Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A fog suddenly covered the mountain. No one knew where this fog came from but they were all aware of one thing - this fog was evil and terrifying. Every intelligent creature within the mountain hid themselves away in fear of drawing trouble upon themselves.

A stone lizard that had just gained spiritual wisdom was hiding in a crack within a stone wall. It had already been hiding here for over ten days. The feeling of hunger burned in its stomach, making it so that it eventually couldn't resist its impulses.

It needed food!

There was the sudden sound of footsteps and a figure approached through the wafting fog. After smelling the scent of food, the stone lizard was no longer able to resist. It kicked its hind legs and rushed out like a sharp arrow, leaving behind a series of afterimages as it rushed over.

Pa -

There was a sharp crack in the air. Qin Yu expressionlessly took back his hand. The corpse of a lizard monster beast with gray scales fell to the ground.

After practicing the flesh and blood distortion art, Qin Yu was able to borrow its body concealing theories and combine them with his Ancient body to develop a relatively fierce aura concealing technique.

Thinking about it, in the eyes of this foolish little monster beast that had died, he was likely a delicious moving meal, thus it had impatiently attacked him.

Humph! This small and weak thing wasn't able to recognize its own status, so its death was its own punishment…

He turned and glanced at the fog and the Nine Nether Peak that was faintly visible. Qin Yu was silent for a moment before he forced a smile.

In the eyes of those two people, perhaps he was as weak and small as that stone lizard. Luckily, he was able to recognize his own status, so he was able to remain alive until now.

Some time ago, a glum-faced Doctor Ye had found Qin Yu and offered him a transaction. Qin Yu was to go down the mountain and interfere with the fallen humans, preventing them from cracking open the great array formation. In exchange, Doctor Ye would help maintain Xue Zheng's life and ensure his survival.

Of course, this was only an elegant way of describing the situation. The simpler and cruder version was - if you don't agree, I will kill him now so that you brothers can reunite in hell together!

Qin Yu immediately agreed. And, he also put forth a minor request. If he could complete the transaction, he hoped that Doctor Ye could undo the flesh and blood distortion art that had transformed Snowside's body.

This was a promise that Qin Yu made to Snowside. If he could return alive then everything would be happy and well. And if he didn't come back…well, he had already bet his life on this, so it shouldn't count as him failing to keep his word. At the very least, Snowside shouldn't but dissatisfied with it.

Doctor Ye nodded and agreed. After a brief explanation he let Qin Yu descend the mountain, leading to his current appearance here.

This was a world where strength was all…

Qin Yu wasn't in the mood to debate about the coldness and cruelty of reality. He took a deep breath and suppressed his state of mind. He turned and walked into the fog, soon vanishing from sight.

…

Nine Nether Peak, Stronghold Master's courtyard.

There was a round table beneath a tree. Doctor Ye took a sip of tea and looked away from below the mountain. He sensed that Qin Yu had already left, embarking on a seemingly impossible mission to stop the fallen humans.

But why did the miss believe he could accomplish this?

Doctor Ye had watched the miss grow up and was well aware of her personality. Throughout the years, she fully controlled every step she took.

When it came to her future achievements, the miss placed this in her highest priority and would never take any risks….so, if she chose Qin Yu, she had to have her reasons for doing so.

After thinking for half a day and coming up with nothing, Doctor Ye laughed and ridiculed himself. If it was so easy to guess the miss's thoughts then she wouldn't have her current position and status.

He originally thought that he valued Qin Yu enough, but now it seems that the miss placed him in much higher regards.

He only hoped that this boy wouldn't disappoint the miss's expectations in him. If he really could achieve great merits, then there would be a path in his future to reach the highest echelons of the Great Dao!

…

Qin Yu had no idea where the road to the highest echelons of the Great Dao was, and even if he knew he wouldn't be in the mood to be excited over it. Right now, he was well aware of how precarious his situation was.

In order to prevent Qin Yu from underestimating his opponents and meaninglessly lose his life, Doctor Ye had given him an explanation of what he would be facing before he left Nine Nether Peak.

So Qin Yu knew how terrifying the fallen humans were. And, what he needed to do was go against these terrifying people.

This was no different from running on the tip of a sharp knife. If he accidentally fell down, he would be pierced through multiple times.

But he still had to do this!

Qin Yu rubbed his face. He had encountered and overcome dangerous situations numerous times in the past. He wouldn't necessarily fail this time.

