Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The expressions of the people who realized this afterwards changed. They looked at him with eyes overflowing with awe.

They simply had no idea what happened before Qin Yu moved forward. But from their responses and actions, it wasn't difficult to guess what occurred.

Jiang Yuanyi nearly cried out loud. The more terrifying of a strength Qin Yu displayed, the more scared he became. The issue was that he had done something extremely stupid before. If a useless piece of trash like himself were to be killed off, he was afraid no one would care.

At this moment, he certainly wouldn't think that his status was enough to preserve his life.

No, I cannot die here, I must save myself!

Qin Yu stood in front of the wooden door for a moment before making his move. No one noticed the dark golden light surging in his eyes.

With the truth revealed before him, the wooden door itself didn't exist. Rather, a continuous flow of black energy constantly circulated around with the lock as the starting point.

Although he had no idea what these black energy currents were, his intuition told him that if he were to be entangled by these things, it would be troublesome for him.

Just before this when Qin Yu broke Pure Summer free, he had almost been wrapped up. With Pure Summer's cultivation, for him to feel such horror before he was even fully entangled, it could be seen how horrifying these black flows of energy were.

He pointed a finger at the lock. Qin Yu's complexion changed. As if he had been pricked by a needle, he abruptly drew back his hand.

He pointed a finger and then pulled his hand.

This process lasted for less than half a breath of time, but when Qin Yu looked down he could see that his fingertip was half black.

His flesh and blood had lost their liveliness. Faint traces of black energy flowed around, trying to drill deeper in like a swarm of tiny insects.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. Two hearts beat vigorously in his chest, pushing a burning hot blood energy through his body and into his fingertip.

When the blood energy returned, the black energy that had stained his fingertip vanished. But, the blackened flesh and blood withered up as if it had been left in the scorching arid desert for countless years. It eventually turned into dust.

And most importantly, there was less than half of the blood energy he stimulated left…this was the truly terrifying point!

It had to be known that Qin Yu's current mortal body had already reached the stage of the Ancient race's Undying Body. And with the help of the sun and moon force field, he was constantly absorbing power and strengthening it.

The quality of his blood energy could not be compared to that of other ordinary cultivators. Even so, at the moment of contact a small amount of his flesh and blood had been destroyed and he even lost a portion of his blood energy. If it was any other cultivator, even if they managed to stop it in time they would have lost an arm at least.

Thinking this way, Pure Summer was undoubtedly lucky. He borrowed the strength of the city and didn't truly touch the lock, otherwise even Qin Yu wouldn't have been able to save him.

Qin Yu rubbed his forehead. The slight injury on his fingertip had already recovered. He revealed a helpless expression.

Although he had eyes of truth that could see the essence of the lock, the problem was that even if he could see it, he couldn't open it.

Of course, if he was willing to pay any price to forcibly open the lock, he could do that. But in that process he would likely lose at least half his body.

The Ancient race's Undying Body was known as being immortal and inextinguishable. Even if he was torn to shreds, as long there was a trace of him left behind he could restore himself.

But this would require him to consume an immense amount of strength.

With his current condition, if half his body was destroyed, the recovery period would cause him to fall into a weakened state for an extremely long length of time.

In this city that was likely corroded by the power of the abyss and where he also had an abyssal being eyeing him, falling into a weakened condition was stupid beyond compare.

Qin Yu suddenly thought back to Shang Lingyu stepping away and not attacking them. It was likely because he knew about the existence of this lock.

Considering things from another angle, he clearly knew about the existence of this lock and yet he had still offered a condition for Qin Yu to withdraw.

Disregarding whether or not this condition was a lie, the offer in itself represented many different things. For instance, that he didn't hope for Qin Yu to enter the private school at this time.

Or to be more exact, he didn't hope for Qin Yu to try opening the lock and entering the private school's back courtyard…even if the possibility of that happening was extremely low.

The more the abyssal being cared about this, the more this indicated that this was the key point.

But even if Qin Yu realized all of this, so what? He couldn't open the lock!

The sounds of laughter came from behind. Several children wearing black and white school clothes ran over. When they saw Qin Yu and the others, their laughter quieted down and their immature faces became a little wary.

Of course, when these two looks mixed together, it only made the children appear even cuter.

"Mister, you are blocking our path, can you please move to the side?" One of the young children cupped his hands together and bowed, his expression earnest.

