Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 110 – Thousandthread Everknot

The crashing of the waves vanished as the Netherworld Ship sailed into the fog. Or, perhaps it was this strange fog that lifted it along the way.

Silently.

Qin Yu was keenly aware that there were even more eyes falling on him right now. There was a little bit less awe and a little bit less dread, replaced by a burning heat instead.

He wasn’t unfamiliar with this type of gaze. With a bit of thought, he looked at Princess Lushy.

In the rumors it was said that the women of the sea monster royal family were born with bodies that inherently drew in spiritual energy. As they cultivated, a massive amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy was gathered in their bodies.

They themselves couldn’t use this spiritual strength, but after getting married, they could pass this power to their husband, helping their husband’s cultivation to rapidly rise.

Now, it seemed that this rumor should be true.

Qin Yu’s eyes flashed before he calmed down. Even if some people were coveting Princess Lushy, there shouldn’t be anyone that dared to move against her in public. Otherwise once this news spread out, all that awaited them was a pitiful fate.

Lying flat on deck, Princess Lushy’s long eyelashes moved for a moment before she fell still once more. A long time passed, and just as Qin Yu thought that some people might not be able to restrain themselves, the Netherworld Ship slightly shivered before the sound of breaking waves rose up once more.

They had arrived at the Netherworld Sea Region!

And indeed, the fog soon parted. A strange sea appeared in front of everyone.

The skies were black and misty, filled with stormy clouds that pressed down on the heart. As the light shone down on the sea, it was nearly black. Angry waves tumbled and roared, and strong gales howled in the air.

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

Without warning, at the moment that the Netherworld Ship stopped, the cultivators on board burst forwards, Qin Yu included amongst them.

At this time, no matter how high or low one’s cultivation was, everyone erupted with their greatest speed.

The Netherworld Ship connected the Netherworld Sea Region to the outside world. Every time it did so, it needed to collect a certain amount of sacrifices. And these sacrifices consisted of the cultivators on board. While the sacrifices were randomly chosen, the people who lagged behind the rest in fleeing had a much higher chance of being chosen.

“Ahh!”

With a panicked scream, several cultivators were wrapped in a blood red light; they had been chosen by the Netherworld Ship. Their flesh and blood rapidly dissolved in the red light, before fusing into the hull and becoming part of it.

In ordinary circumstances, once the Netherworld Ship made its choice, it wouldn’t target anyone else. But, there would always be unexpected incidents in life. Qin Yu grimaced. He suddenly felt as if his soul had been locked onto, and this feeling aroused his instinctual loathing and disgust.

Hum –

The blood red light appeared, covering him and Princess Lushy. He didn’t know why, but his intuition told him that he was a bystander who had been dragged into this mess! But thinking of these things was impossible and the blood red light obviously wouldn’t care about his thoughts. And, it was also impossible for him to toss away Princess Lushy.

Numerous gloating looks fell on Qin Yu. Qin Yu shouted out loud and his aura began to suddenly rise. A large invisible hand seemed to tear open the blood red light. The Netherworld Ship trembled slightly, and at this moment Qin Yu’s hairs stood on end. He felt as if he had been locked onto by death, but this feeling vanished as quickly as it appeared, never to return again.

Countless cultivators revealed expressions of dread.

Instances of people refusing to be made sacrifices to the Netherworld Ship had happened numerous times in the past, and each one of those people had been an absolute powerhouse with a horrifying level of strength.

It seemed that besides what this Qin Yu had revealed, he had also been hiding more of his strength!

What a sinister man!

Many cultivators cursed inwardly, but also quietly rejoiced that they hadn’t recklessly moved against him earlier.

Whoosh –

Whoosh –

The cultivators on the ship rapidly dispersed. Some went out in groups, but even more people chose to go alone. The Netherworld Sea Region was perilous and the mortality rate here was extremely high. A good portion of these people were also here to prey on those who died, or perhaps they were even manipulators who tried to get others killed.

If one went with others, while it might seem safer, it wasn’t necessarily so.

