Only I am Venerable

Aside from Shiyu, Leng Yao was the only other woman Qin Li had ever acknowledged, and he was deeply concerned for her. Since his return, apart from Bai Zhongshan who was in Death Sealing, the one other person Qin Li hadn’t seen was Leng Yao.

Before Qin Li had left with Shiyu, Leng Yao had already entered secluded cultivation. After all this time, she still hadn’t emerged.

Usually, there were only two possibilities in a situation like this. The first was that the cultivation had failed: she could have succumbed to Qi deviation, or even died. The second was that her power had experienced a monumental leap, requiring the cultivator to take a long time to consolidate her foundation and adapt to this sudden surge of strength.

Qin Li swept his Divine Sense over the place where Leng Yao was cultivating and found that all her vital signs were normal. That meant it had to be the second possibility. After taking the Elixir, Leng Yao’s power had increased by leaps and bounds.

Having reached this conclusion, Qin Li was completely relieved. He left Shiyu to cultivate peacefully at the Qin Family estate and set off alone for Black Tortoise Peak.

Now that they were back with the Qin Family, both Qin Li and Shiyu had reverted to their original appearances. Having reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, Qin Li decided to test out long-distance flight.

As expected, the strength and stamina within his body were far beyond what they used to be. They had entered a completely new realm, one that Qin Li had previously been unable to comprehend.

His speed could even rival that of the Golden Eagle, the hegemon of the skies!

After arriving at Black Tortoise Peak, Qin Li activated the Array and entered the Golden Palace. Standing on the first floor, he slowly released the formidable aura of the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation. Above his head, a door silently... opened!

The door was ten meters square and had no staircase; the only way up was to fly. For Qin Li, however, this was no challenge at all. With a flash, he flew up to the second floor of the Golden Palace.

The moment Qin Li landed on the second floor, the door silently closed behind him.

Qin Li stood in the vast, empty hall, looking around. He found himself frozen in stunned silence.

The main hall of the Golden Palace was enormous, over a thousand meters tall in total. Each floor was more than three hundred meters high. As Qin Li stood on the gold-paved floor of this second level, he felt like an ant in comparison to the palace’s immense scale.

And the second floor of the Golden Palace was completely different from what Qin Li had imagined.

The moment he entered, an immense pressure bore down on him from all directions.

The entire floor was completely empty. There was nothing on it! Everything... was floating... in midair!

As if in a state of zero gravity, hundreds of objects floated in the air. Many of them emitted soft or intense glows. If one didn’t look closely, they might mistakenly believe they were standing under a night sky, gazing at the myriad stars.

Based on their shapes, Qin Li couldn’t identify most of the items. Based on his knowledge of Artifact Refining, he guessed the vast majority were probably materials used for the craft.

However, there were three or four items he did recognize. Seeing them in a place like this, though, filled Qin Li with a sense of absurdity.

For instance, floating about a hundred meters above his head was a palm-sized, square seal.

The seal looked simple and elegant. As it tumbled through the air, Qin Li could see that the grip was carved with a beast resembling a Qilin. With just a few cuts, its divine essence had been perfectly captured.

There were characters carved into the bottom of the seal as well. Standing on the ground, Qin Li locked onto it with his Divine Sense. After careful inspection, he made out the name carved on it: "Hu Yanbo."

He shook his head slightly. ’What is a Great Power’s personal seal doing here? Could it be a Spiritual Artifact?’

Besides that, there was an ancient black Inkstone floating in the middle. Higher up, there was a dark green Paperweight, and a seemingly ordinary writing brush floated at the very top. These were all items a scholar would use. Appearing here... could they all be treasures?

At this thought, Qin Li tried to fly into the air, but an immense suction force suddenly erupted from the floor! Although his leap carried him dozens of meters high, he was still a long way from the seal, which was over a hundred meters up at the lowest point.

This gave Qin Li a huge shock. ’Didn’t Hu Yanbo say that one could enter the second floor at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm? Does that mean even after entering, someone at my level still can’t obtain these floating treasures?’

At his current realm, Qin Li could fly ten thousand meters into the sky in one go if he didn’t care about the energy consumption. But now, he couldn’t even manage a hundred meters... Was the gravity on the second floor of the Golden Palace really a hundred times greater than outside?

’Son of a bitch...’ Qin Li stared speechlessly at the seal above his head, gritted his teeth, and felt a surge of defiance. ’I refuse to believe I can’t even get my hands on this one seal today!’

Qin Li circulated the Innate Purple Qi Technique, and an immense power instantly filled his body. Gritting his teeth, he shot upwards!

