Chapter 260: Chapter 258: 4 Seasons Martial Technique
The Suppression Technique was a nearly heaven-defying Cultivation Technique, but that didn’t mean it was invincible. Its biggest flaw was that, for now, it could only suppress Martial Artists below the Venerable Realm. Whether it could one day suppress a Supreme Powerhouse as their own strength grew remained to be seen.
But one thing was certain: if a Supreme Powerhouse from the Venerable Realm were to appear while they were executing the Suppression Technique, the two of them would likely suffer a terrible loss!
The moment one used the Suppression Technique, the Primordial Power in their body would be almost completely drained. The result would be the same even if they were holding Upper-Grade or even Top-Grade Spirit Stones!
The Cultivation Technique itself had to be powered by the Primordial Power within one’s own body. For this reason, both Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu decided that they would never use this technique in the future unless it was an absolute last resort.
Was the royal family of the New Qin Empire really that dangerous?
For a Mortal Martial Artist, the answer was a resounding yes. It wasn’t just dangerous; it was the very definition of a lion’s den!
Although the members of the Cui family who had come did not participate on the battlefield, they were following a rule: Martial Artists who had broken through to the Celestial Level were not to take part in worldly conflicts. Even if they followed behind the army, it was only to serve as a deterrent.
After all, the only reason rules existed was because some people loved to break them.
Therefore, one could only imagine the power held by the New Qin Empire’s royal family. Even though this royal family was just a branch of the Cui Family—perhaps not even considered a side branch—the Cui Family was ultimately a behemoth, far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
In the mortal world, a family with a hundred members living on a vast estate of several hundred acres might be considered large. A family with dozens of such estates, numbering over a thousand family members and several thousand servants, would be considered a great clan.
But a family like the Cui Family, after millions of years of accumulation, had grown to a scale that was simply unimaginable!
Take Cui City on Profound Island, for example, which was inhabited solely by the Cui Family’s Direct Lineage. Its population exceeded one hundred thousand! And that was just the tip of the iceberg for this massive Noble Family, only its most direct descendants.
In total, the entire Cui clan, counting every last person, numbered no fewer than a million strong!
This was why the foundations of a superpower were said to be immeasurably deep, making them nearly impossible for a single individual to topple.
There were too many people. Even if they all stood still and let you kill them, you could kill until you dropped from exhaustion, and you still wouldn’t be able to finish them all!
And a so-called mid-tier family like the Qin Family of Fengsha City likely had a population of over one hundred thousand if everyone was counted! They were like a towering tree with a thick trunk and lush foliage, sprouting countless branches! And beneath the ground, unseen, was a root system just as vast as the canopy above!
This was the foundation of a powerful family.
Then there was the Thousand Kills Sect. Had Qin Li really wiped them all out? No, far from it. They still had three Supreme Elders, a genius named Pang Wen, and besides the members on the sect’s mountain, they had tens of thousands of disciples scattered across the land!
Therefore, to truly "cut the weeds and pull out the roots" was a nearly impossible task when dealing with a great clan or a major sect. But Qin Li’s slaughter at the Thousand Kills Sect had eliminated all their elites. It could be said that he had almost crippled and ruined the sect. Even if they wanted to make a comeback, it would be impossible without the efforts of ten, or even dozens, of generations.
Often, the so-called annihilation of a clan didn’t actually mean killing every single member. Instead, it was as Qin Li had done: killing off everyone in a family or sect who had hope, potential, and power. The rest wouldn’t be able to cause any trouble, and over time, a once-glorious and massive family or sect would gradually fade away.
It was just like Leng Yao’s family. Overnight, the entire Direct Lineage of the Leng Family was slaughtered. Did that mean no one was left besides Leng Yao? Not necessarily. It was just that those who remained lacked the ability to seek revenge, even if they wanted to.
Hatred was immense in the hearts of the current generation, something that could not be forgotten. But as time passed, after two or three generations, or even eight or ten, who would still remember those events? It was even possible that the descendants of the Leng Family would forget that their ancestors had once been glorious.
It was a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.
As for the confrontation between Qin Li and the Cui Family, to put it nicely, it was one man fighting a superpower and dealing them a few embarrassing blows.
But to be more realistic, it was nothing more than a junior from the Cui Family’s Direct Lineage squabbling with Qin Li over a woman, losing, and leaving in disgrace.
Then, in Fengsha City, the Cui Family attempted to get their hands on the Qin Family’s Elixir Formulas. Those arrogant members of the Cui Family’s side branches clashed with the Qin Family and were annihilated.
The Cui Family had lost face yet again.
In truth, from the perspective of the entire Cui Family, these incidents were not particularly serious.
As a family with immeasurably deep foundations, no one would look down on them just because of these events. Therefore, there was no need for them to react with extreme ferocity right away and try to annihilate the entire Qin Family.
