Refining the Mountains and Rivers

A black wolf leapt through the wooded mountains. It had a vigorous physique and proud eyes. Powerful monstrous energy tumbled around it. Every action it took revealed its status as a king of beasts.

But right now, an ordinary-looking cultivator was riding on its back. There was also a golden eagle with golden claws on its shoulder. Even though it was less than three feet tall, the aura it released was faintly more formidable than the black wolf.

At this time, the eagle looked into the distance. The ordinary-looking cultivator turned around and whispered some words. The eagle cried back in response. Both sides seemed to be in discussion.

"That direction." The ordinary-looking cultivator pointed a finger. The black wolf roared and it immediately accelerated, soon vanishing from line of sight.

At the same time, many cultivators also felt that terrifying collision of auras.

"Let's go and take a look. Perhaps there will be a chance to fish for some benefits!"

"With such a loud commotion, it will inevitably attract a large number of cultivators. While I wouldn't dare do anything to those fighting, I wouldn't mind using this chance to snatch tokens from others."

"Let's leave, this sort of battle between powerhouses isn't something we have the qualifications to meddle in!"

Everyone made choices based on their own reasoning. But after a short hesitation, most people chose to gather from all directions.

If they managed to step into dog shit luck, they might pick up some tremendous benefits. The chances of this were low, but they were still there.

"East Han, ranked third. He's a genius talent from the East Family and it's rumored he is tyrannically strong!"

"Just who else is there that can fight with East Han? I have no recollection of them at all."

"I've seen this person before. He's the one who shamed Luo He in front of everyone at a banquet not too long ago. As I thought, he's no mediocre man!"

Numerous participants came to a stop at the edge of the battlefield. As they watched the changes occurring in the fight, their eyes filled with acclaim.

…

Bang -

There was another collision and separation. Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows and looked at East Han. East Han's complexion was pale and he had clearly suffered tremendous losses. But, Qin Yu could feel that the sense of threat coming from him not only didn't decrease, but it was actually growing increasingly intense.

It was clear that he hadn't used his hidden card yet!

Although Qin Yu also had his own cards, once he used them he would surely arouse enormous interest. This would likely cause all sorts of other problems.

Thinking of this, Qin Yu's eyebrows furrowed even tighter than before.

What he didn't know was that East Han was ten times more shocked than Qin Yu and ten times more hesitant.

By coincidence, he had obtained great benefits in his early stages of cultivation. And with the East Family supporting him wholeheartedly, this led to his current achievements.

He never imagined that a mere disciple from the Qin Family, someone who wasn't famous or well known at all, could fight evenly with him. Even after this battle continued for such a long time, neither side was able to take the upper hand!

Moreover, what caused East Han to feel even more fear was that he could sense a terrifying aura hidden deeply below Qin Yu's surface.

It was like crimson magma flowing beneath a layer of ice. East Han wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that once it erupted, it would surely shake the skies.

While he had his own hidden card, he didn't have much confidence he could defeat Qin Yu. And, using this card would cause a tremendous loss to him.

On the martial field of the finals, once he fell into a weakened condition, even if he won here he would likely become bridal clothes gifted to others.

East Han's thoughts raced. He looked up and his gaze clashed with Qin Yu's.

Without a single word, they both understood each other's thoughts. This was a marvelous feeling.

Qin Yu thought for a moment. Then, he slowly nodded in return.

Bang -

Bang -

The auras of the two people erupted. But this time they didn't crash into each other. Rather, they turned around and flew backwards.

In the shadows, the participants watching the battle all felt their hearts shrink as their faces paled.

"This is bad!"

"Flee!"

"Run away!"

With loud shouts, shadowy figures stumbled as they fled into the distance.

Qin Yu and East Han had fought each other. Their goal in doing so was to capture the other party's participating token and become one of the final victors.

This was the key point.

If one side could easily win then there was nothing they could say. But since both sides had their own scruples, why did they have to be hard-headed and struggle until the end? It wasn't as if they had some kind of blood grudge against each other.

There was another point.

The two people had now found an even better choice. Among the cultivators that had been drawn over, several were considerably strong. As long as they could get rid of a few of them, collecting enough tokens wouldn't be hard.

"How hateful! These two people set up a trap and intentionally lured us in!"

Many cultivators cursed out loud as they fled. They felt as if they had been deceived.

The blue-clothed cultivator was expressionless. He rushed forward at an astonishing speed, leaving behind a series of afterimages.

