Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 319 – All Eyes Gathered

With a faint buzz in his mind, Qin Yu returned to his body. The moment he opened his eyes, he heard a pitiful scream. He turned his head to see a Southshine Nation official stubbornly holding onto a young man who was rolling back and forth on the ground in pain. His looks were decent, and with his elegant robes he should have come from some considerable background. Unfortunately, with his face twisted and tears and snot flowing all over, his robes had also long since been dirtied by the constant tumbling and he had lost all sense of dignity, looking completely like a crazy person now.

Seeing that it was becoming impossible to subdue him and the ruckus was becoming increasingly large, an official with a gloomy face who was originally standing by the side suddenly stepped forth and struck the youth’s neck with a palm, dropping him unconscious. However, when everyone saw that fellow whose head was halfway in the ground, they all shrank their necks, feeling pained for him.

“Lift him up, bring him away!”

The crowd parted, no one daring to stop this group of officials that were clearly in a bad mood. It was to be expected. This was a competition that was officially organized by the Southshine Nation, so now that grievous injuries had occurred, it would have a great impact on their reputation.

“This round of the competition feels cursed! According to all the previous times, choosing the pill furnace should have been the simplest event. It should have been completed with a simple go around, but now, there is actually someone whose entire divine sense was crushed to pieces. Even if there is some miracle pill or medicine for him, this friend is sure to have serious aftereffects left behind. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was finished for the rest of his life!”

“And have you heard something else? Two cultivators from the West Brook Sect saw the corpses of several hundred monster beasts strewn about as they crossed the wilderness trial. This was likely the reason that trial was so easy this time around.”

“News of that has already spread out far and wide. When the Blue Sea supreme elders from the Great Desolate Lake and Cleansing Temple confronted each other yesterday, it was already revealed that the mystic beast fodder medicine had been used. Hehe, those people from Cleansing Temple aren’t cautious at all. Even with evidence in hand, they obstinately continued to deny it. I don’t think things are going to end so simply.”

“That’s only the short summary; I have the full version of the story. Those two West Brook cultivators didn’t just see several hundred monster beast corpses, they also saw some freakish corpse digger. I heard the scene was extremely bloody and horrific, and that abnormal corpse digger was cackling the entire time. There was even a video taken of it. However, it seems that they were warned afterwards, so this topic was suppressed.”

“Holy shit, there is actually someone like that? Just with you describing it, it makes my hair stand on end.”

Lines drew down Qin Yu’s forehead. This was because if his reasoning skills weren’t wrong, the matters that these two people spoke of should be related to him.

Ignore it, ignore it, no one knew it was him anyways. He tightened his stare on the Pill Furnace Pagoda. Without accident, that ‘wild bull’ furnace from the ninth level should come out soon. Although he didn’t know what rank it was, he didn’t need to be a genius to know that it was bound to be incredibly fierce.

If a pill furnace of this rank appeared, would there be some sort of phenomenon? There was at least an 80% chance of that happening, and if it did, it would be hard for Qin Yu to keep a low profile. Moreover, if someone found out that he was the one who took the pill furnace from the ninth level, even if he disregarded all else, just that cultivator whose divine sense had been blown up as well as the influence behind him surely wouldn’t let him go!

To provoke unnecessary troubles for a brief moment in the spotlight was a mistake that only na?ve young greenhorns would make.

As a rational and low-key person with the combat strength of a Divine Soul realm master, Qin Yu felt helpless. He could feel the beginnings of a headache starting to form. He stared tightly at the Pill Furnace Pagoda, his body tensed and the magic power in him starting to accelerate. He was prepared to suppress the pill furnace as much as possible, in hopes that the display wouldn’t be too dazzling.

In truth, at this time, besides watching for fun, many cultivators were watching Qin Yu. Most of them had already passed through the pagoda’s test and found their own pill furnace. Those that hadn’t yet were all masters who had taken more time to break through to the higher levels.

It was now that Qin Yu sobered up. To draw the eyes of so many nearby cultivators was naturally one of the symbols of being a master. And once this event was over, those eyes were bound to be locked even tighter onto his body. Perhaps the cultivation of the cultivators here wasn’t too high, but they could still see the earnest solemnity in Qin Yu’s posture. Their hearts couldn’t help but wonder, had this fellow found some extraordinary pill furnace in the Pill Furnace Pagoda?

But before Qin Yu’s pill furnace came out, there was a loud laugh. “Hahahah! It’s high-grade, it's actually high-grade! The chances of a higher quality pill furnace appearing on the ninth level are indeed much greater!”

Zhao Jiutian had a look of smug satisfaction. His tensed expression began to relax, and it seemed as if his entire body loosened. What nonsense, this was a high-quality pill furnace! According to the probability of the previous competitions, no more than 50 high-grade pill furnaces would appear. And of those 50, fewer than 10 would actually fall into the hands of genuine alchemy masters.

Based on this point alone, Zhao Jiutian had already taken the advantage in this alchemy competition without refining a single pill. In addition to the arrangements that Cleansing Temple had made, he even felt that the throne of first place was already calling for him.

Black Beibei glowered. He looked at the pill furnace in his hand and saw an extremely small crack running through it. He didn’t have to look further to know that this was essentially one of the best medium-grade pill furnaces. However, medium-grade was still medium-grade; it couldn’t be compared to a high-grade pill furnace. In addition, there wasn’t much of a difference in the alchemy skills of him and Zhao Jiutian. Unless he made some grave mistake, the chances of him winning were miniscule.

Luckily, in the next moment, the pill furnace that White Fengfeng chose flew out from the pill furnace. It was clear and bright, glowing with a dazzling radiance beneath the sun.

