Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1481 – Set Up

Returning to Li Zhouyi’s palace, after waving away the servants, Qin Yu sat down at the table. His body suddenly trembled and sweat appeared on his forehead under the black robe. He had wanted to pour himself a cup of tea, but found that his fingers were shaking so much that when he lifted the teapot, most of the tea spilled on the table.

Laughing bitterly to himself, he tipped back his head to drink the hot tea. He then let out a long breath, and only then did he feel his stiff body relax.

The glowing light ball that woman gave him…shattered!

Not long ago when Qin Yu stepped out of the Imperial Palace, the most terrifying thing was not knowing what had been happening so far. However, there was no doubt that Qin Yu had unknowingly, without making any preparations at all, arrived at the gates of hell.

It was not the first time that Qin Yu found himself in such a precarious situation that put him on the border of life and death, but this time, it was different from all his previous experiences. He did not notice anything, which also meant that he was unable to resist such terrifying power. If it was not for that glowing light ball, Qin Yu would probably have become a dead man.

Getting so close to death, yet being unaware of it…it was Qin Yu’s biggest source of fear today.

After being silent for a long time, Qin Yu took another deep breath, suppressing the fear and apprehension in his eyes.

Now that he was safe and sound and had returned to Li Zhouyi’s palace, this meant that his identity had not been exposed. That is to say, he was out of harm’s way for now and did not have to worry too much.

And now that Qin Yu had passed the test completely, that woman would contact him soon to fulfill her original promise. At least, Qin Yu would know what he would be facing next.

Another matter was…the Ice Flame!

Judging from the degree of caution in the Imperial Palace, it was easy to infer that whatever was happening next was extremely critical. A matter like this was definitely incredibly dangerous as well.

Qin Yu only did this because he owed that woman too many favors. Furthermore, given the disparity in strength between both of them, he was unable to refuse anyway, so he had to agree. To be honest, he was extremely unwilling to go through these dangers.

He had to increase his strength! There were many shortcuts in front of him now, so he had to try them.

His eyes flashed quickly before he got up to push the door open. To him, the West Desolate was like an extremely vast and deep sea. If he wanted to find prey to kill, he had to seek help. Seeing how important he was to Li Zhouyi, he knew that Li Zhouyi would not refuse to help.

The Darkness Ruler had successfully passed the Imperial Palace’s ‘identity confirmation’. Li Zhuoyi was happy, because this was a very critical moment. If Qin Yu made any mistakes, Li Zhuoyi would plunge into an abyss with zero chance to rise again.

Therefore, at this moment when Qin Yu requested an audience with him, he smiled and nodded, “Please come in, Darkness Ruler.”

Qin Yu walked into the great hall and cupped his hands, “Greetings, Your Highness.”

“Please rise, Darkness Ruler.” Li Zhouyi looked pleased. “The identity confirmation process is really exhausting. I have a treasure that was given to me by His Majesty a few years ago; I will give it to you today and it will protect you if you are ever on the verge of death.”

He clapped his hands, and Border Cliff Saint walked out from behind, his eyes full of envy. “This scale comes from a mythical beast in the West Desolate. Its defensive power is astonishing – it can resist a Half-King’s power. Its value is immeasurable, and for His Highness to give it to you, you must know how much he values you. I hope Your Excellency works hard and lives up to His Highness’ expectations of you.”

Qin Yu looked at the scale. Its whole body was transparent, with layers of fluorescent waves surging continuously on the surface. Vaguely, a sound like the roaring of the Yangtze River, could be heard.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” Qin Yu took the scale with both hands. Even though it was not a part of his plan to have received this, since it was given to him, there was no reason to refuse it. It could block a blow from a Half-King…just this alone would make this object Qin Yu’s strongest life-saving trump card!

However, this was a trump card that could only be used once. The most important thing now was still for him to improve his own strength. Qin Yu raised his head, looked at Li Zhouyi and said solemnly, “Since Your Highness has given me such a valuable treasure, it must be because you want me to work hard for you. This is an honor for me. Today, I came to ask for one thing. If Your Highness is willing to help me, it would increase our chances of success!”

Li Zhuoyi’s eyes lit up, “Darkness Ruler, please tell me what it is!”

“Your Highness, when I entered the Imperial Palace today for the identity confirmation process, I found something that I need in someone else’s body…” Qin Yu made some changes to the story as he told Li Zhouyi about the Ice Flame.

“A red mole near his eyebrows…” Li Zhuoyi frowned slightly, looking at Border Cliff Saint.

The latter pondered for a moment and asked Qin Yu more about this person’s appearance. Then, his face turned ugly as he said, “Your Highness, if my guess is correct, the person that Darkness Ruler is talking about is Ning Xiao from the Eldest Princess’ palace.”