He lifted a hand and light flashed in his palm. A rune appeared between his flesh and blood, sending out a light projection that formed an image.

This image was small, like a stream of turbid flowing water. It seemed ordinary but in truth was the flow chart for the entire Ascent Bluegold Array Formation. With it, he could find out where there was an empty space within the array formation.

The fallen humans were in that empty space!

After judging his own position, Qin Yu clenched his fingers together and the image disappeared. He howled forward. Although he knew that the fallen humans were terrifying, he needed to personally witness them with his own eyes to estimate how fierce they truly were and also to make plans.

In their first contact, he hoped that these people wouldn't give him too great a surprise.

…

The entire village had been thoroughly destroyed. The brother and sister siblings Zhou Hu and Zhou Hui had luckily escaped the catastrophe and were hiding behind a large tree at this moment. Their faces were full of surprise as they saw several figures looming in the fog.

Humans!

There were humans!

Thanks to the strength of the Ascendant Bluegold Array, all of the fierce monster beasts in the Little Sweet Mountains had gone into hiding. Otherwise, these two fresh and delicious little kids would have long since become food in their bellies.

Shaking and trembling with fear and trepidation, the siblings that had been wandering through the mountains to this day almost cried with joy. Although these people were just strangers, right now they seemed like close relatives in their eyes.

Blue Torrent opened his eyes. He took a step forward and his figure appeared before the giant tree. He lifted a hand and pressed forward.

Just like with the large tone, the thick and large ancient tree turned into endless powder. A breeze blew past and swept it all away. At the same time, the fog in the surrounding air scattered.

The Zhou siblings hiding behind the tree widened their eyes. They looked up at the black robed figure in front of them. The aura of strength coming from his body far exceeded their expectations.

Zhou Hu subconsciously gulped. He pulled his little sister close to him and bowed deeply, "I greet senior!"

Blue Torrent had a faint expression. He looked at the two as if he were looking at two tiny pebbles.

Zhou Hu's heart shivered and he forced himself to remain calm. "Senior, black armored obams have invaded the Little Sweet Mountains. They are cruel and vicious and kill any humans they see. You must be careful….if there is nothing else, we siblings will be leaving. Our family is still waiting for us to return."

As he finished speaking he pulled Zhou Hui away to leave.

But just after taking one step, the air around him became thick and viscous, as if a swamp had wrapped itself around them.

"Hehe, what a brave child. Unfortunately, your excuse is meaningless to us!" Eleven fallen humans walked over, their laughs low and deep. From beneath their black robes, their heated eyes fell upon the Zhou siblings.

Blue Torrent furrowed his eyebrows for a moment. "You may relax, but not here."

The fallen human who spoke fell silent, as if he wasn't too happy. Several moments later he coldly sneered and said, "Of course, you are the employer so you have final say. Then, I will leave for a moment….all of you be careful. Protect Mister Blue Torrent and make sure nothing happens to him!"

"Yes, Lord East Capital!" Ten fallen humans bowed.

East Capital lifted a hand and Zhou Hui and Zhou Hu flew over beyond their control. He licked his lips and cackled before flying up into the skies, vanishing with the two children in tow.

Blue Torrent said, "I will be meditating on my harvests here. Disperse and don't disturb me."

He walked over to the hole left behind where the great tree had been. Leaping in, he sat down cross-legged in the dirt.

The ten fallen humans glanced at each other. They quietly withdrew, hiding themselves in the fog.

…

After approaching the empty space within the Ascendant Bluegold Array, Qin Yu didn't dare to speed along anymore. He completely restrained his aura and shuttled through the fog like a shadow.

According to the reminder from the rune image, the fallen humans had cracked open another node in the array formation just now.

Doctor Ye said that one or two nodes being broken didn't have much impact on the revolution of the array formation. But once enough had been broken, the entire array formation would stagnate.

At that time, the other party had a chance of calculating the position of the array eye, causing fundamental destruction to the existence of the entire array formation.

What Qin Yu had to do was to preserve as many array nodes as he could. He needed to slow down the other party and the speed at which they were destroying the array formation.

He looked forward, a dignified look in his eyes. The node that had just been broken was less than a hundred miles ahead.

It was right before him!

"Mm? What's that sound?" Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. He cocked his ears and closely listened. Then, his complexion became strange. He hesitated for a moment before soaring towards a different direction.