Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Far, far away, there was a small world that floated in the endless nothingness. After growing rapidly, it had gradually stabilized.

A great sun hung high above the skies. Mountains and rivers crossed the world and the air was filled with rich spiritual strength. The breath of life had begun to appear. For instance, there were fish swimming through the rivers, beasts racing through the hills and ravines, and even birds flying in the skies.

The only difference was that their size was ten times, a hundred times larger than ordinary animals.

A gold fish suddenly leapt up from the roaring rivers. Its golden scales reflected the radiant sunlight and its massive body left a great shadow on the ground. It fell into the river once more, causing waves to splash up.

Suddenly, a hawk screeched from high above. When it spread its wings, it was 1000 feet from tip to tip. Its eyes were solemn and formidable. But there was a small grass above the hawk's head, and its leaves swayed in the end.

The great hawk quickly descended and folded its wings as it reached a grand palace that radiated light. From a distance, it looked like a projection of the great sun hanging in the skies.

At this time, this divine steed, this hawk that overlooked the world, stood respectfully in front of the palace. It had drawn in all its feathers and bowed its head obediently.

Then, that little grass jumped down. Like a tiny umbrella that opened up, it fluttered down until it reached the front of the palace.

"My lord, I do not understand." Blue light shimmered around the grass as a voice came from it.

A figure was seated on the throne in the palace. Their body was covered with light, and only a vague shadow could be seen.

At this moment, as if in response to these words, he opened his eyes. A trillion flashes of lightning seemed to crackle in the palace.

The grass shrank back. Although it had seen this many times, the lord's aura still left it feeling incomparable awe.

But this was reasonable. With the lord's revered status, if placed in the heavens and earth, how many could compare with him?

This was an existence that truly hovered above the highest heavens!

"Do you feel it?" A light voice sounded out. When the grass heard this voice, it felt warmed and comforted. But when the voice fell into the ears of the great hawk, it was like being struck by a million bolts of thunder. Its body violently shivered and it forcefully steadied itself to avoid the pitiful fate of falling over.

"Yes. I believe that my lord shouldn't descend with your strength at this time to help Master Qin Yu." The green grass paused for a moment and then said, "No, I spoke wrongly. Master Qin Yu must be helped, but there is no need to assist that woman."

"Hoho, things aren't as simple as you think. At first I wasn't going to help, but I suddenly sensed something…do not worry, Qin Yu will not suffer a loss. I have my own reasons but I cannot tell you right now."

The green grass waved its tender leaves. "Then I am relieved. You cannot be discovered right now, otherwise there will be great troubles."

Tiny roots slapped against the ground and the green grass flew upwards, "Then I shall not disturb my lord's cultivation. I shall leave first."

"Wait." The figure beneath the light said. "How has your control been recently?"

"Uh…very good. Everything is fine. I will be able to finish soon." The green grass hollowly laughed a few times before flying away even faster.

With a flash, the grass left the palace. But then the skies above its head began to darken.

In the next moment, a bolt of black thunder struck down without warning.

The green grass howled in sorrow, "My lord, why is it this move again?"

Hum -

A sword's cry sounded through the heavens and the dark skies were cut apart by a sharp blade. Light shined down, illuminating the leaves which blocked out the skies.

It came from the nine heavens. Its grass leaves could cut through the heavens and sunder the earth, breaking stars apart!

Bang -

The black thunder was chopped to pieces. The green grass pitifully cried out as it fell on top of the great hawk's head.

The hawk immediately flapped its wings and howled into the air, racing far away.

The light-covered figure in the palace helplessly smiled. But, there was satisfaction in his eyes.

In the rumors, it was said that the Star Cutting Grass existed in the world and its leaves could break stars.

But what he wanted was more than just this.

This Star Cutting Grass had participated in the breeding of a world and had even merged into one whole with it. With its roots planted deep into the source of the world, how could this Star Cutting Grass be ordinary? It was destined to shake the world!

…

The doors to the laboratory opened. Qin Yu walked out, a tight frown on his face.

Yun Die's face paled. Was even teacher not able to do anything?

As she thought, in the end she couldn't escape her tragic ending.

She squeezed out a smile. "Teacher, there is no need to trouble yourself over me. I am more than satisfied that I was able to live for this long."

Qin Yu waved his hand. "There's still time. Don't despair."

But what to do next? He had no clue.

The little blue lamp had indeed helped to accelerate the fusion of the medicinal materials. But beneath the deep blue light, the quality of the fusing materials also began to rise. As the quality rose, this similarly slowed the fusion speed.

With one aspect being sped up and another aspect slowing things down, in the end it would still require a month to complete the fusion.

Yun Die nodded, "Yes."

