Refining the Mountains and Rivers

As the grand ceremony of greeting the Holy Son passed, the flow of traffic that travelled through Eastern Sun City reduced by a little. But, news of this ceremony rapidly spread out along with the guests that departed.

The Fang Family had lost a patriarch as well as their reputation. They had become a card in the game of His Highness the Holy Son, tossed away in exchange for the loyalty of the Demonic Path noble families. This fierce show of skill had numerous people praising his abilities!

Besides that, what drew everyone's attention was the Ning Family. They were a noble family that had thoroughly declined, yet they were able to throw the prestigious Fang Family to the ground. Just how impressive was that?

And what left everyone sighing with emotion was that the woman the Ning Family offered to His Highness actually stayed at the Holy Son Palace.

This was particularly important!

His Highness had risen at an astonishing speed, so fast that there had never been a chance for anyone to try and win him over. It was said that there wasn't a single woman who was close to him by his side. And, it was said that the woman from the Ning Family was top class when it came to looks or figure.

One couldn't help but immediately think about this. If Ning Liang was able to rise to the top and capture the heart of His Highness, she would immediately become the most honored woman in the Demonic Path. The Ning Family would profit tremendously as a result!

Qin Yu ordered Ning Liang to stay in the palace but didn't make any specific arrangements for her. Hai Lanlan thought about it over and over and finally settled on giving her the status of a palace court lady.

Although this position wasn't too high, the Holy Son Palace was still being constructed and the staffing organization was simple. Besides Hai Lanlan, there were only three other court ladies. And because of their status, besides His Highness, no one had the qualifications to order them around.

All sorts of rumors popped up. Those within the palace looked at Ning Liang with both awe and envy. The other two court ladies were also polite to her.

Hai Lanlan took all of this in and her heart remained calm throughout. This was because she firmly believed that the reason His Highness took in Ning Liang was completely unrelated to the relations between a man and a woman.

But she was also curious. Just what origin did the Ning Family share with His Highness? Otherwise, with His Highness' current status, there was no need for them to value the Ning Family and support and guide them.

That's right, he was supporting and guiding them.

With Ning Liang in the palace, even if Qin Yu didn't say anything, there wouldn't be another person in the Demonic Path that would provoke the Ning Family again.

But because she lacked information, Hai Lanlan only understood half of it. It was true that Qin Yu was supporting the Ning Family, but another reason he kept Ning Liang here was because he didn't want her to expose his identity.

Although they had only exchanged a look that day in the hall, Qin Yu knew that girl had probably recognized him.

After packing up the nine line blood lotuses, he gifted them to a fully satisfied Zhao Qianyuan and sent him away. Qin Yu thought for two days and finally decided to see her.

After receiving a notice that His Highness wanted to see her, Ning Liang's eyes brightened. She didn't notice the looks of envy in the eyes of the maid who came to give her the message.

"Lady, please come with me."

Qin Yu looked at Ning Liang as she respectfully bowed. Her appearance was even more similar to Ning Ling than before. He fell silent for a moment, an absent-minded look on his face.

After several breaths of time, he lightly coughed and said, "Rise."

Ning Liang looked up at that strange yet familiar face. Her lips moved but no words came out.

Qin Yu smiled. He lifted a hand and traced his face. "I never thought that anyone would see through this face, but who would have imagined that a little girl like you could do so. I'm very curious; how did you accomplish that?"

Ning Liang's eyes widened. She never thought that Qin Yu would actually directly acknowledge her. To change his appearance and name and then enter the Demonic Path, he must have experienced unimaginable difficulties in doing so. As she thought about his current status, if he were to be uncovered by anyone…her heart clutched and she hurriedly said, "Your Highness, please do not worry, I will never tell anyone!"

She suddenly felt some fear. Authority and power could change the hearts and minds of people. Was the Qin Yu of today the same as the one she met at Four Seasons City?

In order to keep this secret, would he…

Qin Yu could immediately see through Ning Liang's thoughts. He wryly smiled and shook his head. "Stop your ridiculous daydreaming. If I wanted to kill you to silence you, would I really need to make things so complex?" He hesitated for a moment and then said, "But about my identity, it does need to be kept a secret. Be more careful in the future. Don't even say anything in your dreams."

Ning Liang lifted her hands and covered her mouth, vigorously shaking her head. Her reaction caused Qin Yu to laugh out loud.

The light laughter caused Ning Liang to blush red. She normally wasn't like this, so why couldn't she help but play dumb in front of His Highness? But she was actually overjoyed inside, because she discovered that compared to when she met him at Four Seasons City, His Highness seemed much closer to her now.

After hesitating for a moment, she said in a small voice, "Your Highness, can you tell me why you keep on helping the Ning Family?"

Qin Yu's smile stiffened. He furrowed his eyebrows, unsure of what to say.

Ning Liang knew she had said something wrong. "This…Your Highness, please pretend I didn't ask…I was just curious…I'm sorry…"

Qin Yu took a deep breath and smiled. "It's fine. Later on, there is no need to be so formal in front of me. As for your question, I cannot tell you the reasoning right now. You will know in time."

