Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Midmorning City, Sky Declaring Pavilion Branch Division.

The finals for the Beast Trainer Invitational had already begun. A crowd of young people had gathered in front of a tightly shut silver-white great door and were staring tightly at it, their faces filled with envy. Those that could enter the final trials were all outstanding beast trainers. While these youths had some talent in this aspect, if they wanted to reach this step it was unknown how much time they would need to use. There was even a chance they would never reach such heights in the rest of their lives.

So, finding a good teacher was extremely important. This was also the reason they had used up all means at their disposal to come here. It was the greatest hope in their hearts.

"I heard that a higher order Silver Moon grandmaster level character was welcomed in our Midmorning City branch division. If we can be chosen by that person, the day that we become official beast trainers would be just around the corner!" In a small group, a young man spoke up. His hair was a rare gray color and it lay softly against his forehead. He had a look of longing on his face.

Higher order Silver Moon. He had never seen such a legendary existence like that before.

A young female cultivator beside him haughtily sneered. "Stop daydreaming. The final trials have started and I heard that the grandmaster still hasn't arrived yet. Since he has already passed the identification process, I fear he won't be going through ordinary procedures."

Although her words were full of ridicule, her eyes actually flashed with disappointment. If she could really become a grandmaster's secret disciple, that would be a turning point to change her destiny. However, this really was unfortunate.

A slightly hoarse voice spoke up. The speaker's tone was calm and steadfast. "A higher order Silver Moon grandmaster has an honored status. It's normal for them to arrive late…at the very least, even if we made an error and lost our chance, as long as we try hard enough we will still have achievements."

Beneath lavender bangs, long eyelashes fluttered. It added a certain feminine charm to her petite face.

The haughty female cultivator from before changed her tone. She respectfully bowed and said, "Big sister Yun Die is right." Several other young cultivators nodded their heads in approval. It was clear that this Yun Die had a considerable status amongst the group.

At this time, there was a light creaking sound. As everyone was trying their best to speak quietly, this sound was especially clear.

Another end of the passage was opened. Besides a pair of deep eyes, an ordinary youth wearing common clothes stepped in. Seeing the sight before him, he furrowed his eyes as if surprised.

And at this time, there were also many other people furrowing their eyes too as they looked at him.

Everyone knew what day it was today. It might be a chance for them to change their futures. If an extra person came, that meant there was an extra variable, and their share of any beneficial outcome would be further diluted.

And most importantly, everyone had received the notice and had been waiting here since earlier. Yet, this person had come midway? One couldn't help but wonder if this boy had gone through a back door or had used some relations to enter…

For this reason, the eyes that looked at him were somewhat cold and disdainful.

Qin Yu frowned. He thought that if Sky Declaring Pavilion's final trial was held by these young people, they were simply taking it too lightly.

After a moment's thought, he stepped forward, "May I ask if this is the area for the beast trainer final trials?"

There was a loud laugh. "Of course. Otherwise why would we be waiting here so early?" The one who spoke was a fat cultivator. He glared at Qin Yu with ill intent.

But then, the young fat man became aware of many of the beautiful ladies present looking at him and he suddenly became energized.

Hell yes, had the peak of his life finally arrived? He had never attracted so much attention from so many beautiful sisters before!

Qin Yu said, "Did you all come to participate in the final trials?" There was hesitation in his voice. When everyone heard his words, it felt like an openly mocking taunt.

You bastard! Even if you have background or connections, how dare you be so rampant! Those that could arrive here today all have their own ability! Be careful you don't end up in a pile of your own blood later!

Let alone participating in the current final trials of the Beast Trainer Invitational, if they could make it through the preliminaries 30 years from now, that would be an accomplishment that they would be left grinning ear to ear about.

Thinking about this, they all felt that Qin Yu was even more unpleasant to the eyes!

With your tone of voice, it sounds as if you are participating in the final trials too, and not waiting here with the rest of us for the final trials to end and praying to be chosen by some beast trainer!

After an awkward silence, the fat youth smiled, feeling it too embarrassing to say anything!

"This isn't the scene of the final trials; it is behind those doors." Yun Die didn't know why she would speak up to explain. She welcomed Qin Yu's confused look and continued to say, "This isn't the entrance. The great beast trainers would enter from the main gates."

So it turns out he had gone the wrong way.

Qin Yu looked at her and smiled. "Thank you for the reminder."

