Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 242 – 10086

The Nascent Soul old man’s expression was light. He looked around. “I understand.”

Ning Feng cupped his hands together. “Elder, if there are no other matters, we will excuse ourselves first.”

The Nascent Soul old man nodded. The two youths bowed again, their attitudes respectful. Then, they took several steps back and left.

“Outer branch Ning Yiran greets the Elder!” action

Ning Yiran bowed.

“My name is Ning Hao; I am responsible for managing external affairs. No matter what status you all had in the outside world, you should all be more discreet after coming here. I don’t like being troubled.” He waved his hand. “Alright, you may all leave.”

He turned and closed the door.

Ning Yiran had an awkward expression. But, he soon composed himself and took a deep breath.

This caused those people in the crowd with expectant looks to feel disappointed.

Several cultivators walked out from somewhere. They had cold expressions, “Come with us.”

The group walked into a courtyard towards the corner. There was a long table within that was covered with piles of items.

“There are two sets of clothes for daily replacement. There is one status token; it will recognize its master with a drop of blood. Remember to keep it with you at all times. There is a jade slip with the rules outlined, and finally, we have also thrown in a minor supernatural skill. The lot of you are quite lucky this time; the minor supernatural skill we chose is actually quite useful if you cultivate it well.” The cultivator who spoke had a square face and his breath was calm. But as he spoke to here, there was a strange look on his face. “The Elder already reminded you, but I will do so once more. No matter who you are or where you came from, after coming here, you will start from the beginning. Of course, if you have enough potential and skill, you will quickly receive the regards of our clan’s great figures. You have a day to prepare. Starting tomorrow at this time, you will be given assignments based on your status information.”

This courtyard was a residence for nearly 40 people. Living here was no problem, but one could forget things like comfort. What was left to Qin Yu was a tiny hut in a dark corner of the courtyard. Walking in, there was around 10 feet of space. There was a bed, a table, a chair, and nothing else. It was quite crude to say the least.

The clothes and token were laid down. Qin Yu picked up the jade slip. After probing it and confirming that there wasn’t anything wrong, he searched it with his divine sense. After a moment, he opened his eyes, a thoughtful look on his face.

This place was indeed where the Gold Noble Family lived. It was called the Blue Cloud World. The villages and cities they passed as they arrived here were all inhabited by descendants born as their bloodline multiplied over the generations.

Ning City’s Ning Mansion was an outside branch of the Ning Family left in the outside world.

This could be called an important explanation. Then, there were many strict rules.

But there were still things that left one enthusiastic within. For instance, promotion tests.

The Gold Noble Family was one that placed great importance on talent. As long as one was outstanding enough, then they would obtain certain status after revealing their skills.

The promotion test was established for this reason. It occurred every other month; the winner was promoted and the losers were eliminated.

The Gold Noble Family lived in seclusion here. Even if their bloodline was powerful, if they could maintain prosperity for such a long time, it was surely related to this system.

Qin Yu didn’t plan on standing out here. So, he only glanced at it to make sure he wouldn’t make any mistakes, and then tossed it to the back of his mind. After that was what the Ning Family people had described as…a minor supernatural skill.

And it was indeed very simple. It was named Soul Sword [Arrow].

That’s right, it was labeled exactly like that. To be more exact, it was an offensive and defensive soul skill. It had to be known that the Soul Slaughter Art could only be displayed after touching upon the Divine Soul level. Qin Yu had only seen the Whale Sovereign barely able to use it.

From this alone, one could see how precious this Soul Sword [Arrow] actually was.

If there was one thing to note, it was that the person with the highest surface cultivation in the group was Ning Yiran, at the seventh level of Golden Core. He was still thousands of miles away from ever touching upon the boundary of the soul. It could even be said that everyone here had basically no chance of ever touching upon the Divine Soul realm.

So even though this Soul Sword [Arrow] was good, for them, it was extremely weak.

It was no wonder that the Ning Family cultivator had such a strange expression.

But…Qin Yu was an exception!