WHOOSH!

The air violently rippled and distorted. The might unleashed by a Martial Artist at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm erupting with their full power was astonishing.

However, the second floor of the Golden Palace seemed to possess a wondrous power. The gravity was simply staggering.

After unleashing his full power, Qin Li barely managed to touch the edge of the seal. The instant his fingertips brushed against it, his strength was completely exhausted. At the same time, a weight as heavy as a Mountain emanated from the tumbling seal—it was nothing like the light, easily graspable object he had imagined.

At that moment, Qin Li’s body began to fall back to the ground. Landing on the gold-paved floor, he bent over, panting heavily, his heart filled with utter shock.

’Is this the true power of the Golden Palace? It can generate gravity over a hundred times greater than the outside world!’

’A Martial Artist at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm like me can’t even grab a single seal!’

’And that seal is as heavy as a great mountain! My fingertips are still aching from the contact!’

This experience was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the excitement he’d felt after breaking through to the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm, along with the budding pride and complacency that had come with it.

The Golden Palace was capable of withstanding the attack of an Outer Celestial Demon for an entire hour. Qin Li had always thought he’d given it enough respect, but he never expected its true power to be so far beyond his simple imaginings.

For instance, right now, facing these floating treasures, Qin Li felt a profound sense of powerlessness. But at the same time, the sight before him once again ignited his determination to become even stronger.

Besides, maybe it was a good thing he couldn’t get those items for now. ’Even if I could barely reach them, I probably wouldn’t be able to wield them,’ Qin Li thought. A different idea then surfaced in his mind: ’This place is an excellent training ground!’

That seal with Hu Yanbo’s name on it was definitely a true treasure! It was either a Spiritual Artifact or perhaps even a Treasure Artifact! And it was floating in the lowest position of all!

One could only imagine, then, that the objects floating above it—even a piece of ore that looked battered and worn—had to be Top-Grade Heavenly and Earthly Treasures!

This encounter, while extinguishing that spark of pride and complacency, also ignited Qin Li’s fighting spirit.

After a full hour, having exhausted nearly all his strength, he finally managed to grab the seal. He quickly channeled his Innate Purple Qi into it, and only then did the seal suddenly become lighter, allowing Qin Li to pull it down from the air.

It was a seal only the size of a fist, but holding it in his hand without channeling Innate Purple Qi felt like trying to hold a great mountain!

Even a Martial Artist at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm like Qin Li couldn’t lift it at all!

This was a Treasure Artifact!

The moment Qin Li got the seal in his hand, he immediately discerned its power level.

First of all, a Treasure Artifact, whether in terms of weight or power, far exceeded the scope of a Spiritual Artifact. A Spiritual Artifact typically worked by sealing a large amount of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi within the weapon. In battle, the power within the Spiritual Artifact would erupt, multiplying the force of the original attack several times over to produce greater destructive power.

A Treasure Artifact, however, was far superior to a Spiritual Artifact in both the amount of Spiritual Qi it contained and the quality of its materials. Furthermore, a Treasure Artifact’s speed at recovering Spiritual Qi was also incomparable to that of a Spiritual Artifact.

Hu Yanbo had been an Alchemy Grandmaster, a peerless expert capable of creating a Sacred Artifact like the Golden Palace. How could a Treasure Artifact he refined be anything less than extraordinary?

The seal was dark blue. Holding it, he could feel an ancient, grand aura emanating from it. At the same time, it was remarkably warm and smooth, like holding a piece of warm jade.

He didn’t know what material it was made from. Although Qin Li had mastered the theories of Alchemy, his skill at identifying materials was still sorely lacking.

He only knew that whatever was used to refine this seal was certainly no ordinary substance. ’Looks like I’ll have to learn more about the various materials needed for Artifact Refining in the future,’ he thought.

Most of the glittering treasures floating in the sky were raw materials, each with its own unique origin and purpose.

If Qin Li could identify all of these materials, obtain them, and successfully refine them, then he could be called an Artifact Refining Master of his generation!

Unfortunately, it had taken a Herculean effort just to obtain this one seal. Getting the rest was clearly not something he could accomplish in a short time.

Only now did Qin Li finally understand why Hu Yanbo had said it was impossible to control the Golden Palace without reaching the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm. Forget the Golden Palace—even completely mastering this Treasure Seal would be extremely difficult for him. As for wielding the Golden Palace to crush his enemies like Hu Yanbo once did, for the current Qin Li, that was probably just a beautiful dream.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!