Only I am Venerable

After witnessing the might and numbers of the Qin Family, Sun Hai and his group chose to join them directly. The entire process was remarkably smooth, without even a hint of conflict.

Qin Li then took Bai Zhongshan into the second floor of the Golden Palace and began his secluded cultivation.

The moment Bai Zhongshan entered the second floor, he was crushed by the intense gravity, barely able to breathe. After unleashing his full power, he managed to last for less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn before refusing to ever go back in.

On the second floor of the Golden Palace, Bai Zhongshan felt as if he was enveloped by death itself. He marveled at how much of a monster Qin Li was while developing a deep-seated fear of the place.

Qin Li had no choice but to let Bai Zhongshan take some of the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures from the Golden Palace and report back to the family. Although they had a vast complex of castles, the entire Qin Family was still in a state of disrepair, waiting to be rebuilt.

Everything had to be started from scratch, but not a single person who had chosen to follow Qin Li here had any complaints.

Reclaiming fertile land, constructing houses, digging irrigation channels... Everyone burst forth with a surprising amount of passion. It was actually easy to understand. A home built with one’s own hands is a completely different concept from one inherited from ancestors.

This was especially true now that the Qin Family had an Alchemy Grandmaster like Leng Yao. The quality of the Qin Family’s elixirs was on a completely different level than before. Under the tutelage of the Golden Eagle Spirit and the Ink Eagle, the family’s disciples were also improving at a remarkable rate.

Qin Li’s secluded cultivation on the second floor of the Golden Palace lasted for another full year!

Qin Li knew full well that of the eight Ancient Maps in existence, he held six. As long as he didn’t show himself, no one would be able to open the gates of the Ancient Divine Temple!

’So, let the outside world be chaotic. It has nothing to do with me. Only when I possess true, overwhelming strength can I roam this world freely!’

It could be said that the appearance of those powerhouses from the Land of the Far West had deeply provoked Qin Li, making him understand that without absolute strength, he would always be at the mercy of others!

’Without immense power, even someone like Han Mei could humiliate me as she pleased that day!’

’Not to mention those Purple-eyed Powerhouses I killed. If their sects ever found out, they would never let me go!’

’And what about Bu Yunyan, Zhao Qianqian, and Linghu Feiyue? How are they faring in the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace? Are they being bullied? They must have been taken away by force back then, without even a chance to say goodbye to me!’

This incident had been a source of suppressed rage deep within Qin Li’s heart. ’If I had a power greater than the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, would they have dared to take my people away like that?’

Everything, all of it, came down to one word—strength!

Bare-chested and sweating profusely, Qin Li trained desperately on the second floor of the Golden Palace!

Qin Li couldn’t even recall the last time he had pushed himself this hard. It seemed like it might have been in his past life, during the days when the old Daoist priest was teaching him. When he first started learning the Lightweight Skill, he had trained just as frantically as he was now, with iron sandbags tied to his legs.

If any outsider were to see Qin Li at this moment, they would never believe he was a supreme powerhouse at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm! Those who didn’t know better would think he was just some Martial Artist from an ordinary martial arts hall, showing off his strength!

And his method of showing off was laughable... He would repeatedly toss a fist-sized seal, then sit on the ground, panting, to rest. After a short break, he would toss it again!

No one knew that this ordinary-looking, dark-red seal was actually a Treasure Artifact weighing two million jin!

After obtaining the seal that day, Qin Li had searched his memories for a long time and finally found information about this Treasure Seal.

This seal was forged by Hu Yanbo, who had completely smelted one million jin of refined gold, one million jin of Top-Grade Spirit Jade, five hundred thousand jin of Upper Grade Spirit Stones, and countless other rare materials, then painstakingly refined them into this single seal!

The Qilin-like beast on the seal was a type of Ancient Divine Beast named Qi! The seemingly knife-carved lines were actually the form the treasure itself had coalesced into during the refining process, a result of Hu Yanbo’s will! This was the peak state of Qin Li’s Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable battle technique: Spiritualization! Using Spiritual Thought as a knife to sculpt the treasure!

Such a heavy treasure should not have been a mere Treasure Artifact, but at the time, Hu Yanbo was only at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm! Later, as his realm continued to rise, he had considered re-refining it, but ultimately decided against it. This Treasure Seal was, in a way, a memento of Hu Yanbo’s past.

After much difficulty, Qin Li had found Hu Yanbo’s memories about this seal tucked away in a corner, and he couldn’t help but be shocked. He was also at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, but if he were to attempt Artifact Refining, he could never hope to reach Hu Yanbo’s level, who casually refined items weighing millions of jin.

Never mind finding so many materials; even if he had them, Qin Li wouldn’t be able to control them right now!

This must be the fundamental reason why Hu Yanbo was able to achieve the Dao through Artifact Refining. When it came to this craft, he was a true super-genius!

