Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 253 – Divine, Demon Bloodline

Severed Spirit Mountain. The fog covered the land and the valley was quiet.

Sunlight sprinkled down. The leaves of the Radiant Red Wood reflected a brilliant splendor, their red light stretching across the valley, basking the fields in red.

The branches and leaves gently swung about, swirling the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy. Faint swooshing noises filled the air, like the sound of water flowing through a mountain brook.

The spiritual plants within the valley grew in this environment of rich spiritual strength. They grew especially lush with green leaves that seemed as if they were dripping water.

In an empty field, besides the original cabin that had been there, there was also a newly constructed one, one that filled the air with a still-fresh scent of wood.

Even though there was just one more cabin, for some unknown reason, the entire mountain valley seemed to become a bit more warm and gentle.

Squeak –

The newly built cabin opened from within and Ning Ling stepped out. She took a deep breath and stretched her waist, a light smile on her face. This sort of calm and tranquil life was something she hadn’t experienced in a long time. If only she could keep living like this, that would be wonderful.

Ning Ling froze for a moment. It was unknown what she was thinking, but there was a bit of hesitation and guilt. She reluctantly smiled.

The door opened behind her. She gathered her mood and turned around. Qin Yu walked out, a light smile on his face. His smile seemed to have a strength to warm the heart and soul, causing her mood to improve a great deal.

“Junior-apprentice brother Qin, how are your injuries?”

Qin Yu walked forwards and laughed. “They’re fine now.”

The two fell silent, but the atmosphere wasn’t awkward at all. Instead, there was a feeling of incomparable harmony.

“Senior-apprentice sister Ning…”

“Junior-apprentice brother Qin…”

The two of them spoke up at once. They glanced at each other and smiled.

Qin Yu was the first to speak next. “I thought that I would never see senior-apprentice sister again in my life.”

Ning Ling nodded. “I also thought the same.” She bit her lips and earnestly said, “Junior-apprentice brother Qin, I really have to thank you. Otherwise, I would likely be dead by now.”

Qin Yu had more than rescued her. He had even put forth his life as the potential cost. When he made that decision to do so, he had already prepared himself to face death.

“The past is the past. Senior-apprentice sister Ning need not worry too much. After all, we’re both alive right now, right?” Qin Yu smiled as he spoke.

Ning Ling parted her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she didn’t speak much. She lifted her hand and pushed her hair back. “Since junior-apprentice brother Qin doesn’t want me to speak about the past, how about I make something to eat before we chat further.”

Qin Yu was startled. “Senior-apprentice sister Ning will prepare food?”

Ning Ling blushed red. “I know a little bit…”

Qin Yu tactfully didn’t ask further, but his face filled with anticipation. “I will set up the table and chairs and prepare some ingredients for senior-apprentice sister Ning to display her full skills.”

Ning Ling shook her head. “After you set up the table and chairs you can just wait for me. Let me deal with the ingredients and other things.”

Qin Yu hesitated. “This…”

Ning Ling blinked her eyes. “The spell that covers the surrounding 300 miles…I’ve seen it. I know of junior-apprentice brother Qin’s cultivation, and there shouldn’t be anyone rashly breaking in. I will return quickly.”

Qin Yu revealed an embarrassed expression. He never thought that she would also see the stone tablet he laid down. He laughed at himself, “I must have made senior-apprentice sister Ning laugh. I’ll be waiting here.”

Ning Ling smiled and left. She tapped her feet and flew into the fog, floating beneath the sun like an immortal fairy. Fortunately, she returned after a moment. She brought back some wild mountain vegetables as well as a chicken and rabbit.

Qin Yu relaxed. He started to prepare the table and chairs. This was actually a simple task. He chopped down a large tree and cut at it further; all he needed to do was keep chopping until it reached the approximate shape.

As he was doing this, the chicken overlord stood by his side, its teary eyes plaintively staring at Qin Yu. It wasn’t happy at all that Ning Ling had caught one of its descendants to eat.

