Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The fog retreated.

In the end, the number of survivors, including Qin Yu and Yun Shi, was nine in total.

Everyone else…had become human beads!

Strictly speaking, besides the human bead of the unfamiliar cultivator that Flare Wind had killed, the rest had ended up in the stomachs of the surviving cultivators.

Cruelty was certain, but those that survived had a calm expression. There was no remorse, no unease, and no guilt.

Because in this courtyard that was like a witchcraft jar used to raise bugs, and under the shroud of the poison fog, if they didn't kill others they would have been killed instead.

There were many familiar faces here. Ruan Jing, Soaring Sky, Soul Hook, Thunder Dominion's Zhou Lei…he also had a faint impression of the others.

None of the cultivators who managed to survive this long were ordinary characters. They gathered in the front part of the courtyard, each person standing in a corner.

The fog had vanished. Not to mention that it was unknown whether killing someone could still condense human beads…they had no idea who would die in the end. Facts proved that all of the people here were the most terrifying existences amongst predators and there were too many uncertainties that could take place in a battle.

Of course, there was also another reason - no one was a fool. They certainly knew that there was a problem with this courtyard by now.

The slaughter stopped, but true terror might arrive at any moment. So the surviving cultivators gathered towards the front end of the courtyard as if by prior agreement. This was a sort of default alliance, joining forces to resist unknown dangers.

Qin Yu brought Yun Shi here. His appearance attracted everyone's eyes, and they all revealed heavy expressions.

Although they hadn't all witnessed the existence of the iron lump, with so many days having passed since then, it was no longer a secret.

Qin Yu grasped a powerful killing weapon. If they had any dark thoughts about him, things might get dangerous for them.

Ruan Jing lightly coughed and moved a few steps, standing next to the Transcendent Sword cultivator.

As he moved, Soul Hook also arrived at their side. The three shared a common feature - they all had a tense relationship with Qin Yu.

In this case, as long as Qin Yu wasn't stupid then it was unlikely he would try and do anything to him. But when it came to their own safety, it was always better to be safe than sorry.

Zhou Lei lightly coughed. He smiled and said, "Brother Qin has arrived!"

He decided to take the initiative to speak up, exercising his own facial skin. He strived to achieve a thickness of facial skin that rivaled Ruan Jing's in the future.

Uh…this goal seemed a bit too high. People couldn't be too ambitious. Sometimes it was better to be realistic.

After nodding at Zhou Lei, Qin Yu didn't say anything. He could certainly feel the dread in everyone's eyes as they looked at him.

This was normal. If he was in their shoes he would be reacting the same way.

He took Yun Shi and stood in a corner of the front yard. Then he looked up at the skies, his thoughts similar to everyone else's. Since the witchcraft bug cultivation was over, it was time for things to reach the last step.

The mysterious soul body hidden in the realm within the realm should be done playing. It was about time for them to show up.

As if sensing Qin Yu's thoughts, the air in the courtyard began to turn dry and hot.

Like a burning charcoal flame, if one approached it, they could feel their skin burn with stinging pain.

It came!

Everyone cried out in unison within their hearts. Their bodies tensed up and a cold glint flashed in their eyes. To raise them as witchcraft bugs, this other party had to have sufficiently powerful means, otherwise they wouldn't mind teaching this other party what a 'backlash' tasted like.

But what was strange was that besides the dry and hot heat in the air, nothing else happened.

No, that wasn't right…to be exact, a change did occur.

The temperature kept rising!

The heat in the air grew increasingly intense. If it was like approaching a burning charcoal brazier in the past, then now it was like standing next to two or three of them, and the number kept increasing.

Cultivators defied the heavens to change their fate. Even if they still maintained the appearance of a person, their essence had long since transformed to a different level.

In fact, strictly speaking, the two sides couldn't even be considered the same species anymore. When it came to the external environment, they had a greatly strengthened ability to adapt. The invasion of extreme heat and extreme cold was only a common annoyance to them.

Wanting to cause substantive damage to a formidable cultivator using this was simply futile.

But everything was limited to a certain range. Cultivators might be strong, but that didn't mean they had no upper limits. For instance, when Qin Yu rushed into the Cold Sea, if it wasn't for King Mystery protecting him from the terrifying chill, he would have frozen to death before he found the channel leading to the vast brightness world!

And at this time, the temperature in the courtyard was gradually rising and transforming to a terrifying new level.

Everyone's complexions turned dignified and they swept their eyes around. They felt restless in the burning hot air.

The cultivators might be able to resist it, but some things in the courtyard had begun to wither and turn yellow from the high heat.

It wasn't just plants that turned yellow. Much less, everything that grew in the courtyard, even if it was a blade of grass, had already been looted.

But there were still stones, soil, and all kinds of materials used to build the courtyard. Now, all of the moisture contained within them seemed to be plundered. Their color darkened and deepened, finally becoming a withered yellow that resembled fallen leaves.

Sweat poured out from Qin Yu's pores. He wiped his forehead and looked over at Yun Shi.

She felt even more heat. Her long skirt was almost soaked in sweat as it clung to her body.

This caused Yun Shi to feel embarrassed. When her gaze met Qin Yu's, she reddened further. She lowered her head and played with her fingers, a helpless look on her face.

"Stand behind me."

Yun Shi hurriedly nodded. She curled up a bit and hid herself behind Qin Yu.

