Only I am Venerable

Chapter 295: Chapter 293: The Crazy Cui Family

"Ah? Wh-what... What’s going on?" an elderly Venerable Realm expert from the Thousand Mechanism Sect stammered, his eyes wide with disbelief. He stared at the eight large characters lingering in the sky like a divine miracle, completely losing his usual composure.

But no one dared to laugh at him, because everyone else was in a similar state.

"Heavens, what... what does this mean? The Venerable Competition... is this the last one?"

"I’m gonna faint. Doesn’t this mean I’ll never have another chance to get treasures from the Golden Palace?" Shen Le stared blankly at the sky, the corners of his mouth twitching violently.

Shangguan Shiyu gazed at the eight characters in the sky with her cool, clear eyes, her brows furrowed. She felt the calligraphy was familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before. Then, a sentence Qin Li had said, almost as a joke, echoed in her mind: "From now on, you are the mistress of this Golden Palace!"

At the time, Shangguan Shiyu hadn’t thought much of it. But now, seeing these eight characters and thinking about Qin Li’s recent strange behavior, the things he’d said, and... the unfortunate Cui Family!

A flash of insight struck Shangguan Shiyu. She suddenly seemed to understand everything, and a smile blossomed on her face.

Seeing Shangguan Shiyu’s smile, Qin Li’s heart stirred. ’This girl really is smart,’ he thought. ’To figure out the key to the matter in such a short time.’

Just then, Shangguan Shiyu turned her head, her gaze meeting Qin Li’s. They shared a smile, a perfect understanding passing between them without a word.

"Why would this happen? Why would the Golden Palace leave such a message? Does this mean that from now on, there will be no more Venerable Competitions?" an elder from the Sword Concealment Manor asked loudly, his face filled with sorrow. However, no one could give him the answer he sought.

"I’ve always suspected that the Golden Palace is the dwelling place of a god. Could it be that we have lost the god’s favor?" A female Venerable from the Ice Edge camp, her face veiled, muttered to herself, "I fear an even greater change is coming!"

With that, she turned and gave a calm order to the people of Ice Edge, "Depart immediately. We’re going home!"

Lin Heng came over then, cupped his fist toward Qin Li, and said with a solemn expression, "Qin, my apologies. We should have been celebrating our gains from the Golden Palace together, but with this turn of events, we must return to our family at once to report the matter. As for the Cui Family... should they make a move, the Lin Family... will not stand idly by!"

Shen Le also walked over, his smile as wide as ever. Watching Lin Heng’s hasty departure, Shen Le said nonchalantly, "This is actually pretty great. If it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s not the end of the world, so why is everyone looking so glum? Tch, how boring! As if it has anything to do with them. It’s better this way. My name will be forever engraved in the annals of Profound Island, hahaha!"

Qin Li looked at Shen Le, speechless. ’This guy is a born optimist,’ he thought, ’but he’s very likable.’

"Shen, about that wedding you mentioned before, is it for real?" Qin Li asked with a smile.

"Heh, would I lie to you about something like that? Sigh, the woman... you actually know her, brother." Shen Le looked around furtively before whispering, "It’s Leng Fangfei from Ice Edge!"

"Ah?" Qin Li couldn’t help but be taken aback. On second thought, however, such marriage alliances between major sects were normal. Leng Fangfei was very beautiful, but she gave off an extremely cold impression, which was probably related to her cultivation technique. ’Having a wife who is so powerful and yet so aloof will probably be more than a guy like Shen Le can handle,’ he mused.

"Congratulations, congratulations!" Qin Li immediately said with a wide, cheeky grin that looked like it was asking for a punch.

"Congratulations, my ass!" Shen Le said with a dejected look. "That woman’s already at the Celestial Embracing Realm, and she looks at me like I’m a child! Damn it, this is all my old man’s fault..."

As Shen Le was speaking, he suddenly noticed Qin Li giving him a look. He just curled his lip nonchalantly and continued, "I’m not afraid even if my old man hears me! It’s a tragedy to be a disciple of a major sect. You can’t even... "

Before Shen Le could finish, a cold, indifferent voice came from behind him. "Shen Le, if you don’t like it, I can speak with Master and call off the engagement. I won’t stand in the way of your future!" Although the voice was incredibly cold, one could still detect a hint of hurt and... anger!

A shiver ran through Shen Le. He turned around, and the fawning smile on his face made Qin Li want to kick him to death.

"Fangfei, what are you doing here? Hehe, um, I was just joking with Qin!" He then turned to Qin Li with a reproachful look and asked, "Right?!"

Before Qin Li could speak, Leng Fangfei snorted coldly. "Who cares what you were doing!" With that, she turned and walked away.

Shen Le stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

Qin Li, suppressing his laughter, said, "The young lady clearly has feelings for you. She came over to say goodbye, and you said something like that. Aren’t you going to go after her?"

Shen Le scratched his head. He suddenly felt that Qin Li had a point, but something still seemed off. For now, though, his only option was to chase after his fiancée.

