Refining the Mountains and Rivers

At the base of the mountain, a vast tract of the forest wilderness had been cleared out, creating an enormous open area. Although it was buried and concealed, a thick scent of blood still lingered in the air.

This was the venue that the Southshine Nation had chosen to host the great competition. It had only been created several days ago. In a manner consistent with the Southshine Nation’s attitude, the competition stage had been built over the bones of countless monster beasts. In other words, buried beneath this land were the corpses of tens of thousands of monster beasts.

It was no wonder that the air was filled with a cold yin chill, and a ferocious killing intent percolated in the wind; it was caused by these buried monster beast corpses. It was said that the reason the Southshine Nation first did this was to show monster beasts that they would not forgive any trespass. Secondly, it was to increase the difficulty of the alchemy competition. If they couldn’t even withstand this slaughter energy, then they couldn’t be considered a true alchemist.

But no matter what their goal was, this in itself was a tremendous display of ability. Only the strength of an entire nation could gather such a strong force to accomplish this in a short period of time.

Right now, Qin Yu was several miles away. He stood atop an ancient tree that had grown for many years. It was over a thousand feet tall and its branches were like great columns.

“Here it is. But it’s probably not a good idea to use this appearance anymore.” Qin Yu whispered to himself. As he spoke, there was a flash of light and a mask as thin as a cicada’s wings appeared. He placed it on his face and it wriggled about, directly fusing with his skin. Then, a strange youth with slightly darkened skin appeared.

He stepped out and leapt free from the treetop. Several breaths later, he swapped into a different colored set of robes and soared straight to the competition field.

When he registered he wore black robes, when he crossed through the wilderness he used his true appearance, and when he entered the competition venue he used a mask...it wasn’t that Qin Yu wanted to be mysterious, but that right now he had no choice but to be discreet. The name Ning Qin had already offended many people, the most important of which was Philosophy Watch. Qin Yu didn’t want to provoke unknown troubles in the future.

As for Qin Yu’s true appearance…he didn’t believe that this grand alchemy competition which swept throughout the entire Southshine Nation wouldn’t be broadcasted live. The You Family was located at the Southern Overwatch Pass. If they discovered Qin Yu’s presence here, one didn’t need to be a genius to understand what they would do.

In summary, the root problem was that his cultivation was too weak, otherwise there would have been no need to be so cautious and keep sneaking around like a rat. He smiled self-deprecatingly and shook his head. With that, he landed on the ground and finally stepped into the scope of the competition field.

In the next moment his complexion changed. It seemed as if he could hear the endless roars of pain, resentment, and unwillingness from monster beasts in his ears. It was like an invisible vortex that tried to pull his soul in.

He was startled for a brief moment before immediately recovering his senses. A dignified expression crossed his face. This was the fierce murderous aura emitted from the countless monster beasts that had been slain; it was truly amazing. But, when he immediately regained his composure after a mere breath of time, he didn’t know how much of a shock this was to the Southshine Nation officiate cultivators who were watching.

When an ordinary cultivator first stepped into the ferocious atmosphere created by the monster beasts, their mind would be seized and if they could restore themselves in ten breaths of time, that was already a commendable achievement. But most of them stood there in a daze for a long period of time, sometimes screaming in fear. Contrasting those people, they felt more and more astonished by Qin Yu.

“Fellow daoist, if you are here to participate in the competition, please show me your hourglass.” A Southshine Nation official said, his expression subconsciously warm.

This person was likely to be extraordinary in the future. They naturally didn’t dare nor were they willing to display the common overbearingness of officials.

Qin Yu took out the hourglass. After careful inspection, the officials didn’t discover any problems and allowed him onto the competition field. They also warmly reminded him, “The field is being set up for the rest of the day. The competition will officially begin tomorrow. Fellow daoist can freely choose a dwelling. If you can adapt to the monster beast slaughter energy in this place faster, it will ensure that you are affected as little as possible during the alchemy process.”

After expressing his thanks, Qin Yu walked in, leaving the cultivators behind who had just regained their composure stunned.

Hey, why did you treat him so well? That wasn’t how you were just now!

Facing their questioning looks, the Southshine Nation officials simply arrogantly raised their chins. If these idiots couldn’t understand something so simple, they were bound to have no accomplishments in life and weren’t worth being seen in their eyes.

“The wilderness trial this time seems extremely simple. I didn’t even do anything and I arrived at the competition field.”

“I heard that too. The difficulty level seems to have dropped by several degrees this time. There isn’t any challenge at all.”

“Haha, my group hurried all the way over here and we didn’t even see a shadow of a monster beast. Our journey was unbelievably smooth!”

“Could the Southshine Nation officials have decided to relax the conditions for participants? If so many people arrive all of a sudden, I fear it will be too packed once the competition begins!”

Shouts filled with joy, excitement, happiness, and all sorts of emotions spread to Qin Yu’s ears. He suddenly thought of White Fengfeng and her group. Although he didn’t know just what the mystic beast fodder medicine was, the effects of it were obvious enough. After the wilderness was cleared out by the Southshine Nation, the vast majority of remaining monster beasts had likely rushed over to them. In this situation, it was natural for the other participants to easily pass through.

Qin Yu’s eyes flashed and he suddenly realized something. In the Land of Divinity and Demons, there was actually a pill that could attract monster beasts in a wide range. As expected, the path of alchemy was broad and profound. It seemed that his previous understanding of alchemy was far too superficial. As he was deep in thought, he could hear some people speaking nearby. His complexion changed and he hurried forwards, avoiding the several people walking behind him.

