Refining the Mountains and Rivers

So everyone was waiting here for others to come and save them. It could be family, teachers, sects, friends, or anyone else. In short, cultivators here wouldn’t be abandoned easily.

Since they were waiting to be rescued, why were they doing their best to solve the problems of the rules?

The reason was simple. First of all, it was mentioned before that strictly speaking, Stranded God Canyon was a place of inheritance. Each problem of the rules was a shortcut to obtaining the strength of the rules. Although this shortcut was difficult to walk, this was what the fundamentals were like. Anyways, sitting around idle was still being idle. Having some harvests was certainly a good choice.

But the most essential factor was the second point.

One’s performance within Stranded God Canyon would also become one of the East Zhou Family’s testing standards. Those with outstanding performances would become the focus of attention and have a greater chance of becoming East Zhou Duly’s followers.

As a result, schoolmate Wu Jun who had originally occupied the first rank position in Stranded God Canyon, suddenly encountered a very fierce schoolmate Qin who came out of nowhere. It was natural for Wu Jun to be instinctively repulsed by Qin Yu and hope that he didn’t advance any further.

But what a pity, the way events progressed wouldn’t change no matter how Wu Jun felt.

Qin Yu continued to solve the problems with unstoppable momentum.

The second problem of the rules…

Mm. He did feel that the difficulty of the second problem was a little higher. But for some unknown reason – perhaps because he had experience from analyzing the first problem – he soon adapted to solving the problem in this manner. His progress in reversing the process from the answer was faster than the first time.

Thus, when he opened his eyes again, the textures on the red cliff in front of him gathered together into a mysterious rune before shattering.

He had solved the second problem.

Qin Yu smiled, a burning heat in his eyes. Without stopping, he impatiently started to analyze the third problem.

In his opinion, this Stranded God Canyon was simply the world’s most top-class cultivation treasure trove. Even wasting a single minute of his time here was a sin.

Restraining the excitement in his heart, he fully focused his mind into his cultivation. Because of this, he no longer paid attention to the eyes that were peeking at him.

So he naturally didn’t know just how much shock and disbelief everyone felt when he continuously solved two problems in a row.

If solving the first problem in two hours had created a new record, making everyone feel awe and praise, then after solving the second problem at an even faster speed, Qin Yu was now a ‘crazy freak’ in everyone’s eyes!

Everyone knew that the problems of the rules were each more difficult than the last. This had always been the case, without a single exception.

Yet what they saw was Qin Yu solving the second problem at a speed even faster than the first.

Although it was only a short period of time, its significance was startling…Qin Yu was progressing!

And let alone seen, they had never even heard of this speed of progression.

If there were still some cultivators that were doubtful of Qin Yu’s identity, then this suspicion was 90% eliminated already.

The third problem was a repeat of the second problem. Then came the fourth problem, fifth problem, sixth problem…all the way to the tenth problem. Qin Yu continued forward with irresistible force, not stopping at all. He maintained his pace of solving each problem in two hours. It was like ten walls had been blasted down in a row by a massive steel ball, causing everyone’s heads to feel dizzy.

As for the arrogant and sneering first place schoolmate Wu Jun, his face was now deathly pale and his body was gently shivering. If mental blows could be calculated in weight, schoolmate Wu Jun could be said to have endured a 10,000 ton barrage of attacks from Qin Yu!

So he was so fierce…so I was so small and weak…so this is what it’s like to look at the sky from inside a well…so I was just a joke all this time…

All sorts of thoughts raced inside schoolmate Wu Jun’s mind. His frail heart could no longer withstand it and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He turned around, bitterness on his face as he left. He needed to leave and steady his mind. If he continued to watch, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.

The tenth problem was easily passed. Qin Yu’s eyes were burning with desire. If possible, he would like to train here for 100 years.

But what a pity, there was a limit to the rules he could acquire within a certain length of time. He could already feel the invisible restrictions around him. He had to thoroughly digest the ten complete rules he acquired before he could resume solving problems.

Sighing with a bit of unwillingness, Qin Yu stood up. He glanced around and discovered that without knowing it, he had stirred up another wave. He smiled and cupped his hands to those around him. Then, he leisurely walked back to the camp.

Snowside was waiting at the entrance. In truth, from the moment Qin Yu had started perceiving the rules she had stood here up until now. Seeing Qin Yu walk over, she quickly winke and restrained the shock and pride in her eyes. She lightly coughed and curled her lips, “Congratulations to my young master. Your act is once again successful and you have shaken the hearts and minds of countless people, establishing your prestige!”

Qin Yu smiled and laughed. Since he was in a good mood today, he decided not to lower himself to her level. He nodded at her and then pushed open the door and entered the tent. “I’m entering seclusion. Don’t let anyone disturb me.”

After today, there would likely be even more people coming to visit him.

And the facts proved that Qin Yu’s guess was correct. If there was a threshold on his dwelling, it might have broken on this day from so many people stepping on it.

Snowside’s master-class acting skills were put on display once again. With a few casual and superficial words, she caused the awe in the hearts of the visiting guests to become even deeper.

The next day, Qin Yu appeared in front of the red cliff once more. There was a difference from yesterday in the gazes of those that looked at him. There was less probing and inquiring and more awe and reverence. There was even a hint of bitterness.

