Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 168 – Lousy Luck

A sea spirit teacher commented with a stunned expression, “Chief…Chief Manager Wu…what is going on…?”

Chief Manager Wu paled. He thought, if you ask me, just who the hell am I supposed to ask? If it were anyone that dared to touch his Nine Layer Building then he would have already personally gone and beaten them up into a pulp. But right now, the person doing this was Grandmaster Ning. Even if he were to completely wreck Nine Layer Building, he could still only watch on as it happened. Moreover, he would have to stop anyone from getting close.

But just what was going on!?

“Chief manager, things are beginning to grow out of control. The situation has already affected the several surrounding stores and buildings. If this continues, I fear that…” Someone from Sea Spirit Pavilion rushed over, followed by many others with ugly complexions. They began to argue with each other in a low voice; it was clear they had already experienced some troubles along the way.

Chief Manager Wu waved his hand dismissively. “Tell them as long as their losses can be verified, they will all be recompensed by my Sea Spirit Pavilion!”

After obtaining this guarantee, the crowd suddenly calmed down. Still, there were many people with long faces, especially two shop owners who had stores with long lines of inherited history. Their storefronts had been passed down from generation to generation and maintained this entire time. Although they couldn’t compare to the shininess of newly built storefronts, their background history and style weren’t something that money could buy.

Now it was all destroyed!

But no one argued back and no one asked anyone to stop what was going on. It was clear that today’s events involved Honorable Ning, and judging by the current situation, it was something extremely important. If they managed to offend Honorable Ning then they really wouldn’t have anywhere to cry.

Clearwood had gone to invite Old Sea. When he arrived, the crowd calmed down once more. The numerous sea race powerhouses cupped their hands in respect upon seeing him.

Old Sea had a light and pale demeanor. He greeted everyone as he walked to the base of Nine Layer Building. He narrowed his eyes and looked around.

Hua la la –

Several windows were torn out by the howling wind. They came crashing down, eliciting alarmed cries from the crowd. The people parted as they tried to dodge, but there were those unlucky ones who were struck in the head. Blood flowed out as they were all left in a pitiful state.

Old Sea’s lips twitched and a look of helplessness flashed in his eyes. Little Friend Ning, you’re already dazzling enough, so if you really wanted to leave the capital city you shouldn’t have done something so eye-catching.

But as he thought of the news that was just released from the royal palace, a complex look appeared in his eyes.

The sea races had an old saying – dig a pit and jump in and it will only get deeper. In his opinion, Qin Yu’s actions were proving this.

…

If one could rank things like loyalty, flattery, and dog-like devotion, then Soupman would be ranked amongst the best, even amidst the giant royal palace. At this moment, he was standing in that grand and opulent hall, conversing with that Sovereign of the Sea. He would often deliver lines of praise so sickly sweet that it left others embarrassed for him, but he still maintained a serious expression the entire time, as if he were having a personal heart-to-heart talk…one couldn’t help but admit that if one’s flattery skills could reach such a level, it was quite amazing.

The Sea Sovereign smiled in anger. He waved his hand and scolded, “Is this how you show your respect towards this Solitude? Hurry up and screw off! Go and manage this Solitude’s money; if a single coin is missing, there will be no forgiveness.”

Soupman smiled obsequiously and slapped his chest, his huge meaty body waving around. “Your Majesty need not worry, you should already be aware of my methods. If a single person dares to touch even just one coin of yours, I will make sure they lose everything.”

This master and servant relationship had been formed even before the time when the throne had changed. As such their relationship was far closer than others could imagine, and it was also the reason why they could speak so freely to each other.

At this time, the Sea Sovereign’s eyebrows drew up. His gaze turned outside the hall.

Several breaths later, Soupman also sensed something. A surprised look came over his face. “It seems that it's coming from the direction of Sea Spirit Pavilion.”

The Sea Sovereign nodded. “It is that Honorable Ning.”

Soupman was like a cat that had its tail stepped on. He leapt up and cried out, “What, what? It's something related to Honorable Ning? What has happened to him?”

The Sea Sovereign shook his head. “I cannot see the specifics.”

Soupman cupped his hands together, turned around, and ran away. “Forgive me Your Majesty, this old servant of yours needs to go and have a look. No matter what it is, nothing can happen to Honorable Ning!”

These words weren’t because he cared for Qin Yu.

…

On the edge of the capital city, in a small courtyard, Guard Captain Meng Li had settled his new love interest Xiao Qing here. These past few days he had been enjoying his sweet time with his new lover, every day a day of joy and pleasure. Of course, he couldn’t bring Xiao Qing back home to his family because there was a ferocious mother tiger there, thus it was best to keep her hidden here.

Meng Li had just enjoyed a good romp with Xiao Qing. He was lying back on his bed, enjoying the attention she was placing on him. He chuckled and slapped her butt and said, “Go and prepare some washing water for me. I have some official business to deal with in a bit and I smell too much.”

Xiao Qing smiled. She stepped off the bed, draped on some robes, and walked out. Guard Captain Meng Li seemed to be enjoying her presence still, but his mind had already switched to other recent events.

Suddenly, there was a sharp scream from outside. Meng Li sat up. His very first thought was that the mother tiger back home had finally found him and he immediately prepared himself to flee. But outside, there was only the voice of Xiao Qing and no one else, nor did he hear the sounds of the courtyard door being pushed open. His eyes began to blaze with anger; was there someone who dared to steal a look at his woman!?

He rushed out. Xiao Qing was slumped on the floor, sobbing with a frightened look. Her legs were splayed apart, making her nudity all the more visible.

Meng Li shouted out, “Baby, what happened? I will take responsibility for you!”

