Refining the Mountains and Rivers

At this time, Zhou Li’s mind was flooded with regret. If she knew this was going to happen, she never would have recommended Qin Yu.

But it was too late for regret. She needed to help Qin Yu withdraw from today’s vortex.

Otherwise, if something happened to him, it would be hard for her to find peace for the rest of her life.

A voice sounded in her ears. Ji Yun whispered, “Zhou Li, you recognize that person?”

Zhou Li let out a light breath. She slowly nodded, “I’m sorry Ji Yun. I didn’t recognize him until now…”

She was gently interrupted. Ji Yun said, “I believe you. If there is any way in which I can help, just tell me.”

Zhou Li was moved by his words. She lowered her head for a moment and then hesitantly said, “Ji Yun, this person once showed graciousness to me. I cannot tell you of his current situation right now, but it is related to me. So, if an accident occurs, I hope you can help preserve his life. Of course, if you can’t do anything, you don’t have to…”

His status as the young master of the Western Tomb Divine Church gave him the qualifications to help. But, his assistance might initiate a series of troublesome consequences. This was why Zhou Li hesitated.

Ji Yun interrupted her once more, “Okay!”

Zhou Li’s heart warmed. “You should think this over carefully.”

Ji Yun smiled. “Zhou Li, this is the first time you have asked me for help. I will naturally do everything I can to help you.” He took a deep breath and said, “You already know I am the Western Tomb Divine Church’s young master. I am the only direct male descendant in my family, and the position of Church Leader will be inherited by me. No matter what, the seven great sects will give me some face.”

His simple and warm words showed a strong self-confidence. And as the young master of the Western Tomb Divine Church, he did have such energy!

Zhou Li pursed her lips, “Ji Yun, thank you!”

Ji Yun looked towards the arena. “My greatest desire is that one day you will no longer need to thank me.”

His feelings were as clear as day.

Zhou Li was silent. But humans weren’t wood and stone, and she was naturally moved by his words.

This brief interlude with the Shadow Clan’s Saintess and the Western Tomb Divine Church’s young master had caught everyone’s attention. After some time, their eyes turned back away.

After all, the most important matters were ones that involved one’s own self interests. And what was happening right now was a critical moment in the seven sects’ struggle for first place and the bye they would receive.

With the Hidden Fog Sect’s current situation, the chances of them making a comeback were nearly zero. But, they couldn’t help but be curious about the sudden appearance of that black-robed figure. Where did his confidence come from?

Qin Yu glanced around and sighed inwardly. He would deal with this Zhou Li matter later. He lifted a hand and patted the dark star ice serpent. A bit of his blood energy quietly poured into its body.

The dark star ice serpent’s massive figure shivered. Its giant eyes tightly shut so that no one could see the horror and awe in them.

Qin Yu took a step back, “Hey big fellow, it’s time for you to enter the stage.”

Dragon City was truly the dwelling of the dragon race, and the leader's camp would be able to obtain a present – the baptism of dragon energy.

This showed that this arena had a close connection to the dragon race.

And Dragon City was a city constructed by a formidable Ancient in ancient times.

After sorting out all these relationsh.i.p.s, it wasn’t hard to come up with a hypothesis. Qin Yu believed that if he poured his blood energy into the dark star ice serpent, it would definitely produce some kind of useful function.

Hearing Qin Yu’s orders, the dark star ice serpent’s massive figure slowly rose from the ground. Brilliant textures swirled around its silver-white horn.

The temperature between the heavens and earth quickly fell. The skies darkened and a storm of snowflakes descended, covering and overwhelming all in the blink of an eye!

In the endless wind and snow, a towering iceberg appeared. It was so immense that its tip seemed to submerge into the heavens.

Just by glancing at it, one could feel a cold chill penetrating through one’s body, almost freezing the soul.

The dark star ice serpent looked up. The horn on top of its head slashed down at the arena!

