Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 283 – Spiritual Strength Upsurge

In the Beast Hunting Battalion, there were extremely severe punishments for plotting to murder one’s own companions. But, driven by powerful competition for benefits, tragic events still occurred. To avoid unnecessary deaths as much as possible, every hunting squad within the Beast Hunting Battalion had their own independent transmission array, each one anchored to a different location.

Qin Yu hunted alone and had his own separate residence, so he naturally enjoyed the benefits given to other squads with similar qualifications. Stepping off the transmission array, he first carefully checked his surroundings. There was a thick layer of dust on the ground, indicating that no one had been here for a long time. After looking around, he walked out. He was like rolling leaves in the autumn wind, quietly flying outwards.

Almost immediately, a horrendous stench filled his nose and mouth. His complexion didn’t change but his movements became gentler.

Not long after, a group of pitch black monster beasts that lived not too far away from the mountain’s entrance arrived in front of him. A look of understanding crossed Qin Yu’s face. He finally understood why this transmission array hadn’t been discovered by other monster beasts even though it had existed here for so long.

Stinky fox. These monster beasts were appropriately named. Below their pitch black fur, they had developed numerous sweat glands. These secreted liquids that would dissipate when they encountered the air beneath the sunlight, turning into the stench that Qin Yu just smelled.

Human cultivators might be able to endure this stench. But, to monster beasts who had developed extremely keen olfactory senses, this sort of odor represented devastating damage.

The transmission array was constructed deep within the habitat of the stinky foxes. The person who could come up with such a plan was certainly a genius. And, did anyone wonder why the stinky foxes didn’t venture deep into the mountain? One reason was their extremely lazy dispositions, and the second reason was sunlight. Only beneath the sunlight could the liquid secreted from their sweat glands vaporize. With this ability, no creature dared to offend Sir Stink Fox!

Of course, these were all needless details. Right now, what Qin Yu needed to do was leave the mountain without alarming them.

The stinky foxes could be said to have almost no natural enemies, because there were no other creatures that were interested in them. Over the endless years, almost all of their faculties had degenerated. The only things left remaining on their round and pudgy bodies were their two furry and greasy giant ears that preserved their keen sense of hearing. Not even the slightest rustle of the grass could be hidden from them.

When sleeping stinky foxes were awakened, they would immediately spray out a massive amount of sweat and that rich stench would nearly condense into essence. Qin Yu didn’t hope he would suffer such a terrifying baptism.

When he was in the sea region, after swallowing up the strange tumor Qin Yu had obtained an amazing aura-restraining method. He could tighten his flesh and blood and bone, nearly blocking in all of his aura. He was like a shadow, quietly floating forwards, fluttering past the den of deeply slumbering stinky foxes.

Pa –

Around 800 meters away, a monster beast that was gnawing away at a severed head suddenly shook its ears. Its fierce, bloodstained face revealed a look of surprise. Just what sort of monster beast was this? It had actually never encountered it before. There was a hint of a water vapor feeling to it, similar to the sea monster beasts located deep in its inherited bloodline memory.

But this was the wilderness, located on the mainland. How could a sea monster beast possibly appear here? It flung back its head, sending blood and meat scattering everywhere. Its strong and thick hind legs moved and its sleek body rushed forwards like an arrow, soaring directly towards that aura.

However, when this monster beast ran through a dense bush of thorns, a pair of arms suddenly reached out and grabbed its neck.

Kacha –

With a crisp cracking sound, a figure tumbled onto the ground with the monster beast.

Qin Yu happily smiled. With a flick of his sleeves, the monster beast’s corpse was put away. 30 points appeared in his points card with it.

He was only 20 points away from reaching the lowest monthly minimum. As long as he hunted a monster beast of similar strength, he would complete it.

As he thought, this wasn’t difficult at all.

Hu –

With a flash of light, Qin Yu’s figure vanished from sight.

…

In the astral winds above the nine heavens, on the floating mountain where the Beast Hunting Battalion was located, the Lord Commander was sitting with a dark expression, sifting through the jade slip in his hand. After a moment he placed down the jade slip and slowly said, “Brother Xu, immediately inform everyone that all operations within the Beast Hunting Battalion will come to a stop for three days.”

Xu Jiao’s complexion changed. “Commander, is there a real eruption?”

“Mm. Go as quickly as you can. We must prevent as much damage as possible.”

Xu Jiao nodded and hurried away.

Soon, from the signal tower at the summit, news spread through every corner of the floating mountain.

“Emergency notification – due to recent anomalies in heaven and earth spiritual energy, all beast hunter squads are restricted from hunting for the next three days.

“Fellow beast hunters, there may be some confusion concerning the upsurge of spiritual strength, so we will once more explain it to you today. When there is an upsurge in heaven and earth spiritual strength, countless spirit treasures will be born in a short period of time. Moreover, a massive number of monster beasts will be drawn into the scope of the spiritual strength upsurge, causing the danger level of the wilderness to increase by a drastic degree.

“All previous spiritual strength upsurges have resulted in massive casualties. All beast hunting squads outside must return as soon as possible to avoid potential deaths.

“To my Beast Hunting Battalion, this will be a great period of tempering. Every time a spiritual strength upsurge occurs, several king-step monster beasts will be born, their strength terrifying to the extreme.”

By the time Xu Jiao returned to the commander’s office, two hours had passed. “The news has been passed out. All of the hunter squads outside are hurrying back. We discovered this upsurge of spiritual strength promptly this time so there shouldn’t be any problems.”

