Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu had a calm expression as his eyes veered towards where the token’s senses indicated.

After several seconds of silence, the surface of the tree rippled as if it were made of water. Then, a cultivator stepped out. He was deathly pale and as he looked at Qin Yu he constantly shivered.

‘Killing witnesses to keep a crime silent’. This thought continuously reverberated in the man’s head. He wanted to run away, but after witnessing what happened to the blue-clothed cultivator just now, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to flee the martial field before Qin Yu killed him!

In truth, Qin Yu was tempted to do this. He thought that since he had a borrowed identity anyways, what did it matter if others found out?

“Leave your token behind.”

The cultivator was stunned for a moment before joy lit up his face. He shivered and said, “Mister, please rest assured that I will not say a single word about what happened here today.”

After he finished he took out his token and set it on the ground. Then, he looked up into the skies and shouted that he gave up. Spatial fluctuations descended, causing his figure to disappear.

Qin Yu picked up the token from the ground. As he did, it shattered into powder and the tenth mote of light appeared.

Hum –

His token trembled and its surface appearance changed instantly. From its original plain white color, it turned a more transparent jade. At the same time, a massive number of lines appeared. They wove together and spread across the surface of the token.

After all the lines disappeared, the aura that the token released suddenly restrained itself. It shrank until it was only a few feet away from Qin Yu and covered him like an invisible shield.

Within the shield, all of his aura was isolated from the outside world. Qin Yu tested a bit and came to the conclusion that as long as he didn’t take the initiative to attack someone and his luck wasn’t bad enough that someone stepped onto him, he could simply lie down and calmly wait for the finals to end.

Qin Yu smiled with appreciation. This Grand Beast Trainer Tournament really had some methods. He turned around, and just as he was about to leave, he saw a flash at the place where he first fought the blue-clothed cultivator.

He had almost forgotten something…

He looked around and caught sight of the gray fox. Right now it was desperately struggling to escape. It was clear that opening its third eye had caused it to use up a great deal of strength and it was in an extremely weakened state. Even if Qin Yu gave it a head start, it still wouldn’t be able to leave.

At this moment when the gray fox noticed Qin Yu looking at it, it immediately stopped. It looked up at him, a pleading look in its eyes.

“Even if I let you leave, you will be immediately killed by other monster beasts.” Qin Yu lightly said.

The gray fox’s eyes lit up. It raised a paw and pointed ahead. Then, it lay low to the ground and called out several times.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. “Do you have a reason that you must go?”

The gray fox nodded.

Qin Yu silently looked at it. He wasn’t sure if the gray fox was lying or not. As time passed, the gray fox gradually fell into despair, tears running down from its eyes.

Looking at it, Qin Yu finally let out a light breath. “Alright. I’ll go and see just where you plan on going.”

With the token’s sensory abilities, Qin Yu easily avoided the other tournament competitors. He followed the gray fox to a hidden cave.

The cave’s entrance wasn’t large. But with the sound of crackling bones, Qin Yu rapidly shrank in size. Soon he was small enough that he could drill his way in.

Although this location was well-hidden, the air in the cave wasn’t turbid. There were clearly other vents bringing in fresh air. The stone walls contained some impurities that released a faint light in the darkness. Although it wasn’t too bright, it allowed one to see what was happening inside the cave.

On a soft and dry haystack, a group of small pink things were humming feebly. Their eyes had yet to open and they had no idea where their mother was. They lifted their heads up, constantly looking around for food.

There wasn’t a need for further explanation.

Feeling the gray fox struggle in his arms, Qin Yun let go. It quickly sprinted over. The little fellows finally found their mother. They quickly squirmed to their mother’s abdomen.

Gulp –

Gulp –

The sound of sucking filled the little cave. The ash fox licked one baby and then another. She occasionally looked up at Qin Yu, gratitude in her eyes.

Qin Yu looked around. This cave wasn’t that bad – it was a good idea to wait here until the finals came to an end. After determining this, he casually strolled over to a corner, cleaned up the ground a little, and sat down.

…

The finals came to an end.

Feeling the power of the array formation descend, Qin Yu didn’t resist. He glanced at the gray fox and its children that had just opened their eyes. Then, he disappeared amidst spatial fluctuations.

A tearing strength pulled at his body. The transmission period this time was much shorter than when he first came to the martial field. It only lasted for several breaths of time before his surroundings brightened.

He narrowed his eyes, adapting to the change in light. Qin Yu looked around; this place wasn’t the island they had come from. Calculating the transmission time, they were likely in a place much closer to the martial field.

