Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A roar rang out. It seemed to travel across space and time to come here, bringing with it the vicissitudes of the endless years as well as an overbearing disdain. This was the domineering might of an apex predator! A phantom of the Abyssal Titan appeared above Qin Yu's head, punching in unison with him.

In the hall, everyone's eyes flashed with disappointment.

Although Qin Yu's performance was insane from their point of view, he appeared too calm. And coupled with his tough attitude towards Lian Yi, the crowd subconsciously had thoughts that they shouldn't have.

But now as they saw Qin Yu attack, the faint anticipation in their hearts completely vanished.

When Qin Yu defeated Xu Shi with a fist, this fist could be called startling as it shook the hearts of the cultivators in the hall. But to use the same attack against Lian Yi…it was too laughable!

That's right, it was laughable.

Xu Shi was countless times weaker than Black Armor. Moreover, Lian Yi had also used a single punch to severely wound Black Armor.

As they thought, Qin Yu really had gone insane. He thought he was going to defeat Lian Yi, who was so strong that he left everyone wallowing in desperation, by recklessly using such a fist? He was going to pay a steep price for his actions!

They really couldn't figure it out. Did Qin Yu only have this method? If so, why would he dare to provoke Lian Yi, and then provoke him again and again, even mounting the arena stage in the end?

Some people showed a look of realization as if they had guessed the truth themselves. From what Qin Yu said before, it wasn't difficult to see that he had seen through Lian Yi's brilliant tactics.

Between withdrawing and advancing…he chose to go further!

If he didn't step onto the arena stage, a gap would develop between him and Peachy and he would also gain the dissatisfaction of the Spring Master. He would likely lose everything he had now.

If he braved danger and stepped into the arena to fight, then with his current status, would Lian Yi dare to kill him?

At most he would suffer some losses. When this was compared to his potential losses from not taking to the stage, there was no equating them at all. It was natural that he chose the more advantageous path.

At the very least, even if Lian Yi was daring and reckless enough to try and kill him, today was the Dragon Saint's longevity feast and Qin Yu had come here to give greetings. How could the Dragon Saint watch on and do nothing as he was killed?

After realizing this and looking at Qin Yu on stage, everyone couldn't help but sigh. While Qin Yu's character wasn't good, his mind was still good.

Lian Yi also thought of this. As he looked at the attacking Qin Yu, he felt that he was laughable.

Some people were like this. They always liked to speculate about others from their own perspective. When they didn't dare to do something, they thought that others also wouldn't dare to do it. And if they couldn't do it, they also thought others couldn't do it.

By using words to intentionally provoke him, Qin Yu thought he could eat some punches and kicks in exchange for Peachy's pity and the Spring Master's favor. The boy likely thought he could even use this opportunity to express his sincerity towards Peachy.

Do you see? Even though I am not his match, I will still tough it out and fight without hesitation, all in order to protect Peachy and the Spring Master.

This was truly great and ingenious.

But do you really think I wouldn't think of this? And even give you a chance?

Lian Yi suddenly smiled. His expression was bright but his eyes were extraordinarily cold. As cold as water flowing quietly beneath the ice, enough to chill the bones.

In truth, getting you to step into this arena was my final goal. As long as you come up, you can forget ever stepping back down.

Killing Qin Yu would cause trouble, but so what? The relations between the Western Mountain and the peach garden couldn't be any worse. At most he would hide away for a period of time and ask his father to come to a compromise with the Spring Master. He would just end up paying a certain price.

Would this matter initiate an undying great war between two Holy Lands? Qin Yu wasn't worth that much.

Even if it did, the True Saints would take a step back. With their strength and boundaries being at such a level, only a Ruler could force their hand. No one else had the qualifications to make them take the risk of injuring their Great Dao or even perishing.

As for the observing Dragon Saint, if his main body was here, he could suppress everything with a thought. But it was only his avatar in the hall today. Lian Yi had the confidence to kill Qin Yu before anyone could stop him!

He looked up, his eyes sweeping across the Abyssal Titan. Then, he took a step forward. Just like when he defeated Black Armor with a single punch, his movements appeared slow and fast at the same time.

When this punch came out, the heavens and earth collapsed as an unstoppable strength raged forward. The punch loudly erupted, sweeping through all sides!

Everyone in the hall felt their hearts shake as they sensed the strength of this fist. Their faces filled with amazement. When the Ten Mile Peach Forest was broken, Lian Yi had been stranded inside and they had only faintly felt it, but hadn't been able to directly see it.

Now, he exposed his true power without anything concealing it. The power in this punch…was terrifying to the point that it left everyone desperate!

Peachy furrowed her eyebrows before she composed herself. She looked at the giant dragon eyes behind the crystal wall. She knew that if Qin Yu was in fatal danger, the Dragon Saint would move to stop it. Since the Dragon Saint hadn't done anything, this proved that Lian Yi's attack might not be able to harm Qin Yu.

And facts proved that Peachy's guess was correct. As everyone was shocked by the power behind Lian Yi's terrifying fist and thought Qin Yu would end up as a pile of broken bones and muscles, another roar rang out from the arena.

It came from the Abyssal Titan above Qin Yu's head!

It howled into the air and its eyes instantly turned black. It was somewhat similar to Lian Yi's black robes, but it was even purer and even more unfathomably deep, as if it connected to a strange and alien world, so dark that it could drag this entire world into it.

And this was only the beginning. The darkness in the Abyssal Titan's eyes started to rapidly spread out. It was fast, dyeing it completely black in an instant.

