Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Grandmaster Zhou Buyi’s complexion was pale and his eyes sprayed fire, “This is profiting from misfortune, your East Zhou Family is profiting from misfortune!”

Looking at his extremely angry appearance, it seemed as if he would leave and slam the door behind him at any moment. But after hesitating a few times, he remained.

“I will try to help in this matter, but I will only attempt the most superficial of revelations. As soon as something wrong occurs I will immediately stop. If you all agree, you still need to give me extra payment. It needs to be a satisfactory reward. And don’t think I’m trying to rip you off – this is what I deserve for risking my life!”

Across from him, an East Zhou Family Elder was all smiles. “Of course, everything will be as you say. Moreover, I would like to ask Grandmaster Zhou to rest assured. Our East Zhou Family’s reward will definitely satisfy you.”

He gestured with a hand, “Thinking about it, Grandmaster Zhou also knows the reason for why we are doing this. So if you have no other objections, let us begin as soon as possible…and, concerning this matter, no matter what the final outcome is, I ask that you keep it a secret.”

Zhou Buyi flicked his sleeves and coldly humphed, “Don’t worry. I still have my professional integrity, otherwise I wouldn’t have lived until today.”

Although the East Zhou Family had completely agreed to all of his requests and would certainly give him rewards that left him fully satisfied, Grandmaster Zhou still had no smile on his face. Rather, his expression turned even uglier.

He truly felt restless about this matter…in the past he had done similar things. His targets had mostly had some origin, and one of them was even concealed in a hidden land of inheritance.

Grandmaster Zhou had received some injuries but he still managed to draw back safely…however this time, he felt things weren’t right.

As someone who grasped the mysterious and unreliable Great Revelation Art, he fully trusted his intuition.

This Qin Yu was absolutely not ordinary. If he didn’t handle things well today, he feared he might perish here today.

As Grandmaster Zhou followed behind the East Zhou Elder, the restlessness in his heart grew increasingly heavy. He even wanted to turn around and leave several times. But, he really did have a matter where he had to ask for help from the East Zhou Family, so he could only endure it.

Moments later, they arrived at a hidden hall. The East Zhou Family’s high-level figures had gathered here. In the center of the hall was an altar. The altar was made of some sort of black jade that was completely free of impurities. Just by glancing at it, one felt it was black and fathomless, as if their eyes would be drawn inside.

When Zhou Buyi saw the altar his tense heart relaxed a little. As expected, the East Zhou Family was worthy of being a colossal influence. When they decided to do something, they went all in.

With this starsea black jade as the material used to construct the revelation altar, he could feel more at ease.

Even if some kind of accident occurred, he would have this altar to resist it. It would be relatively easier and simpler to withdraw.

Taking a deep breath, Grandmaster Zhou stood firm. He cupped his hands together and said, “Zhou Buyi greets the East Zhou Family Patriarch.”

With his status, even when facing an Elder of the East Zhou Family he could stand as an equal. In fact, his status was even a little bit higher. The only one he needed to bow to was the highest wielder of authority within the East Zhou Family.

After all, according to the rumors, this person had lived for many, many years, and hadn’t appeared publically for a long time. It was said that his strength had reached an inconceivable boundary.

If he could transform and rise higher, then the strength of the East Zhou Family would experience a qualitative leap upwards.

Standing in front of the Patriarch and feeling his murky and chaotic aura that could not be detected, Grandmaster Zhou was increasingly sure of his guess.

The East Zhou Patriarch slightly bowed. “Mm, I must trouble Mister Zhou.” As he spoke, the space around him was in a distorted state. It enveloped him, making it impossible to see his true appearance.

Even his eyes were twisted and strange. They were right in front but also seemed to come from an endless distance away.

Zhou Buyi could feel an undeniable firmness in these words. His heart sank and filled with bitterness.

He took a deep breath and said, “I will do my best.”

Facing the East Zhou Elder, he still dared to negotiate terms and stand proud. But facing this person…whatever, he wouldn’t necessarily die if he did this. But if he disobeyed this person’s will, his soul would surely turn to ash. Grandmaster Zhou had no doubts about this.

Zhou Buyi’s figure flickered and he landed in front of the altar. After a brief pause, light surged into his hands, condensing into a turtle shell.

This turtle shell was the size of an adult’s hand and was covered in deep veins. Its textures were flooded with the endless passing of the years. It was unknown how many years this item had existed for.

With a thought, the turtle shell flew upwards and floated above Zhou Buyi’s head. The textures on its surface began to shine. Then, light fell downwards. They wove together into a formation, forming a projection of a turtle shell that covered him.

From afar, it looked like a person wearing a giant turtle shell, or perhaps a giant turtle that had cultivated a human body…but right now in this hidden hall, no one thought of laughing.

Because this Luo River divine turtle shell was a treasure that Zhou Buyi had used only a few times ever since he became famous. Now, before he even displayed the Great Revelation Art he had summoned the turtle shell. How seriously he was taking this was evident.

After a brief pause, Zhou Buyi’s calm and steady voice filled the silent hall, its meaning indecipherable. At the same time his body started to undulate. He was like certain tribesmen recorded in the ancient texts. They lived in the wilderness and performed strange dances around giant bonfires at night.

However, these strange syllables and weird dance gave off a constrained feeling when performed together. It was like the air within this hall had become sticky under the influence of some invisible strength, almost turning solid.

