Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chief - > Chieftain

…

The massive sealed stone that was as large as an ancient mountain began to tremble. Ripples spread through the air. Then, as if a layer of dust was being slowly shaken off, the surface of the sealed stone started to gradually emit light. Lines of shimmering light appeared. They seemed to come from the sealed stone and drilled into the endless void. Like roots of a great tree drawing in nutrients, there were so many that it was impossible to count.

Soon all of these lines shined with a brilliant light. But, the light didn't spread out. Rather, it gathered in the void, as if a sun had been formed in space. Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows because at this time his aura escaped his control and flew out, fusing right into this 'sun'.

But no accidents occurred. Qin Yu relaxed his eyebrows. He suddenly felt that he had a close relationship with this sealed stone below him. As for the 'sun' that absorbed his aura, it rapidly dimmed down. It wasn't extinguished. Rather, it turned into a white mark.

Qin Yu instantly understood that this was a sealed stone mark, the symbol for becoming a sequencer and the key that allowed a person to freely leave the Sealed Stone World. Without him needing to do anything, the mark that had absorbed his aura flew over on its own initiative. Qin Yu didn't hinder it and allowed it to fuse into the point between his eyebrows.

Rumble rumble -

A star seemed to explode in his mind. The terrifying fluctuations of the impact caused Qin Yu's consciousness to go blank. Then, during this blank period, images of scenes that occurred in the ancient past began to appear.

Countless incomparably large warsh.i.p.s blazed with raging flames as they tore through the horizon. They wildly clashed with their opponents, engaging in a slaughterfest of destruction. Between the warsh.i.p.s, swarms of cultivators brutally battled each other. Numerous lives were lost with every passing second.

A golden figure appeared. He was like a glowing conflagration of golden divine fire. Every time he punched, space would shake, swallowing up a massive number of enemies and sending warsh.i.p.s into the embrace of hell. The golden figure tore through the battlefield without equal. Death followed in his wake.

The scene changed. An opponent appeared across from the golden figure. This was a cultivator bathed in pure white light. By raising his hand, white ripples covered the skies. It seemed as if this cultivator appropriated the world for themselves, turning the battlefield into their own domain.

The golden figure fell into a bitter battle. But, he felt no fear at all. Every time he punched out his fists, blinding golden divine light would follow, burning away and tearing openings into the white light all around, ripping apart his opponent's suppression.

Their battle was a catastrophe to the warsh.i.p.s around them. The golden figure flew away first, causing the person bathed in white light to chase after them. From here, the images became broken and incomplete. Qin Yu could faintly see the chase play out across an incomparably long length of space. The shockwaves from their fight crushed floating continents. There was even a planet that was sucked into the battle and forcefully crushed and blown up!

The scene changed again. This was a detonation that was terrifying beyond imagination, as if the sun itself was blowing apart. The gold and white colors mixed together, their energies sweeping through the void like endless tsunamis. Wherever they visited, everything was destroyed. Space and time lost all meaning. The only melody that existed at this moment was death.

Continents, planets, nebulas…within the gold and white light, everything was reduced to ashes. It was like they never existed to begin with.

The images zoomed backwards, causing the field of vision to stretch out. Here, one could see that it was like a part of the endless starry skies had been wiped clean by a finger, leaving behind a massive blank spot.

That heaven-destroying collision left a deep impact on Qin Yu's heart. Even if the images had come to an end, he still couldn't regain his composure. A calm and dignified voice echoed out in his mind, "I have already died. The one to collect all ten marks of inheritance will be my race's new Fifth Chieftain!"

The voice billowed like thunder.

Qin Yu's eyes flew open. His body was streaming with sweat. His robes were drenched and stuck to his body uncomfortably. But, he didn't care about this at all because at some unknown time, a person had appeared in front of him.

This person seemed to be around 50 years of age with an average build. His hair was combed meticulously. Although he wore ordinary blue robes, he was clean and neatly put together. At first glance, he seemed like a stern and strict person, like a steward who handled matters with such confidence and ease that he left his master reassured. But, it was clear that this wasn't possible.

"Why not?" The blue-robed man smiled and asked.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. "You know what I'm thinking?"

The blue-robed man nodded, "Of course. Because you are a new sequencer, one of the candidates to become the successor of the Sealed Stone World."

Qin Yu didn't respond. But, his aura tumbled around him. The air surrounding him turned heavy as if a deeply slumbering beast was awakening.

"Who are you?"

It was clear that if he didn't receive a satisfactory answer to this question, he would attack without hesitation.

The blue-robed man lightly said, "Young man, there is no need to be so angry. I was only joking with you just now. This is because when most people see me, they often think the same thing you do." He paused for a moment before saying, "Moreover, this is already our second time meeting. It's fine if you don't thank me, but why come at me with daggers drawn?"

Qin Yu took a step forward, "My question!"

The blue-robed man furrowed his eyebrows. Then, he revealed a helpless expression. "You really are young. You don't even have a bit of patience…" Before he finished speaking he cried out loud. He lifted his hand before him as he was struck flying backwards.

Qin Yu stepped forward and flew into the air. He clenched his fists together as blood energy loudly erupted within his body. A wild killing intent spread outwards.

"Hold on, I really am a steward!" The blue-robed person shouted out. Seeing that Qin Yu wasn't slowing down, his complexion almost turned green. "I am the steward for the War Clan's Fifth Branch of inheritance. I'm speaking the truth! I even helped you before…you ungrateful boy, don't push things too far!"

