Refining the Mountains and Rivers

After receiving Flying Pigeon’s message, the cold-faced demon youth Blacklight leapt up in the air, his face turning blue and white.

Liu Huo. It was that person. He had come looking for them!

Damn it all. Every debt had a debtor. Even if he was looking for trouble, he should be searching for Firefly. How did he end up in that person’s line of sight himself?

But there was obviously no answer to this question. After pacing around in a few circles, Blacklight turned and walked out. There was nothing he could do. Since this matter involved Liu Huo, things were beyond his control.

He would have to ask the master for orders!

As Blacklight hurried towards the depths of the Merry Forest to report on this, Thousand Eye Temple had also finally locked onto Qin Yu’s whereabouts.

They discovered that His Excellency Liu Huo wasn’t at his dwelling. Rather, he had gone to a small store that didn’t have much of a reputation. After further investigation, they discovered that this small store’s background was the Merry Forest.

This required a little caution.

It was said that dragons couldn’t suppress local snakes. Moreover, while ‘that person’ who controlled the Merry Forest might not be a flood dragon, he was still an overwhelmingly large python.

This discovery caused Old Fox to hesitate. But soon, he received some news that left him gasping for breath.

Because Qin Yu had gone to this store to sell another jar of demon medicine. The demon medicine was also of ordinary quality!

Only the heavens knew how they appraised it to be ordinary…once this matter ended, he would have to bring in new blood to replace every appraiser. All of them were brainless idiots!

“Investigate, continue investigating!” Old Fox drew in a few deep breaths, warning himself not to be impulsive. Selling a jar of demon medicine wasn’t anything at all. He had the means to obtain this jar of demon medicine for himself.

If he was reckless in his actions and other people noticed His Excellency Liu Huo, that would truly be troublesome.

Soon, more and more news came in.

Liu Huo had been respectfully requested to enter the store.

He also entered a quiet room. No one was allowed to approach.

A change occurred in the Merry Forest. After Blacklight had a meeting with that person, a massive amount of wealth was mobilized.

There was definitive evidence that the Merry Forest was preparing a large quantity of precious materials. Their current purpose was unknown.

…

With every bit of news, Old Fox’s eyes turned increasingly red. The faint trace of hope in his heart completely disappeared.

“Merry Forest!”

That old dog had an amazing sense of smell and had surely noticed something. It seemed that they weren’t the only faction to have noticed Liu Huo.

Originally, he thought that he had grasped a secret no one knew. He could carefully plan his next step to maximize his benefits.

But in the blink of an eye, let alone playing chess, even the entire chessboard was almost stolen away! You damned old dog, you have gone too far! I will never let this matter go!

“Let’s go. We’re going to pay a visit to His Excellency Liu Huo. As an honored guest of our Thousand Eye Temple, no matter what materials he needs, he can obtain them from us!”

He could not wait any longer, otherwise this final prize might be taken away by the Merry Forest!

At this time, Old Fox’s complexion was pale but a horrifying light shined in his eyes.

…

Blacklight knelt on the ground. His back was soaked with sweat. It had been a long silence, and this silence had to be proportional to the master’s anger.

But he understood the master. The master wouldn’t easily take action, and yet on that day he had let Liu Huo leave safely without doing anything to him.

This point alone proved that there were other points of consideration.

As Blacklight felt the air becoming increasingly thick, almost making it difficult to breathe, the master’s cold and indifferent voice finally resounded from up above. “Blacklight, go in my place and tell Liu Huo that the Merry Forest will agree to his conditions. But, he must know that this is the first time and also the last time, otherwise he will not like the consequences.”

The master was enduring it!

Although he had already expected this, when he truly heard this order, he still felt his heart empty out.

Did even the master dread that person so much? As he thought, Liu Huo had to be a Demon Commander! But no matter how he sifted through his memories, he had no impression of this person. Could he have come from another layer of the abyss?

Demon Commanders. They were the greatest powerhouses below an Abyssal King. They already stood at an unimaginable peak for countless abyssal demons.

Such a character could lift a hand and summon endless might. Regardless of which Abyssal King they pledged themselves to, they could obtain their own manor and become a ruler of their own domain, controlling the life and death of hundreds of millions of abyssal demons.

But such a person, an absolutely great figure of the abyss, had done something as tacky as knocking on someone’s door and extorting them…this simply ruined the dignity of all other Demon Commanders!

If Blacklight hadn’t personally experienced this, he simply wouldn’t be able to imagine it.

“Yes, master.”

He took a deep breath, bowed, and stood up. He glanced up at the giant shadow of the master behind a black curtain and sighed inwardly.

While he also felt that the master’s decision was the wisest choice, today’s matter involved many precious materials. It would be impossible to keep it a secret. Once news of this spread out, he was afraid the Merry Forest would become a target of ridicule for many people.

