Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 158 – The Way of a Freeloader

Clearwood noticed her teacher’s reaction. Her heart stirred. “Teacher, are there extra harvests past two hours?”

Old Sea thought for a moment and smiled, “It’s not much of a secret, so I don’t mind telling you, but don’t go casually spreading it.” He continued, “The truth is that the sea spirit baptism is a gift granted from the sea spirit. This gift is dispersed in the strength of the sea spirit.

“Because it is dispersed, only by absorbing enough of the sea spirit’s strength can you begin to piece together this strength, or at least piece together a part of it. Two hours is a boundary. After surpassing it, there is an incredibly high chance that one can obtain the gift granted by the sea spirit.” While Old Sea’s face seemed calm, he was actually overflowing with envy.

After two hours of absorption, Qin Yu’s body and soul gradually began to weaken. It wasn’t that he couldn’t absorb more, but that a deep feeling of weariness welled up from deep in his instincts. He couldn’t keep catching those blue motes of light.

For a simpler explanation, it was like a person that was very hungry but had chewed for so long that they couldn’t open their mouth. Unless some people opened their lips and directly fed them food, they could only look on at the food, unable to do anything at all.

This was the limit.

Qin Yu’s consciousness had yet to awaken, but the comfortable spring water-like feeling began to shake around him. He wanted to remain, but the shaking feeling grew stronger. Without accident, Qin Yu would soon wake up and his sea spirit baptism would come to an end.

But, before Qin Yu awoke, in a corner of Prosperity Square, several large decorative corals began to turn a deep dim blue.

Within his storage ring, the quiet little blue lamp emitted layers of blue light that spread out for a foot.

Then, everything changed.

In the ‘sky’ above the altar, extremely small changes appeared in its rhythm. Then, the speed at which the blue motes of light fell down began to accelerate.

At this time, if someone could open Qin Yu’s storage ring, they would find that the vast majority of these blue motes of light would merge into it and fall into the foot of blue sea radiance. Thus, this quiet and pure blue, as if it were a foot of the deepest blue sea in the world, began to emit light ripples.

It was like a small pool that was taking in rain.

Since it was taking in rain, the surface of the pond would naturally rise. So, as time passed, the scope that it covered began to quietly expand past that one foot.

The vast majority of the sea spirit’s strength was taken by the little blue lamp. However, a small portion was diverted away into Qin Yu’s body.

And with this, just as was said before, while Qin Yu was too tired to open his mouth, there was actually food being fed to him.

His soul cheered and his body groaned with ecstasy.

Eat eat eat…

Using the road of a freeloader, he would walk all the way to the end!

The seafolk who didn’t know that the main character had changed and gradually began to calm down, their faces becoming increasingly earnest. Even the calmest sea spirit teacher found their fingers trembling.

Three hours.

Four hours.

Old Sea mumbled, “How is this possible…”

This was his thought and also the innermost cry of countless sea spirit teachers.

Four hours. The sea spirit baptism had continued for an entire four hours!

Chairman Xu had a blank look. He wracked his memories and tried to recall the ancient texts. Had such a record ever existed in the history of the sea races? But, the crucial issue at hand was that even now, the sea spirit baptism didn’t seem as if it would stop. Who knew how long it would last?

A complex light filled his eyes. Mister Ning, Mister Ning, may I ask just who you are and where you come from? Why does the sea spirit favor you so much? Certainly, this was an elegant use of words. If one had to be a bit cruder, it would be asking how this Ning fellow had accomplished this!

But before Old Xu could think it through, a committee member ran to his side. After a hurried whisper, Chairman Xu’s face darkened and turned pale in the next moment. A flustered panic began to rise in his eyes.

He hesitated for a moment. He stamped his feet and ran over.

Old Sea frowned, “What’s the problem?”

Chairman Xu anxiously said, “Reporting to Old Sea, we have just obtained news that the energy reserve used to maintain the sea spirit baptism will soon run out.”

As a Purple Card who had personally crossed the sea spirit baptism himself, Old Sea knew exactly what this meant. He roared out loud, “What do you mean!?”

Chairman Xu cried without tears. In truth, the committee had made more than enough preparations. It was just that no one ever imagined there would be someone so abnormal that the sea spirit baptism would continue past four hours.

Old Sea took in a deep breath, his thoughts racing. “It absolutely cannot be allowed to stop. Whatever you need, I will instantly prepare it!”

Chairman Wu wiped a cold sweat off his forehead, expressing his thanks again and again. Just what was happening now? If the sea spirit baptism was actually interrupted because of insufficient preparations, then that was the same as severing Mister Ning’s heaven-startling good fortune. This would be no different from a life-or-death blood grudge!

The committee staff were sent into a frenzied panic with everyone bustling around. No one noticed the four priests gazing at the altar and the looks of shock and wonder gradually rising in their eyes. They could faintly feel that there were changes occurring. But as they carefully sensed the situation, they couldn’t find out the reason why and they were left perplexed.

Looking at the sea spirit strength that was rapidly pouring out and how it had continued for over four hours without end, the four priests had looks of disbelief etched on their features. Still, joyous surprise lit up their eyes. They glanced at each other and simultaneously lowered their heads to hide their expressions. It was just that their hearts and minds were tumbling all around!

The opening of the sea spirit baptism was not simple by any means. The preparation required was complex. Having sufficient spirit stones wasn’t enough to replenish the energies needed. There were many treasures involved, and even with Old Sea’s status it would be difficult for him to collect it all so soon.

As Chairman Xu was sweating all over, his face gradually turning whiter and whiter as he thought of the inevitable doom about to befall him, the doors to the royal palace opened and a carriage howled out.

His Majesty had taken action.

