Chapter 301: Chapter 299: The Cui Family’s Underground City
With Hu Yanbo’s annihilation, the Golden Palace had already undergone a world-shaking transformation. It was just that some of these changes were still unknown to the public. For instance, the protection the Golden Palace offered to the winner of the Venerable Tournament had vanished into thin air along with Hu Yanbo.
If the power Hu Yanbo had bestowed upon the Venerable Tournament’s winner were still present, how could Qin Li have been injured by that old beggar?
If the Golden Palace was still in the era of Hu Yanbo before this most recent Venerable Tournament, then from the moment of his annihilation, the Golden Palace had already entered the era of Qin Li!
This was beyond doubt!
Qin Li sighed softly. He wasn’t afraid of these Three-headed White Apes, nor did he wish for a conflict with them, but Bai Zhongxue’s words were truly hurtful. Shaking his head slightly, he turned his gaze to the Golden Eagle and said softly, "Golden Eagle, let’s go."
"You’re not going anywhere!" Bai Zhongxue’s figure flashed, and she appeared before Qin Li. Since she hadn’t taken on a human form, her expression looked extremely savage. Her voice was ice-cold as she said, "You’re not leaving until you explain why you let those lowly humans into the Golden Palace!"
"Little Sister, don’t be like this. He’s the master of the Golden Palace now..." Bai Zhonghuo’s voice was filled with helplessness. He then looked at the Old Ape, Bai Zhongshan, beside him and said, "Big Brother, Master has been completely annihilated. The Golden Palace never belonged to us, so why are you doing this?"
"You traitor! Shut your mouth!" The Old Ape had an extremely explosive temper, and he snarled at Bai Zhonghuo, baring his fangs.
Qin Li’s expression was perfectly calm. He ignored the aggressive Bai Zhongxue and turned to the Old Ape, Bai Zhongshan, instead. "What do you want?" he asked.
"What do I want? Kid, the question here is, what do *you* think you’re doing?" A vicious light glinted in Bai Zhongshan’s eyes, and he looked ready to attack Qin Li at any moment.
"I am the successor chosen by my teacher. You can refuse to acknowledge my status, and you can ignore me. I don’t care about that. But the Golden Palace now belongs to me!"
Qin Li raised his head, fearlessly meeting Bai Zhongshan’s ferocious gaze. "You all come rushing over here to ask what I’m doing. Don’t you find that a little absurd?"
"And what gives you the right to say the Golden Palace is yours?" Bai Zhongxue flew into a humiliated rage when she saw that Qin Li still wouldn’t even spare her a glance. She roared furiously.
"What gives me the right? Heh. The fact that I can come and go as I please in this Golden Palace and control it at will, while *you* can’t even get inside!" Qin Li’s cold eyes narrowed, and a flash of anger crossed his face.
"..." Bai Zhongxue was rendered speechless by Qin Li’s retort. He was right. They really couldn’t enter the Golden Palace. Moreover, they all knew that the palace’s rear courtyard was planted with countless Spirit Flowers and Herbs, many of which were now almost extinct on the Celestial Essence Continent!
This was also why Bai Zhongshan and the other two apes were so furious. It wasn’t that they wanted to monopolize the Golden Palace—at their realm, they no longer needed to consume those Spiritual Objects. What made them feel so incredibly resentful was that a group of weak humans could just stroll right in. And from the looks of it, they even intended to settle down and make it their home.
This made Bai Zhongshan burn with jealousy and seethe with uncontrollable rage, compelling him to come and demand an explanation. However, Qin Li’s retort also left him at a loss for words. He was right. This human was the successor chosen by their master. Even if he was still weak, the Golden Palace was his!
If he hadn’t appeared here today, the Golden Palace wouldn’t have even revealed itself!
This was the fundamental reason why the Golden Palace had stood atop Black Tortoise Peak for thousands of years without ever being discovered! As a Great Power from the Primordial Era, how could Hu Yanbo possibly lack such an ability?
Moreover, what puzzled Bai Zhongshan the most was that the Black-clothed Snake Woman was missing, and the Golden Eagle and the other two eagles were gone as well. Now, however, they had appeared at this young man’s side. Clearly, they had chosen to follow him.
For the proud and aloof Bai Zhongshan, this was clearly not good news.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Qin Li’s eyes, now devoid of mockery or anger, calmly met Bai Zhongshan’s.
"Make those despicable humans get out of the Golden Palace!" Bai Zhongxue roared in fury once again.
"Little Sister!" Bai Zhonghuo was starting to get angry too. Being unreasonable once was forgivable, but being relentlessly irrational was not.
"And just who do you think you are? Huh? Do you really believe you’re invincible?" Two sharp glints of light shot from Qin Li’s eyes as he stared at Bai Zhongxue and said coldly, "That’s right, I admit it. In a one-on-one fight, I’m no match for you right now. Look at that smug expression on your face. What do you have to be so proud of? If I had cultivated for ten thousand years, I’d be considered utter trash if I couldn’t even overcome a Thunder Tribulation! And you still have the nerve to look so proud? If I were you, I would’ve found some forgotten corner to hide in and just focused on cultivating!"