“Eldest Princess…” Li Zhouyi repeated to himself and furrowed his eyebrows. Fear flashed in his eyes.

Qin Yu continued, “Your Highness, this person’s Ice Flame is extremely important to me. It can help me improve my abilities in a short amount of time, so no matter what, Your Highness, you have to help me!”

He had to show his firmness on this matter.

Li Zhouyi was silent for a while and replied slowly, “I can help you, but this matter will be dangerous. He is not just powerful, he is the top True Saint in the capital city. It will be difficult to kill him. And the Eldest Princess…she is the Third Prince’s twin sister. Because of what happened in the fragmented area, she is extremely resentful towards me and if word gets out that I helped you, it will endanger me as well.”

Li Zhouyi’s face was full of annoyance and unwillingness, even a little self-mockery. Back then, Li Zhouyi was in his heyday. Even though he was not at the same level as the Eldest Princess, he also had no need to be so fearful of her. Yet today, he had fallen from grace, and he was in a precarious situation. If the Eldest Princess found out about this and attacked him, he would be powerless to resist.

Border Cliff Saint coughed lightly, “Darkness Ruler, trying to kill Ning Xiao is very risky. If you really insist on doing this, you must make a comprehensive plan to ensure that nothing goes wrong… His Highness’ power has been reduced greatly by the Imperial Palace; the remainder can only be used to defend himself.”

It was of course just a euphemism to give Li Zhouyi face. At the same time, it was also a reminder to Qin Yu to think about whether or not it was necessary to take such a huge risk.

In fact, if it was not for the fact that the Ice Flame would help Qin Yu improve his strength which would then increase the success of their plans in the future, Li Zhouyi would definitely not have agreed to this.

Under the black robe, Qin Yu’s eyes swept across both of them and his tone was as firm as steel, “I must get the Ice Flame…as for the plan, I can only trouble Your Highness to help me collect information as soon as possible.”

Feeling the conviction conveyed in Qin Yu’s words, Li Zhouyi gritted his teeth and ordered, “Border Cliff Saint, I will leave this matter in your hands. You must find a way to get all the information about Ning Xiao and his comrades, and then hand over a summary to the Darkness Ruler.”

Li Zhouyi continued to say, “However, let me make it clear that you must only take action once you are extremely sure that you will succeed…otherwise, I hope that you will understand if I choose to not help you.”

Evidently, if Qin Yu did not have the confidence to pull this plan off, Li Zhouyi would prevent it from happening…Qin Yu was not alone now, and all his actions would determine his future. Of course he would not act recklessly.

Qin Yu cupped his hands and said, “Okay, I understand.” He looked at Border Cliff Saint and continued, “I would appreciate it if you collected the information for me as soon as possible.”

If it was really an impossible task, he would not force it. Since he now knew about the Ice Flame’s existence, there would always be more opportunities in the future. Acting blindly and hastily would get him killed if he was not careful!

The facts had proven that the status of a prince was indeed unimaginably high. Even Li Zhouyi who was in a desperate situation could still mobilize his power.

All the information regarding Ning Xiao was then collected as quickly as possible, gathered, and arranged in a jade slip. Border Cliff Saint then personally passed it to Qin Yu.

“Darkness Ruler, I have collected all the information about Ning Xiao and put it inside this jade slip…I hope that Your Excellency will not forget the reminder that His Highness gave you before. Do not be stubborn if the task is too difficult.”

It was a sincere warning!

Qin Yu was Li Zhouyi’s only hope of rising in power now, and Border Cliff Saint’s fate was deeply intertwined with Li Zhouyi’s. Everyone knew that Border Cliff Saint was the Sixth Prince’s trusted aide.

If Li Zhouyi prospered, so would he. But if something bad happened to Li Zhouyi, Border Cliff Saint would also suffer with him.

“Border Cliff Saint, please do not worry. I know my limits.” Qin Yu took the jade slip and after confirming that there was nothing wrong with it, he used his divine senses to probe it.

After a while, his fingers exerted a little force, and with a soft ‘pop’, the jade slip was turned to dust.

Opposite him, Border Cliff Saint’s eyes flickered slightly, looking slightly more at ease.

The small details revealed a lot about a person’s personality. From this, it could be seen that the Darkness Ruler was a cautious man and when carrying out tasks, he would definitely take everything into consideration as well.

After pondering for a moment, Qin Yu suddenly opened his eyes and said, “There is one thing that I need Border Cliff Saint to help me confirm.”

Border Cliff Saint asked, “What is it?”

