Refining the Mountains and Rivers

She could not wait any longer.

Seventh apprentice sister stepped out and landed beside elder apprentice brother. Without waiting for him to speak, she said, "I know myself well and will not take any risks. I will just stay behind you and help you a bit."

Impatience shone on elder apprentice brother's face. He knew Thousand Faces well and since she came, he would not be able to convince her to leave with a few sentences. And right now, he had no time to spare. He could only quickly warn her, "Remember what you said."

He reached out and held onto Thousand Faces. He could not rest assured letting her move by herself. The cracks in space that the giant had created were too powerful.

Thousand Faces was recognized by the Spring Master to be part of the group of four. What got her there was not the ability to have a dramatic change of attitude every day, but that she was also very strong. If not, she would not have been able to sneak up and tear Ye Xing's heart out of his chest in a single go, causing him to die.

With her, elder apprentice brother faced lesser pressure. However, the cracks in space were never-ending and did not decrease because the two of them were destroying some. On the contrary, they kept increasing in number. In order to protect Qin Yu, they had to destroy more at a faster rate.

Seventh apprentice sister was not as powerful as elder apprentice brother. Moreover, she had suffered an injury from Ye Xing earlier on. With a 'pop' sound, she got a cut on her face. Fresh blood flowed out and dripped down.

Elder apprentice brother grabbed her hand and pulled her behind him.

Seventh apprentice sister lifted her hand to touch her face as she smiled slightly, "It is nothing, just a surface cut. It will be better tomorrow."

Elder apprentice brother shook his head because he knew that although the cut from the crack in space looked like it was only a surface-level cut, if Thousand Faces had reacted any slower, she would have lost her head.

When one said that they were fighting with their life on the line, there were actually several levels. Initially, he thought that he could just try his best for a while. However, it was obvious that his junior-apprentice brother needed more time. He could not let Thousand Faces risk it anymore. Truthfully, if he continued in this manner, he might also be in trouble.

"Junior-apprentice sister, I will have to trouble you." Elder apprentice brother looked up at the giant that was controlling the cracks in space. His eyes shone as an echo seemed to erupt from his sword into the sky. It was as if the sword had been lying dormant for years and was finally brought to earth once again.

The Prince of Heavenly Palace was already completely numb and his heart merely skipped a few beats before becoming calm again as he saw what happened - alas, all these people from the Peach Garden were extremely crafty. No one knew what they would do next.

Tall Sostrong was a horrifying swordsman and this was enough to shock anyone. However, the scene that was happening in front of him showed that Tall Sostrong could become even scarier. If he had tried to do something funny just now, he would most likely have been cut in half by that sword.

If the explosive power that elder apprentice brother exuded earlier on made one feel as if he could overcome anything and nothing could stop him, then as he sliced down with his sword now, it was as if he was really slashing through and cutting out all the rotten parts!

A completely black crack, stretching the horizontal distance between him and the giant, was completely cut through and the slash continued onward past the other side. Without stopping, it moved forward all the way to the end of sight!

The feeling elder apprentice brother gave when his sword fell was as if he had cut the entire Lost Garden in two!

All the cracks in space suddenly became rigid. The one that was nearest to Qin Yu was merely a few centimeters away.

All of a sudden, it cracked without a sound.

Crack -

A red gash appeared between the giant's eyebrows. It extended slowly downwards, eventually cutting through its entire body. The silver roots within the giant's body turned completely dark. It was as if this slash had cut off their life.

The humongous body was falling to the ground. However, before it could land, the horrifying sword intent sliced it into numerous pieces - blood filled the air in an instant.

Elder apprentice brother's face paled as he turned to smile at seventh apprentice sister and fell into her arms.

"Don't smile or talk. Quickly close your eyes and rest!" Thousand Faces did not look good as she turned to glance at Qin Yu. She could not help but grit her teeth, "You bastard, don't dream of trying to talk your way out of this!"

Taking two deep breaths, elder apprentice brother said, "I'm okay, I just need to rest a while…" Before he could finish, Thousand Faces sneered, "At a time like this, you can still care about others. Seems like you really don't fear death."

Elder apprentice brother shut up immediately.

Although Qin Yu had not 'awoken', he could hear the conversation between them. He was moved and touched. He could not help but laugh bitterly. He really had caused his elder apprentice brother quite some trouble. In his current state, just resting would not help him recover.

This was too huge a favor!

After this thing had passed, he would find some way to compensate them. Elder apprentice brother would not be an issue but seventh apprentice sister would explode if he did not do so.

These two…tsk, tsk. In the past, he had never heard anything about them. Moreover, how could his elder apprentice brother accept Thousand Faces' current state? Or could it be that her current state was what moved elder apprentice brother?

Cough cough! After all, he was still a man and still had those same inner thoughts.

Once he got together with seventh apprentice sister, tsk tsk, it would be like a dream. After all, seventh apprentice sister was famous for having a different face each day and each one of them was beautiful.

Stop, stop right there!

Qin Yu, that was a bit too much. Elder apprentice brother had just risked his life to help you obtain some time. A few moments later, he already had such ungrateful thoughts.

That's right, when elder apprentice brother pulled out his sword to kill the giant, Qin Yu's transformation had finished. Now, he just needed to extract the last bit of energy from the Spiritual Snake and he would be done.

Qin Yu's journey in the Lost Garden had been complicated and filled with turmoil. There were multiple times when he was at the brink of death and he had suffered quite a bit. However, what he got in the end made everything worth it.

With the Light and Dark Body that he had comprehended earlier as well as the power of space, Qin Yu was able to protect himself and no one could hurt him from now on.

In a way, Qin Yu now had the strength to bully others. However, he had yet to have a reference and did not know up to which level he could overpower.

But he most likely should be able to defeat Half-Saints that were still struggling in the Sea of Bitterness?

