Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Qin Yu wanted to find Dragini before coming to the East Sea because he thought this might make it more convenient and avoid unnecessary trouble. However, it ended up becoming even more troublesome.

And when Qin Yu thought about Dragini's change in attitude and the way she smiled slyly, he could not help but burn with anger.

Thankfully, this journey to the East Sea was rather smooth. That old dragon had been very helpful, explaining things related to the Great Dao very clearly to him.

The waves roared violently in the jade-colored sea. Qin Yu knitted his eyebrows together and stepped into the Outer Void, using the waves to propel him forward. His eyes were full of uncertainty.

Putting together what the Dragon Saint and what elder apprentice brother told him, Qin Yu could pretty much confirm the guesses that he had.

He was clear on the risks now, and as for the success rate of reforming his Great Dao again…it could only be said that it was not going to be an easy task to complete.

A shadow of the world's Great Dao…going against the heavens' will…just these two points alone was enough to feel as if the whole world was pressing down on one's shoulders. It was suffocating.

Suddenly, Qin Yu stopped in his tracks. He pinched the space between his eyebrows and took a look at the sea all around him. He smiled mockingly at himself.

In the end, he was indeed nervous. The overthinking made him distracted. That old dragon had already reminded him that even though the Dragon Saint was worried that he had become involved in the matter, he owed him a favor after all. There was no point in staying here anymore.

Taking a deep breath, Qin Yu swept his arm in a chopping motion. The space in front of him vibrated and split open, and he stepped beyond it.

Regarding the world's Great Dao, like the Dragon Saint had told him, it was not safe to keep thinking about it right now. If he really wanted to deliberate over the matter, he would first need to find a safe and hidden location.

The Peach Garden was not an option for him to return to now. If anything happened, all the other apprentices would be strung along…thankfully, Qin Yu had yet another identity now. In fact, going to that place would mean that he could do more things freely. It would also be more safe.

Just a moment ago, he was in the East Sea. After taking a step forward, he entered a pitch-black space.

The Outer Void!

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows, looking slightly shocked as he raised his head to look forward. He was close to the East Sea small world, and it was not a place where one would usually find Void Creatures. He did not think that he would be so lucky to bump into one right as he stepped into the Outer Void.

Hm? Wait a minute.

Qin Yu had interacted with Void Creatures before - he had even killed a few of them - so he had some understanding of these creatures. For example, they cruised along the eternal darkness of the Outer Void, so a part of their bodies contained primal chaos.

Perhaps Qin Yu could make use of this. After all, logically speaking, if the heavens had a will, it would most certainly be concentrated on the small worlds. It was probably not applicable to the creatures in the Outer Void.

Previously, Qin Yu wanted to go to the World of Darkness. Now, he had a new idea once again. He flew straight towards the Void Creature.

When he got close to it, he could make out the creature's appearance. It looked like an octopus that one could find in the deep sea, with endless tentacles that swept through the dark to propel itself forwards at high speed.

In order to judge how powerful a Void Creature was, looking at its size was a very good indicator. This creature in front of Qin Yu now was much stronger than the ones he had killed before.

Logically speaking, the larger a Void Creature was, the more it liked to lurk in the deepest corners of the Outer Void. Qin Yu was unsure why this creature had come to this location that was close to the East Sea small world.

But it did not matter. Judging by this situation, the stronger a Void Creature was, the more useful it would be to him.

It seemed to have sensed the remnant auras of the Void Creatures on Qin Yu from before he killed them, and with an angry bellow, the octopus-like creature opened its wide mouth and swallowed viciously.

Its strong swallowing power exploded, trapping Qin Yu within. At the same time, a few thick tentacles shot towards him.

Unexpectedly, this strong cultivator did not retaliate at all; he just allowed himself to be swallowed by the creature. This caused the tentacles to go limp, and the creature hesitated for a while. However, it had already consumed the human…after a few moments, this huge Void Creature quietly slid away to a deep corner of the Outer Void.

