Only I am Venerable

The two of them had already been scared out of their wits by the terrifying power Shangguan Shiyu had just displayed. Now, under the pressure of Qin Li’s immense Spiritual Power, their minds completely shattered. They collapsed to their knees, snot and tears streaming down their faces, and scrambled to shout.

"It’s on our senior brother! It’s on him!"

Qin Li said nothing. He walked over and found an ancient scroll on the thin old man’s body. Unfurling it, he saw it was indeed the Ancient Map!

Qin Li was overjoyed. ’It fell right into my lap!’

Besides, these people deserved to die. If they hadn’t tried to harm Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu first, they never would have met their end here.

Even if Qin Li had wanted to snatch the map, he wouldn’t have resorted to killing so readily. His goal was just the Ancient Map. Theirs, however, was to kill and silence their victims.

So, this proved the old saying: it takes a villain to deal with a villain.

"We told you everything! Spare us, please spare us!" the two men in yellow kowtowed on the ground, begging for their lives.

Having killed two people, Shangguan Shiyu had vented most of her anger. Though she knew that silencing them was the logical choice, she couldn’t bring herself to be so ruthless. She didn’t try to influence Qin Li’s decision, however. She just stood there quietly, as serene as the girl next door, her Star Eyes fixed on Qin Li. ’I want to see how my man will handle this.’

Qin Li gave a faint smile and raised his hand. Two streams of invisible Power shot into the men’s bodies. They were instantly terrified. Qin Li said nothing more, simply taking Shangguan Shiyu’s small hand. "Let’s go."

Shiyu cast a strange glance at the two men before nodding. She obediently took Qin Li’s arm, and they left together. Then, she quietly sent a telepathic message to him, asking, "My love, what did you do to those two?"

"Hehe..." Qin Li chuckled. "Just a couple of wisps of Spiritual Power. If they don’t have any thoughts of revenge, nothing will happen. But if they do..."

BOOM!

BOOM!

Before Qin Li could finish, two massive explosions roared from behind them.

Two violent shockwaves slammed into their Protective Gang Qi, shoving Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu forward dozens of meters.

Looking back, they saw the two men had been blown to smithereens by the force of the blasts.

Shangguan Shiyu turned her head back, dumbfounded. She stared at the scene, her cute, red lips slightly parted. She wanted to ask something, but no words came out.

Qin Li gave a wry smile. "I didn’t think they’d be in such a hurry to die. I shot that Spiritual Power into their Dantians, connecting it to their Sea of Consciousness. The moment they had a thought of revenge, it would instantly detonate their Pill Cores, just like self-destruction."

Shangguan Shiyu looked at Qin Li in disbelief. After a long moment, she said, speechless, "You can do that?"

’Two of their sect brothers are dead, and after seeing the Ancient Divine Temple, their priceless Ancient Map was stolen. It would be impossible for them not to think of revenge!’

Qin Li hadn’t wanted to kill the two men with his own hands, but he had achieved the same result using this method.

As Shangguan Shiyu mulled it over, she was suddenly struck by the complexity of human nature and the treachery of the Martial World. She said softly, "My love, is this... is this the Martial World? Is it like this everywhere?"

Qin Li smiled at Shangguan Shiyu and asked gently, "The Qin Family and the Shangguan Family in Yellow Sand City back then... and now the various families on Profound Island. You’ve seen it all with your own eyes, and you’ve even experienced many things firsthand. Tell me, aren’t they all the same?"

Shangguan Shiyu was silent for a long while before nodding. "You’re right," she said, a little dejected. "I didn’t understand these things before, but everything I’ve experienced since has taught me this lesson. But... why do people have to be like this? Do you have to keep killing just to prove yourself?"

"This is what it means to be in the Martial World. Your fate is not your own," Qin Li sighed, reminded of his past life.

Shangguan Shiyu’s face suddenly broke into a smile. "But as long as I can be by your side, I don’t care what I have to go through!"

Qin Li looked at Shangguan Shiyu tenderly and chuckled. "Me too."

The truth was, Shiyu was just having trouble crossing that barrier in her own heart. Although she had just killed two people in a fit of rage, her true nature disliked this life of slaughter and bloodshed. But she loved Qin Li to an extreme degree. It had gone from trying not to think about it at first, to grudgingly accepting it later on.

Only now, after personally slaying two people who wished them harm, did she truly understand. This was just how the world worked. Even if you didn’t try to hurt others, someone would come along and try to hurt you.

The human heart was the most complicated thing in the world.

This was a point Shiyu had actually understood since she was very young.

Back then, her blocked Spiritual Qi had turned her skin completely blue. Everyone treated her like a demon, but her grandfather’s authority was so strong that no one dared to show it to her face.