After speaking with Ning Liang a little more, some people came to request a meeting so he dismissed her.

Once his business was finished, he leaned back against his seat, his eyes closed in exhaustion.

Since stepping into the Land of Divinity and Demons he had been struggling to change his destiny and become increasingly formidable.

From the eyes of an outsider, Qin Yu had an endless beautiful scene around him. But, who would know how much he fought, just how many desperate situations he had been in? If he had made the slightest mistake there would have been nothing left of him but bones.

But soon, he let out a deep breath and his eyes firmed with resolve. All of the feelings of weariness were swept away and his aura became strong once more. He had already come this far. It wouldn't be too far off in the future that he would be able to rule over the Holy Palace. At that time, he would have the qualifications to compete with the world.

Ning Ling, wait for me!

…

Immortal Sect, Nineheaven Mirrormoon Palace.

Several palace maids held flower baskets as they followed meekly behind, quietly walking down a road paved with white jade. Their baskets held freshly picked mystic crystal lotuses, not a single blemish on the pure white flowers. Every flower petal seemed as if it were carved from eternal ice, releasing a light chill in the air.

Recently, the Palace Master had gone into closed door seclusion and needed to consume a massive number of mystic crystal lotuses every day. Because this spirit plant couldn't be harvested ahead of time and stored, every day there were palace maids especially tasked with plucking them.

The first palace maid on the left had a respectful and dignified expression. She was a veteran within the palace, thus she was able to stand out amongst all her competitors and had the chance to become closer to the Palace Master.

Although this wasn't the first time she saw that figure within the ice pond, the palace maid was still left stunned, an enchanted look in her eyes. But she soon regained her composure and sighed inwardly. This was truly a woman so beautiful that even other women would fall for her.

And this was in a situation where cold mist rose up into the air, causing anyone who looked in to see nothing but a blur. If one could clearly see what was within, how enthralling of a sight would that be? Unfortunately, this unimaginably beautiful woman was unexpectedly one of the three heads of the Immortal Sect. No matter how close they wished to be, there was nothing they could do.

When the last basket of mystic crystal lotuses was poured into the ice pond, the palace maid gently sighed. Then, that beautiful figure in the ice pond seemed to suddenly awaken from a slumber and open her eyes.

When the eyes of both sides met, the palace maid was overjoyed. This was the first time she had seen the Palace Master's eyes. Her eyes were beautiful, as clear as the sunny cloudless skies, with not a single impurity within them.

To see such beautiful eyes before she died, she could say that she didn't have any regrets at all.

The palace maid stood up and respectfully bowed towards the ice pond. The other palace maids suddenly all revealed panicked looks. In the next moment, a heaven-shaking sound interrupted their train of thought. A terrifying strength swept out, wrapping around them and tearing them into pieces.

In an instant, the smell of blood overwhelmed the senses.

Shen Yuanyin lifted a hand, revealing a jade-white arm. She gently grasped forward and the explosive force suddenly stopped, unable to approach her at all. But, her eyebrows furrowed together. She looked down at the ice pond. There were ugly blood-drenched faces on the white mystic crystal lotuses, all of them grinning and laughing.

Puff -

Shen Yuanyin spat out a mouthful of blood. Purple Moon just happened to arrive at this time. When she saw this scene her pupils fiercely shrank and her face paled.

The runes condensed atop the ice pond began to quietly break apart. The mystic crystal lotuses also withered away.

Shen Yuanyin flew out from the ice pond. She lifted a hand and a white robe appeared out of thin air, wrapping around her perfect figure. She wiped the bloodstains from her lips and nodded her head, saying, "Honorable master, I am fine."

Purple Moon gently shivered. Fine…how could you be fine…

After reaching large success with the Sublime Lost Emotion Code, one had to achieve a state of glass-like clarity both within and without. Only like this could one power of lost emotions. Otherwise, one's soul would rapidly wither away and the body would perish soon after.

This was the only flaw within the Sublime Lost Emotion Code and also the greatest secret of Nineheaven Mirrormoon Palace. Not even Lucid Nether Domain or the Buddhist Nation knew of this. In order to prevent any suspicions, she didn't dare to pay too much attention to Shen Yuanyin's cultivation. However, she never imagined that there would be such a careless mistake in the critical moment.

That palace maid who died in satisfaction would never have imagined that this would have occurred. She simply wanted to give the Immortal Sect a warning, but she actually obtained an enormous harvest by almost destroying one of the three heads of the Immortal Sect.

Purple Moon screamed out in sorrow, "Demonic Path! Demonic Path!!!"

She had also seen the ugly faces splashed atop the mystic crystal lotuses. She would never mistake the Blue Skies Yellow Springs' Rebirth Curse.

Shen Yuanyin had an indifferent expression, as if she had simply encountered a setback and not a life-threatening danger. "Honorable master, don't worry. I will not die."

It wasn't a good idea to make a commotion of this matter. Purple Moon took a deep breath, a sharp light flooding her eyes.

Shen Yuanyin lowered her head, not a single emotion on her face. No one would have guessed that what she was thinking about right now was the happy smile on the palace maid's face before she died.

In this world, there was nothing more fearful than death. So why did she smile?