Refining the Mountains and Rivers

There were some white elements on the armor the son wore and there was a murderous feeling from the sadness.

The sons of the Ye Family were all in the army and the summoning ceremony today was to awaken the heroic spirit of their fellow family member, Ye Qin.

As such, everyone in the family wore their armor as a representation of their respect for him.

The family members walked in two rows with seven or eight people on each side. In the middle, the person who led the group was an old man.

His face was covered with wrinkles and his hair was white. He looked like a dried up skeleton whose bones carried a pungent, rotting smell.

However, his eyes were clear and bright. Divine light reflected off of them and gave a feeling of wonder.

It felt like a simple action from him could shake up mountains and crush obstacles before him.

The Old Family Head of the Ye Family!

This was the guy Li Zhouyi was referring to. He was the terrifying cultivator whose power and age were unknown. He was also rumored to be in the King realm.

He was the pillar of the Ye Family.

However, Qin Yu's attention was on the middle-aged man behind the Family Head.

This man was half a step behind the Family Head. However, his body was upright and he looked alert. He was not affected by the aura from the Family Head.

Compared to the strange, rotting Family Head, this person seemed to be much stronger.

He was burning with a supreme aura!

He felt like a fierce tiger who dominated a mountain.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man felt someone staring at him. He whipped around and his gaze swept past Qin Yu.

Qin Yu instantly felt as though he was locked on to as prey.

The gaze was as sharp as needles. Qin Yu quickly looked down and he could not help the tears that spilled out from his eyes.

Although the gaze did not linger for long, Qin Yu could feel the ice cold killing intent.

This killing intent had given him immense pressure!

Li Zhouyi's voice sounded troubled as he said, "Ye Bohu!"

The Later Ye Family had a long history. There was a place where they discussed important matters that only those who were privileged enough could attend.

It was called the Secret Military Office.

However, after Ye Bohu became the Family Head and started to oversee the Later Ye Family, he changed the name to 'Bohu Hall'.

No one opposed that.

This was enough to show how much power and influence Ye Bohu had in the family.

Now, he was also at the Ye Family's (the Old Ye Family) Spirit Summoning Ceremony for Ye Qin.

One could only hear the sound of breathing as everyone stared wide-eyed at the Ye Family.

The two mountains in the military did not fight each other head on and they appeared harmonious on the surface. However, they secretly schemed against each other.

This was a scene that many were used to.

However, Ye Bohu actually stood beside the old man from the Ye Family. The implication of this made all of them nervous.

"Greetings to Old Family Head…greetings to Grand Marshal!"

Everyone bowed.

Old Family Head waved his hand dismissively and said, "Rise."

His voice was calm and he appeared unbothered by the state of affairs today. As the Ye Family controlled much of the military, many of their disciples and sons had died on duty. He was used to this farewell.

His steady heart would not be disturbed by this.

"Let the ceremony begin!"

He was straightforward and to the point.

He displayed the authority that military men had.

Against the shock and nervousness from the crowd, the Old Family Head paid no attention to them and did not give any explanation.

This powerful military man of the empire was almost a god in the eyes of the army. He showed his strong will.

He did not need to explain!

Ye Bohu was here and that was it.

You guys have seen it and that's all.

So what?

This unyielding attitude coupled with the appearance of Ye Bohu here showed that the two mountains in the military were aligned…

Now, the only entity that could shake them was the Imperial Palace.

Was the military expected to hide and conceal the dissatisfaction they had?

A gust of wind swept up the calm state in the capital!

At that moment, everyone felt the strong suppression and uneasiness in their hearts.

The military had always been a strong powerhouse and the Desolate King was about to step down. If the two of the clashed and something went wrong, the entire empire would be thrown into chaos. Undeniably, this was something no one wanted to see happen.

Li Zhouyi broke out into cold sweat. He never expected that the military would be so against this.

Once again, he felt as though he was pushed into a boiling pot.

If the Darkness Ruler was crushed from this, there was no way he would be able to show himself in public again.

Dragged into the mess, he was putting himself directly on the opposite side of the military…without the support from the military, he would never have a chance to sit on the throne.

At that point, Qin Yu was calming himself down after the brief shock.

He could guess the reason why Ye Bohu was here: he wanted to witness the death of the murderer of his son personally.

Qin Yu did not know if this was because that lady 'Rourou' exposed something about him or there was another reason.

But this was not important.

What was important was that his intuition was right. This was a deciding moment for him.

His eyes scanned the crowd. The Old Ye Family men wore a heavy expression and they started the Spirit Summoning Ceremony.

According to Li Zhouyi, this was a solemn and serious ceremony. No disturbances were allowed.

As such, Qin Yu did not know what trick the other party would come up with.

After all, it was barbarian ascetics who killed Ye Wangu. Without any evidence, Ye Bohu would not take action against him in front of the public.

Ever since Qin Yu became the Barbarian King, his memories about the Barbarian Clan became much clearer.

