couldn’t delay any further. She clenched her teeth, “How dissolute! Just who are you to block my way! This is an extremely vital matter! If you delay me, you won’t have enough heads to be chopped off!”

Ah…I never thought there would be a day when I would be so imposing and mighty. Although I’m scared and embarrassed, why do I feel so happy and satisfied?

The guard commander’s complexion stiffened for a moment before he was immediately angered. With his status, he had actually been scolded by a mere young maid. Even if she was one of the miss’ people, she still didn’t have the qualifications to do this. He stepped forwards, ready to let loose his anger, but the maid was a step faster than him. She forced herself right in front of him and raised her head, coldly saying, “I’ll say this one more time. Screw out of my way, otherwise from this day forth, none of you will rest in peace!”

Ah…I seem to have become a bit too addicted to this play. It’s just as the second miss said; women should be more aggressive.

The young maid seemed to have found her rhythm. She fiercely thrust her chest forwards, frightening the guard commander and causing him to instinctually jump back. A cold sweat formed on his forehead. He suddenly thought that if this young girl really was someone close to the miss, then if he bumped into her and she falsely accused him of sexual harassment and even accused him of having improper thoughts towards the miss, then things would really blow out of proportion.

Looking at the sneering face of the maid, the guard commander’s heart became even colder. He thought that this woman really was vicious in her methods.

“Screw off!” Seeing that the guard commander was scared, the young maid exploded with an even greater momentum. She took two steps forwards and kicked down the meeting room doors.

Bang –

The two exquisite and expensive doors, ones that were custom-crafted and shined with radiant light, were suddenly sent flying away, massive chunks of dust and wood sweeping into the air.

Perhaps it was because the person who built and installed the doors never imagined that there would be someone so rude and dissolute in front of such a solemn place like the meeting room, thus they never strengthened the doors with array formations.