At this moment, in the octopus-like creature's stomach, Qin Yu looked around and could not hide his shock. It was not enough to describe what he was seeing as 'amazing'. It was completely unbelievable. There were many different things in front of him right now.

To think that the inside of a Void Creature's body would be almost like a world of its own. Of course, this 'world' was in a state of chaos.

But the overall structure had already been formed!

Even so, for this process to successfully evolve and eventually create a one-dimensional world, it was an incredibly difficult process.

This Void Creature was incredibly strong, but compared to Qin Yu, there was quite a big difference in terms of power.

At this moment, Qin Yu's eyebrows furrowed once again as he thought about a possibility…the overall structure of the world had already been formed, and what it lacked now was power. Could this mean that somewhere in this endless Outer Void, there would really be a creature that was immeasurably stronger than this one?

If there was really such an existence, then with its power, it was totally possible that this creature could sustain the evolution of a world within its body and past a certain boundary, a true world would be created!

Very early on when Qin Yu first interacted with the Outer Void, he already had some ideas. For example, he wondered how the small worlds in the Vast Brightness had been created.

Of course, there were always legends about how there was a higher being that created all the living creatures in the world. It could be real or it could be fake, but in all of history, there had been no one who had come close to ever communicating with this 'higher being'.

As for the Vast Brightness…it was undergoing never-ending changes. More accurately, the size of the small worlds had been gradually decreasing, but their number had been increasing.

Maybe there was really a higher being who had been creating all these small worlds, or…to begin with, there were countless worlds being nurtured bit by bit, waiting for that day when they would finally be condensed into actual small worlds.

Void Creatures…it was plausible that they were the source of small worlds!

This was an unbelievable theory, but if it was indeed true, then perhaps there were more secrets to be discovered in this Outer Void compared to what people had thought.

Taking a deep breath in order to suppress his anxiety, Qin Yu used his willpower to enter a calm state.

This huge secret was not one that could be cracked in a day or a night, but it would be better to remain composed for now. Matters had to be ranked in terms of importance.

Of course Qin Yu was dying to know how the world came about, but it was not a pressing matter for now. One thing was for sure though, he was not willing to see himself get swallowed to death.

Qin Yu realized that he was in a better position than he thought. In this Void Creature, there was already an outline of the world it was creating. It was at a peak state of disorder which made the surrounding aura extremely chaotic.

Chaotic energy also had a strong digesting power, which was why the Void Creature was confident enough to swallow Qin Yu directly.

Normal cultivators would have been crushed alive in half an hour if they were swallowed by this Void Creature. However, with Qin Yu's cultivation level, naturally this would not happen to him. It was not a very dangerous situation for him.

"Stone Pagoda!"

A ball of light suddenly erupted from the corner of his eye.

That's right, there was a shadow of the world's Great Dao in his own Great Dao. After learning about this, the first thing that Qin Yu thought of was this Stone Pagoda who had a great appetite.

Back then, Qin Yu had seen his terrifyingly strong swallowing power for himself.

Weng -

The Stone Pagoda's illusion appeared and turned in a circle, observing the situation in the Void Creature's body. He was full of praise as he said, "There is actually a developing one-dimensional world in a Void Creature's body. Only Master is brave enough to be swallowed by it in order to discover this secret.

"Tsk, tsk, the secret of how the universe was created most probably lies here. Following you has indeed allowed me to broaden my knowledge!"

After hearing all sorts of compliments coming from Stone Pagoda, but not a word about getting things done, Qin Yu could not help but smile. The more he showed that he was unwilling meant that…Stone Pagoda was indeed able to swallow this Void Creature!

Otherwise, he would just be straightforward and tell Qin Yu that he was unable to do so, instead of beating around the bush.

"Alright, stop kissing my ass, there's lots of time for that in the future. It's not a hundred percent safe here, so let's talk about the important stuff."

Being seen through by Qin Yu pushed him into a corner; there was no way that he could deflect anymore. Furthermore, Qin Yu's sarcastic smile was full of menace. It was obviously saying, 'If you continue to play dumb, I will not be polite anymore!'