“M-m-m-m-master…a…sword…f-f-flew…away…”

Xiao Qing pointed at a nearby well as she spoke, completely scared.

Meng Li frowned. Could there have been some sort of treasure hidden in the well? If it could fly away…it was clear that it wasn’t something simple at all. And most importantly, if it flew away from the well in his residence, no matter how he thought about it, this meant it was his!

As he thought about how a treasure sword had been hidden in the well for such a long time and yet he hadn’t known about it, Meng Li wanted to slap himself senseless. But, it was far too late to beat himself up about it. He shouted in breathless anger, “Which way did it fly towards!?”

“Th-th-th-there…” Xiao Qing lifted a hand and pointed.

Whoosh –

Meng Li shot up into the skies. As he adjusted his pants, his eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty light. If anyone dared to take his treasures, he would chop them up!

…

Qin Yu was now extremely worried. His Golden Core had shattered, but because of the Great Divided Heaven Sutra he didn’t feel any pain; it was only that his soul consciousness and body were temporarily isolated from each other. It was also because of this that he could clearly feel the chaos being stirred up outside. A foreboding feeling gradually rose within him and yet he wasn’t capable of stopping it.

Within his dantian sea, the five-element spiritual objects had fused with his Golden Core. A strange transformation occurred within them, causing their desire for spiritual energy to reach the peak in a short period of time. Even though the vortex of spiritual energy was fierce, it still couldn’t satisfy their desire. Thus, in his dantian sea, the five spheres of light that were colored white, black, blue, red, and yellow started to tremble in instability, like five volcanoes that could erupt at any moment.

Qin Yu didn’t doubt that the strength of these five volcanoes was more than enough to reduce him to pieces, as well as cause a massive fireworks show for the seafolk casually watching for fun outside.

He had put so much hard work into gathering these five-element spiritual objects, but in an instant his joy had turned to sorrow. Not only were his plans completely turned upside down, but he had been forced into a perilous situation…just what was going on!

He suppressed his chaotic thoughts. His divine sense stirred and a storage shell opened up. The mountain-sized pile of spirit stones began to fly out, filling the entire workroom. The pure spiritual strength contained within seemed to be drawn out by something as it surged outwards. Every spirit stone only contained a limited amount of spiritual strength, but with millions of them gathered together, it was enough to form a raging flow of spiritual strength. This new energy joined together with the vortex of heaven and earth spiritual energy outside and then started to rumble into Qin Yu’s body.

This method of absorbing spiritual strength was overly exaggerated. Even though Qin Yu possessed a potent mortal body, he still found it difficult to withstand. Traces of red began to pour out from his pores. But even with this new and crazier flow of energy, the five spheres of light within his dantian sea remained dissatisfied. Their cries were like thunderous roars. Spiritual strength…they needed more spiritual strength!

Qin Yu bitterly smiled. Could it be that in the end he would be blown apart by the five-element spiritual objects he had refined inside his body? This was far too ridiculous.

His thoughts raced and he gnashed his teeth. If he were to really die here, he was sure his death would be ranked amongst the top ten most horrible ways of dying in the cultivating world.

Rumble rumble –

Within the storage shell, over 300 million spirit stones rushed out at once, submerging Qin Yu beneath them.

In the human world, spirit stones were the size of a finger. The sea races were wealthier, so their spirit stones were about 50% larger.

If dozens or hundreds were gathered together, it wasn’t much at all. But when hundreds of millions were joined together it was enough to form a real spiritual stone mountain. Right now, what Qin Yu was doing was creating this mountain in his workroom.

A terrifying pressure instantly arrived. The sound of breaking bones rang out from within his body. He didn’t feel any pain because his soul consciousness had been separated, but watching his own mortal body suffer such devastating damage wasn’t something to be happy about either.

The workroom walls and floor began to emit creaking moans. Qin Yu sighed inwardly. He knew that he had walked by the riverside for too long, and it was finally time to wet his feet.

This was simply…lousy luck!

…

Chief Manager Wu could sense the gloating expressions on many faces. He sensed one pair of eyes flicker to him and in the next moment someone else would glance at him. One didn’t need to be a genius to know that these were all well-known figures in the sea spirit community. Sea Spirit Pavilion’s reputation had drastically risen in these past days, soaring over and dominating all other competition and influences, so they had long since been jealous!

Humph, envy, this was envy.

You want to see my embarrassed and shamed expression? I, Old Wu, will not let any of you succeed.

Thus, he took a deep breath, and then took another deep breath. He maintained a tranquil demeanor and his lips even curved up a little, as if he were happy.

As if he already knew about today’s events.

Yes, this was the sort of image he wanted to project.

The scope of the spiritual strength vortex increased again, forcing the crowd back even further. The wind associated with it became even more terrifying. The normally incomparably magnificent and dignified Nine Layer Building seemed to be completely stripped down. It looked a bit distressed now, even a bit inelegant.

Not too far away, a sea spirit teacher worriedly whispered, “Please don’t destroy my workroom, there are still many things I haven’t taken out…”

Before he could finish speaking, he was silenced by Chief Manager Wu’s fierce gaze. As for his remaining words, he quickly swallowed them back down and lowered his head.

Chief Manager Wu coughed. “Everyone can rest assured! When our Sea Spirit Pavilion was constructed, we already took enough precautions to ensure everyone’s safety. The outside fa?ade might be ruined, but the main body of the building will be fine.”

This wasn’t a false boast at all, thus Chief Manager Wu was naturally calm and fully confident in his words.

But that was the way things were. What happened next occurred without any indication at all.

Kacha –

Kacha –

As if a giant tree was breaking, as if mountains were collapsing, as everyone watched, the seventh floor of the Nine Layer Building suddenly fell apart!