Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Before fighting against external forces, one must first ensure the safety of one's internal forces.

The mine was Qin Yu's foundation. Only after stabilizing the forces in the mine could he take on other things.

It was proven that the stability of his foundation helped things to progress smoothly, more so than he expected. Now, all he had to do was wait.

Wait for someone to come up to him!

Lord Chengtian came and went in a hurry. He was just giving Qin Yu an outline of what he was going to do next, but the specific actions had to be carried out by someone else.

Originally, Qin Yu thought he would have to wait for a few more days. After all, handing over one's rights to the mine was not a pleasant thing to do.

Furthermore, these smugglers who were handing over their rights to the mine probably needed some buffering time to erase any small traces that they might have left behind.

The smuggling as well as the huge profits obtained from it were destined to have dirt on them.

Unexpectedly, however, on the second day after Qin Yu liberated the troops from the Barbarian Curse, one of the soldiers came to report that some people were requesting to see him.

Glancing at the jade pendant in front of him, Qin Yu said, "Let them in."

Half an hour later in an exquisite and gorgeous room, Qin Yu saw people coming in.

There were three people in total. The leader was a middle-aged man with a fair complexion and a friendly smile. He bowed slightly to show respect.

As for the other two people, the one on the left was a woman with a long cyan skirt and her face was covered with a veil. It made her look very enchanting.

In comparison, the black-faced young man on the right bowed his head and he looked rather unremarkable.

"Your subordinate, Zhou Dafu, greets General Jinwu!"

He took two steps forward and kowtowed to the ground with both knees, and his voice was full of respect.

Something seemed strange!

After all, after being deprived of their power and losing their money, who could harbor no resentment in their heart unless they were a saint?

A gleam of light flashed in Qin Yu's eyes before he restored his calm expression, "Get up."

"Thank you General!" Zhou Dafu got up and introduced the two people behind him. "Lotus Lady has always been in charge of the account book, and I brought her here so that we can officially hand it over to you. If you have any doubts about the past accounts, please feel free to ask her."

After he finished speaking, he smiled and turned towards the young man. The black-faced young man looked very nervous. "This is my son, Zhou Xiaoshan. I brought him here because of my own selfishness. I hope that General Jinwu will be able to promote him in the future."

"Aren't the both of you going to greet the General?"

Lotus Lady and Zhou Xiaoshan knelt to the ground at the same time, "Greetings, General Jinwu!"

Coming to the mine in person, handing over the accounts with one hand and sending his son with another…this move really surprised Qin Yu.

He almost believed that Zhou Dafu was really a person who was purely loyal to the Imperial Clan, and was willing to hand over everything that he had just because someone ordered him to do so.

Glancing at Lotus Lady who was now kneeling on the ground, she had a delicate waistline and an attractive figure. Qin Yu's eyes paused for a moment and said, "Lotus Lady can stay behind. As for your son, it will be better if he stays by your side. As long as he works hard, I will naturally promote him."

Zhou Dafu respectfully said yes, paused a little, and continued, "The ore produced in the mine only requires a little smelting to become a high-grade forging material. It is very sought after by the Barbarian Clan. If you require such services, I am willing to do it for you so that you don't have to do it yourself."

Qin Yu glanced at him, "I will take care of such matters myself."

Zhou Dafu bowed slightly, "I apologize for being too talkative."

Qin Yu waved his hand, "You came all the way here; the road must have been tough. Go and take a rest first, and we can discuss more matters tomorrow."

Zhou Dafu greeted, "I'll excuse myself now."

He then turned around and left with Zhou Xiaoshan.

Lotus Lady was still kneeling on the ground, and her beautiful figure was undoubtedly revealed.

Qin Yu looked at her, his eyebrows raised slightly, and he thought for a while before saying, "Guards, come in."

"General, what are your orders?"

"Send Lotus Lady to Lady Rourou's residence. Tell her that this is an order from me - let her be responsible for the handover of accounts."

Lotus Lady raised her head and her big eyes looked at Qin Yu in shock.

She did not think that General Jinwu would treat her like this.

But it was obvious that Lotus Lady was a smart woman. Seeing that Qin Yu had already made up his mind, she did not try to do anything.

She respectfully saluted Qin Yu, got up, and left with some guards.

Qin Yu was the only one left in the room. The corners of his mouth were upturned, showing traces of a cold smile.

Zhou Dafu seemed to be very respectful towards Qin Yu and cooperative with the handover. However, this man was the former leader of the Imperial Clan's smuggling operations, and he was full of clever methods.

Unfortunately, these methods were futile when used against Qin Yu.

Now that Lotus Lady was sent to be personally supervised by Rourou, even if this woman had the ability to turn the sky upside down, she would be no match for Rourou and could only curl up in defeat.

Qin Yu had already expected something like this to happen, so it did not really affect his mood.

People like Zhou Dafu, who considered themselves to be important characters, were ruthless and had affected many people's lives negatively.

However, in Qin Yu's eyes, Zhou Dafu should try his best to live honestly. Otherwise when Qin Yu no longer had a use for him, he could easily erase him. It was not worth him wasting his energy pondering over this at all.

It was previously mentioned that Qin Yu was waiting for people to come to him.

One of the people he was waiting for had already arrived. There was another party that had not come yet.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

Qin Yu was in no hurry, but Zhou Dafu was unable to sit still, so he came to meet Qin Yu again.

"General, because of the sealed accounts, the transactions with the Barbarian Clan have come to a standstill. We must restart the accounts as soon as possible, otherwise the barbarians will lose their trading partners. Moreover, I am about to return to the capital city to report for duty. Before that, I have to officially introduce you to our various barbarian partners to establish your new status as the mine's ambassador."

He was worried, and the anxiety could be seen on his face.

Qin Yu glanced at him and said, "I understand. Let's wait for a few more days."

Zhou Dafu laughed bitterly before cupping his hands and turning around to leave.

Gently tapping his fingers on the table, Qin Yu looked at the shallow waves that formed on the surface of the tea that was in his tea cup. He looked like he was deep in thought.

No matter what the reason was, the other party still had not come, but Qin Yu had waited long enough.

One day passed.

Another day passed.

On the third day, after the nine suns had set and a silver moon had risen into the middle of the sky, Qin Yu, who was cultivating with closed eyes in his room, opened his eyes.

Another figure appeared in the room.

Qin Yu's gaze fell on it and an ethereal aura was suspended in the air like a shadow, without the slightest sense of substance.

But right as Qin Yu opened his eyes, the figure said blandly, "General Jinwu, your level of vigilance is rather astounding."

Taking a deep breath to stabilize his mind, Qin Yu stood up and saluted, "Ning Qin greets Your Excellency!"

At this moment, he could feel a terrifying aura.

In Qin Yu's 'eyes', there was no shadow in front of him. It was clearly a burning sun in the sky.

It was continuously and endlessly releasing light and heat!

Powerful, terrifying, unopposable!

As long as this figure was willing, it would only take a thought to release its unrestrained power which would be enough to turn Qin Yu's whole body into a mass of ashes.

A Half-King!

In addition, Qin Yu felt a little bit of familiarity with that terrifying aura. He managed to guess the identity of the person in front of him. When he first set foot in the Desolate Area, those eyes were comparable to the sun and moon.

It was one of the seven Half-Kings in the West Desolate - Di Shitian!