Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 61

The radiant reflection of the sun's rays off the mist—lingering between the steep cliffs—added to the tranquility . But the yells below the mist reverberated endlessly, breaking away the peace .

Pheasant King's feathers fell to the ground, while his red comb was broken and bleeding all over his face . Yet he pays it no heed and stared fiercely at his enemy .

Standing across from him was a two-meter-long feral wolf with its sleek bluish fur . It had a single eye while the other one became a hole .

A corner of the valley was in complete disarray from the battle, yet the medicine garden behind the Pheasant King was untouched . Actually, Pheasant King's thought process was very simple, 'Your daddy, I, can never taste it, so how could I let a dumb thing like you destroy it!'

The feral wolf opened its maw and a bluish mass gathered in its throat . Pheasant King's tiny eyes showed fear—but not only he does not retreat—and flapped his wings to attack instead, pecking ferociously at the feral wolf .

The feral wolf's lone eye flashed cunningly . It suddenly lowered its head, allowing Pheasant King to peck it until its fur was ripped and bone showed . With a howl of pain, it launched the blue mass straight at Pheasant King's head .

It only grazed him a bit, but it was enough to damage his red comb . A direct hit would have killed the Pheasant King on the spot . The feral wolf felt extreme hate towards the one who pecked its eye and wanted to kill him at all cost .

This time, Pheasant King's dodging came late and wailed inside, 'My life is over! Goodbye, my beauties, this king can no longer keep you company!'

A sudden gale came diverting the blue mass from landing on Pheasant King and made a big hole in the ground instead .

The fur of the feral wolf was standing on end and its hind legs were stretched taut, wanting to jump away in hope of escaping .

"What a sharp beast you are, but don't think you can leave now that you're in my valley!" Qin Yu waved his hand and the feral wolf smashed into the stone cliff . It now had many broken bones and unable to move for now .

After a narrow escape from death, Pheasant King cried tears of joy, as he threw himself at Qin Yu and hugged his thigh . His crying and wailing were heartrending .

Qin Yu gave some energy to Pheasant King to stop his bleeding and rousing his consciousness .

"Not a bad performance . The pills inside are yours . "

Pheasant King opened the storage bag with practiced ease—turning happy immediately—as he half closed his eyes . He held the storage bag under his wing—and while looking at the feral wolf— he flapping his wing in an arrogant manner, 'Are you shocked that I have a boss, fool?'

The feral wolf struggled to stand, arching his body and letting out a low howl . It didn't want to die here .

Qin Yu's eyes flashed with amazement and waved his hand, "Today, I will spare you . Go . "

The feral wolf laid on the ground in respect, then left with an unsteady gait .

Pheasant King furiously stomped, unwilling to let it off this easily .

Qin Yu smiled, "You pecked its eye, while it made you bleed a little . As all debts were paid, don't be so ruthless . "

This feral wolf might have gained awareness, but it was clear it couldn't break the formation . How did it get in? Maybe . . . Qin Yu arrived at the edge of the valley—removed the soil—and exposed an ash colored spirit stone .

He frowned . Just as he predicted—after several inspections—the spirit stones were affected . Or the strain on the spiritual energy was too heavy .

Before You Ji left, they searched the area together, but the formation operated normally . So why were the spiritual stones depleted in such a short time?

After reaching Golden Core, his Divine Sense greatly increased, enough to enable him to study formations . If the opportunity arose, he must keep an eye out for any related items .

After he replaced the spirit stones and made sure the formation is operating normally, Qin Yu returned to the wooden house, then sat on the praying mat, deep in thought . When the Demon Body evolved, he also reached the Golden Core realm . This increased his confidence and made him believe there was nothing to fear when walking around the Southern Nation . But the appearance of Tian Xingmo—when he killed Shen Haimo—was like an alarm .

Even though he had many abilities—when faced against a Nascent Soul—he would still be crushed . The 108 fish fangs refined into the magic treasure Drifting Arms were used up . If he had another encounter with a Nascent Soul cultivator, then even the Blood Escaping Technique wouldn't guarantee a successful escape .