After running a few steps, he finally realized what was wrong. Qin Li had been facing Leng Fangfei and must have seen her coming long before, yet he hadn’t warned him. Shen Le couldn’t help but feel he’d made a poor choice in friends. He turned back and roared, "I demand one hundred Top-Grade Elixirs as emotional compensation... no, two hundred!"

Seeing Leng Fangfei floating away, Shen Le had to give up his chance to extort Qin Li. With a flash, he disappeared in pursuit.

At this point, many more people came over to bid Qin Li farewell. Regardless of what they truly thought, Qin Li’s rise was now unstoppable! Even the Cui Family might not be able to destroy him. Once Qin Li fully matured, it would be difficult to find anyone on Profound Island who could match him for the next thousand years!

Finally, the party was over, and the crowd dispersed.

The Qin family party also began their journey home. Inside a carriage, Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu sat together. Qin Li took out the Qiankun Pill, the Drifting Sword Technique, and the Blood Jade Sword, and placed them all in Shangguan Shiyu’s hands.

Looking into Shangguan Shiyu’s clear, bright eyes, Qin Li smiled. "Look what treasures your husband brought back for you!"

"My greatest treasure is you," Shangguan Shiyu whispered, her brilliant eyes gazing at Qin Li as she leaned into his embrace.

Qin Li smiled and said softly, "After we get back this time and attend that guy Shen Le’s wedding, let’s... get married too."

Nestled in Qin Li’s arms, Shangguan Shiyu gave a soft sound of assent, her face flushing a beautiful, indescribable crimson.

...

「Fengsha City. The Qin Family Estate.」

At this very moment, a bloody battle was raging!

While the Venerable Competition was in full swing elsewhere, the Qin Family was suddenly attacked. Although the family had taken precautions, they still suffered some casualties from the surprise assault.

Xiaohai, who was on the verge of a breakthrough, arrived in time to join the battle, but even he could not hold back the tide-like enemy assault. Just as the Qin Family was on the brink of collapse, three super-powerful experts descended from the sky!

They truly descended from the heavens, for the arrivals were none other than Golden Eagle, Spiritual Eagle, and Ink Eagle!

With the addition of two Earth Venerables and one Celestial Venerable-level Martial Artist, the Qin Family’s disadvantage was instantly reversed. Although they didn’t know the origins of the big man and the two beautiful women, everyone in the Qin Family knew that the family was saved!

Because the three ancestors, including Qin Haiyang, had all left Fengsha City to enter secluded cultivation for a breakthrough, the Qin Family’s current strength was extremely weak. Even Leng Yao was preparing to join the fray with an icy expression.

However, she was desperately talked out of it by the group of Qin family members responsible for her protection. Although Leng Yao had never demonstrated her Alchemy skills, her ambiguous relationship with Qin Li alone was enough that no one dared to let the young miss come to even the slightest harm.

In fact, at the same time the Qin Family was attacked, many other mid-tier families and sects across Profound Island were also under assault!

And the attackers, naturally, were the Cui Family and their allied families and sects!

It was as if they had gone mad. Aside from the other six major powers, almost every faction on good terms with the Qin Family was attacked that night!

Furthermore, the Martial Artists dispatched by the Cui Family’s alliance were all extremely powerful, displaying astonishing strength. Not only that, but the alliance seemed to have calculated their opponents’ strength beforehand, as the forces they sent were always just enough to annihilate the enemy’s elite core.

For this reason, that night came to be known as the darkest night in the history of Profound Island!

According to convention, even feuds were handled with rational retaliation. An act like the Cui Family’s—dispatching dozens of forces to attack dozens of families simultaneously—was unprecedented in history.

Even if the Cui Family’s most promising young genius had been killed, that was a matter concerning Qin Li alone. How did they dare to risk universal condemnation by attacking so many families and sects at once?

How could the other six super-powers just stand by and watch? How could they let the Cui Family act so crazily?

It wasn’t until the Cui Family truly bared all its fangs that people finally understood why they were being so brazen.

"You three masters, all of the Cui Family’s men are dead. Would... would you like to come in and rest, have something to eat?" a Qin Family steward asked, looking at Golden Eagle, Spiritual Eagle, and Ink Eagle with a hint of fear.

The power these three had displayed last night was so tyrannical it was terrifying. The men the Cui Family had sent were, in the eyes of the Qin family, so powerful as to be unstoppable. If not for Xiaohai’s desperate resistance, the Qin Family’s casualties would have been even greater!

But after these three appeared, the Cui Family’s men were like trash. Not a single one of them could withstand even a single blow from the trio!

Moreover, what puzzled the Qin family was that Xiaohai seemed to be afraid of these three. Ever since they appeared, Xiaohai had automatically retreated to the Qin Family’s rear courtyard to stand guard over Leng Yao.

Golden Eagle shook his head slightly and said, "You don’t need to worry about us. We will remain here to guard the Qin Family."