"AH! You little brat, you’re courting death!" Bai Zhongxue suddenly flew into a berserk rage. The full might of her Celestial Venerable aura erupted, blanketing everything as it bore down on Qin Li.
Although the Golden Eagle, the Spiritual Eagle, and the Ink Eagle were no match for Bai Zhongxue, they couldn’t just stand by and let her harm Qin Li. They each unleashed their own auras, forming a faint protective barrier around him.
And as it turned out, this kind of oppressive aura was precisely what Qin Li feared the least!
He couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. His laughter wasn’t arrogant; rather, it carried an air of disdain for all under heaven. He pointed at Bai Zhongshan, his expression suddenly hardening as he bellowed, "Get your clueless sister out of here, now! If you truly provoke me, watch as I use the Golden Palace’s power to obliterate you all! You think being in the Shattered Void realm is so impressive? How many attacks from the Golden Palace do you think you can withstand?"
Hearing Qin Li’s threat, the Old Ape Bai Zhongshan’s face changed drastically. A deep, involuntary fear flashed in his eyes. Clearly, this Old Ape had witnessed the terrifying power of the Golden Palace’s attacks before.
Bai Zhongxue still looked unfazed. Baring her fangs, she was about to lunge at Qin Li when a sharp SLAP! rang out. Bai Zhongshan had struck her hard across the face!
Bai Zhongxue was stunned, staring dumbfounded at her brother. She even forgot to clutch her cheek. "Big Brother, why did you hit me?"
"You reckless fool! We’re leaving!" Bai Zhongshan’s voice was incredibly grim. Without sparing Qin Li another glance, his body transformed into a streak of white light and vanished into the dense forest.
Although Bai Zhongxue still didn’t understand why her brother had suddenly slapped her, she followed him meekly into the forest, feeling utterly wronged.
Bai Zhonghuo remained. He gave Qin Li an awkward smile and said, "I’ll do my best to talk to them. They don’t actually mean any harm, their way of showing it is just... a bit poor." With that, he gave Qin Li a fist-and-palm salute and followed the others into the dense forest.
Only then did the Golden Eagle, Spiritual Eagle, and Ink Eagle let out a collective sigh of relief. The tension just now had been very real. The two sides had been at daggers drawn, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.
A single unintentional movement, even a cough, could have triggered a violent response.
Thankfully, they knew to back down when faced with difficulty.
The Golden Eagle then said in a low voice, "Young Master, those Three-headed White Apes aren’t actually bad. Their way of thinking is just... different from ours. In fact, for all these years, they were the main ones leading the other Spirit Beasts to guard the Golden Palace and block anyone who tried to covet it. That’s why they feel so strongly about the palace. It would be best if you didn’t hold this against them."
Qin Li smiled. With a wave of his hand, a thick white fog enveloped the Golden Palace. "I’m not petty enough to stoop to their level," he said. "After all, in terms of seniority, they—and that includes all of you—are my senior brothers and sisters, heh."
"We wouldn’t dare claim such a title!" Since inadvertently hearing about Qin Li’s battle with the old beggar, the Golden Eagle’s attitude toward him had become far more reverent. After all, there were very few Martial Artists in the world who could manifest Sword Intent while only in the Celestial Embracing Realm.
Qin Li sat on the Golden Eagle’s back, soaring high into the firmament. Below them was a boundless, rolling Cloud Sea. The Spiritual Eagle and the Ink Eagle flew as his escorts, one on his left and one on his right.
Qin Li didn’t look back. His path lay much farther ahead. From this moment on, matters of the heart would take a backseat in his life.
...
「Profound Island, Cui City」
It was not a large city, but it was an undeniably sturdy one.
The city walls were over two hundred meters high and a full hundred meters thick.
Within the walls lay countless mazes and secret passages. Someone unfamiliar with the layout would be unable to even enter the city proper.
Cui City’s walls were constructed entirely from ironstone, the hardest stone on Profound Island. True to its name, ironstone was as hard as iron, and a single cubic meter of it was as heavy as solid iron.
Even an expert of the Venerable Realm would find it difficult to blast through a wall made of this material in a short amount of time.
Therefore, almost no one on the entire Profound Island was capable of successfully assaulting the city.
Now, the vast majority of the Cui Family’s direct descendants had returned to Cui City. The Cui Family had been making one move after another recently, but even many of the legitimate scions of lower status had no idea what was going on.
On the surface, Cui City appeared large enough to hold a few hundred thousand people. In reality, however, a massive underground city lay hidden beneath it!
It could accommodate at least five hundred thousand people!
The underground city held enough grain to feed one hundred thousand people for a hundred years, and it was fully equipped with all necessary life-support systems. Yet, apart from the successive Cui Family Masters, not a single person knew this place existed beneath Cui City.
This underground city was built during the Ancient Era. Back then, the land where Cui City now stands was a barren wasteland.
After the original builders completed their work, they were all poisoned to death by the Cui Clan Patriarch of that era, silencing everyone with knowledge of the project. From then on, the secret was passed down from one Patriarch to the next, from generation to generation.
But today, deep within this underground city, there was finally a stir of activity.
The current Cui Family Master, Cui Buping, appeared here. He was accompanied by three or four ageless-looking old men. Shockingly, one of them was the very same man Qin Li had met before... the old beggar!
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