It wasn’t until that woman who married into the Shangguan Family screamed "A ghost!" in terror that the unspoken truth was brought into the open. The memory was still fresh in Shangguan Shiyu’s mind to this day. Only then, looking at the gazes of others, did she understand the meaning behind their strange looks.

Shiyu had always been an incredibly intelligent woman. Having thought it through, she naturally wouldn’t dwell on whether her actions were right or wrong anymore.

In this world, strength was paramount. Right and wrong were irrelevant.

It was just as Qin Li had once told her: history is always written by the victors.

’Especially since I now have the power to stand on my own in this world. It would be a real shame if I couldn’t write this world’s history with my own hands.’

At this thought, Shangguan Shiyu smiled beautifully and asked, "We have five maps now, don’t we?"

Qin Li nodded and sighed. "If I’m not mistaken, there are still three left. But we have no idea where they are. And now that the Divine Temple has appeared, anyone holding an Ancient Map will be even more secretive about it. Getting our hands on the last three will be incredibly difficult."

Shiyu nodded. "It’s fine. We’ll find out sooner or later. No matter who has them, we’ll just have to find a way to get them."

"Oh?" Qin Li glanced at Shangguan Shiyu in surprise and chuckled. "You’re not going to scold me for wanting to steal maps from other people anymore?"

Shangguan Shiyu wrinkled her nose and gave a cute smile. "If we don’t steal from them, they’ll come to steal from us, right?"

The corner of Qin Li’s mouth twitched. He nodded, speechless. He didn’t know if this change in Shiyu was for the better or for the worse. But he could be certain of at least one thing: in the days to come, Shiyu would never be taken advantage of because of her kindness.

Throughout history, there have been countless cases of kindness being exploited or even repaid with harm. The story of the farmer and the snake wasn’t something that only happened in Qin Li’s previous world.

When the two arrived at Yellow Sand City, they could see Martial Artists who had returned from the Ancient Divine Temple everywhere. At the same time, all sorts of legends about the Ancient Divine Temple were spreading like wildfire.

It wasn’t just the powerful Martial Artists from the Mysterious Land; even ordinary people in the Mortal Realm were thrilled to hear of such a miracle, especially since it had appeared within the borders of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom.

Instantly, Yellow Sand City became countless times more prosperous than before.

Countless people prepared to make a pilgrimage to worship at the Divine Temple. The royal family of the Cyan Dragon Kingdom even gave a direct order: build the best possible road straight from Yellow Sand City to the Divine Temple!

But Qin Li and Shiyu didn’t care about all the commotion. With a miracle of this scale, it was impossible for it not to cause a stir in the world.

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu decided to go see Hu. After all, Hu was pretty much Qin Li’s last friend left in the Mortal Realm. Of course, there was also Watermelon, but Watermelon had been missing for many years, and there was no telling where the kid had run off to. Qin Li couldn’t even say for sure if Watermelon was still alive, even though he was convinced the boy was clever, quick-witted, and full of cunning tricks.

But after so many years, Watermelon had never returned to Yellow Sand City, nor had any news of him arrived. This was starting to shake even Qin Li’s confidence.

Fortunately, Watermelon’s parents were living well under Hu’s care, which was a great comfort to Qin Li.

Hu’s residence was easy to find; it was Qin Li’s former Duke’s Mansion. However, to avoid attracting attention, the two chose to visit at night, using a side entrance.

The gatekeeper was a young man in his twenties, one of Hu’s trusted subordinates. He had received orders from his master long ago that a young man and woman might visit soon, and he was not to neglect them under any circumstances.

So, the moment Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu arrived, the gatekeeper politely ushered them into the gatehouse to wait while he ran off to report.

Before long, Hu came rushing over. When he saw Qin Li, he froze for a second. It was only when Qin Li gave him a familiar smile that Hu tentatively called out, "Younger Brother Qin?"

"It’s me," Qin Li said softly with a nod.

"Shiyu greets you, Hu!" Shangguan Shiyu knew that although the man before her was of average strength and lived in the mortal world, he held a very important place in Qin Li’s heart.

"It’s good to see you, sister-in-law! Please, come in!" Hu said, his face flush with excitement as he ushered them inside.

There weren’t many servants in the courtyard. Hu led the pair straight to the inner residence, showed them to the reception hall, and immediately ordered someone to prepare food and wine.

After they were seated, he said with emotion, "If you hadn’t come looking for me, brother, I wouldn’t have dared to recognize you on the street!" As he spoke, he suddenly added, "Oh, right. A while back, a pair of Female and Male Thieves showed up at the old Qin Family estate. Was that you and sister-in-law?"

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