Only I am Venerable

As the group watched Qin Li activate the array, the Golden Palace slowly vanished before their very eyes. Shangguan Shiyu, Qin Xue, and the others felt a sense of reluctance to leave.

Having spent three years in the Golden Palace, they had grown attached to every blade of grass and every tree. Qin Li’s ring was filled with various Exotic Fruits he had picked from the palace’s rear garden.

Qin Li had now reached the Celestial Venerable realm, yet he still couldn’t pick all the fruits. However, he was already quite satisfied, as these Exotic Fruits had miraculous effects on reforging the human body.

Qin Li then moved the Nine-Turned White Jade Lotus, the unknown Vermilion Fruit plant, and a large quantity of Heavenly and Earthly Treasures—including the Cold Jade Flower and Phalaenopsis he had obtained at sea—from his Spatial Ring into the Golden Palace. With that, Qin Li had finally cleared out his Spatial Ring. For some unknown reason, however, even after transplanting all the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, a thick layer of soil remained on the ground inside the ring. This soil was suffused with immense spiritual energy.

The corpse of the Spirit Beast with the Hou bloodline was still inside Qin Li’s ring. From Hu Yanbo’s memories, Qin Li knew that when a Martial Artist reached the Shattered Void realm, they could perform Artifact Refining to create Spiritual Artifacts. The Beast Bones of this Hou were one of the primary materials for refining them!

So-called Spiritual Artifacts were a type of weapon, but they could store vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Spirit. Even better, a high-quality Spiritual Artifact could assist its master by enhancing the power of their Magic.

If a Shattered Void Martial Artist with a profound comprehension of Law were to fight with a Spiritual Artifact sword, the power they could unleash would be absolutely astonishing!

Such Martial Artists were quite common in the Primordial Era, but in the present day, Qin Li had never seen a single one.

Upon reaching the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, one could refine Treasure Artifacts. These so-called Treasure Artifacts were a tier higher than Spiritual Artifacts, and the power they could unleash was far beyond what a Spiritual Artifact could compare to.

To put it simply, in the Primordial Era, a Shattered Void Martial Artist wielding a Treasure Artifact would not necessarily lose to an ordinary Pill Nascent Soul Transformation Martial Artist!

The power of a Treasure Artifact was plain to see!

And when a Martial Artist’s strength reached the Thunder Tribulation Realm, they could refine a type of Magical Treasure known as a "Tribulation Artifact." The power of a Tribulation Artifact was so great it was unimaginable. It was said that when a Tribulation Artifact appeared, the very heavens and earth would change color!

However, a treasure like a Tribulation Artifact could only be used by experts who had reached at least the Thunder Tribulation Realm. Martial Artists below the Thunder Tribulation realm were completely incapable of activating such an overwhelmingly powerful treasure.

After passing the Thunder Tribulation and reaching the Earth Immortal realm, the Magical Treasures one could refine were called Sacred Artifacts! In fact, the Golden Palace itself was a Sacred Artifact!

The Great Power of his time, Hu Yanbo, was himself a Grandmaster of Artifact Refining and had reached the Earth Immortal realm. That was how the Golden Palace came to possess power that was nothing short of miraculous.

’Artifact Refining is a profound skill, not something just anyone can master. So, even though I’d love to refine my Blood-Drinking Sword into a Spiritual Artifact, a Treasure Artifact, or even a Tribulation or Sacred Artifact, I’m not getting my hopes up. I wonder if there are any Artifact Refining Masters in the Land of the Far West. If there are, I’d really love to witness their power for myself.’

The group departed silently from Black Tortoise Peak. The Golden Palace at its summit was now concealed by an array. Qin Li decided not to return until he reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm. For one, he couldn’t control the Golden Palace, and for another, he couldn’t enter its second floor. It was like guarding a mountain of treasure without being able to take anything from it—a truly frustrating feeling.

The three White Apes all assumed human form, as they were about to enter the human world.

After his Transformation, the Old Ape, Bai Zhongshan, appeared as a kindly old man with a full head of white hair and a matching beard. Perhaps because he wasn’t quite used to being human, his movements still retained a hint of his ape-like nature.

Bai Zhongxue, after transforming, took the form of a beautiful young girl. With bright eyes and pearly teeth, she was lively and adorable—a stark contrast to her previous appearance.

Bai Zhonghuo, on the other hand, transformed into a handsome man in his thirties with thick eyebrows and large eyes. His demeanor was remarkably composed, making it hard to imagine from his appearance that this was a Spirit Beast that had lived for countless years.

More than ten days later, the group returned to the Qin Family. Qin Li had been away for over half a year. Not only was the outside world closely watching for any sign of him, but many within the Qin Family were also wondering, ’When will Young Master Li return?’

Now that he had finally returned, the entire Qin Family was jubilant. The news of Qin Li’s reappearance spread rapidly, thoroughly dashing the hopes of the families and Sects that had assumed some misfortune had befallen him.

In the past two years, the Qin Family had developed with incredible speed. Supported by a variety of Elixirs and with its disciples inspired by Qin Li to cultivate diligently, the family’s overall strength could no longer be underestimated.

Upon their first arrival in the human world, the three Bai siblings found everything new and exciting. The entire Qin Family treated them with the utmost courtesy, completely dispelling any anxieties they had previously felt.

