Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Everything in the world had two sides. If the sun shined high in the skies, then a shadow would fall upon the earth. They were completely opposite to each other, but they came from the same origin and were inseparable. Perhaps this was one of the greatest mysteries of the Great Dao.

The moment Qin Yu saw the eerily smiling shadow on the ground, he instantly knew who this other party was. It was like a dark instinct, informing him.

"You recognize me?" The shadow Qin Yu on the ground smiled even brighter, his tone becoming increasingly stern, "I never thought that I would be able to meet with my main body so quickly. I really must thank those wonderful people who provided me with so much extra strength.

"Mm, once I lock you in here and replace you, I should go and thank them. For instance, allowing them to die a little bit happier. That should be considered as having taken revenge for my main body. So you shouldn't feel unwilling about what is going to happen to you. I will treat you very well."

Qin Yu raised an eyebrow. He slowly said, "This might be the first time I've learnt of your existence, but it would be better if you don't try to use such a low-level psychological attack against me. Strictly speaking, you and I are the same person so you should be aware of everything I've experienced. This means you should also be aware that this is useless against me and is simply wasting your time."

Shadow Qin Yu's smile suddenly vanished. All that remained was a cold and dreary stare. "Main body, I am well aware of everything you have experienced, but that doesn't mean you necessarily remember it…exactly what qualifications does someone as incompetent and ignorant as you have to control our body and walk freely through the world!"

Qin Yu frowned. "What do you mean? Speak clearly!"

"Hahaha, how pitiful and pathetic. Even now you still haven't discovered your missing memories? That's right, I know many, many things, but why should I tell you?" The shadow hysterically cackled, its face twisting.

Qin Yu's complexion was ugly. From when he was born until he was taken in and adopted by Aunty Gu, that period of time was indeed fuzzy in his memories. He originally thought that he was too young and that period was too painful so he had instinctively forgotten about it, but now it seemed that this clearly wasn't true.

The shadow clucked his tongue. "Alright, the time for talking is over. Let's get down to business." He spread out his arms, curving them up in anticipation. "Following this, I should leave this place and hug this evil and unfair world."

A black aura gushed out from underground. It invaded Qin Yu's feet and started to spread upwards. He looked as if he was putting on a set of black armor.

A cold and dismal aura wildly permeated his soul space. His soul opened its eyes. One eye was normal, but the other was pitch black.

This was an extremely strange feeling. His consciousness was being drawn out and yet he could feel the changes occurring in his soul. It was a slow and gradual process of losing control.

To Qin Yu's helplessness, he discovered that he didn't have any ability to contend with the shadow's attack; he was left in a completely passive state. Or to put it another way, right now he couldn't grasp a method to deal with the shadow's onslaught.

If things continued like this, then he wouldn't be able to resist much longer. His consciousness would be replaced and he would forever perish in this dark world.

There really were two ways to look at everything in this world. He originally thought that existence was a disaster that meant future troubles, but now it might be able to save his life in a critical moment.

Qin Yu started to ask the Ancient for help. Even if he was sure that the Ancient had realized what was happening to him at this moment, he couldn't continue with this gamble because he didn't know how long he could last.

But soon, Qin Yu's heart turned ice cold, as if he had fallen into a freezing lake; there was actually no response to the summons he sent to the Ancient.

He forced himself to calm down and started to analyze the situation. There were two possibilities. One was that due to certain reasons, the Ancient wasn't able to sense what he was experiencing right now, or that the connection between them had been momentarily severed or isolated. For instance, something similar to what happened in the Time Altar.

There was another possibility that was more terrifying. The Ancient knew everything and had also received Qin Yu's distress signal, but was choosing to ignore him.

Qin Yu wasn't sure which situation it was, but he didn't have time to figure it out. The shadow was quickly corroding his will. The darkness rising from the ground had now passed over his knees.

Without worrying too much about things, Qin Yu started to summon the little blue lamp. As for whether it was exposed and all the potential dangers that might accompany that, all of those things had to take a back seat in the face of life or death danger.

And then something even more horrifying occurred. Qin Yu could feel the little blue lamp's existence but it seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. There was no response from it.

This was big trouble now!

The initial calm he felt when he was swept up into the darkness had all but disappeared. No one was able to maintain a calm and thoughtful image in the face of death…if they did, that was absolutely an act, or they had some mental defect.

As for the nonsense the shadow spoke of about him being imprisoned here forever, Qin Yu didn't believe that at all. He began to fall into a panic.

All this time, because of the existence of the little blue lamp, Qin Yu always had an inexplicable degree of confidence. Even in the face of peril and desperation he was able to maintain his calm and steadily deal with situations.

But now, it seemed as if the little blue lamp had been stripped away from him. He could only rely on his own strength to find a path to survive.

"Don't panic! Calm down, calm down!"

Qin Yu closed his eyes. He drew in deep breaths and attempted to restore his ability to think.

But the shadow wasn't willing to give him this chance. A cold voice rose up, "Are you in despair? Do you feel fear? I understand all of the cards in your hands. Because you are me, and I am you. Since I dared to try and replace you here, I have absolute confidence in myself.

"No one can save you. Believe me. Why continue uselessly struggling? Just stay in this dark world. To you, it isn't death but a kind of dormancy. Perhaps many years in the future I will wake you up and give you the chance to be reborn.

"But the premise is that you don't give me too much trouble, otherwise I promise you that you will regret it!"

The shadow's voice grew louder, drilling into Qin Yu's mind. "So make your choice. Give up resistance and allow me to take over your body. This is your only path to redemption!"

Qin Yu suddenly opened his eyes, his voice hoarse. "If you had absolute confidence then you wouldn't be spouting so much crap at me."

The shadow's voice paused before coldly sneering once again. "Think what you want."

Then, the shadow fell quiet. The darkness crept up Qin Yu's body even faster.

Qin Yu seemed to faintly grasp something. His thoughts raced and he said, "As you said, I have no secrets against you. Then, if you are afraid of something, I should also know what it is.

"The little blue lamp and the Ancient's consciousness are two of my cards. They are both useless to me right now, so you aren't afraid of them.

"But if I want to leave, I can only rely on my own strength. So, it should be something that I have and you don't, something that can spur them to move.

"The little blue lamp can be ruled out. It has no reason to choose you and abandon me. Then, there is one other possibility…"

Qin Yu quickly spoke and his eyes grew increasingly bright. He was like a gambler in a casino, with only a single roll of the die left.

If he won he would get everything back, if he lost he would lose everything!

Qin Yu closed his eyes. With his greatest willpower, he tried to summon the power he had just barely touched the surface of.

His consciousness rapidly weakened. Qin Yu could feel a terrifying strength arrive, like it wanted to twist him to pieces and swallow him up.

This was because he was attempting to use a power that he had no qualifications to use with his current cultivation.

"You are courting death!"

The shadow roared out loud, his corrosion coming even faster.

Qin Yu didn't hear or care. He endured the powerful extraction force that was working on him. There was no possibility of turning back.

After an unknown period of time, just as Qin Yu felt that his consciousness would dissipate, a strange fluctuation came from his body.

Within this dark world, space distorted. But this was an outer appearance. The true reason for this distortion was that the flow of time around him had changed.

Although this was only an extremely minor change, in the eyes of a certain existence, it was like a lighthouse suddenly sending out a radiant light in the pitch dark night.

Bang -

A formidable strength suddenly arrived from the nothingness above. Qin Yu could hear the angry and unwilling roars of the shadow.

In the next moment, the dark world shattered around him.