Refining the Mountains and Rivers

My name is Li Zhouyi. I was born in the Southwest Royal Family. I belong to the most precious bloodline in the Great Desolate, with plenty of great resources. However, I don't know why but ever since I was young, I could never make my father happy. No matter how hard I tried.

Everyone said that the Third Prince is His Majesty's most favored son and would definitely inherit the throne of the Great Desolate.

I really tried very hard but I always failed. Every time, His Majesty always only looks at me with cold, indifferent eyes.

I once thought of giving up and actually tried to. But in the end, it was my third brother who kept pushing me to the corner.

I endured it until the realization hit me one day. When it came to the fight for the throne, there were only two ending scenarios. Either you ride the clouds and become the dragon or you fall into the abyss and never make your way out.

I am not willing to die. Hence, I can only push myself to try all ways and methods. Finally, I got the approval of the previous king.

This was the reason I managed to get the most important secret of the West Desolate - the Inextinguishable Flame!

I don't know exactly how much it involves but there is one thing I am sure of. As long as I can control it, I will be able to find the thing left behind by the Ruler in the Mountain of Flames. It would be a tremendous achievement.

At that time, even if the king did not like me, I would get recognition from everyone and become the next in line to the throne!

I spent so much energy and prepared so much, finally managing to catch the thing in the cave. It is reaching the critical moment and about to finish.

But right at this moment, the barrier in the cave was shattered by an extremely powerful force and an enemy arrived.

The opponent addressed me as Your Highness and did not seem to want to hide his intentions. This show of not caring whether I found out verifies my earlier assumption - Desolate King, I am also your son. Your bloodline!

Why? Why would you target me?

My name is Li Zhouyi.

In order to get to this point, no one except me knows how much I sacrificed.

I know how much I suffered and how much effort I put in. I also know even more clearly what would become of me if I failed.

So I cannot lose!

The final step…refine, hurry and refine!

Crack -

This sound was like music from angels. Maybe the heavens noticed how much I tried and persisted and finally decided to give me a chance.

The thing in the mountain was finally created!

Then, as per the wishes of the Desolate King, mysterious cultivator from the West Desolate, are you prepared to die and be buried here forever?

……

Qin Yu was never one for many words. Especially when it was at the critical moment and the person suddenly acted haughty, spouting a load of rubbish. There must definitely be a reason.

And the reason was the person who broke the barrier in the cave and saw Li Zhouyi. From the first glance, Stone Pagoda recognized the thing that was created from the Inextinguishable Flame.

Fire Spirit!

A very special spirit that was born out of fire and could control all things related to its attribute.

But it was not considered a real living thing. It only had a basic consciousness. Or rather, it could be said to gain a portion of the world's consciousness and was the collective body of flame rules.

How it was created was not clear, but there was one thing for sure. As long as the Fire Spirit could be created, the ability to control fire would greatly increase.

The reason why Li Zhouyi stayed here and refused to leave was because once it was completed, he would be able to control the Inextinguishable Flame.

Qin Yu knew all this and saw what was happening in front of him now. His first thought was that he had to kill Li Zhouyi.

He had thought this and was prepared to do so. However, before he could take action, Stone Pagoda called him. Stone Pagoda spoke rapidly and told him many things. In general, he said that the Fire Spirit was born out of the flame managed by the controller, and without its consciousness it would be as good as dead and create a 'fire grief'.

He did not say what a 'fire grief' was and Qin Yu could not be bothered to ask. With the 'fire grief', he had a way to control it and make the Inextinguishable Flame become weak. After that, with the furnace to suppress it, they could cut off its relationship with its original owner.

What Qin Yu needed to do was to kill Li Zhouyi as quickly as possible while Stone Pagoda suppressed it.

If they succeeded, he would then be able to obtain this Fire Spirit created by the Inextinguishable Flame. It would be like plucking a ripe peach.

If they failed…Li Zhouyi would gain control of the Inextinguishable Flame once more and his power would drastically increase. It would be almost impossible to kill him then and they would need to escape as fast as possible.

Honestly these were not great options, but in a blink of an eye, Qin Yu made his decision.

He would wait, he was going to wait until Li Zhouyi finished the refining…he chose to take the risk!

It was not that Qin Yu was being foolish and choosing the more difficult route. It was simple reasoning - the World of Darkness had obtained the Inextinguishable Flame a long time ago but they still had to put in so much effort to create the Fire Spirit. There must be a reason.

Instinct told Qin Yu that this would be important to him too. He only used a few seconds to break the barrier and enter, and he did not have the time to weigh the pros and cons. He could only use his instinct to make a decision.

Moreover, the creation was about to be complete!

"Stone Pagoda!"

Qin Yu growled. With a subtle 'buzz', Stone Pagoda's illusion appeared in the cave above the silently burning Inextinguishable Flame.

With a wave of his sleeve, the furnace came flying out. It was like a hungry ghost and did not need any urging as it pounced.

The best outcome would be if it was like how it swallowed the Flame of Eternal Night and it could directly swallow the Inextinguishable Flame. But with a 'bom', the furnace, which had been flying towards it, got kicked like a ball and shot off in the opposite direction - if the fire had teeth, the furnace would have definitely been bitten.

Alas, when Stone Pagoda made the suggestion, he already knew that the Inextinguishable Flame would not be so easy to deal with.

Did they need one hundred thousand questions before they thoroughly understood its power? Or was this person hiding something? After thinking about it, Qin Yu stomped the floor and flew forwards.

Li Zhouyi's face was filled with shock and anger.

Just a second ago, he thought that he had moved the heavens and was able to finish the creation of the Fire Spirit.

