Refining the Mountains and Rivers

…

The second shadow body had been destroyed!

Peachy pursed her lips together before calming down. She had done all that she could do. Now, it would all depend on who was faster.

Each breath of time could decide her life and death. She lowered her head and continued to condense the runes. Her speed was not slow or fast, and her fingers were as stable as they were at the beginning.

There were even more runes in front of her. They revolved around her like a small vortex.

The overall layout of this vortex had been completed. Only a few nodes needed to be activated and then it would pierce through space and send her away.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have needed to go through so much trouble. But the Scholartree Saint was fighting with the Spring Master in the aether. The shockwaves of their battle had swept out, rendering nearly all methods of breaking through space invalid.

Five nodes.

Three nodes.

Two.

Just one more!

Time quietly passed. The empty space below the deep sea was incomparably quiet. Besides the sound of Peachy's dress rustling along itself and the sounds of condensing runes, there was nothing else to break the quiet.

Her complexion began to pale and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. The vortex looked ordinary, but for it to form a spatial channel that she could safely pass through as two True Saints wreaked havoc above, it certainly wasn't ordinary.

With Peachy's current cultivation boundary and her not slowing down to condense it, it placed an enormous burden on her.

Luckily, the vortex was about to be completed.

The last node activated. Three runes needed to be inserted, and they needed to be perfectly arranged without any deviation…this was the last and most critical step in condensing the transmission array vortex!

The three runes floated in front of Peachy. They hovered around each other, constantly adjusting as they tried to synchronize to the same frequency.

Hum -

The runes cried out loud - the synchronization was complete!

"You are smart, but what a pity, you failed at the final step." A black shadow suddenly appeared behind Peachy. The shadow reached out and grabbed her neck, "It's over!"

For a revered Saint to hunt down a junior and eat repeated losses, even if she was the peach garden's daughter, this was utterly disgraceful.

The shadow's anger was mixed with relief. Just a bit longer and Peachy would have escaped.

Fortunately, everything returned to its correct rhythm.

After killing her he would immediately leave the East Sea. Then, all of the subsequent arrangements would be activated, erasing all traces of himself from this matter.

Kacha -

Peachy's body stiffened and the light in her eyes faded away.

The shadow was left speechless as he watched the quietly decomposing body in his hand. Finally, it turned into a broken peach branch.

On this peach branch, a peach blossom withered, turning into powder as it decomposed.

Kacha -

A similar breaking sound came from the shadow. His body shivered and he roared upwards.

Three times!

He had fallen into the same ditch three times. This was no longer a shame, but a dishonor he could never wash away.

Hum -

Not too far away, sea water surged. Then, it was instantly shoved open, forming an empty space.

Peachy sat cross-legged within. Three runes fluttered in front of her. She was just one step away from activating the transmission array vortex.

Everything around her was the same, just like the shadow body. But what was duplicated was the space surrounding her.

The shadow fiercely looked up, his gaze piercing through the sea water to look at the other empty space not too far away.

Peachy pushed her hands forward. The three runes flew out an integrated into the vortex.

"Ahh!"

The shadow roared out loud. Water exploded around him, turning into pale mist that surged out like a tsunami!

Pa -

Pa -

Pa -

A series of sounds came from the shadow. The wound between his eyebrows opened once again. Cracks appeared all over his body and his neck showed abnormal contortion marks.

By erupting with all of his power at this moment, the shadow surpassed the limits of his strength. It caused all the damage he had received before to worsen as he was no longer able to continuously suppress the wounds.

As a shadow body situated between reality and illusion and closely connected to his main body, the power he was erupting with right now was inflicting tremendous damage on his main body.

But even if he knew this, he still had to do it!

No matter what, Peachy could not live.

Within the transmission vortex, Peachy looked at the pale mist howling towards her.

As she bore the brunt of it, she could feel the terrifying strength contained within the mist.

This was the all-out eruption of a Saint!

Of course, this meant he no longer hid his identity.