As Qin Yu thought of this, even with his firm will he still felt his heart surge with emotions. He thought back to when he broke into the Endless Sea in order to make a name for himself. When he encountered the Saints then he had shivered with fear, afraid that he would be crushed with just a single finger, as easily as a slightly stronger ant.

He had been rescued by Peachy and was protected by the Spring Master. That was how he ended up entering the Peach Garden to cultivate. Thinking back, it had not been a long time since then and now he had the strength to overpower Half-Saints.

With his speed of advancement, while he couldn't be said to be faster than his ancestors, at least in the Vast Brightness World it was outstanding.

Moreover, this was a conservative estimate by Qin Yu. He had yet to test his true strength.

After all, regardless of whether it was his Rule System body or the Galaxy God Mark from the True God Path, he has not been able to accurately determine the strength they possessed…

Because there had never been any precedent!

Back then, when the Spring Master said that he had to become a Ruler to save Peachy, although Qin Yu had maintained his calm, he had felt hopeless. He could not imagine how he would ever qualify to cross the sea and become a Ruler above True Saints.

But now, although he was still not one hundred percent certain about the future, he was not lost…so what about a Ruler? He just had to keep moving forwards and there would be a day when he reached his destination.

This was the confidence brought about by the rapid transformation of his power. Additionally, the one hundred normal years that he had lived in the heart calamity was what firmed up Qin Yu's belief.

When compared to raising his cultivation level, it may not have seemed important to train his heart and will. However, when Qin Yu finally became qualified to try for the missing Ruler's place, he would know how important it was to have a strong and unyielding will.

Hmm?

Qin Yu's emotions shifted as a smirk appeared on his lips. He did not expect that there would be someone hiding in the dark even up until now.

Oh…it was someone familiar. He should make use of them to test out his power.

"Master, wait…" It was Old Turtle. "I think I may have found a suitable body for myself."

Stone Pagoda said, "Master, Shadow of the Abyss has suffered injuries that are affecting his source, if he had a body to recuperate, it would speed up his recovery."

Qin Yu raised his brows, "Which?"

"The one with many heads."

……

Bom…

A strong aura exploded as a huge shadow of a terrifying beast appeared. Its body resembled a huge snake but it had nine sinister heads. Now, all eighteen eyes were locked on Qin Yu.

Without hesitation, all nine heads simultaneously opened their mouths and launched forwards.

"Nine Heads!" Elder apprentice brother's eyes widened.

Seventh apprentice sister held him down, "Don't move. Leave it to me."

Qin Yu ah Qin Yu, you bastard. You owe such a huge favor now. You better have something extremely good to repay us with or I will never let you off!

Taking a deep breath, her chest expanded severely and seventh apprentice sister prepared to take action. She suddenly paused. She then opened her mouth and choked out a mouthful of blood.

Hugging elder apprentice brother, Thousand Faces rapidly retreated, "Qin Yu, both your elder apprentice brother and I are powerless. You have to count on yourself!"

Elder apprentice brother was about to say something but she glared at him. He immediately shut up and let out a long sigh. It seemed like junior-apprentice brother was awake. What was he trying to do?

The Prince of Heavenly Palace's expression changed. Qin Yu? The ninth disciple of the Peach Garden? The one who got the approval of the Spring Master to marry Peachy?

Alas, my guess was right. Everything today was planned by the Peach Garden.

At this moment, Thousand Faces suddenly spat out blood and was retreating with elder apprentice brother…forget it. You can lie to others but I will not believe you.

There is something going on. There must be.

But this time, he did not know if the one to blame was the Nine Heads beast or the stranger cultivator in front of him.

Seeing the Prince of Heavenly Palace look over, Dragon Peak smiled slightly and waved, "As long as you keep quiet, we will both be fine."

His smile was calm and confident but the aura that he was releasing was berserk. It was as if he could turn into a horrifying beast at any time and destroy everything.

Xu She took a step back. Even if you forced me to take action, I wouldn't move at all…it is fine if you want to die. Don't drag me into this!

But what should I do to avoid getting silenced by the Peach Garden and live past today? This is making my head hurt.

Dragon Peak was slightly surprised. He did not expect that the Prince of Heavenly Palace was so cowardly. Before he had spoken, he was already mentally prepared to fight him.

Now that the Peach Garden was out, the ones who still had a fighting chance were him, Nine Heads, and the Prince of Heavenly Palace.

He could not understand some things and the expression of the Prince of Heavenly Palace was slightly strange…but at this point, he could not sit back anymore. Hence, there was no need to think further.

Stealing the Spiritual Snake's corpse and killing everyone. His silent endurance was worth it!

Qin Yu? It was him!

Nine Heads suddenly understood. Maybe the incident that master had where his divine sense got split was because of this person. As this thought crossed his mind, all his eyes glowed and his swallowing power immediately exploded with more force.

Even if not for his master, Nine Heads' goal was to swallow this person and absorb all of him.

Dragon Peak was indeed strong and his skills were eccentric. But to try and control him with just an agreement? What a joke…he would not spit out anything he swallowed!

As a nine-headed demon beast originating from the ancient creatures, Nine Heads was considered closely related to Tao Tie[1]. He could digest any being and absorb their energy. So, he only needed to swallow Qin Yu and everything would be set!

Very smooth. It was so smooth that Nine Heads' attack landed completely in empty space.

Whoosh -

There was the sound of something cutting through air. Qin Yu flew over and in the next second, he flew directly into the mouth of the middle head.

Success!

All eighteen of Nine Heads' eyes were filled with frantic delight. Without hesitating, he activated the digesting power within his body.

He only needed a few seconds to turn Qin Yu into minced meat and absorb everything!

1. Ferocious mythological animal, son of the dragon king ☜