Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Li Zhou frowned deploy and his expression was dark. He was annoyed. Because of his carelessness previously, someone saw the inextinguishable flame. This thing was still a secret and it could not be revealed. He tried to cover up his mistakes but while that swordsman was not very strong, he fled quickly. He even had a lifesaving treasure on him and he disappeared.

Although the swordsman may not know about the inextinguishable flame, its aura was on him. If other people knew about it, it would be troublesome. This was especially so if the World of Darkness found out about this. His journey this time would not only fail to get him achievements, it would also cause him to lose more points.

Li Zhou would not allow this to happen. He had something important to handle and he could only send men after the swordsman to assassinate him. However, three days had passed. Out of the three men he sent, two had been killed. Li Zhou was troubled.

Where did this swordsman come from? If he could handle it himself, he would personally kill the swordsman and not let things develop to this stage. He could delay this further. Although the men he had dispatched were all under him, their clan was at odds with the World of Darkness. These two parties were constantly watching each other. If the World of Darkness sensed something wrong, it would be even more troublesome.

He breathed in deeply and a flash crossed his eyes. Turning around, he sat on a stone in a cave. He retrieved a jade bottle that was filled with fog. As he uncapped the bottle, this fog rushed out and morphed into an illusion. Although the illusion's body was not clear, it gave off a strong aura.

The illusion slowly opened its eyes and scanned its surroundings. Then, it bowed, "Your Highness, what are your orders?"

"One matter. Take this fire pearl and find a swordsman from its aura. Kill him at all costs!"

The illusion frowned. After a slight hesitation, it said, "Your Highness, my mission is to protect you. Things have evolved to a critical moment…"

He was interrupted before he could finish. Li Zhou impatiently said, "With the Inextinguishable Flame, you don't have to worry about my safety. Go ahead, kill the man and hurry back after."

The illusion felt helpess as he grabbed the fire pearl. This object was as red as blood. Looking closely, he realized that the redness came from a flame that was actively burning.

The illusion turned and left in a flash.

Li Zhou coldly smirked. If this random swordsman could stand his ground against his personal bodyguard, it would be impressive.

……

Qin Yu was very patient. From Soaring Sky's words he had deduced that the World of Darkness cultivator wanted to hide information about the Inextinguishable Flame. As long as Soaring Sky did not die, the other party would never give up. It would not be long before he sent a few more assassins over.

However, he was not sure if the main person would come this time. World of Darkness cultivators could not be killed and Qin Yu did not want to waste his time on them. After he interrogated the man successfully, he would immediately head over to where the Inextinguishable Flame originated.

With this thought, his heart started to beat faster. Qin Yu licked his lips unconsciously, and he repeated the same words in his head. Come, come on, hurry and come!

It was rumored that there was a Rain Clan in the Vast Brightness World. They would pray for rain every dry season. They succeeded every time and the reason why was simple. They prayed for rain until it came.

What Qin Yu was doing was no different than the rumored Rain Clan. His praying succeeded and he sensed a movement in the space. Then, the furnace gave him exciting news.

It was here!

He lifted his head and looked at the space; an illusion walked out holding a bright ball of blood-colored fire…no, it was a flame itself that was captured in a pearl…it was precisely the reason why Qin Yu entered Bounded Zero Place. It was the Inextinguishable Flame!

Although he was already aware of the cultivator from the World of Darkness obtaining the Inextinguishable Flame, Qin Yu was very excited to see it. It had not been easy. If he had not met Soaring Sky and the cultivator from the World of Darkness' effort to gift the Inextinguishable Flame to him. Qin Yu was sure that he would have needed more than a hundred years before he found the Inextinguishable Flame.

It was a pity that it was too small. This tiny bit was not enough to do anything. However, this was alright. A small amount was fine now; he would consume it bit by bit.

The illusion frowned. He felt tense all of a sudden and the cause of his uneasiness stemmed from the person opposite him.

His Highness wanted this guy? That's right. It was obvious from the aura that it was this swordsman. His cultivation appeared ordinary but when the illusion saw the swordsman for himself, he felt a strange sense of fear.

Forget it. Since he found his target, he would kill him and complete the task. As the shadow guard for His Highness, he was not allowed to leave His Highness. If anything happened to His Highness, he would be at fault.

The illusion reached forward and grabbed, breaking the space in front of him. A thunderous boom sounded in all directions and destroyed everything in its path.

Very strong!

