Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 346 – Slap

Chapter 346 – Slap

Wei Ziqing came in and brought White Fengfeng away. Opposed to the worried expression he had towards this little girl, Lord Wei didn’t even spare a glance at Qin Yu.

The bus trip back was quiet. Out of the original 13 people, nine of them were staying behind in that sternly guarded four-sided building. Ten days ago, Chief Steward Qin had started to focus his efforts on making sure the refining of the Revival Good Fortune Pill continued. Two other people were assigned to transport the remainders. These two were also familiar faces. They were two of the three Divine Soul cultivators that had originally brought them to their residences.

However, the attitudes of these two Divine Souls were now extremely cold. They sat at the front of the bus with closed eyes, showing none of the previous warmth and intimacy they gave Qin Yu before.

The next day finished with no miracle.

In the blink of an eye, it was the 29th day.

Today, the atmosphere on the bus was astonishingly depressed and strained. Besides Qin Yu, the three other young cultivators all had pallid expressions. Their eye sockets were deep and hollow; it was clear they didn’t get a wink of sleep last night.

The bus stopped outside the four-sided building. The two Divine Soul cultivators sat still as they watched the four cultivators step out. Then, one of them suddenly said, “This Ning Qin, his breathing technique is actually quite good.”

The other person sneered. “So what? If he can’t perceive the pill recipe then he’s trash. After tomorrow, he will naturally go wherever he is going.” He shook his head and cursed beneath his breath, “Those two bottles of plum juice I initially let him drink were actually quite expensive. Now it seems I was completely mistaken. I was fooled by that boy!”

The first cultivator who spoke shook his head, not saying much. He felt that this junior Ning Qin was strangely quiet this entire time. Could there be something he could still take advantage of?

Passing through the passageway, Wei Ziqing opened the door without expression. He was the one responsible for opening the door first every day. This task couldn’t be passed to anyone else, so this had remained the same for all this time.

As the door opened, Lord Wei turned and left. Today, Zhao Jiutian was refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill. He naturally didn’t have the mindset to waste his time here at such a critical point.

The Good Fortune Tablet was still as brilliant and dazzling as it was at the start. Qin Yu sat down and looked at those dark golden textures, sighing inwardly.

There was a time limit for perceiving the Good Fortune Tablet. One month was all the time one was allowed. If one couldn’t perceive the pill recipe even now, then even if they were given ten years they still wouldn’t accomplish anything.

Thus, today could be called the final chance. This was because tomorrow, everyone would experience tremendous mental pressure. It would be impossible for someone to calm their mind, much less perceive anything through meditation.

Qin Yu naturally felt no sense of urgency. It was just that even after waiting for a month, the world killing tribulation had yet to arrive. This left him feeling uneasy. This didn’t mean that the world’s will had decided to spare him and let him go this time. Rather, the only explanation was that it was gathering its strength, preparing for a single titanic strike.

This was different from what Qin Yu first sensed. But, he had approximately guessed the reason for it. The little blue lamp had fused together with that distant spatial fragment, borrowing the power of nihility to sever all perception. Perhaps this was the last time that the world’s will would be able to easily lock onto him. If so, then it would take this chance incredibly seriously.

To Qin Yu, this was not something good. Yet he couldn’t find a solution to resolve this dilemma. Worry surged in his heart and he couldn’t help but sigh. In the deathly silence of the cave, this sigh was incomparably clear. The concentration of the three others was broken and flames of anger immediately ignited within them.

“Ning Qin! Even today, you are still putting on a calm appearance as if none of this matters to you? I don’t believe you are actually so composed in your heart!” Zheng Shaoguan had lost his usual handsome and gentlemanly style. His clothes and hair were messed up and a cold smile lit up his face.

Yan Mingxin, who had a good relationship with him, also had a cold and dark expression. “I have long been sick of fellow daoist Ning Qin’s disgusting attitude. Defeat is defeat, so why do you try so hard to act calm? Is it possible that fellow daoist will believe that your mental state passes some sort of test and they will regard you highly for that?”

