Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1654A – Carp Dragon Gate

Qin Yu frowned. He could not understand as he hesitated before saying, “Have you recognized the wrong person?”

Stiffening, Yang Qianren did not hesitate as he fell to the ground in a kneel. There was a ‘plop’. “Lord, please have mercy, if not, I will die!”

He kowtowed heavily and did not move.

It seemed like his identity had been revealed. Was it because of the name ‘Qin Yu’? Looking at Yang Qianren, Qin Yu thought before saying, “Are you from the East Marshal Yang Family?”

Knocked out!

With this, he was definitely right.

Yang Qianren spoke respectfully, “I am Yang Qianren, my father is Yang Wudi.”

Qin Yu nodded, “You didn’t know so it is not your fault.”

Yang Qianshan was slightly shocked before delight flooded his face. He wanted to uphold his reputation and his father was the same.

Everyone stared. With just this sentence, everything was solved.

“Thank you Lord, thank you Lord!”

Yang Qianren got up and backed away into Songtao Pavilion. He did not want to be in the way and he was at least aware of this.

Rourou lifted her hand and tapped Jiang Zhiyue, “Little brat, you cannot move.”

Yang Qianren lifted his hand and slapped himself before behaving respectfully to Jiang Zhiyue, “Lady Jiang, wherever you go next time, I will stay far far away!”

“Get lost.”

As if receiving a pardon, Yang Qianren quickly left.

The silence in Songtao Pavilion got heavier.

Yang Fanshan could not help but stare in shock and bewilderment.

Rourou looked over and stood up, “Let’s go, it is about time.”

Qin Yu nodded and smiled at Jiang Zhiyue before putting his hands together.

The three people turned and left.

Yang Fanshan gritted his teeth as he chased after them, “Please wait up. Will you be entering the gate tonight?”

When Qin Yu acknowledged what Yang Qianren said, he could sense Rourou’s intentions. As he heard this now, he stopped and turned, “That’s right. Young Master Yang, would you like to follow along?”

Yang Fanshan’s eyes lit up, “I would be delighted to.”

Outside Songtao Pavilion, there were two people waiting for the Yang Family. One was a skinny and wrinkly old man with a goatee and the other was a slightly tanned woman in her thirties. They now looked at each other but smartly remained silent.

Others might not know about what happened in the Li Family, but the Yang Family knew very well. Even without the thing earlier, they could not afford to offend these three. However, they never thought that even the East Marshal could not bear to offend these three!

Yang Fangshan’s luck was good.

Yang Qianren bowed from afar, not daring to come closer. He was slightly pale. Life and death were just a second apart. Just now, if Jiang Zhiyue had not asked for Qin Yu’s name, he would have brought demise to his entire family.

Thinking about this, he recalled the warning the lady gave before she left. Looking on as they departed, Yang Qianren then turned and returned to Songtao Pavilion.

Returning to the aunt and niece pair from the Jiang Family, he put his hands together respectfully, “I offended you earlier, please forgive me. I am Yang Qianren. If you meet with any trouble in the future, please go to the Yang Family in the middle of the city. Just tell them my name. I will take my leave.”

He turned and left, not wanting to drag this on. He immediately deleted all his thoughts from earlier. Nonsense, how would he dare to have rubbish thoughts now? Was he tired of living? He would stay as far away as he had to!

Being able to read the situation was the most important thing!

He did not lack in this area, otherwise, he would not have realized the situation and reacted so quickly by kneeling down and begging for mercy. This was a huge survival skill.

As for whether Yang Fanshan managed to avert disaster or if he was simply just lucky, he did not care. But he had to quickly inform his father of this; Yang Qianren had no luck in this aspect. If he made the move to tell his father, he might gain some recognition for it and escape the death penalty…but he would not be able to escape the punishment! Yang Qianren immediately left Songtao Pavilion, jumped on a horse, and rode off.

In the pavilion, the crowd finally caught up to what just happened and a complicated look appeared on their faces.

No one expected such a twist in the situation.

Jiang Zhiyue was actually better at recognizing things than her smart aunt. Amidst the crowd, she merely glanced at him once or twice and knew that the man was special.

