Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 342 – The Good Fortune Tablet

Chapter 342 – The Good Fortune Tablet

Though he was filled with righteous anger, Zhao Jiutian didn’t dare to lash out. This was because he could feel a glimmer of eager excitement from the eyes of the three Divine Soul cultivators. It was clear that if he decided to erupt with rage at them, these three would clearly be happy.

Seeing that this young schoolmate Zhao realized they were egging him on, the three Divine Soul cultivators didn’t dawdle around. They said they had some matters to attend to and quickly left. After the turbulence of the transmission array, all of the youths were somewhat dispirited. When they learned that they would be specially informed once further arrangements were made, they bid their farewells and left to their respective dwellings.

Qin Yu pushed open the door and walked in. There was no maid waiting in the courtyard, and he was satisfied with this. He took a circle around, sweeping through the area with his divine sense. When he discovered nothing was wrong, he relaxed. Then again, if the solemn and dignified Southshine Nation had to use such underhanded methods to deal with juniors, then that really would be looked down upon by others.

But out of caution, Qin Yu still laid out an array formation. He also took out Ninth Province and allowed it to help isolate spying senses outside. Then he swallowed a pill. However, a long time had passed since he refined the initial batch of pills and there weren’t many left. He needed to find some spare time to refine more.

As for materials, there was a great deal left in his storage ring. There was no need to purchase any for now.

The next day, before the officials notified him about anything, an acquaintance actually came to visit.

“Aunty Hong?” As he saw the person on the other side of the door and the eyes that shined beneath her hood, Qin Yu’s thoughts stirred and he moved to the side to let her in.

Aunty Hong swept her eyes around. Qin Yu knew what she meant, so he smiled and said, “It’s fine, this place is safe.”

“That’s good then.” Aunty Hong pulled back her hood and let out a breath of relief. Then she quickly said, “Mister Qin, after you obtained first place in the competition, we tried to contact you but were continuously pushed back by the Southshine Nation officials. It was only after we heard about the refining of the Revival Good Fortune Pill restarting that we felt relieved.”

This explained why the inn had been silent for so long. Although Qin Yu didn’t care much about it, he still felt a bit better in his heart. “Aunty Hong, what did you come here for today?”

Aunty Hong was skilled at reading a person’s mood. When she saw that he didn’t hold any unhappiness in his heart, she relaxed and her gaze warmed. “I came, of course, to congratulate Mister Qin for winning the championship of the competition. The young master has already learned of this, but he is busy right now and cannot leave at the moment. So, I was asked to visit Mister Qin and deliver this congratulatory gift.”

As she spoke, she cautiously took out a wooden box.

Qin Yu received it. The wood was light and there was nothing strange on the surface. But after opening it, a dignified light lit up his face. He was silent for several breaths of time before saying, “This gift is too valuable.”

Aunty Hong smiled. “The young master said that this is what Mister Qin earned. The inn has already gained a great deal of harvests from you.”

Qin Yu thought for a moment and nodded. “Alright. Then I will have to ask Aunty Hong to help express my thanks later.”

The young master was the true owner of the inn and his background was extremely mysterious. Since Aunty Hong didn’t deliberate further, he didn’t ask.

Aunty Hong relaxed. “I’m glad you accepted it. I feared that Mister Qin wouldn’t want it. If so, that would really give me a headache.”

Qin Yu couldn’t help but shake his head. “With this sort of treasure, I could modestly decline it at first, but I would find it too hard to give up.”

Aunty Hong laughed. “That’s good then. I had to take some risks in coming here, so I won’t be staying much longer. I wish Mister Qin good luck in smoothly refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill.”

She bid farewell and left. Just before she did, she gave Qin Yu a jade slip with information concerning the Revival Good Fortune Pill.

Qin Yu’s smile brightened. What he hated the most was dealing with the unknown.

In this, the inn had helped him considerably.

However, Qin Yu wasn’t too hurried to look at the information in the jade slip. Rather, he picked up the wooden box once more. Inside was a verdant green branch the size and thickness of a finger. It was as if it had just been cut from a tree this morning. The cut off area was still fresh and upon touching it, also slightly wet.