As it did, the towering iceberg rose up from the ground. Endless heaven and earth spiritual strength swelled up, surging towards the arena.

At this moment, the iceberg was like a saber, capable of sundering the heavens and annihilating all life!

“Ahh!”

Countless people cried out in alarm. Although many people had already guessed that the dark star ice serpent was strong, they were still shocked by what they saw.

That heaven-supporting iceberg seemed to fall through their line of sight and blast into their minds, causing their consciousnesses to temporarily go blank.

Ten rings of light appeared in the arena. They were light on the outside and darker on the inside, as if mirroring the brightest dawn and its conclusion at the deepest night. This represented the polarities of light and darkness and contained the mysteries of yin and yang.

At this moment, the iceberg phantom disappointed. Like a hot knife through butter, it instantly tore through the first six rings of light.

The seventh ring was the color of dusk. Most of the ring of light was cut through. The iceberg phantom seemed as if it had fallen into a swamp, but it still continued forwards.

Every inch it moved forwards caused great thundering rumbles to sound out in response. Within the seventh ring of light, the darkness roiled about like turbulent waves at night.

The people shocked by the iceberg phantom were left silent. As long as one wasn’t an idiot, they could estimate what was going to happen – the dark star ice serpent was going to break through the seventh ring!

This point alone surpassed the spirit beasts of all other sects besides Radiance Temple’s phoenix luan.

If the Hidden Fog Sect had a similar number of supporters then they would have had the second eight ring result today and would have been able to stand on even ground with Radiance Temple!

At this moment, the supporters in the camps of the Limitless Sword Sect, Witchcraft Sect, Moonkeep Tower, Blue Origin Sect, and Typhoon Mountain all felt regret rising in them.

If they had supported the Hidden Fog Sect, then with the formidable strength displayed by the dark star ice serpent, even if others knew of its attributes ahead of time it didn’t necessarily mean they would lose.

But there was no medicine for regret in this world and there was no way to withdraw what had happened.

Bang –

The seventh ring of light shattered!

The iceberg phantom continued onward as it slammed into the eighth ring of light. But, most of its strength had clearly been used up already. Signs of collapse appeared and it seemed incapable of continuing.

The Radiance Temple Master smiled. With the dark star ice serpent’s strength, if it had broken through the eighth ring of light, even if the phoenix luan was able to defeat it in the end, it would surely need to consume a great deal of its energy. If this happened then the advantages from obtaining a bye on the first day would be more than halved.

Luckily, it remained a step away. But the dark star ice serpent’s strength was still unexpected. The preparations Radiance Temple made to deal with it seemed to be insufficient.

Fortunately, they still had time to prepare.

After the first day of battle in the arena, there would be a challenge from the losing team. In addition to the recovery time in the interval, there would be a wait of at least five to seven days. This was more than enough time.

After that, the phoenix luan would be able to fight an exhausted enemy while being completely prepared. Defeating the dark star ice serpent would be easy!

Zhou Li relaxed. She really was worried that Qin Yu would attract an enormous spotlight on himself like he did at the Shadow Clan auction. This would only increase the danger he was in.

For him, being defeated like this was the best result.

A dark light flashed in Ji Yun’s eyes. He could see that Zhou Li held an unusual amount of concern for this black-robed figure.

But soon he calmed down. No matter who this black-robed person was, he would be the one to win Zhou Li’s heart in the end.

The seventh ring of light, that was where it stopped!

The camps of supporters all around the arena made their own judgments. They felt regret for the Hidden Fog Sect, as well as some sorrow, unwillingness, and even joy…to be honest, most of it was the last emotion.

Compared to them, it was likely much more difficult for the Hidden Fog Sect to accept the fact that their loss was a result of them not having enough supporters.

This was a mentality of ‘someone else is worse off than me’, and this existed at any level of existence. This was perhaps one of the greatest dark sides of human nature.

But were things really as they thought they were?