Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A long time ago, Qin Yu already knew that Stone Pagoda was hiding a big secret. He also guessed that the reason why Stone Pagoda was willing to submit to him and help him develop was to use his power in the future to fulfill his own goal.

It was very normal and Qin Yu was not thrown off. He had also mentally prepared himself to agree as long as it was within his power.

After all, his abilities as an encyclopedia were very useful to Qin Yu and had helped him quite a bit.

But Qin Yu never expected that Stone Pagoda's enemy was the Mysterious Clan, which he had just labeled as enemies.

But strictly speaking, this was a good thing. If they both had a common enemy, they would work together and Qin Yu would save a lot of trouble. So he rubbed his brows and asked, "Could you explain a little clearer?"

When it came to gossip, Qin Yu admitted, as a human, he was naturally curious. But at this moment, he was not in the mood. The reason why he asked this was very simple. He wanted to learn more about the Mysterious Clan through Stone Pagoda's story.

Knowing yourself and the enemy will help win battles. Since he already knew that they would be his mortal enemy, he wanted to try and understand them and prepare. This was absolutely necessary - if you wanted to live.

Stone Pagoda said, "Of course. Even if you did not ask, I would tell you everything for you to be prepared."

Pausing for a moment, he seemed to be trying to remember what happened a long time ago. That memory he did not want to recall, "A long time ago, in the Vast Brightness World, there used to be a cultivation holy land called White Pagoda…"

When he spoke about White Pagoda, Stone Pagoda suddenly said a lot and sounded like a naggy old person. When he spoke about the past, he had endless things to say.

Qin Yu did not cut him off but remained quiet as he listened for a long time.

In summary:

In the past, there was a holy land called White Pagoda in the Vast Brightness World. They were very powerful, even more than the Peach Garden and Western Mountain's abilities now.

Then one day, they were suddenly attacked by a group of mysterious and strong cultivators.

At the end of the war, the White Pagoda holy land was completely devastated and those mysterious cultivators then summoned darkness to cover everything.

White Pagoda became history. There was only one pagoda left, as timid as a mouse, trying his best to suppress his aura and managing to survive using a strong concealment method.

But through Stone Pagoda's bitter tone, as well as the emotions in his voice, Qin Yu could tell that he had simplified how he managed to survive.

But that was more or less how the story went. Without going too much into detail, Stone Pagoda definitely had his own troubles; there was no need to rub the wound.

It was obvious. The strong and terrifying cultivators who attacked back then were known as the Mysterious Clan today.

There was not much useful information, but it was not like he did not get anything from it. For example, why did the Mysterious Clan suddenly attack the White Pagoda holy land?

Qin Yu had this question. According to Stone Pagoda, they merely killed everyone but did not take anything.

Instinct told Qin Yu that there was a problem!

"Master, it seems like you have found the reason why the Mysterious Clan attacked. For a long time, I could not understand. But after coming to Bounded Zero Place and realizing that the Mysterious Clan had always been positioned opposite to the World of Darkness, I suddenly have a guess…" Stone Pagoda paused as his voice deepened, "Bounded Zero Place is where a Ruler died. Ninety-nine percent of the cultivators that risk their lives to enter all do so in search of items left behind by the Ruler. After they get an opportunity, they will attempt to fill the position of Ruler in the Vast Brightness World. It can't be because of the scenery here that the Mysterious Clan and the World of Darkness would spend so much energy and time.

"A long, long time ago, the leader of White Pagoda holy land was widely known as a Saint who was high above all others. None of his enemies could match up to him. He was the most likely to break through the barrier and become a Ruler. At that time, there were even rumors that he would transcend to the next realm and become a Ruler within a thousand years…perhaps it was because he was too powerful and hence disaster befell him."

Qin Yu's eyes lit up, "So you are saying that the Mysterious Clan was aiming for the Ruler's position and the reason why they annihilated White Pagoda holy land was to get rid of anyone who posed a threat to their goal?"

Stone Pagoda replied, "Without sufficient evidence, I am not sure. But that is a possibility." He paused before continuing, "If it really were like this, Master, since you are also aiming for the position of Ruler, sooner or later you will clash."

This explanation was reasonable. The reason why White Pagoda holy land was destroyed could be like what Stone Pagoda said.

Mysterious Clan…World of Darkness…they were both secretive. Where did they come from and how did they get such strong powers?

According to Stone Pagoda, the leader of White Pagoda holy land possessed powers close to a Ruler. Even such a powerful person could be killed. He could imagine the Mysterious Clan's true abilities.

Moreover, considering that the Mysterious Clan acknowledged the World of Darkness and they were fighting in Bounded Zero Place, the World of Darkness obviously wasn't any weaker.

And these two powers existed almost invisibly in the Vast Brightness World. Something was not right.

Qin Yu had a feeling that maybe they did not come from the Vast Brightness World…since the Abyss existed, could there be another world outside of it?

If he thought from this position, everything could be explained. With the World of Darkness as an example, why did the number of True Saints keep changing and why was having a permanent True Saint so significant? It was obvious: there must be a huge restriction on True Saints from the outside world entering the Vast Brightness World. Or maybe, they could only stay for a short period before they were forced to leave. Maybe it was because of this that the World of Darkness was so fervent and not caring about rewards. If they helped cultivators from the Vast Brightness World complete their darkness transformation, they would become permanent Darkness True Saints and secure their position in the World of Darkness.

Additionally, both cultivators from the World of Darkness and the Mysterious Clan possess the 'immortal' ability when they were in Bounded Zero Place. It was most likely because of some special ability they had from their world.

If it were really as Qin Yu was thinking, a group of cultivators not belonging to the Vast Brightness World were trying to get the Ruler position? There must be a reason.

Qin Yu suddenly realized that he may have unintentionally come across a huge secret. The Rulers must know about this but chose to remain silent about the existence of cultivators from the World of Darkness and Mysterious Clan. It was definitely not because they enjoyed entertaining guests.

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed the intense thoughts in his mind. Qin Yu forced himself to stop guessing. These were all guesses and even if they were the truth, it did not help his situation now.

Now, the most important thing was to find a way to get the Inextinguishable Flame. Until that happened, he needed to avoid trouble.

Since the Mysterious Clan had already interfered, the World of Darkness would definitely follow suit. This meant that if nothing out of the ordinary happened, he would soon be hunted by both factions.

Just thinking about it made him feel sour yet invigorated!