Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Sometime later, Bluetile Courtyard, in Qin Yu's previous dwelling.

Qin Yu sat in the seat of honor. He lifted a hand and pointed a finger. An invisible imprisoning strength immediately arrived and thoroughly sealed the area.

Feeling this imprisoning strength, the Ancient King Patriarch, Old King Patriarch, and Red Fringe all changed their expressions.

So strong!

Moreover, it faintly gave them a sense of threat. Qin Yu's display of strength was far greater than the previous new King's.

In the abyss, strength was the true status. These three old demons restrained their previously casual manner.

Qin Yu said, "The ancestral land has been destroyed. The one there will never appear again."

The Ancient King Patriarch, Old King Patriarch, and Red Fringe all paled. They never thought that the first sentence Qin Yu said would be such explosive news.

The ancestral land had really been destroyed…

Before, when the vortex vanished, they had vaguely guessed this.

After all, it was the ancestral land and it was connected to the aura of the entire tribe. As Nameless True Kings of the tribe, they certainly were able to sense something.

But now, after obtaining confirmation from Qin Yu's lips, the impact this had still left them shaken.

Qin Yu waited for a time, allowing them to digest this news. Then he continued to say, "Now, the three of you may go ahead and ask your questions. I will tell you in advance that there are some secrets that I can only hide."

Red Fringe was the first to speak. "That one in the ancestral land, just who is it?" As she spoke, her tone became increasingly urgent. "Or to be more exact, what relation does that one have with the Nightmare Clan?"

Qin Yu looked at her and said, "That one…to be precise, he was a parasite hiding within the Nightmare Clan."

"Of course, calling him the Nightmare Clan's old ancestor isn't wrong either. It is indeed because of his existence that the Nightmare Clan has its current status."

Red Fringe furrowed her eyebrows, not too satisfied with this answer.

Qin Yu waved his hand, interrupting her before she could speak. "I know what you want to say…very well, I can tell you the truth, but this matter involves events of great significance. None of you can reveal anything, otherwise the entire tribe shall face total annihilation!"

The Ancient King Patriarch, Old King Patriarch, and Red Fringe all sucked in a deep breath, their heartbeats accelerating.

Qin Yu's eyes deepened as he swept over the three. He slowly said, "The one in the ancestral land…was a shadow of the abyss…" He immediately wove a tale of what happened.

To simply summarize it, there were nine points of truth and one point of lies. After being altered by Qin Yu, the story was still the story, but its flavor had changed.

As the three old demons listened, their complexions changed again and again. They constantly verified what they knew with what they heard…then, everything made sense.

No wonder someone could directly become an Abyssal True King just by being selected to enter the ancestral land and capturing the throne…no wonder the successive Nightmare Kings, no matter which family they came from, would give off an essentially familiar feeling…no wonder the tribe didn't feel close to the ancestral land, and it even gave them a sense of cold predation…

A shadow of the abyss that developed free will and refused to dissipate…so this was the reason why the Nightmare Clan was able to rise up from nothing…but was he really just a simple shadow? And this shadow had disappeared now.

In other words, the Nightmare Clan had lost their ancestral land. While they had already thought of such a possibility, they still felt dazed when it was confirmed to be true.

Could the future Nightmare Clan still maintain its current status? Or, with the disappearance of the ancestral land, would the Nightmare Clan fall into decline and eventually collapse?

The Old King Patriarch opened his mouth. "This may seem offensive, but I still wish to ask it. What is your true identity?"

Qin Yu could feel eyes gather on him. This was presently one of the matters they cared about the most. It might even be no less important that the true secret of the ancestral land…

Because Qin Yu was the current Nightmare King. He wielded authority over the entire tribe and would determine their future prosperity or decline.

"The abyss' will cannot be defied. Since a Shadow of Betrayal has appeared, it will naturally find a way to thoroughly erase it.

"Thousandhonor Marquis was an enforcer, but his movements were too slow. So with my appearance, all mistakes were erased and everything returned to normal as it should be."

Qin Yu faintly smiled, "That is my true identity."

He didn't directly reply, but this answer was obviously enough. The Old King Patriarch, Ancient King Patriarch, and Red Fringe all nodded. It was just as they thought.

Like that, Qin Yu used Thousandhonor Marquis' status and easily explained his sudden disappearance.

There was no need for a useless enforcer to continue to exist. It was normal to be cleaned up by the abyss' will.

Moreover, Qin Yu inadvertently managed to make the three old demons believe even more in him.

This was because they had already suspected Thousandhonor Marquis before…now that they knew more, everything became clear.

Hence, the three old demons believed 70-80% of what Qin Yu said…in truth, this was already a very good result.

Without staying for too much longer, the Ancient King Patriarch, Old King Patriarch, and Red Fringe all bid their goodbyes and left.

Qin Yu watched them leave and furrowed his eyebrows. He said in a soft voice, "They really are cautious. But this doesn't matter. As long as they don't tear through my disguise, the most difficult first part has ended."

From here on out, he was the new Nightmare King!

Even with Qin Yu's shrewd mentality and skill at hiding his emotions, he couldn't help but feel choked up. As a being of the living world, he had somehow turned into the Nightmare Clan's King. This was simply inconceivable!

After a long time, he took a deep breath and suppressed his tumbling emotions. He looked down at his shadow and his eyes lit up with anticipation. "Now it's time to count the harvest."