Qin Yu's eyes flashed. He turned and moved to the side, "Little teachers, please."

The children flushed red after being referred to as such. Several of them couldn't hold back any longer and quickly bowed their heads before walking forward.

When they reached the door, they lifted their legs and directly passed through…as if the wooden door didn't really exist!

"Hehe, he called me little teacher! Haha, that is the first time anyone's called me that!"

"That mister is polite. If you want to be that mister, you are still too far away."

"Humph! Just you wait, sooner or later there will be a day when I become a teacher of the private school and be just as awesome as Mister Xu!"

"What bragging, there is no one in this world as fierce as Mister Xu. You can stop dreaming!"

What followed were the sounds of children playing, accompanied with the sounds of splashing water.

A moment later, the children had washed themselves white and clean. They filed out of the back courtyard, looking strangely at Qin Yu and the others before running away.

The courtyard fell silent.

Everyone had seen what had just happened. To the young children, this wooden door didn't exist at all. If they wanted to enter they could enter. But, the wooden door was an unbreakable barrier for outsiders.

"I already sad that you shouldn't be wasting your time here." It was unknown when the teacher arrived behind the group, but his eyes were desolate as he said, "The back courtyard is a secret area of this private school. Only those of this private school can enter. You cannot open that door."

It was clear that he knew many things.

Qin Yu took out a book and smiled, "Mister, can I be considered a person of this private school? After all, I do have a book from here."

The teacher coldly sneered, "Of course you can't."

Qin Yu didn't fully believe it. He experimented by holding the book and approaching the wooden door. However, there was no change to the lock.

It really was useless.

But he didn't step back. He furrowed his eyebrows, deep in thought.

If he really couldn't go in then this teacher wouldn't have a reason to be paying attention to them.

But before entering the private school and also now, he had appeared twice. Something didn't seem right.

Could it be that he hadn't considered something yet?

Suddenly, Qin Yu reached into his chest. Then he opened his fingers to reveal a shining golden coin.

"Would it be enough if I add this in also?"

The teacher's complexion changed. A trace of annoyance flashed in his eyes as if he realized something.

And at this time, the wooden door suddenly creaked and opened. It was unknown where the lock went, but it seemed as if it had never existed.

The entire courtyard fell deathly silent!

Everyone was stunned by the wooden door that suddenly opened and also shocked by the gold coin lying quietly in Qin Yu's palm.

Gold coin…that was a gold coin…

Everyone knew that as long as a person made any transaction in the city using a gold coin, they would directly obtain the 10,000 Souls Great Dao inheritance.

But throughout the countless times that the Path of 10,000 Souls had been opened, there had never been any news of a gold coin appearing.

It was like a myth!

Yet now, they witnessed this myth turn into reality.

Qin Yu…just who was he…a gold coin…where did he get a gold coin…and what was even more important was that even though he had a gold coin, he didn't use it to carry out a transaction.

What did this mean?

It was clear that the so-called 10,000 Souls Great Dao wasn't important in his eyes. This caused Yun Feng and the others to be left shocked speechless. They also felt a little bitter.

It had to be known that the reason they entered the Path of 10,000 Souls was because they dreamed about obtaining the 10,000 Souls Great Dao inheritance. As long as they could accomplish this, they would become core figures within their families and their future achievements would be limitless.

But compared with Qin Yu, their so-called dreams held no weight at all. They were on completely different levels.

Beneath their black robes, Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun glanced at each other and sighed. Did Qin Yu know about the existence of the source from the start? If not for that, how could he not care about the 10,000 Souls Great Dao?

This fellow collaborator was truly mysterious and wrapped in a thick layer of fog.

Luckily, thanks to the heart link fruit they were all in the same party. Otherwise if they were to become enemies with Qin Yu…tsk tsk, they feared they wouldn't even know how they died.

…

Outside the private school, on a long street, Shang Lingyu was enjoying a cup of tea. The teacup suddenly smashed apart in his hands and boiling hot tea splashed out. But, he didn't care about this at all. He looked towards the private school, his eyes shaken.

The lord's seal had been opened? How was this possible?

It had to be known that even he, in his current condition, couldn't open the lord's seal.

Without any reason, Qin Yu's figure appeared in Shang Lingyu's mind.

It was him, it had to be him!

That human cultivator was more troublesome than he imagined.

