Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 160 – Rich Harvests

Leon’s face was flushed red, and it remained this way even after a long time. Now that his teacher had left, he was the center of everyone’s attention and was being congratulated and envied by all.

Qingqing clung tightly to his side, the white nape of her neck like a little proud swan. She used her vicious glare to scare away the women around her who had ill intentions.

Once the crowd dispersed a little, Qingqing grabbed Leon and pulled him to the side. She quietly asked, “Where’s Mister Ning?” As she mentioned this name, she had an upbeat expression and there was even more respect and awe in her voice than there usually was. She had been informed by her mother about what had occurred and since she knew what status Mister Ning now possessed, it was natural for her to do this.

Leon wiped away his sweat. “Teacher went back to rest. He probably wants to further digest what he obtained from the sea spirit.” As he spoke, he did so with deep reverence and worship. Still, he couldn’t hide his growing pride.

Although he didn’t think about it too much, his teacher was now the third ranked of the ten great Purple Cards, a legendary Spiritual Bestower, and also someone who had managed to spur the sea spirit baptism for almost ten hours. Even if he didn’t want to, it was hard not to think about having such a teacher and be arrogant about it!

Qingqing bit her lips and whispered. “Leon, Mister Ning is now at the height of prestige and is bound to be a mighty figure in the future. From how some of these women are looking at you, I think they wish they could swallow you whole.”

Leon blushed. He hurriedly waved his hand. “No, no, everyone is just congratulating teacher. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Humph! You are well aware of whether or not it has any relation to you!”

Leon had a bitter expression. “Qingqing, just what do you want?”

“Great, now you are getting impatient towards me. I know that Mister Leon has high standards now so how could you possibly take a liking to a little girl like me!”

Leon almost cried. “Qingqing, that would never happen! Whatever you want is whatever I want, I have absolutely no opinion at all!”

Qingqing wrinkled her nose. “Is that the truth?”

Seeing her attitude soften, Leon immediately swore an oath. Sure, while he wasn’t a true blockhead when it came to the relations between men and women, he was still a na?ve and pure boy who hadn’t been taught by anyone how to deal with a girl’s finishing move.

Qingqing smiled and her face blushed red. She quietly said, “My mother wants me to bring you home…” As she spoke, her voice became increasingly quiet.

“Ah!” Leon cried out loud and smiled in silly joy.

Qingqing chuckled as she rolled her eyes back. But, she was actually overjoyed in her heart. She suddenly felt this world become far wider and freer.

…

With his only disciple having obtained the necessary approval and soon about to win the beautiful girl he loved, Qin Yu was currently sitting down cross-legged in his workroom. Through the video and audio recordings being replayed over the shells, Qin Yu learned about what had occurred.

Old Sea had once mentioned the sea spirit baptism to him, thus Qin Yu’s complexion was quite strange at this moment.

He was well aware of himself. Perhaps his soul was a bit more powerful and perhaps his body was a bit more powerful, and in a situation where the sea spirit didn’t sense anything, it was really possible that the sea spirit baptism could continue longer.

But for it to last nearly ten hours…that was impossible!

At this time, as he was sitting down cross-legged, he frowned, losing himself in thought. He seemed to faintly recall some indistinct memories of what occurred during the sea spirit baptism.

He estimated that he reached his limit at a bit more than two hours. After all, while his consciousness was awake, there was still some awareness of his surroundings. And it was during this period of time that something unknown occurred, which allowed him to maintain that condition.

This was the reason why there had been such an exaggerated result.

Qin Yu fell silent for several breaths of time. He flipped his hand and a brilliant light flashed. The deep blue light in his palm was as peaceful as the deep sea. As he looked at it, his pupils suddenly shrank.

Qin Yu had always considered the little blue lamp as the fundamental basis for his current life. Thus, there was no need to explain just how much he valued it.

Now, it seemed as if…that foot of blue sea…had grown.

Qin Yu had a serious expression. He raised his hand and looked carefully. After a long time, he was finally sure that his judgment was correct.

It had indeed grown larger.

Now, the area that the blue light covered was probably the surrounding 1.2 feet.

There had been countless times when he had grieved and felt helpless over how the range of the little blue lamp was so small and narrow. But, he never expected that in a situation where he had been completely unprepared, things would change so suddenly.

It seemed as if the change in the sea spirit baptism had been caused by the little blue lamp.

Qin Yu fell silent for a long time, but slowly, a bit of relief began rising on his features. Although this had caused him to enter the attention of that person in the royal palace, making it difficult for him to leave, if he were to consider his own harvest as well as the changes in the little blue lamp…then it was all worth it! In particular, he had finally been able to determine that the little blue lamp’s strength was in no way unchangeable.

It could grow.

This vaguely pointed a road for Qin Yu. Although there might not ever be a way for him to obtain the strength of the sea spirit again, there was still heavenly tribulation. The little blue lamp was able to swallow tribulation thunder, and this surely had a profound meaning behind it. Now, with the changes that had occurred in the little blue lamp, he might be able to face this matter head-on.

He temporarily pushed these thoughts to the side. He immediately thought of the sea map that the sea spirit had granted him, and revealed a helpless look. He was sure during the time when he felt that piercing cold and awakened, that had been a warning from the sea spirit. The little blue lamp’s actions should have been discovered.

So, this sea map that he thought would allow him to never get lost again, had definitely been replaced…

Disappointment rose in his heart. After all, according to Old Sea, the gift of the sea spirit was often incredibly strong. However, his disappointment soon turned to joy. After all, even though he had been discovered cheating by the sea spirit and even though his status as a human might have been noticed, he was still alive and moving. This was already great!

