Only I am Venerable

Qin Li sighed softly and stored the giant beast’s massive body in his Storage Ring. The ring’s space had expanded along with his Spiritual Power, but it was now almost full. A vast expanse of Cold Jade Flowers alone took up a huge amount of room.

Qin Li stood by the sea as a gentle sea breeze began to blow. Waves lapped continuously against the sandy shore, and the evening sun shone down on him, stretching his shadow out long.

’It’s time to go back to Profound Island!’

After meeting up with She She, Leng Yao, and their group, the large ship began its return voyage to Hai City.

On this trip, Old Zhang had made a fortune. His life was about to be turned upside down, and his whole family was grinning from ear to ear.

Leng Yao and She She had some idea of the various crises and hardships Qin Li had experienced over the past few days. Seeing him return safely, and with the Cold Jade Flower they had been searching for, they were naturally overjoyed.

Leng Yao, in particular, couldn’t resist and began refining the Strengthening Pills right there on the ship. She hadn’t fully understood the significance of these elixirs before, but as her perspective widened, Leng Yao finally realized that they would cause a massive sensation in any super sect in this world!

The efficacy of this elixir was practically that of a Divine Pill!

It wasn’t the least bit inferior, even when compared to the elixirs inside the Golden Palace! One had to remember that the elixir Qin Li gave to Shangguan Shiyu couldn’t be mass-produced, and its requirements were extremely restrictive! How many Innate Spirit Bodies could one find after searching the whole world?

At the same time, after hearing from She She that the people who had clashed with Qin Li were from the Land of the Far West and possessed immense power at a very young age, Leng Yao made a bold deduction. ’The sects those people come from must also have Elixir Formulas similar to the Ancient Pill Formulas!’

Otherwise, even if they had started cultivating in the womb, it would be absolutely impossible to reach the Shattered Void realm in their twenties.

The Ancient Pill Formulas also recorded several elixirs that could be considered Divine Grade. The only problem was, Leng Yao had never even heard of the materials required to refine those elixirs. Finding those Heavenly and Earthly Treasures would be harder than ascending to heaven!

The rest of the journey passed without incident.

After returning to Hai City, under the reluctant gazes of Old Zhang and his family, Qin Li hired a luxurious horse-drawn carriage for himself, She She, and Leng Yao, and they began their journey home!

Qin Li now knew that Bu Yunyan, Zhao Qianqian, and Little Fox had been taken by people from the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace. It seemed they intended to take the three as disciples, so there shouldn’t be any malicious intent. Then again, even if the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace did have malicious intentions, with his current strength, Qin Li was powerless to stop them.

The transcendent power of the woman in white alone was a clear indication of this.

’And that’s with the woman in white not even having much combat experience. If she’d been through countless battles, big and small, like I have, it would have been incredibly difficult for me to escape from her!’

At the very least, Qin Li now knew the approximate location of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace. All he needed to do now could be summed up in two words: improve his strength!

...

「Profound Island.」

Ever since the Cui Family had been completely wiped out, all the participating families and sects on Profound Island had profited immensely. However, there were two things they wanted most that they hadn’t obtained at all!

First were the numerous nations the Cui Family controlled in the Mortal Realm! Such matters were kept as top-secret files. Even within the Cui Family, only a few high-ranking members knew the details, and with the family’s annihilation, these secrets would be submerged in the river of time.

Second were the supreme treasures the Cui Family had accumulated over ten thousand years! All kinds of Cultivation Techniques, combat skills, countless priceless treasures, weapons, armor, and those exceptionally rare Heavenly and Earthly Treasures... but unexpectedly, they had all been taken by someone first. Moreover, the poisonous mist inside the treasure room had even killed a good number of people.

This frustration remained bottled up inside the chests of Profound Island’s families and sects. If they couldn’t vent it completely, they would probably get sick from it over time.

「Thousand Mechanism Sect.」

Shen Longxing leaned back relaxedly in a lounge chair in the courtyard, facing the warm afternoon sun. He squinted his eyes, lost in thought.

His son, Shen Le, was on good terms with Qin Li. Initially, Shen Longxing hadn’t paid it much mind. ’For the future heir of a major sect, having a wide circle of friends is a good thing!’

Besides, every generation had its own way of doing things. As Shen Le’s father, Shen Longxing was happy to watch his son grow up on his own. If one always cowered under the wings of their elders, how could they ever spread their true wings and soar to the highest heavens?

However, after discovering Qin Li’s true strength, Shen Longxing began to pay close attention to him. To his shock, Qin Li’s rate of ascent was so fast that even he, the Sect Leader of a super sect, was horrified!

’If this boy is allowed to keep developing like this, the entirety of Profound Island will probably belong to the Qins within a thousand years!’

Although the various super-powers still had ancestors at the Shattered Void realm watching over them, the appearance of a few experts from the Land of the Far West during the battle with the Cui Family had given Shen Longxing a sense of crisis, even though they were defeated.

’Heaven knows if those powerful Martial Artists from the Land of the Far West will show up here again. And then there’s this Qin Li... The Qin Family seems very weak right now, as if any super-power could crush them with the lift of a finger. But is that really true?’

