Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu also discovered another horrifying thing. Ever since he arrived at the mountain, he had felt like he had been circling around the same place. It was not that he encountered a similar scene, but he felt a sense of deja vu.

He looked up at the trees again. Vines grew on the ground and sharp thorns clustered to form spikes. Everything appeared different but still felt the same.

After a second thought, Qin Yu prepared to leave a mark here. Just then, Old Turtle anxiously called, "Master, leave it to me. I will do it."

"Be careful. Something is off here. Anything can happen at any moment."

Old Turtle patted his own chest confidently, "Master, rest assured. As long as I am here, I will definitely make sure you are safe."

Qin Yu shifted his gaze and said, "Stone Pagoda, did you hear that? Learn from him. As long as I am alive, I will help you seek your revenge."

Stone Pagoda replied with a calm voice, "Yes, Master."

Qin Yu carefully took a few steps forward. Suddenly, he stopped and frowned as he looked ahead.

Old Turtle asked in confusion, "Master, why did you stop?"

Qin Yu answered, "I don't understand when I was plotted against. It seems to be some really complicated scheme."

"A scheme? I will kill whoever is plotting against you!" Old Turtle exclaimed in enthusiasm, showcasing his loyalty.

Qin Yu said, "I am not sure who it is, but I think the both of you should know very well." He hesitated for a moment. His eyes grew cold, "Actually, both of your acting is really good. I didn't even think anything was amiss. But Old Turtle, you are so afraid of death; you would not have just said what you did. Also, I am not too clear about Stone Pagoda's past. For one, I am afraid he is not willing to say it. Secondly, I don't want more trouble for myself even if I feel that it cannot be avoided. Anyway, I am not sure what his issue is, so how am I going to seek revenge for him?" There was silence. Then, Old Turtle laughed lightly, "You are really smart. I didn't expect that you would find out so quickly. You did not even allow the two of us to rejoice."

His voice deepened and he continued, "Aren't you afraid that we will force you after you directly exposed us? After all, you are like a turtle without its shell; we can cut you and take your meat at any point."

Stone Pagoda lightly said, "Don't bother nagging at him. We wanted to conserve some energy. Since we have been discovered, let's do it."

There was some silence again.

After a while, Qin Yu said, "I expected this. You guys are trying to waste time by talking with me. If you could kill me, you would not have done this."

Qin Yu looked around him as he rubbed his temples. "I don't think you guys are aware, but I learnt some tricks about World Inspection before. The person who taught me was outstanding. I only scratched the surface of his wisdom but these skills were very useful. This world appears perfect on the surface, but there are problems. "For one, it is not big enough. That is why I felt as if I was walking in circles. How much impact can this small maze world, or should I say a world within a picture, take? That's right, I can't find a way out. But since there isn't a way out, I will just force it open."

Qin Yu balled his hand into a fist as he smirked, "Also, I said so much to waste time as well. After all, World Inspection has its costs. It consumes a lot of energy. If I had been influenced by the two of you, I would not have been able to execute it."

Two angry shouts filled the air at the same time, "I will eat you. I must eat you!"

Qin Yu remained expressionless as he remarked, "If only you guys had strong mouths and some teeth." He punched down without hesitation and raised his hand for a second blow.

The world in front of him did not shift or vibrate at all from the impact.

It was as if the blow from Qin Yu's fist had been sucked into a vacuum.

"Hahaha! Just give up. You can't escape from our illusionary world!" A sinister laughter filled his ears.

"Little by little, I will crush your bones and suck out all the bone marrow from within. It must be tasty." Qin Yu's resolve did not weaken and he punched his third, fourth and fifth blow. The two screams grew more and more high-pitched and mad. They rang in his ear, trying to make his concentration falter.

The fifth blow!

Boom!

Shockwaves formed from where his fist landed and spread out in all directions. The two voices in his head stopped momentarily before erupting into screams again. Cracks appeared before him and suddenly, his vision went black. When Qin Yu opened his eyes again, his eyes were shining brightly.

Old Turtle wept happy tears as he cried, "Master, my beloved master, you are finally awake. I was so scared!"

Stone Pagoda warned, "Master, be careful!"

A ripping sound cut through the air and he slashed down.

Qin Yu grunted; the silk mesh around him tore apart and floated down onto the ground.