After organizing his thoughts, Qin Yu closed his eyes in meditation and started to carefully sense just how many harvests he obtained during the sea spirit baptism.

An hour later, he opened his eyes. He tried to hold it in but finally laughed out loud. No wonder the sea spirit had warned him; it had been helpless to do anything else after being a target of the little blue lamp’s insatiable greed. This harvest was indeed larger than he thought. No, it was even larger, far, far larger than he had hoped for!

His soul force had nearly doubled. It had already been quite powerful amongst the Golden Core level, but now it was somewhere comparable to between that and that of a common Nascent Soul. Every inch of flesh and blood of his mortal body had been tempered through the baptism, becoming more potent and tenacious. Not only had he fully mastered the strength he absorbed from the strange tumor monster, but his overall power had risen to a new level.

Qin Yu even believed that with his mortal bodily strength alone, he could directly face off against common mid and late Golden Core cultivators.

This time the risks had been worth it!

He suppressed any thoughts about the attention from the royal palace. Right now he impatiently wanted to control his growing strength. Then, with the intensity of his soul force, it should be possible for him to smoothly refine all of the five-element spiritual objects.

…

News of Mister Ning completely rolling over Wu Zetian and becoming the third ranked of the Purple Cards should have been an explosive event. But, with news of the sea spirit baptism continuing for almost ten hours and him being a Spiritual Bestower also spreading out, that news seemed a bit too ordinary.

Perhaps in the eyes of the countless sea races, today’s Honorable Ning didn’t need to brandish his status as a Purple Card. This was because he had surpassed the Purple Cards and was considered a higher level of being.

Sea Spirit Pavilion profited off of this. Countless sea spirit teachers flocked in like rabid swarms, all of them asking whether they could join. This set off a raging wave of hopefully job hopping. As for Bluesky Tower and Earthfault Spire, while they had once been in sharp opposition with Sea Spirit Pavilion, now they no longer had any strength to fight back. They lost almost half the strong sea spirit teachers in their employment and their prestige fell precipitously.

Correspondingly, Sea Spirit Pavilion’s business blew up to a whole new level, and this was especially true with the capital city branch division. Countless seafolk waved their spirit cards around, all of them requesting to sign the special edition Supreme Book no matter how high the price was raised. Even a starting price of 300,000 did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.

To use their words, if they could spend this money and form some tenuous relationship with Honorable Ning, that was something they could all brag about. Without any other way, Sea Spirit Pavilion could only accept the spirit stone cards of these frantically wailing people. Chief Manager Wu’s expression was light and carefree as he laughed heartily within.

Who didn’t like to earn money? Although he possessed a mind-boggling amount of wealth in his hands, this money belonged to Mister Ning, and he didn’t dare to have any thoughts on it.

At that same time he secretly admired Mister Ning. Mister Ning was truly worldly. Even after returning he hadn’t asked about the bet money and had just left it with him.

However, he really did need to find some method to give this wealth back to Mister Ning as soon as possible. Otherwise, he might stay like he was now, too scared to leave. Even when he casually strolled through Sea Spirit Pavilion, he did so with the four praying mantis swordsmen shadowing him. It was best to be careful. If there was an accident, he couldn’t make up for it even if he sold himself!

He comfortably sat down in a chair and took a sip of tea. He sighed. He had fallen in love with Honorable Ning’s preferences; it was truly a good way to relax.

He glanced up at the seventh floor. He thought of Honorable Ning’s invitations and how high they had piled up. He had no idea when he would come out.

…

“Honorable Ning still hasn’t come out?” Soupman faintly frowned.

The magnificent hall was packed with colors of purple and gold. There wasn’t any sense of aesthetic beauty here and it even seemed a bit tacky.

But as long as one arrived here, they would be filled with awe. When would they be in the mood to judge how beautiful or ridiculous this hall looked?

Four black-robed figures knelt on the ground. Their auras were completely restrained. If one didn’t see them with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have thought anyone was there.

“Reporting to Soupman, we have investigated through various channels already. Ever since the sea spirit baptism, Honorable Ning has gone into seclusion and hadn’t left. This was confirmed with Honorable Ning’s disciple, Leon.”

The four were completely motionless. It was hard to tell just who was the one speaking.

Soupman had a thoughtful look. “It seems that this time, Honorable Ning has quite the harvests…” He smiled and muttered to himself. “The more the better, the more the better…”

After several breaths of time he waved his hand. “You may all leave. Pay attention to news concerning Honorable Ning. I want to be immediately informed when he leaves his workroom.”

“Yes, Soupman.”

The four black-robed figures stood up and left. They didn’t walk through the entrance but simply vanished from where they stood. It was unknown where they went.

…

Qingqing kicked the gravel, bored. She wondered out loud, “Just when is mister coming out of seclusion?”

Madame Qing sighed. “Is my family’s little miss in such a hurry to be married? The humans really do have a good phrase that fits this. A daughter will always favor outsiders rather than their own!”

Qingqing never thought that her unintentional words would be heard by her mother. She blushed fiery red and stammered, “I…I never…”

“Then there is no need to be so anxious. You might as well accompany me and your father for a few more years. In any case, right now is the time for Leon to be building his future career. It isn’t a good time to divert his attention to forming a new family.” Madame Qing teased.

Qingqing stamped her feet. “Mother! You’re laughing at me!”

Madame Qing hugged her daughter, her smile warm and calm. “Mother is happy for you. Just be patient. With Mister Ning helping to manage your wedding with Leon, your future road will be much easier to walk down. Qingqing, you judged well. Leon is a good child. I hope you will live happily later.”

Qingqing blinked. “If I grab onto Leon then our Qing Family will have a great backer, right?”

Looking at her strange and funny daughter, Madame Qing tapped her forehead, “You!”