“Please help me find out if that master and servant pair that are involved with Ning Xiao right now are from Seascape City…if you are unable to find out about this, please confirm it with Hundred Saint.”

“Okay!” Border Cliff Saint did not ask any more questions before turning to leave. He knew what Qin Yu was referring to, since he was the one who had written down the contents in the jade slip.

The woman from Moon Brothel…why was there a need to check her background? Hmm…something’s not right, the Darkness Ruler came to the capital city through Seascape City, could there be a connection between both of them?

Border Cliff Saint moved very quickly. After all, no one knew when Qin Yu would take action, so things had to be completed in the shortest possible time.

Hundred Saint was not easy to contact. After all, his lineage had always been quite powerful in the capital city. With Li Zhouyi’s current situation, rashly investigating his subordinates was likely to create misunderstandings. This might lead to unpredictable consequences.

However, Border Cliff Saint was a smart man and knew how to be flexible. After all, there were many people that served Hundred Saint, so he could try to get in touch with someone else.

Very quickly, he found out that the woman in Moon Brothel was favored by Ning Xiao. She was indeed from Seascape City. In fact, this was also the woman that Hundred Saint brought to the capital city.

“Yun Qing…” Qin Yu mumbled to himself before raising his head to say, “Please arrange a meeting with her as soon as possible.”

Border Cliff Saint frowned, “Darkness Ruler, are you sure?”

Qin Yu replied, “If all goes to plan, Ning Xiao will be seeking death himself…if he takes the initiative to attack me first but then gets killed in the process, I think there would not be any trouble.”

“I have to report this matter to His Highness.”

“Of course. Please let His Highness know that I am very confident.”

Not long after Border Cliff Saint left, Li Zhouyi came down in person and talked privately with Qin Yu for a long time. After a few moments of silence, he finally nodded and agreed to the plan.

“Darkness Ruler, please remember what you promised me. Do not cause any accidents…otherwise, I won’t be able to save you!”

“Your Highness, please do not worry.”

……

Leaving Moon Brothel, and re-entering Moon Brothel.

This was something Yun Qing experienced personally during this time. She had thought that the black-robed guest’s intention was to bring her out of Seascape City. She was ready to commit herself to this person.

There was some confusion in her heart, but not much unwillingness, and in the bottom of her heart there was even a trace of anticipation and joy. The conflict that happened in Seascape City made her realize that this black-robed guest was a strong and empathetic person.

For a woman who worked in a brothel, this was already the best choice, and she did not dare to ask for more.

However, it seemed that the heavens were playing a joke with her. After the incident in the Capital Border Area, Hundred Saint suddenly disappeared, and in order to cut off all connection with Qin Yu, Yun Qing was sent into the capital city’s Moon Brothel.

When her heart was sour and unsure, not knowing what fate lay ahead for her, she received her first guest.

When she saw the black robes, she was stunned. She was unable to even move her lips to talk, and her eyes were about to fall out of their sockets.

Qin Yu was slightly embarrassed.

Of course!

If a beauty looked at one from a distance with a mixture of excitement, disbelief and a bit of sadness in her eyes, anyone would feel slightly uncomfortable!

“Cough!” Coughing lightly to break the silence, Qin Yu did not want to play along with this as time was tight.

Furthermore, his feelings had not reached that point yet…other than Yun Qing’s face, which looked exactly like Feature’s, he did not really feel any attraction at all.

“Lady Yun Qing, I have come here today to ask you for a favor.”

He got straight to the point. Yun Qing took a deep breath to stabilize her thoughts before she bowed, “You have helped me a lot; if there is anything you need, I will definitely try to help as well as I can.”

Qin Yu replied, “I want to kill someone and I need you to put on an act with me. This might be a bit risky, but I will definitely repay you in full.”

Yun Qing lifted her head, with firmness in her reddish eyes. “Even though I am just a prostitute, I know what it means to repay someone’s kindness. Yun Die and I would have already suffered an accident and been turned into bones in Seascape City’s lake if it were not for you. So…you don’t have to explain too much, just tell me what it is, and I will help you.”

Qin Yu felt a little touched internally but immediately calmed himself down. Looking at this stubborn face in front of him, he was reminded of Feature.

After being silent for a while, he said slowly, “If that’s the case, let me thank you in advance.” Qin Yu then got up and quietly left Moon Brothel.

He raised his head and looked at the splendid night above him…there were nine suns in the Great Desolate, but the night sky had no moon. It was just a vast and endless sea of bright stars that filled the sky.

Under the black robes, killing intent flowed in the depths of his eyes.

Whether Yun Qing was true to her word or not, Qin Yu believed that he had judged her correctly. Now that the set up was complete, he just had to wait for Ning Xiao to jump in and give his head up!