Qin Yu lifted Princess Lushy and soared away. But at this moment, a towering figure blocked his way. White hair and sword – this was White Demonblade. His eyes were cold and obstinate. “Fellow daoist Qin, I hope that from this point on, you and I do not meet again.” His words percolated with a cold chill.

With the sound of a ringing sword, White Demonblade flew away.

Qin Yu remained expressionless. With several flickers, he disappeared from sight.

After a moment, when he was far away from the Netherworld Ship, Qin Yu finally stopped. He frowned.

Hum –

Countless threads of blood erupted from Princess Lushy’s body, drilling into both their bodies and leaving behind an icy cold feeling. She had opened her eyes at some unknown time, and while her expression was harsh, her eyes seemed to be relieved.

Qin Yu’s complexion darkened, “Princess, I think you had best give me a reasonable explanation for this.”

Princess Lushy gnashed her teeth, but she restrained herself from saying too much. “This is the Thousandthread Everknot. You should know that even if it cannot achieve mutual death, there is still the concept of shared losses. If you dare to misbehave against me in the least, I will immediately commit suicide. At the very least you will be severely wounded!”

Qin Yu’s forehead was covered with heavy lines. This sea monster royal princess was really too full of herself.

He coldly said, “Don’t worry. I have exactly zero intentions towards you.”

Princess Lushy was stunned for a moment before she was immediately enraged. What did you mean that you have zero intentions towards me? Do you think that I’m too ugly or something? Damned human cultivator!

Concerning these things, women always had a convoluted set of reasoning. If one looked for specific reasons, it was best to refer to stories about animals and how people were even inferior to them.

Qin Yu let go of her. He drew back one step. “I will abide by my promise. I will let you go here, but I should caution you to be careful and not be caught by anyone.”

Princess Lushy sneered. “Are you afraid you’ll be implicated?”

Shouldn’t this be the time that she was jumping in joy at being released? Indeed, Qin Yu realized that he really couldn’t guess the logic of women. He was disinclined to say anything further to her and turned to leave.

Princess Lushy stomped her feet in anger. “Despicable human cultivator! Wait until I go back and gather a team of masters! I will definitely capture you and bring you back to the royal palace where you will suffer for the humiliation I endured!”

Whoosh –

Princess Lushy fell into the sea. After several moments, an eerie light lit up as she was restored to her true form. Impressively, her true form was that of an elegant single-horned flood dragon. The jade bright scales reflected a faint halo of light in the dark sea water.

With a sweep of her tail, the flood dragon sank into the deep sea and rapidly departed.

By the time Qin Yu had flown several hundred miles away, he had already forgotten about Princess Lushy. At this time he was being blocked by a lobster monster. In truth, this was a giant lobster that was hundreds of times larger than normal and was covered in an eerie monster energy. Its scales were black and its blood red eyes were cruel and violent. It clearly wasn’t too bright a creature.

Seeing Qin Yu, the lobster monster cried out loud and broke free from the water. Its powerful pincers came snapping upwards, its blood red eyes filled with excitement.

It had attacked without a single word, crude, simple, and direct. It seemed that all the sea monsters of the Netherworld Sea Region were extremely dangerous beings!

Qin Yu flicked his sleeves and the lobster monster was sent flying away with a bang. Fierce fluctuations spread out from within his storage bag, slightly different from before.

Revealing an astonished look, Qin Yu waved his sleeves. With a flash of light, two items appeared: the Soul Burying Flag that had been ruined by the Soul Burying Arrow, and the black short sword – the Hundred Nether Sword.

Whoosh –

The Hundred Nether Sword flew out on its own. It stabbed into the lobster monster’s flesh, and a black flow of energy entered the sword. The Hundred Nether Sword hummed in excitement. As its master, Qin Yu could sense the desire emanating from it. After so many previous killings, the Hundred Nether Sword had never produced such a response before. Could it be that the sea monsters of the Netherworld Sea Region were different and could enhance the power of the sword?

This idea lit up Qin Yu’s mind. He beckoned with his hand and took back the Hundred Nether Sword. Suppressing his thoughts, he first looked at the Soul Burying Flag. When he first boarded the Netherworld Ship and the yin chill energy had formed a bead, the Soul Burying Flag had sent out a weak fluctuation. He turned his hand, producing the black bead. However, this time there was no response from the Soul Burying Flag.

