Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The Marshal Tent of the West Border Army camp.

Wu Tongtian smiled to himself as he stood before a map of the West Border and silently studied it.

Behind him was a military counselor who had followed him for many years and two close Generals. They exchanged looks and smiled bitterly to themselves.

"If you have anything to say, tell me. There is nothing to hide between us." Marshal Wu spoke.

One of the Generals was highly favored by Wu Tongtian. He was a distant relative to the Marshal and could be considered his nephew.

This man knew that his uncle would be his only backing in the military and hence he remained loyal to Marshal Wu.

He gritted his teeth as he stepped forward and bowed, "Marshal, I have already obtained the latest news from different barbarian tribes…doesn't this seem too straightforward? It feels like the barbarians are profusely feeding us this information. How can General Jinwu remain ignorant of it? Despite that, he continues to help the Golden Crow Tribe and Green Willow Tribe. Something feels off about this."

He tried to not be offensive with his words and he was attempting to give Marshal Wu a warning.

The counselor nodded too, "Marshal, he is right. Shouldn't we observe the situation further?"

Although the Desolate King sent Lord Chengtian to establish a deal with Marshal Wu where they appeared amicable on the surface, everyone knew that Marshal Wu was already enraged.

He had suffered a great humiliation when General Jinwu faked his death. If this happened a second time…the consequences would be unbearable.

Wu Tongtian turned around and glanced at the men. He lifted his cup and casually sipped from it, "I am in charge of the West Border Army and I command many troops. Great General, Ye Sangdu raised the report to me, informing me of Ning Qin's treachery. This is the truth."

He placed his cup down and stared into the distance. Distance did not matter in his eyes and he looked like he could see the capital of the West Desolate despite how far it was.

"Your Majesty, I do not know about the arrangements made by the Imperial Clan. However, everything I do is for my duties as the Marshal. Even if things are wrong, nothing will go on."

This was the reason why Wu Tongtian had not hesitated when Ye Sangdu stepped into his tent with the report.

He would not be faulted, and as the Marshal of the border army, there was nothing he needed to fear.

Even if this would cause the capital to be furious again…so what?

If he couldn't protect himself, why help others? How long was the king going to be able to hold his seat? Marshal Wu only needed to ensure he keep his position. Once the new king was coronated, he would naturally play up to him.

Wu Tongtian knew his legacy was not going to happen now. It lay in his future.

This was why Marshal Wu did not care much about what he did.

The counselor was naturally Wu Tongtian's most trusted person and he knew the Marshal the best. At that moment, his eyes were glowing brightly.

He smiled and a look of admiration crossed his face, "I understand. Marshal, you are wise!" He observed the slight smirk at the corners of Wu Tongtian's lips. Then he turned to the other Generals present and said, "The evidence about General Jinwu helping the enemy is conclusive. As long as the matter opens up, it will be a big blow to him. Regardless of whether there is a secret within this, we need to determine whether the Imperial Clan will continue to protect General Jinwu. It is a huge mountain ahead of us in addition to the smuggling.

"The outcome of what happens from this in the capital is no longer important. General Jinwu's path will be cut off. If he does not take control of the military before the new king takes the throne, all that will be left for him is a sad ending."

Wu Tongtian turned and continued looking at the map with a cold smirk. Great men are generous and forgiving others is for the greater good. However, he was only a Marshal at the West Border; was he not allowed to be hateful?

After this, General Jinwu Ning Qin was going to be a skeleton in a tomb. The outcome had been decided!

……

In the capital of the West Desolate.

The news about General Jinwu helping the enemy stirred up huge waves and caused a lot of undercurrents to be kicked into motion.

Back then, the West Desolate King reprimanded the border armies and humiliated Marshal Wu. The situation was temporarily stabilized from there.

However, they saw another opportunity to make things difficult.

The West Desolate King had sat in the seat for way too long and it was time for him to abdicate. Like the previous Desolate Kings, he would retreat to the imperial tomb and cultivate there.

The military was the first to go to court with the matter and request an investigation into this. If the report was true, General Jinwu Ning Qin should be sentenced to death.

After the military, various officials requested the king to pass an edict that demanded General Jinwu to return to the capital to be interrogated. This was to appease and calm the other troops stationed at the border.

The last group to seek an audience was the Generals stationed in all corners of the empire. They were agitated and aggressive and they asked the king to kill the traitor. Sons of the empire should not continue to bleed on the battlefront in vain.

At that moment, the capital was in chaos and the situation continued to worsen. It seemed like all troubles stemmed from General Jinwu Ning Qin.

