Only I am Venerable

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu looked at each other, stunned. They stood frozen. ’With our power, there’s no way anyone could have been around when we were messing with that young man in white,’ they thought. ’So who spread that ridiculous title Qin Li made up? Could it have been... the young man himself?’

’But why would he willingly broadcast something so humiliating?’

Since the two of them hadn’t put on any disguise in front of Hu, he instantly saw what was going on. He smiled and said, "That group seems to be in a real hurry. They’re all very powerful, too. Looks like they’re your kind of people, from the Mysterious Land. For a while now, they’ve been asking all over about the ’Female and Male Thieves’."

Qin Li laughed. "We were in disguise at the time. That young man tried to harass Shiyu, so we taught him a lesson. I didn’t expect him to actually have the guts to bring people here for revenge. How interesting."

Hu roared with laughter. "Ah, let’s not worry about it. Those people might not look weak, but how could my brother possibly be afraid of them? We haven’t seen each other since we parted ways in Cyan Dragon City. It’s been too long! Today, we drink until we drop!"

Qin Li also smiled and nodded.

Before long, servants brought out food and wine. Qin Li and Hu began to drink, while Shiyu sat quietly to the side, listening with a gentle smile as the two of them reminisced about their old adventuring days.

They had only been drinking for a short while when someone came to report that a group of people was at the gate, asking for Lord Hu.

Hu’s brow furrowed in displeasure. "Didn’t I say my brother is here today? I’m not seeing anyone."

The gatekeeper replied, "Master, those people... they’re quite aggressive. They seem a bit like those otherworldly experts you mentioned. They say they absolutely must see you. What should I...?"

After so many years of cultivation, supplemented by the elixirs Qin Li had given him, Hu had already broken through the Celestial Level and reached the Celestial Shattering Realm. In the mortal world, this was already an incredible level of power, which was the fundamental reason why no one in Yellow Sand City dared to provoke him.

Even the Shangguan Family, whose power was gradually recovering, never dared to provoke Hu. To put it bluntly, it was because Hu was just that strong.

Hu frowned, and just as he was about to speak, Qin Li said from the side, "Just go see them. After all, you still have to operate here."

Hu thought about it and agreed. ’It’s true, making too many enemies won’t do me any good.’ He stood up and smiled apologetically at Qin Li. "Wait here, brother. I’ll be right back!"

As Hu left with the gatekeeper, Shangguan Shiyu focused her senses for a moment, then laughed with disdain. "He’s like a persistent ghost. That guy actually brought a whole group with him!"

The moment the gatekeeper had made his report, Qin Li’s Divine Sense had already scanned the people outside Hu’s residence. Hearing Shiyu’s comment, he chuckled. "Before the Divine Temple appeared, this map was just a valuable but incomplete Ancient Map. But once the temple emerged, those complex patterns on its doors were bound to attract a lot of attention, especially from those holding pieces of the Ancient Map. They would realize just how precious it is. Losing something so valuable... anyone would be anxious, right?"

"Will Hu be in any danger?" Shangguan Shiyu asked, a little worried.

"Him?" Qin Li smiled and shook his head. "Unless that young man is a complete idiot, he won’t cause trouble for a local powerhouse like Hu. He’s looking for Hu to find clues about us, not for anything else."

Sure enough, a moment later, Hu returned with a sneer and a look of disdain. He sat down assertively in a high-backed, wide-armed chair covered in velvet and scoffed, "They’re the ones asking for a favor, but they still act all high and mighty. With an attitude like that, it’d be a miracle if they ever found anything!"

Shangguan Shiyu let out a chuckle, and Qin Li couldn’t help but add with a grin, "Even if they were polite and of sterling character, they wouldn’t have much hope, would they?"

"Haha, that’s true!" Hu laughed heartily and went back to his drinking competition with Qin Li.

Qin Li didn’t use his Inner Strength to sober up, so by midnight, he was a little drunk. He and Shiyu stayed in the same room they had used all those years ago. Hu had always had it kept clean and had never let anyone else stay in it.

’After so many years, this is the first time Shiyu is staying in the same room as Qin Li. I’m a little nervous, but also... a little expectant.’

Unfortunately, Qin Li just held her in his arms and fell fast asleep.

While Shangguan Shiyu breathed a sigh of relief, she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Looking at Qin Li sleeping so peacefully with a smile like a baby’s, Shiyu’s own lips curled into a smile. She rested her head on his arm and drifted off to sleep.

It was at this exact moment that a group of masked men in black appeared outside Hu’s residence. One of them, a tall and slender man, spoke from behind his mask, his gloomy eyes the only visible feature. "Are you sure you saw them clearly?" he asked the person beside him in a low voice. "A man and a woman entered this person’s estate?"

A man beside him whispered, "Replying to the Young Master, I did indeed see a man and a woman enter this estate. However, their appearances were a far cry from the pair from that day. The woman, in particular, had a noble air and was stunningly beautiful!"

