Refining the Mountains and Rivers

His mind was wild and many emotions swept through him. After a long time, Qin Yu sighed and suppressed his feelings. He connected his consciousness and the furnace. Since it could absorb flames from the world and continuously evolve, it might be able to sense a few things. If he could determine where the inextinguishable flame was, his job would be much easier.

This was the optimal plan that Qin Yu thought of before he entered Bounded Zero Place. However, facts had proven that the perfect plan would not be realized. After a while, the furnace gave him an answer. It could not find where the inextinguishable flame was.

Although Qin Yu was prepared for this, after the clashing factions incident from before, he could not help rubbing his forehead in disappointment. Things were not going well for him…since the smartest plan did not succeed, he would try the dumb plan.

He prayed that his luck would turn for the better quickly. Otherwise, with the rules governing Bounded Zero Place, it would not be easy to find the inextinguishable flame here.

The fragment of the small world below his feet was small. Furthermore, Qin Yu intentionally held back his aura and avoided conflict with the creatures in the fragment. After half an hour of searching, he wasn't able to find the aura of the inextinguishable flame.

The reason why he did this was partially because he could not trust the sensing of the furnace completely. What if it made a mistake?

Only by carefully searching could he ensure that he did not miss out on it.

Shoosh -

Qin Yu flashed and he stepped out of the small world fragment. His body was covered by spatial fluctuations and he disappeared.

……

Slam -

A rock fragment suddenly fell. The sleeping rainbow fox's eyes flung open and it scanned its surroundings warrily. After sensing that things were alright, it calmed down and laid on the floor to rest again.

In front of it was the corpse of its prey; it had been feasted upon and its bones and leftover flesh was scattered in a heap.

The full rainbow fox did not realize that there was a piece of flesh on the prey from which blood was slowly seeping into the ground. It was sucked into a hole and it did not stain the ground.

Suddenly, a sharp sense of danger rushed from its heart like an erupting volcano. The rainbow fox sensed danger and its fur immediately stood up. Jumping up, it readied itself to flee.

The rainbow fox was fast but its predator was even faster. The ground broke apart and a dark hand that looked like it had been burnt reached forward at lightning speed and grabbed its neck.

Its eyes bulged wide as a horrified expression crossed its face. Despite its struggle, it could not escape.

Instead, its strength was sucked away like air from a punctured balloon. Growing weak, fear crossed its eyes and then finally it gave up.

The colorful fur of the rainbow fox seemed to have lost its shine after being scorched by the sun for many days. Although it was still colorful, it gave off a lifeless feeling.

At the same time, its body shriveled as its flesh was stripped away. There was only a thin layer of skin above its bones. The rainbow fox lay on the ground. Its prey from before, like it, was curled into a ball.

Slap -

The rainbow fox's corpse was pushed aside and the dark hand pressed on the ground to lift itself up. Rapid breathing could be heard and it was like a new life had been given to it after being hidden in the earth for many years.

It struggled to stand up. Its body, like its hand, was pitch black. It was a tall and burly man. Suddenly, his body trembled. 'Crack', 'crack', these sounds came from his body as his black skin cracked apart, revealing a crimson red layer beneath.

Perhaps because it was painful, the exposed flesh shivered violently and there was a rumbling sound from his mouth.

This bright red flesh suddenly gave off a pungent burning smell as though it was thrown into fire. Then, it quickly turned into a layer of black.

……

The sixty-fourth small world fragment.

He calculated the time: it was the fifth day since he entered Bounded Zero Place. He had not stopped at all and he had continued searching. This process repeated. Every time, he would seek out the furnace to see if it sensed the inextinguishable flame. However, every time was a disappointment.

As mentioned before, the space time in Bounded Zero Place was messy and rules were broken. Everything was in a chaotic state.

This did not mean that Bounded Zero Place was terrifyingly big. The small world fragments totaled ten thousand. In such a disorganized state, trying to find the inextinguishable flame was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Five days of time may not seem short, but Qin Yu had not even searched through 0.1% of the territory in Bounded Zero Place. This fact alone made his head hurt.

There were still no results!

Standing on a tall mountain in one of the small world fragments, Qin Yu frowned as he looked at the endless sea of stars before him. That's right, using the sea of stars to describe Bounded Zero Place was a highly accurate saying. Every speck of light was a small world fragment.