The terrifying aura released by the apex predator Abyssal Titan became even more horrifying. It was like a black hole that constantly released a destructive ice cold aura.

Within the crystal wall, the Dragon Saint's eyes erupted with sharp light and unconcealed shock. Just like Peachy thought, the reason the Dragon Saint hadn't stopped Lian Yi was because he sensed a strange fluctuation coming from Qin Yu's body.

Moreover, he believed Qin Yu when he said he was a man who feared death and that he would never joke around with his life.

So the Dragon Saint decided to wait. Qin Yu had already left him feeling extremely satisfied and full of acclaim, and now he wanted to see what power was still hiding within him.

Now, the Dragon Saint saw it!

It was an incomparably pure darkness that went straight to the source. There wasn't a single impurity within it, yet it could submerge and swallow all. Only a True Saint who had crossed the Sea of Bitterness and reached the other shore, achieving their own Great Dao, could understand what this sight meant.

The world was boundless. The vast brightness world was immense, nearly inexhaustible. But in this endless world, there were still two things that existed forever and never truly disappeared.

Time! Space!

So, these two concepts were considered the key to the path of the highest Great Dao. They represented a cultivator's future and potential.

And facts proved this was true.

Space was the cornerstone of the Saint's path. As for the Great Dao of Time, that was the illusory stepping-stone that reached towards an ethereal and supreme Ruler.

Without this, it was impossible to enter.

But in addition to that, there was another explanation - the two things that lasted forever in the vast brightness world were eternal light and endless darkness!

Compared to the astonishingly difficult and horrifyingly powerful path of space and time, the power of light and darkness appeared ordinary, even weak.

This was because many cultivators in the world were able to control light and darkness. There were even some especially powerful species that were born and called the incarnations of light and darkness.

But light and darkness were also divided into different levels. Low-level powers of light and darkness were indeed ordinary and could be easily grasped by cultivators. By higher-level and even source powers of light and darkness were no less difficult to perceive than the paths of space and time.

In fact, they were even a bit more difficult.

Light and darkness were omnipresent and accompanied living beings throughout their entire lives. But because they were everywhere, it was extremely difficult to see their true appearance!

Yet now, the Dragon Saint could see almost the highest level source of darkness from within Qin Yu's body. Although it was just a little bit worse, it couldn't be forgotten that this junior's cultivation was only at the God boundary. To have such an achievement was enough to shock anyone.

Including even the Dragon Saint.

No wonder this boy still dared to mount the arena even after witnessing Lian Yi's tyrannical strength. This explained everything…as a wielder of darkness, his strength was a sufficient match against him!

The Dragon Saint took a deep breath, his eyes incomparably calm. But below this calm, there was a burning heat that was hot enough to turn everything to ashes.

He was now sure that the Spring Master didn't know Qin Yu had already grasped the source of darkness, otherwise he wouldn't have allowed him to come to the East Sea. Even if he came, he would have been strictly ordered to not expose anything.

Because the Spring Master was well aware what kind of dragon he was. Although this sounded a bit self-deprecating, it was the truth and the Dragon Saint didn't care about it.

Before, he was somewhat worried that making Qin Yu stay behind would incite the Spring Master's dissatisfaction and bring about a series of troubles….after all, he had experienced the Spring Master's strength personally in the past, and although they hadn't fought for many years, the Spring Master wasn't the type to disappoint.

But now, the Dragon Saint no longer considered that. No matter what price he had to pay, even if it was a great battle with the Spring Master, he needed to keep Qin Yu here.

This was his only chance. After this period passed, the Spring Master would never allow anyone to have designs on Qin Yu.

Bang -

A heaven-shaking explosion followed by a terrifying shockwave of strength swept out. The arena instantly disintegrated, turning into countless blocks of stone that shot outwards. Then, what came next was a continuous series of rumblings that went straight to the depths of the soul. They were like numerous meteors arching across the sky and then crashing into the earth.

The spatial barrier reappeared. As the fragments of the arena slammed into it, countless cracks appeared, spreading throughout it like a spider web.

Everyone in the hall turned deathly pale upon hearing these thunderous sounds. This included several sons of Saints. They could clearly hear the crazy strength impacting against the spatial barrier right now.

It was enough to heavily wound them in an instant, even twisting apart their bodies and extinguishing their souls if they were caught inside!

In other words, if any one of them were on the arena stage, they would have had a high chance of being killed.

How was this possible…how was this possible…

The rumbling in their ears didn't end even as more terrifying waves rose up in their hearts. The loud explosive rings caused their minds to turn blank.

They could accept Lian Yi's great strength, because he had been the most famous young powerhouse in the Saint circles for many years already. He was considered a proud son of heaven who was most likely to reach the Saint boundary.

Before, when he defeated Black Armor and Peachy, he had established himself as an undefeatable warrior.

But Qin Yu?

Although Qin Yu had defeated Xu Shi, could Xu Shi compare with Black Armor and Peachy? There was a disparity of at least several levels. Yet, this Qin Yu who they believed had been forced to step onto the arena stage, who would surely be beaten into a miserable pulp, was fighting on equal ground without falling into a disadvantage.

Everyone had felt a difference when the Abyssal Titan roared out loud and completed its darkening. But in the face of such a result, the spectators still felt this was completely unbelievable.

But whether or not they believed it was true didn't matter. What mattered was that this was the truth…an indisputable truth placed right in front of them.