A mighty person. Even the marshal of the East Border Army was afraid of him. If not, as the nephew of the marshal, Yang Qianren would not have needed to submit and wouldn’t have expressed so much fear to this person.

Having received Yang Qianren’s promise, it meant that there was a label on East Marshal Yang Wudi. In East Pole County, other than the Yang and Li Family, there was now a Jiang Family that everyone had to revere. Moreover, with so much happening to the Li Family, the future was unpredictable. Perhaps the Jiang Family could even surpass them.

Everyone looked admiringly…of course, there was more jealousy but they did not dare to show it.

Aunt Jiang held onto her niece and gripped hard. Her face was slightly red and her expression was radiant as if there was a spotlight on her. She turned and looked at Jiang Zhiyue. She spoke softly, “You!”

She seemed to be scolding but pride filled her voice. She was extremely delighted and thought that her niece had known about it for a long time but kept it to herself.

Being cautious was a good thing. If not, the opportunity would not have fallen on their Jiang Family today.

Jiang Zhiyue’s mouth twitched but she did not say anything. She merely lowered her head as the image of Qin Yu’s smile and greeting appeared.

It was not because I knew you were powerful that I looked at you differently…will we meet again? She did not know, but she knew that keeping silent was the best thing for the Jiang Family now.

She was a smart lady and knew what to do.

He probably guessed this as he smiled and greeted before leaving and would not mind. Qin Yu…his name sounded nice…I have good taste.

Having too good taste was also not good. Even if someone caught their eye, there was no hope.

……

Yang Fanshan was not stupid. On the contrary, he was smarter than most people. So when he travelled with the three of them, he did not say much and merely talked about local conditions and customs in East Pole County.

The lady was silent, as if she did not care about anything. After Yang Fanshan tested, he focused his attention on Qin Yu. He spoke respectfully and was never out of line.

Qin Yu did not know what Rourou intended, but he knew that there was a use for this Young Master Yang. Hence, he patiently talked to him.

They had just met and did not have much to say. Thankfully, Songtao Pavilion was at the mountain peak and as they headed east, they soon reached the Jade Gate, preventing the conversation from becoming awkward.

Yang Fanshan stopped and said, “I have something important to do and will take my leave. I hope we will be able to meet again in the Central Desolate Divine Area.”

Qin Yu replied, “Take care.”

Watching the three people from the Yang Family walk towards the Jade Gate, Qin Yu looked at Rourou and lowered his voice, “Can you now tell me what is going on?”

They went to Songtao Pavilion and almost caused trouble. He had exposed his identity as a result of it, and all they got was this short journey. Were they going to let Yang Fanshan leave like that? He could not understand!

Rourou yawned, “It is late, let’s go in and rest.” Qin Yu chuckled bitterly; he was at his limit of being kept on a cliffhanger…I am the best at this in the world!

Shaking his head, he erased the thought and looked ahead.

The Jade Gate was just before them and the passes they held were now glowing with a mysterious aura covering their bodied. It was because of this that they were able to stand outside the Jade Gate safely and not have to worry about getting burnt by the light. If not, they would have turned into fireballs.

There was already someone waiting outside the Jade Gate. The Jade Gate opened once every month to accept cultivators with passes into the Central Desolate Divine Area.

A portion of people were those that were selected and gained special permission from the Central Desolate. There were also those from the West Desolate that were sent over. The last group of people were like the three of them – those that were sneaking in.

But no matter which group it was, there was not much difference. The people at the Jade Gate only checked their passes and not their identities. Anyone with the passes could enter. This was also confident and arrogant behavior because of their might. The Central Desolate Divine Area was not afraid of anyone. As long as one was able and courageous enough.

Bom –

Bom –

Bom –

The sound of drums came from the Jade Gate. There was movement amongst the people standing outside. The Jade Gate was currently closed. A blinding light suddenly shone and flooded the place like water, and the gate slowly opened.

Qin Yu raised his brows as a glimmer flickered through his eyes. As the gate opened, the area’s aura suddenly changed. An intense spiritual energy of the world flowed out like a river. Its might was astounding.

Leaving other things aside, just the intensity of this spiritual energy was shocking enough – no wonder the Central Desolate was named the divine area! More shockingly, this astounding wave of spiritual energy seemed to be held back by an invisible force. No matter how it shifted, it did not spill out.

