Only I am Venerable

Another old woman in yellow robes, her face a web of wrinkles, looked ancient. She snorted, her voice sharp. "The Saintess clearly means there’s a traitor among us. What I don’t understand is, what good would leaking this information do any of us? Are you insane?"

Han Mei’s beautiful eyes swept coldly over the yellow-robed crone. "Didn’t Elder Mo’s daughter marry the third son of the Tongtian City Lord?" she said coolly.

"Are you accusing me?" The yellow-robed woman glared at Han Mei, her voice growing shrill with rage.

Han Mei scoffed. "If you have a guilty conscience, you’d know it!"

"I... I... I have never met someone so self-righteous!" The old woman’s face was pale with fury. She shot to her feet, slammed the door, and stormed out.

The room plunged into a dead, awkward silence. No one spoke. The four remaining Elders exchanged a look, then rose to their feet in unison. "Saintess, please calm yourself. We will take our leave."

With that, not one of the four Elders spared Han Mei a second glance as they turned and walked out.

The High Level Stewards of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace were almost always out on assignments, which naturally made them far more diplomatic and worldly than others.

One of them, a captivatingly beautiful woman in a black dress who appeared to be in her late twenties, looked at Han Mei and said softly, "Saintess, why must you act this way? The person you truly suspect clearly isn’t one of us."

Han Mei froze, surprised that her thoughts had been seen so clearly. A faint blush crept up her cheeks as she sighed. "Steward Gao, it’s not that I wanted to argue with Elder Mo, but did you see her attitude? And the other four Elders? Do they even take me seriously as the Saintess? Yes, I admit I failed my last mission. But who in the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, who spends their years working in the outside world, has never failed? If I had just stayed obediently in the Immortal Palace and waited to become the next Palace Master after the current one abdicates, I would never make a single mistake! But that’s not the life I want! I don’t care about being the Palace Master. I just want to do something tangible for the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace. Why can’t any of them understand that?"

The graceful Steward Gao’s lips twitched. ’Oh, my dear Saintess,’ she thought, ’you still don’t understand. In this world, whether it’s the secular realm or our own, anywhere there are people, you must first learn how to deal with them before you can get anything done! You’re so aloof and cold all the time, so high and mighty, acting as if no one is worth your attention. Who could possibly be willing to serve you then?’

But Steward Gao would never dare to say such things aloud. She knew all too well how proud the Saintess was. Not only would Han Mei refuse to believe her, but she would likely hold a grudge against her for it.

With this in mind, Steward Gao smiled. "Everyone knows your heart, Saintess. We are all working for the Immortal Palace and for its benefit. We may just have slightly different ideas on how to do things. You needn’t dwell on it. The most important thing now is getting that Ancient Map into our hands as quickly as possible!"

"Them? I don’t think they want to do anything for the Immortal Palace at all!" Han Mei grumbled, but then let it go. She frowned and changed the subject. "That man, Dragon Seal... we promised him such generous terms. Why won’t he just hand over the map to us already?"

Steward Gao smiled. "Rest assured, Saintess. I’ve already made the arrangements. Tonight, Dragon Seal will hand the map over to us. Afterward, you and the five Elders can return to the Immortal Palace with it immediately. The three of us stewards will handle everything else that remains here."

Hearing this, Han Mei’s expression softened. ’Look at Steward Gao,’ she thought, ’she’s so capable. She just gets things done without trying to take all the credit. When I become the Palace Master, I’ll definitely promote someone like her to the rank of Elder! Hmph. Some people just occupy their positions and do nothing. When the time comes, they can all go become Supreme Elders and retire in seclusion!’

"Good. Then there can be absolutely no mistakes tonight. I’ll go with you to see Dragon Seal!"

"Very well, as the Saintess wishes." Steward Gao gave a charming smile. She knew the Saintess was just anxious, terrified of another mistake. In truth, the Saintess was worrying unnecessarily.

It was true that many people had been inquiring about the map recently, including those from the Land of the Far West who had come to "congratulate" the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace on acquiring the Ancient Map. But that wasn’t important. What mattered was that here in Yellow Sand City, their group was the most powerful.

Besides, Steward Gao knew the five Elders simply disliked Han Mei and didn’t want to see her receive such a great achievement that had practically fallen into her lap. When it came to a true crisis, they would still step in to help. After all, the rules of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace were ironclad. The formidable Palace Master would never permit anyone to badmouth the successor she had personally chosen. Therefore, the five Elders were merely throwing a fit and making things difficult for Han Mei.

Otherwise, if anything else went wrong with this matter, the five Elders would be punished all the same.

