Refining the Mountains and Rivers

…

It was impossible for the Peach Garden to only be full of peach trees. In fact, it covered a massive area and had numerous broad and magnificent buildings.

However, starting with the Spring Master and going all the way down, those that had genuine status within the Peach Garden all preferred to live in small courtyards.

On the contrary, the astonishingly large palace complexes were populated with people from the fringes of the Peach Garden.

Of course, even though these were fringe people, for them to enter the Peach Garden and live here wasn't easy to begin with.

As said before, just being a servant of the Peach Garden, someone responsible for menial matters, was a position that could cause competition outside. Those without sufficient background strengths weren't qualified to struggle.

Right now, Qin Yu was walking through a large temple of the Peach Garden. The servants who came and went all bowed in awe at this 'Ninth Mister'.

The ninth seat was the last disciple, but the last disciple was still a disciple. Within the Peach Garden, his status was only inferior to that of the Spring Master and the other exalted ones. Moreover, everyone knew that Miss Peachy would soon be marrying him, giving the Ninth Mister an even more honored status. He would be regarded as the future master of the Peach Garden.

Even if they disregarded his status, the Ninth Mister's feat of killing the Western Mountain's Lian Yi at the East Sea longevity feast was worth endless praise.

"Ninth Mister, the ancient texts you are looking for are on this bookshelf!" The cultivator who led the way was a woman. Maybe because she was around books all year round, she had a scholarly air surrounding her. Her appearance was soft and kind, and looking at her gave off a comfortable feeling.

She looked at Qin Yu and lowered her head, "I will be waiting outside. If Ninth Mister needs any help, please feel free to call me at any moment."

She bowed and turned to leave.

Qin Yu wasn't in the mood to look at ladies, even if there was something warm and enticing in this girl's eyes.

His divine sense swept across the bookshelf and he soon found something. He stretched out a hand and a thick book fell into his hand.

He opened it and began sifting through.

A moment later, he closed the book. He fell into thought, put the book back, and took out a second one.

Like this, he read through seven or eight books in a row. Finally, he had a clear understanding of the so-called True God's Path.

Since it was convenient, he also consulted some contents about the self-condensing mark. After some thinking, he felt it was time to burn some incense.

To succeed on his first try, smoothly condensing the God mark and not playing himself to death, he had been really lucky!

The past was over, so there was no need to recall it and frighten himself. He took a deep breath and pressed down those thoughts, his eyebrows furrowing together.

God boundary, Origin God, Saint's Path, Ruler.

This was an overall system of boundaries with rough divisions and numerous minor details included. For example, after reaching the peak of the Origin God realm, there were the realms of Sea Gazing, Sea Watching, and Sea Observing. Of course, there wasn't much to say here.

In short, this was the most orthodox cultivation path in the eyes of cultivators in the vast brightness. There were traces to follow and countless ancestors had walked ahead on this road, so it was certain that it could be done.

But in this world, where there was light there was darkness. If there was an orthodox path…there would certainly be side doors.

For instance, self-condensing a God mark and trying to seize an even brighter future. Some madmen who were ignorant of the immensity of the heavens and earth, or maybe supremely confident in themselves, put forward the slogan, 'My fate is up to me, not the heavens', and after some turmoil, they eventually disappeared into nothingness.

The reason the inheritance of self-condensing God marks was severed was because the probability of success was too low and the cost was too great, so great that one would likely lose their lives.

The True God's Path was another side door.

In the past, it was proposed that cultivators had limits to their own potential. Few people were able to break through to the God boundary, and most people would never even be able to touch this threshold.

And after breaking past the God boundary? Becoming an Origin God was extremely difficult, and maybe not even a hundred cultivators in the God boundary would produce a single Origin God.

Their Great Dao was cut off and there was no path for them to take.

Some people accepted their fate and abandoned their path, becoming wild and willful or spending their lives in luxury. But some people did not accept this. Not only did they not accept this, they tried everything in their power to change their fate.

Thus, they opened up the True God boundary.

The so-called True God, meaning the True God's Path, was used to differentiate it from the God boundary. And afterwards, as time passed and more cultivators stepped onto this path, another cultivation system was established.

They believed that all living beings in the world who cultivated to the God boundary had already reached the threshold of transforming their life, and had the qualifications to pursue the Eternally Undying.

The difference was that they had too little power and weren't strong enough themselves. As long as they comprehended enough rules of the heavens and earth and continuously fused them into their God marks, they would become stronger and stronger. It was theorized that when the number of fused rules reached a certain limit, that would lead to a qualitative change.

What a pity, this cultivation system suffered a near destructive attack. By fusing more and more rules of the heavens and earth into their God marks, they could indeed become stronger. There were even True God's Path cultivators, with their God boundary cultivations, who were able to defeat Origin Gods with their formidable strength.