Although he had a stable foothold in the West Border Army and he made a grand opening with his coming to power, he was receiving the sort of attention and impeachment that only a Marshal ought to have.

It was evident to everyone who the real target of this exaggerated swordplay was. It was the West Desolate King in the Imperial Palace who controlled the West Desolate.

Lord Chengtian was called into the palace by an imperial edict and all the officials and servants present were told to leave.

The king's facial expressions could not be made out as he stood behind the curtains, but the cold tone in his voice was clear, "Lord Chengtian, remember these men who are kicking up the greatest fuss at the moment. Once I am ready, I will take care of them accordingly."

Lord Chengtian knew the king well and he immediately understood and bowed respectfully.

Yet, he could not help smiling bitterly to himself.

This time, many people were going to lose their heads again.

Although these men would die by the king's orders, Lord Chengtian was the one who put together the name list and he would receive the same animosity as the king.

This bound Lord Chengtian to the king and there was no way for him to change sides.

Your Majesty, you are truly wise for your last resort!

Sighing deeply, Lord Chengtian bowed, "Your Majesty is forward-looking and wise. Although this matter has stirred up some trouble, it will not shake you."

The king scoffed, "A lot of of people are planning to take advantage of this, but they have no choice and they can't take any actions now."

He stood up and paced behind the curtain, "General Jinwu, this man can be considered a blessing to me."

Lord Chengtian remained in a bow, "What do you mean, Your Majesty?"

The king calmly said, "Aren't many officials asking me to pass an edict to demand an interrogation of General Jinwu in the capital? Fine, I will grant their request and call General Jinwu back. Then, I will reward him for his merits. I shall see what face those old clay figures will have to continue crying to me."

A few days passed and there was still no reply to all the memorandums that were passed to the palace. The Imperial Palace's attitude was undetermined.

The atmosphere in the capital slowly started to turn weird and many of the officials who had jumped out to express their opinions felt uneasy.

Finally, an edict was passed. The capital summoned General Jinwu back for a report on his duties.

Things seemed to have gone according to their wishes, however, many officials could not help feeling that something was strange about this.

……

Golden Crow Tribe.

Desolate camp.

Although Qin Yu did not know that he was already a common name in the capital of the West Desolate, it was easy to guess that he had stirred up a commotion there.

Nonetheless, this was alright. Before he determined his plan, he had already mentally prepared himself and he was not nervous because of this.

The West Desolate men thought that they had calculated everything, but they did not know that they were wrong from the start.

Like solving a problem, as hard as one tried to crack it, if one started off on the wrong foot, one would ultimately end up with the wrong answer.

Qin Yu was now wondering whether he ought to return to the West Border Army camp.

As the saying went, too much is as bad as too little.

He first helped the Golden Crow Tribe to enhance their Golden Crow Totem and then he changed the destiny of the Green Willow Tribe by healing their Divine Willow Totem. Each of these matters was startling enough, and hence, he gained the status and reputation he had in the Barbarian Clan.

However, once or twice was okay but the third time would be too much…there were going to be troubles if he continued taking requests. Firstly, Qin Yu may 'run out of' resources for the Boundary Breaking Seal. Also, the barbarians might start having other thoughts even though they were currently respectful of him.

Think about it, if General Jinwu, a Desolate Area man, casually helped the totems of barbarians tribes transform, the barbarian tribes might go crazy and may demand him to stay within the Barbarian Clan forever at any cost.

The reason why the West Border Army was able to confirm what happened with the Golden Crow Tribe and the Green Willow Tribe so quickly was because they set up some secret spies in the Barbarian Clan territory. Also, the various barbarian tribes purposely spread the news.

They could not wait for the West Desolate to blame General Jinwu and demand that he be beheaded for his crimes. This way, General Jinwu would surrender to the barbarians and beg them for shelter.

Qin Yu did not want the barbarian tribes to go crazy. Otherwise, even if he exposed his real identity, he might not be able to escape.

Furthermore, there were more considerations that he had with regards to the Imperial Clan of the West Desolate.

After successfully constructing the first Boundary Breaking Seal, he had been excited. However, if too many good things came too quickly, it would only result in suspicion.

In the short term, Qin Yu still needed the identity of General Jinwu, this was why…too much was as bad as too little! It was time for him to leave. He would return to the border army camp and wait for new directions from the capital.

Qin Yu frowned as he pondered to himself. Although what he did was slightly out of hand, it was a small issue compared to the Boundary Breaking Seal.

