Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The abyss and bright world were certainly interconnected. If it weren't for this, it would have been impossible for the cataclysmic war to have occurred in the distant past, where trillions of lives were destroyed.

But it was exactly because of that frigid war that the channels between both worlds were forcibly sealed. This was a seal condensed from the power of the world, and not even an Abyssal True King would be able to break it.

The existing way to enter the bright world was to pass through some unsealed cracks between the two worlds. But, these cracks were far, far too small to accommodate a complete abyssal life form.

Only by abandoning one's mortal body, entering a pure soul state, and braving the risk of being smashed and twisted apart could one squeeze through the cracks and arrive in the bright world…of course, this was an unacceptable method to Qin Yu.

It wasn't only because of the risks, but also because of his mortal body.

After giving up his mortal body he could seize another one, but it wouldn't be his true body. Moreover, how powerful was his present mortal body? Of course he couldn't abandon it.

And things weren't this simple anyways!

If it was just Qin Yu, then with the strength of the Nightmare Clan, he might be able to accomplish something. But he wasn't the only one leaving the abyss. There was also Old Turtle.

The little blue lamp had risked danger and finally subdued him. Qin Yu learnt from this that the little blue lamp would rather him lose his body than give up on Old Turtle.

This was because of the Time Undying Body…but also because of the pure strength of the abyss' will contained within Old Turtle.

Whether it was to Qin Yu or the little blue lamp, Old Turtle's existence was important. He could not be lost.

This was the key to everything!

Strictly speaking, Old Turtle was a part of the abyss' will. Bringing him away from the abyss was essentially shearing off a piece of meat from the abyss' will.

This was courting death!

Because it was simply impossible to conceal this matter from the abyss' will. At the moment it was realized, a simple thought would be enough to plunge him beyond any hopes of redemption.

This left Qin Yu with only one choice – he had to find an incomparably large and firm channel, and also hide the truth from the abyss' will. At the very least, he couldn't be discovered by it until he left and returned to the bright world.

With such a limitation, in particular the added task of concealing this from the abyss' will, the difficulty rose by more than a hundred times.

Based on the information obtained from the Nightmare Clan in addition to asking Old Turtle, Qin Yu was able to obtain some clues. But whether or not it would work, he had no idea.

Leaning back on the soft and comfortable couch, Qin Yu drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He rubbed his eyebrows, a bit of weariness in his eyes.

At this moment, he was riding in a peaceful carriage as it made its way forward. His complexion was slightly pale and he looked exhausted.

"Have we arrived?"

Across from him, Mian Ya respectfully said, "Reporting to young master, I just asked a little before. It will still take another day before we enter the next layer of the abyss."

"Mm." Qin Yu nodded. He placed his hands behind his head and looked up through the transparent roof at the gray and dusky skies.

Hmm…it seemed that the deeper he went, the more dim the light became. Even though it was dawn, it still looked like this.

Certainly, while the roof was transparent, that was only to the inside. One couldn't see through from the outside.

Mian Ya glanced at the lazy and sluggish Qin Yu. She thought for a moment and poured a cup of tea, presenting it to him with both hands.

"Thank you."

Qin Yu received it. As he drank tea he continued to look at the skies. His gaze sometimes sharpened and sometimes softened. It was unknown what he was thinking about.

Mian Ya had long since become accustomed to this. Seeing that there were no other orders, she sat quietly in a corner.

Looking at the skies was an extremely interesting pastime. It wasn't until today that Qin Yu understood a little of what Feature meant when she said she wanted to take a good look at the abyss.

Originally, when others said to become more informed by looking around more, it did make sense. The more he looked at the abyss, the more clearly he could see some things and the easier he could think through some matters.

Besides sleeping, traveling along and looking up at the skies was almost all Qin Yu did after leaving the Nightmare Clan.

In a trace, it was unknown how long he looked for. He had already put down the empty teacup. He signed. His current condition was really too weak. He had no idea how long it would take before he could restore himself.

He closed his eyes and dozed off once again. His face was still slightly pale.

Old Fox rode a dragon horse, quietly following behind the carriage. His eyes occasionally swept over the driver, subconsciously showing some awe.

Then, pride surged out from the bottom of his heart.

My master is that fierce, he can even subdue an Abyssal True King. Unifying the abyss in the future is already predetermined!

A pair of eyes appeared in the shadow of the carriage. When they saw Old Fox's expression, they revealed a mocking light.

This old thing had seen too little and was impressed by too much!

If you saw how amazing our young master was when he threatened two True Kings with one hand and resisted the Shadow of Betrayal with the other, your eyes would have popped out already!

Suddenly, there was a gentle knocking from inside. Mian Ya said, "The young master said to rest here for today."

The carriage stopped. King Mystery, who had been driving, turned around and looked at the tightly shut compartment, a gleam in his eyes.

