Refining the Mountains and Rivers

The anxious and disturbed Xiang Ziyue finally received a message from Sky Declaring Pavilion. Without delay, he headed straight to Rising Lake Manor.

"Miss Yun Die…" There was an expectant look in his eyes.

Yun Die bowed, "Fellow daoist Xiang, my teacher is inside, please follow me."

Xiang Ziyue was pleasantly surprised. "Miss, please lead the way!"

He straightened his clothes. After determining nothing was out of place, he followed right behind.

Yun Die walked into the lobby of the lakeside building first. "Teacher, the Hidden Fog Sect's Xiang Ziyue has arrived."

Xiang Ziyue took a deep breath. Without bothering to look ahead, he bowed and said, "The Hidden Fog Sect's Xiang Ziyue greets Mister Ning Qing. This was a presumptuous visit and I apologize if I showed any disrespect. I ask Mister Ning Qin to be broad-minded and forgive me!"

Qin Yu waved his hand. "I understand your purpose for coming. The three ash line grasses have been completed. If you find nothing wrong upon inspection, then take them away."

Xiang Ziyue was stunned. Where was the anger? Where were the attempts to embarrass him and make things difficult for him? Without any reaction at all, he was let off so lightly?

No, this isn't right, something definitely isn't right! Is this a test that the grandmaster is giving me? Is he trying to see whether or not my Hidden Fog Sect is being sincere to him?

This was the most likely scenario!

Looking at Qin Yu's calm and indifferent expression, Xiang Ziyue took a deep breath and his attitude became even more respectful. "Grandmaster, the entire Hidden Fog Sect knows that we are indebted to you and thank you for the favor you've done for us. Before coming to Midmorning City, my sect prepared a gift for you and I hope that you will accept it."

A light flashed and a silver-white suitcase appeared. A faint halo circulated on its surface, periodically condensing into runes that dispersed moments later. The suitcase itself was a mystery on its own.

Xiang Ziyue placed the suitcase on the table with both hands and kept his head lowered motionlessly.

His heart beat violently in his chest. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

The situation was far too different from what he expected. Although Grandmaster Ning Qin seemed warm and amiable right now, he feared that if he did anything wrong, he would thoroughly offend him.

If things really reached that step, Xiang Ziyue could imagine that even if he was his teacher's disciple, he would still be struck into the dust, with no hopes of ever recovering.

This suitcase in front of him was the greatest sincerity that he could put forth. But when the grandmaster looked at him, it seemed as if he had no intention of opening it.

More and more sweat appeared, so much that it flowed down the corners of his eyes, leaving behind a stinging pain. Xiang Ziyue blinked his eyes furiously and bowed even lower. "Grandmaster, my sect feels nothing but the greatest gratitude and good intentions toward you. I ask that grandmaster accept this gift!"

Qin Yu was a bit surprised. He looked at the anxious Xiang Ziyue and felt a bit confused. This was simply giving a gift; was there a need to be so nervous?

Moreover, he had already completed his transaction with the Hidden Fog Sect. They had stated that they would trade ten ash line grasses for seven blue marvel orchids, so there wasn't any need for them to further prepare gifts for him.

But, this young man was acting incredibly nervously, as if he would be punished by the heavens if Qin Yu didn't accept this gift. Qin Yu lightly coughed and said, "If it's like this, then I would like to thank the Hidden Fog Sect for their good intentions."

Xiang Ziyue let out a long breath of relief. It was like he had just been pulled away from the precipice of death. Only now did he discover that his robes were drenched in a cold sweat.

"Thank you, grandmaster!"

He cupped his hands together and bowed deeply.

At the side, Yun Die's eyes brightened and flashed like stars as she looked at Qin Yu. This was her teacher's posture when facing outsiders? Even the Hidden Fog Sect was awed by him, so much that they felt such incredulous joy at him accepting their gift.

…This could only be called a coincidence, a wonderful misunderstanding.

Qin Yu didn't notice the look of worship in his disciple's eyes. He picked up a jade box and placed it next to the suitcase.

"I originally planned to see you in three days, but an accident occurred during that time period. The result shouldn't be bad, so take a look yourself."

After receiving a gift from the other party, Qin Yu felt that he should give an explanation. Of course, given how highly the Hidden Fog Sect valued these ash line grasses, even if they gave him a gift they wouldn't be suffering a loss.

Xiang Ziyue respectfully said, "Grandmaster, your status in itself is the best insurance. I shouldn't have been disrespectful, but this matter is just too important to the Hidden Fog Sect. So, if grandmaster was offended in any way, I ask for your forgiveness."

Yun Die revealed a curious expression. She also wanted to know what the Hidden Fog Sect requested from her teacher that caused them to treat this situation so seriously.

The jade box opened. Three ash line grasses wrapped in transparent bubbles appeared. Their leaves were covered in silver textures. Besides that, there was nothing exceptional about them.

Ash line grass?

