Refining the Mountains and Rivers

When anger rose to the head, it was inevitable that one would lose control of their emotions. But after composing themselves, they realized that if they stirred up a mess, they would surely suffer a loss. Perhaps they might even lose their chance to participate in the Demon Ascension Gate because of it. Thinking of this possibility, everyone thoroughly calmed down.

“Senior-apprentice brother Zhou, why are we making way for them? The Elder ordered us to figure out some means to thoroughly smash Shang Yuntai into the ground so that he can never stand back up from the failure!”

“Shut up!” Zhou Ruhai’s eyes were dark and gloomy. “Bring everyone away and don’t cause any more trouble.” He really did want to thrust Shang Yuntai into some hopeless situation, but the most basic premise behind that was that he didn’t fall into some pit with him.

There would be many chances later. It was completely unnecessary to cause trouble during the opening of the Demon Ascension Gate.

…

After leaving the square, the group quickly walked forward. The grumbles coming from up front could be faintly heard.

“Senior-apprentice brother, Zhou Ruhai was definitely doing all of that intentionally! That bastard!”

“In the past he used to be as docile as a dog. Now that he has some momentum behind him, he’s gone wild!”

“We cannot consider things over like this. Once senior-apprentice brother recovers, he must teach that person a lesson!”

Shang Yuntai had a calm expression. “That’s enough. Hurry up and complete your assignments. Keep a low profile and don’t stir up any trouble.” He turned around and left, clenching his fists beneath his robe. There was a look of unwillingness on his face, but it eventually dissolved into bitterness.

He was well aware of his current condition. If he couldn’t dispel the poison in his body, everything would be for nothing.

But all of his efforts recently had left him feeling despair. Perhaps this was his fate, one that he could not change.

Qin Yu glanced at Shang Yuntai’s back. His eyes flashed for a moment before quieting down. Right now, his most important task was to smoothly pass the Demon Ascension Gate and join the Demonic Path. Everyone else could wait for later.

The Demonic Path cultivators that led them forward had ill expressions and the group atmosphere was poor. Luckily, soon after leaving the square, they arrived at their destination. What lay in front of them was an extremely vast and broad temple. It was built from stone and seemed as if it had experienced long years of erosion. It emitted the aura of the years.

Outside the temple, there were many Demonic Path cultivators standing guard; it had an extremely strict defense. The group stopped a thousand feet away, waiting to be handed over to other Demonic Path cultivators to escort them inside.

“Go and pay respects to the demon statue.”

Qin Yu looked up at the large pitch black entrance of the temple. It seemed like the maw of some great creature. A dignified look crossed his face.

The great hall in front actually gave off an expected feeling of suppression, as if there were some extremely terrifying existence within.

But he had already arrived here so he had no reason to withdraw. He followed the crowd and walked into the main hall of the temple.

After taking a step in, everything instantly quieted down. Besides the light sound of footsteps, there was nothing else, as if they had been completely isolated from the outside world.

And now, in this hall, there were already many people sitting down cross-legged. In front of them was a giant demon statue that supported the entire temple.

Eerily lit torches flickering with green flames burned on both sides of the hall. Even so, they couldn’t fully illuminate the demon statue. Most of it was hidden in the shadows, making one instinctively feel a sense of awe.

And standing in front of the demon statue was a person who was as thin as a piece of withered wood and who seemed as if they would fall over at any moment. This person was a Demonic Path priest. He wore voluminous black robes and a strange light shined in his deep and hollow eyes.

“Choose a round cushion and sit down.”

His voice was sharp like needles. It was hard to hear and caused the mind to ache. However, no one dared to react to this; they all chose a round cushion and sat down.

Qin Yu kept his eyes lowered, concealing his shaking heart. This seemingly weak and frail Demonic Path priest actually had soul fluctuations that were as vast as the sea.

If he wanted to, then perhaps just a single sweep of his divine sense would turn half the cultivators in this hall into drooling idiots!

The moment that Qin Yu lowered his head, the Demonic Path priest seemed to notice something. He swept his gaze around and gently furrowed his eyebrows when he didn’t detect anything.

“How interesting. During this Demon Ascension Gate, an incredible little fellow seems to have appeared…” He mumbled to himself. Then, the Demonic Path priest looked around and ordered, “Close the door.”

A giant boulder at the entrance of the temple slowly fell down. As it did, all of the lights within the hall began to gradually extinguish themselves. In the end, all that remained were two giant green torches in front of the demon statue.

The Demonic Path priest turned around. He lifted his hand up high towards the demon statue, loud undulating chants coming from between his lips. The strange and ghostly words cut at the ears, constantly reverberating in the hall.

It was extremely sharp at first, but soon everyone adapted to it. In fact, it even caused a warm feeling to rise within the hearts of those listening. Qin Yu’s head fell into a trance. His eyes subconsciously closed and weariness submerged him like a tide, drowning out his consciousness.