When he saw the altar built by the Ye Family, he quickly noticed some artifacts that had links to the Barbarian Clan.

Qin Yu was at a loss for words.

Summoning the heroic spirit into the empire's souls used slogans from the Barbarian Clan.

This was a joke!

Somehow, the military of the empire learned some methods of the Barbarian Clan. Was this just something they had learned or were they hiding something else?

Qin Yu did not know the answer to that, but he quickly moved on to another knot in his heart that was troubling him. How were they going to take action?

Whoosh whoosh -

Chilling winds blew through the area and the temperature there immediately dropped. The sky darkened as light rays were hidden by dark clouds.

A misty layer covered the altar and it started to jerk violently like a simmering pot of hot water.

The priest who conducted the Spirit Summoning Ceremony started to chant even louder and the markings carved on the altar glowed brilliantly.

Finally, a blurry shadow rose from the layer of mist. There seemed to be an energy that bound it and stopped it from moving, preventing it from blending back into the mist.

The energy that summoned it was slowly pulling it out.

Finally, the shadow was fully separated from the mist. It flew towards the altar.

Although its features were not clear, one could make out that this was the dead Ye Qin.

Right at that moment, the shadow of Ye Qin let out a shrill shriek. Black-colored chains appeared on his body.

They were binding him so tightly they were about to tear him apart!

"Hmmph!"

Ye Bohu suddenly stood up. He threw a silent punch outwards that burst without any fluctuations of energy. However, the black chains around Ye Qin's shadow broke into pieces as though a powerful force hit them.

Power from the Barbarian Clan!

However, he covered the power up well and it was hard to notice it.

Shoosh -

Once Ye Qin's shadow broke free from the black chains, its eyes flung open. Its eyes were filled with pain and it started to roar.

Qin Yu's heart clenched and he could not help feeling uneasy.

"Kill…kill you…kill you…" These words could vaguely be made out from the roars. They were filled with hatred and anger.

Ye Qin's shadow bared its teeth and it glared at Qin Yu. It was trying to flee from the altar.

There was a flash in the eyes of the Eldest Princess.

Dead silence filled the area.

At that moment, all eyes were on Qin Yu.

There was absolute shock and it felt like they were all looking at a cold corpse.

Heroic spirits were immortal and if they preserved some will, they would have senses.

However, this required that the will was strong enough and that the two parties were close together.

One such example was a revenge for murder!

Looking at the strong reaction from Ye Qin on the altar, everyone had the same thoughts. His death was related to Qin Yu.

The scene before their eyes was the greatest evidence!

So this was their plan.

Qin Yu did not know what they did to alter Ye Qin's will and make him pinpoint the culprit.

Yet, Qin Yu was truly the one who killed him.

This could not be considered as him being framed.

Despite that, Qin Yu's face flushed with surprise and his wide eyes revealed his panic and disbelief.

At the same time, he quickly thought of ways to save himself.

"Take him down!"

One of the generals from the Ye Family shouted and killing intent surged from his body.

Shoosh -

Shoosh -

Sharp sounds split the air and numerous men clad in armor closed down on him.

Qin Yu cried loudly, "This is not true. It is a trap!"

He retreated backwards continuously but did not resist the men.

If the Ye Family really wanted to kill him straight away, Qin Yu would not stay idle.

He was only putting on a front now and waiting for someone to stop the commotion.

In fact, Qin Yu knew that the Ye Family was right. They had indeed found the real murderer of Ye Qin.

However, these people did not know that they had overcomplicated matters.

The more they overcomplicated things, the more Qin Yu had a chance of explaining.

No one wanted to be the weapon for another person. This was especially so if the weapon was already bloodied.

Did they really think that they would not have to suffer any consequences after opposing the Desolate King? After all, the one who held power in the West Desolate was still the side branch of the Imperial Clan, the Zhou Family.

"Stop it!" The Old Family Head calmly commanded.

His voice was not loud but it carried authority. The people that were chasing after Qin Yu immediately grunted and dropped to the ground.

In between his white eyebrows, the Old Family Head's eyes were calm, "Who are you?"

Qin Yu replied, "I am Ning Qin. I was with General Ye Qin's team in the Western Barbarian Land."

Old Family Head frowned, "Were you present when Ye Qin died?"

Beads of sweat dotted Qin Yu's forehead and he answered, "Yes."

Old Family Head said, "The Ye Family requires an explanation." He lifted a finger, "Are you willing to accept the Heroic Spirit Possession Test?"

Qin Yu did not know what that was, but he knew that he could not hesitate with his answer if he wanted to pass the test.

As such, he said, "I am willing!"

The Old Family Head's eyes flickered and he dotted his finger in the air. There was a 'crack' sound as though something broke.

Ye Qin's shadow that was bound to the altar suddenly pounced forward with a cry. It entered Qin Yu's body like it was possessing him.

With that, Qin Yu understood why it was called the Heroic Spirit Possession Test.

Simply put - a ghost took over the body!

If you killed someone and ended up being tangled with their ghost, your outcome would not be good.