Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The sun began to sink past the western horizon. The light of the setting sun penetrated through the windows, illuminating the great hall of the Internal Affairs Division. The sitting beast trainers had already finished their conversations and were now waiting impatiently.

Everyone’s time was precious. They had put down their work temporarily so that they could come here and enjoy the fun, but they never imagined that it would delay them for an entire evening.

Even when Sha Liuhe handed in his mission yesterday, the appraisal board had only spent a quarter hour before they gave out the final evaluation result. Could the result of Ning Qin’s mission be even more complex than Sha Liuhe’s? What sort of joke was this!?

Many people looked over. Because at this time, it seemed that only he had the qualifications to speak up and inquire into what the situation was about.

Sha Liuhe opened his eyes. After letting out a light sigh, he stood up and walked towards the counter.

“Mister Sha, is there any way I can help you?”

Sha Liuhe smiled. “I am just curious about when the appraisal board will announce the evaluation result of Mister Ning Qin’s mission. You should know that if Mister Ning Qin’s performance is inferior to my own, it means I will obtain a reward from the pavilion…so, if possible, I hope you can inquire into the situation for me.”

“Ah, so it’s like this…” The Internal Affairs Division cultivator had an awkward expression. Sha Liuhe remained smiling as before. But, the aura he gave off was increasingly oppressive, making it harder and harder for the Internal Affairs Division cultivator to breathe.

“You sightless fool, how dare you disrespect Mister Sha like this? I will punish you with facing the wall for a month, so hurry and get out of the way!” Bian Changli was all smiles as he stepped forward. “Although the appraisal board is a part of the Internal Affairs Division, they actually have an extremely high status and aren’t within the domain of our jurisdiction. However, since this is Mister Sha’s inquiry, I shall ask them. Please wait a moment; I will be back soon.”

Sha Liuhe smiled. “I’ll have to trouble Director Bian.”

“No need, no need!” Bian Changli turned around and ordered, “Go and ask the appraisal board if there is a result for Mister Ning Qin’s mission yet.”

An Internal Affairs Division cultivator nodded and hurried away.

But before Bian Changli could offer any more flattering words, that Internal Affairs Division cultivator returned. Bian Changli frowned. Just as he was about to shout out a question, he suddenly saw the silver-haired old man walking in from the back. Bian Changli quickly spoke some words of apology to Sha Liuhe before hurrying over and bowing, “Lord Steward, why have you come here?”

He glanced over at Yun Die who was following by the side. Her expression was light and there was even a trace of pride on her face.

This expression didn’t seem right. Could it be that Ning Qin’s mission had a good evaluation?

Jiang Yiyun nodded. “There are some things I need to deal with.” He side-stepped the question and continued, “Are you the one who sent someone to ask about the evaluation result?”

Bian Changli’s heart tensed. He respectfully said, “Reporting to the steward, it was Mister Sha Liuhe who was impatient to see the result…” Before he finished speaking, the meaning behind his words was already clear. He had withdrawn and placed himself in a completely neutral position. All of his previous fawning had disappeared.

His intuition told him that something definitely wasn’t right!

“Oh. So it was like that.”

Jiang Yiyun looked deeply at Bian Changli and sighed inwardly at how keen his sense of smell was. This was a man who had managed to play his way into the position of Internal Affairs Director and stay there for over a dozen years. He indeed had some skills.

He glanced over at Yun Die. Looking at that expressionless face, Jiang Yiyun’s eyes flashed. He had already grasped some of her thoughts.

Whether it stemmed from the behavior of youths wanting to show off, or whether it was because she wanted to defend her teacher’s dignity, she clearly wanted to give a resounded slap to those present.

If it were anyone else, Jiang Yiyun wouldn’t interfere so that he could avoid offending anyone. But, when this involved currying favor with a grand expert, then his choice became clear.

Jiang Yiyun lightly coughed. He used a bit of his cultivation in his cough, and the great hall suddenly fell silent. All eyes gathered upon him. “Miss Yun Die. Recently, there have been some dangerous rumors being spread around. Should I announce Mister Ning Qin’s mission evaluation results in front of everyone here?”

Since you want to slap the faces of those present, then I will serve as your foil so that you can enjoy this moment even more.

The quiet great hall suddenly became even more silent. Several people furrowed their eyebrows. They were beginning to discover that today’s play seemed to have deviated from the expected path.

Sha Liuhe’s heart skipped a beat. Jiang Yiyun’s attitude seemed to confirm a sinking suspicion of his, one that he didn’t want to face.