The royal palace’s treasury was said to contain over half the wealth in the sea region. Although this might have been exaggerated, it was true that the amount of treasures contained within was second to none. Taking a mere moment was enough time to collect enough treasures to maintain the sea spirit baptism for another four hours. The spirit stones and other treasures piled up into a hill and were simultaneously poured out.

Letting out a deep breath of relief and making sure that the sea spirit baptism hadn’t ended and there wasn’t also any problem, Chairman Xu finally let out a sigh of relief. Only then did he discover that the back of his robes were entirely soaked in sweat.

Old Sea was speaking with a white-faced man. The other person had a luxurious image and his smile seemed kind. If this person could chat and laugh with Old Sea, his status was naturally not low.

“Soupman, this act of His Majesty…” Old Sea probed.

Soupman was called Soupman. Although his name was weird, it wasn’t up to others to interfere with one’s freedom of choice.

There were those of sufficient status who were able to recognize him. Before they even had time to be awed, they bowed, none of them daring to be the least bit disrespectful.

“His Majesty loves the talented. Lingdao, you should be well aware that a Spiritual Bestower, someone who hasn’t appeared in a thousand years, and someone capable of spurring the sea spirit baptism to last for over two hours, well, regardless of what it is, they are more than worthy enough for His Majesty to take action.” His smile was warm. “Don’t worry, there aren’t any problems.”

Old Sea nodded and cupped his hands together in farewell. After taking several steps, a dignified light rose in his eyes.

“Teacher, who is he? Why were you so…?” Clearwood quietly asked.

“Why was I so respectful, right?” Old Sea wryly smiled. “He is an honored and distinguished man, and even His Majesty in the palace treats him politely. Moreover, with his age and rank, it is normal for me to lower my head to him in respect. Take a look, many people are already gathering around him.”

Clearwood glanced over and indeed, that Soupman was surrounded by people. Even the other Purple Card sea spirit teachers had made an appearance.

Looking over them, the one with the lowest status amongst them was still one of the top ranked dignitaries in the capital city. Those previously haughty and prideful nobles were now smiling like a field of blooming flowers.

Clearwood was startled. She thought that this Soupman really was a peak character.

The Qing Family Patriarch and Madame Qing stood in the crowd. Even though they were also in the limelight, they didn’t have any thoughts of going over. They merely stood to the side and smiled.

A light flashed in Soupman’s eyes. He suddenly said, “Are those the descendants of Qing Jugong? I used to be old friends with Jugong. It’s just that I’ve been too lazy these past years so I haven’t been on walks out often.”

Qing Jugong was the most important ancestor in the history of the Qing Family. He had single-handedly led a small family into the circles of the most powerful families of the capital city. Unfortunately, with his passing, no such character appeared in the Qing Family to replace him. After a few troubles, the Qing Family began to wane and whither. Up until now, the Qing Family had barely been able to maintain their strength, and their background was now severely lacking.

The Qing Family Patriarch was pleasantly surprised. He respectfully bowed. “I once heard Father mention that my grandfather was a close companion of Soupman. I never thought that this would actually be true.”

The powerful figures around smiled but were actually cursing in their hearts. This Qing fellow really didn’t care about face at all. Soupman had only said they were old friends, so calling them close companions was simply an attempt to make himself look better.

But no matter how much they cursed in their hearts, they couldn’t reveal this at all. While the Qing Family wasn’t anything at all, they managed to raise a good daughter. Her vision was sharp and correct and she managed to catch Mister Leon before he had grown. Leon had the status of being Mister Ning’s only disciple and was close to him. His future was bound to be limitless.

They never thought that even someone like Soupman would begin to show good intentions towards the Qing Family. If the Qing Family held tightly onto Mister Ning’s thigh, then perhaps they might rise again soon.

Madame Qing courteously smiled. Her gaze slowly went over the crowd and towards the altar. As she saw the figure wrapped in motes of blue light, she sighed inwardly.

He had actually succeeded…

In a daze, Leon’s figure appeared in her mind. She seemed to be worrying over something, or even unhappy about something.

A trace of bitterness touched Madame Qing’s smile, but she was even more calm and relaxed. She believed in her own judgment of others. That child was stubborn and block-headed, but he was true and sincere towards Qingqing. As long as this fact didn’t change, she could naturally rectify his impression of her.

She swept her eyes around. Everyone laughed as if they were close and friendly, but the truth was that deep envy filled their hearts. Madame Qing straightened her back. If they thought that her daughter would give any of them even the tiniest chance, they might as well give up now.

After several more words, Soupman waved his hand. “The sea spirit baptism is still continuing. Having too many people together might disturb Mister Ning. Disperse yourselves first.”

The powerful elites naturally bowed and drew back.

The Qing Family Patriarch was still flushed red with excitement. As he heard his wife whisper into his ears, a trace of hesitation colored his face.

“Wouldn’t doing that be too hurried? I only fear that others will laugh at my Qing Family…”

Madame Qing lightly said. “If they laugh, they will be laughing because of envy. But if we are too slow because of that, I fear others will use certain methods to get ahead of us.”

The Qing Family Patriarch’s thoughts raced. As he thought about how the capital city’s powerful elites operated, he determined that there was nothing they wouldn’t do. He gently sighed. “Then let’s do that.”

Madame Qing patted his hand. “Don’t worry, I will handle this matter. That child Leon has a decent character; he won’t make anything difficult for us.”

On this side, a few words seemed to settle an important matter. Not too far away, Old Sea looked at Soupman who was waiting beneath the altar with great interest. He mumbled to himself, “Hah, little friend Ning, little friend Ning, I really don’t know if this is good or bad for you…”

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