Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 140 – Compete for the Sea Spirit

“Leon!”

Hearing this voice, Leon’s face lit up with joy. He looked up to see a young sea race girl running towards him, a happy smile on her face.

“Qingqing, how come you’re here?”

“Humph! Are you saying I can’t come? Think about it yourself. Ever since you became Mister Ning’s disciple, how many times have you met up with me? Fine, if you don’t want to see me then I’ll just leave and consider it over with!”

Leon quickly reached out to hold her back. He sputtered out many words of praise and only then was Miss Qingqing ‘barely willing’ to stay behind. Still, she couldn’t help but smile a little.

The two of them were together, quietly chatting in whispers. At this time, a loud bell rang throughout Prosperity Square. Following the source of the sound, one could see that it had been caused by a dark mottled bell hanging at the entrance to the royal palace.

No one knew what sort of treasure the bell was or when it had been hung there. It seemed as if it had always been there for as long as the capital city had existed.

The sounds of the bell flooded out, deep and resonant. The entire capital city could clearly hear this; it represented that the finals were about to begin and the sea spirit teacher contestants were about to appear.

The doors of carriages opened up. Chief Manager Wu stepped out first, followed by Qin Yu. Then, a number of sea spirit teachers of other branch divisions came out from the other carriages who were also participating in the finals. Counting Qin Yu, there was a total of 11 people.

Out of 170 spots, Sea Spirit Pavilion had seized ten of them. From this it could be seen just how incredibly strong they were. Amongst them were many sea spirit teachers who had participated in the competition before, and because of their own snooty sense of seniority, they didn’t have any good impressions of Qin Yu. If it was true that you could enter the finals based upon your own abilities, why did you need a spot given to you? Each one of them walked to the center of the square, giving a small nod of acknowledgement towards Chief Manager Wu. As for Qin Yu, they ignored him.

Raucous and deafening shouts came hurtling in from all directions. The festive atmosphere left one’s heart racing and their minds thrilled.

Qin Yu looked around. His gaze fell on Leon and Qingqing. After a moment of thought, he smiled and beckoned them over.

Leon trotted over. Qingqing hesitated for a moment and followed behind.

“Leon, this is Miss Qingqing?”

Qingqing bowed. “Greetings, Mister Ning.”

Qin Yu smiled and nodded. He flipped his hand, producing a pair of Seasky Wings. This was a treasure that originated from a sea monster that lived in the lowest depths of the sea, places that were difficult to survive in. This sort of creature was born with low intelligence and it was extremely difficult for them to undergo metamorphosis and transform into an adult. But once they did, they could be hunted down and their wings could be refined into a powerful treasure like these Seasky Wings.

This was the last resort that Grandmaster Goldrune had taken out in order to settle his debt. It was said that he had helplessly taken it out, and when he did it he had fainted once more. Because of that, people gave him the new nickname of the Fainting Grandmaster.

“You are Leon’s friend and can be considered my junior. Consider this a first meeting gift and accept it.”

Qingqing’s mouth fell open a little. As she looked at the palm-sized wings sparkling with a halo of light, she found that she really did like it. But, she knew it was too precious so she shook her head again and again. “Grandmaster Ning, this is far too precious. I cannot accept it.”

Qin Yu passed it to Leon. “How can I possibly take back the things I gift away? Find a way to have Miss Qingqing accept it, otherwise you will not be forgiven.”

He turned and left.

Although the Seasky Wings possessed strong defensive properties, only the sea races were capable of utilizing it. Moreover, no one would ever sell such a rare treasure unless they were forced to. Qin Yu figured that he might as well gift it away and consider it as helping this brat Leon a little. After all, Leon was his very first apprentice and he couldn’t allow him to lose face in front of the Qing Family.

Chief Manager Wu wryly smiled. Just what was he thinking of right now that he still had the mind to help push his apprentice’s relationship along? But as Chief Manager Wu thought about it some more, he relaxed. If Qin Yu was in such a casual mood, then this was definite proof of his confidence.

