Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Shen Yuanyin opened her eyes. After a brief moment of dazedness, countless memories rushed out from the depths of her mind. She remembered her own identity and her current situation. She thought about her 'death' and the voice that had echoed in her ears.

"Qin Yu!"

She stood up and looked around. She could see everything within the small barrier.

She was now alone. That man had disappeared without a trace. Where had he gone?

Shen Yuanyin saw the withered dead ancient tree outside the barrier. Then, she felt the boundless strength within her body that had yet to be fully absorbed. A dazed look crossed her face.

Although she had no idea what had happened after she fell unconscious, when she observed the current situation and how she had died and been reborn, she could guess many, many things.

After she had fallen into the 'deep sea' of death, that man who was still missing had used some unknown method to cause the dao spirit to take root and grow, blooming and maturing in a mere hundred days. Then, he had taken the Great Dao Fruit and fed it to her.

A throbbing came from deep in her soul. It didn't fade away but became increasingly strong with time.

Finally, it turned into a vast tide that flooded her mind, crushing away all of the ice cold indifference in her heart. Shen Yuanyin's eyes turned red and faint traces of mist gathered, as if some warm liquid were appearing.

Great Dao Fruit…this was an unsurpassed lucky chance that could transform any cultivator into a Calamity Immortal. Any person in this world would have gone crazy for it.

Qin Yu had given it to her…so that she could survive…

"Where are you? Come out! Come out now!" Shen Yuanyin screamed. Her voice echoed through the barrier, but she was destined to receive no response.

This was a place deep within the pool of soup, and outside was an extreme yin and yang strength that could kill even a Calamity Immortal. Just where could Qin Yu have gone?

A fl.u.s.tered panic and an inexplicable pain surged out from her heart. Her eyes became increasingly bitter as her gaze turned blurry.

She already had a judgment in her heart, but she couldn't believe it and didn't want to believe it. Because there was no reason for him to do all that he did for her.

Suddenly, the writing on the ground fell into her line of sight. But, the current Shen Yuanyin was too occupied to see what was written.

Her gaze was focused on the dark red bloodstain. She slowly knelt down and touched her finger to the blood.

In the next moment, she could no longer hold back her tears. They rolled down her cheeks and landed on the ground.

Although the blood had dried, Shen Yuanyin could still feel Qin Yu's aura coming from it.

Old, decayed, dead…there was also an exhaustion that couldn't be hidden…because she had experienced death, her senses towards this was even keener.

This blood was filled with the taste of death!

Qin Yu had died…he had died…

Shen Yuanyin could no longer lie to herself. She lifted a hand and covered her mouth. Intense fluctuations of emotions violently erupted from deep in her heart.

All those fragmented images that once appeared in her mind and disappeared, had reappeared once more.

All of her energy was focused on these shattered images. The backlash of the Sublime Lost Emotion Code appeared once again, but she didn't pay any attention to it.

Finally, in those countless fragments of tumbling memories, she found a smiling face. He was sitting beneath a pavilion, a pot of wine in hand. His smile was bright and happy and his expression was one of joy.

She stuffily coughed. Blood flowed out from the corners of her lips and her face paled.

These two faces were different, but if she placed them atop of each other, she discovered that their facial features overlapped.

Qin Yu…it was Qin Yu…they really had known each other before…why would she forget him…what was master hiding from her…

Ten days later, Shen Yuanyin stepped out from the mountain phantom. The barrier that had reached its limits quietly shattered.

She paused but didn't look back. She broke through the extreme yin and yang strength and rushed up above the pool of soup.

Her expression was even more faint and her eyes even colder. At this point, there were no more flaws in her Sublime Lost Emotion Code; her boundary had reached perfection.

But in the depths of her eyes, in a place no one could touch, there was a deep grieving sadness. The words etched into the ground constantly tumbled in her mind.

"We will see each again one day. I hope that Palace Master can help me with my problem and help solve the puzzle in my mind…" There were more words below, but they had been ruined by the splash of blood.

