Refining the Mountains and Rivers

smelling it, there was a faint fragrance.
Qin Yu had a strange look in his eyes.
What was the meaning behind this? Did it want to make a transaction with him? He reached out a hand and plucked the fruit.
Investigating it a little, he was left shaken.

This common black fruit contained a preposterous strength; it could be called a bomb! But, the strength within was stable, as if it had just achieved a suitable balance.
As if…it could be absorbed.

Of course, if he were to directly inject magic power, the delicate balance inside would collapse and this black fruit would transform immediately into a truly terrifying bomb.

The vine continued to rage around, as if saying: you have received my thing, so hurry and give me the blue light, otherwise I will be angry!

Qin Yu’s eyes flashed.
He slowly said, “You should be able to understand me.
I can help you, but with such a fruit, just one is not enough.”

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

With the sound of breaking air, ten vines shot into the air, each one dangling a fruit.

Indeed…it was quite understanding!

…

A night passed.
When the little blue lamp’s light vanished, there were now 36 black fruits in Qin Yu’s storage ring.
This seemed to be everything, or perhaps it was the vine’s bottom line.
No matter what Qin Yu said, he couldn’t obtain any more.

Of course, it hadn’t received nothing from that investment.
The black stone was no longer visible beneath the endless thick roots wrapping around it.
The roots had nearly doubled in size, and as for the roots that had been directly shined upon by the little blue lamp, they were so thick that it would take several people holding hands to wrap around them.
The surface of the roots seemed to be cast from metal.

Rumble –

Rumble –

This was the shaking of the vine branches.
Although they didn’t seem to have changed much on the surface, they actually grew far more tenacious within and became more resilient with a higher bearing capacity.

The tyrannical strength that had flooded out was now thoroughly sealed away.
Although this didn’t completely fix the problem, at least for a good period of time there wouldn’t be any issues.

Qin Yu put away the little blue lamp and lightly said, “I have fulfilled my promise.
It’s about time I leave.”

Bang –

Vines erupted, shooting in from all directions, instantly weaving together into a giant cage around Qin Yu.

Qin Yu frowned.
His expression didn’t change.
“Believe me.
If I have a method to save you, I have a method to destroy you as well.
Our transaction ends here today.
When you have more black fruits you can exchange, I will come back.
Of course, you may not believe me, but you will only have one chance to do so.”

A long silence followed.
The vine seemed to be contemplating his words, or it could be ignoring him.
Qin Yu’s aura gradually turned icy.
He lifted his hand to reveal a pill.

It was a dirty brown color, like the color grass would be after it died.

Qin Yu spoke quietly, a chilling aura floating about him.
”This pill originates from a human alchemist cultivator; it is named Hundred Mile Desolace.
It doesn’t have much use.
Its only function is to infect spiritual plants.
It needs just a single touch to infect, and once that happens the poison will duplicate without end, until it is completely uncontainable.

“Oh, for example, if I used it here.
As long as I crushed this pill and blew it around, you would soon feel uncomfortable.
Then, this discomfort would rapidly spread, gradually leaving you unable to breathe.
The stabbing pain would be like blades cutting you to pieces.
You would gradually decay into nothing, until you eventually fell to the ground.
Before you died you might kill me, but believe me, you would die too.”

This pill came from Grandmaster Daoist Wuyuan who practiced the dao of poison, and the effect wasn’t exaggerated at all.
After all, if he didn’t have such a card in his hand he wouldn’t have dared to take out the little blue lamp to rescue this vine, especially when it clearly had a level of intelligence.

The vine responded.
The vines that wove into a giant cage began to rub against each other.
A series of low and deep sounds fused together in the air, forming strange syllabic words.

“…You…keep…your…word…”

Beneath his black robe, Qin Yu’s eyes were cold.
“You may not believe my words if you want.”

“…Good…”

The vines retreated, revealing a way out.
Qin Yu took several steps out and stopped.
“Concerning today’s events, I hope that no one else ever finds out.
Otherwise, our agreement will become invalid.” He spoke without turning his head, as if everything was in his control.
He walked further and further away until his figure was swallowed up by the dark.

Whoosh –

There was the sound of breaking air.
Qin Yu stopped and clenched the poison pill tight in his palm.
When he saved the vine, it had been because he had no other choice, otherwise the royal palace would never have let him go.

Thus, while Qin Yu knew that there would be trouble, he still did it.
But, if he was really backed into a corner, he didn’t lack the courage to make a final stand with his life on the line.

Whoosh –

The darkness was torn apart.
A thick vine stopped in front of him, emitting a faint light.
Then, it fell to the ground.
Qin Yu thought for a moment and stepped onto the vine.
The tyrannical strength that bombarded him from all around seemed to be blocked by a shield, vanishing.

The vine shuttled through the darkness, racing towards the entrance.

Qin Yu’s tense heart relaxed a little.
The vine had possessed sufficient wisdom to judge its own situation.

Right now it was safe, but it would inevitably absorb more and more of that tyrannical strength.
Just like a dam that had been reinforced, if the water it blocked rose higher it would eventually be unable to withstand it.

Qin Yu was the only one who could save it.

Thus, it used this sort of action to compensate for its past behaviour and express its good intentions.

That was enough.