Only I am Venerable

’Is he even human?’

At this moment, only a single thought remained in Cao Hong’s mind: ’This is too terrifying! If word of this got out, it would shock the world!’

’Just what is his background?’ An absurd thought suddenly occurred to Cao Hong. ’Lengqiu Palace must have been cursed with the worst luck imaginable to have provoked an enemy like him!’

’This is practically killing without a trace! No wonder he let me go so casually after catching me that day. He wasn’t afraid of me running away at all.’ At this thought, Cao Hong once again felt a mix of relief and lingering fear. ’Thankfully, I was smart enough not to even consider escaping. Otherwise, I’d probably be a corpse by now.’

However, what filled Cao Hong’s heart even more at this moment was an unprecedented wave of excitement!

With revenge finally in sight, this man, who had been tormented by hatred for so many years, was revitalized. The thrill of his impending vengeance completely consumed him.

Cao Hong even began to fantasize about how he would torture the Lengqiu Palace disciples who had brutally murdered the woman he loved.

"Focus. Someone’s coming," Qin Li said, noticing that Cao Hong was struggling to control his emotions.

Cao Hong snapped to his senses and nodded silently. He knew his only hope for revenge rested entirely on the young man beside him.

Some Lengqiu Palace disciples were walking toward the spot where the Spirit Beast had died. They were too far for Cao Hong to hear, but he had his own skills—he could read lips.

He saw the two Lengqiu Palace disciples conversing, clearly confused.

"The Holy Dog never wanders off. Why would it go missing today?" a young Lengqiu Palace disciple said to his companion.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Who knows? Maybe the Holy Dog found something," the other disciple replied.

"That can’t be. Lengqiu Palace has always kept a low profile. We don’t have any enemies. Besides, who would dare come to our doorstep looking for trouble?"

"Heh, don’t you remember that guy from a few years ago? He fell in love with one of our servants. After she was executed, he went mad and kept trying to get revenge, but the Holy Dog discovered him every time..."

"Oh, you mean that loser? A guy like that is no threat to us at all!"

The casual insults in the two disciples’ conversation made Cao Hong’s face turn livid, and his lips began to tremble. He could endure insults directed at himself, but the disdain in their words for the woman he loved stung him to the core. He swore a silent oath: even if he died here today, he would slaughter all of his enemies!

As Cao Hong was lost in thought, Qin Li suddenly shot out from beside him like a bolt of lightning. By the time Cao Hong reacted, Qin Li had vanished. He looked ahead to see the two Lengqiu Palace disciples abruptly collapse. Only then did he see Qin Li’s figure standing over them. Qin Li instantly dragged the two into the tall grass, his movements as fluid as flowing water. Cao Hong could only process what had happened after it was all over.

Cao Hong quickly darted over to Qin Li’s side, only to find that the two Lengqiu Palace disciples’ eyes were rolling frantically. Qin Li hadn’t killed them; he had merely subdued them!

Upon seeing Cao Hong, one of the disciples’ faces suddenly changed. The other hesitated for a moment before his face also turned deathly pale. Inside, both were screaming, ’What the hell? How did this guy suddenly appear here? Where’s the Holy Dog? Why didn’t it detect these two intruders?’

The two Lengqiu Palace disciples wanted to scream a warning to their sect brothers, but they couldn’t make a single sound.

"Kill them. Vent your anger," Qin Li said before turning away. He walked over to the Spirit Beast he had slain with his Spiritual Power, crouched down, and began to study it closely.

Cao Hong glanced back at Qin Li. His voice was filled with hatred, but he hadn’t lost his senses. "Sir, if I kill these two bastards here, will it cause too much of a disturbance?"

"It will be fine as long as you don’t let them make a sound," Qin Li replied calmly, not even turning his head.

The conversation was not transmitted telepathically, so the two Lengqiu Palace disciples heard everything. Horror filled their eyes as they realized they would not be spared today.

One of them immediately went pale, his eyes begging for mercy, as if to say, ’What happened back then had nothing to do with us! Why are you killing us?’

The other, however, glared defiantly at Cao Hong, his eyes full of menace.

Cao Hong let out a sinister chuckle. He drew his Broken Saber and patted the glaring disciple’s cheek with the flat of the blade. "I came here with no intention of leaving alive," he sneered. "You don’t have to look at me like that. Who knows, we might see each other in the next world soon enough!"

With that, he plunged the saber into the disciple’s throat and wrenched it downward. Blood immediately gushed out. Cao Hong deliberately angled the wound toward the other terrified disciple, spraying him with blood and scaring him so badly he began to tremble uncontrollably.

