Only I am Venerable

The simple, ancient, and prosperous Yellow Sand Ancient City was once again thrown into turmoil over matters concerning the Four Great Perilous Lands.

In the early morning, a dense fog enveloped the sky above all of Yellow Sand City, lingering without end. The rays of the rising sun dyed the mist a brilliant gold.

This added a touch of age and mystery to the towering Yellow Sand City.

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu stood outside the city, watching this scene for a long time. Eventually, they looked at each other and smiled. Shangguan Shiyu spoke softly, "Looking at this place feels like a dream. Many of my old memories have become blurry. When I was little, my greatest wish was to leave the estate just to see what people called the golden morning."

Qin Li held Shangguan Shiyu’s slightly cold hand and said with a smile, "Now, you can watch it however you please."

Shiyu nodded and sighed softly. "But it’s a shame I no longer have the same feeling I did back then!"

Qin Li squeezed Shangguan Shiyu’s hand, transferring his warmth to her, and said softly, "Our world is no longer ordinary. We can never go back to the lives of normal people."

Shiyu’s face broke into a smile. "Actually, this is good too. As long as I can be with you, I’m not afraid of going anywhere!"

This time, the two had come out alone. They left She She, the Golden Eagle Spirit, the Ink Eagle, the Three Monkeys, Xiaohai, and Rainbow behind at the Qin Family estate. This was for two reasons: one, for them to guard the family and instruct its disciples, and two, because the Spirit Beasts themselves needed to cultivate and break through their own limits. Qin Li gave Blast Pills, Strengthening Pills, and Essence Pills to all the Spirit Beasts except for She She. How far they would be able to advance was now up to them.

These Spirit Beasts were all part of Qin Li’s core team. In the future, if they were to truly face the massive Sects from the Land of the Far West, they wouldn’t even have a chance to act without sufficient strength.

Thus, only Qin Li and Shiyu had come out this time. Qin Li’s strength was still steadily increasing, while what Shiyu needed most right now was to temper herself through combat.

After entering the city, the two of them didn’t alert anyone and simply found an inn to stay at. After applying their Disguises, Qin Li became a sallow-faced, thin young man of about thirty, while Shiyu was made up by Qin Li to look like a pretty village girl of twenty-six or twenty-seven.

Qin Li couldn’t stop snickering as he looked at Shiyu’s appearance. After seeing her reflection in a mirror, Shiyu could only feel helpless in the face of Qin Li’s wicked sense of humor.

However, it was true that they couldn’t walk around Yellow Sand City with their real faces. This was the place where they had grown up. Even though many years had passed and things had changed, many people would still recognize them.

As the two walked down a main street in Yellow Sand City, they happened to pass by the Fang Family’s Fangzheng Martial Arts Hall. Qin Li looked at it and couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. "This is where I had a complete falling out with Qin Feng and Qin Hu all those years ago," he said. "Sigh, a dozen or so years have passed in a flash."

Shangguan Shiyu looked at Qin Li gently and said, "Those two brothers are probably still alive, right?"

Qin Li nodded and gave a wry smile. "They’re probably hiding in some corner, cultivating desperately and preparing to get their revenge on me."

"Do you regret what you did back then?" Shiyu asked suddenly, her bright, clear eyes fixed on Qin Li.

Qin Li shook his head and smiled. "Of course not. If I hadn’t done what I did back then, I would have been the one to die."

As he spoke, Qin Li led Shiyu into a tavern with a small storefront but a quaint, antique-style decor. Since it was morning, there weren’t many people inside. The Shopkeeper was at the counter looking over his ledgers, and a young waiter was dozing off, slumped over a table.

The moment the two entered, the waiter woke with a start and said with a laugh in the local Yellow Sand City accent, "Welcome, you two! Please, come in!"

Returning here, what Qin Li and Shiyu felt most deeply was the local accent. Although their memories of this city weren’t entirely pleasant, hearing their native dialect still felt familiar and comforting.

Qin Li casually ordered a few of the tavern’s specialty dishes. The waiter was momentarily stunned, then smiled. "Have you been here before, sir? You ordered all of our signature dishes!"

Qin Li gave a faint smile and nodded, but said nothing.

The waiter deftly went to instruct the kitchen, then brought them some tea. Seeing as the tavern was quiet and taking a liking to Qin Li, he struck up a conversation familiarly. "You know, something strange is going on in our Yellow Sand City. It’s been peaceful for a few years, but now things are stirring up again. A lot of people have been flocking here recently. I hear someone’s discovered ancient treasures in the Four Great Perilous Lands!"

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu exchanged a glance, and he smiled. "Oh? Tell me, what kind of treasures have they found?"

The waiter glanced around. The tavern was empty, and the Shopkeeper was still absorbed in his ledgers. He then lowered his voice and said, "I hear those places are filled with gold and riches. But it seems you need keys to open them. So now, a lot of powerful experts have come to Yellow Sand City from all over, looking for the keys to the treasure. If you wait until noon, you’ll see those heroes of the Martial World!"