Peachy had captured the aura of this Saint, but this wasn't good news. Because the Saint who chased after her certainly knew of this too. Unless Peachy died, his only fate was to be brutally killed by the enraged Spring Master.

In other words, if things went as expected, this Saint would change his plans. He would no longer hold back and would do everything in his power to kill Peachy!

Hum -

Hum -

The runes of the transmission vortex started to shake and activate. Faint traces of the power of space erupted. They weren't individually strong, but when they fused together, they were greater than the sum of their parts…moreover, there were tens of thousands of runes superimposed on each other!

So in an instant, the incomparably formidable spatial fluctuations wrapped around Peachy. Her figure blurred and she would break through space at the next moment, returning directly to the peach garden.

At that time, let alone a Half-Saint, not even a True Saint would be able to harm her again.

But at this moment the assault of the pale mist arrived. It crazily attacked the transmission vortex!

Peachy furrowed her eyebrows together. The shadow's Saint's path had already touched upon the Space Laws, so the power he erupted with was able to cause disturbances in the fluctuations.

The transmission vortex continued to revolve, but it had slowed down. Although this strike was only able to slow the vortex for a breath of time, this was enough for a Saint to achieve many things.

For instance, killing her!

The shadow disregarded any damage it might take. He stepped forward and grasped out.

"You're not leaving!"

Hou -

With a roar, a terrifying figure appeared from deep in the sea. As the raging waters struck the figure, the figure lifted a hand and punched.

The moment this fist crashed out, light and darkness erupted together and then fused as one before spreading outwards.

Light and Darkness Domain!

The shadow was caught within. His rage-filled strike was also locked inside the domain.

Light and darkness fiercely distorted, wildly flowing against each other. Qin Yu stuffily coughed as blood spurted out from his nose and mouth and he was sent flying backwards.

His first thought was - this person was strong!

There really were vast differences amongst Saints. When Qin Yu first used the Light and Darkness Domain, he was able to withstand Lian Yi for some time.

But now, this shadow's attack had caused Qin Yu to suffer heavy losses.

His second thought was that Peachy should have escaped by now.

He had clearly felt everything just now. The transmission vortex was just a breath away from activating. By blocking the shadow's strike, he should have bought enough time for her.

His third thought was that destiny could not be avoided in life. Sometimes he had no choice but to fight, even if he didn't want to!

The shadow was too strong, so strong that Qin Yu couldn't imagine winning.

If he couldn't win, he could only run!

As Qin Yu was figuring out how to run away, the shadow released a bellow of anger.

The operation had failed!

Peachy had escaped, and right beneath his eyes. He had just missed his chance to make up for his original mistakes and ensure sure she stayed here for good.

Shua -

The shadow didn't have eyes, but Qin Yu could still feel as if his heart had been pierced through with a glance. His heartbeat nearly came to a halting stop.

"Die!"

The shadow punched out.

Rumble rumble -

The shadows of mountains suddenly appeared in the skies. The Light and Darkness Domain shattered in an instant, rolling over Qin Yu with unstoppable momentum.

The shadow was incensed. Peachy had escaped and he was destined to be exposed. So there was no need to hide anything anymore.

If this was the case, he would tear this boy who had ruined his plans into shreds!

Within the transmission vortex, Peachy's eyes widened as she looked at Qin Yu's back. Didn't he leave? Why was he here?

Then, an intense thought instantly destroyed her reasoning and thoughts, completely occupying her mind.

Save him! She had to save him!

The mountain shadows came crashing down at him and Qin Yu bitterly smiled. Sure enough, when it came to things like heroes saving beauties, a person had to make sure it was within their capabilities to do so.

As he was about to summon the great furnace and pray that its astonishing defenses could resist this Saint, he heard a cracking sound from behind him.

It was a light sound. Amid the chaos of a Saint erupting with his full strength, the Light and Darkness Domain shattering, and the currents beneath the sea wreaking havoc, this sound was not worth mentioning.