His smile vanished and a gloomy look crossed his face. But he quickly took a deep breath and composed himself.

Even if this surname Ning could produce an outstanding answer, it was absolutely impossible for it to compare with his medium-grade heaven-step evaluation result.

It was just the difference between stepping into a swamp and being completely trampled upon. Even if Ning Qin emerged from this looking a little better than expected, as long as he didn’t let him go, he could still cause Ning Qin’s face to sweep the floor and eventually force him to roll out of Rising Lake!

At that time, Yun Die would still be his.

Sun Xiangzhang let out a light breath. He softly said, “It seems that Mister Ning Qin’s mission evaluation is much better than we imagined.”

Zhou Xinhong smiled. “Since Mister Ning Qin already has…such strength, it is within reason for him to complete the mission in an outstanding manner. Xiangzhang, it seems you worried too much.”

“The treatment plan was flawed from the start and yet he was able to complete the mission splendidly. What if the treatment plan had been perfect from the start?” Xu Yuanbai shook his head. “I cannot believe that Mister Ning Qin’s evaluation result will be higher than Mister Sha Liuhe’s.”

Zhou Xinhong furrowed his eyebrows together. He glanced at Sun Xiangzhang and said, “Perhaps this is Mister Ning Qin’s style. He likes to challenge himself with difficult scenarios.”

Xu Yuanbai was expressionless.

Sun Xiangzhang wryly smiled. “Mister Zhou, please rest assured. While I do worship Mister Ning Qin, it was indeed he who made a mistake here.”

His expression was solemn and respectful. “No matter how strong or weak one is, they should always treat the mission with the utmost earnestness. As beast trainers, this is one of our most basic professional ethics.”

His words were filled with a heavy weight.

Sun Xiangzhang was silent for a moment. Then, he continued to say, “Mister Xu, Mister Zhou, if anyone has criticisms after this, I hope you can help explain to them.”

Zhou Xinhong and Xu Yuanbai nodded. “Of course.”

In truth, the three of them were already aware of the situation. Since Ning Qin’s mission evaluation was good, he wouldn’t be thrust into the abyss. At most there would be some obstacles placed before him. But, he actually missed out on the greatest chance to gain attention after entering Sky Declaring Pavilion, as well as missing out on a reward that was highly likely to be very precious.

This was inevitably a serious loss.

Eyes began to gather on Yun Die’s face. Her expression was calm and placid. She already understood Jiang Yiyun’s thoughts. He wanted to help her create a larger spectacle and give these people a more painful slap? Then, she won’t be impolite by refusing!

Her eyes were still and without waves. She glanced at the faces of the beast trainers present. Then, she said in a soft voice, “My teacher is low profile and doesn’t like attention. However, since all of you gentlemen have gathered here, you clearly must be curious as to what the evaluation result is…in order not to disappoint everyone, I can only violate teacher’s wishes a little and hope that I am not punished for doing so.”

Jiang Yiyun smiled. “Mister Ning Qin is a generous and benevolent man. I’m sure he wouldn’t make things hard for Miss Yun Die.” He took out a jade slip in front of everyone. “Concerning Mister Ning Qin’s mission, this is the final result from the appraisal board. I hope you can all observe it together!”

He poured magic power into the jade slip. The jade slip suddenly released a dazzling light. The light gathered in the air, forming characters – high-grade heaven-step.

Hu –

The great hall fell deathly silent. Even the sounds of breathing disappeared. The deep silence formed an intense suppression. When it fell on everyone’s chest, it caused their eyes to glaze over.

High-grade heaven-step…high-grade heaven-step…high-grade heaven-step…they repeated these four simple words in their heads over and over, and nothing changed.

“Impossible!” Sha Liuhe roared out loud. His face was twisted in anger and he looked even uglier than a person who had swallowed a fly. “I don’t believe that Ning Qin can obtain such a result!”

The silence was broken and numerous beast trainers regained their composure. They all furrowed their eyebrows together.

All of them recalled the treatment plan. There was an enormous flaw in the treatment plan to begin with, so it would have been hard to achieve even a standard result, much less a high-grade heaven-step result. That was an almost mythical evaluation result.

No wonder Sha Liuhe has been so rude and lost his temper…from his angry expression, from his shock and shaken eyes, his look of disbelief….suddenly, a different thought leapt into everyone’s minds. Was there another reason behind all of this? Or to be more direct, was the evaluation result a lie?