Qin Li continued to train relentlessly. From being able to stay on the second floor of the Golden Palace for only one hour at the beginning, he gradually increased it to an hour and the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Now, a year later, Qin Li could last for two full hours at a stretch—two hours of desperate, non-stop training.

Only after two hours would he be completely unable to withstand the astonishing gravity inside the Golden Palace and be teleported out.

Then, every morning at dawn, Qin Li would sit at the highest point of the Golden Palace, absorbing the Innate Purple Qi! As a result, after just one year, the purple infant inside his body already looked lifelike, though its eyes remained tightly shut.

However, Qin Li also knew that there were only two possibilities for it to open its eyes. The first was if his physical body were destroyed, forcing all his consciousness and memories to transfer into this nascent Pill Core to escape! The second was when the Celestial Thunder descended, and it was time to face the Thunder Tribulation!

Therefore, Qin Li didn’t think he could reach the Thunder Tribulation realm anytime soon, nor did he wish to face it now. ’No matter how strong a person is, the saying that man can conquer heaven is just a slogan, not a fact!’

After reaching the Blood Exchange stage, the fifth level of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable battle technique, Qin Li had trained for another full year on the second floor of the Golden Palace. His body had been refined to a state nearing the Vajra Indestructible realm of Buddhism!

He couldn’t be absolutely certain, but basically, there was no other Martial Artist in the world at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm like him!

Forget Pill Nascent Soul Transformation; even Martial Artists in the Venerable Realm rarely engaged in such insane Body Refining. For the vast majority, as long as their Primordial Power was abundant and their techniques were powerful enough, that was sufficient!

Which Martial Artist who had cultivated beyond the Venerable Realm would have a weak body? Their lifespans were long enough. Who would risk their life to do something that only ordinary people would do?

And so, there was only Qin Li!

This man, who would surely be called a fool by anyone who knew, had withstood a hundred times the force of gravity and trained like a madman for a year!

Of course, Qin Li was no fool. Through this continuous training, he had truly benefited immensely! He could genuinely feel the tremendous changes within himself!

Normally, someone at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm would never dare to stand still and take a palm strike from a Venerable Realm Martial Artist without circulating their Protective Gang Qi.

The power of a Venerable Realm expert was beyond imagination—cleaving mountains, shattering rocks, breaking iron, and snapping gold were all trivial matters!

How could a human body possibly be harder than metal and stone? This was common knowledge!

But the current Qin Li could stand there, without using his Protective Gang Qi, and take a palm strike from a Venerable Realm Martial Artist. He might not be completely unscathed, but he wouldn’t be far from it!

In other words, if Qin Li were to fully unleash his Protective Gang Qi and his entire strength, and he exchanged a single, mutually destructive blow with an opponent at the same Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, the opponent would be blasted to smithereens while Qin Li himself would not suffer much damage!

This was his true gain!

One year later, when Qin Li felt that continuing to train on the second floor of the Golden Palace was no longer as effective as before, he finally decided to come out of seclusion!

In that year, the Qin Family had also undergone a massive transformation. The castle complex, which had been lifeless during the era of Spirit Beast rule, was now brimming with vitality.

All sorts of shops lined the streets. Even the disciples of the Qin Family needed to use Contribution Points to obtain elixirs or other high-level items.

These Contribution Points could be earned through simple tasks like guarding the family’s medicine shop, gathering medicinal herbs, or farming crops. A complete system had been formed over thousands of years.

Outside the main castle complex, many new buildings had also appeared, constructed by some of the Qin Family’s servants and branch family members.

There were also various manors and courtyards built in different locations.

All of this gave the basin a vibrant, thriving atmosphere.

While Qin Li had been improving over the year, so had everyone else. Leng Yao had successfully refined elixirs from the Dragon Whip Grass. Shiyu, Leng Yao, Qin Wenxuan, Qin Hanyue, Qin Xue, several of the Qin Family’s old ancestors, Qin Suo, and Shiyu’s mother were the first to take this elixir. Now, with the exception of Shiyu who had already come out, almost everyone else was still in secluded cultivation.

So, when Qin Li returned, he only saw Shiyu.

In the room, Shiyu was nestled in Qin Li’s arms, her face flushed red, her hair a mess, and her breathing uneven. Just moments ago, the two had nearly crossed the line.

If Qin Li hadn’t maintained a final shred of sanity, Shiyu would have likely gone from a young maiden to a young wife right then and there.

"When they all come out of seclusion, I’ll have my mother arrange our wedding!" Qin Li said softly, holding Shiyu close and inhaling the intoxicating fragrance from her body.

"Mm," Shiyu, who had been longing for this day for a long time, agreed in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz. Her eyelids lowered, her face blushing, but then she looked up, her star-like eyes fixed on Qin Li. With a look that was three parts conflicted and seven parts determined, she said, "Marry Leng Yao, too!"

"This..."

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Emotions have calmed a bit, there will be another update in a while! (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com. More Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)