Refining the Mountains and Rivers

My name is Xue Zheng. I must be a good and virtuous person who is favored by the heavens if I was able to survive such a catastrophe. My future is destined to be bright and radiant!

When Xue Zheng suddenly heard Qin Yu ask him a question while he was still lost in admiring and appreciating himself, he waved a hand and said, “My good brother, ask anything you like. As long as I know the answer, I will tell you everything.”

In the end, the reason he was able to survive was all thanks to Lei Xiaoyu’s halo. And, the reason he managed to include himself within Lei Xiaoyu’s halo was Qin Yu.

As expected, this good brother of mine is a lucky star. Not only was he able to revive my consciousness, he even ensured my safety. I’ll have to treat him with more sincerity and be more intimate with him in the future, my one and only virtuous brother!

Qin Yu took a deep breath and said, “Big brother, why do you look the same as an old friend of mine? Not only is your appearance the exact same, but your aura is too!”

Across from him, Xue Zheng’s complexion froze. His eyes widened and he asked, “Where is he?”

Qin Yu’s heart sank. As he thought, this wasn’t a coincidence. He suppressed his tumbling thoughts and cupped his hands together, “I ask big brother to please answer my question first…”

Xue Zheng had an uncertain expression. He wavered, hesitantly saying, “This…it’s not that I don’t want to tell you…but I can’t casually talk about it…”

The Severed Heaven Abyss had shattered and disappeared. The cultivators who managed to luckily survive had regained their freedom. With the sound of splitting air, several figures flew through the skies in Qin Yu’s direction. They were Silent Kite, Li Hongyi, and the others.

There were also some other cultivators standing and watching from far away. There was awe in their eyes.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. He glanced at Silent Kite and Li Hongyi as they flew over and said, “Big brother, let’s talk somewhere else.”

Right now he couldn’t care about them too much. He grabbed Xue Zheng’s hand and stepped away, vanishing from sight.

Silent Kite paused in midair, freezing where she was. As she looked at the direction where Qin Yu went, the light in her eyes began to darken.

He had left like that without even a single greeting. Could it be that there were other matters, or did he not want contact with her anymore?

Silent Kite’s heart felt empty. It was like something important had been drawn out of her.

Li Hongyi pursed her lips. While her complexion was faint, there was some bitterness there.

She had no idea if they would ever see each other again after today. Qin Yu…was he not even going to give her a chance to apologize?

As for the other cultivators, they relaxed when they saw this. Otherwise they had no idea how they should face Qin Yu. This situation was much more comfortable for them.

Space twisted. Qin Yu and Xue Zheng stepped out. Qin Yu quietly said, “Big brother, is it possible to speak here?”

Xue Zheng forced a smile. “My good brother, I wasn’t worrying about the surrounding people nearby. With my cultivation, if I don’t want them to hear me, I have my own methods.” He hesitated for a moment and then pointed his finger at the skies. “What you just asked me involves a great secret. I once swore an oath that I absolutely will not reveal any of it. If I speak of it, it will be sensed by the world, leading to endless troubles.”

Qin Yu earnestly looked at Xue Zheng and judged that he wasn’t lying. With a thought, the sun and moon force field expanded outwards, wrapping around the two of them.

Xue Zheng’s eyes widened. He was still an Origin God even if his current cultivation hadn’t been fully restored. With his divine sense, he could naturally sense the changes around him.

An invisible strength wrapped around him, completely isolating him from all outside connections. He couldn’t feel the existence of the rules.

Luckily this strength wasn’t too strong. As long as he wanted to, he could work himself free. Otherwise if he was sucked inside, he feared he could only be freely handled by others.

Even so, this sort of world-isolating ability was still incomparably formidable. Moreover, it caused Xue Zheng to faintly feel an invisible suppression.

“Good brother, this is?”

Qin Yu didn’t answer. He said, “Big brother, can you speak now?”

Xue Zheng looked at him deeply. Although they had been together for a long time, he had never been able to see Qin Yu’s true depths. But without a doubt, this good brother of his had numerous secrets. He absolutely wasn’t as simple as he seemed.

