Refining the Mountains and Rivers

After secretly raising his vigilance, Qin Yu closed his eyes and started to sense the power of the severed arm that fused into his body.

This arm was condensed from the power of the shadow world. Its iciness revealed a trace of attributes that were completely incompatible with the present world.

But now, it had been directly absorbed by him. Without even needing to refine it, it had become a part of him in a breath of time.

As if…this strength belonged to him originally…or perhaps…it was a part of his strength to begin with…

This discovery caused Qin Yu to raise his wariness even further as he felt even more dread towards the shadow world. But this was a matter for the future. Right now, he needed to see what changes the strength of the shadow world gave to him.

Qin Yu closed his eyes, completely focusing on his body. After a long time he let out a breath and opened his eyes. There was shock and surprise in his eyes, but even more joy.

He hadn’t thought that because of this accident and his confrontation with the shadow world, he would have such an accidental harvest.

When Qin Yu entered Nine Nether Pagoda, he hoped to find some information about the Nightmare Clan’s ancestral land from here. The reason for this was to determine the origin of the Path of 10,000 Souls and then figure out a way to unravel it.

Before, Qin Yu had been somewhat disappointed upon entering the eighth floor. While the degree of soul tempering power rose several dozen times over, he still hadn’t been able to feel any clues or traces.

After discovering the change within his shadow, he chose not to reveal anything and took advantage of the opportunity to turn this into a trap where he held the advantage. He never thought that because of this reason, it would cause a clue to appear out of nowhere.

The shadow world’s strength fused into Qin Yu’s body. Without being absorbed by his flesh and blood, it was directly transformed into a part of his soul. Moreover, this strength didn’t vanish like that. Even though it had fused into his soul, he could clearly feel it – it constantly released a yin chill from his soul.

Yin chill was yin chill; it didn’t cause any damage to Qin Yu. It even caused his soul to be more bright and insightful, making his senses that much sharper.

If it was just this, it would only be a small surprise. But the key was that the soul tempering power Qin Yu’s soul was withstanding was a kind of ‘fiery’ strength.

When flames and cold met, both sides had no conflict. Rather, they directly fused together, forming a kind of strength that Qin Yu couldn’t understand. It continuously poured into his soul. It was just that the amount produced wasn’t too high, so there wasn’t an obvious change for some time.

When this strength poured into Qin Yu’s soul, he discovered that some kind of strange and subtle connection was created between him and Nine Nether Pagoda.

Or to be even more accurate, there was a weak connection to some unknown existence from deep inside Nine Nether Pagoda.

Qin Yu wasn’t sure where this sensation came from, but since it was related to the source of Nine Nether Pagoda’s power, a bold assumption popped out in his mind – this was the Nightmare Ancestral Land!

It took him a long time to calm his surging thoughts. He rubbed his chin, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Through a lucky coincidence, he might have formed a faint connection with the Nightmare Ancestral Land…of course, this might not be the case, but until he confirmed it he would think this way.

Qin Yu could sense that as his soul constantly absorbed the special strength produced from the fusion of the yin chill and ‘flame’, his connection with the Nightmare Ancestral land grew stronger.

But what left him frowning was that this speed of increase was far too slow. If he wanted to generate a qualitative change through a quantitative accumulation, that might be an extremely long process.

This would be the same unless there was another accident that sped up this rate of growth. For instance, if that existence in the shadow world that coveted Qin Yu decided to come out again and give him another arm or a leg.

But what a pity, after suffering such a great loss, that existence hiding in the shadow world would be quiet for some time. It would obviously refuse to ‘warmly visit’ Qin Yu again.

In other words, unless Qin Yu gave up on trying to connect with the Nightmare Ancestral Land, he would have to stay in Nine Nether Pagoda for a long period of time.

This involved a very real problem – that was the astonishing expenses that would be incurred during this process.

As mentioned before, the Nightmare Clan had a mind-boggling way of accumulating wealth through their ancestral land. Their accounting books were simply turning page over page in the black.

The Nine Nether Pagoda’s charges weren’t an ordinary amount. Even if Qin Yu could draw demon crystals from Black Astral and Old Fox, how long could they last?

And for better or worse, Qin Yu had to have scruples about the feelings of the two old demons. If their lifetime savings that they worked so hard for were easily wiped clean, even if they didn’t have any opinion on the surface, how could they not be complaining inside?

Furthermore, Qin Yu also had to care about his face. Otherwise when he faced Old Fox and Black Astral in the future, he would be lacking energy.

Demon crystals…demon crystals…heh, he never paid any attention to these things in the past and now he had been taught a solid lesson.

After mocking himself a few times, Qin Yu stood up and walked out. The demon who sat behind a table and guarded this floor didn’t say anything as he stepped into the transmission array.

With a flash of demonic energy, Qin Yu vanished from sight.

The black-robed demon behind the table, the guardian of this floor who possessed unfathomable strength and a strange aura, couldn’t help but be stunned. He looked at the transmission array where Qin Yu had just left and furrowed his eyebrows together.