Of course, Qin Yu completely ignored these complaints. He lowered his head as he worked, occasionally glancing towards Ning Ling. As the chicken overlord saw this happen, it couldn’t help but roll its eyes back into its head. It cursed several times inwardly, castigating Qin Yu for being an ungrateful bastard!

The table and chairs were finished, and Qin Yu sat down. As he sniffed, a strange complexion came over his face. But when Ning Ling walked towards him, he instantly composed himself and put forth a look of anticipation.

Ning Ling had a shy expression. She quietly said, “I…I’ve seen people do this before, but this is my first time trying myself so my skills might not be up to par. Don’t laugh at me.”

Qin Yu repeatedly shook his head. “I won’t.”

The food was placed on the table.

Yes, if this could even be called food.

The dark and ashy vegetables seemed to have experienced some sort of unknown ‘calamity’, and they had an extremely pitiful appearance.

There were also pieces of meat that were hard and black, shining with their own luster. It was unknown whether this was the chicken or rabbit.

There was another dish of crisp cold vegetables. At least the appearance was passable.

Finally, there was a bowl of soup.

The bowl was beautiful. The blue porcelain shined like jade and was decorated with beautiful drawings. The scenery was gorgeous and exquisite. But, the soup inside…wasn’t beautiful.

It was cloudy with a few pieces of vegetable leaves floating on the surface. As the heat came out as steam, a ‘fragrance’ also followed.

Qin Yu had a serious expression. His eyes were silent, waveless, incomparably solemn.

He first expressed his thanks and then took out a pair of chopsticks. He took three types of vegetables together and placed them in his mouth, chewing.

Chomp –

Chomp –

Ning Ling blushed red. But as she saw him calmly eating, she felt some anticipation in her heart. She took a small taste herself but then her face immediately twisted and she spat it back out.

Her eyes widened and she hurriedly said, “Junior-apprentice brother Qin, stop eating, I never thought…it would be so inedible. You do not need to worry about my honor, please stop now.”

Qin Yu smiled. He picked up a very hard and dry piece of meat, chewing it in his mouth. “It’s no problem. I think it’s quite delicious.”

Ning Ling grabbed Qin Yu’s chopsticks. He didn’t dodge. He looked into her eyes and said, “When I was a child, ever since I left Aunty Gu, there hasn’t been anyone who attentively prepared food for me like this…what I am eating is not the flavor, but what is within the food.”

His voice was serene, like a warm current flowing out from the depths of his heart. Ning Ling released his hand and smiled. “Junior-apprentice brother Qin is so eloquent. Then, please continue eating.”

“I never planned to leave any leftovers.”

Ning Ling smiled. She cast her eyes down, concealing the emotions in her eyes.

When she was young, her mother had told her that when she met someone she liked, she definitely had to prepare a meal for him to eat. To calmly sit by his side and watch him finish eating, this was one of the happiest experiences in the world.

When Qin Yu drank the last bit of soup, he patted his belly and breathed out a sigh of satisfaction. “I haven’t eaten so happily for a long time.”

Ning Ling passed over a handkerchief. “Wipe yourself. Your mouth is covered in black.”

Qin Yu smiled. After wiping his mouth, he put away the handkerchief. “I will wash this and return it to senior-apprentice sister later.”

Ning Ling’s eyes widened and then she laughed. She looked at Qin Yu as if she had made some decision. “Junior-apprentice brother Qin, why did you go to the Ning Family?”

Qin Yu smiled. “Just some minor matters.”

Ning Ling fell silent. “Breaking into Nascent Soul is also considered a minor matter?”

Qin Yu was surprised.

She continued in a soft voice, “When you rescued me, I could feel the aura from your body and I knew what it was. I know that junior-apprentice brother Qin has cultivated the Demon Body. With its tyrannical attribute, if you wish to break into Nascent Soul it will be incredibly difficult.”