Yue Die was puzzled. After growing past a certain number of years, ash line grass would evolve and its leaves would develop a sort of silver-white textures on them.

But for this kind of ash line grass, while there weren't too many of them, they were far from being considered precious. With the Hidden Fog Sect's strength, they could obtain as much ash line grass as they wanted. Why would they lower themselves because of this and respectfully ask teacher to help them?

Across the table, Xiang Ziyue had a solemn look. He used both hands to pick up an ash line grass with reverence and gently inspected it. Using the method his teacher taught him, he felt the mysterious and formidable strength contained within it.

That's right!

But when Xiang Ziyue inspected the third ash line grass, he suddenly froze in place. This was because the thick silver lines on the leaves actually had golden dots embellishing them.

After a long time, he looked up at Qin Yu with vivid excitement. "This…this is…"

Qin Yu nodded, "There were some changes in this ash line grass during the cultivation process. This is the reason I asked to delay for another day."

Xiang Ziyue flushed red. He bowed deeply and said, "Grandmaster, rest assured that the Hidden Fog Sect will surely give you your due reward for this ash line grass…I thank you from the bottom of my heart!"

The mysterious strength contained in this silver-white ash line grass with golden dots was over ten times richer.

If there was only a 50% chance of the dark star ice serpent making a breakthrough, then the chances were at least 90% this time. Without accident, it would be able to take another step forward, reaching the highest level recorded in the history of the Hidden Fog Sect.

Based on this alone, the value of this ash line grass was incalculable!

Qin Yu waved his hand. "Enough. If there are no other problems, take it and leave."

"Grandmaster, this junior bids his farewells!"

Xiang Ziyue was even more respectful. He sighed inwardly. This was truly a grandmaster level existence. His character and demeanor crushed the heart. But the more the grandmaster was like this, the greater the rewards that they needed to give him. They had to make the grandmaster understand that the Hidden Fog Sect would never neglect him.

Yun Die brought him away. After leaving Rising Lake Manor, Xiang Ziyue turned and bowed. "Miss Yun Die, there is no need to send me out. I will say my goodbyes to you here!"

He quickly rushed away. He needed to return to his sect as soon as possible. He didn't want to delay at all!

Looking at his back, Yun Die furrowed her eyebrows together, baffled by what just happened. When she returned to the lakeside building and saw her teacher sitting on the sofa, she tried to hold in her curiosity but in the end cautiously said, "Teacher, I am a little confused."

Qin Yu knew what she was referring to. In truth, he wanted to say that he didn't know what was happening either.

But generally speaking, he could correctly guess that this ash line grass was extremely important to the Hidden Fog Sect.

At this time, facing his only true disciple and having just awakened his heart of a teacher, Qin Yu thought that he should give a small explanation.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "What you see before you might not be the truth. For instance, that ordinary ash line grass might have another universe within it."

Seeing Yun Die's eyes light up with curiosity, Qin Yu decided that he couldn't say anything anymore. Otherwise, he was afraid he would give away the secret. He sighed and said, "If you have any questions, think about it yourself first. That will be far better than me telling you directly.

"I must return to my laboratory. As usual, if there isn't anything important, don't allow anyone to disturb me." He picked up the suitcase and left.

Yun Die bowed. When her teacher left, she stood in place and pondered what just happened. The more she mulled over her teacher's words, the more she felt that countless mysterious truths were contained within.

"I wonder when I can catch up to teacher…no, perhaps reaching even half of teacher's strength will be enough for me to struggle for the rest of my life…"

Although Qin Yu guessed that the gift the Hidden Fog Sect had given to him must be valuable, he was still left shaken by what he found inside.

Thousandheart grass. This was a formidable spiritual object used to treat soul injuries. It took a thousand years to mature and was rumored to keep the soul from dying, preventing the final trace of one's true spirit from dissipating.

Solid origin wood. It formed within 10,000 year old trees that were raised in lands rich with heaven and earth spiritual energy. After an incredibly long period of time, a piece as thick as a finger appeared in the heart of the tree. It had the ability to consolidate a cultivator's origin energy and enhance their blood energy.

River beast egg. This was a kind of special spirit beast that was cultivated by beast trainers and didn't exist naturally qto begin with. Every year this spirit beast laid an egg, but this egg wasn't used to produce descendants. After a cultivator ate this egg, they could borrow the boundless vitality inside to permanently increase their lifespan by 500 years.

There were only these three treasures within the suitcase, but each one was priceless. Besides the river beast egg that was useless to Qin Yu, the Thousandheart grass and solid origin wood were exactly what he needed.

In particular, the former. Once it was strengthened by the little blue lamp, its potency would surely rise. It might be able to preserve his life in a critical moment…this was because Qin Yu wasn't able to determine whether or not he could find a means to truly cure himself before his soul reached its limits.

If he failed, this thousandheart grass might save his life!

Because of Zhou Li, he thought he had accidentally drawn out trouble from the Hidden Fog Sect. But now, it seemed that the benefits outweighed the disadvantages.