There was the sound of hurried footsteps. When Hu Fu and the other Hidden Fog Sect cultivators heard the news, they rushed to the laboratory.

"Mister, is there a problem?"

Qin Yu coldly said, "There isn't enough time to wait for the fusion of the medicine."

"Ah! What do we do then!?"

"Could this be our fate?"

"My Hidden Fog Sect is destined to never be the leader!"

Elders sighed with disappointment.

Hu Fu suddenly said, "How much time does mister require?"

Qin Yu looked at him, "One month."

Hu Fu respectfully said, "Mister, there is a secret place in Dragon City. Only the seven great sects and the Shadow Clan know of it, because the secrets of time are involved."

Everyone's eyes brightened.

"That's right, I actually forgot about that place!"

"One month. As long as we put forth enough offerings, this shouldn't be impossible!"

"The heavens never seal off all exits!"

Qin Yu's eyes widened, "The power of time?"

"That's right." Hu Fu said, "Dragon City is extremely mystical and there are many places we have yet to discover. This secret place has an altar within it. After offering sacrifices, the flow of time can either be sped up or slowed down.

"In the historical texts, there is a record of 37 days passing within the altar while only one day passed in the outside world. As long as the medicine is brought to the altar, the fusion can be completed in a day!"

Qin Yu said, "Hu Fu, prepare the offerings and send the medicine to the altar."

The power of time?

He never expected that Dragon City would have such an astonishing place.

As for this power, many many years ago, Qin Yu had borne witness to it once.

And the source of that power was the little blue lamp!

How could this altar achieve it? And did it have some connection to the little blue lamp?

…

The place where the power of time was hidden away was a mystic realm within Dragon City. On the surface, it appeared that only the seven great sects and the Shadow Clan knew of its existence. But because the seven great sects hadn't been able to obtain control of Dragon City, this mystic realm was temporarily under the handling of the Shadow Clan.

This much explanation wasn't for nothing, but to point out why Qin Yu was bitterly smiling right now. He really had a headache because of that girl Zhou Li.

Thinking about it, news that he safely returned should have spread throughout Dragon City by now. If Qin Yu didn't go to the Shadow Clan's dwelling, he feared that Zhou Li might vent her anger on the Hidden Fog Sect and create further side issues.

But now, what he lacked the most was time.

"Whatever!" Qin Yu quietly sighed. He stood up and went to the Shadow Clan with Hu Fu and the others.

Before now, Elders of the Hidden Fog Sect had already gone to the Shadow Clan to discuss using the mystic realm.

There was good news and bad news.

The good news was that Zhou Li had gone into closed door seclusion. This exempted Qin Yu from the awkward position of having to face her.

The bad news was that the mystic realm with the power of time had already been occupied by Radiance Temple. And, they had reserved it until the beginning of the finals.

"Those old women, they are doing this intentionally!" A Hidden Fog Sect Elder clenched his teeth together and roared.

There was the sound of footsteps. A delicate fragrance carried along the wind. It was a fragrance formed by the scent of dozens of beautiful women, leaving one subconsciously intoxicated by it.

"Yoho, how come I think that some people are speaking ill of me?" The gentle voice had a lingering friendliness to it.

The roaring Hidden Fog Sect Elder stiffened. Faint traces of frost rapidly appeared and covered him.

Hiss -

He shivered, as if he had walked out from a world of ice and snow.

Cultivators from Radiance Temple had arrived. They were all supremely beautiful women. They swayed from side to side as they walked over.

"Sect Master Hu Fu." The Radiance Temple Master bowed, "It isn't good to talk about others behind their backs."

Hu Fu was expressionless. Talking about others behind their backs was bad? He wished he could just directly attack them and tear these old hags into shreds.

Hu Fu took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile. "Temple Master Bei Qing, my sect wishes to use the mystic realm today, but I never thought that it would be reserved ahead of time by Radiance Temple. I wonder if the Temple Master is willing to transfer the right of use to us? I am willing to pay three times whatever it is you paid."

How mysterious was the power of time? Using it just once consumed an enormous amount of resources. Three times that was a mind-boggling compensation.

The Radiance Temple Master's eyes flashed. "Oh. I wonder why Sect Master Hu Fu needs to use it? That you would put forth such a steep price."

Hu Fu said, "My sect's dark star ice serpent was wounded and has basically recovered now. It only requires some time to rest so that it can restore as much energy as possible before the finals."

He coughed, "In the finals, while the Hidden Fog Sect and Radiance Temple are opponents, Temple Master should be well aware of how strong the dark star ice serpent is. If you are willing to help us out today, we will surely repay you."

For instance, having the dark star ice serpent show mercy in the finals.