Refining the Mountains and Rivers

An hour had almost passed. Qin Yu quietly calculated the time. Then, with a thought, the great sun phantom vanished from his palm. The light faded away to reveal the white fruit, petals, and grass placed within.

Compared to before there didn't seem to be much of a change. But, a flow of light shimmered across their surface.

He hoped this would work!

Qin Yu said, "Alright, you may come over now."

The skylark obediently turned around. When Qin Yu saw it, it carefully opened its eyes. Its feet silently glided over. While it possessed a massive figure, in front of Qin Yu it appeared low and humble.

"These are the things you've chosen. Eat them now and see whether they can cure you."

The skylark's eyes brightened. Its long beak poked out a few times and directly swallowed up the fruit, flower petals, and grass. In the next moment it released a cry that seemed to verge on pain and joy. Its feathers began to blaze out of control, red flames dancing across their surface.

The array formation in the bas.e.m.e.nt started to shine once more. But, the heat in the room soon surpassed the previous time and continued to climb upwards. Even with the support of the array formation, the walls and floor began to melt.

…

Zhai Shan returned to central command. When he determined that the alarm had disappeared, he angrily ordered his subordinates to find out the cause of the false alarm. Then, he flicked his sleeves and returned to his resting chambers.

Today was his turn on the rotation to appear for duty. Since an accident could occur at any moment, he wasn't able to cultivate. Still, someone like him who valued every moment of this time wouldn't wait here doing nothing. He took out a body cultivation method manual and started to perceive the obscure mysteries behind it.

This body cultivation method was a reward given to him by the Pavilion Master for his outstanding performance so far. The more Zhai Shan perused it, the more he discovered how valuable a treasure it was. The only problem was that this body cultivation method was incredibly difficult to understand. Besides having the will to persevere, one needed sufficient talent for cultivation.

Soon, he immersed himself within. As some parts of the complex mysteries began to come to light, loud ringing sounds suddenly broke out in the resting chamber.

Shua -

Zhai Shan's eyes flew open, anger burning within them. It was hard to find such inspiration and yet he had been broken out of his meditation like this.

Bang -

The door slammed open and he roared with constraint, "I had best receive a satisfactory explanation!" A cultivator scurrying in a panic outside the door suddenly shivered and said, "My lord, central command released a first-level warning…first-level warning…first-level warning…"

He repeated this three times.

But before the man finished speaking, Zhai Shan's complexion changed and he flew outside. All thoughts of meditating or perceiving anything were tossed to the side.

A first-level warning from central command. This meant that an array formation somewhere had encountered a bombardment of strength that surpassed its bearing limits and it was now bordering on the edge of collapse.

Something similar had occurred in the past. At that time, a bit less than half of Sky Declaring Pavilion had been torn to pieces by the wild strength. Although the situation was promptly handled and the following disturbance wasn't too great, the one that was in charge that day had lost all favor and was deserted by his allies. Over the years, he was eventually forgotten.

Zhai Shan didn't hope to follow in the steps of his predecessor. His eyes locked onto the location that was emitting the warning and he rushed over.

Please let there be no accident, please let there be no accident!

…

"Time is up!" Sun Xiangzhang had a dour face. He didn't delay things for even a single second longer. But, before he could open the array formation, a thunderous rumbling sound rose up from below. The ground started to shake restlessly, so much that the doors and windows crashed into each other, causing dust to rush into the skies.

Mister Zhou almost lost his voice, "This is bad! It's the underground skylark!"

His complexion was deathly white.

The skylark's inner core was injured. It was impossible for it to erupt with such potent strength.

Unless it had gone completely berserk without any care for its life.

Just what had that bastard boy done!?

Sun Xiangzhang clenched his teeth. "If the skylark suffered an accident, I will never forgive him!" He was about to open the array formation but was stopped by Mister Xu. "You cannot open the array formation. If you do, none of us will escape. All of us might perish here!"

Whoosh -

There was the sound of breaking air. Zhai Shan appeared in the air. He thrust out his hands and shot out four rings that landed in four different directions. He shouted, "Suppress!"