Hu -

Qin Yu came to a stop. The iciness in his eyes didn't disappear. "Why should I believe you?"

The blue-robed man rubbed his arms and drew in a deep breath. He sucked in a deep breath and clenched his teeth. With a flick of his sleeves, a fluctuation spread out from the sealed stone and fused into Qin Yu's body. "Do you believe me now?"

Sifting through the information in the fluctuation, most of Qin Yu's terrifying aura dispersed. He suddenly said, "The person who helped me in the black fog that day was you?"

The blue-robed man coldly humphed. "I just thought that you were a rare talent so I wanted to give you a reminder…." He suddenly thought that Qin Yu had already recognized him long ago and his face paled. This boy clearly knew but had still been so vicious in his methods; how hateful!

Qin Yu didn't give him a chance to become angry. He said, "To be more exact, I have only seen you twice, but we have actually come across each other three times."

The blue-robed man had a surprised expression. "How did you know?"

Qin Yu lightly said, "To enter the palace within the Sea of Bewildering Fog at will and also not be sensed by Foxflower, I don't think anyone else can achieve this besides you."

Before knowing the existence of the 'steward', this matter had been a mystery wrapped in fog. But since this person leapt out, the truth also emerged…the voice that urged Qin Yu to agree with Foxflower belonged to this person!

Pa -

Pa -

The blue-robed man clapped his hands together and smiled. "What a smart person. I like to deal with smart people because it saves me a great deal of talking."

His eyes sharpened and he said, "From your actions, I know that you don't trust Foxflower. This is a correct intuition. But, let me remind you of something. No matter what, you must never believe anything he says."

Qin Yu was without expression. "I won't trust him and I won't trust you either." So what if he was the guardian spirit of the War Clan's inheritance? He wasn't a person of the War Clan. And that Fifth Chieftain, did he really die?

Recalling the scenes that appeared in his mind, while Qin Yu didn't know what that so-called Fifth Chieftain's true cultivation boundary was, he knew it was absolutely far, far above his own.

Even Woodchopper Fu was able to rely on his hatchet to swim against the river of time and survive up until now. Then, for these great beings, what was death? For them, perhaps their revival only needed a turning point…Qin Yu didn't want to become this turning point!

The blue-robed man revealed a look of acclaim for the first time. "I'm liking you more and more. Perhaps you really have a chance to become the War Clan's new Fifth Chieftain." He hesitated for a moment and said, "To prevent accidents from occurring to such an outstanding candidate, I can make an exception and tell you something. If you continue following the path of those in front of you, the one that will be revived in the end is indeed the one you see in your mind.

"But you are different. You have paved your own road. As long as you become increasingly formidable and succeed in obtaining all the marks, you will become the new Chieftain. This is absolutely a chance that can change your destiny. You must grab hold of it and not miss out on it. And, remember my warning. You must not involve yourself with the spirit race, otherwise I will have no choice but to end your future."

A great deal of information accompanied these words. Qin Yu's intuition told him that this blue-robed man wasn't lying to him. But, a person couldn't survive on their intuition alone. His thoughts raced and he soon found a key point. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

The blue-robed man smiled. "It's strange, right? As the guardian for the War Clan's Fifth Branch of inheritance, I actually exposed the path of revival for the last Chieftain and even told the truth to an outsider.

"The reasoning is simple. I have waited for far, far too long. I have already judged that the last Chieftain simple has no chance of resurrection. As for you being an outsider…the status of the War Clan has never been determined by something so trivial like bloodlines. As long as you can obtain the approval of all the marks, you will be the War Clan's new Chieftain!

"All I desire is for the inheritance to continue onwards. As for who becomes Chieftain, I don't care about that at all. Does this explanation satisfy you?"

Qin Yu slowly nodded. This should be the truth. But, things were doomed to not be so simple. It was just that it was impossible for him to know more right now.

"Is what Foxflower told me true?"

"If it is related to collecting all the marks and gaining the strength of the Chieftain, then that is true."

Qin Yu's eyes flashed. "And my current strength is insufficient?"

The blue-robed man laughed. "Young man, you may be a splendid character, but don't underestimate the people of the world. What sort of status do you think my War Clan's Chieftain is? How can it be so easy to ascend to such a position! You must have at least a Great Dao realm cultivation to barely gather all the marks. This is also the truth!"

Qin Yu asked in a low voice, "Are there sequencers at the Great Dao realm?"

The blue-robed man's smile stiffened. He slowly said, "What a smart man."

He didn't answer the question, yet this in itself was an answer.

So it was indeed like this!

Both Foxflower and this blue-robed person said he needed a Great Dao realm cultivation to gather all the marks. This in itself was a warning. If he didn't discover it then he would be far too stupid.

Qin Yu had a dignified expression. It was hard to imagine that solemn Great Dao boundary existences would be willing to remain hidden in obscurity within the Sealed Stone World. For him, leaving only took a thought.

Was it because the inheritance of the War Clan's Fifth Chieftain was too tempting? For those that had reached such a cultivation, their methods and willpower must be at the peak of society. Did they not realize the fears he had previously? Or, was the reason located in the Land of Divinity and Demons?

Qin Yu felt as if he had unintentionally touched upon some enormous secret. His thoughts tumbled restlessly for some time.

He took a deep breath. But, before he could say anything he was interrupted by the blue-robed man. "Don't ask me, otherwise you'll learn everything and your future days will be so boring. There are some matters that you will come to understand later."