Refining the Mountains and Rivers

"Emperor Zhou!"

Angered roars sounded out one after another. Ice cold gazes gathered from all directions.

Outside the pool of soup, space instantly froze, all fluctuations suppressed.

Emperor Zhou was without expression. "I did not break the rules. So, it is best if you all abide by your previous promise."

He paused for a moment. His eyes sharpened and he continued, "Otherwise, everyone here will become my enemy today! I will never let it go!"

If you all do not keep your promise, then I might be forced to retreat today. But in the future, I will come for each and every one of you. No one will be able to escape.

This was a stark n.a.k.e.d threat that wasn't concealed at all. With Emperor Zhou's status, it was a bit shameful to say such words.

But from another angle, the solemn Emperor Zhou didn't even care about his face anymore. Who wouldn't consider his words carefully?

The angry people all changed their complexions. Their anger retreated as fear grew to take its place.

Emperor Zhou was absolutely someone who would do what he said. No one here truly wished to provoke him.

They clenched their teeth, their complexions becoming increasingly ugly. But, they could only suppress these thoughts in their hearts, cursing themselves for having misjudged.

Who could imagine that Emperor Zhou would use such methods? As they looked at the people fleeing all over in the virtual world, they couldn't help but clench their jaws.

These idiots. That boy had shed his source so his strength had drastically increased for a short period of time. If they all kept running around like headless flies, they would be killed off by him sooner or later.

They should have joined forces! With so many people assisting each other, they might have been able to endure until the end. As long as that brat's source dried up, he would be dead for sure!

…

The more everyone fled, the more fear they felt. This was because they discovered that they seemed to have fallen into a massive spider web.

In this web, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't run away. That terrifying dark star behind them could easily lock onto them.

Every few moments, terrifying fluctuations would erupt. Then an aura would rapidly fade away.

This meant that another cultivator in this virtual world had been struck dead on the spot.

"Things can't continue like this, otherwise we're all going to die eventually!" This thought appeared in the hearts of the fleeing cultivators. Their deathly pale faces immediately revealed a ruthless light in their eyes.

Since they couldn't escape, they would fight. If one person wasn't a match for him, then they would just all attack together.

"Stop running! Fight him!"

"I'll fight him!"

"Let us join forces! We can kill him!"

Rage-filled roars sounded out from all over, like numerous peals of thunder.

Shua -

Shua -

Within the virtual world, cultivators began to appear and soar in a target direction.

Zhan Lingtian's terrifying strength had left them horrified. If they couldn't kill him then they could only be killed by him.

No one thought themselves smarter than everyone else and chose to hide instead. This was because it would only mean they would die first.

One person, two people, three people…more and more cultivators appeared, each one looking as if they were facing their mortal enemy. Their auras erupted around them.

Space had long since collapsed, forming giant black vortexes. But, the auras of these people connected together, transforming into an invisible mountain that suppressed the area.

This destructive strength produced by the collapsed strength was crushed before it could even approach them.

This scene gave everyone a boost of confidence. Their originally pale complexions calmed down a little.

Even the collapsing world couldn't shake them, much less a mere single Zhan Lingtian.

He was strong, but could he be stronger than the heavens and earth? If he dared come, they would all attack together and kill him!

Time slowly passed. Zhan Lingtian's perception vanished and he didn't attack anymore. It was as if even he felt troubled by the combined strength of these people.

As soon as this thought appeared, these people began to feel much more confident in themselves.

Qin Yu stood in the crowd, his eyebrows lightly furrowed together. But, there was no relaxation in his eyes.

Did Zhan Lingtian's silence really mean he was afraid? While this was a reasonable explanation, he constantly felt as if something didn't seem right.

Perhaps…he wasn't afraid, but had deliberately allowed them to gather together so he could deal with them all at once.

Qin Yu's breathing quickened and his scalp tingled with numbness. If this was true, just how strong was Zhan Lingtian that he would do something so preposterous?

He took a deep breath and suppressed his tumbling emotions. His eyes fell upon someone not too far away.

Everyone here stayed together because they couldn't find a way out from this hopeless situation. Yet, this boy Xu Wenze had a life-maintaining treasure in hand and still chose not to flee.

Why was he staying here? Was he waiting for death? Or was he thinking of picking up some small advantages and didn't want to give up until the end?

No matter what the reason was, he was simply stupid to the extreme. Could Xu Wenze have thought that no one sensed the treasure he had in his hands?

Qin Yu no longer dared to underestimate anyone here. Since he knew, there had to be someone else here that had discovered the same thing. If he stayed here any longer, then even if he didn't die to Zhan Lingtian, he would still be eliminated by someone else.

But this was his choice. In this situation, Qin Yu found it hard to protect himself, so how could he have the thoughts to care about others.

All sorts of haphazard thoughts filled Qin Yu's mind. Deep in his heart, he indeed felt envy. There was even some greed that he couldn't conceal.