But for some reason, this sound clearly spread into Qin Yu's ears. He subconsciously turned his head. Inside the transmission vortex, he could see the blurry image of Peachy lifting her hand and striking herself between the eyebrows.

Then, another phantom appeared behind her. It stepped forward, passing through Peachy and shattering into countless pieces.

Bang -

A heaven-shaking explosion followed. Qin Yu was instantly sent flying back as blood spurted from his nose and mouth. At this time, Peachy grabbed hold of him and dragged him into the vortex.

A moment later, space twisted and intensely shook. Then his surroundings fell into darkness.

The transmission vortex vanished and the shadow stopped. All that remained was the roaring and rumbling sea water. He stared at the place where Qin Yu and Peachy left, and stretched out a hand as if silently sensing something.

Several breaths of time later, the shadow drew back his hand and looked up. He seemed to withstand some kind of fierce pain as his body constantly shivered.

Then, the darkness around his body rapidly faded away. Facial features started to appear on his blank face.

When the shadows stopped shaking and he stood up again, he had turned into a young man with a stern look and deep eyes.

"You save me, I save you, the love between a man and woman is truly one of the most marvelous miracles in the world.

"But this is also good. At least you have given me another chance to make up for my mistake.

"You cannot escape."

Speaking out loud wasn't because he wasn't in a hurry. Rather, it took time to lock onto the traces of spatial fluctuations and determine the approximate coordinates.

Silence would only appear awkward, so it was better to say a few words to pass time.

Finally, the young man said without expression, "I've found them!"

With a punch, space shattered and he stepped inside.

…

Qin Yu felt as if his entire body was going to scatter away. As he thought he might be jolted to death, the chaotic spatial strength that surrounded him vanished.

Then came a bright light. He subconsciously closed his eyes but forced himself to open them. His teary eyes swept across his surroundings.

Although he couldn't see clearly, he seemed to have been lucky. There weren't any nearby threats.

He blinked with effort. The powerful abilities of a cultivator displayed themselves as he adapted to the bright light.

He looked down at his arms. He was holding onto Peachy, but her condition was poor and her face was pale without any blood.

As Qin Yu looked at her, Peachy opened her eyes and looked back at him.

He felt a chill pass through him. This was because Peachy's look was far too faint.

So faint that she seemed to be looking at air. There was no focus and no emotion in her eyes.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows together, "Senior-apprentice sister?"

Peachy said, "I'm fine." She stood up and glanced around.

Seeing her move freely, there didn't seem to be a problem with her. But when he thought back to how she had a similar expression when she had been defeated by Lian Yi, he felt something was wrong.

Moreover, the changes in Peachy were too obvious.

A problem, there was definitely a problem!

Subconsciously, he thought back to when Peachy blocked the shadow's all-out strike, and the phantom that came out from between her eyebrows.

Could that be related to the change in Peachy?

Looking at Peachy, she clearly had no intention of talking about this. And due to the current circumstances, he could only take a breath and suppress any other thoughts for the time being.

"Senior-apprentice sister, where are we now?"

Peachy shook her head, "I don't know."

Qin Yu: …

Big sister, you made the transmission vortex yourself, so how could you not have established the destination?

Peachy looked at him. After a brief silence she said, "It wasn't large enough for two people to use."

He understood now.

The strength of the transmission vortex was only enough to deliver a single person to the target location.

But since Peachy had dragged Qin Yu in, the transmission itself was ruined so it was naturally impossible to arrive at the original destination.

No wonder the entire transmission process had been so rough and bumpy!

To succeed in forcibly opening the transmission even after the carrying limits were surpassed, without it breaking down along the way and throwing the two into the turbulent spatial flow, that was already incredibly lucky, right?

As Qin Yu thought about this, a cold sweat formed on his forehead. Although he had no idea what would have happened if the transmission vortex collapsed midway, he knew that it definitely wasn't something he would like to experience.