Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Thirteen days had passed.

If not for the veil still present along with the frightening aura of the Land of Heavenly Punishment, Zhang Zhongshi would have believed that his junior was dead.

To be able to survive for thirteen days in the Land of Heavenly Punishment, where no light shined and no air blew through…fine. Maybe there were a few cultivators who also managed to survive till this point.

But this was the Lost Garden where there were endless opportunities. Every second was precious and no one would be able to bear losing thirteen days worth of time and opportunities. Zhang Zhongshi was the same.

More importantly, it has been one month since the Lost Garden opened. It could close anytime. As he thought of this, Zhang Zhongshi frowned. He could not help but worry. Was his junior going to stay there until the Lost Garden closed?

If that were the case, it was going to be troublesome.

Fourteen days.

Fifteen days.

Exactly half a month had passed and there was no movement from the Land of Heavenly Punishment. Just as Zhang Zhongshi was considering whether he should do something, the person in the land where no light shone suddenly opened his eyes. An essence burst open within him.

At the same moment, it was as if a hand had swept through, leaving the Land of Heavenly Punishment empty and silent. Somewhere in the middle, something broke apart and a figure crawled out.

Dressed in a blood red robe, a scarlet body bursting with hot energy appeared. It was as if the body had just come out of a boiling tub of blood.

Rough jagged breaths could be heard from under the robe. It was as if just crawling out of the hole had depleted all his energy.

Standing on the spot, he took deep breaths. The man in the blood red robe then looked around to orientate himself. After a few moments, he turned and walked away.

However, his route was not smooth. His steps were heavy as he seemed extremely weak. He stumbled and almost fell but managed to catch himself by taking a huge step to stabilize himself.

When his foot landed, a frightening boom erupted and the ground started to shake. A horrifying crack suddenly appeared. The center was where his foot landed as the cracks spread in all directions, reaching out as far as the eye could see.

Beneath the blood red robe, a bitter laugh erupted. The man continued to move.

A few moments later, Zhang Zhongshi arrived at the place where the foot had landed. He looked down at the ground and his gaze was serious as he examined the numerous web-like cracks.

What a frightening power!

If this were outside, he would not have been frightened. But this was the Lost Garden. In his current state, he did not have his full power.

Therefore, even after waiting persistently for half a month, and even though the person had appeared, he did not take action.

He did not take action because he was not completely certain. If he made a move and failed to kill him, he would be killed.

But this did not mean that Zhang Zhongshi was going to give up…he never would. Even if he were to give up this body of his, he was going to try.

However, there was still time. Since the Lost Garden had remained open for over a month, it meant that the longer opening was occurring.

If nothing were to happen, it would remain open for another half a month or even longer.

Zhang Zhongshi's gaze shifted as he headed in the direction where Qin Yu had gone.

……

After the East Sea Banquet, Xu Shi was in low spirits for a while. He was not willing to believe the news from the Saint circle. Qin Yu, that snob, had accomplished the magnificent feat of defeating Saints. He immediately became a highly revered person amongst the second generation.

Soon after Peach Blossom Spring's public announcement about Peachy and Qin Yu, his liver almost exploded from anger. He did not dare to say anything in public as he was afraid of getting laughed at and creating trouble for himself. He locked himself up in his cultivation room and fumed for an entire day.

Why? Why? Qin Yu not only became famous and revered, he also got his junior Peachy. Xu Shi could not understand.

What made him even angrier was that he became a stepping stone on Qin Yu's road to fame. After it was confirmed that Qin Yu had killed Saints, no one cared that he once lost to Qin Yu - but the more that it is like this, the harder it makes for one to accept it!

Because Xu Shi realized that his name was not even worth mentioning alongside Qin Yu. This was such a miserable fact and it was extremely hard to accept!

The half Saint from the Xu Family noticed his son's low spirits. After figuring out the reason, he warned his son to not create any more trouble. Thereafter, he thought of a way to help him get a place to enter Lost Garden.

Although he appeared strict, he had a soft spot for his son, Xu Shi, and still thought highly of him. He hoped that his son would learn from the embarrassment and improve and get something out of the Lost Garden.

Today, Xu Shi felt that the chance to change his future was finally here - thank you dear father!

Qin Yu, you snob. Just wait. When the Lost Garden closes this time, I will appear in front of you as a completely different person!

He had found a source of life that was of extremely good quality. It was so good that faint traces of purple color could be seen in the spring water.

Sources of life were commonly green in color. The older it was, the better the quality and the darker its shade of green. The best ones could even transform and turn into a purple color.

Just comparing the power, a purple source of life was equivalent to ten green sources of life.

What was this? It was luck, extremely good luck! If not for this, Xu Shi would never have dared to dream of finding Qin Yu after leaving the Lost Garden.

What was there to hesitate about? Nothing, absolutely nothing!

Xu Shi sprung to action; he could feel that the air was extremely thick with a smell belonging to the source of life. When a soft breeze blew past him, he could feel it as his sleeves shook in the wind.

Very close, very close!

That purple color was right in front of him…then, everything stopped!

Xu Shi's eyes widened. He had been frantically moving along just like a toad whose legs were the same size as its head, but all of a sudden, he could not move.

His entire body seemed to be frozen in mid air by some unknown force. He was completely stuck!

Bam -

Bam -

The sound of footsteps could be heard; Xu Shi struggled to look back as he shouted angrily, "Bastard! This is mine. The source of life is mine! Let go, you'd better let go of me!"

Unfortunately, the person who the footsteps belonged to had no intention of speaking to him. He did not want to waste any time.

A person with blood red skin and a blood red robe appeared. As soon as the person caught sight of him, he froze.

Xu Shi immediately started to struggle even more, "Do you recognize me? You definitely recognize me! I am Xu Shi. My father is a half Saint. How dare you steal my source of life, my Xu Family will never let you go!"

He was not that stupid. He knew that saying this in this moment would most likely cause the other person to silence him. However, as a hot-blooded and rash person, this was his explosive personality. Logic was not able to control him. He was like a bull without reins.

Most importantly, this purple source of life in front of Xu Shi was the biggest fortune he had other than the reincarnation. This could change his fate and brighten his future.

But now, he was trapped in mid-air. He was so close to the source of life yet he could not budge an inch. It was like the distance between heaven and earth.

How could he not go crazy?

The person in the blood red robe turned away and continued towards the source of life. One step, two steps, three steps. He was about to enter.

Xu Shi shouted. But this time, as soon as he opened his mouth, something struck his head. Kabam -

He flew sideways and was left in a dazed state.

On the other side, the man in the blood red robe muttered, "I might have put in a little too much strength. After all, we sort of know each other and I stole from him…oh well. Anyway, he didn't die."