Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 159 – The Attention From the Royal Palace

Soupman’s arrival caused a momentary stir. But soon everyone’s attention turned back to the altar.

Gradually, many seafolk began to whisper to themselves. This Mister Ning, he could really keep going!

How could this be? Can’t he be a normal person every now and then? How come he had to surpass everyone’s expectations all the time!

Of course, their thoughts were a bit jealous.

And as everyone continued to watch with their heads held high and their necks perked up, their jealousy began to increase. Thinking about it, nearly three hours had passed.

Prosperity Square was utterly silent.

Perhaps the record had long since been broken.

Soupman’s smile slowly darkened. True joy lit up the depths of his eyes, but there was even more urgency in them. So, at the sixth hour, when Chairman Xu braced himself to inform him that the energy reserves were nearly depleted once more, Soupman was in an incredibly good mood. He smiled and waved his hand for others to bring more supplies, not even bothering to ask why the speed of consumption was increasing.

As the supervisor of the royal palace’s treasure, Soupman loved wealth. But, he had already become accustomed to seeing wealth, so what did it matter if he needed to consume tens or hundreds of millions of resources? After all, it was highly possible this Mister Ning was who he was looking for. Even if he couldn’t determine it now, just a slight chance was more than enough.

Chairman Xu let out a long breath before he turned and hurried away. He could faintly guess the reason why Soupman had come here, so he worked even more earnestly than before. But in just half an hour, as he was watching the energy reserves falling even faster, he glanced to the side with stunned dread.

The man sent by Soupman gently frowned before straightening himself. “Soupman has instructed that if reserves are insufficient, supplies can be directly used.”

Thus, the third batch of supplementary treasures were poured in.

Chairman Xu wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, his complexion paling. The amount of resources needed to supply the energy reserves for the ceremony three times left him mind in a blurry haze.

The great sea spirit teacher competition was owned by all organizers, thus all organizers had to contribute a corresponding amount of resources. The amount of wealth that the royal palace’s treasury poured out would eventually need to be returned one day. Moreover, it could only be more, not less; there was already interest in borrowing. And, since it was His Majesty who had taken drastic measures to save them from disaster, repaying a small amount would be considered a dire insult…and in this aspect, that respected Soupman had an extremely well known reputation in this manner!

Chairman Xu calculated his total wealth and clenched his teeth again. In the end, he wasn’t able to hold on, so when it came for the fourth time to supplement for energy for the ceremony, his legs caved in beneath him and the situation turned chaotic once more.

At this time, eight hours had passed.

…

Qin Yu felt as if he had rested for a long time. He was comfortable and satisfied, and his consciousness was faint and hazy. Originally, he didn’t want to wake up, but in that instant, the warmth that wrapped around him was stabbed with an icy coldness. A sharp and dense aura locked onto him, passing into the depths of his heart and nearly freezing his soul.

It was like some dark existence had opened its eyes at that moment and had casually glanced at him.

Within the storage ring, the little blue lamp gently trembled. The blue sea trembled around it and an invisible aura spread out, covering Qin Yu.

Following that, the chill in the air suddenly dispersed.

…

Qin Yu’s eyes opened, his gaze a bit vacant. Something seemed to struggle in his mind before blossoming.

Hum –

The void shivered. An image of the sea region appeared above his head, rolling out like waves, the islands dotting the sky like stars. It continued to spread until it occupied the entire space above the altar.

It was extremely real, so real that one could even see the capital city in this sea region image.

Countless seafolk cried out in shock as they watched this miracle!

A breeze came rolling along and the image of the sea region disappeared with it. Although it had been like an illusion, it had actually existed.

All eyes gathered towards the altar. As they saw the black-robed figure slowly being lowered down, endless envy and awe filled their hearts.

The gift of the sea spirit!

Mister Ning must have had a heaven-shaking harvest. This was the belief of all the seafolk.

But while Qin Yu was being envied by all, he was actually in a muddled state of mind. He carefully sensed the changes in his body, sensing, and sensing again…

That was right, this was the harvest he had received, the gift of the sea spirit.

A sea map!

It was that endless and boundless sea region map that had covered the void above him just now.

Qin Yu’s lips twitched. He felt that this sea spirit was far too stingy and mean-spirited. He could only try to comfort himself with the positive side of things. For better or worse, at least he wouldn’t need to worry about being lost in the future.

And maybe he could even sell this sea map later.

The purple jade card fell down from the air and Qin Yu reached up, unconsciously grabbing it. With a loud crack, numerous fissures spread through the jade card that represented the status of a Purple Card sea spirit teacher.

This…

The four priests flew down from the altar and bowed. “Congratulations Mister Ning for obtaining the great gift of the sea spirit.” Their manners were still gentle and soft, but deep in their eyes, excitement brewed along with a touch of inexplicable closeness.

Qin Yu cupped his hands in return. As he stepped onto the ground and landed, there was a loud bang. Luckily the altar was made of extraordinary materials so it wasn’t damaged at all. He awkwardly smiled, a bit embarrassed.

Of course, this was only what it looked like from the outside. In Qin Yu’s heart, he was actually pleasantly surprised. The thoughts of the sea spirit being stingy had been flung far away. Although he hadn’t carefully sensed just what it was, it appeared as if this harvest had surpassed his imagination!

A priest smiled reassuringly. “It’s no problem. It is just that mister’s strength has risen too quickly so you are unable to control it momentarily. Everything will be fine with a little time.”

The priest was about to say something else, but many others flew forwards at this moment. He swallowed his words and turned to leave.