Qin Yu pondered for a moment. He pressed the bead atop the Soul Burying Flag. After several breaths of time, he happily smiled as the bead began to melt into the flag, slowly integrating into it. Perhaps this ruined treasures had a chance of recovering. But, what about the Blacksky Demon that was still within it?

After some time, the entire bead was fused into the Soul Burying Flag. Although he couldn’t sense any differences he believes that there would inevitably be changes occurring within it.

He put away the Soul Burying Flag and picked up the Hundred Nether Sword. Thinking a bit, he began to release his aura. Since the sea monsters of the Netherworld Sea Region might have a strength within their bodies that could enhance the Hundred Nether Sword, he naturally wanted to verify this. If it was true…

Reality proved that the Netherworld Sea Region’s sea monsters had extremely sharp senses. As soon as Qin Yu released his aura, a fish monster came rushing out. This fish monster had a flat body and its mouth was located in its abdomen. Its mouthful of fierce fangs looked strange and its entire body was covered in monster energy; it was clearly on a higher level than the lobster monster.

It opened its mouth wide, but before it could even cry out a black light came flashing towards it. Monster energy emerged from the fish monster’s body, but in front of the black light, that frail barrier was immediately broken.

Puff –

With the sound of tearing flesh, the Hundred Nether Sword pierced through the fish monster’s eye and directly into its brain. Variation sea monsters were infamous for possessing potent vitality, but this one had perished in a single strike.

Qin Yu’s eyes brightened.

The Hundred Nether Sword had moved on its own volition to kill the fish monster. He carefully observed and saw that the scales of the fish monster’s corpse began to darken in color, as if some strength within it was being extracted and wrested away.

It really could be used!

Whoosh –

The sea’s surface broke apart and a third sea monster ran out. There was a giant circular shell on its back; it was a sea snail monster with amazing defensive abilities. But beneath the power of the Hundred Nether Sword, these defensive abilities were just useless. The sword pierced the spiral gaps and thrust into the monster.

Weng –

Weng –

Three sea monsters had died miserable deaths. The Hundred Nether Sword seemed as if it had recovered some past memories as it began to shake with excitement. If Qin Yu didn’t recall it, then according to the current trend, it would likely slaughter this entire area clean!

There was nothing else it could do; it was that hungry!

If it had been anyone else that had been tossed into some god forsaken underground land for over a thousand years and had finally obtained freedom and sustenance, they would also be the same.

Qin Yu held onto the unwilling Hundred Nether Sword and smiled as he lightly caressed the sword blade. “Don’t worry. Since I came here, I will naturally allow you to eat your fill. But, eating these little things is meaningless. We’re going to find a good and filling meal for you.”

Seeming as if it could sense its master’s intent, the Hundred Nether Sword cried out one more time before quieting.

Qin Yu lifted his hand and a jade slip appeared in his palm. This was a map of the Netherworld Sea Region that was a summarization of knowledge and experience from the cultivators of the past. But, several danger zones were actually not mapped out. Originally, this was an indication to stay as far away as possible, but now…

Whoosh –

A brilliant light flashed. Qin Yu howled away, crossing hundreds of miles rapidly. Although the boundless sea was the same everywhere, if he looked at the shadows in the distance and the direction of the currents and then contrasted that with the sea map, he could approximate his current position and direction.

He wouldn’t go towards the shadows on the horizon for now. First, he would look for a place to rest and allow the Hundred Nether Sword to eat again.

An hour later, after cutting down 17 more sea monsters, Qin Yu stopped.

In front of him, the sea’s surface was covered with swirls and the rumbling of water filled the air as it fell deep towards the seabed.

This place was called the Nine Nether Winding Path. At the seabed there were countless holes extending in all directions, forming an incomparably complex terrain. Many formidable sea monsters of the Netherworld Sea Region were gathered here. If a cultivator entered, they would have nine chances of death and one chance at life.

Qin Yu had no intention of entering. With a flick of his sleeve, he summoned the thunder magic sword and stabbed it into the sea!