Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 149 – Can I Eat That?

Jing Guanjin exposed his formidable abilities. As the time-sensing corals emitted a hazy blue light, the extremely potent power that the magic tool emitted finally stopped and fell into a long silence.

The Purple Cards didn’t relax. Instead, the look in their eyes became increasingly complex. This was because they knew that Jing Guanjin’s skills didn’t end just here. Once he rested, he would complete the promotion of the sea spirit to the next level.

In just a single day, all of the preparations had been completed and at a speed faster than anyone had expected. Sure enough, there were those amongst the younger generation that possessed outstanding talent. The coming waves would eventually crash into the beach and replace the old sand!

Up until now, the other sea spirit had yet to show any change. In fact, the light around its sensing treasure seemed to darken with time and become increasingly dire.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s smile widened. He had used assassins in the streets, countless other secret methods, and even paid a tremendous price to have that old shark help in secret, but each attempt had ended in failure and he had even been struck back by a completely unconventional trick.

But now, it seemed that this other party had finally bowed in compromise. And the reason? It must have been because of himself! It seemed that when he mentioned starting the power of inspection, his words had frightened that so-called Mister Ning silly.

This left Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s heart filled with disdain and even more self-satisfied. He glanced to the side and couldn’t hold back his words any longer. “Old Sea, has your Sea Spirit Pavilion’s Mister Ning fallen asleep? Unfortunately, the altar is sealed away so that no one can enter. If no one wakes him up, I’m afraid that he will lose. Once that happens, if anyone were to be humiliated, I fear they might be left miserable.”

Old Sea paled.

When it came to arguing, there had never been anyone who surpassed him. His status had grown over the years and as he grew older, it became rare for him to personally admonish anyone. But if anyone were to mention the man known as Curse God Lingdao in the past, who wouldn’t shiver in their boots? He thought back to that one year where he alone had faced off against 37 sea spirit teachers, and in that great war of words nine previously arrogant people had to be carried away on stretchers. Even now, no one had surpassed that accomplishment.

But at this time, he was truly left speechless. He knew that the more he spoke the more face he would lose, so he simply closed his eyes and pretended he didn’t hear anything. His expression was calm and his back was straight, but his heart was falling. Even someone from the Skyspirit Sage lineage would purposely lose in a competition? It seemed the world as he knew it had completely changed. Or, perhaps he had grown too old and it was time to give up his position.

At this time, an unexpected sound startled him from his thoughts.

Old Sea’s eyes flashed open. He saw the dim light of the sensing treasure, a treasure he had wanted to smash apart just now, emit a faint trace of bright light.

His heart was stirred to excitement. You brat, you finally began!

At this time, the sensing treasure started to hum and buzz, almost as if it were crying.

Old Sea was shocked, but joy immediately lit up his face. This sort of situation would only appear when the sea spirit was accepting a powerful infusion of energy.

He cried out deep in his heart. All of those sorrowful and depressing thoughts he had were immediately crushed to pieces. Old Sea suddenly felt that this world was incredibly beautiful.

In particular, he loved Wu Zetian’s murky and somber expression. He lightly coughed.

“You know, there are some people that never change in this world, no matter how many years pass. They still have that same old wild and overly arrogant temper and like to draw early conclusions no matter how ridiculous they are. You would think that after being humiliated so many times before that they would remember, but they seem to keep forgetting.” Old Sea sat down in his chair and leaned back comfortably. “This competition is far from over!”

Everyone here was smart enough to know that Sea Lingdao was intentionally putting on a calm and almost flippant act. But, they were too busy to bother with him because a question was running through their minds. The rapid infusion of energy was enough to cause the sensing treasure to hum and cry; just what had Sea Spirit Pavilion’s Mister Ning done?

Wu Zetian’s complexion darkened. He watched with a cold expression as the sensing treasure gradually lit up. This proved that everything he assumed before had been a joke. It would be difficult for even the ten great Purple Cards to pour in so much energy so quickly. Perhaps the boy had been making preparations during his long silence.

Yes, there were indeed some unique and isolated sea spirit teacher inheritances that possessed unbelievably wonderful techniques. Wu Zetian had once seen one before. After days of preparations, one was able to inject a special type of energy into a sea spirit within a short period of time, achieving the effect of healing and promoting it.

It seemed that this Mister Ning was also skilled in something similar. That was right, it had to be something like this!

Grandmaster Wu Zetian settled on this thought.

If one had never heard of this secret technique then they were sure to be incomparably shocked. But, if one knew the specifics then they wouldn’t consider it anything at all. He glanced at Old Sea and sneered inwardly. Just you wait, this secret technique cannot continue much longer! Perhaps it might only last a short while longer. No matter what it was, it wouldn’t be able to compare to his student, Jing Guanjin.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian's calm demeanor left the other Purple Cards surprised. They thought that he would be flustered at this time. Could he have another hidden card in his hand, or was there another reason?

Time quietly passed.

A quarter hour.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian shuffled about in his chair. He thought that this Ning fellow had a bit of skill.

One hour.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian coughed, a bit of caution rising in his eyes.

Two hours.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian’s face darkened.

Four hours.

Grandmaster Wu Zetian couldn’t take it anymore.

No, it was more accurate to say that within this hall, all ten Purple Cards couldn’t contain themselves.

Hum –

Hum –

The sensing treasure continued to cry out!

They could also achieve this sort of horrifying infusion of high intensity energy. But, none of them were capable of continuing for four whole hours without interruption!

No one could!

But the reality was right in front of their eyes.

They all looked at Old Sea with inquisitive eyes. As they saw his calm posture, they all began to speculate in their hearts.

It seemed that this old fellow Sea Lingdao knew the reason for this.

