Only I am Venerable

Originally, as Qin Li’s Spiritual Power had gradually strengthened, he had reached the point where he could see the knees of the giant within his Sea of Consciousness. But because of this insane power-up, in the very instant he awoke, Qin Li glanced at the giant again and saw... its face! The face of the colossal figure that seemed to prop up the heavens!

The face was stern, with sharp, chiseled features. There was something about its expression that felt intensely familiar to Qin Li. The giant’s eyes were closed, but its face seemed to have weathered endless eons, radiating a desolate, ancient, and incredibly majestic aura! Though its eyes were shut, it gave off the feeling of looking down upon the entire world.

For some reason, a thought suddenly flashed through Qin Li’s mind: ’Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable!’

It was in that very instant that an aura that made Shiyu tremble in terror erupted from Qin Li’s body. At the same time, he awoke.

Shaking his head, Qin Li still couldn’t be entirely sure who the giant in his Sea of Consciousness was—his past self, or an entity born from cultivating the ’Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable’ technique. But none of that mattered to him. He had a gut feeling: ’This isn’t a bad thing!’

Although the aura radiating from the colossal giant in his Sea of Consciousness was vast and domineering, it gave Qin Li a sense of profound intimacy.

"Yes. That feeling... for a moment, it felt like I was in a dream!" Shiyu said, her heart still pounding with fear.

Qin Li smiled and said casually, "That’s probably because my strength increased."

"What? Your strength increased?" Shiyu’s face lit up with joyful surprise. "Then... what realm are you in now?" she asked, astonished.

Qin Li smiled a bit sheepishly. "It seems... it seems to be the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation..."

"Ah!" Shiyu cried out, freezing on the spot. Anyone would be stunned to hear such news. After all, while the old Qin Li was strong enough to face a Shattering Void Martial Artist head-on, and had even managed to outwit a supreme powerhouse like the Great Witch Master of the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm with a sneak attack, his true strength was only at the Venerable Realm!

While Qin Li could defeat a Shattering Void Martial Artist in a direct confrontation, he stood absolutely no chance against a Pill Nascent Soul Transformation expert!

She knew full well that she had played a crucial role in outwitting the Great Witch Master! If she hadn’t used the Suppression Technique to immobilize him for that single instant, how could Qin Li’s sneak attack possibly have succeeded?

But now, after a single battle of life and death, Qin Li had actually reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm! ’This... Is this even something a human can do?’

A Spirit Beast like the Great Witch Master had probably cultivated for tens of thousands of years to reach that realm.

And Qin Li wasn’t even thirty years old!

’He’s still so young! He has such a long road ahead of him, yet he’s already reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm. What kind of powerhouse will he become in the future?’

No one could say for sure!

Throughout the entire history of human Martial Artists, there had likely never been a single person who had reached such a realm at Qin Li’s age!

Even the Saintess of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, Han Mei, a peerless prodigy with the full resources of her Sect at her disposal, had only reached the Shattering Void realm.

The Shattering Void realm and Pill Nascent Soul Transformation might seem to be separated by only a single threshold, but that threshold was like an impassable chasm!

Having already reached the Shattering Void realm, Shangguan Shiyu knew perfectly well how incredibly difficult it was to cross that barrier, to make one’s Pill Core undergo a fundamental transformation and condense into a Nascent Soul.

Yet her man, after a single life-and-death battle and a grievous injury... had broken through just like that!

"Could you be the reincarnation of a Divine Spirit?" After a long silence, Shangguan Shiyu asked a question she herself could hardly believe. But this news had truly left her so overcome with joy that she was at a loss for words.

All her previous worries—about the people of the Qin Family, about the supreme powerhouses from the Land of the Far West—all of it vanished into thin air at that moment.

While she couldn’t say Qin Li’s strength had reached the pinnacle of the world, he had at least surpassed countless others—powerhouses who had cultivated for untold years!

"This is wonderful!" After a long moment, Shiyu finally came to her senses and threw herself into Qin Li’s arms, her face radiating pure joy.

...

Standing atop the great mountain, Qin Li and Shiyu reflected on all their experiences in the Mysterious Land over the past several days, and both couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

Sun Sea and his people remained behind. They needed time to rebuild their home and to heal in body and spirit. Not everyone could make the transition from slave to free person so quickly.

Qin Li and Shiyu weren’t the least bit worried about them seizing the Divine Water and Divine Grass. In the face of absolute power, those people stood no chance. Even before his breakthrough, they would have been no match for the Qin Family of today!

"Should we return to Profound Island right away?" Shiyu asked softly.

Qin Li nodded. "There’s no time to lose. The sooner we finish this, the sooner I can rest easy. Besides, now that I’ve reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, it’s time I went back to Black Tortoise Peak and claimed the Golden Palace!"