The commander nodded and wearily rubbed his temples. “Although you say that, after the upsurge of spiritual strength, the new king-level monster beasts will be a great enough headache.”

Xu Jiao said, “With our strength, it is impossible to hunt down a large number of king-step monster beasts. At the appropriate time, you will need to make a request to the army for assistance.”

The commander fell silent for several breaths of time. He slowly nodded and furrowed his eyebrows, “Have you informed Qin Yu?”

Xu Jiao’s face stiffened. “He…although he has the right to hunt alone, he doesn’t have the qualifications to apply to use a satellite handphone, so he wasn’t directly notified. However, Qin Yu just arrived at the battalion so he should be spending this time adapting. As long as he is on the mountain, he will naturally learn of the spiritual strength upsurge and he won’t recklessly move about.”

The commander nodded. “Go and warn him. Tell him the upsurge of spiritual strength is no minor matter and he must not go out hunting no matter the reason.”

Xu Jiao nodded respectfully and turned to leave. As he did, a dignified light shined in his eyes. It seemed that Qin Yu had something that made the commander value him, otherwise there was no way he would pay attention to a mere Nascent Soul.

As he was thinking this, he moved faster. In order to become the adviser that was highly regarded by the commander and also closest to him, his strength and intelligence were without question. Moreover, his ability to consider situations for the commander and also reliably manage things was also important.

But soon, Xu Jiao’s complexion darkened!

Qin Yu’s residence had a log of his transmission records. It showed that he had entered the wilderness before the warning of the spiritual strength upsurge occurred. Xu Jiao bitterly smiled. Although this wasn’t his fault, since Qin Yu was a person that the commander valued; if something were to happen to him then he would inevitably be implicated.

He didn’t dare to delay. Xu Jiao hurriedly returned. After the commander received his explanation, he fell silent with furrowed eyebrows. Xu Jiao probingly asked, “Commander, should I send people to look for him?”

The commander shook his head. “As the commander, I cannot risk the lives of others for Qin Yu. Perhaps this might be a tribulation he must pass in his life. Everything will depend on his good fortune.” action

Xu Jiao’s eyes flashed with regret. Since Qin Yu was valued by the commander, this meant he would surely have great achievements in the future. But what a pity, his luck was too poor. He actually entered the wilderness at a time when the spiritual strength upsurge occurred.

This tribulation might not be one he could pass!

Wang Yuanan was pleasantly surprised. “What did you say? Qin Yu entered the wilderness? Is this news reliable?”

The subordinate smiled. “Originally, we shouldn’t be able to overhear such things, but Commander Xu ordered a review of Qin Yu’s transmission records and it was found that he had indeed entered the wilderness just recently.”

“Haha! Wonderful, that’s too wonderful!” Wang Yuanan’s smile spread from ear to ear. “Qin Yu, Qin Yu, you brought this upon yourself. I hope you die in agonizing pain!”

Bang –

With a loud collision, Qin Yu stormed backwards. His chest had been torn by sharp claws and thick red blood quickly gushed out, moistening his robes. He panted for breath. He didn’t give a thought to gathering the corpse of the monster beast that had just fallen, and instead quickly ran away.

Several breaths of time after Qin Yu left, four great wolves appeared on the scene of battle. They lowered their heads and sniffed the corpse of their companion. Then, all of them howled in anger. Their sturdy hind legs violently pushed into the ground and they leapt towards the direction Qin Yu went in, chasing after him. Their strong bodies crashed into ancient trees, directly smashing them apart.

Rumble rumble –

From the air, it looked as if earth dragons were racing across the ground, roaring into the distance.

Qin Yu lifted a hand and the Five Element Swords flew out. They spun in a vortex, cutting into a stone wall ahead and immediately digging out a deep hole. With a flick of his sleeves he took out the giant chunk of stone and then used a sword to cut off a section. Then, he used his magic power to shatter the rest into powder. Qin Yu snuck into the hole and covered the entrance with the remaining section of stone.

Hu –

He let out a deep breath. His aura rapidly disappeared, making him seem as if he merged together with the mountain stone around him.

Soon, the stone wall gently trembled. The four howling great wolves came to a halt outside. They roared in rage and restlessness. After dashing about for a long time, they finally left.

In the darkness, Qin Yu’s tense mind finally relaxed a little. He forced out a smile. It seemed that he had underestimated how dangerous the wilderness was.

Two hours later, his injuries had gradually healed. Qin Yu reached out a hand, thrusting out magic power and quietly breaking the stone in front of him. He stepped out.

He took a breath and his complexion changed. There was an additional light mist in the world. This wasn’t mist made from water, but was mist condensed from pure spiritual strength. What happened recently that would cause the heaven and earth spiritual strength here to become so rich in such a short period of time?

Before he could think of an answer, his eyes paused. Not too far away, there was an ancient tree wrapped in a vine. The vine was mostly withered away, but there were some flowers that bloomed bright on it, emitting a light fragrance in the wind.

The withered vine’s flowers were one of the items required to refine the Singular Essence Restoring Pill. Because there were a number of harsh conditions required for it to be born, there was only a very small quantity of it and it was considered one of the more precious spirit plants.

He never thought that his luck would be so good. Was this what people meant when they said that good fortune awaited those that survived great disaster?

The Primary Pill Collection contained not only pill recipes, but there was also an extremely detailed section on spirit plants.

Qin Yu carefully picked off the withered vine’s flowers. When he turned around and took several steps out, he discovered that his luck was far better than he expected!