Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Martial law was imposed upon Nine Nether Peak. Everyone was strictly ordered to stay within their dwellings and weren't allowed to leave without express permission.

Little Zhao held a sword in hand and sat cross-legged on a large blue stone. A gravel road lay in front of her, the only way leading up ahead.

And at the end of this road was the miss's dwelling.

Little Zhao had no idea what was happening, but the orders Doctor Ye had given her was to stand guard here and make sure no one entered.

Her life had been saved by the miss. Unless someone planned on walking over her corpse, no one could go past her.

"That silly girl is actually quite loyal…but if they come, her strength won't be anything at all." Doctor Ye glanced out the window before turning around, "Miss, how is the situation now?"

The Stronghold Master sat down cross-legged. She had a sturdy, tower-like figure that was much taller and burlier than the average man. She opened her eyes and unlike her fierce visage, a bright and insightful light shined in her eyes. Still, she couldn't conceal the weariness as she hoarsely said, "Fortunately, the might of the array formation is much better than expected. The black armored obam forces have been temporarily locked in."

Doctor Ye said, "Can they be forced back?"

The Stronghold Master shook her head, "If she is willing to go to such lengths to borrow the strength of the obam, she won't give up so easily. I have a feeling that things won't go so smoothly from now on."

Doctor Ye had a dignified expression. He had no doubts of the miss's premonitions. "Then what do we do now?"

"We wait." The Stronghold Master closed her eyes, saving every bit of energy she could. "We face the problem calmly and adjust to any changes if needed. Since we have made our move, let's see what she does next. Old Ye, I might need your help soon. Please prepare yourself ahead of time."

Doctor Ye nodded. "Miss, rest assured. With me here, I will ensure you are safe and well."

Even though he said this, he revealed an anxious look in his eyes. With the miss's current condition, even with his help it would be hard to guarantee that nothing happened to her if she forcefully maintained this state. But there was nothing they could to do alter the current situation; they could only take things one step at a time.

…

The imperial city gave its answer three days later. A violent spatial fluctuation erupted deep within Great King City's City Lord Mansion as the fallen humans finally arrived.

Stepping out of the transmission array and leaving the range of the twisted space, one could see 12 figures appear, each one covered in black robes.

On the pure black background of the robes, large purple lines were intertwined. The dark colors nearly blended in together, making it so that careful identification was needed to detect them.

Standing in the underground hall, the obam nobles shouted out loud. Their complexions paled and they couldn't help but draw backwards.

These fallen humans…had a horrifying aura!

The feeling they gave off was as if each one was a monster draped in human skin. They could tear apart their costumes at any moment and rabidly bite those next to them.

The Aurora Elder coldly snorted. His eyes were like lightning as he glanced at the panic-stricken obams in the hall. He cursed them inwardly for being weak pieces of waste. No matter how terrifying these fallen humans were, in the end they were nothing but slaves controlled by the obam race.

He stepped forward and said, "I am an Elder of the Aurora Family, Deli!"

The 12 fallen humans came to a stop. The one in front was tall with shoulders as straight as a mountain on the horizon. After a brief silence, the man cupped his hands together rand said, "Blue Torrent. I greet Elder Deli."

His expression was calm and faint.

"Blue Torrent?" Elder Deli stared with wide eyes. "You are Blue Torrent? Hahaha! Wonderful! I never thought that this time I could invite you to come. Then, I would like to ask you to take care of the Little Sweet Mountains incident."

He clearly knew of this man's reputation so his attitude became much better.

Blue Torrent lightly said, "I was ordered to come here so I will do my best to unravel the array formation. Elder, please rest assured."

Elder Deli laughed, "Good, then I will wait for the good news!"

…

One day later, Little Sweet Mountains.

Blue Torrent reached out a hand. His five fingers opened up and an invisible strength spread out, capturing a mass of black fog. Then, his eyes lit up beneath his black hood.

Pa -

Several breaths of time later, he clenched his hand together and the fog scattered in his palm. He whispered with excitement, "Ascendant Bluegold Array, it really is the Ascendant Bluegold Array…"

Originally with his status, this incident occurring at the Little Sweet Mountains shouldn't have alarmed him enough for him to make a move. But after receiving the detailed report from the Aurora Family, he had a haunting suspicion that led him to come here.

Now, his guess had been proven correct. The terrifying array formation that covered the entire Little Sweet Mountains for over 100,000 miles was the legendary Ascendant Bluegold Array.

This formation focused on slaughter and destruction. It directed the power of the world for one's own use, allowing one to modify the world's rules in a large range. It possessed great prestige in the field of array formations.

If he could capture the one who laid down this array formation and obtained the method for it and comprehended it, then he might be able to make a breakthrough in his bottleneck.

Traversing the path of forbidden array formations to climb up the road of cultivation was far, far too difficult. Without experience to borrow and learn from, it was already a miracle that he reached where he was today.