Although Bai Zhongshan had entered the human world before, that had been many years ago, and only as a passerby. The feeling was naturally completely different this time.

Three young girls from a collateral branch of the Qin Family, merely twelve or thirteen years old, already possessed astonishing strength. Qin Suo ordered this information to be sealed and classified as the Qin Family’s highest secret.

One had to understand that even the Cui Family’s Venerable, Cui Leng, did not possess such strength when he was twelve or thirteen! Moreover, a behemoth like the Cui Family had kept the news tightly under wraps, only letting out a whisper after Cui Leng had already entered the Venerable Realm. The Qin Family was currently far from being as powerful as the Cui Family was back then, so naturally, they had to be even more careful to protect these three little girls.

It was no exaggeration to say that because of Qin Li, the destinies of three girls from a collateral branch, who were originally fated to have no prospects in life, had been fundamentally changed. They, along with their families, had suddenly become pivotal figures within the Qin Family!

Qin Li left many of the treasures he brought back from the Golden Palace for Leng Yao, Lin Yunlan, Qin Hanyue, and the others. Leng Yao was Qin Li’s woman and held a crucial position in his future development. Therefore, helping Leng Yao improve quickly became a task Qin Li had to accomplish.

Shangguan Shiyu also learned about Leng Yao from Qin Li. She didn’t say anything. Three years wasn’t a long time, but it wasn’t short either; in truth, it was more than enough time for many things to happen. Yet, Qin Li had not developed any kind of physical relationship with Leng Yao. This deeply moved Shangguan Shiyu.

What seemed perfectly natural to Qin Li was extraordinary in the eyes of Shangguan Shiyu, a woman who had grown up accustomed to seeing men with wives and concubines in droves.

Qin Hanyue, for her part, was very eager for her son and Shiyu to marry immediately. After discussing it, Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu agreed. Their relationship was very stable, and it had been many years. Many people of Qin Li’s age were already married.

But plans can never keep up with reality. Just as Qin Hanyue and her husband, Qin Wenxuan, were joyfully preparing for their son’s wedding, another piece of important news arrived from the Mortal Realm.

In Yellow Sand City of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom, the situation had suddenly become turbulent. It was as if many unfamiliar experts had appeared overnight. The conduct of this group was vastly different from that of Mortal Martial Artists. Hu, who had returned to Yellow Sand City to continue his endeavors, was the first to sense that something was amiss. He eventually discovered that the target of these mysterious experts was none other than Yellow Sand City’s Four Great Perilous Lands.

This, however, was not the main reason Hu used the method Qin Li had given him to contact the Qin Family disciples operating in the mortal world. The most important development was that the water in Phoenix Lake, one of the Four Great Perilous Lands, had suddenly dried up. Then, at the bottom of the lake, an enormous array was revealed. The array was circular and inscribed with all sorts of extremely complex and mysterious patterns. Furthermore, it seemed to emanate a strange energy that prevented ordinary people from getting anywhere near it.

It was precisely the drying up of Phoenix Lake and the appearance of this great array that had attracted the group of mysterious strangers. Then, people discovered similar massive arrays at Eagle’s Beak Stream and the Execution Ground!

Now, only the Soul-Devouring Swamp had yet to reveal anything. However, someone had already discovered that the Four Great Perilous Lands seemed to correspond with one another. Excluding the Soul-Devouring Swamp, the three arrays at Phoenix Lake, Eagle’s Beak Stream, and the Execution Ground formed a perfect triangle when viewed from the sky!

Therefore, if a similar mysterious array were to be found at the Soul-Devouring Swamp, they would form a square, all corresponding with one another!

Of course, all of this was discovered by the mysterious experts who had appeared in Yellow Sand City. Hu felt the matter was extraordinary, so he used the method Qin Li had left him for contacting the Qin Family disciples and had them relay the information back to Profound Island.

Qin Li was also deeply shocked when he heard this news. At the same time, an idea began to form in his mind. ’Based on the various ancient texts and legacies I’ve come across, it seems the Land of the Far West is far stronger than our region.’

’The farther west one goes, the stronger things get—this has become a consensus among all Martial Artists who know of the Land of the Far West.’

’But the problem is that both the Golden Palace and the Ancient Map I possess appeared here in the East, far from the Land of the Far West!’

’Could there be some hidden meaning to all this?’

The reputation of Yellow Sand City’s Four Great Perilous Lands seemed to have been passed down for countless years. Even before the Cyan Dragon Kingdom existed, the four lands were already renowned throughout the surrounding kingdoms.

The identity of the Adventurer who first discovered the Four Great Perilous Lands is lost to history, but all subsequent Adventurers knew that the four lands of Cyan Dragon’s Yellow Sand City were practically forbidden grounds for Martial Artists. For an ordinary person to enter was to seek death. But what truly made those Martial Artists fearful was not something else, but the countless powerful Spirit Beasts entrenched within the Four Great Perilous Lands!

This was also what confused Qin Li. Although the Four Great Perilous Lands were dangerous, they were nothing to the true experts on Profound Island. ’So why would enormous arrays suddenly appear in that place?’ he wondered. ’Could these arrays be related to the Land of the Far West and the many mysteries of Ancient Times?’

Qin Li decided he had to make a trip personally to investigate the matter!