…

Qin Yu never forgot his most basic goal for coming to the abyss for even one moment. So after awakening Old Turtle's Undying Body fragment, he directly asked him about the secrets of the Path of 10,000 Souls. This was something that concerned Ning Ling's life and death.

"The Path of 10,000 Souls…" Old Turtle thought for a moment and then his face changed a bit. He looked up at Qin Yu and subconsciously gulped.

He certainly wasn't an idiot. Just by looking at Qin Yu's appearance, anyone could tell that there was another story behind this.

Could it be he had cultivated it? No, that wasn't right. Qin Yu's soul aura was complete and hadn't undergone division.

Then what was the reason?

Without giving Old Turtle more time to think, Qin Yu said, "Truthfully tell me everything you know. If you dare to conceal anything from me, I will break you to pieces."

Startled, Old Turtle's face turned blue. Qin Yu was extremely serious…the situation was likely far worse than he first imagined.

He gulped and wiped his mouth. Don't ask why a shadow was able to swallow and wipe his mouth, after all, he was a projection of the abyss so of course he was different.

"The Path of 10,000 Souls was one of my attempts. You should know that I fear death above all, so I always try to keep an extra path open for myself. So I had an idea. I split up my consciousness, dividing and treating them as seeds. Then these seeds constantly strengthened, and if they finally fused together, it would be able to greatly enhance my strength.

"The Qi Zhen that cooperated with you, as well as other shadows, were some of my attempts…cough cough…imagining something can be beautiful, but reality is often harsh. In short, I failed. The Path of 10,000 Souls in itself is wrong."

Old Turtle paused and looked at Qin Yu. He braced himself and said, "The rules do not allow it, so this in itself is a dead end. It will not work at all…"

Qin Yu waved a hand and interrupted him. "I'll ask you something else. A fragment soul of someone who cultivated the Path of 10,000 Souls, can they obtain true freedom?"

His eyes were sharp and fierce. "The freedom I speak of is to become an independent individual that is no longer restricted by the main body, to become a pure and singular life form…think before you speak, otherwise I'll break you to pieces!"

It was this sentence again!

Old Turtle's lips twitched and he almost cried out loud. Although the Path of 10,000 Souls was wrong in itself and was impossible to cross, it was indeed an extremely mysterious cultivation method.

What nonsense. He had imprisoned himself within the Nightmare Ancestral Land, enduring solitude and loneliness. During all that time, he spent endless effort and energy to finally create this secret art. Even if it was incomplete, its quality was absolutely top tier.

After all, Old Turtle feared death, and however much he feared that, that was how much effort he would put into this effort…that was 120% effort.

What resulted from that was the Path of 10,000 Souls' incomparably overbearing ability…it came from him, so he knew it best. Even so, of course he would be worried that the shadows that split out from him would follow his example.

So when it came to the imprisonment of these fragment souls, there was no solution. If not for that, Qi Zhen, who had begged for death, wouldn't have waited until now to achieve this wish.

Facing Qin Yu's blazing eyes, Old Turtle paled and his forehead became covered with sweat. However, not replying was impossible. He could clearly feel the cruelty hidden below Qin Yu's clam surface. It was like a roiling volcano. It could erupt at any moment and burn everything down to ashes.

Whether it was being broken to pieces or burnt to ashes, it all resulted in 'death' at the end.

"This matter…is very difficult…when I created the Path of 10,000 Souls I was worried I would be betrayed by my shadows…I never thought that this…" Old Turtle stuttered, fear filling his heart. He really was afraid that his life would come to an end at any moment.

Rumble rumble –

The skies instantly darkened as countless black clouds gushed out. Then a million bolts of thunder cracked down, roaring between the heavens.

Arcs of lightning intertwined, tearing apart the darkness. The aura of destruction enveloped Old Turtle, making him scream, "Don't blame me! Don't blame me! When I created the Path of 10,000 Souls in the past, I never imagined this would happen…please don't kill me, I beg you not to kill me!"

This was the world of Qin Yu's mind. He was the ruler of this world and could change everything with a thought.

If he wanted to kill Old Turtle, he didn't even need to do much at all. Just a single glance could send him beyond redemption.

The Undying Body could resist the invasion of time and last forever…but as was said countless times before, there was no absolute in this world. Even if it existed, it was only limited to a certain scope.

If one could really become immortal and undying, why would Old Turtle fear death so much and imprison himself in the Nightmare Ancestral Land, enduring loneliness and not daring to take a single step into the abyss?

This was certainly because the abyss' will could kill him…and it just happened that while the little blue lamp's absolute strength couldn't compare with the abyss' will, its level of strength was no weaker.

So, it could achieve this.

In order to survive, Old Turtle could only hand over his source mark. Now that Qin Yu possessed it, he could destroy Old Turtle with just a thought.

Pitiful screams filled the air. Lightning flashed within the world of Qin Yu's mind, illuminating his face. He had finally found the source of the Path of 10,000 Souls, but he never imagined this would be the result.

There was no solution. There was actually no solution!

After learning all this, Qin Yu naturally thought about Qi Zhen. Qi Zhen was Old Turtle's shadow, and had been begging to die for many years.

This confirmed everything that Old Turtle said. Fragment souls from the Path of 10,000 Souls would never be liberated!