…

Flying Pigeon was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. When he finally received a reply from the Merry Forest, he let out a long breath of relief. Only then did he discover that he was drenched in sweat, dripping off of him as if he had just emerged from a bath.

It was good that they agreed, very good. If the master decided to tear apart all pretense of face with Liu Huo, no one knew what the result would be. But, Flying Pigeon was sure that he would be the first to die.

He quickly changed into a new set of clothes and walked out. He knocked on the door of the quiet room and then only entered after hearing someone call him in.

“My lord, the things you want are being prepared right now. Lord Blacklight will personally arrive to hand them to you.”

To be honest, this result was beyond Qin Yu’s expectations. He had played a game of extortion and he had opened his mouth as wide as a lion’s. He never thought that he would succeed in obtaining everything.

In his heart, Qin Yu had given room for the Merry Forest to bargain. As long as he could end up with 30-40% of what he wanted, that would be more than enough in his opinion.

But now, he was being given everything without any discount at all. Could it be that the Merry Forest had a deep background and simply didn’t care about giving away so much, or was there another reason behind it all?

No matter how he looked at it, the possibility of the latter was higher…however, this was still a happy and unexpected surprise. He smiled.

When Flying Pigeon saw Qin Yu’s smile, only then did his heart stop getting stuck in his throat. It seemed that he had passed this calamity without incident.

It was only now that he had the mood to think about the materials listed in the demon crystal card. His heart twitched a few times.

In being extorted to such an extent, he feared that all the profits that the Merry Forest made from the beast tide eruption would have to be used up. In fact, that might not be enough.

Blacklight finally arrived. After dismissing everyone, only he and Qin Yu remained in the quiet room. With a dignified expression, he placed a demon leather bag on the table.

“Lord Liu Huo, the Merry Forest has accepted your request. All the materials are here. Please examine them.”

Qin Yu glanced at the demon leather bag. “No need. I trust in your sincerity.”

Blacklight’s lips twitched. Hey, we really don’t need this kind of trust!

But a thought was just a thought. He would never dare to reveal it. In fact, he had to express his gratitude at Qin Yu’s trust.

Blacklight took a deep breath and continued to say, “In addition, my master has some words that he would like to relay to Lord Liu Huo. We hope that this matter…”

Just as he started to speak, the door to the quiet room was thrust open. Blacklight stopped speaking and looked over with a cloudy expression.

However, when he saw the intruder, his complexion changed again. He subconsciously stood up and said, “Old Fox, why are you here?”

The steward of Thousand Eye Temple. He was the true leader of their Great Deer City’s branch division. In this region, he was one of the most powerful and influential people.

Moreover, Blacklight was vaguely aware that his master knew Old Fox from long ago. While they had a bad relationship, they weren’t true enemies. On the contrary, they had a subtle and tacit understanding on many issues.

Facing Old Fox, he certainly didn’t dare to pull rank. He spoke with sufficient respect.

But unexpectedly, facing Blacklight’s question, Old Fox didn’t pay him any attention at all. Old Fox strode in and smiled, “Mister Liu Huo, because of some busy work, I neglected you previously. All of this is a mistake of Thousand Eye Temple. We ask that you not feel offended and give us a chance to prove ourselves again.”

As he spoke, his eyes swept over the demon leather bag on the table and his smile brightened. “To express our sincerity, no matter what Mister Liu Huo needs, our Thousand Eye Temple is willing to sell it to you at the lowest possible price. Moreover, we can guarantee our quality. Throughout the entire Great Deer City, there is no other store that can compare with my Thousand Eye Temple.”

What was going on here? Blacklight was stunned for a moment, uncertain of what to do. The items had been brought but he hadn’t been able to relay the master’s words. He couldn’t allow his business to be interrupted by the people from Thousand Eye Temple.

He squeezed out a smile. “Old Fox, are you misunderstanding something? Our Merry Forest has a deep connection with Lord Liu Huo, so all the items inside that demon leather bag are free gifts. It is a way of expressing our sincerity. We are in no way competing for business with the Thousand Eye Temple.”

Free gifts?

Old Fox’s lips twitched and he shouted out curses in his heart. You dead damned dog, you are actually able to do something like this!

As he thought, that old thing must have grasped the truth. Otherwise he never would have put down such capital.

Although he had no idea what was in the demon leather bag, with what information he had grasped, it must have cost a sky-high amount of demon stones.

You said you are giving it to someone and I should trust that you are giving it away? Then throughout all these years, how come I’ve never seen you give anything away?

He coldly glared at Blacklight. This young brat, what did he mean by competing for business? That’s right, you aren’t competing for business. What you are trying to do is to steal my future good fortune!

I, Old Fox, will never let this matter rest!