Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Mister Zhou suddenly opened his eyes. "The continued survival of the fetus within the skylark egg cannot be guaranteed, so the cruel and bloodthirsty nature of the beast has erupted. Will this boy suffer some accident?"

Before clarifying Qin Yu's status, if there were any problems it would likely draw in unnecessary troubles.

Mister Xu lightly said, "Don't worry. Before the inspection began I examined the skylark's condition. Its inner core has been injured so it won't awaken for some time."

"That is good then. It will be difficult for this junior to escape harsh punishment. It's fine as long as it doesn't happen by our hands." Mister Zhou faintly smiled.

Sun Xiangzhang suddenly opened his mouth. "Two sirs, besides the incident with the skylark's egg, it isn't sick, but its inner core has been injured?"

His face paled.

Mister Xu paused for a moment, a bit of chagrin in his eyes. "Xiangzhang, I know that you looked after this skylark before it was born, but none of this has anything to do with you. The problem happened when the skylark laid an egg. A mutation occurred to its bloodline, leading to the fetus within the egg suffering an injury."

If this was purely a sickness, how could this become an examination topic for a higher order Silver Moon grandmaster?

Mister Zhou stared at his old friend. He consolingly said, "This is the truth. We concealed it from you because we didn't want you to worry about it and overthink things."

Sun Xiangzhang had a dazed expression as if he had lost his soul for a moment. After a long time he squeezed out a bitter smile and said, "I understand. Thank you for caring."

The reason he passed the preliminary Silver Moon examination was because he had stimulated the thin bloodline within a low level stonelark, allowing it to smoothly evolve into a skylark.

So to him, this skylark possessed an extraordinary significance. Now that its egg couldn't be guaranteed and its inner core was injured, did this really have nothing to do with him?

If he had been more considerate when caring about it in the past, if he had been more careful and attentive, he might have discovered that the skylark possessed a bloodline that was about to mutate.

Looking at Sun Xiangzhang whose face had lost its l.u.s.ter, Mister Zhou and Mister Sun glanced at each other. They sighed in unison. The scene of the final trial fell into a deep silence.

…

When the skylark opened its eyes that seemed to be flowing with lava, it suddenly cried out loud. Its wings unfurled and every feather shimmered with flames. A terrifying aura erupted and the temperature in the air began to wildly rise at an astonishing speed.

On the floor of the bas.e.m.e.nt as well as the four walls around, runes started to shine as the array formation lit up. It released a formidable sealing aura that isolated the outside from the inside.

This was a condition necessary for any place that housed a high level spirit beast. Otherwise, if an accident were to occur…such as this variation skylark releasing its annihilating strength, it would be enough to turn the majority of Sky Declaring Pavilion into a pool of magma!

Its blood red eyes locked onto Qin Yu. Due to its rage and fierce anger, the skylark didn't hesitate at all. It flapped its wings and flames exploded. Its crystalline and slender beak soared straight towards Qin Yu's head.

Qin Yu narrowed his eyes, thinking that it might have been a bad idea to pretend to be a higher order Silver Moon grandmaster. If he was even a little bit weaker than he was now, he feared that his head would be blown into a mass of red and white goo and he would be swallowed up into the skylark's belly. Luckily, he had restored a bit of his body's strength, enough that he could deal with this skylark.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward. Qin Yu shouted and raised a fist. His heart beat vigorously in his chest as billowing blood energy erupted from his body.

Piki -

Paka -

His bones crackled and his eyes turned increasingly dark and profound. They were pitch black and filled with the passing of the years, giving off the feeling of endless vicissitudes.

With this burst of strength, the ground began to groan in pain. Cracks started to appear among the runes in the array formation. Just as he was about to attack with his all-out strike, he saw the frenzied skylark suddenly wail out loud. Its aura rapidly faded away and it softly slumped to the ground, constantly shivering.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. Was this skylark really so intelligent that it knew how to play such tricks on him? But he soon pushed this idea to the side. The skylark was lying on the ground, trembling. It was clearly expressing its fear and dread toward him and bowing in submission.

Was this because of the Ancient race's bloodline? Besides that, there was no other explanation.

But now was not the time to dwell on this. If the skylark surrendered, that would be for the best. He could avoid wasting further time and energy attempting to subdue it.

"I came here to treat and cure you. If you can understand, nod for me."

The flames around the skylark disappeared and clarity returned to its eyes. When it heard Qin Yu it bowed its head again and again, expressing that it understood.

"Very good." Qin Yu's thoughts stirred. He looked at the testing platform not too far away. Fortunately, the light of the array formation had protected it, otherwise the explosion of heat just now might have ruined the materials placed atop of it.

He lifted a finger. "You should be the one most aware of your own condition. Look over at the testing platform and see if there is anything you need."

Seeing the skylark try to stand up several times and fail, Qin Yu hesitated for a moment before withdrawing his blood energy fluctuations. The skylark finally managed to get on its feet, but when it looked at Qin Yu its eyes were still full of awe.

It walked over to the testing platform and its eyes brightened. Separated by the array formation's barrier of light, it pointed at several different materials.

Qin Yu groped around and soon found the switch to open up the array formation. He picked out the items that the skylark chose. They were a white fruit, seven or eight purple flower petals, and a common-looking green grass.

"This is enough to cure you?"