But who cared even if he obtained that life-maintaining object? If he ran from here, did that mean he wouldn't die?

Don't be naïve…in the end, this boy Xu Wenze had a good life. He couldn't envy him for it.

Suddenly, Qin Yu's complexion changed. He looked up towards the skies.

His movements were the same as those around him.

It was clear they had also sensed the arrival of this terrifying aura.

Zhan Lingtian had come!

Even if their senses were a little slower, as everyone discovered this, their faces slowly turned pale again.

No one here was an idiot. They had been consoling themselves before this, but now that Zhan Lingtian had actually arrived, they couldn't continue to deceive themselves any longer.

What kind of ridiculous nonsense were they thinking before when they thought he was afraid of them? It seemed that he really had intentionally allowed them to go free for the time being so that everyone would gather together.

This bastard!

Was he really so confident that he could kill everyone here with his strength alone?

No matter how much everyone roared in their hearts, they couldn't help but acknowledge that the one feeling fear wasn't Zhan Lingtian, but themselves.

Bang -

The skies disintegrated. Zhan Lingtian stepped out. His clothes tumbled around him and his rock-like face released a dreadful suppression.

His eyes were like black vortexes. They were cold and indifferent, without any fluctuation of emotion.

"Everyone has gathered. Very good."

He lifted a hand and pressed between his eyebrows. The skin split open. No blood came out. Rather, there was a faint trace of golden light.

Although this golden light was extremely weak, anyone that saw it felt themselves freeze in place.

Inexhaustible fear gushed out like awakening volcanoes. It seemed to carry with it a high temperature that raged through their bodies, igniting along their veins and causing their organs to become pained.

They couldn't touch this golden light…

"Kill him!"

It was unknown who shouted this first, but the various cultivators all revealed crazed expressions.

Strike the first blow and gain the initiative!

Rumble rumble -

Wild fluctuations of strength instantly erupted. They were like a sudden avalanche, their momentum causing the ground to quake.

All sorts of colored divine lights recklessly wove together. It looked as if a rainbow had appeared in the virtual world.

Zhan Lingtian had no fear on his face. He slowly took back his hand, pulling out a golden sword from between his eyebrows.

He lifted a hand and cut down. Without any sound, that mass of raging divine lights was neatly split in half.

Then, a wound appeared between the eyes of the cultivators that attacked. It was rich dark red in color, as if a third eye had been opened up.

"How…how is this possible…?" A cultivator mumbled to himself. Shock flashed on his face. He turned his eyes around, fear within them.

In the next moment, this person with a mark between their eyebrows was sundered in half. All of his vitality was extinguished and his soul also scattered into nothingness.

It wasn't just one person that died this time; this person had only been a start. Soon there was a second, a third, a fourth…numerous cultivators began to drop down, slain.

"Ahh!"

A cultivator who was split in half cried out in pain. The two halves of his body plopped to the ground before they started to join back together.

Flesh and blood wriggled together on the surface of the wound. They wove back together, immediately merging, fully restored.

But before this person could smile, he miserably cried out once more. His restored body was torn in half once again.

This continued several times over until the cultivator's strength was exhausted. It was clear that this cultivator had some formidable life-maintaining card, but he had still died here in despair and unwillingness.

With a single sword stroke, almost all of the cultivators had perished.

Of course, since this was 'almost all', there were definitely some fish that evaded the net. For instance, the Water Marid that had transformed into a mass of black mist.

Because of how his natural born body was, even though over half of the source of his black water had been dispersed beneath this sword, he still managed to preserve his life.

Not too far away, a deathly Xu Wenze staggered to the ground. A blue jade slip in his hands had been split in two.

This jade slip was covered in golden ancient characters. Although it was unknown what they said, these characters that were filled with vast and enormous potential had started to collapse and scatter.

It was because of this ancient letter Xu Jian gave him that Xu Wenze was able to survive. He spat out a mouthful of blood, even more distressed and wounded than before.

There was a flash of bitterness and helplessness in his eyes. The reason he had stayed here for so long wasn't because he was too stupid to know that fleeing was the best option, but because he didn't want to disappoint his ancestor Xu Jian. Although he had no idea what this so-called great good fortune was, it was likely extremely important to ancestor Xu Jian.

But in the end, it had all been for nothing…

He apologized in his heart. Then, he turned his hand and a pale key appeared.

He had wanted to try his best to repay his ancestor. But, this didn't mean he was stupid.

If it was life or death, he knew which side to choose.

His fingers tried to move, but at this time, Xu Wenze's complexion changed. He didn't know when, but a flow of black water had tied him up.

The Water Marid's voice sounded out, "If you don't want to leave, then I won't mind myself!"

Bang -

A wild strength crashed over. The black flow of water was sent tumbling away, shaken off into the air.

"It's you! You despicable boy!"