Only I am Venerable-Chapter 53: The Cause

The first person to learn the news wasn’t Qin Li, who was engrossed in his training, nor was it the mother and daughter, Qin Hanyue and Qin Xue. It was Watermelon!

The kid had practically become the boss of the entire northern district. He may have been young, but he was cunning and full of clever little tricks. In Qin Li’s words, he was a natural for this line of work.

Watermelon might have operated in the city’s underbelly, but that was precisely where information flowed fastest. The very night the Qin Family’s two genius young masters returned from the Imperial Capital, Qin Li got the news.

Watermelon looked completely different from how he had a few months prior. He was wearing a small, padded blue silk jacket, tight-fitting martial arts pants, and a pair of high-quality calfskin boots. The outfit looked a bit motley, but for the Watermelon of a few months ago, it was a getup he wouldn’t have even dared to dream of.

In front of his master and martial uncle, however, Watermelon was always honest and well-behaved. Even though Qin Li was the same age as him, a single sharp glance was enough to make Watermelon instantly compliant. It was for no other reason than Qin Li’s overwhelming strength; even ten Watermelons bundled together would be no match for him.

As far as Watermelon was concerned, his martial uncle, Qin Li, was far more terrifying than his gentle master, Qin Xue.

"You’d better be careful, Little Martial Uncle. I heard those two brothers have been running their mouths ever since they got back, saying they’ll never let you off the hook. They also said... a lot of nasty things."

Watermelon’s eyes darted about. Seeing Qin Li’s expressionless face, he could only mimic him with a shrug and say, "Anyway, I’ve warned you. Especially Qin Feng. That guy is incredibly narrow-minded; he’s capable of anything! Oh, right, there’s something else. The City Lord’s daughter goes to the Imperial Capital Academy with Qin Feng and has always had a crush on him. That woman is unruly, arrogant, and vicious. You need to be careful of her too, Little Martial Uncle!"

Qin Li was suddenly reminded of the bizarre assassination attempt he’d faced before meeting Qin Shisan for the first time. The girl back then hadn’t looked like an assassin at all, but her strikes had been utterly ruthless. ’Thinking back now,’ he mused, ’it was most likely that City Lord’s daughter.’

At this thought, Qin Li couldn’t help but smile bitterly. ’Who did I even piss off?’ he wondered. ’I haven’t done anything wrong, yet I’ve made so many enemies!’

’Should I lie low, or should I fight back?’

A cold glint flashed in Qin Li’s eyes as a formidable aura radiated from his body. It frightened Watermelon so much that he thought he had said something wrong again. Without even a word of farewell, he scurried away.

After Watermelon left, Qin Li gradually calmed down. His power was currently at the peak of the ninth-rank Profound Level. Qin Li knew perfectly well that if he could just break through this bottleneck, he would reach the Earth Level.

An Earth Level master under the age of fourteen! If anyone found out, it would shock the world. But the old saying "The tree that stands tallest in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind" is timeless. Unless absolutely necessary, Qin Li had no desire to stand out. His greatest wish was to break through to the Celestial Level at all costs and then personally go bring his woman back!

’I’ll show that cold woman that where there’s a will, there’s a way!’

Qin Li’s Innate Purple Qi within his Dantian had already doubled in size! It was now as large as two sesame seeds. After nearly half a year of exploration, he had finally come to understand all the changes that had occurred within his body.

These changes seemed complex, but they were all interconnected. In other words, no one else in this world would ever have the same unique set of circumstances!

First, his soul had transmigrated, bringing with it memories of Martial Arts from his past life and the Innate Purple Qi Technique. Second, the body he now inhabited had practiced the Basic Techniques left by his father since childhood, forging its foundation into a perfect vessel for cultivation!

A person’s Dantian is like a water tank. The larger the tank, the more water it can hold—that’s a well-known principle. Likewise, the sturdier the tank, the harder it is to break, and the better it can protect the water inside.

When Martial Artists on the Celestial Essence Continent practiced Primordial Power Heart Methods, their Dantian’s capacity and their body’s defenses would increase simultaneously. Therefore, in the eyes of most, this set of Basic Techniques was completely redundant.

For example, the Basic Techniques included a method called Posture Qi Cultivation, which required standing in a single posture to practice for six hours every day! Few people could manage that alone. Why torture yourself like this when there are far simpler methods?

Otherwise, Qin Li would never have earned the humiliating nickname "Basic Master." Nor would his decade of perseverance have been met with a contemptuous "Basics are useless" and a factual demonstration that all his efforts were for naught—a lesson that ended with him vomiting blood and dying.

