Refining the Mountains and Rivers

World of Darkness.

It was true darkness without a single ray of light. Everything was submerged in the night and this continued for endless years.

Plain fields stretched as far as the eye could see. It was completely barren other than for a few shrubs that struggled to grow, and the rest was just soil.

Perhaps because the never-ending darkness had covered this place for numerous years, everything was dark and black, even the soil.

Hooo -

A strong wind blew past and a few dust balls formed. The black soil flew under the black sky.

Crossing the vast land, they continued to fly and fly until a silent palace appeared.

An invisible and shapeless power was being released by the palace. The strong wind immediately died down as it neared and the tumbling soil scattered back onto the ground.

It has been like this all this while. Even though the wind could carry only a small amount of soil, over time, it accumulated and formed a black soil pile.

It was like a tall wall locking the palace in it. It grew taller each day and looked like a cage that could never be escaped from.

The palace was spotless. It was the same as this entire world; it was purely black. It looked as if it had been carved from some kind of pure black crystal.

A low voice could be heard from within the palace. As the voice resounded outwards, it was blocked by the soil piles and nothing could be heard from the other side.

"Eye of Eternal Night, why didn't you act?"

A cold and stable voice could be heard, "Because Qin Yu was right. Forcefully descending into the Vast Brightness World already caused quite some damage. If I stubbornly wanted to attempt to kill him, I would have paid a huge price."

"This reason is not good enough."

"But to me, this is enough. Your Majesty, if you are not happy, you can complain to the Great Desolate. I will accept all consequences." The cold voice vanished.

The palace fell into silence. After a long time, a low voice could be heard once more, "Think of a way to deal with Qin Yu. There must be a problem with him!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

A third voice could be heard. However, from the start to the end, not a single silhouette could be seen.

Hooo -

Hooo -

Strong winds continued to blow over the land. Black soil kept getting blown upwards and carried over a long distance before falling outside the palace. This caused the black soil piles to grow higher and higher, as if they would never end.

……

The Dragon Saint's face was so dark, it looked as if it was going to rain. To tell the truth, Qin Yu felt slightly bad.

Think about it. He was the master of the East Sea. In the Vast Brightness World, he was one of the peak True Saints. Now, he was just like a bullied daughter-in-law who wanted to rebel but had no choice but to be obedient.

That struggle, annoyance, anger, pain and hurt…mixed together and made anyone who saw him waver.

Cough cough, thinking about it, was what the Spring Master was doing right now a bit overboard?

In his mind, the Spring Master's calm voice could be heard, "What? You think I am going overboard?"

Qin Yu denied. He thought about it, "Actually, I previously deceived Dragon Saint as well. Although the way he does things is not common, he is not actually bad…at least before the Eye of Eternal Night appeared, when Dragon Saint felt something was not right, he didn't just run and leave the East Sea behind. It is rare."

The Spring Master replied, "You are right. Dragon Saint did not escape by himself, but this has nothing to do with his character. He simply could not let go."

Qin Yu was silent…he wondered if he had misread.

The Spring Master confirmed his suspicions, "That's right." He paused before saying calmly, "Actually, I did promise him that I would not have designs on that thing. If you feel bad and want to be a nice person, you can choose to give it up."

Qin Yu took a deep breath and suddenly spoke, "Dragon Saint, I think you should agree. My Master's temper is not great. If we really clash, I can only say pardon us for offending you."

It was a simple thing and the Spring Master had already made it clear. The Dragon Saint was taking the risk and now wanted to escape the East Sea because of that thing! He could allow other things, but not this. This showed how precious it was.

Hence, was there a need to consider? Moreover, the Dragon Saint was a True Saint who had reached the shore, his psychological abilities were definitely good. He could certainly withstand some pressure.

When the Dragon Saint looked at Qin Yu's expression, although Qin Yu appeared calm, he could sense the small change between Qin Yu's brows. He had been wondering if perhaps there may be a chance for things to change and was secretly happy. However, in a blink of an eye, Qin Yu became hostile?

This kind of bargaining bastard…the Dragon Saint would never believe if he said that he had nothing to do with this!

The Spring Master had a hint of a smile as he looked at Qin Yu in satisfaction. The speed at which Qin Yu changed gained him points.

Although Qin Yu did not say much, his words were severe. The Spring Master noticed that the Dragon Saint was not only extremely gloomy, he was hesitating as well.

It was time to deal the final blow.

The Spring Master suddenly changed his tone, "Dragon Saint, I am sure no one in the world knows better than you how troublesome that thing belonging to the East Sea is. Hence today, it is more of letting Qin Yu have a chance to try. It is unlikely he will succeed anyway. What are you afraid of? Or is it that you think all your years of trying will not compare to Qin Yu's one attempt?"

The Dragon Saint appeared conflicted as he looked at the Spring Master. He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth, "Okay, I promise you. But you can only try once. After this, no cultivator from the Peach Garden can ever raise a request like this ever again! And you have to keep this a secret. You absolutely cannot tell anyone!"

