Refining the Mountains and Rivers

An hour later, the doors to the temple opened and everyone woke up. Their complexions were all changed, but no matter how they investigated, they couldn't find anything unusual.

Sin Zifu and the other three had returned to their original positions. There were no flaws in their demeanor, but when they occasionally turned their eyes, there was a flash of ridicule in them.

The Demonic Path priest sat down cross-legged. His originally thin and stick-like body was even more withered than before, as if presiding over this ceremony had drained a considerable amount of strength from him.

He didn't say anything else. The Demonic Path cultivators from outside the temple respectfully walked into the temple and brought everyone away.

When Qin Yu came out, he saw another batch of young demonic cultivators waiting outside the temple. Within their perturbed expressions, there was also a hint of anticipation.

Unfortunately, they had no idea what their fate would be after they entered the temple.

Together with Qin Yu, there were around 600 other people who had passed the test of the demon statue. They were all gathered up together at this moment.

"Everyone, congratulations for passing the test. You have gained the most basic qualifications for joining the Demonic Path. Tomorrow, the Demon Ascension Gate will open, but until then, you may freely wander around the public areas of Heavenly Demon City. Remember, from this point on, fighting among you is not allowed. If you violate this rule, you will be severely punished and you will lose your rights to enter the Demon Ascension Gate."

After arranging everyone's dwellings, the Demonic Path cultivators left on their own. It seemed that after passing the test of the demon statue, they had gained some sort of tacit approval and were no longer restricted to a certain degree.

The Black Demon Sect were concentrated in a massive courtyard. Qin Yu casually chose a room and the other Black Demon Sect cultivators moved away from him, feeling as if they were in a hurry to do so.

Qin Yu closed the door. He didn't care how these people acted. His divine sense swept out and when he didn't sense anything wrong, he sat down and began meditating, entering his soul space.

The Soul Summoning Bell was in a slumbering state right now and didn't respond to Qin Yu's probing. He could feel that the purple mote of light was in a sealed condition. This caused Qin Yu to relax a little. The Soul Summoning Bell had recognized him as its master, so even though its actions seemed a little strange right now, it shouldn't be trying to actively harm him. As for how to remove this purple mote of light, he would wait until the Soul Summoning Bell woke back up before finding a solution.

When Qin Yu opened his eyes again, it had already turned dark outside. Thinking about it a little, he pushed open the door and stepped out. The entire courtyard was silent and peaceful. All of the other rooms were dark, as if everyone had gone out.

At this time, several people walked across the courtyard. Faint sounds of their conversation drifted over. "Hurry up, I heard that in the western part of the city there is a shop selling Mind Awakening Water. This is a treasure that can help the soul maintain consciousness at all times. If we can obtain it, it will give us an advantage once we enter the Demon Ascension Gate!"

"When the Demon Ascension Gate opened in the past, in order to help increase the number of disciples that passed, all sorts of precious treasures would appear at Heavenly Demon City's night market. We cannot miss out on this chance!"

"Hurry! Hurry! If we are late I fear we'll end up empty-handed!"

The several people left in a hurry.

Qin Yu had a thoughtful look on his face. No wonder everyone in the courtyard had left…it seemed that the Black Demon Sect disciples had run out in hopes of purchasing useful treasures.

As for why no one called him…

The Demon Ascension Gate had extremely strict rules. For those that were over a hundred years old, the difficulty of the test rose several times over. Unless one possessed heaven-defying strength, there was almost no way for them to pass.

Thus, even if Qin Yu had exposed an extremely potent cultivation, the Black Demon Sect disciples still kept as great a distance away from him as they could. They were afraid of getting involved with him and then being implicated once they entered the Demon Ascension Gate.

And why did the Black Demon Sect cultivators think that Qin Yu was over a hundred years of age? The greatest reason was naturally because he borrowed the identity of Yao Bin. Everyone knew that Grandmaster Yao had lain dormant in the Black Demon Sect for dozens of years already, so anyone with a mind could tell that he was absolutely some old geezer.

Further, if he wasn't that old, would this surname Yao have such a tyrannical cultivation? Subconsciously, none of them believed that someone of their own generation could possess strength that completely overwhelmed them!

Qin Yu naturally wouldn't explain this to them. He closed the door behind him and walked out of the courtyard.

Because the grand ceremony of the Demon Ascension Gate was tomorrow, tonight's Heavenly Demon City was much more lively than usual. There were so many lights all around that the entire city was illuminated just like daytime. Throngs of people crowded the streets. Qin Yu randomly chose a direction and followed the flow of people.