Qin Li’s father could never have imagined that his half-joking words back then would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. He had no idea that the woman he loved was actually pregnant with his child. He had given Qin Hanyue the Basic Techniques with the original intention of taking her away with him, so that their future child could use it to cultivate. Back then, it was just a faint possibility. But who could have predicted the whims of Creation? Qin Hanyue was, against all odds, pregnant with Qin Li.

And so, a series of coincidences led to Qin Li’s birth. Qin Hanyue, however, never forgot her lover’s words and had Qin Li practice the Basic Techniques from a young age. Most of the Qin family had glanced at the manual, only to toss it back, dismissing it as garbage.

Thus, in this environment, Qin Li had cultivated step-by-step right up until the incident, laying an incomparably solid foundation. It was safe to say that even the geniuses on Profound Island might not have been as diligent as him!

The flaw of the Only I am Venerable battle technique was known throughout the world. The main effect of the Celestial Profound Pill was to mend the soul and increase Spiritual Power. Meanwhile, the Innate Purple Qi Technique that Qin Li practiced involved absorbing a wisp of Innate Purple Qi from the sky each morning, and one of its effects was precisely that: to enhance the soul and strengthen Spiritual Power!

Although the world of Qin Li’s past life had sparse Spiritual Qi, the Innate Purple Qi Technique was something an old Daoist master had spent his entire life comprehending from the Celestial Dao!

To put it more fantastically, it was a technique for cultivating immortality! It contained not only the old master’s lifetime of insights into the Celestial Dao, but also the culmination of the entire Daoist Sect’s research into cultivation methods from ancient to modern times.

In essence, the Innate Purple Qi Technique was a cultivation technique that fused the quintessence of the Daoist Sect’s teachings, both ancient and modern. It held many other mysterious and powerful properties that the current Qin Li had yet to discover. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The known benefits were that the Innate Purple Qi could compensate for the flaw in the Only I am Venerable battle technique and could resist the pressure of a supreme expert. This was especially important. When he had met Ye Qianyu, for instance, anyone else—even a Celestial Level Martial Artist—would have been unable to withstand her oppressive aura. But Qin Li had managed to endure it!

Another benefit was that it strengthened the Secret Martial Arts from his past life. At first, Qin Li had thought this was due to the Only I am Venerable battle technique, but he later discovered that technique only refined his unarmed and armed combat moves, making them more exquisite and powerful. What truly elevated his Martial Arts to the level of battle techniques was the Innate Purple Qi inside him!

He knew this because when he taught some of the Martial Arts from his past life to Watermelon, the power Watermelon displayed was indeed far greater than before, but it still lacked the kind of potency Qin Li himself could produce. This made Qin Li increasingly confident in his Innate Purple Qi Technique.

Since Watermelon served him so devotedly, Qin Li wanted to teach him the Innate Purple Qi Technique to free him from the curse of the Only I am Venerable technique. Unexpectedly, however, Watermelon... was completely unable to cultivate it!

Refusing to believe it, Qin Li had Qin Xue try as well, but she couldn’t cultivate it either. Only then did Qin Li realize that he was very likely the only person in the world who could practice the Innate Purple Qi Technique.

Qin Li sat quietly meditating in his room, circulating his Innate Purple Qi through a Great Cycle. Nearly half a year of diligent cultivation had finally made the Ren and Du Meridians, which he had opened long ago, even more unobstructed. The purple Primordial Power, transformed from the Innate Purple Qi, now flowed freely through every meridian in his body!

This was likely a unique phenomenon on the Celestial Essence Continent. Only Celestial Level Martial Artists would attempt to open all their meridians in hopes of reaching an even higher realm.

For a mere Profound Level Martial Artist like Qin Li to have all his meridians open was, without a doubt, absolutely unprecedented.

If Qin Li wished, he could become an honored guest of the Cyan Dragon Royal Family at any moment.

In five days, the Shangguan Family would be holding a grand banquet. As far as Qin Li was concerned, the purpose was simply to flex their muscles for the upper crust of Yellow Sand City and show off their power.

Of course, such banquets were also the ideal venue for the younger generation of elites to socialize and make connections.

The guest list included everyone from the upper echelons of Yellow Sand City society. Every year, people would preen with delight just to receive an invitation from the Shangguan Family.

As the prospective son-in-law of the Shangguan Family, Qin Li, of course, also received an invitation.

Coincidentally, in three days, it would be exactly six months since he began practicing the Only I am Venerable battle technique. Qin Li was certain the Qin Family knew about this milestone, so he decided to give them an opportunity.

’Sometimes, being too low-key and forbearing is just seen as weakness!’

’It would be better to... give them a surprise.’