He had paid such a great price to enter Nine Nether Pagoda’s eighth floor and then left so quickly? This was the first time he had seen this happening.

Could it be that the soul tempering power had quickened the flames within his body and he had no choice but to hurry out and extinguish them?

He shook his head and closed his eyes. Even this person couldn’t withstand just a bit of soul tempering power; it seemed he had overestimated him earlier.

Such a character was not worth paying attention to. He collected his thoughts and immersed himself in cultivating again.

With his status and strength, he had been invited to guard Nine Nether Pagoda. This in itself was a transaction. Perhaps not many people understood it, but only those that were a part of the deal knew about the details. He understood that his situation wasn’t good and he could only take this chance and give it a try!

…

The costs of Nine Nether Pagoda’s eighth floor were truly astonishing. If the floors above could also satisfy the requirements to synthesize the two strengths and allow his soul to absorb it, then he would have saved a great deal of money.

But what a pity, this idea quickly fell apart. After trying the first and second floors to no success, he directly opened a room on the seventh floor and still failed.

It was clear that only the intensity of soul tempering power on the eighth floor could reach the level needed to fuse with the yin chill aura from the shadow world’s strength.

Sure enough, luck didn’t exist. Earning demon crystals was something that Qin Yu would have to face sooner or later.

This time, he subconsciously thought of Feature. If this woman were here, then with her skills as a demonic refining master, demon crystals wouldn’t be a problem at all.

But now he could only rely on himself.

Feature had left him some demon medicines before she left. Qin Yu had carefully looked through them and knew they were precious. If he wanted to, he could exchange them for a massive amount of demon crystals. But, he didn’t plan to do that.

He furrowed his eyebrows and composed himself. For better or worse, he, Old Fox, and Black Astral were all at the Demon Commander level. Could they be held hostage by something as minor as demon crystals?

Hum hum, he really was impatient to the point that he made a few unprofitable deals. But as long as he chose a few fat sheep, nothing else would be a problem.

He stabilized his thoughts and returned to the eighth floor. He had already wasted time. Without even nodding at the demon who stood guard there, he returned to his room in a hurry.

His actions left the black-robed guardian demon twitching his lips.

You finished that quickly? Hoho, no wonder you have no honor to greet me. If I was in your place, I would have found a block of tofu to smash my head in!

You have simply ruined the honor of all abyssal men!

Qin Yu certainly had no idea that he had become a quick shooter in the eyes of the old demon, and was also being grievously despised. Of course, even if he knew…no, that wouldn’t work. This sort of thing was truly unbearable. If he knew about it, he would have to clear the record.

So sometimes, being ignorant was also good.

As his room card heated up, Qin Yu opened his eyes. This was a reminder that his time to use the room was about to end. Still, in his heart, Qin Yu was willing to stay here until his soul absorbed enough strength.

But Old Fox and Black Astral were still outside, and there was still the matter of earning demon crystals. He needed to deal with that as soon as possible.

He let out a breath and walked outside. After returning his door card, he left Nine Nether Pagoda.

As the absolute core region of Adversity Peak City, this place seemed overcrowded at all times.

He pushed through the dense crowds of demons. His eyes sparkled before he furrowed his eyebrows together.

Someone was tracking him. And from their aura, they obviously had ill intent…had he been discovered so quickly?

While this was the first time he had come to Adversity Peak City, the Blue Wave that Feature intentionally let go should have returned already.

Mm? That wasn’t right. Even if it was Blue Wave who had discovered his whereabouts, he wouldn’t have had the courage to send someone to tail him.

After all, Feature had left an incomparably profound impression on him. In addition, there was also Old Fox, Black Astral, and Shadowless Demon.

Three Demon Commanders…even if it was his big brother, the Adversity Peak City Lord, he could only patiently endure it.

Had Blue Wave’s hatred clouded his thoughts, or did these people have another reason? It didn’t really matter. Since these people came, Qin Yu would naturally be able to obtain the information he wanted.

Moments later, in a remote place in Adversity Peak City, Qin Yu tightened his fingers. With a light cracking sound, wild strength surged through the demon he held. After the life vanished from the demon’s eyes, he let go and allowed their corpse to fall to the floor.

He looked down at his chest where his robes had been torn apart. There was a shallow white mark on his skin.

His revealed a dark expression. He turned and left, vanishing from sight in a few blinks of the eye.

When he entered the streets he slowed down. He frowned a little. Things were a bit unexpected, and he almost suffered a great loss.

Although he had managed to eliminate the people that tailed him, he hadn’t been able to pry any information from their mouths. It had to be known that in Great Deer City, even Mian Ya hadn’t been able to withstand his methods and had obediently told him about the Thousand Mirage Demon Mirror.

While he had been short on time, he hadn’t been merciful. The demons were unexpectedly able to resist him. Several of them even chose suicide before he could do anything to them.

This caused Qin Yu’s frown to deepen and his heart to fill with dignity. From the clues he had…these demons didn’t have an ordinary origin. They were deathsworn guards that were specially cultivated.

And anyone who could cultivate deathsworn absolutely wasn’t ordinary!