You are so fierce and you also have a transcendently strong teacher. If you want to obtain a spot in the Path of 10,000 Souls, it shouldn’t be difficult for you, so why do you have to run all the way here and compete with us shrimp for the spot of a follower?

It’s not right at all!

Don’t you think you're bullying others right now?

Of course, people kept these thoughts in their hearts only. They didn’t dare to speak them out loud.

At the very least, if Qin Yu were to look around, all he would see were warm and congenial smiles and all he heard were endless litanies of greetings that came like the spring breeze.

“Fellow daoist Qin Yu has come. It seems we can broaden our horizons once again today!”

“In solving ten problems of the rules in a single day, fellow daoist Qin Yu has broken every previous record!”

“Once we get out of this place, fellow daoist Qin Yu’s name will inevitably spread throughout the world. Everyone will admire him!”

Qin Yu smiled and returned the greetings. After a brief round of pleasantries, he walked in front of the red cliff.

Since everyone was so supportive, he should continue!

The elite genius Wu Jun who came from the Great River decided not to try continuing to solve the 12th problem today. He stood not too far away, calmly looking at Qin Yu. Then, he discovered a sad reality that left him wallowing in despair – perhaps for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t be able to overtake this person’s footsteps.

It wasn’t frightening to be knocked to the ground. What was frightening was that after standing back up and gathering your courage, you still discover that it’s all useless…it really left him feeling helpless.

When Wu Jun shook his head and retreated from the stage in low spirits, there were gasps of air coming from the front of the red cliff.

“The 17th problem!”

It was unknown who muttered this, but their voice shook as if they were babbling in their sleep.

That’s right. Qin Yu had smoothly solved the 17th problem of the rules. And, his speed was similar to yesterday; he was solving every problem in two hours.

As long as a person had any brains, they knew this represented an incomparably horrifying speed of progress.

The 17th problem was at least twice as difficult as the tenth.

But this didn’t matter to Qin Yu. He raced forward, as if he wanted everyone’s eyes to blow up.

Another six hours passed. Qin Yu let out a breath of satisfaction and watched as the 20th set of rule lines on the red cliff condensed into a rune and shattered.

As expected, with his current cultivation, gaining ten rules a day was his limit. Although he wasn’t too happy with this, he was well aware of how important it was to not rush through things.

Moreover, gaining ten rules a day was a sufficiently terrifying speed!

So after thinking about it, Qin Yu suppressed any greedy thoughts he had and stood up. He smiled at those around him, nodded, and left.

He had to hurry up and go into seclusion so he could digest his harvests.

It was eerily peaceful in front of the red cliff. The gazes that watched him leave revealed a look as if they were watching a living miracle.

Over two straight days, without stopping, Qin Yu had solved 20 problems of the rules in Stranded God Canyon…if they weren’t also trapped in Stranded God Canyon and knew that the difficulty of the problems hadn’t changed, they absolutely would not have believed this if someone described it to them.

Snowside stood in front of the tent. The expression of cold disdain she intentionally maintained when she faced Qin Yu had transformed into inconcealable pride.

Hum hum!

The man I follow is this formidable! If it weren’t for this, do you think this old lady would really run her mouth off when boasting?

Of course, Snowside wouldn’t acknowledge that Qin Yu’s performance was higher than what she anticipated.

This fellow was like an unfathomable black hole. It was impossible to ever guess how deeply hidden he was.

…

As Qin Yu was crazily problem solving and gaining the strength of the rules, he initiated a considerable disturbance outside of Stranded God Canyon.

It was said before that Stranded God Canyon was an incomparably mystical place. The reason it appeared here was because someone had consumed a great price to summon its arrival so they could imprison people within. The goal was to reduce the number of competitors.

But in fact, besides the astonishing losses required in summoning the Stranded God Canyon to arrive, it also required a considerable amount of strength to continue supporting everything that happened inside.

For instance, the problems of rules.

Whenever a cultivator solved a problem of the rules and obtained a complete strength of the rules, Stranded God Canyon would receive the corresponding reward.

And this reward was paid by the summoner of Stranded God Canyon.

Thus, Qin Yu’s reckless advance over two days and his continuous solving of 20 problems had caused the losses needed to maintain Stranded God Canyon to rise.

Hidden deep below the earth there was a magnificent temple. Over a dozen cultivators stood below an array diagram that floated in the void. They watched the red lines that represented the losses of the array formation rise and felt as if they were fishing lines that were suddenly pulled up, making them all feel uncomfortable.

“The losses have increased by 20%!”

“Did these people suddenly get used to it somehow? How did they solve so many problems of the rules?”

“Just think about it. Every person that is trapped in Stranded God Canyon can be considered a genius. After gathering so many together, a minor eruption is reasonable.”

“Perhaps tomorrow, everything will return to normal.”

“That may be true, but if the losses continue to rise we must report it to the young master.”

The moment someone said this, the faces of everyone in the temple turned ugly.

Although they had no control over what happened in Stranded God Canyon, their superiors would not consider these mitigating factors. They would simply be blamed for not handling matters efficiently.

As they thought about the young master’s personality, they felt their hearts chill. They could only secretly pray that these deadly red lines would fall back down tomorrow.

But it was clear that because they had mistakenly caught someone, their prayers were doomed to fall on deaf ears.