He couldn't miss out on this opportunity.

Behind him, a fallen human asked, "Blue Torrent, what is it?"

Blue Torrent said, "I am confident I can break through this array formation but it will require some time. I'll have to ask you to handle security."

The fallen human chuckled. "Do your best to break through the array formation. Leave everything else to me."

He had a confident expression.

As the two spoke, the other ten fallen humans respectfully lowered their heads, not interrupting them.

The Aurora Family and the nobles of Great King City were all kept in the dark. This time, in the group of fallen humans that had arrived at the Little Sweet Mountains, besides Blue Torrent there was also another formidable existence.

Blue Torrent didn't speak much. In order to come here first, he had already paid a price. He said, "I will begin to unravel the array formation immediately."

His eyes swept around, a black light surging in the depths of his pupils. If one enlarged this light countless times over, they would discover that the light were compasses composed of countless tiny runes.

At this time, the two black compasses slowly rotated. Although the speed didn't seem that fast, the black runes were already spinning at full speed.

Blue Torrent had climbed up the great dao of cultivation using array formations as his foundation. At this time, what he was displaying was a powerful supernatural art that could break apart and see through all sorts of spell formations.

Two hours later, Blue Torrent's eyes flew open. His figure flickered and he appeared a thousand feet away. Then, he stood still again.

After this, he stood still for another two hours.

For the next three days, Blue Torrent repeated his actions. He flickered into numerous places, the longest time he stayed at one spot being a full 12 hours.

Although his actions appeared disorderly and a waste of time, his behavior didn't arouse any dissatisfaction. The other eleven fallen humans remained silent, keeping him safe from beginning to end. And small disturbance from the outside would invite their merciless assault!

Finally, at this moment, Blue Torrent moved. His feet moved and he appeared directly beside a large rock. This stone was ordinary and unremarkable and most of it was buried deep underground. Its surface was covered with signs of erosion and it had clearly stood here for a long time.

The black light coming from his eyes shined even brighter as the two compasses spun faster than before. He reached out a hand and slowly pressed down on the stone. The stone quietly trembled before breaking apart into powder.

Hu -

Between the heavens and earth, winds howled. In a radius of 10,000 feet, the fog vanished.

….

Nine Nether Peak.

The Stronghold Master opened her eyes. She seemed to feel something. Her vision crossed through space and landed somewhere far away.

Doctor Ye's eyes shrank. "Miss?"

The Stronghold Master sighed. "As I thought, things wouldn't be so simple. A node within the Ascendant Bluegold Array has been broken somewhere."

She put forth a hand. Without any action, light erupted from her palm. Then, within this light, the entire process appeared of how Blue Torrent unraveled the array formation.

But Blue Torrent was replaced by a black spot. As the black spot vibrated, the light collapsed and dispersed.

Doctor Ye furrowed his eyebrows together. He slowly said, "What impressive speed!"

"It is indeed quick." The Stronghold Master let out a light breath. "That Bolie Family woman found a strong helper."

Although the Ascendant Bluegold Array was formidable, it was specifically tied to one place. An expert skilled at spell formations who has enough time and effort would be able to break through it. But, the speed at which they did so represented different things.

If they used up ten days or two weeks to break through a node then even if they were freely allowed to cause destruction, they couldn't only interfere in a radius of a hundred miles. But this other party had used only three days to unravel a node. This wasn't just several times faster but represented a certain level of strength.

If they couldn't contain this person and allowed him to freely wander through the array formation, then it wouldn't be long before he longed onto where the true array eye was.

At that time, things would truly become troublesome.

The Stronghold Master's thoughts raced. "With the bloodline talent of the obam race, it is impossible for an outstanding array formation genius to be born amongst their ranks. If my guess is correct, the one breaking through the array formation should be an array formation master from the fallen humans."

Doctor Ye's eyes brightened. "Miss is saying that if it really is the work of those fallen humans, then perhaps we can borrow the strength of those from the other side of the mountain?"

"That might work, but we don't have that much time."

"Miss, rest assured that I can attempt some methods in secret. They are sure to suffer!"

The Stronghold Master shook her head, "No! Old Ye, you staying here to help me is already the greatest risk. You cannot continue to meddle, otherwise once you are discovered we will lose our qualifications to compete."

She looked up somewhere. "Perhaps we can have him help now."

Doctor Ye furrowed his eyebrows together. "Miss is referring to Qin Yu? That boy isn't weak, but according to what we know the fallen humans have always been overflowing with countless experts. I fear you will only be sending him to his death."

The Stronghold Master shook her head, "Old Ye, I feel that he won't die so easily…of course, if my premonition is incorrect, then he can die. At least he'll have gained some time for us."

"This…and if he isn't willing?"

The Stronghold Master said, "He will agree."