Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Deep within the mine, there was a pitch black cave where a special crystal reflected a soft hue of green light.

There was a cold pair of eyes that looked extra scary in the dark.

"There is news from above. The border army has assigned a new general to take over control of the mine. We are to take action and make sure that this new general knows that the mine is not his to control."

The low voice sounded like a bubble bursting in a hot spring. Every burst released a thick scent of blood.

From his physical characteristics, this person was a man. However, under the green light, one could vaguely pick out his features. He was not a human at all.

He had three hands, two on the left and one on the right. Two heads rested on his shoulder and the bigger head was the one currently talking.

Once the big head finished speaking, the small head laughed coldly, "Those bastards up top will hand over their control nicely? It seems like this new general is quite powerful."

The other voice rang again, "Asking us to take action is using us as their weapon. Do they think we are stupid?"

The big head stared into the darkness. There was a pile of objects in the distance. He slowly said, "Make them send five hundred women down."

Slurp -

Someone gulped down their salvia in the darkness.

"They would typically bargain and protest no matter what. Since they are being so generous now, it means Small Head is right. The new general is truly strong. It might not be the right choice for us to be his enemy."

"That's right. We are rats in the basement and it was not easy for us to survive so much hardship to live till this day. We should not risk our lives so easily."

Small Head shrieked, "Why don't we leave the decision to this new general. If he can give better conditions, we will acknowledge his rule. Otherwise, he should not blame us for not giving him respect."

Big Head slowly said, "That is a good idea."

Very soon, the sinners in the darkness reached an alignment of their views.

Naturally, they had a way to deliver their opinions to the top.

In fact, these underground sinners were very efficient.

Qin Yu noticed a letter on his desk. However, he did not know where it came from.

He opened it and read the contents. The writer used a respectful tone, however, he also conveyed his tough attitude - agree to the terms and everything will be well. They would acknowledge his rule as the general and would complete their tasks on time every month.

Otherwise…hehe, everything would be turned around.

Qin Yu placed the letter down and rubbed his chin. His lips curled into a cold smirk.

It seemed like these men didn't have a grasp of the situation yet. He would need to correct them.

The mine was his to control. Regardless of the top or bottom, no one could bargain with him.

If they made trouble, they would be killed.

An hour later, the half human barbarians guarding different areas of the mine hurried to General Jinwu's residence.

They exchanged looks of confusion. They did not know what happened.

After waiting for a while, they started to get anxious. Just then, Qin Yu called them in.

"Greetings to General!"

Black Scales and Snake Lady were kneeling on the ground.

Since they had already submitted to him, they naturally acted respectfully on the surface.

"Since you are here, continue kneeling." A simple sentence made their hearts clench and their eyes quivered uneasily.

There was silence in the air. A few moments later, Black Scales sighed softly and asked, "General, what happened?"

Qin Yu stared at him, "Good question. It seems that this letter in my hands grew its own legs and ran into my room."

He held the letter in between two fingers and snapped it. There was a sharp sound as the letter flew down like a knife and wedged a hole in the ground.

Black Scales opened the letter and he quickly scanned its contents, "Outrageous! These underground sinners deserve to die. They dared to threaten you. Please give your command and punish them."

Qin Yu snickered, "Of course I will punish them. But I want to know, who gave them the idea of raising these conditions?"

There was silence.

"It is alright if you don't admit it. Women aren't ores. They can be hidden but search a little and you will get them."

"Black Scales, you were the one in charge of the mine previously. Where do you think we should start searching?"

Black Scales frowned and slowly said, "General, I believe that the underground sinners are purposely challenging…"

"So, are you saying that I should not investigate this?"

Black Scales nodded. He was about to say something but he was interrupted. "But, I have already investigated it," Qin Yu said.

Qin Yu looked over the crowd, "Before you guys came, I already gave out orders to Hundred Saint. I hope that you guys will not be too rash. If something happens to Hundred Saint, I will not be pleased."

Shoosh -

A bead of sweat appeared on Black Scales' forehead. He cursed at the underground sinners for daring to play a trick.

After this was over, let's see how he would take care of them!

'It is alright. The women are hidden in a secure manner. Hundred Saint has just arrived and he will not be able to find them.' Black Scales kept these thoughts to himself.

