Only I am Venerable

In the new district of Yellow Sand City, inside the City Lord’s Mansion, Hu, who had been enfeoffed as a Prince of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom, was drinking with a handsome young man, a broad smile on his face.

The servants in the mansion found this somewhat strange. In their eyes, the Yellow Sand King was incredibly imposing and had never shown a fawning expression to anyone. Even when he was made a Prince of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom and stood before His Majesty the Emperor, he maintained a calm and composed demeanor. He wasn’t particularly close to anyone, and his majestic aura was so intimidating that people looked at him with awe and fear.

Why, then, when facing a young man in his twenties today, would he reveal such a kind and warm side they had never seen before? It was as if he were meeting a brother he had been separated from for many years.

Moreover, the young man was handsome with a steady disposition; one look was enough to tell he was no ordinary person. Before him, the Yellow Sand King’s powerful aura seemed to completely vanish!

As the saying goes, "You can’t see the true face of Mount Lu precisely because you are on it." Often, a person is unaware of their own state; only an onlooker can see it clearly. Thus, even Hu himself hadn’t noticed these details.

Although Qin Li had always treated Hu as a brother, like an older brother to him, Hu had always been self-aware. He knew exactly why he had achieved what he had today. If not for Qin Li, would he have been made a Marquis? Even if his own power were greater, the Cyan Dragon Royal Family would never have enfeoffed him as an Alien Prince!

Many years ago, Hu had always held Qin Li in a state of awe. Back then, when Qin Li was just a teenager, the strength he displayed had already left Hu amazed and startled. To say nothing of the present-day Qin Li, whose power had long since surpassed anything Hu could comprehend.

So, in front of a young man like this, how could Hu possibly display the imposing aura he had built up over the years?

Qin Li hadn’t come to Yellow Sand City with any specific task in mind. Finding the remaining two Ancient Maps was no easy feat, so he decided to simply pay Hu a quiet visit, share a drink, and reminisce about old times.

"The first time I went adventuring in the mountains, I ran into a Yellow Level Spirit Beast. Back then, I was only at the Yellow Level myself. Facing that massive creature, my palms were drenched in cold sweat, but I had nowhere to hide and no way to escape. I could only bite the bullet and charge..." A slightly tipsy Hu recalled the scene from many years ago, a look of nostalgia on his face.

Qin Li listened with a smile. Often, hearing about other people’s life experiences could also be of great benefit to one’s own cultivation realm.

Neither of them was Cultivating to force the alcohol out of their systems. There was simply no need. The whole point of drinking was to have a good time; if they just used a Cultivation Technique to expel it all, what would be the point?

And so, after several hours, the floor was littered with empty wine jugs, and both men were quite drunk.

It had been many years since Qin Li had felt this dizzy. The sensation reminded him of his life before he transmigrated, and a warm feeling spread through his heart. A faint smile touched the corners of his lips.

Suddenly, Qin Li sensed several extremely powerful fluctuations probing toward Hu’s mansion. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. He raised a hand, beckoned over the mansion’s butler, and said, "Hu is drunk. Have someone help him to his room to rest."

The butler had been hired later on and had never met Qin Li before. Furthermore, Hu hadn’t mentioned Qin Li’s name all evening, so the butler had no idea that this young man was the benefactor who had made his master’s current life possible.

But the butler had seen how Hu had acted tonight, so he was extremely respectful toward Qin Li. He ordered some servants to help Hu away to rest.

He then turned back and said respectfully to Qin Li, "Young Master, I’ve already had a room prepared for you..."

Qin Li smiled and cut the butler off. "A few friends have arrived outside. I’ll go meet them. You all just clean up here."

As he spoke, Qin Li’s figure flashed and vanished on the spot, leaving the butler dumbfounded. The butler looked around, a ghostly expression on his face, then glanced at the messy table and muttered, "’Am I dreaming?’"

Outside Hu’s mansion, Qin Li’s figure slowly materialized. He casually sat on a Horse Dismounting Stone by the gate, his head lowered. A murderous glint flashed across his cold, stern face.

’So, someone finally... set their sights on Hu.’ Ever since Hu’s entire family was slaughtered because of him, Qin Li had sworn an oath: if anyone dared to harm Hu again, or even just revealed the thought of it, he would never let them go!

Lengqiu Palace was divided into an Outer Sect and an Inner Sect. People like Ma Wuchang from last time were Outer Disciples, and the people who came today were also from Lengqiu Palace’s Outer Sect.

However, these members of Lengqiu Palace’s Outer Sect, led by a nonagenarian elder, held extremely high statuses!

Most people believed that the Inner Sect’s status was definitively higher than the Outer Sect’s. And in truth, under most circumstances, that was indeed the case.

Outer Disciples were mostly those with average talent and little chance of cultivating to a very high realm. They were assigned to the Outer Sect, and after they matured, they would handle the Sect’s various affairs, serving as the foundation for the massive organization.

