Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 697 - The Reason Is That Simple

When he went through the gates, he passed by several young cultivators who just happened to be coming out. When they saw the box in Qin Yu’s hands, their eyes sharpened.

But they soon composed themselves. They cupped their hands together and said. “Elder senior-apprentice brother!”

Qin Yu nodded. Without saying anything to them, he continued walking forward until he vanished from their line of sight.

“Humph!” A youth coldly snorted, darkness covering his face. “I have no idea where that boy came from, but just because he had the luck to be chosen by the grandmaster first he thinks he can pull rank with us!”

This youth’s name was Li Hao. He was one of the secret disciples.

A female disciple quietly said. “He’s not just lucky. Qin Yu was sent by teacher to go to the External Affairs Division and pick up a package. Moreover, he’s the only one that can freely go in and out of teacher’s dwelling.”

It was clear that this ‘elder senior-apprentice brother’ was much more beloved by teacher than the rest of them together.

Li Hao clenched his teeth. “Sooner or later I will find out why he was able to obtain teacher’s trust!”

Only by unraveling this mystery would he have the chance to replace him.

…

Qin Yu lifted his token and entered the little building on the edge of the lake. With a thought, he directly activated the array formation, isolating the inside from the outside. Walking into the training room, he placed the box on a stone table and opened it. Two flowers wrapped in translucent bubbles appeared in his sight.

This was a type of sealing method that could preserve spiritual things without allowing their potency to be diminished. With just a gentle touch, the bubble would pop. Without hesitation, there was a light ‘pa’ sound as a blue marvel orchid appeared in his hand.

A rich fragrance entered his nose and mouse. A deep trembling appeared from the depths of his soul, eventually turning into a desire to devour that could not be constrained. The target was the blue marvel orchid in his hand.

He subconsciously took a deep breath. Flower petals fell off. As they fluttered down, they dispersed into energy that travelled up and entered his body through his nose and mouth.

In the blink of an eye, the entire blue marvel orchid disappeared. Soon after, a warm, watery-like feeling wrapped around Qin Yu’s soul. Faint traces of a gentle strength seeped inside, patching the parts of his soul that had been severely damaged and then forced to undergo the Ashes and Embers secret art.

An hour later, the strength that restored his soul vanished. Qin Yu picked up the second flower and took a deep breath, absorbing it.

After a long time, he opened the training room from within. He walked out, a smile on his face. The Hidden Fog Sect’s blue marvel orchid was indeed worthy of being a wondrous treasure. It actually had such an astonishing effect of healing the soul.

The power of the Chain of Stars could slow the speed at which his soul was collapsing. After absorbing these two blue marvel orchids, Qin Yu could extend his life by at least two years.

Unfortunately, such a heaven-defying treasure had a high resistance attached to it. After absorbing the second blue marvel flower, the effects were about a third less than the first.

Even if Qin Yu didn’t care about the waste, he could use at most five blue marvel orchid flowers before this type of treasure wouldn't be useful to him any longer.

Otherwise, if he absorbed several dozen of them he might be able to fully heal himself.

But good things were never wasted. Qin Yu could trade them with others for different soul-repairing treasures.

After determining the function of the blue marvel orchids, Qin Yu was even more careful with the Hidden Fog Sect’s request. But, that special ash line grass wasn’t much at all. Producing them was easy and he had an entire month to do so. There was no need for him to worry about it.

…

Zhou Li furrowed her eyebrows. She didn’t know these people from the Hidden Fog Sect, and due to what she experienced at the True Wood Sect, she now had an instinctual feeling of loathing towards these cultivation sects.

But since Miss Feng Qing had asked her to come and see them, Zhou Li had no reason to refuse. Moreover, she was a little curious why there was such an inexplicable request for her to meet them.

“May I ask if you are Miss Zhou Li?” The cultivator across from her had a warm smile.

Zhou Li wasn’t someone who was affected by appearances. But, when she looked at this smiling and handsome young cultivator in front of her, her complexion relaxed a little. “I am. It might be rude to say this, but I have no connection with the Hidden Fog Sect. For what reason do you wish to see me?”

The young cultivator cupped his hands together. “Miss Zhou Li, rest assured. My name is Xiang Ziyue. I am here on the orders of my sect to express our sincere thanks to you.”

Seeing Zhou Li’s confused expression, he continued to explain, “Two months ago, Miss Zhou Li sold us an ash line grass. While I can’t explain the exact story behind it, in the end it rendered my Hidden Fog Sect a great assistance.”

Zhou Li’s mouth fell open. She never thought that would be the reason why this cultivator came here today.

Xiang Ziyue placed a storage bracelet on the table. “I heard that Miss Zhou Li started to cultivate not too long ago. My Hidden Fog Sect has prepared some suitable pills for Miss Zhou Li as a thank you gift. They should be able to help Miss Zhou Li make a breakthrough in the future.”

After completing the task given to him by the sect, Xiang Ziyue cupped his hands together and stood up. Without giving her a chance to refuse, he turned and walked away.

When he left Sky Declaring Pavilion, he turned and looked back, his eyes bright.

Xiang Ziyue certainly knew why the solemn Hidden Fog Sect would place a young girl who had just started cultivating in such high regard.

What a pity, he didn’t have a chance to see the mysterious Grandmaster Ning Qin this time.