The next moment, he heard footsteps. Hundred Saint marched over and bowed, "General, I found them!"

Black Scales' head whipped around and he looked in the direction where Hundred Saint pointed, "They were kept in an isolated, secret mine by Black Scales."

At that point, his first thought was that there was a traitor!

Then, he refused to admit it. Black Scales' mind spun quickly and he shouted suddenly, "Sorcery, this is sorcery!

"Hundred Saint just arrived in the mine and he is not familiar with the terrain. How can he find these women in such a short period of time?"

Hundred Saint scoffed, "Don't you believe me? They have already been brought back. We can ask these women to testify who locked them here at any time."

There was a cold glare in his eyes, "After all, they said that you, Black Scales, have already used a few of them."

Black Scales sweated profusely.

Slight anger started to simmer in his eyes but it disappeared at the last instant.

They had been discovered!

Recalling General Jinwu and his expression previously…Black Scales knew that there would be trouble today.

Sighing deeply, Black Scales stood up, "Everyone, General Jinwu, you are despicable. In order to control the mine, you actually came up with this scheme to harm me!"

He turned around and shouted, "Everyone, it is my misfortune today, but the next time, it will be you. If you don't want to be killed one by one, follow me and attack him!"

The half human barbarians behind him started panting heavily. Black Scales had targeted their greatest fear. Now was really the chance for them. Although General Jinwu was strong, if they allied together, they would have a chance.

As for the consequences…all the army camp wanted was the flow of ores from the mine every month.

They would not care about the internal struggles and killing in the mine.

"Hmmph!" Qin Yu snorted coldly. "If I wanted to kill you, I would not have resorted to such troublesome ways."

He raised his hand and pressed his palm down.

Boom -

The ground shook violently and deep cracks stretched across the ground. Black Scales was crushed by the attack and he lay limp on the ground.

There was dead silence in the air!

All surging forces, violence and killing intent instantly disappeared and all that was left was shock.

The powerful Black Scales was in the Ruler realm but he was crushed so easily.

General Jinwu was unbelievably powerful.

At that point, Hundred Saint's eyes were bulged wide open and filled with disbelief.

Although he knew that Qin Yu must have a plan because he took action against Black Scales, he never imagined that Qin Yu would possess such strength.

Did something happen to him during the excursion to the Western Barbarian Land, or had he always been hiding his strength? Regardless of the reason, Hundred Saint was joyous with this.

His future was closely bound to Qin Yu and the area covered by the canopy of the big tree was cool. The more powerful Qin Yu was, the better it was for Hundred Saint!

Everyone felt like Qin Yu was a tall mountain that reached to the clouds. He was unbelievably high and out of their reach.

In fact, he was not that strong. The reason why he could casually crush Black Scales was because Black Scales had the Barbarian Curse in his body.

Of course, Qin Yu would not admit this. He wanted to govern the mine and make it his territory. The more the half human barbarians respected him, the better it was.

Black Scales sweated profusely. He did not know that Qin Yu would be this strong.

If Qin Yu had crushed him single-handedly, the half human barbarians would be running into their own graves by allying against him.

It was no longer possible for them to oppose General Jinwu. No one would be willing to die with him!

"General Jinwu, you cannot kill me!" Black Scales screamed, "The sinners underground heed my orders. If you kill me, the sinners will rise and hold an uprising in rage. Then, the mine will stop functioning and you won't be able to get ores. You will be in trouble then!"

Qin Yu nodded, "Thank you for the reminder."

Bam -

There was a muffled bang before Black Scales' body felt like it had been squeezed by an invisible hand.

His body contorted into a weird shape and blood spurted out of his nose and mouth. Just like that, his aura was gone.

A powerful half human barbarian who was in the Ruler realm was dead!

Terror flooded the mine and it instantly filled everyone's minds. If he killed the powerful Black Scales just like that, what about them?

"General, please spare us!"

"We do not know anything about this matter!"

"General, please investigate this thoroughly!"

Snake Lady slumped to the ground and her petite body shivered uncontrollably.

Not long ago, she was still instigating Black Scales to oppose General Jinwu.