And for some unknown reason, he had a feeling that today’s small and weak Qin Yu might have inconceivable achievements in the future.

After several breaths of silence, Xue Zheng let out a deep breath. He slowly said, “Good brother, have you ever heard any rumors about the Path of 10,000 Souls?”

Qin Yu shook his head, “I ask big brother to enlighten me.”

“Cultivating the Great Dao is extremely difficult, and the higher a boundary you reach, the harder every successive step is. Even if you are a genius gifted by the heavens, you will still have your own limit. After reaching it, it will form a bottleneck, and no matter what methods you have you can never go further. That is called the terminus of the Great Dao!

“Because every cultivator is different, their Great Dao terminus is not the same. The vast majority of people will find it difficult to reach the God boundary in their lives, and a small number will stop at the Origin God realm. But, there is an extremely small minority that have received the destiny of the world and have infinite potential or heaven-defying chances, thus they are able to reach an even higher level. For instance, Blood Moon or Cursed Eye, and even the Peach Blossom Spring Master – they are able to become almighty beings in our eyes.”

In truth, these words exposed some new information. For instance, when Xue Zheng said his consciousness was in a deep slumber all this time, that was clearly a lie.

But at this moment Qin Yu wasn’t in the mood to care about such things. He nodded, hinting at him to continue.

Xue Zheng respectfully continued to say, “These almighty beings are incomparably strong so it’s natural for them to have greater ambitions. After reaching the terminus of their Great Dao, they are not resigned to have things end like this. So, they started to try and figure out other solutions to reach a higher level.

“An unknown period of years passed – and it is not known which senior sage it was who astounded the world with his intellect and wisdom – but eventually a method was found after countless trials. A way was found that was similar to gathering the power of all sentient beings to impact an unsurpassed boundary. This method was called the Path of 10,000 Souls.

“By using a secret art, one would split their soul. Half of their soul would be transformed into 10,000 soul seeds that followed the power of samsara to be scattered into the boundless worlds, landing in 10,000 of them. 10,000 soul seeds, that is 10,000 lives. It opens up countless possibilities. While some soul seeds will perish due to accidents, causing flaws in the soul, there will be some soul seeds that will grow to maturation. And once they return to the main body, they will bring with them an enormous increase in strength.

“That is the foundation of the Path of 10,000 Souls.”

Shock flooded Qin Yu’s face. Although Xue Zheng didn’t completely explain everything, Qin Yu understood enough.

Path of 10,000 Souls…soul seeds…

Xue Zheng looked at him and slowly nodded. “As you think, the friend you speak of should be one of my soul seeds. So not only is his appearance the same as mine, but so is his aura and other aspects.”

Although Qin Yu had already guessed this, his heart still violently contracted upon hearing this confirmation. He asked in a hoarse voice, “Then the connection between the soul seed and main body…”

Xue Zheng said, “Just like a farmer and his crops. Once the crops have matured, they naturally will be harvested.”

“Big brother, is there a way to sever the relationship between the soul seed and main body?”

Xue Zheng was silent for a long time. He suddenly asked, “These words…you’re not asking me because of that friend of yours, right?”

Qin Yu thought for a moment and slowly nodded.

“Then a woman?” Xue Zheng had an expression as if saying he already saw through everything so there was no need to conceal information. “The soul seed originates from the main body. Unless that person was to voluntarily discard it, it is impossible to sever it. Of course, there might be a way, but I don’t know of it…”

Then, his voice came to a screeching halt and his eyes widened as he stared at Qin Yu. He suddenly thought about everything that had just happened.

And this person was also a woman…

Xue Zheng gulped. He pointed a shivering finger. “My good brother, please don’t tell me that the woman you care about looks like the peach-planting woman?”

Since Qin Yu had already asked the question, he wouldn’t conceal it. Moreover, he was asking for help, so how could he cover up such a secret?

“Yes.”