There were some Purple Cards that were on good terms with him. They tried to probe him but were met with laughs and waved off. Seeing that he had no intention of speaking about it, they could only suppress their thoughts, no matter how curious they were.

As for Old Sea, as he saw the surprised looks of those around him, he couldn’t help but feel exhilarated and amazed. This was truly worthy of the Skyspirit Sage lineage; it was unimaginably powerful.

It was unknown how much time passed, but the sensing treasure suddenly stopped humming. Wu Zetian hurriedly looked over and with a cough, his complexion became even uglier. The energy fluctuations representing Qin Yu’s sea spirit had actually surpassed those of Jing Guanjin. Even if it was only by a little, it was enough to shake his mind.

No one noticed that in a corner of the room, a time-sensing coral had turned a pale red.

With a dismal look, Wu Zetian lifted a finger beneath his robes and gently tapped a spirit shell.

…

Jing Guanjin opened his eyes and took out a spirit shell from his chest. This specially refined spirit shell didn’t possess the ability to converse with others, and in addition to some other preparations, it was able to avoid the monitoring of the altar.

At this time, the spirit shell was shaking. It emitted a ‘tap tap tap’, as if an invisible finger was gently striking it.

Jing Guanjin’s complexion turned ugly. He never thought that the spirit shell he hid in his chest would actually start moving. This meant that his opponent’s performance was better than his own.

Damn it all!

Jing Guanjin took a deep breath and revealed a serious and dignified expression. It seems that his father’s worries had been justified and this Ning fellow was indeed difficult to deal with.

But, so what?

With the Skyspirit power in his hand, he could still fight even if he faced the ten great Purple Cards!

That was right, the so-called Skyspirit power was the strength of the Skyspirit Sage that Old Sea spoke of. Unfortunately, the one who possessed it was not Qin Yu but Jing Guanjin. Of course, Jing Guanjin didn’t originate from the family lineage of the Skyspirit Sages. Rather, he had a good father who had used some particularly cruel and bloody methods to obtain this strength.

While this competition could be called a battle between Jing Guanjin and Qin Yu, the truth was that it should be called a battle between the Skyspirit power and the little blue lamp instead!

With a flick of his sleeves, the shining jade-like sea spirit in front of Jing Guanjin suddenly rose into the air. A finger fell. As his fingertip touched the sea spirit, faint and pale traces of white power were poured into it without end. The branches and leaves of the sea spirit swung about as if they were cheering and its fluctuations of energy rapidly rose.

Like this, the sensing treasure connected to Jing Guanjin’s sea spirit became even brighter and more dazzling. In just a moment, it caught up to Qin Yu and took the lead once more.

He was about to promote the sea spirit to the next rank!

…

The sea region was incomparably vast. Its total area far surpassed the surface land and it contained countless incredible treasures. As the royal family that ruled over it all, they were naturally the richest family in the entire sea.

Thus, it was natural for the royal palace to be luxurious.

Warm and exquisite jade paved the floor. Discs floated in the air, serving as lamps, illuminating artistic jade carvings all around. Every inch of this hall exuded opulence and prestige. A large throne faced north to south and was carved with a massive dragon circling it. The material was deep purple and it resembled both wood and metal.

There was a figure sitting on the dragon throne. He wore finger-clawed dragon robes and an emperor’s crown above his head. His face was plain and prestigious, indifferent to any anger. Though he sat entirely still, the potential of the world seemed to converge upon his body. He was the ruler of the sea races and dominated the endless sea region, controlling the billions and trillions of lives below him. He was the master of this royal palace and the most mighty and influential person between the heavens and earth.

Without any exception!

“How goes the competition?”

“Your Majesty, both sides are still struggling against each other. Victory and defeat cannot be decided just yet.”

The sea race ruler’s eyes shined. “Oh, that is a bit strange.”

No one knew what he meant by ‘strange’.

If His Majesty didn’t speak, no one dared to say anything else. After several breaths of silence, the sea race ruler waved his hand. “It’s no problem, let it be. How fares the investigation into the Netherworld Sea Region that I assigned you?”

“There have indeed been some changes in the Netherworld Sea Region, however we don’t know the exact situation right now. But, Old Shark has set out early to begin the hunt. Hopefully he can bring back clearer information on the situation.”

“Mm. Concerning this, inform me as soon as you learn anything. Do not delay.”

“Yes.”

“And where is mister right now?” The sea race ruler suddenly asked.

“Reporting to Your Majesty, Old Turtle left a message saying that the weather has become cold, so he has gone into hibernation.”

The sea race ruler chuckled. With Old Turtle’s cultivation, if he went hibernating because it was too cold then perhaps the entire sea might have frozen into a block of ice already. This reason was a bit too half-hearted. He helplessly said, “He must be feeling leisurely. Push things back for me so he can relax.” He waved his hand, “Fall back. This Solitude wishes to be alone.”

If the sea race ruler wanted to be alone, no one would be bold enough to ask him who needed to be alone. It was just that up until now, there hadn’t even been a shadow of a person within the large and empty grand hall. It was unknown who he was speaking with and who he wanted to fall back.

The hall quieted down. The man sitting on the dragon chair remained as stiff and straight as before, as if he had merged into one being with it; as if he were one with the entire hall.

It was like he had been sitting here for countless years, and he would continue sitting here until the end of time.

…

Ding –

With a low and clear ring, the light atop the sensing treasure began to gather unto itself and turn a faint light purple.

This meant that the promotion of the sea spirit had been completed!

In the coral house, Jing Guanjin’s complexion was pale but a sneer hung at the corner of his lips. With the Skyspirit power in my hands, who dares to fight with me!?

Mister Ning?

What is that? Is that something I can eat?