After all, from the perspective of the Imperial Clan of the West Desolate, once the Boundary Breaking Seal was activated, these barbarians tribes would perish in a second regardless of the benefits they had obtained for their totems. It was unnecessary and not worth mentioning in the grand scheme of things.

Qin Yu hugged and turned to leave. Three days ago, he already informed Rourou to leave the Barbarian Clan as fast as she could.

However, she did not reply to him and Qin Yu wanted to check on what she was doing.

When he arrived at Rourou's round tent, he realized that it was empty. After some questioning, he learned that she left to the territory of the Golden Crow Tribe yesterday.

Qin Yu's eyes flashed and he turned to leave.

With his current status, entering and leaving the Golden Crow Tribe would not be a problem.

Tribe Leader Cutuo personally came out to welcome him with bright smiles, "General, are you here for your wife?"

Qin Yu saluted and confirmed, "Yes, where is she?"

The Tribe Leader extended an arm and led the way, "General, please follow me."

Rourou was in the Spring Valley.

This place was the heart of the Golden Crow Tribe territory. It was a natural formation of heaven and earth and it could gather spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

With the transformation of the Golden Crow Totem where ice and fire could coexist, the atmosphere here changed. The air was hotter and everything felt slightly distorted.

However, thick clouds were in the sky above and snow drifted down, releasing an astonishing chill.

When the snow fell into the valley, it merged smoothly with the sea of heat like an extremely cold fuel that only made the magma become more red.

It was a strange sight!

Magma boiled within the valley, and occasionally pillars of fire would shoot up to the sky.

This happened continuously and it blocked off the view from the outside world, isolating the scene within.

Tribe Leader Cutuo raised a finger, "Yesterday, your wife entered the valley. Although I do not know the details, the Golden Crow Totem told me not to interfere."

Qin Yu thought about it and asked, "Tribe Leader, may I enter?"

Tribe Leader Cutuo said, "This is the territory of the Golden Crow and his will determines everything. Yesterday, the Golden Crow and the lady were allowed to enter."

As he said this, he wore an apologetic look and he could only smile bitterly to himself. After the Golden Crow transformed, even he, the Tribe Leader, could not enter the valley without permission.

However, Rourou was a person from the Desolate Area but she was allowed into the valley by the Golden Crow…even though he knew Rourou was the wife of the General and the Golden Crow only managed to evolve with their help, he could not help but feel bitter over this.

Nonsensical thoughts filled his mind. Did the Golden Crow suddenly understand 'beauty' after it evolved? If that was the case, then Tribe Leader Cutuo felt terrible about himself. He lived with his appearance for a thousand years, changing it would not be difficult, but if people guessed the reason, wouldn't he be a laughing stock?

Thankfully, General Jinwu was average-looking too. General Jinwu was better-looking than him but he was not exceptionally handsome.

Suddenly, the columns of magma that came from the valley suddenly stopped raging and it simmered down near Qin Yu.

The boundless sea of fire opened a path for him.

Qin Yu cupped his hands together, "I will make a move, farewell." He turned and left. As he walked, the magma shot into the sky again and sealed the path.

The Tribe Leader stood dumbfounded as he stared blankly at what happened. A bitter feeling rose in his chest.

If he didn't know that the Golden Crow totem could not live without the Golden Crow Tribe, he would really be concerned that the Golden Crow became another person's spiritual pet after it evolved…otherwise, how would this make sense?

He laughed bitterly to himself. After thinking about it, Cutuo instructed an Elder to look over the valley. He turned and left in a hurry to find Master Prajna. If he did not clarify his doubts, he would feel uneasy.

It was swelteringly hot in the valley.

With a thought, the time and space around Qin Yu shifted. As he used the Soul Seed more and more, controlling space time in such a small area became easy for him.

He isolated himself from the surrounding heat and continued forward. Magma and flames retreated for him and he went deep within the valley.

Finally, he saw Rourou with her eyes shut as she sat on a black stone in the magma. She was culivating and she opened her eyes, took a peek at Qin Yu, and shut them again.

Meanwhile, Qin Yu coughed in awkwardness and he turned his body slightly, "I didn't hear from you for three days so I came to take a look."

He struggled to speak, but if he did not say anything, it would be hard for him to divert his attention.

As Rourou cultivated with her eyes closed, her clothes could not withstand the high heat. Spring was coming and it was bright everywhere.

In the past her clothes covered her assets, but now that Qin Yu saw her, he realized…she was not small at all!