Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Night.

You Qi looked at the deeply slumbering Qin Yu. Her fingers were twined together with his. She gazed upon his wrinkled eyebrows, not daring to close her eyes.

The devil mark's backlash had erupted. She could clearly feel two consciousnesses fighting within Qin Yu.

After an unknown length of time, Qin Yu's tense body gradually relaxed. You Qi finally let out a deep breath and only then did she discover that her clothes were drenched in sweat.

A wave of weariness rushed over her. After a careful inspection to ensure that Qin Yu was fine, she fell asleep in several breaths of time.

These short several hours were no different from a round of brutal torture for Qin Yu. She had watched on, completely helpless as Qin Yu struggled to survive.

When Qin Yu woke up, the first thing he saw was her thin and pallid face. Ever since she realized his situation, she hadn't relaxed for even a single moment.

A feeling of guilt rose up in the depths of his heart. When he looked at this woman in front of him, he had no idea what he had to do in order to repay her.

In an absent-minded daze, You Qi's eyelashes fluttered and she slowly opened her eyes. As their gazes met, a brilliant smile broke free on her face.

Qin Yu couldn't help but acknowledge that he was moved by this smile. After hesitating for a moment he held onto her hand and said, "You Qi, thank you."

Looking at her hand that was being held by Qin Yu, You Qi's smile brightened. She squeezed back tightly, telling herself that since she caught hold of him today, she would never let him go.

…

At almost the same time, on an island off the distant end of Great Chu, Old Ghost opened his eyes, his face pale. He was able to confirm that Speechless's aura had disappeared!

He was well aware of what this meant. After a long period of silence he was unable to suppress the roiling feelings in his chest. He clenched his teeth and roared out, "Bastard!"

He stood up. With a flick of his sleeves a wild strength erupted, crushing everything around him and erasing all traces of himself.

Old Ghost shot into the skies. Space fiercely twisted and swallowed up his body.

No one knew that a long time ago, after a certain event, Speechless had already become a back road he had prepared for himself.

But now, this back road had been blocked…and if this person could kill Speechless, then killing him wouldn't be hard either. Thus, he wasn't full of anger and craving revenge. Rather, he felt panic and uneasiness as he fled to the west.

He wanted to flee, flee to the endless sea of the west…who knew whether that useless trash Speechless had exposed his position!

…

The Chu Empire occupied a vast territory supported by boundless lands. To the far west was the boundless sea. Here, islands were spread out like stars in the skies. Somewhere in these waters, several islands were connected to each other, their shape resembling a carp. Because of it, this collection of islands was referred to as Carp Archipelago.

Within the archipelago, around where the eye of the carp should be, there was an island that was several miles in size. But, what was astounding was that there were actually tall mountains covering this small island. Dozens of mountains were piled together, desperately towering into the skies. After seeing this, one couldn't help but feel worried that this little island would eventually topple over.

Beneath the mountain range there were valleys filled with ancient trees and vines. Old Ghost tightly furrowed his eyebrows together. He looked down at several terrifyingly large holes that extended down as far as the eye could see.

A stone pillar drilled out, shooting straight into the heavens. Its rough surface was covered with traces of erosion. It had clearly existed for a long, long time.

But between the blurry marks atop the stone pillar, traces of blood quietly extended upwards. They drilled all the way to the top of the stone pillar where a skeleton was sitting cross-legged, weaving together 'bloodlines' on its white bones.

Because of the existence of these 'bloodlines', the skeleton gave off a feeling that it was still alive. As if countless years ago, it had been exposed here in the world, doomed to suffer the onslaught of endless wind and rain.

"There is less and less god blood…" Old Ghost muttered to himself. There was a cold chill in his eyes as well as an inconcealable fear somewhere even deeper within.

Speechless had been killed and the god blood was continuously decreasing. Old Ghost could feel the smell of death rushing towards his direction once again and it left him feeling breathless.

He turned around left. Soon, the indigenous people living atop the archipelago received a message from their Lord Priest. The evil god was about to escape. If the tribe wished to ensure the continuation of their people and inheritance then they would need to begin a large-scale sacrifice and offer the power of flesh and blood to suppress the evil god.