High-grade!

Black Beibei’s heart relaxed. He sneered and said, “What are you being so arrogant about? You’re not the only one who found a high-grade pill furnace from the ninth level. You still don’t know what the result will be!”

Zhao Jiutian’s complexion sank before he smirked. “So what if we all have high-grade pill furnaces? In the end, what matters in the competition is our own respective alchemy skills. Miss White’s talent in alchemy is admirable, but unfortunately, she is too young and her cultivation is just a bit too low.”

A young age, less experience. A lower cultivation, a weaker divine sense. These were facts that Black Beibei had no choice but to acknowledge. A trace of worry crossed his face. If he had obtained a high-grade pill furnace then their situation would be much better. Unfortunately, after one’s divine sense chose a pill furnace, the cultivator could only use that designated pill furnace for the rest of the competition and couldn’t borrow one.

In the conflict between the Great Desolate Lake and Cleansing Temple, it was clear that they stood in sharp opposition with each other. But, their conflict wasn’t a surprise at all, and from the words they said, people could glean certain amounts of information.

The ninth level…

Could it be that everyone who woke up just now were fierce people from the ninth level? All around Qin Yu, the eyes of those people staring at him suddenly filled with respect. This Pill Furnace Pagoda’s ninth level. There was nothing else to say about it. Just based on that alone, anyone that came from the ninth level could be ranked amongst the top of the tens of thousands of people who participated in this competition.

However, they didn’t know what quality pill furnace he had managed to harvest. Could it also be high-grade? These damned people, they were already strong but now they were supported by equally strong pill furnaces. How could the rest of us normal people live!

As everyone howled miserably in their hearts, with the Pill Furnace Pagoda as the core, several loud gasps and cries rang out. Some were filled with thick envy and some were gloating. Even though numerous people came from the ninth level, it was impossible that they would all obtain high quality pill furnaces.

Everyone crowded around a group of strong individuals who had managed to break into the ninth level. These people all started to glance at each other. Just now, a powerful fluctuation had shaken them and forced them to withdraw. Luckily, before they did, several pill furnaces had appeared in front of them and they were able to hastily grab one of them. Otherwise, if they hadn’t and they came out without a pill furnace, they really would have no place to cry. As for the root cause of all of this, they all knew that it was absolutely related to that fellow who had subdued the wild bull pill furnace!

Out of everyone that received a pill furnace now, there was a chance it could be any one of them. They were all curious as to just who possessed such prestige and momentum. Of course, after learning this person’s identity, they could make preparations earlier on in the competition to avoid any accidents.

There weren’t many that rushed into the ninth level. Thus, the cries and shouts in the crowd began to die down. It seemed that everyone had found their own pill furnaces.

The only one left was…Qin Yu.

At this moment, the situation couldn’t be described as just the surrounding eyes looking at him. Rather, the entire crowd was focused on Qin Yu. In particular, several sharp and sinister gazes were causing him to complain inwardly. Now he was becoming increasingly sure that the pill furnace he obtained was arrogantly putting on airs. Otherwise, why would it choose to come out last? With such a temper, if it chose to enter the stage during the finale, would it still put on a weak display?

As he thought of the grim situation he would have to face soon, Qin Yu became even more vigilant. Light occasionally flashed in his eyes.

When people noticed his stance, they felt even more awe. From his posture, they could immediately see he was a master of masters of masters. There was no way it wasn’t so!

Those that came out from the ninth level first, such as Black Beibei, Zhao Jiutian, White Fengfeng, and some others, all revealed surprised looks. They glanced at Qin Yu; just who was he? They didn’t seem to have any impression of him at all. When had another extraordinarily strong pride of heaven appeared in the Southshine Nation all of a sudden?

Another moment passed. As people started to mutter amongst themselves, Qin Yu suddenly moved, a divine light exploding from his eyes.

Everyone felt their hearts skip a beat. It was coming out!

At that moment, the vast open field fell deathly silent.

All eyes were fixed on the Pill Furnace Pagoda. Beneath all these expectant gazes, a pill furnace flew out.

Then…the field fell even more silent.

Everyone’s eyes popped wide open as they stared at this pill furnace. If they weren’t cultivators who knew who to control their facial expressions to a degree, their eyeballs might have fallen out already.

A palm-sized pill furnace appeared, similar in size to the ones most people had. It was a drab ash gray in color, as if covered in dust that had gathered for hundreds of years. And what was most difficult to accept was that there were 17-18 cracks running all over its surface. On the stove mouth, there was even a small section missing.

There was shock, dismay, and speechlessness. Everyone’s minds collapsed and they started to give birth to anger due to having been deceived. The general mood was...their pants…alright, the limelight was too bright recently, so they wouldn’t whip off their pants and do something, but still…after all these gimmicks, this was all there was to show for it?

Qin Yu was also stunned. It was only when the pill furnace flew next to him and unhappily bumped him a few times that he subconsciously took hold of it. He looked down. At such a close distance, the cracks on the pill furnace were even more obvious. Each one was like an open mouth mocking him.

Although Qin Yu hoped that the pill furnace wouldn’t make a show when it appeared and bring him unnecessary troubles, it actually didn’t need to be rotten to such a degree…in short, one crack meant medium-grade, three to five cracks meant low-grade, and five or more cracks meant lower lower-grade. With a quick count, there were almost 20 cracks. What rank was this? Compared to your performance on the ninth level, this simply didn’t match up big brother!

And, the most crucial question was – could he even refine a pill with this pill furnace? If he couldn’t form a pill, then even if he had the little blue lamp, it wouldn’t be any help at all.

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