She never imagined that this would be the outcome. Before Black Scales could do anything, he was killed on the spot.

With this though, the fear in her heart grew stronger. She looked at the man in front of her and a pure horror overwhelmed her.

"I told you that the mine belongs to me now. I don't think you guys took it to heart. I hope that this event will carve my words into your minds."

Qin Yu waved his hand dismissively, "Take this corpse and leave. Anyone who dares to commit such crimes again, this will be your ending!"

The group of half human barbarians gingerly lifted up Black Scales' body and scurried out of the area nervously.

Under normal circumstances, their first thought would be to consider ideas to steal Black Scales' power after he was killed. However, no one dared to overstep their boundaries. The mine had a real master now and they had to listen to his orders.

"Impressive General!"

Hundred Saint's expression was shaking from his feelings and he said, "I will be fully loyal to you and will support you wholeheartedly. General, you will have big achievements in the military!"

Qin Yu glanced at him, "Stop sucking up! I will have to take care of a few things over the next two days. Escort her in and make appropriate arrangements for her."

He calculated the time. 'Rourou' should be arriving soon. When he left the camp back then, Qin Yu had made the arrangements.

Hundred Saint bowed, "Yes, General!"

……

The underground mine was pitch black and cold. The surroundings carried an ominous aura that gave an uneasy feeling.

Black Scales was dead. The new general, General Jinwu, killed him in front of the public.

It was rumored that he killed Black Scales in a very casual manner. Black Scales did not have the chance to resist at all.

Small Head screamed, "This is a challenge to us!"

There was silence in the air.

General Jinwu used a violent and forceful method that included killing Black Scales to reject the conditions the sinners laid out.

Things were bound to go badly!

More importantly, General Jinwu was stronger than they thought.

"Everyone, it has already happened. What should we do?" Big Head slowly asked. His expression was calm.

"Hmmph!" A large silhouette that was as big as a mountain scoffed coldly, "General Jinwu truly displayed his might by killing Black Scales. At the same time, he is also tearing off our skin and trampling on us."

"We have to give our reply to this. Otherwise, we will not be appeased and we will not benefit from this."

"That's right. Although General Jinwu is strong, he does not know that we control the foundations of this mine!"

Small Head wore a serious expression. He revealed his razor sharp teeth and said, "Then, let's work together and teach him a lesson!"

The sinners underground…were going on strike.

……

There were people stationed at the mine. However, people had to go deep underground in the dirty and damp darkness. They would dig the ores that were used in the construction of weapons and send them to the surface.

The people stationed in the mines were rejects from the border army camp. However, compared to the sinners underground, these people were already much better off.

More importantly, it was rumored that the altar constructed by the great barbarian shaman back then was underground.

The deeper they went underground, the stronger the curse. Once, a King realm cultivator of the West Desolate went underground to get rid of the Barbarian Curse.

However, after descending deep into the earth, he was forced to retreat without achieving anything.

The greatest criminals of the empire would be crushed and oppressed here…after so many years, there would still be criminals who were thrown into the mines.

No one knew how many 'miners' or sinners there were after so much time had passed.

However, according to that King realm cultivator who descended underground, there were layers and pathways in the underground that wound and interlocked with each other like a spider web. They created a dirty city in the dark underground.

It could even be considered the underground city for the sinners!

……

"General, the sinners are starting an uprising. The mine has stopped production!" One of the half human barbarians reported urgently with his head covered with sweat.

They were not worried for Qin Yu but for themselves, as they were afraid that they would be affected by the conflict.

In fact, when Black Scales was killed, they knew that this moment would arrive.

However, they never expected that the sinners would react so quickly…it seemed like they wanted to use this chance to teach General Jinwu a severe lesson.

Although the mine was owned by the army of the West Desolate and the border army were stationed there, its real owners were the sinners underground.

The border army and the sinners reached an agreement that the border army would send them resources as long as the sinners continuously supplied ores from the mine.

However, the sinners had already stockpiled their supplies. Even if the border army stopped supplying them, the sinners would be able to survive for a while.

Killing people was an easy task for them.

However, it would be a big trouble if they ran out of ores to supply to the army. Every one of them would suffer the wrath of the army and they would be burned alive!