Leon lifted the Seasky Wings, his face shaking with excitement. He could approximately guess why his teacher had done this and was even more grateful.

Qingqing quietly said, “Is it really a gift for me?”

Leon hesitated for a bit and nodded. “Teacher would never go back on what he says. If you really don’t want it then I will find a way to return it.”

Qingqing grabbed it in her hands. She stroked it, liking it more and more. “Well, at least let me have a look first. So this is what the so-called most beautiful magic tool is like.”

Looking at her ecstatic expression, Leon’s smile became blinding.

In the distance, the Qing Family Patriarch’s lips twitched. “Seasky Wings? Am I seeing things?”

Madame Qing nodded. “You aren’t.”

The Qing Family Patriarch gnashed his teeth as if he had a toothache. “This Mister Ning is really quite generous. Even I haven’t been so good to my daughter.”

Madame Qing widened her eyes at him. “We cannot accept this gift!”

The Qing Family Patriarch smiled. “It is disrespectful behavior to publicly reject the gift of a high level spirit teacher. We can accept it first, and...well, it won’t be too late to return it in the future.”

Madame Qing thought for a moment and found that this was the best way to not affect her daughter’s reputation. She nodded and didn’t speak much more.

“To all respected sea spirit teachers, you have all been given a number representing your identity. In a while, we will randomly assign locations, and please enter your assigned area according to the result.”

A sound echoed through the square. The ground gently shivered as a pure white altar rose up from its depths. It was cut from jade and decorated with countless images and diagrams, full of thousands and millions of sea monsters. From outside and inside the square, countless sea race members fell to their knees, prostrating themselves before this altar. This was an altar to the sea spirits, and in the legends it was said to be able to communicate with them.

A sea race priest flew up to the altar. His feet were bare and he had a deeply pious and incomparably devoted look on his face. With a flick of his sleeves, 20 sea spirits appeared on the altar trays. As he flew back, there was a humming sound as each sea spirit tray rose up and hung above the altar.

Shua –

Shua –

Beams of light shot out from the altar, falling onto the void. The numerous beams formed air bubbles, each one with runes that flowed on their surface.

If one possessed the abilities to enter the finals, then besides the most outstanding individuals who had passed through layers of tests, there were also the candidates recommended from various influences. Each one of them was a master and there was no need to test their foundation.

Thus, the overall process of the finals could be called simple and even quite crude. There were 20 trays floating above the altar. Whoever could grab a tray would be able to attempt to open it. There was a time limit of a day, and if one failed, then the tray would automatically fly back to the altar where the other sea spirit teachers could attempt to snatch it. Of course, ‘grabbing’ the trays didn’t mean to fight and slaughter each other, but was a contest of soul force.

“To all respected sea spirit teachers, the competition begins now!”

As the voice fell, there was the sound of splitting air. If one could become a high level sea spirit teacher, that meant the strength of their soul had to be at least at the Golden Core realm. Thus, high level sea spirit teachers didn’t possess a low cultivation.

The black-robed figure immediately locked onto the number in his hands. 67!

Shua –

Qin Yu stepped forth, his movements as fast as lightning as he left a series of afterimages in his wake. There was a series of cries from all around the square. It was clear that many people had noticed his astonishing speed. In the aftermath, the eyes of several sea spirit teachers changed and filled with fear.

To expose his strength – this was one of the small tips that Old Sea had given him a few days ago. It would cause his competitors to fear him so that they wouldn’t dare to fight against him. And, now it seemed that Old Sea had been correct; the effect was quite good.

As he touched the air bubble, water flowed around him, allowing him to freely enter. The runes on the air bubble began to sparkle, shining with a brilliant light that shined down upon the snow-white altar where it was reflected, lighting up the entire area.

Qin Yu suddenly frowned. With a cold snort, his powerful divine sense howled out, piercing through the divine sense that raced towards his left side and ruthlessly crashing into it. There was a faint buzz in Qin Yu’s ears. With how powerful his soul had grown recently, the impact still left his eyebrows arching up a little, followed by a slight tenseness. It could be seen from this just how powerful his opponent had been.