The person right in front was someone from the West Desolate. He was a neat-looking young man wearing a scholar's attire. His face was flushed as his eyes widened in excitement.

“Enter!”

A deep voice could be heard from within the gate. This scholarly-looking young man took a deep breath as he held the pass in his hand and stepped forwards.

He stepped into the boundary where the spiritual energy was surging and his body swayed. His face flushed and his breathing became heavy. In the next moment, four colors – red, orange, yellow and green erupted from his body and formed an illusion of a door. It was majestic, like a portal to heaven.

This was the rumored – Carp Dragon Door. This was also the thing that the aunt and niece pair from the Jiang Family had wanted to see from afar.

This scene could be explained as the ‘Barren Spiritual Energy’ land. As cultivators stepped into the holy land of cultivation, their bodies were unable to adjust to the difference in spiritual energy from the external world (intensity of spiritual energy). Hence, it caused a spiritual energy tidal wave that appeared in five different colors.

The number of colors represented the background and realm of the cultivator as well as their future potential. There was a special method of comparison and the accuracy was very high. It was rare for there to be mistakes. This had been set up by the Central Desolate Great Qin Empire to test the cultivators entering.

Having four colors was special and that scholarly-looking young man would most likely get solicited after he entered the Jade Gate. And this was the reason for the ‘Carp Dragon Door’.

The scholarly-looking young man had gotten his footing and looked happy. However, deep inside his eyes, there was a hint of dejection. According to his plan, he had thought that he would get all five colors.

But that emotion eventually disappeared. The spiritual energy around him gradually subsided, demonstrating his body acclimatizing. Nothing miraculous would happen. He took a deep breath and entered the Jade Gate, disappearing before everyone’s eyes.

Although the scholarly-looking young man did not get the blue color, four colors was already extraordinary. He was the first one to enter the Jade Gate and was definitely like a piece of precious jewellery.

The second cultivator after him had a slightly gloomy look. However, as the sequence had been determined, he could only move forward. Three colors, red, orange and yellow appeared. It was not bad, but since he was after the four colors, it did not stand out.

Thereafter, the best was only three colors. That was until a sickly-looking young girl dressed in black stepped forwards. There was a surge of spiritual energy and five colors erupted. Red, orange, yellow, green and blue intertwined and the illusion of the door was more concrete and majestic.

Amidst the five colors, there were even faint purple dots. Although it was not complete, its existence suggested that this sickly-looking young lady almost created the grand scene of six colors appearing!

“Would you like to join Golden Toad Palace?” An old lady’s voice could suddenly be heard from the Jade Gate. She sounded extremely calm but there was a majestic pressure like a tall mountain whose peak could not be seen.

“Green River is willing to accept you as my direct disciple and you will be protected by the sect.” Another mellow voice from a middle-aged man could be heard.

There were exclamations outside Jade Gate as heat pooled in many people’s eyes. Their eyes also filled with admiration. She had yet to enter the Jade Gate but there were already two major sects from the Central Desolate Divine Area fighting for her. It had been many years since something like this happened.

The young girl in black was silent for a moment before she spoke respectfully, “Sorry, you are not my goals.”

The man from Green River fell silent.

The old woman from Golden Toad Palace sneered, “Little lass, ultimately, you are not six colors. You should be pragmatic and not aim too high. Golden Toad Palace can also give you the position of direct disciple. This is our maximum. You should consider.”

The young girl in black shook her head.

“Hmph!”

The voice of the old woman from Golden Toad Palace faded.

The figure of the young girl in black disappeared from sight.

She had actually rejected the invitations of two major Central Desolate sects. Numerous people were in disbelief.

After the five colors appeared, everyone else were like stars beside a bright moon. They looked bleak in comparison.

When Yang Fanshan stepped into it, four colors emerged. Both of the two others, the old man with the goatee and the tanned woman from the Yang Family, had three colors.

Alas, the deciding factor was not the cultivation level.

As the crowd thinned, Qin Yu frowned and looked at Rourou. She was calm and said slowly, “Don’t worry, I am prepared.”

Then there was nothing to worry about.