But the mentioned qualitative change…that was never discovered.

Not just that, but the incomparably formidable strength obtained from the True God boundary carried similarly great hidden dangers. As one perceived more and more rules and their strength increased, a True God powerhouse would eventually be unable to maintain control and would blow themselves up.

The stronger one was, the higher their talent, the more difficult it was to avoid self-destruction!

Finally, this caused the strongest powerhouse of the True God lineage to fall from the skies. The remaining weak and frightened cultivators no longer dared to continue fusing with the rules of the heavens and earth.

But as time passed, an even more brutal matter was slowly confirmed.

Perhaps because the existence of the True God's Path itself violated the world's will, although these cultivators had obtained great strength, they didn't obtain a longer lifespan comparable to that strength.

In fact, they couldn't even compare with ordinary cultivators at the God boundary. In the end, they perished and dispersed, turning into dirt with their regret and unwillingness.

Because of this, the True God's Path gradually became lonely. It became a cultivation system that only a few people knew about.

Qin Yu rubbed his eyebrows. Although he had read through everything, he still felt that something wasn't right.

But there was one thing that shouldn't be incorrect. The future of the True God's Path was uncertain, and those that followed it were short-lived. But the aspect of having a short life wasn't a problem. Qin Yu hadn't experienced a baptism of thousands of years, so he wasn't sensitive to this.

The crucial point was that he had accidentally stumbled his way into the True God's Path. Unless he self-destructed his God mark, this was a path he could not turn back from. He could only steel himself and continue walking down it to the end.

Destroying his God mark…consider it finished. Unless he planned to give himself a 99% chance of crippling himself, there was no way he would choose this path.

The Spring Master also said that everyone had walked the orthodox path for so many years and yet no one was able to fill in the vacant throne of Ruler.

Maybe the True God's Path had some other lucky chance.

Forget about it.

He rubbed his face and turned to leave. The refined woman with a scholarly air around her bowed and said, "Ninth Mister, please take care."

Qin Yu glanced at her. Honestly speaking, she was a woman that was comfortable to look at, whether it was in appearance or temperament.

But saying she was comfortable to look at was just a description. There was nothing more to say. Qin Yu didn't ask for her name, nor did he stop as he nodded and left.

Right now, his thoughts were focused on how the Spring Master was preparing to arrange his cultivation. Since he had become a part of the Peach Garden's four-and-a-half squad, he certainly wouldn't be arrogant or put himself above others, and would try to rely on his own ability to reach the Ruler boundary.

That couldn't be called having integrity or having character. It could only be regarded as stupid.

He couldn't do anything stupid, even if someone beat him to death. Qin Yu wasn't willing to have a backer and yet not be willing to use them. So, he really hoped that the Spring Master could pave a bright new path for him.

Even if this idea was too extravagant and not too realistic, at least it could help him point out a clear path.

With Old Turtle's previous guidance that helped him cultivate the Light and Dark Body, Qin Yu understood how deeply important it was to have a good teacher.

After Qin Yu returned to his dwelling, he consulted Old Turtle on his cultivation as he patiently waited. However, what finally arrived was not a summons from the Spring Master, but Lei Xiaoyu visiting him before she left.

"Big Brother Qin, I have to go out with elder senior-apprentice brother for some business…" She hesitated and continued, "During this period of time, no matter what you hear, it's best to not interfere. Rest and recuperate."

Qin Yu's eyes flashed. "What are you going to do?"

Lei Xiaoyu shook her head, "I cannot say. But in short, please listen to me." Clearly fearing that Qin Yu would continue asking her, she quickly stood up and said, "Big Brother Qin, I must go back and prepare."

She turned to leave. Azure Dragon, who was lying on her shoulders, turned its head and glared at Qin Yu with a smug look, as if saying - you have no idea what this dragon is going to do!

This fellow also liked bearing a grudge. It wasn't a big deal back then, but it still had to make a display of things.

Qin Yu smiled. Since elder senior-apprentice brother was going, Lei Xiaoyu should be safe. However, what sort of matter was it that even elder senior-apprentice brother who spent most of his time in seclusion had to personally go out?

Three days after elder senior-apprentice brother and Lei Xiaoyu left the Peach Garden, the Spring Master's summons arrived. But it was different this time. Qin Yu was quietly resting, but then with a flash of light, he arrived in front of the Spring Master.

Tsk tsk, he really was the big boss of True Saints. His skills at manipulating space were far from what Qin Yu could compare with.

Mm…but why did he feel that the Spring Master was deliberately showing off?

He wouldn't, right? For a solemn True Saint to do something like this, that would be too demeaning of his own status!