The last young cultivator mockingly said, “Even if he can remain calm without batting an eye if the world collapsed around him, what use is that? If you can’t perceive the pill recipe, nothing matters!”

Qin Yu frowned. These three people shouldn’t have such aggressive and combative personalities, but thinking about it, the pressure must be too great, causing their mental states to be twisted, and they were also influenced by the Good Fortune Tablet’s decaying aura. Even so, this didn’t mean he had to endure their words, especially since his mood wasn’t so great right now.

Zheng Shaoguan’s heart was rolling with emotions and he wanted to continue venting, but he suddenly found that silent person looking up, and that person’s ice gold gaze caused his body to freeze. An instinctual fear rose within him, and he found he couldn’t find the words to say.

Luckily, the black door opened at this moment, saving Zheng Shaoguan’s honor. As he let out a breath of relief, he was also curious as to what just happened.

Zhao Jiutian walked in with his head held high. After not seeing him for almost 20 days, he was clearly much weaker than before. There were even several strands of white in his originally black hair. He must have suffered considerable hardship while refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill. But at this time, with his proud expression, he actually emanated a somewhat heroic and dashing aura.

Zheng Shaoguan’s heart shook. He wasn’t an idiot. After not seeing Zhao Jiutian for almost 20 days and then for him to suddenly arrive now, he knew what this represented. Zhao Jiutian had refined the Revival Good Fortune Pill!

For a time, all of his anger and disdain vanished. All that was left behind was anguish and lament. Compared to Zhao Jiutian, the four people in this cave were all complete losers.

Zhao Jiutian walked in with great strides. Without blinking, he completely ignored everyone else and arrived 30 feet away from the Good Fortune Tablet. A dark golden halo of light suddenly appeared. It seemed that this light originally prevented anyone from coming closer. But as this dark golden light touched Zhao Jiutian’s figure, it dispersed, allowing him to enter and then wrapping around him.

Then, there was no more arrogance.

Several envious sighs echoed in the cave. Qin Yu’s eyes locked tightly onto Zhao Jiutian, not missing a moment of this. He wanted to know – just what sort of change would there be once the Good Fortune Tablet obtained a Revival Good Fortune Pill?

Zhao Jiutian took a deep breath and brought out a pitch black jade bottle from his chest. The jade bottle simply couldn’t be clearly seen at all. Then, dark golden light erupted from the Good Fortune Tablet, whirling away the jade bottle.

Several breaths of time later, a dark golden light appearance once more, covering him. This process didn’t continue for long before a gentle strength sent him floating 30 feet away again.

Zhao Jiutian’s eyes were closed. His body shivered and he couldn’t restrain the ecstasy on his face. One could imagine that he must have obtained some unimaginable advantage from the Good Fortune Tablet.

A trace of disappointment appeared in Qin Yu’s eyes. He was originally hoping to see something, but it seems his hopes had been for nothing. It appeared he would have to offer up a pill of his own before he could draw a conclusion on what would occur.

Shua –

Zhao Jiutian’s eyes opened and a divine light sparkling within them. After being covered by the dark golden light for several breaths of time, although he still had strands of white hair, his spirit was fully restored. A strange light flashed in his eyes and he suddenly turned around, looking at Qin Yu. At the same time, he also saw the disappointment in Qin Yu’s eyes.

Disappointment?

He was startled for a moment before a cold sneer covered his face. Even now, you are still playing tricks? Ning Qin, oh Ning Qin, just what qualifications do you have to express disappointment at me!?

He smirked. Then, with a faintly cold tone that was overflowing with arrogance, he said, “Ning Qin, I warned you on the second day to not fall too far behind, but it seems you didn’t hear me at all. I’m disappointed in you.”

He took several steps forward and arrived in front of Qin Yu. He lowered his voice, “In the competition, you ruined my plans, nearly severing my future hopes. But I bet you never imagined there would be a day like today. If you cannot perceive the pill recipe, then you are useless to the Southshine Nation. I guarantee that you will suffer miserably in the future.”

