Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu didn’t know whether he would become the fish food that the natives were looking forward to with such anticipation. All he knew was that he was tired. Ever since cultivating the Demon Body, he rarely felt like this. His hands and feet felt as if they had become stone. After being thrown into these waters that were thicker and heavier than mud, every swing of his body required him to go all out. His arms, waist, chest, thighs, ankles…every inch of his flesh and blood had a stringent pain burning through them. He opened his mouth in heavy heaving gasps like a worn out bellow.

And the center of the lake still seemed so far away. Even though he felt as if he were swimming for such a long time, he wasn’t able to approach it at all.

Suddenly, an undercurrent passed through the lake. Qin Yu stuffily coughed and his body was immediately enveloped and dragged down below the surface. His chest felt like a mountain was being pressed down upon it. In the pitch black darkness, the oppression and constrained feeling caused fear to instinctually swell up in one’s soul. Qin Yu forcefully stabilised himself and waved his hands and feet. After several breaths of time, he managed to work his way free from the undercurrent.

The bottom of his feet felt slightly cool as if he had kicked against something. Then, a stabbing pain transmitted up his leg and a bit of crimson color floated up. The smell of blood spread through the black lake waters and the fish hidden deep below seemed extremely excited by this, causing the water to bubble up.

Many of the natives that saw it cried out in alarm and swam away, not daring to approach where Qin Yu was. Although they had blood energy protecting them, if they weren’t careful and were surrounded by too many fish, there was a chance they would be gnawed upon until they became bones.

On the lake shore, Tusen laughed. “I said that it was impossible for him to reach the island. He couldn’t even make it halfway there. How about it?” He said, his face full of satisfaction.

The titans around him all smiled in joy. Although they didn’t know why the Totem gave all life forms the qualifications to enter the sacred lake, in the eyes of the titans, the sacred lake was their exclusive lucky chance. They would feel only happiness if a human outsider were to die.

But at this time, the tumbling waters broke apart and Qin Yu swam out, gasping for breath, his arms and legs quickly pushing against the water. His face was white and fear was still evident on his face. Although he had no idea what it was he stepped on, it was without doubt that it was vicious and bloodthirsty.

With just one strike, a long gash had been torn on his leg, and it was likely that the creature’s teeth carried some sort of toxin. The area around his wound started to turn numb, without any feeling at all. Even the speed at which his wound regenerated slowed down and blood kept leaking out.

Because of this, a massive number of underwater life forms were drawn over, creating the current situation. Luckily, these ferocious bloodthirsty beings were suppressed deep below the waters by some invisible strength. Otherwise, if they were allowed to rise wherever they wanted, everyone in the lake would die.

Qin Yu stubbornly floated on the surface of the water even as he forced the blood energy in his body to circulate and force out the toxins in his blood a little at a time. Gradually, traces of pain reappeared around his wound along with the slight itchy feeling of his flesh knitting back together.

The smell of blood disappeared and the surface of the water calmed down. Qin Yu took a deep breath, feeling his heart tense. The waters roiled up above but the waters below were even more difficult to deal with. If it continued like this, he wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

He looked up at the island in the center of the lake and clenched his teeth. He pushed himself forward, a little at a time.

On the shore, Tusen’s lips twitched and his face paled. The words he had just spoken were still fresh in the ears of everyone…this was truly a resonant slap!

“Humph! Even if you managed to overcome one hurdle, it's impossible for you to reach the island at the center of the lake! You still haven’t encountered any true difficulties yet!”

Qin Yu’s frenzied movements had unexpectedly surpassed the expectations of the natives. These large fellows with incomparably powerful bodies all revealed strange expressions as they saw a human outsider that was even more aggressive than some of them.

There were even some natives who had been thrust back who suddenly roared out loud. Blood energy roared within their bodies and their hands and feet wildly swung about as they surpassed Qin Yu!

“Human outsider, you are still far from comparing with us! You want to reach the island at the lake’s center? Keep on dreaming!” Some natives howled out.

In the lake and on the shore, many titans loudly applauded.

But what a pity, Qin Yu didn’t understand them and even if he did he wouldn’t have cared. Right now, every ounce of his strength was precious and he wasn’t even willing to waste the time turning his head.

Floating on the black waters was a vine that was over a dozen meters long. It had broad leaves that emitted a pale green light and it was actually able to repel the pressure from the lake. Seven cultivators had grabbed onto this vine, holding it to prevent themselves from sinking to the bottom of the lake.

But the vine had a limited amount of buoyancy. Even if these cultivators were able to grab onto it, they still had to constantly push against the lake waters to keep themselves barely suspended atop the surface.

At the source of this vine was a dignified young cultivator. Countless roots tightly wrapped around his body, constantly sucking out the strength of his blood energy to combat the pressure of the lake waters. The cheers and applause of the titans transmitted from far away and the young cultivator opened his eyes. His dark and weary gaze looked upwards with effort.

Suddenly, his complexion changed and he revealed a happy look. “Qin Yu?”

Weak shouts mixed with excitement suddenly fell into Qin Yu’s ears as he was rushing towards the center of the lake. Qin Yu came to a pause.

He looked up towards the source of the sound and immediately recognized him…Tianyun!

He was the army officer from the Southern Overwatch Pass that had helped him join the Beast Hunting Battalion and escape the You Family.

Qin Yu had already learned from the titans that there were several other human cultivators who had accidently intruded into their tribe and had been tossed into the sacred lake. However, he never imagined that Tianyun would be among them.