His eyes brightened as he carefully read through the cultivation method. After thinking over it, he smiled happily. It seemed it wouldn’t be too difficult to cultivate this supernatural skill.

The Soul Sword was used to resist outside attacks and the Soul Arrow burst out in a sure-kill strike.

It was really not bad.

He closed his eyes and entered his soul space. Spirity woke up from her cultivation and the starlight shining down upon her head stopped.

Once Qin Yu’s soul had been healed, she smoothly recovered.

Light flashed in her eyes, then she shut her eyes back in cultivation.

Partner Souls were so renowned, so how could their uses be simplistic?

For instance, the Soul Sword [Arrow] that Qin Yu cultivated could also be cultivated by her.

When fighting an enemy, whether it was Soul Sword or Soul Arrow, both could be doubled!

Two hours later, Qin Yu opened his eyes, a satisfied smile on his face.

It was indeed simple to cultivate Soul Sword [Arrow]; in just two hours he had condensed its initial form. All that was left over was to spend a bit of time and allow it to thoroughly solidify into reality. Then, this supernatural skill could be said to be thoroughly completed.

When the Gold Noble Family took out the Soul Sword [Arrow] skill to pass to others, they likely didn’t expect that they would give someone such a pleasant surprise. Perhaps this was a good omen foretelling that his trip to the Blue Cloud World would be smooth.

Gathering his thoughts, Qin Yu picked up the status token. Even if he was only at the very beginning of walking down array formations and spells, for better or worse he still had some eyesight. This token was very simple. One could embed one’s aura into it, and there were a few other simple array formations. Although he wasn’t sure what use it had, it shouldn’t be anything dangerous.

He tapped his finger. A bead of blood fell onto the token and was instantly absorbed.

Then, Qin Yu’s eyebrows rose up as astonishment colored his face.

He looked at the status token in his hand in acclaim. This was indeed the Gold Noble Family. The brilliance of their cultivation civilization could actually be compared to the sea races’.

No, it could be called even more perfect than the sea races’.

It was true that the status token was used to identify oneself, but it was also used to collect information and communicate. Probing it with one’s divine sense, there was also a query interface.

Within the token, there were several built-in numbers. One of them, 10086, was placed at the front, indicating the clan customer service number.

Qin Yu thought for a moment. Then, he dialed it.

There was a soothing musical tone in his ear. Then, after several breaths of time, a sweet and charming woman’s voice sounded out. “Dear first-level disciple, how are you today? Currently, all lines are busy. If this call is a non-emergency or is urgent, please respond according to the following options. For contribution inquiries and exchanges, please press the first key. For mission inquiries and claims, please press the second key…”

Qin Yu hung up, admiration on his face. Just this customer service channel was far more impressive than the sea races.

In terms of listening function, there wasn’t much of a difference. But, through the token, one could automatically scan through all the various broadcast stations. Still, there were some superhot programs like the Emotional World, cultivation courses, training lectures, and so forth that required certain payments to unlock.

There were a great number of fun and interesting programs. Thinking about it, the Ning Family elders were probably worried that if their juniors stayed in the Blue Cloud World without anything to do, then maybe they would feel depressed, leading to a distortion in their personalities.

This small status token didn’t seem as if it were too difficult to refine. Who could have expected there would be so many interesting things within? Compared with the Gold Noble Family, the cultivation worlds of the Southern Empire and Northern Dynasty were no different than the countryside.

The next day, all cultivators from the Ning Mansion gathered together, excitement and surprise on their faces. They spoke in hushed tones to those around them, mostly about the status tokens. Some of them mumbled sadly that the supernatural skill the main family gave them was too high-end, so high-end that it left them in despair trying to learn it. In the end, they couldn’t complain too much. Good things were good things. If they couldn’t cultivate it then they could only blame themselves for being insufficient!

“Be quiet!” The square-faced disciple shouted out. “My name is Ning Hai, I am the manager for external disciples. Before you are promoted to internal disciples, all of you are under my control. Of course, if any one of you is unhappy with this, then you only need to challenge me. As long as you can defeat me, then I shall hand my seat to you. So, is there anyone that wishes to challenge me?”