But nothing is absolute. Even in the Outer Sect, and even without outstanding talent, it was still possible to become a figure others looked up to in admiration!

The nonagenarian, the Third Elder of Lengqiu Palace’s Outer Sect, had decent enough talent when he first joined this Sect composed entirely of those with the Purple Eyes bloodline. However, he didn’t display a corresponding level of skill back then and was assigned to the Outer Sect.

Perhaps this experience spurred him on, or perhaps he was a late bloomer. The old man performed better and better in the Outer Sect until he eventually surpassed the achievements of many Inner Sect Disciples, leaping to become an Outer Elder, ranked third! His strength was unfathomable! Even many Inner Sect Elders had to treat him with great courtesy. Sending him out this time was meant to have him anchor the team and serve as its backbone.

Therefore, the nonagenarian elder did not come for tonight’s operation. In his view, eliminating a mere mortal from the Mortal Realm was simply not worth deploying too much power.

So, he had left the slightly plump Ninth Elder and the red-faced Third Elder at the inn, sending only the ten Lengqiu Palace disciples who had accompanied them.

These ten Lengqiu Palace disciples were not the weaklings one might imagine. In fact, any single one of them could easily become an Elder Level figure in one of the sects from the Mysterious Eastern Land!

Ten Outer Disciples of Lengqiu Palace, all at the Venerable Realm. Relying on their profound Cultivation Techniques, they crept silently to the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion, preparing to smash their way in directly through the main gate. To them, even if they were disregarded Outer Disciples in Lengqiu Palace, in this Mortal Realm, they... were like gods!

Sneak in to kill? No, that wasn’t their style! When they killed, they always attacked through the front gate, an open and righteous slaughter!

Their unsatisfactory status within the Sect gave this group an almost pathological pride when facing those weaker than themselves.

Annihilating a family.

This was not the first time they had done such a thing. Even in the Land of the Far West, not all factions were overwhelmingly powerful. These people were the ones who took the blame for the Sect and handled all its dirty work.

The leader of the group suddenly saw that on the Horse Dismounting Stone at the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion, there was... suddenly a person!

In an instant, all the hairs on his body stood on end. His scalp tingled, and a chill shot up his spine. Just moments ago, he had been looking at the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion from a distance, and that stone had been completely empty!

What terrified him even more was that while the man was clearly sitting right there—his own eyes could see him—his Divine Sense was completely unable to lock onto the young man!

It was as if there were only a mass of air there, as if that person were just a shadow... The leader, an Outer Disciple of Lengqiu Palace whose strength had already reached the peak of the Celestial Venerable realm, glanced nervously at the person beside him, only to find the exact same expression in their eyes.

’We’ve run into an expert!’

This was the only thought in his mind at that moment. But who could this young-looking man be? Could he be that Qin Li?

Shaking his head, the leader immediately dismissed the idea. ’It’s impossible for Qin Li to be here at this time,’ he thought. ’Otherwise, would it even be my turn? There are tons of people who want to snatch the Treasure Map from Qin Li’s hands!’

Besides, he had heard that Qin Li’s Disguise skills were extraordinary, and he would rarely show his true face. This was especially true here, in his hometown, where many, many people would recognize him.

In that case, this person was likely a young prodigy from another sect in the Land of the Far West. Judging by his own inability to lock onto him, he might even be one of those Inner Sect’s Direct Descendants!

Although Lengqiu Palace was powerful, it had always maintained a low profile in the Land of the Far West and wouldn’t easily provoke others. This was partly to conceal the truth about their Purple Eyes and partly because they didn’t want to expose the full extent of their strength. Therefore, for countless years, while Lengqiu Palace had some fame in the Land of the Far West, it was known more for being mysterious and low-key.

As a result, its disciples had developed a habit of not casually offending factions of similar standing.

"Friend, we are Outer Disciples from Lengqiu Palace. We have a grudge against this household. If you have no business here, please step aside!"

"Outer Disciples... trash!" Qin Li’s cold voice was filled with unconcealed disappointment.

This, however, completely enraged the Outer Disciple from Lengqiu Palace. He sneered, "You talk big, friend. Don’t tell me only you Inner Sect Disciples are the chosen ones? Is everyone else just trash?"

"Your Inner Sect Disciples are trash too!" Qin Li lifted his head, his eyes drowsy with drink. He looked blankly at the ten men whose anger was about to boil over. "Who are you? Lengqiu Palace... what the hell is that?"

The Lengqiu Palace Outer Disciple’s face turned ashen. He let out an enraged roar, "Kill him!"

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I’m feeling pretty drained but did my best to get this Chapter out. *Sigh*, the after-effects of going out are a real tragedy. Please encourage and support me with your recommendation votes! (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com. There are more Chapters, and you can support the author and authentic reading!)