Refining the Mountains and Rivers

That bone-deep hatred. Even if the world was wiped out, it could not be wiped away…damn them. They should all die and not leave a single mark.

Qin Yu's consciousness was struggling amidst the murderous intent. At this moment, there was a slight doubt. He had met numerous enemies in his life but had never had such a strong, uncontrollable murderous intent for any of them.

On the opposite side, in the Vast Brightness' shadow, the World of Darkness. The Mysterious Clan were gathering all their strength in Bounded Zero Place. The outside world had never heard news about them.

Qin Yu was sure that before they met in Bounded Zero Place, they had never crossed paths. Their first clash was when they argued at the entrance. It was not possible that he would develop such an intense hatred towards them from that.

What was the reason?

Qin Yu could not be bothered to think further as the doubt he felt became covered by the murderous intent. With a growl, his eyes turned red as he dashed towards the two cultivators from the Mysterious Clan who were escaping.

"Hurry, let's ask for help!"

One of them shrieked. He could sense the murderous intent from Qin Yu and developed an intense fear.

Ever since he arrived at the southwest fragmented area, in order to investigate Bounded Zero Place, he had experienced numerous deaths…but it was the first time he felt this kind of fear.

The light arrow shot into the air and burst into fireworks. The signal to call for help from his clan had been sent. He would soon have backup.

But they may not have time to wait for backup.

Dong -

An explosive sound could be heard as Qin Yu punched the cultivator from the Mysterious Clan. His eyes bulged out as the veins in his eyes burst. Fresh blood flowed from the corners of his eyes. As he flipped in circles in the air, he broke into fragments.

Beads of blood flew out and gathered. Under normal circumstances, cultivators from the Mysterious Clan possessed bodies that could not die. After they 'died', their blood would coagulate before being brought away through the energy from a treasure in the Mysterious Clan.

However, after the blood coagulated from the person who had just died, it broke down as if it had been heated at a high temperature and turned into vapor.

A distorted face appeared in the blood cloud. It was the cultivator from the Mysterious Clan who had been killed. He stared at Qin Yu with absolute fear. With a 'pa' sound, the face broke and disappeared with the blood cloud. The remaining half of the blood was transported into the distance.

"That's impossible! Impossible. There is no way for you to actually kill people from my clan…" The other cultivator from the Mysterious Clan was in disbelief.

It was fine if he did not believe it, because Qin Yu was about to send him to accompany his clanmate. He would experience it personally.

The murderous intent had overwhelmed his conscious. Murderous Qin Yu emitted a greater power than when he was clear-headed. It was as if he had lost control.

When he attacked, he did not hold back at all. With the power he was using, killing was easy.

After another explosive sound, the surviving cultivator followed the same path as his fellow clanmate. Only a small portion of their blood got transported away while the rest evaporated as vapor.

The color of blood in Qin Yu's eyes faded as the movement in his chest reduced. His heavy breathing grew calmer. After he killed two of the cultivators from the Mysterious Clan, that intense murderous intent disappeared as if it never occurred.

However, the scent of blood in the air had yet to fade away…Qin Yu immediately stopped breathing and his face was solemn.

He turned to leave. The fight would have attracted other beasts. Qin Yu did not hesitate as he dashed off the small world fragment. This time, he did not use the power of the Eyes of Darkness to guide him. He allowed the turbulent space to bring him away and he disappeared.

At this moment when he could be followed by others wanting to kill him, not having a direction was the best choice.

Even Qin Yu did not know where he would end up, hence no one else would be able to estimate his location.

Amidst the vibration, he frowned deeply as he was unsettled…there was an issue. There was something between him and the Mysterious Clan. Or rather, it was something that he did not know but it was definitely an unerasable animosity!

Who…who are they…how can I not know my own enemies…what exactly happened?

Woosh -

The turbulent space opened and dumped Qin Yu out. The teleportation had ended.

Hmm? There was someone!

……

Alarm bells were ringing and echoing through the palace. The people gathered there looked shocked and angry.

The reason was simple. Two of their clan members had been killed in Bounded Zero Place. Although these kinds of things did not happen often, it was possible given that they were going through all corners of Bounded Zero Place in their search.

But this time, it was different. More than half of the life source of the two clan members had dissipated and they were still trying to be rescued.

They had yet to awaken and the others did not know what happened. All they knew was that the two who died had sent a signal for help.