What do you mean we will see each other again one day? You have already died…that person, even before death arrived for him and he vanished into ashes, he was still thinking about her and trying to console her…

Qin Yu, I have no idea who you are and what you have experienced with me, but in this life, I will never ever forget you!

Several months later, within a forbidden zone of Nineheaven Mirrormoon Palace, a crystal divine throne trembled and fluctuations spread out across the Immortal Sect.

Ten days passed. The winds and clouds changed as the masters of the Lucid Nether Domain and Buddhist Nation appeared together.

The flow of news was tightly restricted. It was unknown what occurred, but after a brief negotiation between the Chu Emperor and these two leaders, he returned to the Emperor's Palace without mentioning anything.

On this day, Ying Capital's great array moved, as if there was some instability.

Outside Ying Capital, a pale-faced and thin Shen Yuanyin appeared. Her aura was cold as she welcomed the excited Great Elder Purple Moon who was walking towards her. She coldly asked, "Honorable master, may I ask whether you know a man named Qin Yu?"

Purple Moon immediately stiffened.

…

Time passed, year after year. Although news of the Demonic Path's Holy Son perishing caused a great stir for some time, in the end, the dead had no value. This commotion soon passed and was no longer mentioned by others.

Mu Mo appeared once more. It was said that after being tempered by this experience, his cultivation had made tremendous progress. The training of his Demon Body seemed to pass 10,000 miles every day and he wasn't too far away from the Emperor level. The terrified and uneasy Mu Family regained their previous arrogance as they overcame this difficult period of time.

Wuma Sizhan returned from the Sea of Purgatory. Although he had suffered tremendous wounds, he had also obtained some formidable lucky chance. After going into seclusion for two years, he broke through the Calamity Immortal realm and seized the title of number one powerhouse amongst the younger generation once more, becoming the elder senior-apprentice brother of all his juniors.

Because Wuma Sizhan was too dazzling, two other rapidly growing disciples seemed relatively common instead. They were Dong Hanzhu and Sun Zifu. In particular, the latter. After breaking through several boundaries throughout the years, his momentum caught up with his peers.

The Holy Son Palace at Eastern Sun City had been completely sealed away. Besides some minor palace ladies who were willing to watch over this place for the dead Holy Son, there was no more life. From the initial noisy arrival to his sudden death, less than a year had passed. This caused the entire Demonic Path to understand what a 'drastic rise and equally drastic fall' meant.

These were only minor matters that occurred in the Demonic Path. If one looked throughout the entire Land of Divinity and Demons, this news wouldn't even last for three days and three nights.

Time flowed on continuously. It would never slow down for anyone as it rolled on towards the unknown future.

…

33 years after, Sea of Purgatory.

There was a monster beast that crawled on all fours and had a head covered with eyes. It was currently chewing on something. Right in front of it was the corpse of another monster beast that had been killed. The air was flooded with the stench of blood.

Although the monster beast was wounded, its eyes were still sharp and keen. It clearly wasn't too injured. It cautiously looked out as it ate, keeping its guard up the entire time.

Without warning, the monster beast's scales suddenly tightened. It seemed to sense some sort of extremely terrifying aura.

But before it could run away, there was a loud 'cracking' sound. The monster beast's neck twisted at an exaggerated angle and its massive body tumbled to the ground.

There was the sound of light footsteps. A black-robed man appeared. His manner was calm and free. His face was fair and handsome, and there was a certain dignity and pride about him that was hard to describe.

With his slender figure, his handsome appearance, and his terrifying temperament, when all of these factors were combined in one body, it was enough for most women in this world to go crazy for him.

This face seemed strange and unknown, but if one looked carefully, they could also find many familiar things.

The black-robed man arrived next to the corpse of the monster beast. He reached out his fingers and grasped. The flesh and blood of the monster beast rapidly withered away. Drops of blood flew out, forming into a sphere of blood in the man's hand.

