Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu did his best to maintain his composure. He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I do not understand Patriarch's meaning."

The Old King Patriarch's gaze didn't waver. "You understand, so why have me break through your act? In this changing of the throne, my family has no royal bloodline, but the aura coming from your body is truly the royal bloodline…and it is my late King's aura!

"So, this is why I need you to give me an explanation."

He leaned forward slightly. Although he was still old and decrepit and had an extremely weak aura, in Qin Yu's senses, he was like a giant beast rushing at his face, his fangs clearly exposed and stained with old meat and blood.

Qin Yu froze in place, as if he would be torn apart at any moment!

As he thought, the Old King Patriarch wasn't completely clueless about the ancestral land.

'My family has no royal bloodline' – this phrase alone disclosed a shocking amount of information.

Beads of sweat covered Qin Yu's forehead and his complexion turned pale white. This had nothing to do with fear. Anyone below the King boundary would be in such a state in front of this old fellow.

Of course, in truth Qin Yu did feel a little fear. What nonsense, this person could crush him to death with a flick of his finger, so how could he not feel fear?

If someone actually dared to say they felt no fear, they were either dead or an idiot!

But fear was just fear. Qin Yu didn't lose his ability to think because of it. On the contrary, his thoughts moved at an alarming speed.

The first key. Did the Old Patriarch only learn that 'there is no royal bloodline in my family' today? That was definitely not the case.

Since he already knew, why did he agree with Cloud Boundless to let him substitute for Cloud Mist's position and participate in the struggle for the throne?

There were two possibilities. The Old King Patriarch wasn't sure whether the news he obtained was correct. What if Qin Yu really was the reincarnation of the late King? Or, he knew that there was a problem with Qin Yu, but chose to go along with it for some reason.

And no matter which possibility it was, it indicated one thing…the Old King Patriarch held some vague sense of hostility or distrust towards the ancestral land!

Otherwise, after confirming Qin Yu's bloodline, no matter what his true status was he would have controlled him and then traced back his origins.

Throughout the entire Nightmare Clan, the solemn Old King Patriarch could be considered one of those with the highest status excluding the Nightmare King. Yet, he harbored hostility and distrust towards the ancestral land…even if he were to tell others, they wouldn't believe him.

But this answer explained all the riddles in front of him right now…

For instance, why did incomparably formidable old people like the Old King Patriarch not directly participate in the struggle for the throne themselves? The most likely possibility was that they already sensed some kind of threat and restlessness.

If this was true, the present situation wasn't as dangerous as Qin Yu thought.

He took a deep breath and slowly said, "Patriarch indeed knows some matters. It seems that I cannot continue to conceal them."

His eyes locked onto the Old King Patriarch. As he spoke, the Old King Patriarch's complexion didn't change from before. This caused Qin Yu to scold this old bag of bones inwardly!

It was simple for this sort of existence that had lived for innumerable years to restrain his mood.

Qin Yu thought about probing the Old King Patriarch's innermost feelings through words, but his idea was no different from the babblings of a moron. In fact…even if Qin Yu saw a change in emotion, could he believe it? Who knew whether what he saw was deliberately shown to him?

However, the situation needed to be looked at from both sides. Sometimes when there was no expression, that might mean someone was shaken to the core. Otherwise, why would they need to hide their expressions?

To truly achieve indifference towards all, that was impossible unless…one was a block of wood!

Qin Yu's thoughts continued to race, his voice deepening and his tone became crabbed…because by speaking this way, he could talk slower and not be suspected. He would even have more time to think.

That's right, Qin Yu was coming up with a story, but coming up with a story was an extremely technical skill. This was especially true when his audience was an old freak who had lived for countless years.

Although Qin Yu didn't feel that this situation was as dangerous as he thought, who knew if his judgment was correct? If he was unlucky and was killed because he misspoke, wouldn't he have died wronged?

"Thinking about it, Patriarch should have sent others to investigate my background already." Qin Yu lowered his head, a bit of helplessness on his face. "Then you should know that a woman called Feature once appeared by my side. In fact, when I first opened my eyes, she was the first one I saw."

He wasn't lying. When he fell unconscious in the Path of 10,000 Souls and opened his eyes again, the first person he saw was Feature. So, when he said this, it came from the bottom of his heart and thus sounded true to the ears.

This was the highest level of storytelling, subtly transforming one's own experiences and embellishing it a little, all in order to galvanize the audience's thinking.

The Old King Patriarch's eyes flashed. It was clear that Qin Yu's words had shaken him.

Feature…he knew of this woman's name, and it was in far more detail than Qin Yu imagined.

The matters of Great Deer City seemed to have faded away like ripples in a lake, but many clues and traces remained.

For instance, Black Astral's close subordinates in the Merry Forest, the fox woman from Thousand Eye Temple, or the lucky Cow Sledgehammer who had transformed his bloodline.

These clues appeared to be fragmented and without direction, but the Old King's Lineage was formidable enough to obtain all this information and slowly piece them together to come up with useful conclusions.

Thus, Qin Yu might have surfaced at the start, but the Old King Patriarch's attention eventually became focused on Feature. She and Qin Yu suddenly appeared within the abyss. The Crow Clan warriors should have been the first people to meet them.

What happened after that was a blank.

Crossing multiple layers of the abyss to trace the origins of two people was far more difficult than looking for a needle in a haystack. If it weren't for the Nightmare Clan being sufficiently formidable and things being forced by someone as powerful as the Old King Patriarch, it would have been impossible for there to have been any harvests.

Of course, even if the Old King Patriarch took action, it took him a long, long time before he was able to stitch together the clues and come up with an outcome.

It seemed a bit off-topic, but the final conclusion the Old King Patriarch came up with was that Feature was the most mysterious existence of all.