This test shouldn't be so simple.

The skylark shook its head. It flapped its wings, trying to express something. Qin Yu rubbed his chin for some time before saying, "You're saying that while these things are useful to you, it isn't enough to cure you."

The skylark nodded.

Qin Yu smiled. If things were like this, it shouldn't be too difficult.

His smile disappeared and he looked at the skylark without expression. When he spoke, his voice was filled with a deep dignity. "You will turn around and face the wall with your eyes closed. Before I tell you to turn back, you will maintain that posture. Do you understand?"

The skylark quickly nodded. It hopped over, unbelievably obedient.

Qin Yu glanced at it several times. When he confirmed that the skylark wouldn't defy his orders, he expressed admiration in his heart even as he opened his fingers.

A small sun phantom appeared between his fingers. It emitted a deep blue light that shrouded the fruit, flower petals, and grass.

…

The peaceful scene of the final trials was interrupted by loud footsteps. Several cultivators with solemn expressions walked in.

Mister Xu furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it?"

The person at the front cupped his hands together. "Mister Xu, central command discovered that the underground array formation was activated just now. The fluctuations of energy were fierce, so we fear there might have been some accident."

Mister Xu's complexion changed. "Impossible. If there really is an accident, even if there is an array formation that can isolate out all auras, we would still be able to detect something here."

Mister Zhou said, "That's right. Everything has been normal so far."

Sun Xiangzhang was the first to regain his composure. He took a deep breath and said, "Brother Zhao, it really is the case that nothing wrong has occurred."

Zhai Shan and Sun Xiangzhang were extremely close so he naturally believed the words of his good friend. His cold eyes relaxed and he said, "If there isn't a disturbance, then it should be wrong information coming from central command. It seems that similar situations have occurred during this period, it's just that a reason hasn't been found yet."

"Hold on!" Mister Zhou's expression was dignified. "Fellow daoist Zhao, can you check and see whether or not the underground array formation has been activated?"

Mister Xu and Sun Xiangzhang's complexions changed. They immediately understood the meaning behind Mister Zhou's words. With the age of the boy who just went in, his cultivation could be imagined. If there really was a problem with the skylark, a single unexpected event would be enough to destroy him. Since they were on the outside, they naturally wouldn't be able to feel anything.

Damn it. If that person truly died inside, while they wouldn't need to bear any responsibility for it, it would still lead to some inevitable troubles.

Zhai Shan furrowed his eyebrows. Without bothering to ask for the reason behind their sudden change in attitude, he took out a ring and placed it on the floor.

Hum -

The ring shivered slightly and a faint white light gushed out. Zhai Shan let out a breath of relief. "That's good. The array formation hasn't been activated."

But the sensory light of the ring seemed to be a bit brighter than usual. Could it be that the underground array formation has truly opened for a brief moment before turning back off? That shouldn't be the case. With that skylark's personality, if it had awoken then things would be much noisier than they were now. It wouldn't be so calm and uneventful.

Moreover, since this was the final trials, if they wanted to open up the examination they still needed to take into consideration the stance of the participating beast trainer.

Whatever. Since the ring proved that everything was fine, there wasn't a need to meddle so much.

Zhai Shan's thoughts raced. He cupped his hands together and said, "Since there is no problem here, I won't disturb you three in presiding over the final trials. Then, goodbye."

He turned and left.

Mister Zhou smiled. "Zhai Shan has outstanding talent and was able to stand out amongst the others. His cultivation increases by leaps and bounds every day. Not too long ago he broke through his bottleneck and smoothly entered the Calamity Immortal realm. The Great Dao inevitably awaits him in the future!" He glanced at Sun Xiangzhang. "Zhai Shan and Xiangzhang have a wonderful friendship. If the two of you can advance together in the future, it will surely be the creation of a fascinating legend."

Mister Xu nodded in approval. They were both middle order Silver Moon beast trainers, and unless they encountered some amazing opportunity, it was likely that they wouldn't be able to advance any further for the rest of their lives. They held the promising young beast trainer Sun Xiangzhang in high regard.

If it weren't for the two of them both acting as guarantors for him, how could someone who just became a lower order Silver Moon beast trainer obtain such a valuable position and preside over today's final trials?

"Zhai Shan is indeed splendid." Sun Xiangzhang didn't say anything else. He nervously looked towards the sealed off entrance of the underground bas.e.m.e.nt.

Now that he knew the skylark's true condition, he became increasingly worried. That junior Ning Qin had best not randomly mess around and cause its condition to worsen!

Mister Xu said, "Xiangzhang. No matter what today's result is, I hope that you won't interfere in the skylark's treatment."

"That's right." Mister Zhou added in. "We understand your feelings toward this skylark, but a damaged inner core isn't a trifling matter. Only a grandmaster class existence would be able to treat and cure it. If you recklessly act, a single mistake will lead to your reputation being harmed. That would be disadvantageous to your future development."

Sun Xiangzhang's lips moved but he didn't say anything. In the end, he nodded with difficulty and said, "I will listen to you two and will not interfere with the treatment!"

Beneath the sleeves of his robe, he clenched his fists together. He was deeply disappointed in himself and his entire being was flooded with helplessness. This bitter feeling of wanting to save the skylark but being unable to do so constantly bit at his pride and heart.