But fortunately for him, in a month the other party would hand over two ash line grasses. At that time he hoped he would be able to see the grandmaster’s elegant demeanor and grandeur.

After taking her divine sense away from the storage bracelet in the reception room, Zhou Li was left shaken. Her excited eyes revealed a complex look.

At the True Wood Sect, she believed she had paid back what she owed for Qin Yu’s favor. But in the end, today’s harvest originated from him.

Unconsciously, it seemed she owed him one more time.

Zhou Li bit her lips and suppressed these thoughts. She wouldn’t be so stupid as to give up on these pills. With their help, she was confident that she could make several breakthroughs in her cultivator in a short period of time. At the very worst she would just repay Qin Yu in the future.

…

Sky Declaring Pavilion’s Midmorning City branch division issued out its missions for newly hired beast trainers. When Qin Yu received his mission, he found that it was to treat a severely injured variation beast – its name was ‘Wonder’.

“…This Wonder’s true name is Greedy Moon. It is a type of spirit beast that prays to the moon and survives by absorbing the moon’s essence. Its personality is kind and gentle and it doesn’t harm others. But in extremely rare situations, a sudden mutation can occur in the Greedy Moon bloodline. Its forehead will grow several times over and its pupils will turn silver white, turning it into a Wonder.

“Due to changes occurring with the Wonder beast’s brain, its soul force will experience a drastic rise. It will then gain an extremely powerful divine sense that can break through all sorts of soul blocking methods. Its use in various aspects is extremely high. But after changing, due to the formidable influence of its soul, the evolved Wonder beast’s personality will change. Its disposition will become incomparably bloodthirsty and vicious. When approaching it, one needs to be especially careful.”

Yun Die’s voice was calm as she read the recorded information of the Wonder beast from a jade slip. “This Wonder beast went crazy after a battle. Although it was subdued, its soul experienced a backlash and its strength is less than half of what it is in its peak state. What teacher needs to do is to help the Wonder beast restore its original degree of strength in half a month. That will be considered as having accomplished the mission, and a due reward will be given.”

She laid down the jade slip and said, “Teacher, the approximate content of the mission is here. There is also an initial examination report of the Wonder beast’s injuries.”

The test building had five floors. Three were above ground and two were below ground.

The first level was for the public, the second floor was for secret disciples, and the third was Qin Yu’s laboratory.

The two underground levels were for temporarily holding spirit beasts that needed to be dealt with. For instance, this Wonder beast was on the first underground level.

As Yun Die’s voice fell, the secret disciples subconsciously furrowed their eyebrows, a dignified look on their faces.

Although they were far from becoming true beast trainers, they had still accumulated a rich foundation of basic knowledge. Repairing soul injuries was one of the most difficult aspects of treating spirit beasts.

Moreover, this Wonder beast had experienced a backlash so its consciousness was blurred and it was even more cruel and vicious. Treating it would be far more difficult than normal.

Qin Yu nodded. “All of you already understand the contents of the mission. Each of you will devise a treatment plan according to your current knowledge of the situation. You have one day to finish it. The most outstanding of you will be able to join me and participate in treating the Wonder beast.”

The secret disciples widened their eyes. After a brief shock, they all lit up with excitement.

“Yes, teacher!”

As secret disciples, they never imagined that they would be able to come into contact with the work of a beast trainer from the very start.

Teacher is giving us a chance! We cannot miss out on this!

As secret disciples, they also had the qualifications to read through the ancient foundational beast trainer texts.

So, a gaggle of secret disciples that crazily sifted through reading materials soon aroused the interest of others.

When the secret disciples of other beast trainers learned that they were preparing a treatment plan on their own and they even had a chance to participate in the treatment, all of them revealed looks of shock and envy.

Sun Xiangzhang had a look of praise and acclaim. “Grandmaster Ning Qin is truly extraordinary. He even thought of such a unique method to train his disciples.”

After some thought, he took a piece of paper and began to write. “Take three blue nether lotuses. Using their lotus seeds as the prime ingredient, add a fierce yang flower, ice hyacinth, and cold sever grass. Extract the essence and form it into a pill…”

Sun Xiangzhang set down his pen a long time afterwards. After carefully double checking and modifying this treatment plan, a look of anticipation filled his eyes.

Taking out a jade slip, he recorded the treatment plan within. Then, Sun Xiangzhang called over a disciple and said, “Send this jade slip to Rising Lake and have Mister Ning Qin look through it.”

This was a compromise he came up with. Since he couldn’t obtain Grandmaster Ning Qin’s guidance directly, then he could come up with his own treatment plan according to the mission and hand it over. It wouldn’t be too much to ask and see if there were any improvements that could be made, right?

Yun Die didn’t go sifting through the ancient texts with Yan Jiao and the others. She sat in her room and grasped a jade slip, an uncertain expression on her face.

After a long time, she clenched her teeth and pressed the jade slip against her forehead. She began to pour information inside.

She soon finished. After some hesitation, she made several revisions. Only then did she let out a long breath.

In this short period of time, her face had gone pale and beads of sweat covered her forehead. It was like she had used up a tremendous amount of her energy.

“In order to obtain teacher’s approval, I can only take some risks. Otherwise there won’t be a day where I can raise my head…I hope no one finds out…”

She muttered to herself. It was unknown what she was thinking of, but after her eyes relaxed, a look of pain crossed her face.

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