Perhaps because she was shy, but even though she was close, she still maintained some distance between her and Qin Yu.

Qin Yu smiled. His eyes paused on her body for a moment. When Yun Shi's face blushed even more, it was only then that he looked away.

But in truth, Yun Shi was overthinking things. At this moment, no one was in the mood to look at her.

The wet body of a beauty was a wonderful sight, but it all depended on the timing to enjoy the scenery. Right now, no one knew whether they would live or die, so who could bother thinking about such things?

It grew even hotter!

There was a sudden 'pa' from under their feet. The bricks and stones that paved the ground beneath them had turned into powder!

Then, flames suddenly burst out. In a short several breaths of time, the entire courtyard building turned into a sea of flames!

A strange scene occurred. The courtyard building that was on flames didn't burn down, but maintained its original appearance.

It was just that right now, there were scarlet markings all over it that looked like meridians.

They appeared on the surface of the building, looking more and more striking beneath the blazing flames!

As these markings appeared, the temperature in the air started to rise at an astonishing speed!

Even with the intensity of Qin Yu's mortal body, he could still clearly feel the pain of being burned. He had no choice but to use his cultivation to resist it.

The other cultivators found it even more difficult to withstand!

Yun Shi sweated even more. She could no longer bother being shy as her face turned more red and she tried her best to resist the scorching heat.

Seeing Qin Yu raise his hand, she quickly shook her head, "Big Brother Qin, I can still hold on. Don't waste your strength on me!"

She really was a sensible young miss.

Qin Yu warned her, "Be careful. If you really can't continue then tell me."

The temperature crazily rose, soon reaching a degree that people found it hard to withstand.

"This courtyard wants to burn us alive. We cannot just sit and wait for death!" With a loud roar, a cultivator shot towards the courtyard doors.

Bang -

The courtyard doors slammed open. Everything went smoothly without any dangers at all.

Seeing that someone was willing to be the experimental mouse and they remained safe and sound, the others who reached their breaking point no longer delayed.

Whoosh -

Whoosh -

With the sound of breaking air, they rushed out of the courtyard.

At the edges of the courtyard was a bamboo forest, and in this bamboo forest there was fog. They had personally experienced the fog for themselves, but compared to the burning heat in the courtyard, the mere poison fog wasn't anything at all.

But once they rushed out of the courtyard, they all froze in place.

Bamboo forest? Fog?

What surrounded the courtyard was pitch black nothingness. There wasn't even sand.

Looking upwards, one could only see a small stretch of gray skies above the courtyard.

Beyond that, it was dark again!

Even if the bamboo forest and the poison fog were there, they would have enough treasures in hand. And since everyone's strength had improved, they were confident they could rush through it.

But not this black nothingness in front of them!

Without reasoning, just looking at the nothingness caused them to feel fear. A yin chill drilled out from their hearts, making them feel as if they had fallen into an icy cave.

There was no way to escape.

This left everyone flustered and panicked. Then, they discovered something even more frightening.

The dark nothingness was expanding!

That's right. It came from all directions, slowly approaching them. Although it wasn't fast, the space left behind was small - it was just a little more than the courtyard.

Quietly calculating it, it wasn't hard to come to a conclusion. In less than an hour, the dark nothingness would reach the edges of the courtyard.

In other words, if they couldn't figure out a way to leave in an hour, they would have no choice but to return to the courtyard and withstand the pain of being burned alive.

In fact, there was even a chance that they would have to face a dual attack from the high temperature and dark nothingness! The taste of that had to be amazing, so amazing that no one here, including Qin Yu, had any desire to try it.

What left everyone even more anxious and depressed was that they still hadn't seen the behind-the-scenes manipulator who was hiding in this realm within a realm. This made them feel as if no matter how hard they tried, they wouldn't be able to do anything.

By running out of the courtyard, they temporarily avoided the flames. But even from this distance, they could still clearly feel the soaring temperatures of the fire.

They had been able to endure it before now, but if they returned…they couldn't return, they absolutely couldn't return. They had to figure a way out from here in an hour.

But soon, the pale people standing outside the courtyard discovered that their calculations were too optimistic. Or to be more accurate, they found that the dark nothingness that swept towards the courtyard from all around had started to speed up.

An hour…that was too hopeful. As far as they could see, it would reach them in a quarter hour.

Soaring Sky, Ruan Jing, and the others all revealed looks of shock and anger. They had been discussing feasible ways to unite everyone's power and borrow a secret technique of Thunder Dominion that allowed one to combine strength, and then helping Soaring Sky slash out a sword strike that surpassed his current boundary to forcibly tear open this space so that they could escape.

But they needed time!

The preparation of this secret art didn't need much time, but it definitely couldn't be completed in the quarter hour they had.

In other words, the path to escape that they bet their hopes on had been snuffed out!

As for other means…perhaps there were some, but there was no time to prepare them either.

The dark nothingness approached!

It was so close that one could see the surging movements inside. It was like a black sea. Even though it appeared calm, it was actually full of raging waves.

A cold chill passed into everyone's senses, forming a terrifying and ghastly image - with icy dark nothingness on one side and roaring hot flames on another, Qin Yu and the others had become a meat patty between two buns. They could only watch on helplessly as they were steamed hot and then swallowed up.

This really was something that left one sad and horrified.