Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A potential conflict fizzled away. However, everyone found it hard to relax. An unaccounted for Yao Bin already left them feeling nervous and uneasy, and now a strong crowd of competitors had appeared.

Xu Guzi took a deep breath, "Let's look at this from another angle. Before we successfully hunt down the ancient tree monster, these people can be considered potential helpers. As for the competition afterwards…" His eyes turned dark and dense, "Do you all think that we should fear them?"

Zhou Fenghuang consciously glanced at Zhao Qianyuan and she relaxed a little.

She immediately thought that her performance was too disgraceful. Just as she was prepared to conceal her expression, she looked around and saw that everyone around her also had a similar look.

It seemed that everyone here took Zhao Qianyuan as their greatest reliance…

Inexplicably, Zhou Fenghuang thought back to the unaccounted for Yao Bin. He had easily saved Sun Zifu's life by blocking the seven-eyed demon spider's white light and had even managed to make Zuo Lanyue disappear. It wouldn't be too much to call him unfathomably deep.

Perhaps he might be able to compete with Zhao Qianyuan…as soon as this thought appeared she leapt up in front and ridiculed herself for indulging in such ridiculous daydreams.

Perhaps Yao Bin might be deeply hidden, but he was far too old so how could he compare with Zhao Qianyuan? In any case, Scion Zhao had come into contact with the world's rules and was just a step away from the Calamity Immortal realm. With his dragon spear in hand, he could be called invincible beneath the Calamity Immortal realm. No matter how strong Yao Bin was, how could he compare?

…

The other squad searching for the ancient tree monster set up camp a hundred miles away. As they were bustling around, it was hard for them to conceal the worry on their faces.

Leng Feng arrived at the side of the speedcar, a hesitant look on his face. But before he could say anything, the car door opened.

Blue Cloud stepped out. She swept away the hair on her forehead and softly said, "Fellow daoist Leng, did you want to blame me for bringing everything to light?"

Leng Feng waved his hand. "I have no such intent. But that group of people…they really are strong. For them to stand across from us will put us at a great disadvantage."

"Fellow daoist Leng you cannot say that!" Another cultivator walked forward, his voice catching everyone else's attention. "In today's situation, if you and I remained silent do you believe that they would believe that we just happened to wander over there? Miss Blue Cloud put on a tough appearance because even though some of those people were a little strong, if we were to really fight all of us would have been wounded! So, what's wrong with being aggressive?"

Blue Cloud bowed. "Thank you fellow daoist Han, that is what I was thinking too." She looked up, "Everyone, now that we've arrived here, do you think we should give up halfway?"

Leng Feng's complexion sank. "Han Sheng, it's not that I am dissatisfied…Miss Blue, please don't think about this too much, I was just…a little worried…"

As he said this, some people nodded silently.

Who wouldn't worry? Although it was just a brief encounter, some of the people in that group were far too famous. For instance, Dong Hanzhu who was known for being ferocious and ruthless. For instance, Xu Guzi who was said to be infinitely wise and unparalleled in scheming…there was sure to be a reason for people to have such great reputations. To compete with these people wouldn't be easy!

Blue Cloud said in a soft voice, "I understand fellow daoist Han's thoughts. I know everyone is worried, but if none of us are willing to withdraw, we can only struggle with them."

A light shined in her eyes. "We may not have no chance of winning!"

"Miss Blue is right. It is only our backgrounds that are inferior. When it comes to killing intent and momentum, we aren't necessarily weaker!"

"The good fortune of the spiritual wood is the turning point to your lives. If we can succeed, our future achievements will be limitless!"

"With good fortune before us, the fierce and the brave will seize it. We cannot give up!"

The group was stirred to excitement.

Blue Cloud spoke with several more people. As she began to appear exhausted, she went back to her speedcar to rest. After arranging the surrounding protective array formation, everyone began to meditate.

…

Xu Guzi and Dong Hanzhu silently appeared outside the camp. They looked at the peaceful scene and relaxed a little.

It seemed that these people had no intention of secretly acting against them. Although this was the reasonable choice to make, once they verified this they would be able to rest in peace tonight.

"Fellow daoist Dong, let's return to avoid any misunderstandings."

After a sound transmission, the two people nodded and turned to leave.

Suddenly, a heaven-shaking explosion resounded behind them. Flames soared into the heavens, illuminating their faces.

They saw in the center of the camp, the peacefully parked speedcar had been blown into pieces, completely swallowed up by flames.

Instantly, people began rushing out. Leng Feng broke into the sea of fire, anger and pain etched on his face. However, all he found were several pieces of clothing and broken flesh and bone.

As he thought about how the woman who was speaking and explaining things to him so gently and kindly was now nothing but an incomplete corpse, anger flooded his mind and his eyes began to turn red.

Then, Leng Feng violently turned around. His ice cold eyes locked onto two faces outside the camp that were illuminated by the flames.

"It was you!"

He roared like an injured beast. Besides Xu Guzi who was skilled in array formations and spells, who could quietly sneak into their camp and assassinate Blue Cloud?

It was them who killed Blue Cloud…they deserved to die…all of them deserved to die…

Bang -

The ground disintegrated. Leng Feng shot into the skies, leaping forward like a vicious beast.

Xu Guzi's complexion changed. With them appearing here at this moment, if they were to say they had nothing to do with what just happened, no one would believe them.

This was truly their reputations being stained and unable to be cleaned. It was no different from a stone block randomly falling down from the heavens and striking him!

It had always been he who plotted against! But now he had been the one used today. Shame and anger caused his face to flush red.