Of course, the Nascent Souls cultivators in Southern Nation can be counted on one hand, with the chances—of encountering one—very small . But this encounter helped Qin Yu wake up in time and calmed his restless heart .

After reaching Golden Core, the next step would be Nascent Soul . While any realms beyond Nascent Soul, there are only rumors . His long road of cultivation has only recently begun .

Qin Yu entered seclusion .

A month later, his Golden Core cultivation stabilized and he was impatient to leave seclusion . Ever since he started cultivating with pills—based on his current cultivation and rotten tallent—he could no longer bear improving at a snail's pace .

Tthe pill residues were eliminated thanks to the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo . And his unsteady foundation could be settled through purifying his energy when he failed to break through . Thus, Qin Yu must continue his path of pill taking without looking back .

But soon, Qin Yu met a problem and had to stop his cultivation endeavor .

The reason was simple: he had no pills!

He had the Little Blue Lamp—a heaven-defying item—capable of upgrading pills and speeding the growth of plants . And to say he didn't have pills was laughable, but true nonetheless . Little Blue Lamp might be able to increase spiritual plant growth, but its area was limited to only a foot wide . Thus, it was unable to satisfy Qin Yu's needs .

The main point was that Golden Core ranked spiritual plants were considered very precious and were unlikely to be sold randomly . It was feasible to exchange pills for ingredients, but it would also catch the attention of a Nascent Soul monster, and bring disaster!

Rummaging through his thoughts—Qin Yu sadly discovered—his path laid in buying seeds and becoming self-sustaining . After having this ascertained, he smiled bitterly, 'Let's take it slow . ' First was safety and maybe—after reaching Nascent Soul—he wouldn't need to worry anymore .

But with this speed, he had no idea how long it would take to reach the Nascent Soul realm . Not to mention the invisible shackles he had on his body . To reach the Nascent Soul realm, he must first find a more powerful demonic blood and upgrade his Demon Body .

Three days later—after supplying the bamboo dragonfly with energy—he left the mountain valley to buy Golden Core ranked seeds .

. . .

Qin Yu has traveled to the surrounding great cities—in a ten thousand li range—for more than half a month, only to come up empty handed . The Golden Core ranked spiritual plant seeds had almost completely vanished from the market . While the occasional occurrence had excessive price .

The Ancient Immortal Valley—the greatest cultivation sect—interfered because the Southern Nation was threatened by the Demonic Faction's invasion . It declared that all the seeds up to Golden Core rank are strategic resources and forbidden for being sold privately .

Qin Yu's final path was been blocked, yet his rage-filled heart had nowhere to vent . The Ancient Immortal Valley was honored as the first sect in Southern Nation . It wasn't reputable just because of its large business in pill industry, but also because of its countless experts . Rumor has it that the number of Nascent Souls it held wasn't limited to only one .

In a corner of a restaurant, Qin Yu became increasingly glum .

"Hehe, the Ancient Immortal Valley played a good move this time!" a man at a nearby table sneered .

The others' expressions changed .

"Silence your voice, Brother Xu!"

"The walls have ears!"

"Don't talk nonsense, or trouble will follow . "

The Xu surnamed cultivator laughed coldly, "What's there to fear? We can't even discuss what the Ancient Immortal Valley did? The selling of the spiritual plants and seeds has been banned, saying they are strategic resources . They bought them at a conveniently low price . The Ancient Immortal Valley really made a killing this time!"

"Hmph!" a cultivator at another table laughed in anger, "What an idiot to only look for money! The war would have been much more devastating if it weren't for the Ancient Immortal Valley providing pills for the Alliance . The way I see it, this fellow Daoist Xu had a tough life, as his heart is only filled with rancor!"

The cultivator surnamed Xu slapped the table and stood up, "What did you say, boy!"

"I said you're dumb as a pig!"

Seeing as he was about to fight, the two cultivators at the table immediately began reasoning with him, as they pulled him outside . Then they cursed inwardly, 'Nevermind saying the Ancient Immortal Valley isn't much, but you even want to start a fight . If this gets out of hand, everyone will know and it will bring you trouble . What will you do then?'

If you want to die, then don't drag us with you!