If there was an opportunity, he didn't mind reaching for it. But if he were to engage in a face-to-face battle, others might take advantage of him.

In this sort of situation, he certainly didn't want to become a target.

But soon, the blue-clothed cultivator's complexion changed. He could feel an ice cold perception lock onto him from afar.

Someone had actually chosen him as their target?

The blue-clothed cultivator sneered inwardly. Then, he revealed a look of panic on his face. His aura rose and he fled away even faster than before.

Whoosh -

He passed over many people and flew into the distance.

After a brief pause, the ice cold perception that locked onto him accelerated, chasing him without hesitation.

Everyone ran away from the two of them. With their astonishing speed, they soon disappeared from everyone's senses.

Moments later, the blue-clothed cultivator looked around him. He came to a sudden stop and slowly turned, his eyes dense and heavy.

This distance should be safe enough. As long as he finished this quickly, there wouldn't be any problems.

Whoosh -

There was the sound of splitting air. Qin Yu landed on the ground and said, "You're not running anymore?"

The blue-clothed cultivator sneered. "I acknowledge that you are strong, but if you want to take away my token I fear you aren't qualified!"

He lifted his hand and the monster beast he had just subdued appeared. Now, one could see that it was a small fox. Its gray hair was messy and there were traces of burning and shedding. When it appeared, it seemed a bit dispirited and weak.

What was strange was that this gray fox had opened a third eye on its forehead. It was closed, vertical from top to bottom, and its surface was bright red.

At this moment, the gray fox stared hard at Qin Yu. Its third eye lightly trembled and slowly opened.

It was deep blood red!

The gray fox's third eye seemed to hide a sea of blood. Just glancing at it, one felt as if their mind was immediately sucked in.

Qin Yu's complexion changed. But before he could react he froze in place. His eyes turned empty and hollow.

As if he had been caught in a trance!

The blue-clothed cultivator was overjoyed. He had succeeded!

Without any hesitation, he stepped forward and rapidly approached.

Looking at Qin Yu's dazed expression, his eyes flashed with hesitation. Then, that hesitation turned into a vicious cruelty.

The gray fox was his greatest card. The less people knew about it, the better it would be. And with what happened just now, this person would likely be his future enemy.

This Qin Yu had been hiding his skills during the primaries and semi-finals so it was easy to tell that he was a man with great ambitions. Now that his plans were ruined he would never give up.

Bang -

The blue-clothed cultivator punched out. His fist was wrapped with flames as he pounded down at Qin Yu's head.

Die!

Bang -

There was a dull thumping noise and the blue-clothed cultivator's chest hollowed in. His eyes flew open and bulged out. In the next moment, he flew back at a ridiculous speed. The several ancient trees behind him were torn apart by the tremendous potential energy crashing into his body.

After flying a far distance away, the blue-clothed cultivator crashed into a cliff, causing cracks to spread out like a spider web.

The sound of footsteps approached. Qin Yu stood in front of the blue-clothed cultivator, his eyes faint as he said, "You wanted to kill me first, so don't blame anyone but yourself."

The blue-clothed cultivator stuck in the cliff wall moved his lips, but no words came out. Thick red blood gushed out from every orifice on his head. His head fell to the side and he died on the scene.

Qin Yu's sudden punch had dispersed the blue-clothed cultivator's vitality, not even giving him the chance to admit defeat and withdraw from the field.

Without any expression, Qin Yu didn't seem to care at all about what just happened. He stepped forward and found the token from the corpse using his senses.

With a light 'pa' sound, the token shattered into powder. Four more motes of light appeared on his own token.

He had nine tokens. With just one more, he would have the ten tokens he needed to be in the final ten. At this time, Qin Yu's eyebrows lifted up. He looked down at the token in his hand, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

After gathering nine tokens, this sort of change occurred; it was indeed outside of his expectations. But when he thought about it, anyone who was able to obtain nine tokens must be incredibly strong.

If the aura that the token released was too strong and one couldn't obtain the final piece needed, that would just be wasting time.

Qin Yu's thoughts turned as he figured this out. He casually put the token away and turned around, looking at a large tree behind him.

This tree was relatively far away so only several of its branches had been broken apart. Its main body was still structurally preserved.

If it wasn't for the token warning him, even now Qin Yu wouldn't have been able to sense anything.

This was an absolutely high-level concealment method!

"Come out."