Cao Hong swiftly severed the disciple’s head and held it up. He stared into the dead man’s eyes, which were wide with lingering terror, and gave a silent, ghastly smile. Then, holding the head, he walked over to the other disciple, who was covered in blood.

"Do you want to die the same way?" Cao Hong asked with chilling cruelty.

Unable to speak or move, the Lengqiu Palace disciple’s eyes were filled with desperate pleading as tears streamed down his face.

Cao Hong sneered. "When my woman was brutally murdered in your Lengqiu Palace, did any of you show even a moment of mercy? Now you want me to be merciful? In your dreams!"

With that, he lopped off the second disciple’s head with another swing of his saber. He tossed both heads into the grass, meticulously wiped the blood from his hands, and let out a long breath. He then turned to Qin Li and bowed deeply. "Sir, I, Cao Hong, can never repay your kindness. If I can achieve my revenge today and escape with my life, I am willing to become your servant and attend to your every need!"

Qin Li turned and chuckled. "In that case, you’d better protect yourself. Make sure you don’t die here!"

With that, the two began to charge up the mountain peak. The commotion they had made went unnoticed because Qin Li had been continuously shrouding a twenty-meter radius around them with his Innate Purple Qi, making it impossible for outsiders to probe the area.

Besides, this was Lengqiu Palace territory. While not its heartland, it was far from the outer edge, so people’s vigilance would naturally be lower. Moreover, it was broad daylight, with a clear blue sky and warm, bright sunshine. Who would ever imagine that someone could slip in, unseen by god or man, at a time like this?

The resident of this mountain peak was a High Level Outer Sect deacon of Lengqiu Palace named Lou Chengfang. Coincidentally, Ma Wuchang and the others Qin Li had killed were his subordinates—though, of course, they were not qualified to speak with him directly. Lou Chengfang’s status as a High Level deacon was no lower than that of an ordinary Inner Sect Elder!

The three Lengqiu Palace higher-ups Qin Li had killed a while ago—the ancient Elder, the red-faced man, and the chubby old man—were all Inner Sect Elders, but none of them held a status as high as Lou Chengfang’s!

Lou Chengfang wielded immense power, so he resided on a peak of his own. It was not far from the main peak where the Palace Master lived, only a little over a hundred li away. The two peaks were positioned to support each other, allowing for rapid communication should anything happen.

Lou Chengfang felt somewhat restless today. It was a feeling he had almost never experienced since he had entered the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, which had been over two hundred years ago.

For some reason, ever since he woke up this morning, he felt as if something was about to happen.

In truth, for cultivators who had reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, such premonitions of danger were often incredibly accurate. However, Lou Chengfang couldn’t imagine what could possibly happen to him or what danger could exist here.

With the Mountain Guardian Dog on watch, it was impossible for even a Martial Artist at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm to sneak up undetected.

He had dozens of Shattered Void realm experts on his own mountain. Even if there were invaders, he was confident they could be dealt with. ’So where is this feeling of unease coming from?’

By noon, the feeling had grown even stronger. Lou Chengfang emerged from his cultivation seclusion, and several maidservants outside immediately approached, awaiting their master’s command.

Lou Chengfang’s gaze swept over the maidservants, and a face suddenly, strangely, surfaced in his mind. He frowned slightly. ’That maidservant... she’s been dead for many years. I was the one who ordered her execution.’ The reason had been that she dared to get involved with an outsider and even planned to elope with him.

Although Lou Chengfang was not a lecherous man, he could not tolerate one of the women in his service being with someone else. And so, he had ordered the maidservant to be brutally killed.

In the years that followed, the maidservant’s lover had tried to seek revenge against him time and again, but he was always discovered by the Mountain Guardian Dog. And it was precisely because of the dog’s early warnings that the man always managed to escape capture.

’Could that man have returned for revenge again? His strength is so low, I could kill him easily myself. Wait...’ Lou Chengfang suddenly felt the mountain was a little too quiet. Thinking carefully, he realized what it was. ’The Mountain Guardian Dog is gone.’

"Have any of you seen the Holy Dog?" Lou Chengfang asked the maidservants, his voice grave.

"Master, the Holy Dog seemed to run down the mountain to play a little while ago. Two disciples went to look for it, but they haven’t returned yet," a maidservant replied softly.

"Not good!"

Lou Chengfang cursed inwardly. That vague premonition of danger had just transformed into a tangible, murderous aura!

It was right behind him, closing in!

A wave of fear unlike anything he had ever known instantly washed over Lou Chengfang’s entire body.