Shangguan Shiyu gazed at Qin Li with her Star Eyes and said suddenly, "I wonder if it’s possible to fit every member of the Qin Family inside the Golden Palace!"

Qin Li shook his head with a wry smile. "At the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, I can only barely control the Golden Palace. By ’barely control,’ I mean I can take it with me. But the core members of the Qin Family alone number over a hundred thousand. How could I possibly fit them all inside and take them away at once? I’d have to reach the Earth Immortal realm to do that. Until then, don’t even think about it!"

Shiyu playfully stuck out her tongue, realizing her idea had been a bit too fanciful.

Speaking of the Golden Palace, however, Qin Li remembered clearly that after reaching the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, not only could he control the palace, but he could also enter its second level!

Not only that, but at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, one could refine Treasure Artifacts! While he had been injured, Qin Li had studied all the knowledge left behind by Hu Yanbo, including the various principles of Alchemy.

Although he wouldn’t dare claim to be an Artifact Refining Master, at least in terms of theory, no one in the present world could compare to him!

Spiritual Artifacts, Treasure Artifacts, Tribulation Artifacts, Sacred Artifacts!

’I can refine Treasure Artifacts now. If I made one for Shiyu and the others, who would we have to fear? I doubt even the sects in the Land of the Far West are that extravagant! I haven’t even seen a single Spiritual Artifact to this day!’

’Although I’m sure that Spiritual Artifacts, Treasure Artifacts, and even Tribulation and Sacred Artifacts exist in the Land of the Far West, there certainly can’t be many of them!’

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Qin Li decided to start by refining Spiritual Artifacts. He was now eager to return to Profound Island and enter the second level of the Golden Palace, convinced that it held many of the things he was looking for.

’The first level produced Elixirs capable of creating Shattering Void Martial Artists. Could the second level possibly be ordinary?’

They were not far from the gate to Profound Island. It didn’t take long for Qin Li and Shiyu to reach it, and once inside, their journey was unimpeded. A little over a month later, they returned to the Qin Family.

After preparing for so long, Qin Suo had gathered the vast majority of the Qin Family’s resources and had everything ready, just waiting for Qin Li’s return.

There was more good news as well: the few Qin Family ancestors who had been in seclusion for several years had all finally broken through to the Venerable Realm, becoming Supreme Powerhouses! They had returned to the Qin Family a short while ago.

Normally, a family member breaking through to the Venerable Level would have been an earth-shattering event. After all, back in the day, the superfactions of Profound Island only had a dozen or so Supreme Powerhouses, at least on the surface.

But now, not even the ancestors themselves felt their breakthrough to the Venerable Realm was anything remarkable. That was because every single one of the seven Spirit Beasts guarding the Qin Family was incredibly powerful. Some were even more formidable, like She She and the Old Ape, Bai Zhongshan, who had received Elixirs. One had already entered the Shattering Void realm, while the other was beginning to advance to an even higher level!

It was precisely because of their presence that the Qin Family’s home had remained as impregnable as a fortress. No one dared to provoke them lightly.

Qinling Mountain was thrilled to see Qin Li. He had already heard that Qin Li’s current strength far surpassed that of all the ancestors combined. If he learned that Qin Li had already ascended to an even higher realm, who knows what his expression would be? Would he marvel at Qin Li’s monstrous talent, or would he sigh and wonder what great fortune the Qin Family’s ancestors had brought upon them?

Seeing no signs of the invasion he had anticipated, Qin Li breathed a sigh of relief. After instructing the family to prepare for a large-scale migration, he set off for Black Tortoise Peak alone.

This was because, aside from She She, all the other Spirit Beasts were in closed-door cultivation.

He knew that after taking the Elixirs, the Spiritual Eagle and the Ink Eagle had both leaped from the peak Earth Venerable realm to the Middle Stage of the Celestial Venerable realm. They were now in seclusion to stabilize their new foundations.

The Golden Eagle had shot up from the early Celestial Venerable realm directly to the peak, just a hair’s breadth from the Shattering Void realm. It was now preparing to make that final leap.

Bai Zhongxue, who had been a High Tier Celestial Venerable, broke through directly to the Basic Realm of Shattering Void after taking an Elixir. Bai Zhonghuo, originally at the peak of the Celestial Venerable realm, reached the Middle Level of the Shattering Void realm.

The only one still in Death Sealing was the Old Ape, Bai Zhongshan! After consuming those miraculous Elixirs, he had entered seclusion right after Qin Li left and had not emerged since.

It looked as if this old ape, who hadn’t advanced in countless years, might very well use this opportunity for his Inner Core to undergo Nascent Soul Transformation, and in one fell swoop, charge into the brand-new... Supreme Realm of Pill Nascent Soul Transformation!

Qin Li was naturally thrilled to hear this news. However, the progress of one other person weighed on his heart: Leng Yao.

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