Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Mantuo’s aura was now even more horrifying than that of a genuine evil ghost. When the walking corpses in the square sensed this they began to feel fear. They no longer bothered to chase down the cultivators of the Three United Trade Association and started to run away instead.

“Die! Die! Die!”

With a loud scream, Mantuo’s speed increased. She prowled the square like a cruel hunter.

She still searched for Qin Yu. But, she was controlled by her base instincts and started to intentionally swallow everyone within the square, whether they were cultivators or walking corpses.

Within the mirror world, Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. This was an unexpected development.

If he freely allowed this to continue, Mantuo would grow stronger and stronger until she proved a threat to him.

After coming to a decision, Qin Yu’s eyes revealed a cold and callous look. He took a step through the barrier and arrived in the real world.

Mantuo came to a fierce stop. Even if she was far away, she could still instantly detect that aura that was imprinted into her mind.

Above her head, the black flower petals of the Devil’s Snare started to wildly wriggle. The flesh and blood swallowed within was rapidly absorbed, transforming into strength that empowered her.

“It’s you!”

With a loud shout, Mantuo hurtled forward. The thick fog in front of her instantly blew apart, rapidly spreading outwards to produce a straight channel.

Qin Yu had a dignified expression. Only when he faced her directly right now could he feel how terrifying this woman was. Her despair, gloominess, desire for destruction – all of it clawed at his mind.

If it weren’t for his will being firm, he feared he would have instantly collapsed and been freely swallowed and killed by her!

But this didn’t have much effect on Qin Yu at all. He lifted a hand and punched out, shattering the fog before him.

Following that, thick fog rolled outwards like a dam that had been broken free. It rumbled forward with earth-shaking momentum!

“Ahh!” Mantuo screeched out loud. Black flower petals opened and wrapped around her. Then, she was smashed backwards.

Qin Yu wasn’t happy to see this at all. Rather, his expression became even more serious, because he could tell that this strike hadn’t injured her too much.

The black flower petals possessed an incredible defensive power; they had counterbalanced most of Qin Yu’s strength.

Bang –

After crashing into the ground, the flower petals opened up and Mantuo flew out. There were additional horrendous cracks marring her body.

And what was strange was that no blood flowed out from these wounds.

In fact, as more and more fog surged into her body, the wounds began to rapidly recover…this was an ability only the statues had!

In that instant, killing intent surged in Qin Yu’s heart. He had no idea what happened to Mantuo, but he absolutely would not allow this woman to continue living. Otherwise, there was a high chance she would turn into a great threat.

Qin Yu’s foot crashed into the ground. Then, he flew forward like a tiger descending a mountain. His bones rumbled within him and his blood energy quaked in his body. His entire being was like the arrival of a million mountains, his terrifying aura so vast that it seemed it could turn the entire world into powder.

His eyes began to shine like stars in the clear winter night. A formidable will shot out like an arrow, tearing apart the thick fog.

Will affecting reality. This was a sign of the imminent solidification and substantiation of one’s will. It represented an absolutely terrifying level of will.

Mantuo seemed to sense the threat. She opened her mouth and screeched out loud. But in that moment, it was like she had been pierced through by a sharp arrow as her body curved into an arch.

And by then, Qin Yu’s fist had already arrived. The black flower petals opened up as they tried to swallow him.

Qin Yu didn’t stop. He rushed into the flower petals and broke into them. The flower petals immediately closed up around him and wildly wriggled about. But right after, they bulged outwards.

Bang –

The flower petals burst apart. The Devil’s Snare Flower screeched in pain. Thick blood wildly billowed out from the torn flower petals.

Mantuo’s eyes flickered. At the last moment she had lifted her hands to protect her front.

A heaven-shaking bang followed. The sound of shattering flesh and blood filled the air, leaving one’s scalp tingling.

Mantuo was smashed away. A wild strength tore through her body and her skin instantly cracked apart. The cracks connected to each other, as if they were going to tear her into pieces.

Her two arms that had withstood Qin Yu’s attack were completely ruined. The surface of her arms had disintegrated, revealing the pale white bones beneath that had cracked into numerous pieces.

Crashing into the floor, the hard ground of the square broke apart, as if a plow had torn through the earth.

Rumble rumble –

Dreadful sounds reverberated in the air. Mantuo’s body nearly ran straight through the entire square, leaving behind a straight line in the earth in front of her.

It was like a thick pen had fallen down from heavens, leaving behind a thick stroke of ink that divided the world in half.

Stuck in the mud and stone, Mantuo’s aura had almost completely vanished. The skin and flesh on her back had been worn and scraped away. Her bones were visible as well as her disintegrating organs further below.