"Run!"

With a low roar, Xu Guzi drew backwards as fast as lightning.

Dong Hanzhu followed close behind. Although he had faith in his skills, he wasn't arrogant to the point where he believed he could take on all these people.

If he didn't leave now, he feared that he would be surrounded by this pack of enraged cultivators and brutally beaten to death.

Han Sheng angrily screamed, "Kill them all! Take revenge for Miss Blue!"

He hadn't even had the chance to demonstrate his true strength yet and capture the heart of the beautiful woman, so how could she have died?

At this time, flaming anger gushed out from deep in his heart, sweeping out and enveloping his entire body. He wished he could destroy the entire world.

"Kill them all!"

"Die!"

Xu Guzi clenched his teeth and earnestly ran away. He knew that no matter what he said, it would be impossible to clear his name.

In any case, the two of them running away was the same as acknowledging that they did it.

Whoosh -

With the sound of piercing air, a dazzling white light flashed and a figure appeared in front of the two people.

Zhao Qianyuan held his dragon spear in hand, his appearance graceful and elegant. He lightly frowned, "What happened?"

Xu Guzi hurriedly said, "When we were going over to investigate, their speedcar suddenly exploded and the woman inside the car died. Before we could say anything, those people already started rushing towards us!"

At this time, Leng Feng punched out a fist. "You will all die!"

Zhao Qianyuan lifted his hand and the dragon spear thrust out. With a strike of his spear, it seemed that even the world could be pierced through.

Leng Feng was nearly driven mad with rage, but what he saw was like a cold bucket of water doused upon his head. His fist turned into a palm as he swiped to the side.

His palm collided with the spear shaft. An incredible amount of strength slammed into him and he was sent flying away like a large stone.

Blood spewed out from his nose and mouth. Leng Feng staggered to his feet and stared at the dragon spear that had already been taken back. He shouted with a scratchy voice, "Scion Zhao!"

Upon hearing this, Han Sheng and the numerous other cultivators rushing over all changed complexions.

The fame of a person was like the shade of a tree. Scion Zhao Qianyuan was the number one junior amidst the demonic path. From the moment he appeared he amazed the world in 20 years, breaking into the skies and transforming into a celestial dragon.

With his dragon spear in hand, he had once fought six peak Blue Sea experts and killed them all; his strength was enough to shock the world.

No one imagined that the cold and indifferent youth they saw during sunset was the number one junior of the demonic path.

Could they fight?

If they did, they feared that they would all be buried here.

Zhao Qianyuan slowly said, "I have no idea what happened, but fellow daoists Xu and Dong only went to investigate the situation and guarantee that both sides remain calm and peaceful. They would not secretly assassinate anyone. There must be other facts that have yet to be revealed."

He turned and walked away.

Han Sheng took a deep breath. Then, he waved his hand and led the others back to their camp.

A cold light flashed in the depths of Zhao Qianyuan's eyes. From the lowly and humble position he crawled up from all the way until here, his hands had long been stained with blood. He wasn't cruel and ruthless, but it was often a truth that if he didn't kill others he would be killed instead. So this time, he didn't mind having all these people stay here and die, but after thinking about it over, he decided to let them go.

This was because something was off here. Zhao Qianyuan knew that the seemingly weak and frail Miss Blue was actually incomparably strong.

How could such a character fall into someone's trap and be killed off?

Xu Guzi relaxed. He cupped his hands together, "Luckily Scion Zhao was here to help us, otherwise it would have been impossible to avoid a battle today."

Zhao Qianyuan restrained his thoughts. "Let's leave this place first."

The three quickly left. After meeting the others, they explained the situation. When they learned what had happened their faces darkened and then hurried away.

For one of those people to die should have been a good thing, but with them being drawn into the mess, that wasn't wonderful at all.

Both sides were competitors to begin with. Now that someone's life had been taken, it was inevitable for hostility to develop between them. And, the most terrifying thing was that Xu Guzi and Dong Hanzhu hadn't even done anything and someone on the other side had died…could another group of people be hiding somewhere?

To instigate both sides to slaughter each other and then fish for benefits from the side, this wasn't a particularly profound strategy. Anyone here would be happy to do the same.

When both sides departed, the deep night returned to silence once more. Then, from the darkness, ripples began to spread outwards. An incomparably beautiful girl in white robes stepped out.

Within the darkness, she was like a white lotus in full bloom, pure and dazzling.

This girl was the Blue Cloud that should have perished in the explosion just then. But, she was actually standing here safe and sound. Her delicate and gentle appearance was no cold and apathetic, filled with an aloofness that was a thousand miles away.

She looked up towards the direction that Zhao Qianyuan and the others left and smiled. It was like a hundred flowers blooming together, illuminating this part of the deep night.

"You've already begun to respect me? You are truly worthy of being known as the number one youth within the demonic path. Unfortunately, from the moment you stepped into this small world you were doomed to perish here."

"The next time we see, that will be the time you die and your soul returns to nothingness. So, please enjoy the remaining time you have left in this world."

Her white robes swirled and the darkness split open once again, submerging her figure within.

After several breaths of time, Blue Cloud broke through the darkness and emerged once more. Her icy cold eyes swept around but she didn't discover anything unusual.

"Did I sense incorrectly? Or perhaps I was too nervous."

She turned and left.

Another several breaths of time passed. The sound of light footsteps sounded out. Qin Yu stood beneath a large tree and whispered in a soft voice, "This place is becoming more and more interesting."

His eyes were bright and profound like the endless starry skies.