The participating jade token in his clothes began to heat up. Qin Yu took it out and information was transmitted straight into his mind.

The first message was to congratulate him for being one of the final ten contestants and earning the qualifications to enter the mystic realm.

The second message was that some arrangements needed to be made before entering the mystic realm. Everyone was required to stay here for three days before they could enter.

The third was names of the final ten contestants as well as their ranking.

Rankings were based on the strength of the token holders and other calculation coefficients. All in all, Qin Yu was ranked sixth.

He didn’t care about this. As long as he was ranked in the top ten and could enter the alliance’s mystic realm, that was more than enough.

But soon, Qin Yu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

East Han was not on the name list.

In other words, he had been eliminated by someone in the martial field.

Honestly, this was beyond Qin Yu’s expectations. After all, they had fought so Qin Yu was well aware of his strength. Even if Qin Yu attacked with all his strength he wasn’t absolutely sure he could defeat East Han.

But numerous crouching tigers and hidden dragons were lurking in the martial field. If there was him and East Han, there might be several other tyrannically strong people. If East Han’s luck was poor or if some other accident occurred, it was extremely possible for him to be defeated!

So, Qin Yu was only briefly surprised before he pushed this thought to the side.

He continued looking. As he thought, Luo He was on the name list. And just like the primaries and semi-finals, he was ranked first yet again.

To take first place in all three rounds, he was indeed a talented character. Qin Yu stared at this name for a while before putting away the jade token.

The alliance cultivators outside the array formation waited for Qin Yu to read all the information. When they thought he was finished, they ran over and cupped their fists together, “Congratulations Mister Qin Yu for entering the top ten ranks. To enter the mystic realm is something that all alliance cultivators long for even in their dreams.”

The one speaking had a friendly smile and insightful eyes. One could immediately tell he was a sociable person. With just a few words, not only did he complement Qin Yu but he brought them closer together.

Seeing Qin Yu nod and not say anything, the man’s smile didn’t dim at all. “You just left the martial field so you are probably tired. We’ve already prepared a room for you. If mister has no other arrangements, I will lead you over.”

Qin Yu said, “Then I’ll have to trouble you for your help.”

He would have to stay on this island for three days before entering the alliance’s mystic realm. There, he would need to go grave digging for the Icesoul Jade Bed. Once this matter was exposed, the Alliance would surely try to hunt him down.

And even if everything went smoothly, he was doomed to not be able to use this identity again. So, Qin Yu had no intention of using his current identity to make friends with others.

With one glance, Qin Yu could see how opulent the room was. He decided to stay in his room for these next three days, using the excuse that he needed to recover from his wounds.

But in reality, Qin Yu’s quiet was broken on the second day. When he opened the door he saw the alliance cultivator who greeted him yesterday.

When the man saw Qin Yu’s ill expression, he almost swallowed his words. He directly said, “Mister Qin Yu, three of your friends have come from outside the island. They said they have an important matter to discuss with you.”

Friends?

Qin Yu immediately thought of Dorelis, Yun Die, and Senior Lin. What sort of accident could have happened to them?

He suppressed his thoughts and nodded, “Bring them over.”

Qin Yu was speaking about ‘them’, but what appeared in front of him was another ‘them’.

When Qin Yu saw the Xue Sisters and the red-clothed and overly aggressive Miss Su Hongyi, he nearly thought he was seeing things. What sort of urgent matter did these three people need to see him about?

Noticing the disturbed look on Xue Yueyue and Xue Qingqing’s faces and then Su Hongyi’s red eyes, Qin Yu didn’t reveal any of his thoughts. He nodded at the alliance cultivator and said, “I’ve troubled you.”

The alliance cultivator laughed and waved his hand before leaving.

Thanks to the finals ending smoothly, the atmosphere in the alliance had become much more relaxed. Otherwise if it was the same tense atmosphere from before, the alliance cultivator wouldn’t have dared to bring these three women here.

Of course, a more important reason was that the ones who came looking for Qin Yu today were all young and beautiful women. Moreover, one of them was clearly emotionally disturbed and had reddened eyes. Who knew what their relationship was and what had happened?

If he stopped them and something really happened, Qin Yu would surely investigate it afterwards and trace things back to him.

This was a top ten ranked contestant…

Regardless of whether or not they chose to join the alliance, anyone who could arrive at this step was destined to become a famous character whose name could shake a region.

He couldn’t offend him. Of course, it was best not to offend him!