Hearing the hushed whispers, a trace of pleasure appeared in Zheng Shaogaun’s eyes. Today, Zhao Jiutian came after refining the Revival Good Fortune Pill. Even if Ning Qin had a hundred methods to use, he would still be humiliated!

As for Yan Mingxin and the other young cultivator, they both had sneers on their faces.

As they thought, Qin Yu took a step back and lowered his head. He must be feeling so much grief and indignation that he had no choice but to cower and back down. The three young cultivators were all anticipating an even more splendid play to occur. But what followed caused the sneers on their faces to freeze and their eyes to widen even as their bodies turned ice cold.

Pa –

The sound was simple and could appear in many ways. But, the most classic way was the close contact of a person’s five-fingered hand to another person’s face.

Qin Yu slowly drew his hand back, his complexion calm. He lightly said, “In my life, what I hate most is being threatened openly. So, I normally strike back. If I offended you, I apologize very much…but next time, I will also strike you.”

Zhao Jiutian’s face rapidly turned red and a clear five-fingered palm print appeared on his cheek. He trembled with anger for a moment but then calmed down, hatred thick in his eyes. “Good, very good! Since you want to die, let me help you along.”

After being slapped to the ground, Zhao Jiutian slowly stood up and brushed off the dust from his robes. He turned to the black door and bowed, “Lord Wei, Chief Steward Qin, please uphold justice for me!”

No one expected that after Zhao Jiutian was slapped to the ground, he wouldn’t viciously attack back but would instead choose to file a complaint.

Zheng Shaoguan was stunned for a moment before he quietly praised this move. A real man was capable of adapting to the current situation. Although these words seemed simple, there weren’t many people that could actually accomplish it. Zhao Jiutian’s actions might appear weak, but it was actually the best option he could take. With the lowest price possible, he would borrow the hand of the officials to destroy Qin Yu! Today, he had completed the sacrifice of the Revival Good Fortune Pill and was held in high regard by the Southshine Nation officials. Ning Qin’s slap might have vented his anger, but it also placed him in a desperate situation.

Hum hum! You were acting so calm just now, so how come you were so impulsive all of a sudden? Let’s see how you clean up this mess!

Wei Ziqing and Qin Wushang suddenly walked through the black door shoulder to shoulder. Their complexions were grim and gloomy. Originally, the Southshine Nation officials had paid enormous attention towards Ning Qing who had such an astonishing performance in the competition. But now reality showed that the results of the competition didn’t represent anything.

Zhao Jiutian had perceived the pill recipe on the first day and had even managed to refine it within a month. There was even the possibility that he could refine a second Revival Good Fortune Pill. They were prepared to recklessly win him over, but Ning Qin had actually dared to slap him. They would have to deal with this matter in a way that satisfied Zhao Jiutian. Only then could they persuade him to continue and refine another Revival Good Fortune Pill.

As for Ning Qin…since he was no longer useful, there was no longer any need to consider him.

Wei Ziqing and Qin Wushan didn’t speak, but one could guess their thoughts from their dark expressions.

Zhao Jiutian revealed a cold jeer from a corner of his lips. Since Ning Qin dared to slap him, he must be prepared for the devastating consequences!

Ning Qin, this time no one can save you.

Chief Steward had no expression. His eyes were low and hooded. With his status, it wasn’t appropriate for him to do anything at this time.

Wei Ziqing coldly said, “Ning Qin, you dare to attack someone in front of the Good Fortune Tablet? You are simply reckless beyond belief! Do you have no reverence towards the holy object of my Southshine Nation? Men, take Ning Qin away and throw him in the dungeon!”

“Hold on.” Qin Yu paused for a moment, a smile spreading on his face. “The slap just now felt so relaxing that it opened my mind. It seems I also perceived the pill recipe.”

To mention the pill recipe at this time and place, there was nothing it could be but the one from the Good Fortune Tablet.