Qin Yu realized he was in a large stone cave, and its massive rock walls were lined with a mass of spider webs. Layers upon layers of animal bones piled up into a mountain below him. These were animals that fell prey to their hunters.

The predators moved quickly across the spider webs, their few dozen tiny eyes staring menacingly at Qin Yu. They were two spiders that were as large as elephants.

One of them was black while the other had a red-colored body that looked like it had been drenched in blood.

"He he, I didn't expect that you would wake up so quickly. What a pity." The black spider made a weird noise but Qin Yu could understand it.

He had been under its illusion previously. Its eight legs stretched out across the web, each of them sparkling with some golden color.

From the voice, Qin Yu could tell the spider was a male.

The blood spider had a cold but calm voice, "Why are you wasting your words on him? Kill him, we will have his flesh and blood!"

Surprisingly, it was a male voice too.

Qin Yu frowned. These two large spiders had lived for a long time but they were unexpectedly two males living together. He could not help wondering about their sexual orientation.

Click click, it would be hard!

As if it had been stung by Qin Yu's gaze, the red spider screeched as it bolted at Qin Yu. He threw a punch that forced the red spider backwards. Qin Yu also retreated. At the same time, his body armor tore apart and a familiar pain rushed through him.

Qin Yu frowned lightly. Although he had already gotten used to being injured, the Rule System body breaking apart sent waves of pain through him.

This was related to the blood red robe that he was wearing.

Although it looked like any other long robe, Qin Yu's robe was different. It was a protective armor that was formed from the Purpleback Bluewing Ants. Furthermore it was connected to Qin Yu's mind.

Previously, every time Qin Yu suffered an injury and he bled, the Purpleback Bluewing Ants would devour the blood after Qin Yu allowed them to. However, this time, the robe had sucked the blood dry before Qin Yu instructed it to.

Shoosh!

A sharp sound penetrated the air as the black spider jumped forward. Qin Yu took a deep breath in as he threw another punch. His wounds tore apart again and blood gushed out. Like before, it was directly sucked in by the Purpleback Bluewing Ant robe.

"Fire!"

Qin Yu muttered to himself. As he took a step, his fingers were set ablaze. Looking carefully, the fire on his fingers formed a burning furnace that constantly shrunk and folded inwards. A strange dark spot began to form in the middle of the fire.

It was the Rule System Fire!

This was what Qin Yu devoured before he ate the Spiritual Snake's flesh when he was in a coma in the underground magma pool. It was also why the Purpleback Bluewing Ants transformed.

The Rule System Fire in his hands burned intensely. Yet there was no reaction from the blood red long robe.

This was not normal.

Although Qin Yu felt suspicious, he had a lot of experience and he regained his composure quickly. He sighed unconsciously.

Both Old Turtle and Stone Pagoda had warned him about the dangers of this place. Even now, Qin Yu still had no idea what the actual terrain was.

He had not had a clear look at the mountain.

Admittedly, this was something that unsettled him.

After a long sigh, Qin Yu pointed his fingers forward and released the Rule System Fire. The mess of spider webs were lit ablaze and in an instant, the cave turned into a sea of fire.

The black and red spider shrieked in anger as they bolted for Qin Yu. Again, they were forced back by his blows.

During the entire process, Qin Yu's blood red robe observed the cave and constantly made adjustments to its devouring as the fire burned.

The Rule System body was under an onslaught of attacks and it broke apart continuously. This gradually caused Qin Yu's internal state to enter a state of chaos. He frowned but his eyes remained focused. He had to remain calm in danger, and panicking would just worsen things.

Nonetheless, Qin Yu had grasped an important point.

With a pale face, he suddenly stopped retreating backwards a few moments later.

Qin Yu disregarded the flames and tore through the spider web. Then he flew to an inner wall of the stone cave that had been scorched by the flames, raised a hand, and threw a blow.

Bang bang bang!

The stone wall broke apart and debris flew all around. With his fist at the center, a small hole was slowly drilled through the walls.

Light from the outside world shone through the small hole.

The two spiders screamed and jumped at Qin Yu recklessly. At the same time, they spat mucus out from their mouths and attempted to seal the hole in the rock wall.

"I hope I won't…" As he spoke, Qin Yu stepped out and disappeared through the hole.

Shoosh!

Qin Yu opened his eyes once he was out.