This looked like an ordinary branch, but it wasn’t ordinary at all. Qin Yu could clearly feel the immense amount of energy contained within.

Once this energy was activated, the protection it triggered was something that not even an ordinary Blue Sea super master would be able to break in one strike. This was why Qin Yu had said it was far too valuable for him.

And that was the truth.

However, Qin Yu didn’t feel too burdened accepting it. He had indeed helped the inn a great deal and both sides could be said to have benefitted. He put away the wooden box; this branch would be able to save his life in a critical moment. Then, he picked up the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

A moment later, the jade slip cracked and disintegrated into powder, sprinkling through his fingers. Qin Yu opened his eyes, a deep solemnity shining in his pupils. The refining of this Revival Good Fortune Pill was truly uncommon.

At noon, the Southshine Nation officials arrived. Qin Yu pushed open the door and walked out. The other young cultivators chosen had almost all arrived. The person who came last was Zhao Jiutian, but who could blame this Cleansing Temple direct descendant for living so far away.

The one who visited today was not the three people who brought them here yesterday, but the Lord Envoy. Seeing his familiar smiling visage, even the dissatisfied Zhao Jiutian felt uncomfortable in his heart. He quickly hid his dreary expression.

“Young friends, I fear you will have to live in the capital city for a period of time. Allow me to introduce myself so that we may all get along better in the future.” The Lord Envoy smiled, “My surname is Qin, my full name Qin Wushang. I am the chief steward of the royal palace. I don’t have a specific position and mostly deal with miscellaneous tasks. I follow His Majesty’s will and go where he needs me to be.”

The 13 young cultivators all bowed once more.

Chief Steward Qin laughed and waved his hand. “All you young friends are proud elites of heaven. Your achievements will be without limit in the future, so I don’t dare to pull rank with you. You may simply treat me as an equal.”

Of course, those words sounded nice, but if anyone really tried that then they really would have no idea what death or danger were.

“Alright. The reason I came today was to invite all you young friends to observe and meditate on the Good Fortune Tablet. It’s already early, so let’s leave early.”

The people were different from yesterday, but the vehicle was still the bus. Qin Yu chose a position to sit in and nodded at White Fengfeng before closing his eyes in meditation. His actions left the young schoolmate Zhao Jiutian, who had ill intent and wanted to provoke Qin Yu, with resentment boiling in his chest and no way to vent it.

But luckily, this young schoolmate Zhao Jiutian was skilled in regulating his mood. As he thought about refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill, he vowed he would definitely stomp Ning Qin beneath his feet!

Just when he thought he won the competition, he had suddenly ended up the loser and his weakness was also grasped by the Great Desolate Lake. If it weren’t for the Southshine Nation suddenly restarting the refining of the Revival Good Fortune Pill, his fate would surely be miserable. And the one who caused all of this was Qin Yu. It was within reason for Zhao Jiutian to hate him.

The bus ride was peaceful. An hour later, they arrived outside a heavily guarded four-sided construction. After stepping out, what they saw behind them was a completely straight and wide road. But the road was incomparably lonely. Glancing through, there wasn’t even a single shadow.

With Chief Steward Qin personally appearing, everything proceeded smoothly. After the guards verified their identities, the thick iron doors opened. Someone was already waiting inside.

“Greetings, Lord Chief Steward.” Wei Ziqing respectfully bowed. He didn’t have a good impression of this chief steward in front of him. He was greedy, cruel, merciless, violent, and numerous other things. But, if this person was able to steadily occupy the position of the royal palace’s chief steward for so many years, this alone was enough to earn his respect.

Chief Steward Qin smiled warmly. “There is no need for Lord Wei to be so polite. I am following orders today and bringing these 13 little friends here. As for everything that follows, I will have to bother you with taking care of them.” He turned and continued to say, “I will be waiting here for you little friends to come out. This is only the first day so there is nothing to worry about. As long as you can adapt yourselves, that will be good.”