Soon, Qin Yu revealed another look of surprise. Amongst the cultivators that were grabbing onto the green vine and struggling to stay afloat, there was actually another familiar face.

Xiong Yuane was originally like the others: filled with joy. Since Tianyun knew this person and this person also had the ability to swim through the lake, perhaps he had the ability to save them. But when she saw Qin Yu’s face, all blood drained from her own. She was so frightened that she almost forgot to move her arms and feet. She sank a little before violently kicking her way back out.

It was him! It was actually him!

Wasn’t it said that when devil apostles transformed into devils, they would lose all sense of reasoning and finally destroy themselves? How come he was still alive? And how come she couldn’t see any signs of his devilization?

Xiong Yuane was completely perplexed. She lowered her head in fear that Qin Yu would see her. But soon, she felt a gaze fall upon her.

It was over, it was over! He had seen her! He would definitely kill her to eliminate all witnesses!

Xiong Yuane had a look of despair.

“Is that really you?” Tianyun was pleasantly surprised. “Qin Yu, I am barely keeping us afloat with this green vine. Please bring us to the island at the center of the lake!”

Qin Yu swept his eyes around and silently frowned. They were already at their limit on the vine and would sink soon. If he couldn’t borrow strength from the vine and even had to drag them forward, he would undoubtedly lose much more strength.

Soon, Qin Yu came to a decision; he simply had no method of bringing them all to the center of the lake. If he helped them now, they would all die together.

Tianyun had shown him graciousness before so he couldn’t watch him die and do nothing. But the only thing he could do was to reach the island at the lake’s center and then figure out another way to save them.

Qin Yu turned his eyes. His arms and feet struck the water as he continued rushing towards the island, his speed a bit faster than before.

He could tell that Tianyun and the others were greatly exhausted; they wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

“Motherfucker, he actually ran away like that!”

“Bastard! For better or worse we are all humans and Tianyun knows him! He’s actually so heartless!”

“If he doesn’t rescue us, he can at least say some words to us! To just flee like that, that’s simply despicable!”

The cultivators that relied on the vine to survive all revealed angry looks.

Tianyun bitterly smiled and shook his head. The sacred lake of this titan tribe was far too horrifying; it already wouldn’t be easy for Qin Yu to survive on his own, so how could he save them? Still, even though he knew this, Tianyun felt a little bit uncomfortable in his heart. All things considered, he could be said to have saved Qin Yu’s life to a degree.

Even if you don’t want to save me, do you need to be so callous and indifferent in your actions?

Only Xiong Yuane breathed a sigh of relief as Qin Yu left. She glanced over the cursing cultivators and secretly sneered. What a bunch of idiots. If Qin Yu actually came over, they really would die then!

Qin Yu could hear angry curses coming from behind him. He ruefully smiled and didn’t say anything. Only by preserving every bit of strength he had would he be able to reach the island at the center of the lake.

Taking advantage of the small gaps between his arms as they went up and down, Qin Yu glanced at the island in the lake center. His heart loudly thumped and his complexion turned ugly. This lake didn’t seem too large. Even if his speed wasn’t particularly fast, he had been swimming for so long he should at least be halfway there. But now, the island at the center was still as distant as before. From when he stood on the shores of the lake, there wasn’t any difference at all.

Although the black lake waters were horrifying, he could still overcome it. What left him truly wallowing in despair was that he couldn’t find any hope of surviving. Although he had some strength left, his body was becoming increasingly weary. If he had to be optimistic about it, he estimated he could maintain this pace for another hour. If he didn’t reach the island at the lake’s center by then, the consequences would be…Qin Yu clenched his teeth. He suppressed the rage and dread in his heart and forced himself to continue forward.

“Human outsider, we titan warriors will not lose to you!”

“With you alone, you want to mount the island at the lake center? Dream on!”

“Brave titan warriors, we are the true believers of the Totem! How can we allow ourselves to be inferior to a human outsider? We must rush to the center!”

“Rush!”

Six titans roared forwards. They struggled through the black lake waters, their eyes red as they pushed themselves to their limits.

Qin Yu heard their roars. Although he didn’t know what they were saying, he still felt a bit comforted. At the very least, these titans were still swimming in the lake waters with him and their positions weren’t too different. In other words, he hadn’t yet fallen into a hopeless situation and this was still within the so-called testing scope of the Totem.

As long as he persisted, there was definitely a chance of survival. He didn’t believe that his destiny was to be dragged down to his death by a lake!

Suddenly, there was a cry of alarm. A titan warrior not too far away sunk beneath the surface. Then, another approaching female titan roared out and vanished below.

Undercurrent!

Qin Yu’s complexion changed. He only had the time to tense his body before he was wrapped up by a horrifying current. Everything around him turned dark.

This undercurrent was even more terrifying than the one he had encountered before. And, what left him in even greater despair was that there was more than one. Beneath the calm surface of the lake waters, everything had transformed into a wild storm of waves. Undercurrents tumbled and roared, colliding and fusing, shaking all over.

Qin Yu was forcefully wrapped within, tossed about left and right. A sudden undercurrent slammed into him and the undercurrent he was wrapped in. He felt as if he had been struck by a mountain. He felt a fierce pain in his chest as well as the sound of cracking bones.

He spat out a mouthful of blood. The rest was stubbornly swallowed back down by him. Even if suppressing his blood energy from escaping would lead to even more severe injuries, he had no choice but to do it. The terrifying life forms at the bottom of the lake were sensitive to blood, and Qin Yu had a vivid memory of them. If they surrounded him, he was dead for sure!