Black Astral, Old Fox, Shadowless Demon, the reason the three of them followed Qin Yu should have been because she forced them to…this matched with what Qin Yu said.

Just who was that woman?

As the Old King Patriarch's thoughts turned, Qin Yu didn't stop speaking. He forced a smile and said, "Feature vanished. I have no idea how to describe it, but she slowly turned pale like a shadow until all signs of her were lost. I felt no fluctuations at all, as if she were really…just a shadow.

"In fact, there are many things I want to ask her but I never had enough time. She…deceived me. She gave me a ten day agreement, but when the deadline came, that was when she vanished. I didn't have enough time to say everything I wanted."

Qin Yu suddenly looked up, his eyes falling on the Old King Patriarch. There was anticipation in his eyes. "Patriarch, you are powerful and knowledgeable, so do you know what kind of existence Feature is? Will I see her again in the future? Although she lied to me…strictly speaking, she lied to me twice, but I still know that I owe her far too much.

"In the future, if there is a chance to see her, I will certainly try to figure out a way to return what I owe her…but I have no idea where she is. Ever since Feature vanished, I haven't felt any traces belonging to her."

The Old King Patriarch suddenly said, "When she left, did she leave anything to you?"

Qin Yu nodded, "She gave me some demon medicines she refined. She said that I could use them to preserve my life if I was in danger in the future."

As he spoke he turned his hand. Demonic light surged and a jade bottle appeared.

The Old King Patriarch took it in hand. When he touched the jade bottle, he paused for a brief moment.

He poured out the demon medicine and put it in front of him, looking at it for a time. Although his expression remained the same, his breathing was a bit deeper than before.

Many years ago, the Old King Patriarch experienced a great change. This was why he had his current appearance.

But even though his mortal body had turned dried and withered, a single breath of air hadn't yet dispersed. This single breath of air was enough to stabilize the Old King's Lineage until now.

His boundary was still there. So, he could feel a faintly terrifying aura coming from this pill.

This was…the taste of the source…and in the world of the abyss, the only one who could use the source to bless demon medicines was the will of the abyss…or, someone that had been approved by the abyss' will, a demonic refining master who stood at the very summit of their kind – an Abyss Walker.

But the Old King Patriarch knew that Feature wasn't an Abyss Walker. That left only one possibility…the strength of the abyss' will!

This matter was indeed far more complex than he first imagined. Had that existence within the ancestral land roused the attention of the abyss' will?

Thousandhonor Marquis launched a war against the Nightmare Beast Territory. Calculating the time, that important juncture should have arrived again.

Perhaps Qin Yu appeared here shouldering some unknown destiny…perhaps he really was the reincarnation of the late King…

Qin Yu bitterly smiled, "Maybe Patriarch doesn't believe this. I know my name, but I don't know my past. Simply put, I know who I am, but I don't know who I was.

"The reason I came to Adversity Peak City is that Feature gave me a reminder, and also because I felt a connection to this land. That is the reason I entered Nine Nether Pagoda to cultivate. It was there that I sensed something mysterious.

"Although I have no idea what that place is, my intuition told me that it might be the Nightmare Ancestral Land."

These words were both true and false, completely mysterious and yet sounding correct. Even Qin Yu almost believed it.

The Old King Patriarch's complexion changed. He slowly leaned back against his chair, and the terrifying aura he released gradually faded away.

According to the results of the investigation and what he heard here, he had no choice but to believe what Qin Yu said.

Qin Yu knew who he was now, but not who he was before…he certainly wouldn't know, nor did he have his own will…

Because he was only a chess piece, a chess piece placed down by the abyss' will, and whose final destination was unknown.

And the prototype of this chess piece was likely to be the Nightmare King born from the Old King's Lineage…it was no wonder he had remained alive for countless years but then dissipated without warning.

Now, there was an explanation for everything.

Everything born in the abyss survived under the will of the abyss. Even if the late King was suppressed in the living world, as long as the abyss' will wished for it, the late King would dissipate with only a thought.

Qin Yu didn't speak further. His face was vacant and helpless. His fists occasionally squeezed together.

The hall fell silent.

After an unknown period of time, this peace was interrupted. "I know your status now. There are many matters I must deal with, so go down and rest first."

The Old King Patriarch slowly said, his expression becoming warm once again. When he looked at Qin Yu, there was some pity there.

He felt as if he had found the truth of the matter.

This truth was brutal, but he couldn't make any changes to it.

Because the will of the abyss could not be defied. Since it had taken action, the outcome was determined from the start.

This time, a change was bound to occur in the ancestral land. But, who knew what the final result would be?

Would that one…continue to exist? If it vanished, would that be fortune or woe to the Nightmare Clan?

Qin Yu bowed. He paused for several breaths of time, and then spoke with a voice full of expectation, "Patriarch, you know who I am, right?"

The Old King Patriarch shook his head, "Go for now. I cannot determine your status."

"…Yes." Qin Yu turned and left. His steps were heavy and plodding. When he left the hall, he angled his head up to the skies at a 45-degree angle and sighed.

He gave himself 99 points for this performance. Sure enough, pressure was power. Qin Yu believed his acting skills had never been as amazing as they were today.

The reason he gave himself 99 and not 100 was to ensure he remained calm and didn't get overly complacent with himself…

Acting skills were only acting skills after all. It might work once or twice, but what happened if he failed? All that remained was him being blown up!

If he had enough strength, what could the Old King Patriarch do? As for being cautious and eventually having his acting potential forced to awaken?

He would have just suppressed that old man!

Stand firm, don't be arrogant! Always remember that strength is the most basic foundation of all!

After secretly giving himself a warning, Qin Yu walked away.