Wei Ziqing stood up. “Lord Chief Steward, please wait here a moment. After I finish processing all the arrangements, I will return to entertain you. Yesterday, I just happened to obtain a turtle. I knew the chief steward would be coming today so I had it slaughtered and cooked last night. In just a moment you will be able to enjoy it.”

Chief Steward Qin’s eyes brightened. “Then I’ll have to bother Lord Wei.”

After parting ways, Wei Ziqing and four cultivators behind him led the 13 young cultivators into the depths of the four-sided construction. When conversing with the Lord Chief Steward, Wei Ziqing had a warm and caring expression. But as soon as he left, he became as cold and sullen as a stone. Every pore on his body seemed to be emitting a cold and gloomy aura. As for the four people behind him, they were silent and pale white, like corpses that had been buried in ice all year round. Their eyes were so cold that they left one’s heart shivering.

They crossed through a long passageway. The torches flickering on both sides of the walls illuminated everyone’s dark and uncertain faces, creating a spooky and macabre atmosphere. The passageway was very long, and what lay at the end was a thick black door. The black door seemed to be one with the black rock around it. With a single glance, one could feel its powerful defensive capabilities.

Wei Ziqing took out a token. A beam of light fell down from his head and swept over the token. With two light tapping sounds, the black door quietly swung open. But in front of this door, there seemed to be some sort of unimaginable strength that caused space to twist, making it impossible to see what was inside.

“The Good Fortune Tablet is within. These four people will be standing guard here. In 12 hours, regardless of whether you have harvests or not, you must leave.” After he finished coldly speaking, he turned and left, simple and neat.

The four guards stood outside the black door, their faces expressionless. The feeling they gave off was of four gate guardians with facial paralysis. Although these four people hadn’t released any kind of powerful aura, there was one point that was without doubt: they were extremely dangerous.

No one thought that it would be so easy for them to approach the Good Fortune Tablet. The Southshine Nation officials hadn’t sent anyone to follow them. Weren’t they afraid that they might damage the stone tablet?

Zhao Jiutian coldly sneered. “Stop dreaming. The Good Fortune Tablet is a rare treasure of the heavens and earth. Not even a Blue Sea supreme elder is able to destroy even a bit of it.” As he spoke, he was the first through door.

The young cultivators came to a sudden realization. They thought that Zhao Jiutian was truly worthy of being a direct descendant of Cleansing Temple; he actually knew such secrets. But just as this thought appeared, they cursed him inwardly for being despicable. They quickly followed, for fear that if they were left behind they wouldn’t be able to make out the appearance of refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill.

Qin Yu wasn’t in a hurry. Rather, he looked around for a moment. Soon the only ones left outside the door were him, White Fengfeng, and Black Beibei. The four guards were expressionless; there was no intent from them to urge him in. It was like their only responsibility was to act as human-shaped alarm clocks and remind them to leave in 12 hours.

White Fengfeng blinked her eyes. “Ning…fellow daoist Ning Qin, is there anything wrong?”

Qin Yu’s eyes flashed with a bit of awkwardness. There wasn’t anything wrong; he just wanted to delay for a bit more time. He shook his head and said, “It's fine. Let’s enter.”

As he spoke, he walked in first.

Only a single step separated the outside from the inside, but it actually seemed like two entirely different worlds. A dark golden light fell down. It wasn’t dazzling and bright, and was actually a little quiet and heavy. Bathed in this light, one could feel the richness of the years in the air.

This should be a naturally formed cave. Up above their heads, there was a strange formation of rocks caused by the erosion of years. Within the golden light it seemed to be covered with a mysterious color.

And the source of this dark golden light was a stone tablet standing tall in the center of the cave. The tablet was around 10 feet high. It wasn’t too large, but as long as anyone looked at it, they would feel that it was impossibly tall, as if it had stood there through the eons, supporting the heavens and earth for all this time.

This was a marvelous feeling. Yet, no one doubted it at all. This was because this was the Southshine Nation’s legendary supreme treasure – the Good Fortune Tablet!