But soon, in less than a few seconds, reality taught him a lesson. It made him understand that all things could change.

The Inextinguishable Flame was being suppressed!

An illusion of a Stone Pagoda and another unknown furnace. With just these two things, they actually managed to suppress the Inextinguishable Flame.

Back then when the West Desolate took the Inextinguishable Flame, someone of half gold standard actually had to personally take action and in the end they still suffered major injuries and died.

The royal family from the West Desolate was shocked!

Whatever the Inextinguishable Flame touched would be burnt to dust. He had been controlling the Inextinguishable Flame in his body and if he had not seen it happen for himself, he would never have believed it.

But thinking of how this was from the will of the Desolate King, everything seemed to have a reasonable explanation. After all, he was the Ruler of the West Desolate and someone the entire Desolate Region had to pay respects to.

No!

I cannot give up!

With how horrifying the Inextinguishable Flame was, it would not be suppressed for long. He could not lose his puppet body before that.

More importantly, it was not that he had nothing left to count on!

"Ah!"

Li Zhouyi bellowed and endless darkness flowed out from within his body. It was abundant and did not stop as if he was in a perilous situation. Layer by layer it covered and shielded him the inside.

In the next moment, Qin Yu arrived!

Dong -

A loud and heavy but suppressed sound could be heard. It was as if a huge stone had fallen on a thick stack of leather. The layers of darkness vibrated as an incredible force hit them, causing a dent and the two sides distorted.

Qin Yu frowned slightly; this power of darkness was like a swamp. After he punched it, the power was spread out.

As the energy dissipated, the dent healed and returned back to its original state…this Highness was not easy to kill.

His eyes glanced into the layers of darkness. In it, Li Zhouyi was sitting down; he was in a weak state and would not be able to defend against Qin Yu's attack. The only thing he could do was to try his best to control the Inextinguishable Flame and help it break through in the shortest time possible!

"Master, there is not much time. You have to hurry!" Stone Pagoda's anxious voice could be heard.

It looked like he was under pressure.

Buzz -

Buzz -

This was the furnace rushing him!

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yu activated the innate spirit energy within him. His eyes became sinister.

If one punch was not enough, then he would do ten. If ten was not enough, then a hundred! He was going to see how long this darkness shell could withstand it.

Bom -

The second punch was thrown. The dent which had not yet been fully repaired sunk deeper and the distortion was more exaggerated. Then the third punch, the fourth punch, the fifth punch…

Dong -

Dong -

Dong -

The low hitting sound resembled thunder. One sound after another, it did not stop.

Under Qin Yu's crazy attacks, the darkness protective layers were like an ocean during an earthquake. They kept shaking.

Li Zhouyi, who had closed his eyes to control the Inextinguishable Flame, suddenly opened his eyes. As he saw Qin Yu's rapid punches and how he did not seem to be stopping, his face was filled with disbelief.

Such a strong and explosive energy. It was still normal for three to five times. But to do it over ten times was very difficult. Yet now, Qin Yu's punches were not stopping and he had thrown over ten punches in such a short time. Moreover, the power in each was not decreasing.

No, not only did it not weaken, as time passed, it grew stronger with every punch. It was as if Qin Yu was adapting how much power he was releasing as time passed!

Impossible, this was impossible! Even the cultivator with the strongest physique in the Desolate Army would not be able to maintain such fast and power punches. Even if they had enough power, their physical body would not be able to stand emitting continuous bursts of power.

Under normal circumstances, tens of punches would not be able to break the darkness protection and Qin Yu's bones should be broken instead! But it was obvious he was not showing any signs of injury and it looked like he would have no problem throwing tens of punches more.

The darkness protection ultimately also had a limit, and Li Zhouyi could sense that it could not hold on for longer.

A bitter mocking look appeared on his face. To try and control him, the Desolate King was putting in so much effort. He actually found such a horrifying killing machine.

So what if he was indignant?

In the next moment, after shaking violently, the darkness protection suddenly stilled as its layers started to vanish.

Bom -

The last punch landed on Li Zhouyi's chest. He stared directly at Qin Yu as if to memorize his entire being.

His whole body then exploded and the ball of black energy dispersed.

Pa -

In the moment that Li Zhouyi was killed, Stone Pagoda's illusion broke. The fragment started to disappear and the Spirit Array dropped from within.

"Master, I have to recuperate for the time being…" A weak voice could be heard but disappeared before completing its sentence. In the next moment, swallowing power appeared and grabbed the Spirit Array ball. Without giving any time to react, it was pulled into the Inextinguishable Flame.

Qin Yu's expression faltered. He put in so much effort to kill Li Zhouyi and he was about to get this ball of Inextinguishable Flame. He did not wish for any problems.

Frowning slightly, his eyes locked onto this ball of Inextinguishable Fire…in the next moment, it was as if it gave up resisting and was sucked in by the furnace.

The furnace shuddered as little lights appeared and very soon glowed brightly and then it ended. The feeling that it gave was like it was just charged but all the battery was used up in an instant…it was not enough!

Moreover, why was the Spirit Array taken into the Inextinguishable Flame?

Closing his eyes, Qin Yu communicated with the furnace. After a few moments, he opened his eyes. He looked happy with a hint of strangeness.

He was happy because the furnace had successfully absorbed the Inextinguishable Flame and had a vague sense. Although it was not super clear, it was sufficient for Qin Yu, who was able to teleport using the Eyes of Darkness. He would be able to find when the Inextinguishable Flame really was sooner or later.

As for the strange look…the Spirit Array had actually merged with the Fire Spirit. Or rather, it became the consciousness that was created, forming the new Fire Spirit!