Qin Yu bitterly smiled. “I never intended to deliberately conceal this from senior-apprentice sister.” Since Ning Ling knew, he didn’t bother hiding it any further. He recounted his story from the moment he learned this news to the day he entered the Gold Noble Family.

Ning Ling’s eyes brightened. “Junior-apprentice brother describes it so simply, but it must have taken a great deal of time and effort to enter the Ning Family. You worked and planned so hard, but in the end you left with nothing. Don’t you think that’s a bit pitiful?”

Qin Yu shook his head. “I am a little disappointed, but if I were to relive that moment, I would do the same thing.”

Compared to reaching Nascent Soul, you are far more important.

Although he didn’t say this, Ning Ling knew. Her face flushed red and she fell silent. After some time, she said, “Junior-apprentice brother, aren’t you curious why the Ning Family kept calling me the wicked girl?”

She looked at Qin Yu and continued to speak, “This branch of the Ning Family didn’t live here before; they lived in a far greater, far more vast world. It was all because a woman in the family developed feelings for a man who was from their mortal enemy. Because of a series of events, the man eventually died, creating extremely serious consequences. As a result, they were exiled here.

“That woman was my mother, and that man was my father. So that is why they call me the wicked girl, and I have no way of refuting them. Moreover, there are two kinds of strength in my body that can’t be fused together.

Ning Ling lifted her hands. Her left hand glowed with golden light and her right hand was covered with pitch black.

Righteous and magnificent, broad and boundless.

Cold and gloomy, severe and cruel.

Two entirely different auras appeared from her body.

Faint lines started from her hands, spreading towards her body. They were separately pale gold and jet black, each color occupying half of her body, majesty and coldness gathered together.

Her eyebrows furrowed together and she gently shivered as if she were withstanding a great pain.

“These are the two different bloodlines within my body. They give me strength, but they also give me pain. They are what have made my entire life a tragedy. Junior-apprentice brother Qin, I hope that you can help me and take away the demonic bloodline in my body, eliminating the misfortune that comes with it.”

Without Ning Ling needing to speak, Qin Yu already felt an instinctual and crazy desire from his own mortal body. Every inch of his flesh and blood roared, shouting at him to swallow the cruel demonic bloodline from Ning Ling’s body. He even had a clear intuition that once he swallowed it, he would be able to make a breakthrough in his Demon Body. At that time, Qin Yu’s great road to Nascent Soul would be level and flat, without anything hindering him!

The desire was so intense that blood vessels rose on his eyes. It was like a net, binding his heart and mind tighter and tighter. And most importantly, he was experiencing a violent beating pain. This tightening and beating pain seemed to produce some sort of unbearable pain that bore straight toward his soul!

This was a collision between instinct and reason!

Qin Yu took a deep breath. He slowly said, “Senior-apprentice sister Ning, you don’t need to lie to me. Won’t stripping the demonic bloodline from your body cause you harm?”

Ning Ling laughed, her smile warm and gentle. The pain on her face was washed away. She looked at Qin Yu, well aware of what sort of pain he was experiencing when the Demon Body came face-to-face with the aura of her bloodline. In this condition, Qin Yu still worried about her safety. How could one not be moved by such actions?

“Junior-apprentice brother, there is no need to worry. To you, my demonic bloodline is the key to helping your Demon Body make a breakthrough. But to me, it is only a source of pain and misery. If I give it to you, I can obtain a new life and my pure divine bloodline will become even more formidable. So you do not need to worry, because to both me and you, this is a good thing.”

Qin Yu earnestly looked at her. After several breaths of time and determining that she wasn’t lying, he said, “Good, I agree!”

Ning Ling laid down her hands and the auras of divinity and demons restrained themselves. “I need to make some preparations. Two days later, I will draw out my demonic bloodline.”

It was unknown what she was thinking but her face blushed red. Then, she stood up and hurried away.