Only I am Venerable

Qin Li was momentarily stunned, but he quickly picked the fruits and placed them in his Storage Ring. The Hou said nothing more and led Qin Li to several types of metal ores he had never seen before. A single glance told him they were rare materials, likely used for alchemy.

"Alright, this is as much as I can help you with. From now on, you’re on your own, young man. We should have a chance to meet again!"

As the Hou spoke, its massive body suddenly trembled, unleashing a colossal force like an ocean tide that sent Qin Li flying into the air.

"Senior, wait..."

Qin Li’s vision suddenly shifted. He was back above the deep valley. As he came to his senses, he felt as if it had all been an illusion. He immediately extended the vast Spiritual Power from his Sea of Consciousness downward.

"Leave this place quickly. The people from the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace will be here soon. That place is sealed by an illusion. If you can return in five thousand years, you will have the strength to enter!"

The Hou’s voice echoed in Qin Li’s Sea of Consciousness. He stood dumbfounded for a moment, then checked his Storage Ring. More than thirty sapphire-like fruits lay quietly inside, along with a variety of Rare Metal ores. It was all a reminder that everything he had just experienced was real, not a dream.

Qin Li couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread. ’Thankfully, that Hou had no intention of harming me. If it had, I probably wouldn’t even have known how I died.’

Qin Li had never fully agreed with the Martial Artist Level system on the Celestial Essence Continent. It was normal for Martial Artists to be divided into ranks; after all, even some of the Martial Arts schools in his previous life had their own ranking systems.

However, he refused to believe that a Low Level practitioner could never defeat a High Level one. A person’s life experience, their wealth of combat knowledge, the weather, their mood... so many external factors could influence the course of a battle and even determine the victor.

Take Hai Jinzun, for example. His strength was clearly on par with Qin Li’s, yet he was no match for him at all. The main reason was Hai Jinzun’s lack of practical combat experience. He was a master in theory only. As for Qin Li, the vast combat experience he had accumulated from his past life to his present one was something Hai Jinzun could never hope to compare with.

It was like a person having 20,000 jin of strength. The power of their combat skill would first determine how much of that strength they could unleash. For example, a Divine-level Combat Skill might allow them to exert 19,900 jin of force, while High Level combat skills would only allow for 17,000 jin, and Intermediate Combat Skills a mere 15,000 jin.

This was why combat skills held such an important place in the hearts of Martial Artists.

Then there were the Primordial Power Heart Methods, which also determined the strength a Martial Artist could display.

All of these were important, but what mattered more was battle-hardened combat experience!

Without combat experience, no matter how strong one was in other aspects, they could only be considered an expert, but never one of the truly strong.

What did it mean to be strong? Only those who were stronger than others could be called strong!

And on the Celestial Essence Continent, the simplest manifestation of being stronger than others was that they were no match for you!

Qin Li hovered in mid-air, silently gazing down at the lush Forest of towering Ancient Trees in the deep valley for a moment before turning and vanishing into thin air.

Qin Li headed toward Tongtian City. He hadn’t been able to obtain the eighth piece of the Ancient Map from Lengqiu Palace, but he decided to put it out of his mind for now. This trip to the Land of the Far West had been incredibly rewarding for him!

Not only had he learned just how powerful the major forces in the Land of the Far West were, but his own strength had also improved. Although he had inexplicably become the new king of the Purple Eyes, he wasn’t particularly concerned about it.

’Because for a power like the Hai Family, if they want to eliminate someone, they can always find a mountain of high-sounding reasons to do it, even without this incident. People who don’t know the truth would even applaud them!’

’So, being one of the Purple Eyes or not doesn’t matter. I don’t even want the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, let alone Lengqiu Palace. To hell with them all, I’m done playing their games!’

As Qin Li thought, he considered the thirty-plus Blue Dream Fruits in his possession. According to the Hou, these fruits could basically help ten Martial Artists achieve the Quasi-Pill Nascent Soul Transformation!

The greatest strength of the powerful factions in the Land of the Far West wasn’t the number of old ancestors they had at the Thunder Tribulation Realm, but the vast number of Venerable Disciples and the significant quantity of high-level experts at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation stage!

They also had a considerable number of experts at the Shattered Void Realm!

’That’s what truly alarmed me. Because, just as they say, one Martial Artist at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation stage might not be your match, but what about five, ten, or twenty of them?’

’They could wear you down and kill you with sheer numbers!’

’Therefore, the only thing to do now is to help my people grow stronger as quickly as possible!’

Bu Yunyan and Zhao Qianqian were both still at the Venerable Realm, though Linghu Feiyue had entered the Shattered Void Realm. In fact, the progress of Bu Yunyan and Zhao Qianqian in particular could be described as advancing by leaps and bounds.

But in the Land of the Far West, that level of strength was only enough for self-preservation. While not exactly weak, it couldn’t be considered strong either.

However, Qin Li believed that Yongchun would help take care of them. The Moon Shaking Immortal Palace truly only hated him. They didn’t know about the relationship between him, Bu Yunyan, Zhao Qianqian, and the Little Fox. With Han Mei now expelled from the sect, the Little Fox even had a chance to become one of the next successors of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace!