After learning that the Inextinguishable Flame was in Bounded Zero Place, the entire clan had made a move and spared no efforts in the search. Then all of a sudden, something like this happened. With no warning, this made the higher levels of the Mysterious Clan startled.

The alarm bells had stopped but the expressions of those in the palace did not soften at all. Instead, they became even darker.

The Rites Master had been working for a while. The revival was usually a very simple thing, but the longer they took, the more obvious it was that it was going to be difficult.

Finally, footsteps could be heard. The Rites Master looked solemn as he walked out. He nodded towards everyone, "The life source of the two cultivators suffered too much damage. They will be placed in the life spring to recuperate. We still do not know what happened."

There was sorrow on everyone's faces. The life spring could save them by slowly adding to their life source and allowing them to be reborn. When they awakened, they would still be themselves, but also different people.

The Rites Master looked at the people in the palace. He paused for a while before continuing, "Additionally, to ensure that these two members can be revived, the power of the secret treasure has been greatly reduced. We cannot allow something like this to happen again. We have to quickly understand what happened and find out who hurt them."

"Yes, Rites Master!" Everyone bowed. As the only person in the clan who could communicate with the secret treasure - the critical thing that allowed the clan members to be 'immortal' - he was highly respected even though he was not the strongest.

Their clan leader had yet to arrive and was just present as an illusion now. He thought for a while, "Rites Master, the only people who can truly hurt our clan are those from the same blood. Many years ago, I once sensed an aura belonging to our clan…however, there are no records of this person in our books."

The palace was silent.

Everyone frowned and seemed to be thinking. With regards to what happened back then, many of those who personally experienced the thing were now in the life spring. Very few members knew about it now.

Most of them only heard things as they spread as unspeakable rumors. No one dared to speak about it openly.

Almost all the clan's strongest members were gathered in the palace today. Something was not right as their clan leader asked the Rites Master about the incident all those years back.

Unexpectedly, the Rites Master's expression was calm as he listened to the clan leader's question in front of everyone, not seeming to find it inappropriate.

He paused for a while before speaking slowly, "Ever since our clan was created, the numbers in our clan were decided by heaven. We will not decrease or increase. Back then, the incident was a one off and it was something that we could not have predicted. Even the Great Desolate's will would never have expected it. In order to protect our clan's future and not allow change to throw us into turmoil, we took back the bloodline and wiped out all traces…so Clan Leader, the thing you are worried about will never happen."

Through the illusion, the Clan Leader looked at the Rites Master and bowed slightly, "I hope things are as you say." He turned and disappeared.

Everyone bowed, "We will be leaving."

They all left and very soon, only the Rites Master was left in the palace. He lowered his eyelids and slowly closed his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking right now.

The one in a million was also this clan's evil portent and would cause this clan to die out.

This was the warning given by the Great Desolate's will and it could not be wrong. Hence, everything he did was for this clan.

After a long time, the Rites Maser lifted his head. His bright and intelligent eyes became slightly vacant. Could it be that he was reborn?

……

If he could not understand it, he would not think about it for the time being. Otherwise it would just waste his energy and have no use.

Qin Yu knew this logic very well. But this time, it was very difficult to suppress the thoughts within him. He had to try very hard before he could do it.

This had nothing to do with the strength of his will or how determined he was…he could describe it as an indescribable instinct creating trouble.

Qin Yu was sure that in the coming future, he would find himself tangled with the Mysterious Clan in Bounded Zero Place.

It was either he would be killed or he had to kill them!

As long as he had enough power, killing was easy. And a clan was just made up of more people. If he was willing to spend some time and energy, he would soon kill them all without a problem.

Even though Qin Yu did not like to kill, he had already grown used to it. Hence, when it came to killing, he did not feel scared or find it hard to accept.

What he felt strongly now was that he had to find out what his relationship with the Mysterious Clan was.

Before Qin Yu understood how he had turned into the mortal enemy of an extremely strong clan, Stone Pagoda decided to tell him a secret that he had been keeping.

It was because Stone Pagoda had decided that he did not need any other reason. It had been proven that Qin Yu was his best partner. The difference was that he knew why he wanted to take revenge while Qin Yu was still stuck in a phase when he was not able to find a reason.

"Master, back then, the ones who destroyed my homeland, killed everyone around me, and sealed me in eternal darkness were the Mysterious Clan."

Since he was going to say it, he would not hold back. Using short simple sentences, Stone Pagoda explained everything.