A cold smirk appeared on the gloomy youth’s lips. "I don’t care if it’s them or not. We’ll capture them and interrogate them first! And that perfunctory attitude that so-called Duke of Yellow Sand City gave me earlier... did he think I couldn’t see through it? Hmph, he definitely knows the whereabouts of the Female and Male Thieves!"

The seven or eight other masked men in black beside the youth remained silent, but they were all cursing inwardly. ’The Young Sect Leader’s lecherous habits are nothing new; practically everyone in the Sect knows about them.’

Furthermore, the dismissive attitude shown by this mortal world’s Duke today had enraged the narrow-minded and vengeful Young Sect Leader.

The entire Sect now understood the importance of that map. The Young Sect Leader had lost it, and if he couldn’t get it back, his very status as heir would be in jeopardy!

This was because the Young Sect Leader’s father’s faction wasn’t the only one in the Sect, and his father, the Sect Leader, had more than one son!

The brothers had never gotten along and were all vying for the position. That was why this Young Sect Leader had summoned reinforcements with such haste. He was prepared to bathe Yellow Sand City in blood if it meant finding that damned pair of Female and Male Thieves.

The gloomy youth waved his hand coldly. "Go! Other than that man and woman, leave no one else alive!"

In the darkness, Qin Li, who had appeared to be sound asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. His voice was laced with ice. "Disturbing my sleep... they deserve to die!"

Shangguan Shiyu also frowned. "These people have gone too far. Could they have seen us come in?"

Qin Li thought for a moment. "There were still a few pedestrians on the street when we came in. I didn’t think they’d have lookouts among them. But there’s no way they could recognize us by our faces. This means that this bullshit Young Sect Leader is really tired of living. He’s completely lawless!"

As he spoke, the two of them got out of bed, quietly opened the door, and their figures vanished into the air like flashes of lightning.

The gloomy youth had brought a dozen or so people with him. Three or four were his trusted personal attendants, while the rest were powerful elites from his Sect.

The two strongest among them were Elders of the Sect. Although they weren’t highly ranked, they both possessed the power of an Earth Venerable.

If it weren’t for the loss of the Ancient Map, they would never have entered the Mortal Realm so readily, let alone resorted to such furtive actions. The map was simply too important. If even a whisper of this got out, it would be a fatal blow to them.

The group of masked men in black leaped over the high compound walls. Just as they steadied themselves, the two Elders at the Earth Venerable realm suddenly cried out in alarm, "Look out! Retreat!"

Two streams of Sword Qi slashed toward the group from two different directions.

One was a dazzling stream of purple Sword Qi, almost invisible in the night, and it moved with incomparable speed. The other was a bright red stream of Sword Qi, clearly visible, like a thin, burning line radiating a chilling aura!

The group had almost no chance to escape. Aside from the two Earth Venerable Elders, who retreated explosively and dodged the attacks, the remaining eight or nine men were all slain by the two streams of Sword Qi!

The gloomy youth had just leaped onto the top of the wall when he witnessed this scene. He was so shocked he nearly fell right off, and his first instinct was to turn and run!

He didn’t care if the attackers were the Female and Male Thieves or not; he had to save his own life first. Meanwhile, the two Earth Venerable Elders had also broken out in a cold sweat.

But before they could react further, the air around them suddenly seemed to become incredibly thick. Even with the formidable strength of two Earth Venerable Elders, they found it extremely difficult to even move.

A cold snort echoed in their ears. Before the two Earth Venerable Elders could even process what was happening, their heads were severed in an instant.

It couldn’t be said that the two had underestimated their enemy. The truth was that their opponents were powerful to an unimaginable degree, not on the same level as them at all!

Qin Li cut off the heads of the two Earth Venerables with a single strike, then turned his cold gaze to the gloomy youth, who was trapped by Shiyu’s Magic. Murderous intent erupted in his eyes.

’Years ago, Hu’s family was wiped out because of me,’ Qin Li thought. ’I can’t believe something like this almost happened a second time! If Hu had really died a tragic death because of this, I would never forgive myself.’

Family and friends had always been Qin Li’s bottom line. These people looked down on mortals, ready to slaughter entire families at the drop of a hat. What use was there in letting such scum live?

"No, don’t kill me!" The gloomy youth’s eyes were filled with fear and horror. He never could have imagined that such powerful Martial Artists would be hiding here. ’If I had known,’ he thought, ’to hell with the Female and Male Thieves, to hell with the Ancient Map!’

"Speak. Who are you, and what are you doing here?" Qin Li’s voice was deep and magnetic, fundamentally different from the voice of the "Male Thief" that day.

The gloomy youth was regretting his actions to his very core. He inwardly cursed the informant who had brought him the news. It was a shame the man was already dead, or the youth would have strangled him himself. ’This man is no "Male Thief"!’ he thought. ’He wiped out all my men before even asking a question. This is clearly a Godslayer!’

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