Meanwhile, the five Elders of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace were gathered in another room, where four of them were trying to console the furious, yellow-robed old woman.

"Elder Mo, don’t be angry. You know what the Saintess is like, it’s not as if you just found out today," said an old woman in grey robes. "She was born proud. With the news leaking, it’s inevitable that she’d throw a little fit."

"I don’t care about her fits, but what right does she have to slander us? That girl is getting more and more outrageous. When she was little, she was so affectionate and humble, always calling us ’Elder.’ The older she gets, the more she seems like a different person. Sigh, people’s hearts are truly hard to predict," said a woman who looked to be in her thirties. She wore a dark red dress and spoke softly, but her words were razor-sharp.

The yellow-robed crone, Elder Mo of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace, said hatefully, "I know perfectly well she’s never liked me. She’s jealous that I passed on the Spiritual Artifact, the Cyan Rainbow Sword, to that girl Feiyue. She’s always looked down on Feiyue and the other disciples from the East. What right does she have to look down on them? Hmph! Feiyue reached the Celestial Venerable realm in less than three years. A rate of progress like that rivals her own. She’s just jealous!"

The grey-robed woman gave a wry smile. "Senior Sister Mo, since you know that, why stoop to her level? This time, we must obtain the Ancient Map without a single mistake. If something really goes wrong, we’ll all suffer the consequences."

Elder Mo sneered. "Why should we suffer? She’s arrogant and opinionated, and she even suspects her own sect sisters. If anything goes wrong, it will be her own fault!"

The woman in the red dress chuckled. "Now, now. Regardless, we are all from the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace. The Saintess is just... a bit too eager to prove herself. Actually, I think that girl Feiyue is quite promising. With the right nurturing... heh heh. And our current Palace Master... she wasn’t the Saintess back in her day either, was she?"

The other Elders froze, all turning to look at the woman in the red dress. Elder Mo stared, dumbfounded. "Elder Hu, what are you implying?"

"I didn’t say a thing," Elder Hu replied, her eyes twinkling with amusement as she shook her head.

...

Deep in the night, around the third watch, the gates to Dragon Seal’s residence swung open to admit a party of more than ten people.

In the shadows, countless unseen eyes were watching.

Han Mei strode forward confidently, completely ignoring the prying eyes in the darkness. ’If anyone dares to try and snatch the map tonight,’ she sneered inwardly, ’I won’t hesitate to start a massacre!’

Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu were also hidden in the shadows, but thanks to Hu’s arrangements, their hiding spot was far better than anyone else’s. So far, no one, not even Han Mei and her group of powerful women, had discovered any trace of Qin Li.

"Husband, do you really think those people will try to steal the Ancient Map? If, as you say, those Elders from the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace are at least at the Shattered Void realm, and the stewards are at the peak of the Celestial Venerable realm... with that kind of power, would anyone really dare to rob them by force?"

Qin Li smiled faintly. "Shiyu, you still don’t fully comprehend human greed. I remember a saying I once read: with a fifty percent profit, some will dare to take risks. At one hundred percent, people become reckless. And at three hundred percent, people will commit any crime, even if it means facing the gallows. Heh, this Ancient Map is just that important. I’d wager there isn’t a single person here tonight who doesn’t want it for themselves!"

"But what guarantee do they have that the map will fall into their hands? What if they get nothing for their efforts? They’d be risking their lives for nothing."

"Heh heh. It’s called ’fishing in troubled waters.’ The one who catches the fish isn’t necessarily the strongest. Whoever manages to get it and hold onto it is the one with the best luck. If you make a move, you have a chance. If you do nothing, you have no chance at all!"

By now, Han Mei and her group had entered the main reception hall of Dragon Seal’s residence. Dragon Seal approached with a fawning smile, bowing to Han Mei. "Greetings, Saintess."

"Spare me the formalities, Dragon Seal. You know why I’m here. We can’t rest easy with that map in your possession. Just hand it over. We won’t go back on a single one of our promises to you! However... if you’re thinking of backing out, that’s not an option either!"

Han Mei didn’t give Dragon Seal any chance to object, her tone firm as she cut straight to the chase.

Dragon Seal gave an awkward laugh. "Of course, of course. I’ll go get it right away."

In truth, Dragon Seal was starting to have some regrets. Over the past two days, a great many people had come to see him. The members of the Moon Shaking Immortal Palace were only responsible for his safety and didn’t interfere in other matters. This made it easy for other parties to meet with him and make offers that far surpassed what the Immortal Palace had promised.

It left Dragon Seal both tempted and filled with regret. ’If I had known,’ he thought, ’I should have just leaked the news myself from the start. I could have let everyone compete and given the map to whoever made the best offer.’

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