It was only one try. No matter how powerful Qin Yu was, how could Qin Yu compare to all his years of hard work?

That's right, Qin Yu would definitely fail!

As he thought of this, the Dragon Saint felt slightly reassured. He then wondered if he had reacted too dramatically earlier on.

Why did he think that Qin Yu would definitely take that thing away as soon as the Spring Master made that request…hmmm, could it be intuition?

……

Tsk tsk tsk!

Don't jinx it. This will never happen. What the Spring Master said was right, no one knew that thing better than the Dragon Saint.

"Okay!" The Spring Master agreed. "I promise that no one from the Peach Garden will put you on the spot about this ever again."

At the same time, the Spring Master's voice appeared in Qin Yu's head, "Qin Yu, I have gotten you the chance. Whether you can succeed depends on yourself. But I have to tell you one thing. Whether you succeed or not today, my debt for your innate spirit energy is cleared."

One chance to try could cancel out what the Spring Master owed. Qin Yu had to admit that he was getting more and more excited. Moreover, it was obvious that this thing was not easy to get. Qin Yu could clearly tell that the Dragon Saint agreed only because Qin Yu would get only one chance to try.

If they had insisted on forcing this thing out from the Dragon Saint's hands, he would definitely have gone crazy!

"Follow me!" The Dragon Saint was extremely pale as he turned and walked, "Qin Yu, Spring Master has always kept to his word…"

Qin Yu smiled slightly, "Dragon Saint, don't worry. I promise to not say a single word about today."

The Dragon Saint snorted. Even if I don't believe you, what can I do about it? I just hope that the both of them cherish their reputation.

But thinking about it, the Spring Master and Qin Yu's performance just now showed that managing their reputations was something they very carefully maneuvered around. They probably manipulated them perfectly.

The Dragon Saint's expression soured. He kept feeling as if something bad was going to happen to him.

Stop, stop right there!

Taking a deep breath, the Dragon Saint calmed his heartbeat. No, no. I spent so much effort nurturing this thing for so many years and could not do anything. What can a brat like Qin Yu do?

Hurry. Let him try and fail so that he can give up and this can end.

The place was in the Dragon Palace. After going through many layers and corridors, they entered a heavily guarded area. A cryptic movement in space appeared. If not for Qin Yu's enhanced power of space from the combination of the Rule System Body and the Galaxy God Mark, he might not have sensed it.

He looked up; everything seemed normal. The palace was designed in a lavish and refined manner showing off the Dragon Saint's wealth. But a few steps forward, the Dragon Saint's silhouette seemed to distort before he disappeared.

Qin Yu glanced at the Spring Master. Seeing that the Spring Master was calm, he understood.

Alas, it was as if he walked through a division made up of cool spring water. He could hear what seemed like numerous dragons roaring. His vision blurred slightly before recovering. Qin Yu realized that they had entered a deep sea mountain range.

Power of space!

He had hidden this entire deep sea mountain range within the Dragon Palace. Even to a True Saint, something of this scale must not have been easy.

And Qin Yu could sense that the separator resembling water contained a frightening power.

If it had sensed an intruder, it would be no laughing matter.

But it did not matter. The Spring Master was leading this shameless expedition and had already made the Dragon Saint back down…Qin Yu knew that he only got this 'chance' because of the Spring Master.

If it were another? Even if they were a True Saint too, it was not likely that Dragon Saint would give in. Back then, the Spring Master must have given the Dragon Saint a beating of a lifetime such that the memory was imprinted in the Dragon Saint.

This was why the Spring Master had said that regardless of the result, their debt was cleared.

It was not that he was shameless. He would not do something like this to his own disciple. This was really enough to clear the debt.

Qin Yu's gaze landed on the mountain range. There were numerous giant rocks. They seemed to have split apart after striking the ground, creating a huge crater.

Moss grew all over the rocks and there were even some marine creatures that had settled around. It had been like this for a long time and had never changed.

He looked forward. There was clearly a section missing in the mountain range, forming an obvious depression. It looked as if something heavy had fallen from the sky and smashed it.

Qin Yu's eyes flashed. Could the thing that the Spring Master and the Dragon Saint be talking about be here?

Right in the front, the Dragon Saint stopped walking as he looked at the mountain range. Even at a time like this, Qin Yu could sense the conflicted emotions that he had…resentment and impatience.

"It is here!" The Dragon Saint took a deep breath and pointed in front. "Do you see the missing part in the mountain? Just walk over and you can take it."

After saying this, the Dragon Saint shut his mouth and did not give any more instructions.

Nonsense. Of course, he wished for Qin Yu to fail. Why would he give hints? If the Spring Master was not here, the Dragon Saint would have tried to trick Qin Yu.

Qin Yu looked at the Spring Master. The Spring Master nodded calmly, "Go."

This meant that there were no issues.

Qin Yu acknowledged before nodding at the Dragon Saint and proceeding.

He already suspected that things would not be so simple. So when Qin Yu stepped into the fragmented mountain range and the restrictive energy fell, his expression remained calm.