A small phantom of the monster beast tumbled around in the sphere of blood. It growled at its murderer, as if asking why something so lovable and cute like it had to be killed.

What a shame, the black-robed man didn't have any pity for this monster beast, even if it were a 'beautiful' female beast.

He took out a jade bottle and opened its seal. There was an eruption of beastly roars that numerous thunderclaps. Slaughter energy raged out, piercing straight into the mind!

The black-robed man furrowed his eyebrows. He flicked the jade bottle a few times and the beast roars subsided.

Whoosh -

The blood sphere flew towards the bottle, shrinking as it did. When it flew inside, the black-robed man couldn't help but reveal a smile.

These past years, because he had been extremely bored, he had managed to scr.a.p.e out many good things. While this soul blood jade bottle wasn't some peak treasure, it was actually very convenient.

After checking with his divine sense, the black-robed man muttered, "After I hunt some more, I should have enough for the purpleback bluewing ants to reach the third stage of their awakening."

That's right, this strange yet familiar man who was destined to earn countless crazy fan girls if he walked through the world was Qin Yu.

In order to save Shen Yuanyin, he had consumed his lifespan and blood essence until he was no more than a dried up lamp. Luckily, besides bearing a Great Dao Fruit, the Great Dao Tree in itself was a supreme treasure.

In addition, because Qin Yu's blood essence had been drawn out and fused with the dao spirit, Qin Yu's bloodline was interlinked with the Great Dao Tree. The little blue lamp had taken action. It had used its great supernatural methods to fuse the dying Qin Yu with the Great Dao Tree, taking advantage of it to repair his source.

Qin Yu had already woken up 15 years ago. But what a pity, Ying Capital's great array still kept him sealed in and he wasn't able to find a way to break out. Qin Yu could only wander around throughout the Sea of Purgatory.

For these past years, in order to seek out a flaw in Ying Capital's great array, he had wandered through almost every corner of the Sea of Purgatory. Because he was bored, he would do idle things. If he had nothing to do to pass the time, he walked around and killed monster beasts and evil spirits. It was unknown how many such beasts he had killed as they howled in sorrow.

The Sea of Purgatory hadn't opened many times, but each time it did a massive number of cultivators would come in, each one of them with a tyrannical cultivation and background. Disregarding those that left, those that died within would usually leave behind all of their wealth and belongings.

In the past, even the dead Water Marid was able to find something like the jadesoul iceheart, a treasure that had nearly vanished from the world. From this, it could be seen how rich the Sea of Purgatory was in treasures.

Nowadays, most of these things had entered Qin Yu's storage ring and become his property. Moreover, there were lucky chances that were bred in the Sea of Purgatory to begin with. If Qin Yu could obtain them, he naturally didn't let them ago…to say he was filthy rich from scavenging wasn't an understatement.

He wouldn't let those creatures he killed go to waste. For those that were the right fit, he took their blood essence and souls to help the purpleback bluewing ants carry out the third stage of their transformation.

Once complete, the purpleback bluewing ants would have the strength of a Calamity Immortal. Their might would be extremely terrifying. It was something to look forward to.

He punched monster beasts in the north and trampled across evil spirits in the south. Whoever didn't find him pleasing to their eyes could come up and deal with him themselves! While he was a little bit bored these past 15 years, he did pass his time happily.

But happiness was just happiness. If he really couldn't leave the Sea of Purgatory, then even if he survived, he would just become a good bite for that unknown yet extremely fierce character who had cultivated a good fortune here a long time ago…alright, whether or not he was bitten, if in the end Qin Yu couldn't leave, things would become a tragedy for him.

Qin Yu didn't want to become a tragedy, especially now that he had the qualifications to face the Immortal Sect. Ning Ling was still waiting for him outside.

"Just what do I need to do to leave here…" He looked up at the gray skies and muttered helplessly to himself.