This point could be seen from the Cui family’s reaction at the auction house. In their eyes, Qin Li was merely a young genius with great strength and outstanding talent. The Cui Family had geniuses like that too!
Of course, if the opportunity arose to eliminate such a genius, the Cui Family would do so without hesitation. They could tolerate people in the world having grudges against them—after all, it would be nonsense to claim that such a massive family never offended anyone.
But they would never allow someone to genuinely threaten their entire family!
If that were to happen, they would risk everything to eliminate that person. Clearly, in the eyes of the Cui Family, the current Qin Li was merely a significant threat, not yet someone who could affect the very survival of their family.
Therefore, their attitude toward Qin Li was: kill him if they could, but if they couldn’t... it wasn’t a big deal. The Cui Family had many Supreme Powerhouses; were they really supposed to be afraid of Qin Li?
In reality, these were all things that Qin Li had figured out on his own, little by little.
Although he had lived two lives, he wasn’t the kind of super genius with a monstrous intellect. Moreover, in his past life, he had almost never encountered a behemoth like the Cui Family. He had rarely even come into contact with a family as large as the Qin Family of Yellow Sand City.
Reaching this point today was partly due to the unyielding fighting spirit in his bones, but a large part of it was also luck!
Admittedly, luck was indispensable for a person to achieve greatness, but Qin Li knew well that a person couldn’t be lucky forever, nor could they expect luck to always be on their side!
Especially after hearing those legends from Qin Haiyang, a thought took root in Qin Li’s heart: ’In this life, I must give it my all, sacrifice everything, to stand at the very peak and see what kind of world this truly is!’
’Otherwise, wouldn’t this life have been for nothing?’
’As for the Cui Family, no matter how powerful they are, they can’t be a high wall blocking my path. At most, they are just a stumbling block. Nothing more!’
’If it’s in my way, I’ll just kick it aside!’
’It’s that simple!’
After thinking through these matters, Qin Li’s mood naturally brightened, and he felt a sense of sudden clarity.
Especially after learning the likely reason why the Cui Family was occupying mortal territories like this, causing trouble for their royal family had become an inevitability!
’You’re already powerful enough. So how could I possibly allow you to become even stronger?’
"Halt! Who are you?"
A guard at the Imperial Palace gate bellowed, "This is the Imperial City! It’s off-limits to commoners! Leave at once!"
Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu had no intention of making things difficult for these ordinary people. Tapping their toes to the ground, they leaped into the air and shot directly toward the inside of the Imperial Palace!
"Who dares trespass in the Imperial Palace? You’re not leaving!"
With a furious roar, a dozen or so Celestial Level Martial Artists instantly rose into the air from the inner courtyard. They attacked without mercy, all their moves intended to kill.
After all, trespassing in the Imperial Palace was a crime punishable by death!
Even an ordinary family wouldn’t think twice about killing an intruder who forced their way in like this.
"Get lost!"
Qin Li let out a cold shout. A wave of energy exploded from his body, and the dozen or so imperial guards in the sky were instantly overwhelmed by the pressure, their breathing thrown into disarray as they tumbled from the air.
Qin Li didn’t kill them. It wasn’t out of pity, but because killing people like this made no difference. He needed to build up his killing intent for the battles to come!
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!
The sound of arrows slicing through the air came from the palace’s crossbowmen, who had immediately prepared to shoot the pair down.
Shangguan Shiyu snorted coldly. With a wave of her hands, an overwhelming force, like mountains toppling and seas overturning, violently swept the incoming arrows back where they came from. Below, chaos erupted, mixed with the sounds of forcefully suppressed screams.
"All of you, stand down!" A furious roar suddenly came from the sky, stopping the crossbowmen and palace guards from attacking again. Then, a figure shot out from the depths of the Imperial Palace, fast as lightning, rushing toward the two of them. The weapon in his hand was a black long spear!
The man was tall and powerful, and his black long spear radiated a chilling killing intent. Flying through the air, he viciously thrust his spear toward Qin Li.
"Die, you rat!"
"I’ll handle this!" Shangguan Shiyu said coolly. She brandished her Treasure Sword, and a streak of brilliant green light suddenly appeared in the sky. It was as dazzling and moving as the first hint of vibrant green emerging from the earth as it thaws from a long, icy winter!
The entire sky was filled with the aura of spring!
The ultimate technique of the Four Seasons Sect, the Four Seasons Combat Skill!
The fierce spear thrust was entangled by this streak of green and immediately stalled. The man snorted coldly. "Not bad. But... you still have to die!"
With a vicious flick of his long spear, countless black afterimages appeared in the sky, each one laced with powerful killing intent!
Shangguan Shiyu didn’t speak. With a flick of her Treasure Sword, the green shadow vanished, replaced by a streak of fiery red!