"Master, my beloved master, you are finally awake. I was so scared!" Old Turtle cried.

Qin Yu's lips twitched. Old Turtle's words were the exact same. Was this happening again? He sucked in a cold breath of air and formed a thought in his mind. Old Turtle instantly screamed, "Master, what did I do wrong? Why are you doing this to me?"

Qin Yu had absorbed some of Old Turtle's power. After hearing Old Turtle's reaction, he was at ease. The aura from him was similar to what Qin Yu was familiar with.

Ignoring Old Turtle's screams, Qin Yu asked, "Stone Pagoda."

"Yes, Master."

"Do you have anything to say to me?"

Stone Pagoda was silent for a while before he said, "Master, your luck is amazing and you are really awake this time."

"I am not sure how many dream states you have experienced before, but I will teach you a way to find out what is real. For example, you can call the same Sun Moon illusion you did when you killed the Spiritual Snake."

Without hesitation, Qin Yu formed a thought in his head. A mirage appeared on top of his head.

However, this time was different from before. The moment the mirage appeared, Qin Yu felt his heart clench and he unconsciously shrunk inwardly. In the next instant, the Sun Moon illusion disappeared.

Weird, why did he feel so guilty just now? It felt as though he was about to get scolded by his parents after doing something wrong?

He was not going to call that woman anymore, at least not for now. He suddenly felt familiar with the woman. Yet, she was just a shadow that he had never seen before.

Qin Yu rubbed his forehead; he felt as though he had forgotten something. No matter what he did, he could not put his finger on what he was missing.

At least he was fully awake this time. There was no way an illusionary artist could mimic the woman's shadow.

…Why did he feel this way? He felt as though the woman was very strong. Yet, he had never seen her.

Forget it, the more he thought about it, the more his head hurt!

However, Qin Yu did not choose to trust so easily. After connecting to the Purpleback Bluewing Ants, the Rule System Fire suddenly started to rage violently. It shrouded Qin Yu in flames.

The flames dispelled the darkness and lit up the entire stone cave. A clutter of thick spider webs appeared before him.

Most of them had been burnt apart. Among the heap of bones in the middle of the cave were two very eye-catching skeletons.

If he had not seen them before, he would not be sure of what they were. However, Qin Yu immediately recognized that those bones belonged to the black and red spiders.

This cave was also similar to what he had seen before. He sighed and extinguished the Rule System Fire. Once the fire was put out, Qin Yu said, "Stone Pagoda, tell me what you know."

"Yes, Master." Stone Pagoda sounded as though he had already prepared for this. He continued, "In the ancient times, a terrifying Fantasy Spider existed in the Vast Brightness World. It was the worst nightmare of every living creature in the world and it was one of the most powerful ancient creatures. No one dared to interact with it.

"There is little known of the Fantasy Spider and I am not too sure about it. However, there is one thing that can be confirmed: the Fantasy Spider has an internal fantasy energy that can instantly pull all living creatures into an illusionary world. It was rumored that there were eighteen levels in the illusionary world. One would have to break through all of the levels to fully regain his memory.

"However, before its prey could break through all levels and regain its mind, it would have become the Fantasy Spider's food. Occasionally, there were some powerful creatures who were able to break through all levels and regain their minds. Yet, they ended up losing their sanity and self-destructing because they could not tell the real world from the fake."

Qin Yu's expression changed slightly.

Eighteen levels!

He had only experienced two levels before and he had already started suspecting whether the world in front of him was real or not.

He wondered if he would lose his mind too if he went through eighteen levels.

"Master, you really have good luck. These two Fantasy Spiders have been dead for a very long time and the fantasy energy is almost gone. Otherwise…" Stone Pagoda did not finish, but it was clear what he was implying.

Qin Yu sighed deeply as he looked at the stone cave. He had been in danger the moment he stepped into the mountain. Furthermore, it was a stone cave that contained the corpses of two Fantasy Spiders that had died a long time ago.

It was truly dangerous. Whatever happened in the illusionary world was also reflected in the real world.

If Qin Yu had not discovered the illusionary world as quickly as he did, the Rule System body might have been destroyed.

What exactly was this mountain?

Qin Yu also had another issue he was puzzled about.

Were the two spiders in this stone cave really two male Fantasy Spiders that lived together?