Each ring erupted with a radiant light. Then, they condensed into beams of light that thrust into the earth. They were like four pillars that supported the skies, possessing a strength that could not be opposed, capable of imprisoning everything!

After completing this, Zhai Shan relaxed. It was only then that he discovered a cold sweat dripping down his back.

This was good. He was fortunate to have arrived a step earlier, because if he was any later the consequences would have been unimaginable.

His eyes flashed like lightning. He looked at Sun Xiangzhang and the others and asked in a low voice, "Just what happened here?"

Hey, even we can't answer this question…

After a brief silence, Sun Xiangzhang roared in anger. "It's Ning Qin! He must have done something that caused the skylark to lose control of its strength!"

Damn it! If I knew of this earlier, if I knew that its inner core had been damaged, I would not have allowed that bastard to go in!

"It lost control of its strength?" Zhai Shan was shocked. He looked at them Mister Xu and Mister Zhou with surprise.

The two misters both had bitter expressions. "This should be the case. Hurry up and evacuate those nearby. If the skylark's inner core implodes, the destructive power that will result isn't something that an array formation can block!"

Zhai Shan's face turned paper white. It's all over. Even if I came one step quicker, I still wouldn't be able to prevent a horrible result from occurring.

But then, the fiercely shaking earth rapidly calmed down and returned to normal in just several breaths of time. It was like everything that occurred just now was nothing but an illusion.

This…didn't they decide that the skylark had lost control over its strength…that its inner core was going to implode…

Things ended just like this?

Just as this thought appeared in Zhai Shan's mind, he almost slapped himself. Just what sort of nonsense are you thinking? Will you die if you don't feel uncomfortable!?

An uncertain expression crossed his face. He clenched his teeth and flicked his sleeves. The four suppressing beams of light on the ground vanished and the entrance to the underground bas.e.m.e.nt opened up.

A clear and melodious cry echoed through the world. Sun Xiangzhang's eyes flew open. In the next moment, a blazing mass of flaming light flew out. The skylark spread its winds as it appeared, its massive body covering the entire courtyard.

Even though it had restrained its strength, the air still became dry and hot. The lush green bamboo in the courtyard began to turn yellow and wither away, their leaves falling off.

"Fire phoenix!" Mister Zhou cried out in alarm, his face full of disbelief.

To his side, Mister Xu and Sun Xiangzhang were also dumbfounded. Their jaws nearly reached the floor.

A stonelark was a kind of ordinary low level monster beast. But, it possessed a thin strand of skylark bloodline. Theoretically, it was able to evolve into a skylark and this was why they were loved and cherished by so many beast trainers.

And in the fables, it was said that skylarks were the descendants of a True Phoenix, an ancient God Beast. That was an incomparably formidable and peerless beast that could stand on equal footing with a Divine Dao being.

In the ancient records, it was stated that tens of thousands of years ago, there was indeed a skylark that was able to activate its faint True Phoenix bloodline, allowing it to control the myriad thunder of the heavens. When it appeared in society, it became one of the most powerful spirit beasts.

And this skylark in front of them had a dignified aura and its feathers shined with a majestic glow. It was bathed in blood red flames, clearly an indication that it had been promoted to a higher rank. Although its aura didn't rise by much, the transformation of his bloodline implied infinite possibilities.

In the future, this skylark…no, perhaps they should call it a fire phoenix…might become a peerless spirit beast that wielded all the flames in the world, possessing a part of a True Phoenix's potential!

Why would this skylark suddenly advance? Had it already freed itself from the binding spell cast by Sky Declaring Pavilion? What should they do if it wanted to escape?

No. It couldn't be allowed to leave. This fire phoenix possessed the most valuable experimental body. From it, they might be able to discover the key for how to stimulate a monster beast's bloodline!

Mister Zhou drew in a deep breath. Just as he was about to order Zhai Shan to keep it there no matter the cost, he saw the fire phoenix suddenly lie down respectfully on the floor in submission. It was at this time that he saw the black-robed youth being shielded by its burning wings.

His eyes widened and his mind turned blank.

"Everyone, I believe I have passed the final trials."