According to reports from the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s informants, three incredibly powerful Martial Artists—one man and two women—were currently staying with the Qin Family. Someone had witnessed them appear in the nick of time to fend off the Cui Family’s attack. It was said that all three possessed the strength of a Venerable, and might have even reached the Earth Venerable or Celestial Venerable realm!

And that stunning woman in black by Qin Li’s side, she was a formidable character as well...

’Thinking about all this,’ Shen Longxing had a feeling, ’I... seem to have made a mistake. I shouldn’t have offended Qin Li. My past self was completely blinded by immediate benefits, unlike my son, Shen Le, who has better foresight.’

’This is probably one of the drawbacks of being a leader for so many years... arrogance! I thought I was already rating Qin Li highly, but in truth, I still wasn’t taking this young, rising star seriously.’

Now, it seemed, he had been wrong. The destruction of the Cui Family, only for their core treasury to be found empty, was like a vicious slap across the faces of all of Profound Island’s powerful figures!

For the first time, it made Shen Longxing feel his age.

’So be it!’ Shen Longxing heaved a heavy sigh. ’I should follow in the footsteps of my ancestors and enter seclusion in the back mountains to cultivate!’ With this thought, he said softly, "Go, bring the Young Sect Leader here."

Speaking of whom, Shen Le hadn’t been in a very good mood for the last half-year. He constantly felt that he had let his friend down, that he had wronged Qin Li.

Shen Le might have seemed cynical and playful on a daily basis, even a bit like a spoiled young master, but he was actually a sensitive and meticulous person at heart.

He knew his actions that day had hurt Qin Li. Although on the surface he had done everything that could be expected of him, he had to admit that if he had been just a little more resolute, his father, Shen Longxing, might not have set his sights on Qin Li.

In Shen Le’s opinion, this course of action was the height of foolishness! He believed he understood Qin Li to a certain degree and knew that Qin Li had absolutely no designs on the position of hegemon of Profound Island.

Not to mention, Qin Li didn’t even have the power to become a hegemon yet. Shen Le had always disagreed with his father’s concerns. ’Does the appearance of a potential threat in this world mean you must kill them?’

However, he had no right to blame his father, nor did he want to. ’For better or worse, he’s still my father, isn’t he?’

On this matter, Shen Le’s newlywed wife, Leng Fangfei, was completely on his side. Leng Fangfei also believed that Qin Li had a great future ahead of him!

Furthermore, Leng Fangfei had told Shen Le that the reason Ice Edge had been friendly to Qin Li from the start, absolutely refusing to make an enemy of him, was because one of Ice Edge’s Supreme Elders who was skilled in the Ancient Divination Skill had performed a divination on Qin Li. The resulting reading had been a complete blur! Moreover, a golden light had flickered within that blur!

And that Supreme Elder who performed the divination spat up a mouthful of blood on the spot, suffering a severe injury!

One had to know, that Supreme Elder had already reached the strength of a Celestial Venerable over a hundred years ago! Yet now he had suffered a backlash from the divination. There could be... only one reason: Qin Li’s future achievements were limitless, destined to far surpass even that Supreme Elder of Ice Edge.

Shen Le was speechless for a long time after hearing this. He then asked Leng Fangfei why she hadn’t told him sooner. Leng Fangfei simply smiled nonchalantly and said to Shen Le, "Even if I had told you earlier, could you have stopped your father? Would you even have believed me?"

Shen Le was silent. It was true; if Leng Fangfei had told him sooner, he probably would have assumed Ice Edge had some scheme against the Thousand Mechanism Sect. They say a husband and wife should share one heart, but such unity must be built on a foundation of time.

"Young Sect Leader, the Sect Leader summons you." A voice called softly from the door of Shen Le’s room.

When Shen Le arrived at his father’s quiet and elegant courtyard, he saw his father lying on the lounge chair, contentedly basking in the sun. For some reason, he suddenly felt a sting in his nose, and the resentment he held toward his father unknowingly vanished.

"Le’Er, do you blame me?" Shen Longxing asked faintly, his eyes still closed to a squint.

"I wouldn’t dare."

"You ’wouldn’t dare’... which means you do. Heh, I don’t blame you. A person is bound to do a few foolish things in their life. I, your father, have always considered myself wise and have made almost no mistakes, save for two... One was your aunt. If I hadn’t indulged her willful nature back then, she wouldn’t have met such a tragic end. The other was my attitude toward Qin Li. I was inconsistent, caught in a dilemma of my own making. Now, I have to admit it: I was wrong!"

"Father..." Shen Le’s voice was choked with emotion, and his eyes grew red.

Shen Longxing waved his hand with a self-mocking smile and continued, "When a man gets old, he has to accept it. Even if profound cultivation grants you a lifespan of hundreds or even thousands of years, an aged mind is ultimately not as sharp as a young one’s. Therefore... I have decided. Effective immediately, you will be the new Sect Leader of the Thousand Mechanism Sect! As for me, I will retire from the forefront and go to the back mountains to cultivate!"

Hearing this, the color drained from Shen Le’s face in shock.