Refining the Mountains and Rivers

As Qin Yu's thoughts were racing he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. His face paled as he quickly put on a worn out appearance.

With a creak the door was pushed open. A familiar mountain bandit walked over and said, "Qin Yu, come with me, the Stronghold Master wants to see you!"

"Ah, great, let's go!" Qin Yu stood up and followed behind as they made their way out. Although he appeared calm on the surface, he felt anxious inside.

As expected, the direction they headed towards was the courtyard he glanced at just a moment ago. A layer of sweat immediately covered Qin Yu's forehead. But with things having come this far, any illusion of choice had flown out of his hands. He would have to take things as they came, one at a time.

"Stronghold Master, Qin Yu is here!" The mountain bandit respectfully bowed. There was a call of 'come in' from within. Then the mountain bandit turned and loudly whispered, "Go in quickly. Remember to be respectful towards the Stronghold Mater. Don't try to court death!"

As the bandit spoke, he turned and left, an expression of fear on his face.

Qin Yu could faintly feel the black fluctuations in front of him trembling and sending out traces of its faint aura. He couldn't help but tense up…it really was horrifying! The closer he was the more he could feel the terrifying energy it contained. If it really erupted and he was drawn inside then he would immediately be sent to a horrible death!

Suddenly, Qin Yu felt two pairs of eyes fall on his body. The surprise and scrutiny within them made him dare not hesitate anymore. He immediately stepped within the range of the black fluctuations.

Like a little boat traveling through the raging seas, the danger of destruction was present at all times. Qin Yu pushed open the courtyard doors and entered, trying to appear as calm as possible.

Two people sat in the courtyard. But in Qin Yu's eyes they were like two giant black holes. The space around them violently twisted due to their auras, as if even light would be sucked into in, unable to escape.

And one of them was the Doctor Ye he had seen for a brief period of time….and the other one should be Nine Nether Peak's Stronghold Master!

But what was strange was that even though the two of them felt like human-shaped black holes, the aura of this Stronghold Master didn't seem as strong as Doctor Ye's

He immediately dispersed these thoughts. After all, whether or not these people were strong or weak, it would be easy for them to kill him.

"Humph! Rude boy, we meet again!" Doctor Ye humphed, constantly looking Qin Yu up and down as if he wanted to see through him and all his secrets.

Qin Yu felt as if an apex predator was staring at him, causing his hairs to stand on end.

These two terrifying existences didn't seem to have an intent of making things hard for him. Qin Yu relaxed. He put on a guilty expression and bowed, saying, "Doctor Ye, If I offended you before, I ask that you forgive me."

"Hehe, I shouldn't blame you just because you asked not to? But I've been in a good mood recently, so while I did want you to suffer a bit, I'll give you a chance to earn my forgiveness." Doctor Ye chuckled and continued to say, "There is something in Great King City that I need you to obtain for me. If you can accomplish this then I'll forget all about your faults and even give you an advantage. If you fail…hum hum, then you can pray to the heavens for help!"

There simply wasn't a chance for Qin Yu to choose before Doctor Ye waved his hand, "Alright, you may go now. Someone is already waiting for you outside. She will inform you of the details. As for your big brother, you can rest assured. I will assign people to take care of him."

As for the Stronghold Master, they never said a word from beginning to end.

Qin Yu stiffened. With a bit of bitterness in his heart he turned and walked out of the courtyard. With Doctor Ye's strength, if there was something that he couldn't easily obtain, how difficult would it be for him? If he tried, wouldn't the chances of survival be slim?

Moreover, this other party had deliberately pointed out Xue Zheng. He feared they likely knew the truth about his 'sworn brotherhood' with Xue Zheng and wasn't afraid of him trying to play tricks.

After stepping outside of the black fluctuations, a cold woman's voice said, "You are Qin Yu? Hurry and come with me!"

Qin Yu looked up and saw the back of a woman. It was tall and proud, like a sword that had just been unsheathed, ready to break apart the skies at any moment!

Although her aura couldn't compare with the Stronghold Master or Doctor Ye, she was still just a subordinate. For a subordinate to possess enough strength that even Qin Yu felt threatened by it, this world really was extremely dangerous!

…

Qin Yu never imagined that before venturing into Great King City, he would need to learn another technique. The arrogant woman standing in front of him referred to herself as the Stronghold Master's maid. But with her cold demeanor that was like a lotus on a snow-capped mountain, it was hard to imagine her as a maid.

"I will only say this once. You can choose not to listen to me, but if you lose your life because of that then it's all on you." The maid's name was Little Zhao. Her eyes were cold and her tone was like the chilly autumn wind, without any fluctuations of mood.

Qin Yu nodded, "Miss, please speak."

Little Zhao said, "With the mountain behind you as the line, this world is divided into two. One half is ruled by humans and the other half by the 'obams'. And the region we are near and also our goal is Great King City which is within the 'obam' sphere of influence. So if you want to complete this task, you need to learn the Flesh and Blood Body Distortion Art and enter the city as an 'obam'.

Little Zhao looked at Qin Yu and said in an even colder tone, "Because here, humans are the slaves and food of the 'obams'."

Qin Yu wasn't in the mood to sense the coldness and pain in her eyes. At this moment his heart shrank and his first thought was that he had been exposed. But thinking about it, since the Nine Nether Peak's Stronghold Master and Doctor Ye were such terrifying existences, they must have already figured out Xue Zheng's status. If so, then discovering the truth behind him was also reasonable.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and suppressed his tumbling thoughts. He calmly nodded and said, "Alright. Then I'll have to bother miss."

Little Zhao sneered. "You think that the Flesh and Blood Body Distortion Art is easy to learn? If it was then there wouldn't be so many humans that cry in sorrow as they are chopped up, cooked, and brought to the 'obams' dinner tables." She lifted a hand and took out a jade slip. It was crimson and translucent. "The contents for the Body Distortion Art are in here. Take a look at it first. If there's anything you don't understand you may ask me about it."

As she spoke she moved to the sides. She folded her hands together and closed her eyes as if she were meditating.

Qin Yu didn't mind her attitude. He quickly probed the jade slip with his divine sense and looked through the body transformation art. He put down the jade slip and pondered over it for a moment. Then, his eyes opened up in surprise - was it actually this simple?

That's right. The body transformation art that Little Zhao considered extraordinary was nothing but minor tricks in Qin Yu's eyes. Just by glancing at it once and deliberating over it inwardly to ensure there was nothing missing, he found he could completely control it.

He looked up at Little Zhao who had her eyes closed. He coughed and said, "I'm good now."

Shua -

Little Zhao's eyes flashed open. She furrowed her eyebrows together and her eyes became much colder. "Qin Yu, I hope you can remember that this not only involves your life and death, but it is also a mission assigned by the Stronghold Master. There can absolutely be no mistake allowed."

Qin Yu nodded, "I know."

Seeing how calm Qin Yu was, Little Zhao sneered inwardly. She really didn't understand. This was a mission she could clearly complete herself, so why did the Stronghold Master have Qin Yu interfere? This was clearly an idiot who had no idea how vast the heavens and earth was!