Every breath taken used up an enormous amount of strength. Moreover, one could feel the thick air passing down their throat and into their lungs. It produced a rubbing feeling that left behind a hot and stinging sensation.

The starsea black jade altar was like an infinite abyss. And within this abyss, motes of light began to shine.

Their light wasn’t intense, but their numbers were astonishing. They appeared one after another, as if they wanted to fully replicate the countless stars in the skies above, displaying all of them in this altar.

Thus, the altar began to release a vast and powerful aura, one that was nearly tangible with the endless passing of the years.

As Zhou Buyi spoke the last syllable, he just happened to perform the last step in his dance. They perfectly joined together.

Hum –

The turtle shell above his head trembled. As it did, the countless rays of light that fell down started to sway like weeds in water. They were chaotic and random, yet gave off an extremely mysterious feeling.

As if these fluctuating rays of light contained an enormous secret of the world. It made one feel as if they could truly see the world if one could unravel their mysteries.

Zhou Buyi looked up. Radiant galaxies shined in his eyes, as if when the altar began to duplicate the stars in the skies, it also reflected itself in his pupils.

So at this moment, his eyes were no longer ordinary. They were an incarnation of the stars in the heavens, covering the infinite world. Naturally, they could find all traces of the past and future.

This time, his goal was to track down the root of Qin Yu’s aura and determine just where he came from!

It began.

In a corner of the hall, East Zhou Duly stood quietly, wringing her hands together. Because this matter involved her, an exception was made where she was allowed to observe. But for the entire process she had no ability to intervene. She could only silently wait for the final outcome.

Qin Yu, don’t disappoint me!

On the starsea black jade altar, the countless motes of light started to slowly spin. As they did, so did the projection of the starry skies in Zhou Buyi’s eyes.

The Great Revelation Art began to revolve. He had locked onto the line of karmic cause and effect in the darkness that represented Qin Yu and was now tracing it back to its source.

At almost the same time, in the East Zhou Family’s living quarters, in a courtyard, Qin Yu opened his eyes and frowned.

Within his soul space, the blue sun and purple moon revolved. The sun and moon force field they produced began to violently shake, like an invisible strength was trying to pass through their barrier.

Qin Yu immediately realized what was happening. The East Zhou Family had begun to determine his status.

With the sun and moon force field wrapping around him, he had leapt beyond the material world. He no longer existed within the confines of the five elements, of yin and yang. Unless the other party was strong enough that they similarly surpassed the level of the world, it was impossible to continue peeping at him.

Qin Yu’s mind raced and a thought suddenly popped up. Would the jade embryo egg fused into his body be sensed? Perhaps by relying on this, he could win the trust of the East Zhou Family. Otherwise, if he kept them out, he would only arouse more suspicion.

The jade embryo egg was one of Qin Yu’s greatest secrets that could not be known by anyone. As long as it was discovered, it would raise a storm of blood and death…so this matter in itself was extremely risky. If he wasn’t careful then a great calamity could occur.

However, Qin Yu had underestimated the cultivators of this world in the end. Or perhaps he didn’t know that there were reasons why even mighty beings were mystified and perplexed by the Great Revelation Art.

The sun and moon force field was indeed able to block out peeping eyes from the outside world. But, it didn’t disappear because of this and instead merged together with the sun and moon force field. Of course, this was just a way of describing it. To be exact, the fluctuations of strength started to synchronize with the sun and moon force field.

As a result, even though it was still blocked outside, in Qin Yu’s senses, the sun and moon force field’s defenses had failed because the feeling of peeping became even stronger.

The sensation was like faint traces of cold and gloomy aura were constantly seeping through his skin and flesh, spreading deeper into his body.

As expected, the East Zhou Family was known as being a colossal family; they actually managed to find such a mysterious and marvelous method. At this moment, just as he thought of the jade embryo egg in his body, it seemed to sense something and started to gently tremble.

Qin Yu’s complexion changed. It was too late to stop it even if he wanted to. He subconsciously tensed up, not knowing whether this change was good or bad.

But it was meaningless to consider this. He could only suppress his thoughts and calmly watch as things proceeded.

As Qin Yu was feeling nervous, he didn’t know what sort of astonishing changes occurred because of the jade embryo egg trembling.

In the hidden hall, standing above the altar with an ethereal aura and two pupils that seemed to reflect the starry skies, Zhou Buyi’s eyes flew open. The sea of stars within his pupils began to spin even faster. His body shivered as if he was withstanding tremendous pressure.

Kacha –

Kacha –

The surface of the starsea black jade altar began to crack like ice. The cracks wove together in dense and thick patterns like a web.

Loud gasps filled the hall. While everyone had their own guesses, if the rumors were true then Qin Yu had a great background.

But now it seemed that his background was far more terrifying than they imagined!

The Great Revelation Art was mysterious and unpredictable, but those present had heard of it before and had a general understanding of it.

Right now, the Great Revelation Art had just begun. In other words, it only detected the shallowest and most superficial information about Qin Yu. Even then, it unexpectedly triggered a backlash that the starsea black jade altar was unable to withstand.

Everyone knew just what this meant. Qin Yu’s origin and status was likely far more horrifying than described in the rumors.

In fact, with things having reached this step, there was no longer anything to doubt about Qin Yu’s background. Someone with such a background had no need to personally take risks to target East Zhou Duly or even the East Zhou Family.

Zhou Buyi took a deep breath. He was about to stop the Great Revelation Art, when at this moment the silent East Zhou Patriarch spoke up, “Continue.”