Old Sea was the first to come down. He glanced at the jade card in Qin Yu’s hand and forced a smile. “Little friend Ning, today you really…leapt into the heavens with a single move!” His eyes were full of envy and admiration.

With a sea spirit baptism that had lasted almost 10 hours in addition to the sea map that had suddenly appeared, one didn’t need to be a genius to know that Qin Yu must have obtained horrifying amounts of benefits. Hehe, didn’t he see that even the jade card representing his status had been conveniently broken? Old Sea was well aware of just how solid the material was.

Qin Yu was puzzled. “What happened?”

Chief Manager Wu spoke up, stunned. He cautiously said, “Mis…mister…you don’t know…?”

Qin Yu nodded.

The smiling seafolk who came forth to express their congratulations and try to be closer to Qin Yu suddenly felt their lips twitch. They thought that even though Qin Yu had caused such a stir, he didn’t know anything about it at all. This was unbelievable!

At this time, someone opened their mouth. Countless words of flowery flattery gushed out, as if he were going to sing hymns of praise.

But just as the flattery began, the man was interrupted by a wave from Old Sea. “Enough. Everything else can be left for later. Little friend Ning needs to rest first.” He tossed a side-eye at Qin Yu. Qin Yu’s thoughts raced and he nodded. “I am slightly tired right now, and it’s a bit difficult for me to move. I’ll have to bother Old Sea with helping me.” He cupped a hand across his chest to express his apologies towards all the smiling seafolk elites around him.

Mister Ning was tired and naturally no one dared to object. The reason they came forwards now was only to make their presence known and familiarize themselves with Qin Yu. None of them were really thinking of seizing this moment to develop further relations with Qin Yu. Traditionally speaking, they should let Mister Ning rest first and prepare a thick gift envelope before personally visiting to show their sincerity.

Old Sea flicked his sleeve and wrapped up Qin Yu. Although he was injured, his cultivation was more than enough to allow him to fly over the altar and into Sea Spirit Pavilion’s carriage. Without stopping, the carriage raced out of the square.

It was unknown who was the first one to shout, “Congratulations, Honorable Ning!”

Then, more voices rang out like thunder.

“Congratulations, Honorable Ning!”

This was the respect that the seafolk gave to Qin Yu.

Those that lost more money in the bet had to shout even louder and with greater sincerity. This was to prove that they didn’t care about it at all. Some sea spirit teachers started to leave the square and hurry outwards. They looked at the carriage as it faded away. They wondered: was Sea Spirit Pavilion still hiring?

In the bustling square, Soupman smiled as he watched the carriage leave. He didn’t say anything, because he would eventually learn anything he wanted to know.

With a wave of his hand, he returned to the royal palace. He didn’t report to His Majesty but instead strolled into the dwelling he had constructed in the treasury. He sat down comfortably and after thinking about the immense amount of wealth he had spent today, he frowned and said, “Tell someone to hurry up the competition committee. Make sure to ask them when they will return the spirit stones they owe us.”

The unconscious Chairman Xu twitched, tears beginning to leak out from his eyes.

The carriage drove far away from the square, but one could still hear the sounds of ‘congratulations’. Qin Yu lay down on a soft bed, trying not to move.

“Old Sea, it seems that I have done something remarkable again.”

The corners of Sea Lingdao’s eyes twitched. “You really don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

Old Sea was left speechless. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. Did you want to frighten this old man until he peed? He angrily waved his hand, a bit annoyed. “Just wait until someone else tells you. I am tired!”

Qin Yu coughed into his hand. “Old Sea, did I make you tired?”

Old Sea’s eyes widened. “Brat, you don’t know what’s good or bad. Luckily I led you out immediately otherwise things would have become troublesome.” As he spoke, he frowned and contemplated for a time, seeming a bit helpless. “But while you can avoid it for a while, you cannot evade it forever. It will come sooner or later.”

Qin Yu’s thoughts stirred. “What do you mean?”

Old Sea immediately described how Soupman had come and helped Qin Yu. As he spoke about that person, his words were cautious and discreet. “Your performance today was far too amazing; it is bound to arouse the interest and concern of others. There are some matters that I cannot speak too much of. Just remember that if they really come looking for you in the future, make sure you do not refuse.”

His words were vague and ambiguous. But, it was exactly this that made things seem unusual. With Old Sea’s status, if there were something that made him so discreet and it also involved that person in the royal palace, there had to be something else at work here.

Qin Yu furrowed his eyebrows together.

If he was a member of the sea races and his reputation drastically shot upwards, even earning him the attention of the royal palace, then he might be pleased with this or even looking forwards to it with intense anticipation.

But, the key point here was that he was a human, and that was the sea races’ royal palace. Anyone could tell that the guards there were stern and strict and powerhouses existed like trees in a forest. Entering would be easy, but if he was careless and there was the slightest slipup, he would surely expose himself.

New complications just kept rising up!

If that person in the royal palace was paying attention to him, that meant from now on, his every action would be monitored. He didn’t even have time to implement his plan of quietly leaving the capital city before it had turned to dust.

Qin Yu bitterly smiled. Indeed, in this world, gains and losses came together.

The carriage entered Sea Spirit Pavilion. The employees that stayed behind had already seen everything that happened through the phantom image projection and knew that Mister Ning had won. Exhilarating joy spread throughout Sea Spirit Pavilion, and the entire place was decorated in the shortest time possible.

When Qin Yu stepped down from the carriage, what he saw first were countless eyes full of awe. Some beautiful female seafolk batted their eyes at him, their gazes lingering on him.

At this time, he wasn’t in the mood to pay attention to these things. He tossed down several quick words, hurried to his workshop, and closed the door.