She looked up at Qin Yu, the blood red light in her eyes pale and wan. “I will kill you…I will definitely kill you…”

Qin Yu took a step forward, his eyes cold and merciless. “It’s over.”

He lifted a hand and brought it down!

…

The towering divine palace occupied a vast area. Looking at one end, it was impossible to see the other side. However, in comparison to the entire Sea of Bewildering Fog, it actually only occupied a minor part of it.

Shu He drove the ship through the thick fog. He circled around the palace for a long time before coming to another common-looking crack. He stood at the bow of the ship. After looking around for several moments, an excited expression came across his face. He fell to his knees and placed his hands on the deck.

Hum –

A faint blood red light appeared around his fingers and spread out like rippling waves. Blood red markings began to appear all over the ship’s surface.

Thump –

Thump –

A deep and low sound came from the inside of the ship like a heart that was being restarted. The ship started to rapidly shrink. As it did, the parts that had been refined and added on afterwards began to break apart and fall off.

Several breaths of time later, the entire ship had vanished. It turned into a mote of light that fell onto the back of Shu He’s hand. There, the image of a strange beast emerged.

The beast reared back its head and roared. Light glowed in its eyes, as if it would revive at any time.

Taking a deep breath, Shu He muttered, “Life or death, it all depends on whether this succeeds or fails…the countless years of patience have all come down to this day.” He wouldn’t fail, he absolutely would not!

Whoosh –

Shu He flew into the divine palace. His figure drilled into a crack. The interior was narrow and there were many areas where he needed to stop and carefully pass through.

The cliffs of the divine palace were incredibly thick. Only after crossing several dozen miles did Shu He finally reach the exit and see light in front of him.

This was an amazingly large temple. Its walls and floor were all formed from some kind of black crystal. It was as if this black crystal could swallow and imprison the soul with just a single glance.

Just by standing here, one felt as if they were as small as an ant. In the centermost position, there was a thick stone pillar that jutted into the skies.

Shu He stepped forward and flew up towards the top of the stone pillar. Even though he could see the ceiling of the temple, he still couldn’t fly to the end of the stone pillar.

As if he had always been running in place.

Shu He had a calm expression. He didn’t seem to realize the dilemma he was in right now. As he flew up, he had already flown for an entire hour. He had probably flown several hundred thousand if not a million miles.

He looked down. He could clearly see the ground of the temple below him. Looking back up, he could see the top of the temple and yet it remained out of reach.

He flew up for another hour. Then, when he felt as if his body had passed through some kind of invisible barrier, his eyes lit up.

He had finally reached the end of the stone pillar!

A pure white altar was built at the summit of the stone pillar. There was no flaw in its color and it emitted a sacred aura.

Pa –

Shu He stood before the altar. Looking at its surface and seeing his own clear reflection, he couldn’t constrain the excitement in his heart.

“I knew that I would come back here someday and obtain a new life!”

He lifted his hand. The strange beast image on the back of it began to shine. “We have both been harmed by others. Then, today, let us revive within the fresh blood of slaughter. Let us make those people who betrayed and harmed us pay the price they deserve!”

Bang –

Blood red flames lit up, wrapping around Shu He. He screamed out loud, “I offer everyone as sacrifices for repayment…give me back my life!”

Hum –

A phantom of the strange beast appeared above his head. It opened its mouth and spat out auras that flew to the top of the altar, turning into figures.

These people were cultivators from the Three United Trade Association who had boarded the ship into the Sea of Bewildering Fog! But at this time, a sudden change occurred. The figures formed from these auras began to vanish like popped bubbles.

Within the blood red flames, Shu He’s eyes widened and he roared out, “This is impossible!”

He couldn’t accept what was happening in front of him.

For this day, he had waited and suffered. He only had one chance!

Now that he had made his move, he had failed before he even started. He could not allow the consequences of failure to occur!

“Ahh!” Shu He screamed out loud. Then, his eyes shrank. This was because on the altar, several figures had yet to be destroyed. One of them was especially clear and wrapped in faint traces of black fog.

Mantuo!

Shu He reached a hand forward. Blood burst out from his fingers. After the blood left his fingertips, it broke apart, disintegrating into a bloody fog.

Then, as if drawn in by some invisible strength, the bloody fog fused directly into Mantuo’s phantom atop the altar.

Blood red lines appeared, spreading over her entire body. Then, from illusion, she transformed into reality.

Her blood red eyes and gray pupils landed on Shu He. She said with a soft voice, “Thank you.”