A peaceful silence followed.

What nonsense. Your perfect Golden Core aura was obvious, and with your thick and sturdy body, it's clear you aren’t easy to deal with. Why would any of us new arrivals want to go looking for trouble?

Ning Hai nodded. “Since no one has any complaints, then from here on out I will announce your arrangements.”

The first was Ning Yiran. He was to go to the Hidden Scripture Hall. Several Ning Family cultivators looked at him with envy. It was clear that this work was quite good. Many people eyed him covetously but there was nothing they could do. Even if they all started at the beginning, there were different levels of beginning. As the young master of the outer branch Ning Mansion, Ning Yiran was clearly given favorable treatment.

Afterwards, more announcements were read out. Looking at the complexions of the Ning Mansion people, it seemed that the ranking at which they were called out showed how valued they were by the main family.

So, when Qin Yu’s name was called somewhere in the front, the complexions of many people changed.

In particular, several Ning Mansion juniors who hadn’t been called out yet had extremely ugly complexions.

“Qin Ning, go to the Alchemy Chamber, first-level.”

Qin Yu cupped his hands together and received the order.

After one’s name was read out, someone would immediately bring them away.

A beautiful young woman appeared in front of Qin Yu. She faintly smiled. “It’s been a long time since anyone new has come to our Alchemy Chamber. Junior-apprentice brother Qin, please follow me.”

Qin Yu cupped his hands together in greeting.

The two left. As for the icy cold and indignant eyes following them, they were directly ignored.

The Gold Noble Family’s Alchemy Chamber was built halfway up the mountainside. It occupied a considerably large valley, and one could see swathes of fog flying up above.

The scenery here was better. The buildings were constructed in bright areas, and most importantly, the spiritual strength here was twice as rich as it was at the base of the mountain!

No wonder higher ranked cultivators lived higher up. Not only did it represent their status but there were also other benefits.

But although Qin Yu could come here, that was only during work hours. After his work was over, he needed to return to the base of the mountain.

Seeing Qin Yu’s surprised expression, the young woman brushed back her hair and laughed. She smiled, “Qin Ning, I have already read through your information. With your skills, being promoted to a third-grade alchemist won’t be hard. With enough time and effort, you will naturally be able to move somewhere nearby.

“Moreover, with your status of a second-grade alchemist, once you stay for a month and pass the test, you will immediately receive the treatment of a third-level disciple. Your dwelling position will rise and you will receive your own courtyard.”

Qin Yu cupped his hands in thanks.

The young woman covered her mouth and smiled. Her warm watery pupils swept across his face. Even if she had no expression, she still caused one’s thoughts to drift away.

“That’s enough; let’s go in. I’ll bring you in to report first.”

After keeping busy for some time and seeing some stewards, Qin Yu’s status was determined. He could wander through the first floor of the Alchemy Chamber and was responsible for organizing various alchemy materials.

In simpler terms, he would be starting from selecting alchemy materials. There was no need for him to refine pills at the moment.

Cultivators from the Gold Noble Family were always full of pride and arrogance. They never placed much value in those that came from the outside world.

So, even if Alchemist Zhang gave Qin Yu an extremely high appraisal, in their eyes, if they didn’t personally confirm this, it wasn’t trustworthy at all.

For a second-grade alchemist to be given such work, there was bound to be a bit of agitation. The young woman helplessly smiled and gave him a few gentle words of comfort.

Qin Yu was very calm. He smiled and shook his head, showing that there was no problem.

The young woman was called Ning Yuan. She gave him a thumbs up, “Qin Ning, you’re not bad. This big sister is cheering for you! Keep working hard!”

She walked away.

Qin Yu smiled and lowered his head. He really didn’t care about any of this. As long as he entered the Gold Noble Family, he only needed to wait for the chance that Heavenseek Pavilion spoke of. As for how he was treated here, it didn’t matter at all.