Looking ahead at the landscape before him, these were all densely distributed. They were also moving quickly and they would flicker constantly and change their positions. There did not seem to be a pattern to this.

He had to find a way to locate the aura of the inextinguishable flame, otherwise he would be flying around Bounded Zero Place like a pesky fly. This was hopeless.

He suppressed his feelings. Although this was a very logical idea, there was no way to enact it. Qin Yu asked Stone Pagoda many questions but all his answers were useless.

He could only take it as it came. Things would not magically go his way if he did not do anything. Even if some luck eventually came, it would not be easy for him to see it through.

With a step forward, Qin Yu flew out of the small world fragment. A familiar wave of space came and instantly flooded his body.

Right at that moment, he suddenly thought of something. Even if he found a way to sense the inextinguishable flame, he might not be able to rush over quickly.

The entire Bounded Zero Place was filled with these turbulent space waves. His next destination was really up to fate.

Unless his luck was amazing and he directly stepped into the small world fragment where the inextinguishable flame was, it might be right before him but it would fly a few hundred kilometers away in an instant.

Gosh, his headache grew worse!

Strong bumps and a sharp tearing force accompanied Qin Yu as he traveled through the space waves. After many experiences, he could feel that the journey this time was long. Previously, he would still dream that the inextinguishable flame would appear when he opened his eyes.

However…hehe, he was immune to this.

After a while, there was a sudden feeling of weightlessness. Qin Yu calmly stabilized himself and he dropped down to the ground with a 'bam'.

The entire process felt like he was grabbed by the collar and thrown down hard…that was basically it.

He scanned his surroundings. Like before, there was no need for him to be too expectant. The only difference was that there was an easier welcome ceremony for him.

Roar -

The guy in front of him pounced over with sharp claws that ripped the air. Its growl came from the depth of its chest.

He quickly made a judgment in his heart. Qin Yu stepped back and dodged the attack. He spun on his feet swiftly and pressed his hand forward.

A loud boom sounded as the beast slipped and fell to the ground. Without wasting a second, Qin Yu stepped down, not giving it a chance to recover.

Crack -

Its neck twisted at an odd angle. The beast with needle-like black fur quivered then fell to the ground. It lost its life rapidly.

Through its wounds, Qin Yu extracted its blood and stored it in a ball.

The entire process was fast and smooth. He looked at the blood and the limp corpse. He then stomped and took off.

He did not have a perverted habit of violating corpses. But since he had already killed the beast, he should not waste its resources.

There was the aura of a Ruler in the beasts of Bounded Zero Place. This was in their blood. Although no one managed to extract the Ruler's aura, it was a well recognized treasure and it could fetch a high price in the Vast Brightness World.

The aura from a Ruler. Every True Saint would be interested in it!

With Qin Yu's current status and strength, he did not go through auctions to get money. Keeping it with him, he never knew when it would come in handy.

Perhaps the creatures in Bounded Zero Place grew much stronger from the Ruler aura, but they all took on weird forms. As such, Qin Yu was not sure what they were. This was not important; there was no need for these creatures to have names.

He sensed his surroundings and did not find anything strange. Qin Yu tested the furnace again and got the same answer. That's alright, he was used to it already. He would only be surprised on the day the furnace replied to him with an answer.

Qin Yu would proceed onwards. After choosing a direction, he would survey the entire small world fragment from it. He had done this many times now and he had improved his technique to make the process more efficient.

Nothing, nothing, nothing…

Hm?

Qin Yu suddenly stopped and he turned towards the right. He sensed…a sword intent! It was very thin and if not for his sharp senses, he might have missed it entirely.

Since entering Bounded Zero Place, Qin Yu had already met with many cultivators. He avoided them most of the time.

This was a place where many cultivators had come and gone. It was expected that there would be remnants of sword intent.

Qin Yu had encountered similar sword intents before and he would ignore most of them after a glance. However, this time it was different. This sword intent was very familiar to him.

Qin Yu carefully thought about cultivators he knew of who would be qualified to know about Bounded Zero Place, would risk entering here, and who used swords…but no one came to mind.

He was definitely familiar with this sword intent and a look of hesitation crossed his eyes. Just then, a sharp sword intent shot towards the sky. It sliced out, cutting through everything in its path…there was a blood intent.

"Ah!"

The scream that he gave right before his death was full of surprise, anger and devastation.