Qin Li smiled, knowing he couldn’t get much more information from the waiter. He asked casually, "Then do you know where those experts are from?"

The waiter shook his head with some regret. "Those people are incredibly arrogant, not polite like you, sir. Let me put it this way: every single one of them is haughty, looking down their noses at everyone. It’s as if in their eyes, we’re just ants! Isn’t that infuriating?"

The waiter continued, sighing again. "Sigh, back when the three great families were in their prime, no outsider would have dared to be so brazen! And if it were back in the era of Marquis Qin, they’d be even more scared! But alas, Marquis Qin has been gone for many years and has never returned. And then that incident happened to Duke Hu’s family... life is just so unpredictable!"

Qin Li glanced at Shangguan Shiyu and saw she was looking at him gently. He then smiled and asked, "How has Duke Hu been these past few years?"

"You know Duke Hu too? Heh, let me tell you, Duke Hu is a truly good man. He never uses his power to bully others. It’s a shame good people don’t always get good rewards. A few years ago, his family was ruined, and he was even captured. Then, for some reason, he came back. At that time, the Shangguan and Fang Families had seized a lot of Duke Hu’s properties. But as soon as he returned, those two families scrambled to give everything back. Now, Duke Hu is the most influential person in our Yellow Sand City!"

"That’s good," Qin Li said softly, a nostalgic look in his eyes. He seemed to recall the days when Hu used to lead him, Leng Yao, Bu Yunyan, and the others on adventures into the mountains.

Just then, more customers came in. The waiter excused himself to Qin Li and went to serve them.

Shangguan Shiyu asked in a soft tone, "Do you want to go see Hu?"

Qin Li hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "Let’s not. He and I... we’re people from two completely different worlds now. It’s better not to disturb his peaceful life."

At that moment, the group that had just entered—four people in total—sat down a few tables away from Qin Li. They were very quiet. Only one of them swept his gaze over Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu before looking away. Two ordinary people with no discernible energy fluctuations were not worthy of their attention.

Qin Li’s aura was completely restrained, making it impossible for others to probe. As for Shangguan Shiyu... their strength was simply too far beneath hers for them to sense anything at all!

"Senior Brother, do you think these so-called Four Great Perilous Lands could really hold some earth-shattering secret?" a middle-aged man in yellow martial attire asked a gray-robed elder seated at the head of the table.

The gray-robed elder was very thin, with a long, narrow face and a wisp of a beard floating from his chin. His eyes looked a little cloudy. On the street, he would have passed for an ordinary old man.

No one would have guessed what kind of terrifying power was contained within the body of such an ordinary-looking elder.

The elder regarded Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu as two ordinary people, so he spoke without any reservations. Besides, what they were discussing was common knowledge on every street and alley in Yellow Sand City, so there was nothing to be secretive about.

"There is definitely a secret," the elder said with certainty. "But not necessarily treasure. I have observed those four locations from the air. If you connect them, it’s highly likely they form a massive Array! As for what this Array does, that’s impossible to guess. However, I estimate that it is very likely related to the Primordial Era."

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu were both shaken. They each saw a glint of disbelief in the other’s eyes.

One must understand that even on Profound Island, not many people could even speak the words ’Primordial Era’!

People knew of the Primordial Era’s existence, but it was far too remote. Even much of the history from the Ancient Era was unverifiable and lacked evidence, to say nothing of the various legends from the Primordial Era.

Most people treated them as mere myths!

Yet these few people were actually able to say that the Four Great Perilous Lands were related to the Primordial Era. How could that not be astonishing?

At this point, the waiter brought their dishes. Qin Li ordered another pot of warmed wine and began pouring it for himself, listening attentively to the conversation of the four people at the other table.

"The Primordial Era? Is that the era of the map passed down in our Sect? I think the patterns on that Array look quite similar to the ones on the back of that map!" another middle-aged man in yellow martial attire, this one with a square-jawed face, remarked casually.

*COUGH.* The elder coughed and shot the middle-aged man a glare. He glanced over and saw Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu gazing at each other with sweet smiles and relaxed. ’Just an ordinary couple with a bit of money, out to treat themselves. Nothing to worry about.’ But he still turned to the middle-aged man and chided him in a low voice, "Don’t speak so recklessly when you’re outside!"

The middle-aged man lowered his head, his face full of shame. That Ancient Map was one of the most precious treasures in their Sect, classified as a top secret and strictly forbidden from being mentioned to outsiders.

The elder’s tone softened then, and he said softly, "It’s not that I want to lecture you, but it seems many Martial Artists from Mysterious Lands have been drawn to Yellow Sand City. Not everyone is ignorant. If by chance someone has heard of that thing, your careless words will only bring disaster and death upon yourself!"