As an Abyssal True King, his senses were sharp. He certainly couldn't be compared to the Demon Commander level Old Fox and Shadowless Demon. During this period of time, the subtle changes of aura coming from inside the carriage left him shaken and silent.

He turned and walked to the side. Without any instruction, Old Fox and Shadowless Demon took the initiative to set up a temporary camp.

While the young master rarely ordered them to pause and rest and they had no idea what the goal of this trip was, since it was the young master's will, they simply needed to carry it out.

As the carriage set off on the next day, King Mystery secretly sighed as he sensed the changing aura from within it. It was exactly as he thought.

Qin Yu…his true status might be more than some formidable chess piece.

But thinking about it carefully, this was also normal. After all, the average person didn't have the qualifications to be chosen by such a powerful existence.

The skies grew increasingly dark. Even when it was daytime, it still gave people a sense of murkiness and drowsiness, an invisible oppression.

Moreover, the trip became increasingly not smooth and it was necessary to stop from time to time. This was because more and more mindless demon beasts started to attack the seemingly frail and weak troop.

This made the merchant caravans following behind them break into a cold sweat. But they were able to turn danger into safety each time.

As if there was some monster hidden in this troop that swallowed up all the invading demon beasts.

So as time passed, while people kept leaving, the scale of the merchant caravan grew larger and larger. The shrewd and powerful merchants, no matter what their background was or how strong they were, all looked ahead with awe.

Without a doubt, this small troop was the true terror!

"Look, look, more demon beasts are about to attack."

"It's a sunless eagle. Look at those black feathers that seem as if they can swallow light. There's no way I'm seeing things!"

"Of course I wouldn't read it wrong. This scar on my face was left behind by such a beast. Back then, I had dozens of brothers with me but in the end I was the only one who survived."

"It's not an ordinary sunless eagle either. Look at the top of its head. The feathers are bulging and forming a faint ring, the colors darker than the feathers beside it."

"Beast King…it's going to transform soon…"

Gulp –

It was unknown who swallowed a mouthful of saliva, but it sounded especially clear in this deathly still environment. One could see pale faces all around.

"Should we…run?"

An ordinary sunless eagle was enough to kill at least half of the people in this merchant caravan, not to mention this one that was obviously about to complete its transformation.

Although they had previously witnessed powerful demon beast after powerful demon beast perishing to the troop in front of them, this time it was different…would they be able to continue doing that? Difficult, it was too difficult!

For those that dared to do business and eat on the lower layers of the abyss, courage was the primary requirement, otherwise it would be impossible to stay here.

But being courageous didn't mean that they didn't fear death. If they fled now they could still withdraw. But if they were any later there wouldn't be enough time.

"Cough! Everyone, listen to me!" A caravan leader spoke out loud, "Actually, we all know that it is because the troop in front of us allowed us to follow on their heels by default that we have been able to experience such a smooth journey. When the journey went smoothly before, no one said anything, but now that something has happened, isn't it unrighteous for us to turn around and run without helping?

"What if they kill that sunless eagle? What do we do then? If we chase after and follow them again, even if they don't care, we wouldn't have the face to do that."

These were certainly polite words. These desperate merchants that risked their lives to make money never cared about face to begin with.

But everyone understood the underlying meaning. They could run away now, but if they did, they could forget coming back to enjoy the treatment of having the road 'opened up' for them.

"Humph! If you don't even have your life, what's the point of talking about some dog-fart honor! If you want to stay then go ahead and stay; I'm leaving no matter what!" The scarred merchant who said before that his brothers were all killed by a sunless eagle sneered, making the scar on his face look even more hideous. He took his people and left without hesitation.

His choice was simple and decisive. This was because he had personally experienced the terror of a sunless eagle, let alone this even stronger one in front of him.

The crowd became restless. Soon, two more caravans turned and left without even saying goodbye.

With someone taking the lead, the atmosphere within the merchant caravan started to turn restless…but in fact, this restlessness didn't last long.

Because they suddenly discovered that the cruel aura coming at them had vanished without warning.

They fiercely looked up, their eyes wide. The terrifying shadow that seemed to blot out the skies had disappeared.

Then, there was an earthshaking bang. It was like a mountain fell from the skies. Even from where they stood, they could feel the earthquake.

Everyone froze in place. They slowly looked down. Then, the entire merchant caravan fell into a deathly silence.

Because a mountain really had fallen on the ground. That was…the corpse of the sunless eagle.

A breeze blew over, carrying with it the thick smell of blood!

As if not even knowing they had done something so shocking, the troop in front only paused for a moment before continuing.

The silent merchant caravan came up to the mountain-like corpse of the sunless eagle. When they saw the hole torn through its chest, their eyes filled with awe.

Even such a formidable demon beast hadn't been able to resist before it was cut down and killed…moreover, what was even more terrifying was that through the entire process, they never felt a single fluctuation of strength.