At this time, from within his soul space, the Soul Summoning Bell began to tremble, emitting the clear sounds of a bell. Qin Yu’s hazy consciousness immediately woke up and a cold sweat covered him.

With his soul cultivation and in a state where he was wary and on guard, he had actually been hypnotized. This was simply unimaginable. But on the surface, Qin Yu maintained his initial appearance, not revealing anything unusual.

The bizarre chanting continued, becoming increasingly fast-paced. All of the cultivators in the hall began to shiver, as if they were experiencing some horrifying nightmare.

Suddenly, a cultivator screamed out loud. Before he could make any other response, black flames gushed out from every orifice of his head.

In the blink of an eye, that person was reduced to ashes.

Soon after, two more cultivators were also burnt to death by black flames.

The Demonic Path cultivator stopped his chanting. His gaze was filled with ice-cold hatred and contempt. “You heretics that dare to invade my Demonic Path, I curse you all so that your souls fall into hell forever, never to be freed!”

Strong winds were whipped up. The ashes from the black flames suddenly rose up into the air, outlining human figures that seemed to be screeching in pain.

In the next moment, low roars resounded throughout the great hall. The demon statue opened its mouth, as if it were connected to an infinite pitch-black abyss. The three ash-shaped figures struggled before they were immediately swallowed within.

The Demonic Path priest turned towards the demonic statue. On his face that had wrinkles stacked up in piles, a pious expression filled with reverence appeared. “Unsurpassed demon, your lowliest servant offers the souls of these heretics. Please grant me your demonic seed so that the soldiers you rule over can forever bathe beneath your transcendent dignity.”

The demon statue’s eyes suddenly opened. What spun within those eyes were black vortexes. Purple spots of light flew out from these vortexes. Then, as if they had a mind of their own, they followed the aura of life, falling atop the head of every cultivator in the hall.

The Demonic Path priest turned around. He swept his eyes about, looking at the faces that were illuminated by the weak purple lights. Then, he suddenly flicked his sleeves and four masses of demonic energy shot out, each one entering into the body of a young cultivator.

These four people trembled and woke up at the same time. They looked around and when they saw the purple light above their head, fear and dread appeared in their eyes.

The Demonic Path priest’s voice was icy cold. “If you have awoken then fall to the side!”

The four cultivators didn’t dare to say anything. They crawled up to their feet and respectfully bowed. Then, they hurried to a corner of the hall and used various methods to lock in their auras. Only when they saw the purple light above their heads fly away did they relax a little. Then, when they looked around the hall and at the people sitting all around, pity flashed in their eyes.

Although Qin Yu hadn’t opened his eyes, he still sensed everything that happened in the great hall. Out of the four people that were awoken by the priest, he unexpectedly knew one of them.

At Four Seasons City’s auction house, when the precelestial wood was being auctioned, four profligate young masters had started to brutally compete for it at the start. This person was the one who had yelled loudly that he would double the bid no matter what and said that he had never been defeated.

Sun Zifu…yes, that was his name. This person seemed to come from some tyrannical Demonic Path noble family. As for the three people near him, from their bearing and attitude, it was clear they also came from some uncommon background. The Demonic Path priest had only awoken those four people…it seemed that the purple light above their heads wasn’t anything good.

Qin Yu’s heart tightened. At this time, the Demonic Path priest flicked his finger and the purple lights above everyone’s heads fell down, fusing into their bodies.

Hum –

The purple moon trembled. Faint traces of purple moonlight fell down like endless snowflakes.

When the purple mote of light appeared in Qin Yu’s soul space, before it could do anything it was wrapped up in the snowflakes of purple moonlight.

The purple mote of light shook and trembled. It emitted traces of a cruel and brutal aura, smashing left and right within the cage of purple moonlight.

Qin Yu cursed inwardly. This wasn’t good. Although the purple moonlight had surrounded the mote of light, looking at its response, it might be sensed by the Demonic Path priest. If that were to happen there would be nothing but trouble ahead of him.

As he thought, standing below the demon statue, the Demonic Path priest’s eyes fell down like a bolt of ice-cold lightning. Qin Yu’s complexion didn’t change but his entire body had tensed.  

Then, the deeply slumbering Soul Summoning Bell flew up of its own volition. The purple moonlight scattered. At this time, the mote of purple light had already quieted back down, and it submissively flew into the Soul Summoning Bell.

Outside, a flash of hesitation appeared in the Demonic Path priest’s eyes. After carefully sensing for a long time and determining that the demonic seed fluctuations had returned to normal, he slowly turned his gaze.

A cold sweat drenched Qin Yu’s back. Fortunately for him, the Soul Summoning Bell had used some unknown method to stabilize the purple mote of light, otherwise he would have already been exposed.