Throughout the various great tribes of the archipelago, the sounds of happy talk and laughter soon disappeared. Those that had the qualifications to be sacrificed were all young men and women. They hugged their children and knelt in front of their parents. After deeply bowing, they strode towards their doom, their grief-filled faces full of firm resolve.

This was an unavoidable matter that had repeated itself since ancient times. But, as long as their parents and children were able to continue living on, they did not fear death.

Lines of indigenous men and women were led to the stone pillar by the priests. After bowing and praying, they leapt in. The giant hole in the ground was like the open maw of a giant beast. It swallowed them up, leaving no trace behind.

Old Ghost coldly watched all of this occur. Although this 'raising' function was becoming increasingly less useful, it was all he could do right now. If he had been able to kill the Demon Sovereign outside of Thistle Capital, he wouldn't have been placed in such a desperate situation.

"Damn it!"

Old Ghost cursed and walked away. This 'raising' would require a period of time. He couldn't delay here any longer.

Living was a wonderful miracle that one should be thankful for. He had to value and utilize every second of time available to him, not wasting even the briefest moment.

Two months later, the 'raising' finally came to an end. At the expense of millions upon millions of native lives, the decreasing trend of the god blood finally stabilized.

Old Ghost let out a deep breath but he didn't truly feel relaxed. He knew that this sort of 'stable' condition wouldn't last for too long.

The island natives wouldn't be able to carry out a second sacrificial ceremony for at least another hundred years. During this period of time he needed to find some other method to enhance the production of god blood.

Half a year had passed since Speechless died. Everything had been calm and quiet so far. He thought that he might have been overly wary; perhaps it was time to return to the Land of Divinity and Demons.

In the vast and endless sea, all one could see was water all around. A man and woman walked over the waves. Wherever they passed, the surface of the sea would instantly quiet down, as if it were the flat surface of a mirror.

You Qi pulled on Qin Yu's arm, a puzzled expression on her face. "My Demonic Path's influence is spread throughout the world but we still haven't been able to find any traces of Old Ghost's whereabouts. How did Your Majesty know he was hiding here?"

Qin Yu smiled. "It was the news given to me by the God Hunters."

You Qi furrowed her eyebrows together. "God Hunters? What influence is this? How come I've never heard of them before?"

Qin Yu explained, "To be exact, the God Hunters isn't a true organization. Rather, it is a union formed by numerous rogue cultivators. It's just that the threshold to join is extremely high. They purchase and sell information, as well as perform other services like assassinations."

You Qi wrinkled her nose. "Is Your Majesty saying that I don't have the qualifications to learn about the God Hunters right now?"

Qin Yu helplessly shook his head. "It's not like that." He and You Qi were extremely discreet in their movements; even the Demonic Path didn't know their whereabouts. But, they had still been found by the God Hunters. At least in terms of intelligence gathering, there weren't many other organizations that could match them.

Information about Old Ghost's location was given to him by the God Hunters on their own initiative because they desired to create a favorable impression. Although they were known as the God Hunters, able to perform any service and kill any person, there were still certain limits. For instance, the Demonic Path's Holy Monarch.

The status represented by this title was something that the God Hunters dared not touch. Of course, another possibility was that no one could pay the price to hunt down the Holy Monarch.

On the horizon where the sea and sky met, a mountain range suddenly appeared. The closer they approached, the more mountains appeared. Finally they could see several islands connected together.

You Qi pursed her lips. She softly asked, "It's here?"

Qin Yu nodded. He turned and traced her hair, smiling as he said, "Don't worry. Just wait here for me to return."

With a flick of his sleeves, seawater automatically rose up. It formed a water bubble that wrapped around You Qi.

Pa -

The water bubble fell into the sea and vanished from sight.

Qin Yu took a deep breath and walked towards the archipelago. Faint traces of an invisible aura spread out from his body. It resonated with the heavens and earth, touching the rule lines.

As a result, winds began to rise within the world. Although there were no clouds in the skies, it began to darken as if the light itself was disappearing.

The invisible aura spread over the entire archipelago. The monster beasts racing through the mountain forests started to howl and sob, falling to the ground and shivering. The priests amongst the tribes who stepped upon the road of cultivation all stared with wide eyes as their complexions paled.