Laughing bitterly, Stone Pagoda lamented, "Of course I understand what you mean, Master. However, this involves the world's Great Dao. Even if I had all the guts in the world, I would not dare to swallow. The success rate is also very low, and even if I did succeed, you know what the consequences are if I eat indiscriminately. I still want to follow you around and help you carry out your plots, not get struck by the heavens' lightning."

He paused for a while and glanced sideways at Qin Yu before continuing, "Furthermore, my aura is now one with yours. It is inseparable now, and if I were to be unlucky and die from the heavens' lightning, I would be okay with dying alone. However, if I had to make you go through this trial with me, it would be unacceptable!"

Qin Yu's lips twitched, and could not help but think that Stone Pagoda was getting better and better with words. Though, he had to admit that Stone Pagoda was right. If he acted rashly and forced Stone Pagoda to swallow the Great Dao Spirit, it would perhaps be possible to do so, but the consequences of this action would not be easy to handle.

Cough…Qin Yu suddenly thought of something. He had another powerful secret item, which was the little blue lamp, who had been lying low.

Strangely, it had entered a state of complete silence. However, its connection with Qin Yu was still there.

That brat seemed to have an issue with this world, which Qin Yu had seen for himself when he was small and weak.

Something disturbing like that had not happened again since then, firstly because Qin Yu's cultivation level had increased at a shocking speed and he was able to conceal his aura while doing so. Secondly, the little blue lamp never interfered in Qin Yu's matters. Otherwise, it would have meant that a huge accident had happened to him!

If Stone Pagoda's swallowing really attracted the heavens' punishments, it would cause Qin Yu to be implicated. He would not be able to guarantee that he could conceal the little blue lamp's existence. Just this thought alone frightened Qin Yu, causing beads of sweat to form on his forehead.

Cultivators had the aptitude to sense danger. The higher one's cultivation level was, the more sensitive one would be to danger. As for emotions like hopelessness and fear, Qin Yu had not felt them for a long time. It was understandable, because for him to feel these emotions would mean that he had fallen into a very perilous situation with virtually no chance of escape.

He took a deep breath and tried to calm his furiously beating heart down. He realized that he had been deeply affected by the Great Dao's Spirit; it caused him to be more emotional and thus more rash. His thinking process was also affected; he could not believe that he had not thought about all the possible outcomes.

Thankfully, Stone Pagoda was afraid of death and reminded Qin Yu. If he was like Eye of Eternal Night, who was a loyal and stupid servant, he would have instantly listened to Qin Yu's orders and acted accordingly…damn, that would have caused him lots of trouble!

Sensing the shift in Qin Yu's emotions, Stone Pagoda started to calm down as well. He was afraid that his master would really dare to do anything.

The world's Great Dao, and the Great Dao's Spirit, was not something that could be easily touched. No, more accurately, even having such thoughts was outrageous.

Did you really think that throughout history, True Saints had not thought of this? Yet, no one tried to act on those thoughts until today. Naturally, it was because they were afraid.

The stronger someone was, the more they could clearly understand how small and insignificant they were in comparison to this vast universe. Qin Yu, on the other hand, was like a fire arrow. He was strong and full of tricks, which was why he was full of himself but had a weak heart.

Thankfully, Stone Pagoda's reminder had helped him come to see the truth…sigh, as expected, when it comes to such huge matters, you still need old and experienced people like me who are able to see the big picture and consider all factors. If we only relied on Qin Yu, we would have encountered a huge problem!

Qin Yu knitted his eyebrows and laughed bitterly once again. He knew that the problem existed, and he managed to find a solution, yet he was at a stage where he did not dare to make a move. Was he really going to let his own Great Dao become like a poisonous snake that bit him back and swallowed him whole?

This was such a suffocating and helpless situation that he was in!

Stone Pagoda thought for a few moments before coughing lightly and suggesting, "Master, the Great Dao is stable. There have been no problems so far, and it's not always good to listen to what it says. Furthermore, to begin with, you are on a different path than others. What if this Great Dao is different too?"

What Stone Pagoda said was obscure, but there was a deep meaning behind it.