White Fengfeng came to a stop. She sniffed several times, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Cousin, what is it?” Black Beibei asked.

White Fengfeng sniffed the air again. “I thought I smelled the scent of Big Brother Baoyu. But, there are just too many people here; I can’t find him at all.” Then she wickedly glared. “Black Beibei, be honest with me, where did Big Brother Baoyu go? You must have pushed him away!”

Black Beibei wryly smiled. “Little granny, I’ve already explained it to you many times. Fellow daoist Baoyu left on his own initiative. He said there were matters he needed to deal with. If you don’t believe me you can ask them, I really didn’t force him away.” What ridiculousness, even if he had nine lives he wouldn’t have done that!

Brother Black really didn’t force Senior Baoyu away, and this was the truth, so Jiang Wuhai and Jiang Ziyuan nodded repeatedly, neither of them feeling any sense of guilt.

White Fengfeng had a doubtful expression. “Humph! I’ll believe you for now. If I find out that you’ve lied to me later, then you’re done for!”

Black Beibei had a helpless look. “Okay, okay, if I’m lying to you then you can do whatever you want. How about that?” He quickly shifted the topic. “Today we are here to look for trouble. Let’s not waste any time. Cousin, could it be you don’t want revenge?”

This move was indeed effective. White Fengfeng gnashed her teeth and said, “Go, let’s find them!”

Qin Yu was in a cold sweat. This little girl’s nose was no trifling matter. Even though there were so many people here she was still able to smell him. Luckily, he had responded quickly and hurried away, otherwise things would have been troublesome. However, at this time, he never thought that this brat White Fengfeng would actually have such good luck; she immediately ran into the person she wanted to take revenge against.

With deep enmity and bitter hatred, there was no small talk needed; both sides directly erupted. Qin Yu decided not to leave just yet; he wished to know who wanted to place this brat White Fengfeng in a deathtrap. He chose a remote spot in the distance and stood amongst the crowd as he looked on.

Black Beibei’s previously pitiful and sad expression had immediately transformed into one that was cold and handsome. A dense light shined in his eyes, one thick with killing intent. “Zhao Jiutian, it seems I seriously underestimated you. I never thought that you would invest so much in this little game.”

Across from him stood a youth with narrow eyes and a face like a peach. As he saw White Fengfeng and the others safe, he relaxed for a moment before sneering, saying, “Black Beibei, you had best not falsely accuse others. What does your group running into disaster have to do with me!”

Black Beibei coldly smiled. “How pathetic. You dare to do something like this but you’re too scared to admit it.” He reached out a hand. “Cousin, take out the evidence.”

White Fengfeng’s expression was cold and her attitude faint. There was none of that wild and crazy girl from before. Instead, she seemed noble and proud. She lifted her hand and revealed the mystic beast fodder medicine from the hairpin. A faint smell of blood wafted from it.

Zhao Jiutian’s pupils shrank.

Black Beibei said, “Take a close look. Is this not the unique mystic beast fodder medicine of your Cleansing Temple? If you didn’t do this, then who did!?”

“I wasn’t the one who did it.” Zhao Jiutian was enraged. When he heard from others that the wilderness trial had been extremely easy, he had already started to feel restless. But, he never expected the situation to be so serious. That’s right, he did order someone to set up a small trap, but all he wanted to do was trap White Fengfeng and the others in the wilderness for a day, so that they wouldn’t reach the competition field in time and would lose their rights to participate.

However, he absolutely hadn’t and wouldn’t have dared to use the mystic beast fodder medicine. That was no longer just hindering them, but was stark naked murder! Zhao Jiutian felt a cold sweat form on his back. No matter how high his status was, if these people in front of him had died, he feared his fate would have been miserable. Shit, just what was happening, this was just the same as trying to kill him!

He couldn’t admit it even if he died, otherwise it would be far too troublesome.

Black Beibei sneered again, “The mystic beast fodder medicine is something that only direct descendants of Cleansing Temple can use, and the enmity between us serves as sufficient motive for you to do so. You said that it wasn’t you who did this? Alright, I’ll give you a chance to clear your name. The wilderness’ White Family has a secret technique called Soul Searching that can determine whether a cultivator is speaking truth or lies. I just happen to know this secret technique, so if you really have a clear conscience, then let me try it!”

Zhao Jiutian flatly refused. “Black Beibei, don’t push things too far. As part of the direct lineage of Cleansing Temple, how can I allow the likes of you to freely slander me! That’s right, it's true that the mystic beast fodder medicine is only permitted to direct descendants, but throughout the years, there is inevitably a certain amount that has been spread to the outside world. Based on the mystic beast fodder medicine alone, you still cannot accuse me of this!”

“So you’re saying you don’t dare to let me try?”

“Humph! Do you think I would cooperate if some random cat or dog asked me? I don’t have that much time! Black Beibei, if you have evidence then take it out. If not then I’m not playing your little game!”

At this time, a light voice resounded in the air. “Before we have fully investigated the matter of my family’s miss encountering danger, you cannot leave.” It was unknown when, but a middle-aged man suddenly appeared at the side of White Fengfeng. Though he spoke softly, his voice in the ears of others was like massive boulders crashing into a great lake, causing endless waves to form.

“Uncle Ming.” White Fengfeng bowed, her young face cold and merciless. “I’ll have to bother you with this matter.”

Ming Siyuan nodded. “Miss, rest assured. Since I am here, I will certainly investigate this.”