He took a deep breath and suppressed his trembling heart. A cold light flashed in his eyes.

No matter what, he would not allow these people to ruin what the lord was doing.

And Qin Yu…he could not be left alive!

Shua -

His figure flickered and he leapt out from the teahouse, vanishing soon after.

As for the ruined tea set, the teahouse waiter was standing nearby but didn't even glance at it.

As if Shang Lingyu didn't exist in his eyes.

Or perhaps, he saw it, but he didn't dare to express anything.

…

Looking at the wooden door that opened on its own, the teacher was stunned for a brief moment before a complex look flashing in his eyes. He drew in a deep breath and looked at Qin Yu, "Even though I know you won't listen to me, I want to warn you one more time. Don't enter the back courtyard, and leave this place as soon as possible."

Qin Yu was touched a little. It was clear that this person wasn't just an ordinary teacher in a private school; he might even know the secrets of the city. Qin Yu had no idea if the teacher was lying or not, but he could feel the sincerity in his voice…in other words, he should be speaking the truth.

If he didn't retreat now, there was a high chance of him encountering danger. But even though Qin Yu knew of this, did he have a choice? If he was only focused on avoiding risks, he wouldn't have entered the Path of 10,000 Souls to begin with.

Sometimes, even if a person knew something was wrong they still had to do it…even if he knew there was danger, sometimes he had to take the initiative to enter anyway.

So after a short silence, Qin Yu only nodded at the teacher and softly said, "I have my own reasons. Thank you for the reminder."

He turned and passed through the wooden door, entering the back courtyard of the private school.

There was nothing like another world here. The backyard was an ordinary courtyard. There were different vegetables being grown and they were divided into different sections. Everything was neat and orderly, without any weeds in sight. It was obvious that everything here was cared for daily and was in excellent condition.

The only thing that caught the eye was a well not too far away. The head of the well was stained with water. It should have been caused by the group of little children washing themselves and playing.

Qin Yu's eyes flashed. Without stopping, he walked over to the well and looked inside it.

The water level was high. Just three or four meters down, he could already see his face reflected in the surface like a mirror.

He stared at his reflection and then turned around. "Take a look, is this the place?"

Pure Summer and Peaceful Nun hurried over to the well. It was unknown what methods they used, but they spoke at almost the same time, "That's right, this is it!"

Their voices shook with excitement.

At this moment, the two of them were no longer sad or unwilling about having met Qin Yu. Rather, they felt joy and happiness over their decision. If it weren't for Qin Yu, they wouldn't have easily found the channel left behind by their ancestors.

They feared they wouldn't have even been able to make it into the back courtyard.

"Wonderful, this is too wonderful!" Even though Pure Summer had a calm temperament, he still couldn't help but mumble to himself upon seeing that his wish of many years was soon about to become reality. He even grabbed onto Peaceful Nun's hand.

Of course, the most important reason was that he understood what sort of astonishing fortune the city's source was, hidden at the end of this channel.

Even if Qin Yu took away the majority as he deserved, he and Peaceful Nun would still be reborn. Endless possibilities awaited them.

Yun Feng and the others were all overjoyed. Even if they didn't have a share of the lucky chance in the well, once the black-robed lords and Qin Yu were satisfied, their own wishes would also be realized.

This could be considered a happy moment. But as everyone was excited and celebrating, they didn't notice the grim expression on Qin Yu's face.

He glanced at the entrance to the backyard. The teacher stood there with an indifferent expression. He watched them break in and didn't show any emotions at all, as if he were a completely different person from the one that had solemnly warned Qin Yu.

He didn't walk away or leave, just stood there and calmly watched…there was surely no envy there. Rather, from the teacher's tranquil expression, Qin Yu could sense some taunting, or even pity.

At this time, it was like a hand appeared and ripped apart some of the fog that covered Qin Yu's mind: Opening the wooden door could only be considered the beginning of the risky venture. After stepping into the backyard and locking onto the well, that would be when the true dangers arrived.

"Fellow daoist Qin Yu, we will begin attempting to undo the seal in the well and open the channel. We cannot be disturbed during this process."

Qin Yu gathered his thoughts and slowly said, "I'll serve as your protector."

He glanced over Yun Feng and the others. Their complexions changed and they quickly drew back, restraining their auras.

As expected, these juniors were still smart.