Many of these people were young cultivators who would be participating in the Demon Ascension Gate tomorrow. They had looks of anticipation on their faces and their hearts were pumped full of confidence.

When the Demonic Path recruited disciples, the elimination rate was always mind-boggling. It was normal for only 1-2% of people to pass.

Thus, there was also an incredible number of demonic cultivators who participated in the Demon Ascension Gate. Besides the Demonic Path's 12 branch sects, there were the various noble families of the Demonic Path, and the countless demonic sects under their control. There was even a certain number of recommendations allowed for rogue demonic cultivators.

Roughly counting, there were at least 10,000 demonic cultivators that would be entering the Demon Ascension Gate this time. Of course, in the end, only around 200 or so people would pass and join the Demonic Path.

Qin Yu was confident that with his current strength he would be able to pass the Demon Ascension Gate. However, didn't he know that there were no absolutes in this world? So, if he could find some treasures that could increase his chances of success, he definitely wouldn't mind it.

Unfortunately, as he walked around, while he did see many demonic treasures that were decent and caused many demonic cultivators to compete for them, they didn't hold much attraction to Qin Yu.

On the long street, whether it was the shops on both sides or the stalls nearby, everything was crowded. From time to time he could hear the sounds of bargaining.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. "Humph! If you increase the price little by little, how long will it take before you're done? If you want to play then just double it up! 100,000 spirit stones, I want that thing!"

Qin Yu subconsciously lifted an eyebrow. He turned towards the voice. Within a group of demonic cultivators, he could see that the one speaking out from amid them was exactly that Sun Zifu. At this moment, this direct descendant young master of a Demonic Path noble family was coldly sneering. A tall female cultivator stood next to him, a transparent veil covering her face, drawing everyone's eyes to her.

This woman was actually one of the two beautiful female cultivators from the auction house at Four Seasons City who had caused those four profligate young masters to compete against each other. He knew that even if those people hadn't been fooling around, Qi Cheng would never have allowed him to purchase the precelestial wood to begin with. Still, he had no good impression of these people.

Just as he turned to leave, his steps came to a stop. Within his soul space, the deeply slumbering Soul Summoning Bell began to shake and call out. It transmitted an intense desire towards Qin Yu. And, the item that it wanted was actually the black stone in the hands of the surprised stall owner.

"Humph! Fellow daoist Sun, you want to take away this marvelous stone for a mere 100,000 spirit stones? I will offer 150,000." Across from Sun Zifu, a cultivator with a gloomy expression sneered.

"300,000!" Sun Zifu said without a care in the world.

"350,000."

"700,000."

The surrounding crowd was shocked. To the vast majority of them, 700,000 spirit stones wasn't a big deal. But, the key point here was Sun Zifu's attitude, tossing away money without a care.

Hey, take a look, this was a true spender!

Many demonic female cultivators in the crowd winked their eyes, as if they were sending secret messages.

Sun Zifu's heart lifted. To harvest the attention of so many beautiful women for some spare change, this was completely worth it.

Fortunately, he knew what his main purpose was today. He suppressed his itching heart and smiled brightly at Zhou Fenghuang.

"Stall owner, can you let me see that stone?" A cultivator suddenly walked out from the crowd. Black robes covered his entire body. But looking at his tall and sturdy figure, he emanated clear power and influence.

The stall owner hesitated for a moment. After learning how valuable this stone was, he clearly wasn't at ease.

The black-robed cultivator lightly, "Do you think I would rob you in full view of the public?"

The stall owner thought for a moment and then nodded, handing over the black stone. The black-robed cultivator expressed his thanks and carefully investigated it.

Sun Zifu had a calm expression, not stopping this. In his opinion, this stone was already his. And the more someone looked at it, the more disappointed they would be in the end.

"One million spirit stones." The black-robed cultivator quoted a price and passed the stone back to the stall owner. Everyone around revealed looks of surprise. They didn't expect that someone so low key would play such a big hand.

The gloomy cultivator frowned, ill intent in his eyes. "This wonder stone is good, but not just anyone has the qualifications to compete for it…1.1 million!"

His tone was threatening and aggressive.

The black-robed cultivator was silent. One could take this as either fear or indifference. From his calm demeanor, everyone assumed it was the latter.

The gloomy cultivator paled. If it weren't for Heavenly Demon City being under strict martial law tonight, he would have already attacked.