Therefore, Qin Li didn’t consider forcibly taking Bu Yunyan and the others away. Leaving them at the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace was the best course of action.

Still disguised as a Firewood Delivery Servant, Qin Li blended into the crowd, drawing no attention. After entering Tongtian City, he found the place he had agreed to meet Cao Hong and went straight there.

Cao Hong was not home. The small courtyard was tidy and clean. And though it was small, it was complete with everything one could need, including pavilions, waterside gazebos, rockeries, and streams.

Qin Li sat on a lounge chair in the pavilion, closing his eyes to rest. Suddenly, he heard an extremely faint sound from outside. A sweep of his Divine Sense told him that Cao Hong had returned.

Cao Hong had been having a rather rough time lately. He never expected that damned bald youth, unable to find Qin Li, would actually target him instead!

He had even hired Tianya, the third-ranked assassin on the kill list, to hunt him down!

Having been in Tongtian City for so many years, Cao Hong naturally had his own sources. After learning of this, he was furious and prepared to assassinate the bald youth himself, only to find the man had already left Tongtian City long ago.

It was only then that Cao Hong heard that the youngest daughter of Tongtian City’s City Lord, Li Wan, had publicly declared Qin Li as her savior!

Cao Hong finally understood. ’No wonder that bald youth wants to kill me! He’s trying to silence a witness!’

All this time, Cao Hong had been avoiding any chance of a direct confrontation with Tianya, because he knew there was still a huge gap between his strength and Tianya’s.

In other words, if the two of them ever met, Cao Hong’s chances of escape were slim!

Because Tianya’s reputation was simply too formidable!

Cao Hong never held onto any delusions of luck, so he was always extremely cautious. Like right now, for instance. Cao Hong could tell with a single glance that there was someone... in his courtyard!

Although the lock on the main gate was still perfectly intact, and there wasn’t even a single footprint at the entrance, every assassin possessed an almost supernatural instinct... a gut feeling!

And Cao Hong’s intuition was remarkably accurate; it had never once been wrong since the day he started his career.

He suddenly felt a pang of nervousness. ’If the person in the courtyard is really Tianya, then it’s already too late to escape!’ Cao Hong knew very well that for his opponent to appear so brazenly in his courtyard, it meant his movements were already being tracked. If he turned and ran now, it would be an insult to himself.

He, Cao Hong, would rather die than do such a thing!

Cao Hong sighed softly and immediately grew calm. He took out his key, opened the door with a steady hand, and walked into the courtyard. As an outstanding assassin, possessing exceptional mental fortitude was a basic requirement. ’I’ve already avenged my great hatred. My only regret is that I can no longer follow Young Master Qin on his journey!’

With this thought, Cao Hong walked directly toward the back courtyard. On normal days, he also enjoyed lying on the lounge chair in the back pavilion to watch the sunset. Today, however, he probably wouldn’t live to see tomorrow’s.

As Cao Hong approached, he saw a dark-skinned young man in very ordinary clothes, lying on his lounge chair with his eyes half-closed, looking as if he were asleep!

Cao Hong instantly let out a long sigh of relief. He recognized him at a glance. The person before him was none other than Qin Li!

"Young Master, you’ve returned!" Cao Hong’s voice was tinged with excitement—a genuine, heartfelt excitement, for he had witnessed firsthand just how miraculous this young man was!

Qin Li opened his eyes, nodded with a smile, and said, "Cao Hong, you were careless. You have a tail."

"Ah?" Cao Hong froze, his heart skipping a beat. ’Was my intuition right after all? Did I just misjudge the enemy’s location? But there are very few people in this world who can tail me without me noticing!’

Even now, Cao Hong still couldn’t sense anyone. A look of defeat on his face, he looked at Qin Li and said with a wry smile, "Young Master, I still don’t feel anything. Could it be that the opponent is that much stronger than me?"

Qin Li smiled faintly and shook his head. "He’s still very far from here. About ten li away."

"What?" Cao Hong stood there, stunned, staring at Qin Li in disbelief. Although he knew how powerful this young man was, and that Qin Li possessed many miraculous abilities, he could never have imagined that Qin Li was this formidable!

’The Young Master can even detect someone tailing me from ten li away? Is... is that even humanly possible?’

"Young Master, how... how did you sense him?" Cao Hong asked, dumbfounded.

"He has killing intent directed at you," Qin Li said calmly.

-----------------

Xiaodao is planning to lose weight. After several years of writing, my weight has become severely excessive. My family has a history of hereditary liver disease; my grandfather, father, and two paternal uncles all died from it.

Because of my weight, a recent check-up revealed that I have a fatty liver. This might not be a big deal for a normal person, but for me, it is. I’ve rarely drunk alcohol in recent years, only having a little on rare occasions for social events I can’t refuse.

The doctor has warned me that I must lose weight. So, starting today, I can only guarantee updates of 6,000 characters per day.

After all, I have elders to care for and a child to raise. The burden of the entire family rests on my shoulders, so I can’t afford to collapse.

So, I want to apologize to everyone and hope all you brothers and sisters can understand. I wish you all good health. Please remember to exercise regularly, and don’t wait until you’re forced to do it in pain... (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!)