Hearing this word, Xue Zheng swayed on his feet. He suddenly felt dizzy. He wanted to laugh out loud and ask his good brother to stop joking with him.

But as he stared wide-eyed at Qin Yu and saw his serious expression, he saw that he wasn’t joking at all.

It was actually true!

It’s over, it’s all over! I was just saying my good brother was my lucky star; how could things have changed so quickly?

This was the same as dragging me to death with him! And the kind of death where there wouldn’t even be anything left!

No, I can’t let this be. I must stop my good brother! He cannot do something so insane.

“Qin Yu, my good brother!” Xue Zheng laid down his hands and screamed out loud, his expression dire. “I have no idea who that woman is or how she is related to you, but I will tell you that you should keep this matter hidden inside your belly for the rest of time. Never mention this to anyone else, otherwise you will be in grave trouble…no, it’s not just trouble. You will certainly die a miserable death!”

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows before relaxing them. “She is my wife.”

“Wife…” Xue Zheng’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “What did you just say? I didn’t hear you, so don’t say it again.”

He looked at Qin Yu and cupped his hands together. He bitterly smiled, “My good brother, I once said that once a soul seed is destroyed, the main body will forever lose a part of their soul. There is no way to patch up this kind of loss. Do you understand me?

“Moreover, the seriousness of this situation is not just limited to this, because your wife looks exactly the same as that peach-planting woman!”

Qin Yu’s complexion changed. “Soul seeds should look the same as the main body, right?”

Xue Zheng pointed a finger again. “Where has your usual intelligence gone? If everything involves your own body, you can’t eat it at all! If soul seeds are the exact same as the main body, then that’s the same as informing all your enemies to hurry up and destroy your soul seeds! If they are all destroyed you will suffer great misfortune! If things really were like this, who would break their backs trying to cultivate the Path of 10,000 Souls? Everyone would just wash up and go to sleep earlier instead!”

He clenched his teeth and lowered his voice, “When 10,000 soul seeds are scattered throughout the worlds, they will produce 10,000 completely different lives. Whether they are humans, beasts, demons, or monsters, their appearances will be different. But in a sense, the cultivation method of the Path of 10,000 Souls violates the will of the heavens and earth to find another way forward. As a result, it is limited by the heavens and earth, and a loophole is created.

“That is, out of the 10,000 soul seeds, there will be one that looks the exact same as the main body. This soul seed is called the primal root. If this primal root is destroyed, then the cultivator’s Path of 10,000 Souls will be thoroughly severed and they won’t be able to use this method to impact the Great Dao! I didn’t speak clearly before because of this. Moreover, due to an accident that occurred long ago, my Path of 10,000 Souls has already been destroyed, so my reaction wasn’t too excited. Otherwise I would have already figured out a way to have you tell me the whereabouts of your friend!”

Qin Yu immediately understood why Xue Zheng had lost his composure after hearing about this.

If all of this was true, then to release the soul seed, the main body had to voluntarily discard it and sever the relationship between both sides on their own initiative. But, Ning Ling was the primal root of that peach-planting woman. Once Qin Yu explained this matter, she would likely immediately attack and suppress him to find out Ning Ling’s location.

As for having her sever her connection with Ning Ling, this was even more impossible. His heart sank and his complexion turned uglier.

Xue Zheng patted his shoulder, “My good brother, do you understand now? This is why I said never to mention this matter again, nor should you try anything, otherwise you will definitely die! Believe me, your current cultivation hasn’t reached too high a level. As for the Peach Blossom Spring Master, he is, besides the Rulers of the world, one of the most formidable existences. And the peach-planting woman is his only daughter. If you dare to do anything that might disadvantage her, you will die miserably!”

Seeing Qin Yu’s silence, Xue Zheng took that as a change of mind. “A real man doesn’t suffer from lack of wives or women. As long as you are strong enough, what kind of thing can you not obtain? Once this big brother of yours regains his cultivation, I will bring you to leave this world and enjoy all the pleasures that life has to offer.”

Qin Yu remained silent.