Qin Yu's eyebrows raised. The person who wanted to kill Soaring Sky must have gotten impatient. It was a pity that he did not come personally but from the profile of his most recent assassin…sigh, it was probably an avatar of sorts.

Let's kill it first.

The previous description was right, the illusion was very strong and it probably had the strength of a True Saint. Unfortunately, in front of Qin Yu, it did not seem like much.

Furthermore, the illusion did not see Qin Yu as someone who could harm its life.

Intentionally killing without intent, one hit one kill!

"Master, hold on." Before he made the blow, Stone Pagoda caught his attention, "I once met a True Saint Great Dao avatar. With some preparations, you can suppress the origin of his Great Dao and extract his memory. How much you would get depends on luck, but I think you can give it a try under these circumstances. You might be able to get something useful."

For example, how the cultivator from the World of Darkness was able to ignore the turbulent space waves and teleport to his desired destination.

Stone Pagoda was not finished but Qin Yu knew what he implied. His eyes shone brightly and he asked, "How long will you need?"

"A very short amount of time. Master, please wait a while."

Qin Yu threw a punch out. The force for this blow was very much weaker than when he intended to destroy the illusion. It barely made a hole in the space and it was incredibly weak.

"World of Darkness, don't go too overboard!" He shouted as he flew. However, it felt weak and timid.

Stone Pagoda sighed. Master's acting capabilities had improved a lot from before. This shout, the shakiness in his voice, and the high pitch, together with his actions and mannerisms all looked perfect.

The illusion would definitely fall into this trap.

As expected, the illusion frowned slightly. He wondered why the swordsman would use such a method to try to escape. However, this thought quickly disappeared. Swordsmen typically trained their bodies in order to allow their muscles to withstand stronger sword intent.

Forget it, why bother thinking so much. Regardless of whatever cultivation way the swordsman chose, he just needed to kill him. However, this lad isn't that weak. No wonder His Highness' other assassins were killed. Today was his turn and he would not give his target any chance.

Trying to escape? Hehe.

The illusion stepped forward with a rapid speed, shrinking the distance between them quickly. He raised his arm to smash it down on Qin Yu's head. This speed surprised Qin Yu. It was the first time he had seen anyone move that quick.

In the blink of an eye, the illusion was close to him. A humming sound came from the sword and Qin Yu immediately turned into a sword shadow.

"Stone Pagoda, are you ready?" If this continued, he would not be able to maintain his act. He would only be able to kill the illusion directly.

A True Saint's reactions were very sharp but he could not suppress the Great Dao Origin at the moment of death. He had to leave immediately or the Origin would break apart.

"Soon!"

The illusion laughed coldly, "You can't run, admit defeat!"

Shoosh -

He shot forward at lightning speed.

Qin Yu whipped around sharply and raised his hand to block. With a 'bam', he was thrown backward. Blood spurted out of his mouth and his complexion grew pale as he fell to the ground.

A loud 'boom' followed as the ground shook from the impact and dust rushed into the sky.

The illusion frowned. The swordsman was tough, he managed to survive his attack.

Cultivators like him were pests. They were like this back then too.

Yet, no matter how tough the lives of these pests were, they would be crushed in a few more blows.

Hidden in the ground, Qin Yu felt helpless. Would he need to sustain another blow? As though he had sensed Qin Yu's frustration, Stone Pagoda finally completed the last preparations. He said, "Done!"

Shoosh -

There was a shrill sound through the air as the illusion pierced through space and closed in on Qin Yu.

The killing intent in its eyes was sharp.

Finish this.

One blow!

Bam!

A deafening explosion sounded as sweeping forces rushed out in all directions. The tremor was like an awakening volcano, tearing apart the surrounding earth and destroying everything in all directions.

Violently deformed, the illusion was thrown back into the sky. His mind was in a mess and there was a single thought running through his head: no way. How could this be?

His target had been a weak sheep ready to be crushed by his hand. Death seemed inevitable for it. How did things turn out this way?

Before the illusion could think, another explosion came from the ground. Qin Yu shot towards him and delivered a heavy blow.

Bam…

A loud hollow sound like a mountain dropping from the heavens came. The deformed illusion froze in his spot.

'Crack crack'. Like cracks creeping through a broken mirror, Qin Yu's blow crushed the illusion.

The blurry figure appeared. Fear and anger flashed through his eyes and he tried to flee.

"Stone Pagoda!"