With this disturbance, the atmosphere in the restaurant heated up, as many rumors were exchanged .

"Hehe, I know a secret regarding the Ancient Immortal Valley . " The one who spoke—intentionally lowered his voice—barely hiding his pleased expression . Seeing many looking over, he laughed a bit and began prancing before the climax, "Ancient Immortal Valley has spiritual beasts as protectors, the ancient Blue Winged Ants . . . "

"Tch, everyone knows this, so why show off!"

"What secret, just a waste of my time!"

"Don't speak if you have nothing good to say, or you'll be ridiculed!"

The old man felt resentful, and asked in anger, "What do you guys know, I didn't even finish! You all know the Ancient Immortal Valley has Blue Winged Ants, but do you know why the Blue Winged Ants stays in Ancient Immortal Valley?"

His eyes swept disdainfully, and sneered when he saw everyone stumped, "That is because the Ancient Immortal Valley has an ancient Radiant Scarlet Tree passed on through generations! Do you know what The Radiant Scarlet Tree is? It is an ancient spiritual plant, that gathers the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and condensed it into Radiant Scarlet Fruit . "

"The Radiant Scarlet Fruit that can assist a Golden Core's cultivation?" a cultivator cried .

The old man glanced over, "Someone is knowledgeable . When compared to pills—for a Golden Core cultivator—The Radiant Scarlet Fruit is much more precious . This fruit contains a great amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy, that—when ingested—it will immediately improve your cultivation . It has no side effects, but with a price far above a normal Golden Core pill . "

After a moment of silence, the restaurant was in an uproar .

"Senior, please come join me for a cup of wine . "

"Hurry and bring several of your specialties, I want to invite senior for a drink . "

"Elder brother, come here and let's have a chat . "

The old man's smile almost reached his ears . He faked coyness as he sat down at a table filled with delicious dishes, digging right in . This person was fierce—shooting his mouth nonstop—and made the other people in the restaurant stare blankly . He went on and on even in the moment of his departure, when he was repeatedly asked to stay .

Qin Yu threw a spirit stone for the bill, then left .

In a narrow alley, he quickly blocked someone's path .

The old man frowned, "Junior, you must want to die, to block this old man's path!"

He was cold, yet imposing .

Qin Yu said calmly, "Junior is from the Ancient Immortal Valley and I'm very interested in what you have said . "

The old man's face contorted, "Rubbish! You're clearly asking for trouble for pretending to be from Ancient Immortal Valley!"

Qin Yu laughed coldly and released his Golden Core cultivation, enshrouding the old man with it, "Old fool, you must be tired of living to dare spread this information . "

The old man collapsed, paralyzed, "Spare me senior, spare me!"

Qin Yu shouted lowly, "Say it! Where did you hear that the Ancient Immortal Valley has a Radiant Scarlet Tree? You better not lie!"

The old man hastily replied, "A mysterious man told me . He gave me a few spirit stones, and told me to spread it around . "

Qin Yu eyes flashed, "How did you know he told the truth?"

"The mysterious man showed me a Radiant Scarlet Fruit, a true Radiant Scarlet Fruit . My cultivation might be low, but I am still able to recognize it after years of handling spiritual plants . "

Qin Yu pondered, then smiled coldly, "Leave . I will let you go today, but if you dare speak nonsense again, I won't forgive you!"

The old man was overjoyed, "I Don't dare, don't dare!" and left in a rush .

Qin Yu rubbed his chin . He might not know who is spreading the information regarding the Radiant Scarlet Tree, but it must be true .

In The Art of Medicine, there was a detail record of how to grow a Radiant Scarlet Tree . If he could get his hands on the reproductive root with the Little Blue Lamp's help, it will mature, bloom and bear fruit .

Then, the problem with the lack of Golden Core pills will be solved!

Moreover, the Ancient Immortal Valley had Blue Winged Ants, while his two Thousand Gold Trees have already evolved into Great Sun Trees .

Qin Yu's mouth revealed a faint smile, 'Ah, Ancient Immortal Valley, since you won't allow me to get spiritual plant seeds, you can't blame me when I'll ruin your plan . '