Someone coughed out in pain. It was clear that the person who tried to sneak attack him had suffered a loss in that collision of divine senses. Qin Yu took a deep breath and quickly stabilized his soul. Without further delay, his divine sense rushed out once more, turning into a giant invisible hand that grasped out towards the trays on the altar.

Currently, there were over a hundred divine senses interweaving all around the area of the altar. If one entered within they would feel oppression from all sides. If one’s divine sense was a bit weak then they would be blown back before they could even hope to approach a tray.

Now and then, a pained cry would ring out, indicating that someone suffered disaster. When one’s soul had been damaged too much, the air bubble wrapping around them would contract and isolate the sea spirit teacher to protect them. Of course, this was no different from losing the competition.

Qin Yu’s divine sense had been hardened to an incredible degree. He forcefully pushed open a channel and locked onto a tray. The sea spirit on this tray was a purple flower with a jade-like appearance and lights that danced on its surface. Before he had arrived, two other formidable divine senses had chased off the other divine senses and were now engaged in an intense competition for control over the tray. The tray trembled, sometimes moving left, sometimes moving right. It was obvious that the two sea spirit teachers were evenly matched and neither one could take the advantage any time soon.

The arrival of Qin Yu’s divine sense instantly drew the attention of the two sea spirit teachers.

“Out of the way!”

This was a roar of divine sense. It shook through the soul, and those that were weak would be directly shaken and wounded. Without a word, his divine sense swept out like a wave, forming a fist that smashed and thundered into the minds of the other two sea spirit teachers.

Bang –

His body shook a bit. As for the other divine sense, it burst apart like a piece of ice.

“Ahh!” A miserable cry sounded out from nearby. It was clear that this other sea spirit teacher wasn’t too far away.

The other divine sense clearly didn’t expect that Qin Yu would be so fierce. After a brief hesitation, they quickly retreated. He had seen what happened to his original opponent and didn’t think he could fight against Qin Yu. If he retreated now, there would be more chances for him, and if he were to be seriously injured here, the finals would essentially be over for him.

Hu –

Boundless divine sense swept out, wrapping around the tray and rapidly pulling it back.

Chief Manager Wu smiled. Mister Ning had been buying soul strengthening treasures all this time, so it wasn’t a surprise that his soul was extremely strong. Without an accident, he would soon be able to seize the tray.

As long as the tray reached his hands, then with Mister Ning’s strength he could easily win.

But at this time, Chief Manager Wu could clearly see Mister Ning frown. The flying tray suddenly came to a stop as it swung above the altar. Chief Manager Wu’s heart skipped a bit and he rose up in alert. As time passed and Mister Ning was unable to defeat his opponent, a gloomy expression started to appear on his face.

In competing for a tray, the most dreadful opponent was the type of sea spirit teacher who stood by the side and recklessly moved to grab onto a tray. They waited for an opening, causing the situation to become chaotic and dangerous. If someone were careless and if their soul wasn’t strong enough, there was the chance that their attempt would fail or they would even be pushed away.

Leon gripped his fists, his face full of worry. What he worried over was his teacher’s true identity. If Qin Yu were exposed in the competition, a great deal of trouble would soon follow behind.

Chief Manager Wu could sense Leon’s anxiousness and his heart shrank. A foreboding feeling swelled up within him. Could Leon know something?

Mister Ning was recklessly purchasing soul treasures. These could be used to strengthen the soul, but there was also a chance that they could be used to...heal from a wound!

As soon as this thought appeared, Chief Manager Wu paled!

He had researched all the contestants in the competition. Out of the 11 people brought here by Sea Spirit Pavilion, only Mister Ning had a chance of taking first place and earning the qualifications to become a Purple Card challenger. If he failed, Old Sea would be in danger!

But with things having come this far, it was useless to be surprised or angry. He could only hope that his assumption was correct and that Mister Ning would be able to turn the tide.

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