Ning Qin had joined Sky Declaring Pavilion at the same time as the others, yet he had obtained extra favorable treatment by being placed at Rising Lake Manor, one of the best possible locations.

And today in handing in his mission, the Lord Steward of the Midmorning City branch division had personally appeared to announce his results in front of everyone and restore his prestige.

What was even more important was that Ning Qin had used a flawed treatment plan to begin with. And not only did he complete the mission, he obtained a high-grade heaven-step evaluation result.

When all of these factors were combined together, how could one not suspect it?

Just who was Ning Qin?

What sort of formidable background did he heave?

Questioning eyes fell on Jiang Yiyun’s face. He clearly knew what all of these beast trainers were thinking.

There was one thing they were right about. The final mission evaluation result was indeed a lie, but the truth was different from what they expected.

Jiang Yiyun confidently said, “Mister Ning Qin’s strength has obtained the unanimous approval of the entire appraisal board. I also personally participated in the evaluation process, and I can inform all of you that no falsehood took place.”

After a brief pause, his tone suddenly changed, becoming as hard as iron. “So, I will remind all of you here that any rumors are to stop immediately. Mister Ning Qin’s reputation cannot be slandered! In the future, I ask that you all be cautious in what you say!”

The questioning eyes were filled with clear shock that slowly turned into dignity. Unless Jiang Yiyun had gone insane, he would never say such words in front of everyone. Otherwise, there would be no place left for them here.

In other words, the results were most likely true…to take a severely flawed treatment plan and obtain a high-grade heaven-step mission evaluation result…what kind of strength was needed to accomplish that?

When the beast trainers thought back to how they had come here hoping to see a good play, their faces all flushed red. They secretly rejoiced that none of them had questioned Mister Ning Qin ahead of time!

Sun Xiangzhang was stunned into a daze. After a long time, he finally let out a deep breath. Happiness was written across his face, as well as shame.

So it was he who misunderstood the grandmaster…it was his mediocre strength that had limited his imagination!

“It’s amazing, simply incredible!” Zhou Xinhong had an excited look.

Xu Yuanbai’s lips moved. He dejectedly said, “I feel nothing but shame for the disrespect I showed Mister Ning Qin before.”

When the people in the hall began to speak, their voices mingled together into a hum that was like 10,000 flies swarming into Sha Liuhe’s ears. It left his heart fl.u.s.tered and panicked and he hoped he could tear apart their yapping mouths. He managed to squeeze out a smile and ask, “Steward Jiang, did Mister Ning Qin really not change his treatment plan?”

Jiang Yiyun looked at Sha Liuhe, and there was nothing but pity in his eyes. He thoroughly extinguished his final hopes, “I can verify that he didn’t.”

Sha Liuhe’s smile froze on his face and his lips twitched. His gloomy face gave off a distorted and macabre feeling.

At this moment, he thought back to the words he said here yesterday:

“I understand Director Bian’s good intentions, but the current mission timeline hasn’t ended yet. There is still an unknown variable, so it isn’t too appropriate to say this right now.”

“It’s fine. There is still another day until the mission comes to an end. Perhaps tomorrow Mister Ning Qin will turn in an even better reply. We should wait for everything to settle down before discussing these things again.”

Sensing everyone’s eyes on him, Sha Liuhe felt as if countless slaps were flying at him. Golden stars started to hover in his field of vision.

He wavered and almost crumpled to the floor. Everyone sighed inwardly. Such a formidable figure had actually fallen into such an embarrassing situation.

But Yun Die didn’t plan on letting him go like this. She took a step forward, her eyes icy cold. She lightly said, “At this moment, my teacher is still in his laboratory. For him, whether it is a high-grade heaven-step evaluation or the attention of those here, none of it is worthy of mentioning. They are merely trivial things that cannot affect his cultivation.

“I say this not because I am looking down on everyone here, but simply because I wish to convey the attitude of my teacher. When a man walks their path through the world, the only thing they can rely on is their own strength. And in this world, there is no success without reason. Only effort, effort, and even more effort! But, there are some people who cannot realize this. Their eyes are red with envy and no matter how many small schemes they try, they never manage to accomplish anything. Rather than wasting time and effort on such pathetic things, it would be better to focus on cultivation.”

She pointed a finger. Like an arrow piercing through the heavens, she said, “For instance, like this Mister Sha Liuhe in front of us!”

Sha Liuhe’s eyes widened. He stubbornly glared at Yun Die, his face pale white. Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backwards, unconscious!