He turned around, pulled open the doors, and vanished.

This was beyond everyone's expectations. Many people stared with wide eyes. The fat youth's lips twitched. "This fellow…is he a mentally disabled?"

With a light laugh, the minor interlude that just occurred was tossed away in the recesses of everyone's minds. In this sort of tense time, no one wanted to be distracted by this completely inexplicable youth.

Yun Die sensed the puzzlement of those around her. She kept her head down and her eyes lowered. This was because she really didn't have a way to explain what had happened.

…

When Qin Yu pushed open the doors and left, he just happened to see two Sky Declaring Pavilion cultivators running towards him, sweat dripping down their faces. When they saw him their eyes brightened and they repeatedly apologized. "Grandmaster Ning Qin, we really do apologize. It was us who didn't make the appropriate preparations and we wasted your time. We beg your forgiveness."

One of them, a middle-aged man, fell to his knees. His face was deathly pale and streaming with sweat.

The final trials had already begun. This person had arrived late and now there was an additional delay. If an accident were to occur, would he still be able to live afterwards?

"It's fine. I got lost. Guide the way."

"Thank you grandmaster, thank you grandmaster!"

Passing through an arch, a spacious courtyard appeared before them. This was the location of the final trials.

Three beast trainers were already waiting here, all of them hopping with impatience. To be able to preside over the final trials, all of them had some degree of status. To be hung out to dry for such a long time, their mood could be imagined.

If it weren't for the title of 'higher order Silver Moon', they would have already left in a huff of anger. Right now they were just barely suppressing their agitation.

Hearing the sound of footsteps, the three beast trainers drew in a deep breath and squeezed out smiles. Before determining the true depths of this 'Grandmaster Ning Qin', it was best not to offend him.

But when they saw Qin Yu walking in behind those two Sky Declaring Pavilion cultivators, those forced smiles froze on their faces.

Yes, there were talented geniuses in this world that could accomplish what the average person could not, but if they were told to believe that this boy in front of them was a higher order Silver Moon grandmaster level existence, that was simply making a joke of them!

What happened with the early verification process? A junior had managed to take advantage of a loophole somewhere and appear here? It wasn't a problem if he was tired of living and wanted to court death, but the major issue was that he was now wasting their time.

In particular, the youngest of the three beast trainers had an especially pale face.

When he learned that a higher order Silver Moon grandmaster had arrived for the invitational, he had expended a great deal of energy and called in many favors to seize the qualifications to preside over the final trials today. The reason for this was because he wanted to form good relations with the grandmaster ahead of time, so he could consult him in the future if needed…if looks could kill, Qin Yu would have been torn to shreds by a thousand cuts already.

"Mister Xu, Mister Zhou, Mister Sun, Grandmaster Ning Qin has arrived."

Sensing something wrong with the atmosphere, the two cultivators hurried to the side after they finished speaking.

Sun Xiangzhang sucked in a deep breath. "You are Ning Qin? Good! Very good!" He thought about the price he had paid for today's position and how he would inevitably be ridiculed in the future, and his complexion paled even further. "This is the topic of today's final trial. Using the materials prepared by Sky Declaring Pavilion, have a sick skylark recover its health within two hours."

With a flick of his sleeves, the ground rumbled and split open. Stone steps appeared, leading underground. "The skylark is inside. But because the final trial started an hour ago, that means you only have an hour left. You may begin!"

Mister Zhou and Mister Xu sat down. They shook their heads and closed their eyes. Today's topic wasn't an easy one to begin with. Unless one truly possessed the strength of a higher order Silver Moon beast trainer, it would be impossible to heal the skylark within two hours.

Now, an hour had even been subtracted from the time and the one who arrived was an unusual young man…today, they would have to report this incident to the pavilion so that they would receive their due compensation.

It had to be known that a beast trainer's time was expensive.

Qin Yu didn't care about the attitudes of these three trial presiders. Since he came here, he already had certain expectations of how things would go.

He nodded in understanding. Then, he walked down the stone stairs. There was a loud rumbling above him as the opening closed up. But before his surroundings darkened, round beads embedded into the walls began to light up, emitting a warm and gentle radiance.

Soon, Qin Yu saw the skylark he was supposed to treat. It seemed to sense a foreign aura arriving. Its blood red eyes flashed open, a dreadful anger raging in them like waves of lava!