Free Web NovelChapter 242: Chapter 240: I’m Back
The luxurious carriage drove away, leaving behind a large group of petrified border guards. It wasn’t until the carriage was far in the distance that someone remembered the Royal Tributor they revered as a god. A few people rushed over, only to find the Tributor—a man who normally wouldn’t even deign to glance at them—sprawled limply on the ground like a dog, completely motionless!
A pool of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Someone went over and gently checked Cui Zhongyue’s neck, then exclaimed in horror, "The Tributor... the Tributor is dead!"
"What? You want me to withdraw my troops?" Inside the imperial palace of the New Qin Empire, Cui Qi, exuding the majesty of an Emperor, smashed a table with a single slap. He turned and roared at the trembling border guard general kneeling below him.
"Yes... The person in the carriage didn’t even show their face. They killed the Lord Tributor with their aura alone..."
The border guard general stammered, not daring to lift his head. ’Everyone knows that the Emperor of the New Qin Empire is himself a powerful master,’ he thought. ’If I anger him and get slapped to death, it would be a most unjust end.’
HISS!
Many in the imperial palace couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. ’To kill a Celestial Shattering Realm Martial Artist with one’s aura alone? What kind of power is that?’
A thought arose in many people’s minds: ’Have the families and sects behind the Five Nations finally decided they can’t hold back any longer and are ready to completely tear off all pretenses with the New Qin Empire? If that’s the case, this matter must be reported to the Cui Family on Profound Island immediately!’
Cui Qi, also shaken, couldn’t help but ask, "Did anyone see who was in that carriage?"
The border guard general replied in a low voice, "The ones who saw... are dead..."
"You..." Cui Qi wanted nothing more than to kick this useless oaf to death. ’You didn’t even see what they looked like, so what are you even doing here?’
"But..." The general was so terrified by Cui Qi’s aura that he nearly lost control of his bladder. It wasn’t that the border guard general lacked courage; it was that the Celestial Level aura erupting from Cui Qi was simply too overwhelming for any ordinary person to withstand.
"But what? Spit it out!" a eunuch beside Cui Qi snapped in a shrill voice.
"But... some soldiers overheard the people inside speaking. They sounded very young."
The border guard general felt a bit more confident. After all, the enemy had killed a Royal Tributor with just their aura; how could a small fry like him be expected to stop them? It wasn’t his fault. He cursed the eunuch beside Cui Qi in his heart: ’You ball-less bastard, how dare you speak to this General like that? If you ever end up at the border, I’ll show you how I’d deal with you!’
"Young?"
Many people in the room fell into deep thought.
"Which way did they go?" Cui Qi asked in a low voice. "Did they say where they were headed?"
"Your Majesty, they were heading into the territory of Great Qi. I didn’t hear where they were going." The border guard general thought for a moment, then added, "Oh, right! I recognize that carriage. It belongs to a large carriage company in our New Qin Empire. Their headquarters... is in West Wind City!"
"West Wind City?" Cui Qi and the several elders seated below him exchanged a look, and each saw a trace of horror on the others’ faces.
"Your Majesty, could it be that these people came from there? Could it be... that kid?" a gray-robed elder said with a frown.
Cui Qi’s expression instantly turned ugly. The hand hidden in his yellow robe couldn’t help but tremble slightly. He hailed from the Cui Family, one of the super-factions of Profound Island. Although not of the direct lineage, his status was still incomparably noble, even on Profound Island itself—let alone in this Mortal Realm, where he had never considered anyone worthy of his notice.
But he could never forget the humiliation from several years ago, which he considered the greatest disgrace of his life! That damnable youth from the Cyan Dragon Kingdom had made a mockery of the entire New Qin Empire’s Royal Family in a single night, treating a group of Royal Tributors as if they were nothing! He had abducted his Empress from the palace, subjected her to some humiliation, and then sent her back.
Although he had secretly executed the Empress the very next day, declared that she had been killed by someone from the Cyan Dragon Kingdom, and dispatched troops to Great Qi, vowing to annihilate the Five Nations, the war had not progressed much even to this day. More importantly, that youth had since appeared on Profound Island, stirring up even bigger waves there.
It was a vicious slap in the face to the entire Cui Family!
This was no longer just a matter of face for the New Qin Empire’s Cui Family Royal Family in the Mortal Realm. What truly made Cui Qi shudder was hearing descriptions from family members about the kid’s power. It was growing at a terrifying speed! If this trend continued, while he might not be able to shake the position of the Cui Family on Profound Island, destroying the Cui Family’s royal branch in the New Qin Empire would be as easy as flicking a finger!
Although Cui Qi hated Qin Li with a passion, he found himself hoping that the person who had killed the Royal Tributor with their aura was not him.
"Your Majesty, if it really were that kid, I believe the family would have sent word by now. But all is quiet. The Venerable’s Grand Tournament on Profound Island is about to begin. Given the kid’s legendary power, he shouldn’t be returning to the Mortal Realm right now! Therefore, I suspect this is the work of a faction backing one of the nations in the Five Nations Alliance. We don’t need to concern ourselves with them. If they truly dare to massacre our army, are we just for show?" another elder offered his analysis, his expression calm.
Cui Qi dismissed the border guard general, ordering someone to lead him away to rest. Then, a worried look appeared on his face as he asked, "But what if it really is Qin Li who has returned?"
The elder who had just spoken flared his eyes with a brilliant glint and said in a grim tone, "If it really is that kid, our Royal Family now has countless experts. I refuse to believe he’s grown three heads and six arms! We’ll start by throwing Earth Level and Celestial Level Martial Artists at him! A volley of ten thousand arrows! Then, a mass assault by a large group of Celestial Shattering Realm Martial Artists! We still have over a dozen Celestial Integration Realm Martial Artists, plus myself, Lao Liu, and Lao Qi—three at the Celestial Embracing Realm! I refuse to believe we can’t take him down!"
The muscles in Cui Qi’s face twitched violently. His gaze flickered as he said, "Th-that... that cost is too great, isn’t it?"
The elder who had spoken before said in a heavy voice, "I brought Lao Liu and Lao Qi here this time with the original intention of visiting that kid’s hometown. It’s said he still has some friends in the Mortal Realm. Your Majesty, you don’t understand what that kid means to the entire Cui Family. If we could eliminate him, let alone these men, the Patriarch wouldn’t say no even if it cost the entire strength of the New Qin Empire!"
Cui Qi was extremely displeased to hear this. After all, he had been the Emperor in the mortal world for a long time. The feeling of being high above all others was, in some ways, even more wonderful than becoming the Cui Family Patriarch. But in the eyes of these powerful experts from the Cui Family, even he, the Emperor, was just an expendable figure.
At the same time, Cui Qi was surprised by how much the Cui Family valued and hated Qin Li. With his status, he was not yet privy to everything.
Cui Qi thought this over and then asked, "Then, what does the Elder propose?"
"We’ll wait. Right here."
To Cui Qi’s surprise, the Celestial Embracing Realm Elder from the Cui Family didn’t say he would immediately take his men to the Cyan Dragon Kingdom. Still, he breathed a sigh of relief. If these supreme experts were to leave and Qin Li were to actually show up, his entire Royal Family would likely be annihilated.
"So we don’t withdraw the troops?" Cui Qi asked again. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
The Elder seemed to grow impatient. He said coolly, "You’re the Emperor of this country. If you have to ask me about everything, what’s the point of having you as Emperor? Figure it out yourself!"
After speaking, the Cui Family Elder stood up with an impatient look and walked out. The two silent elders who had been with him also left. None of them showed Cui Qi the slightest bit of regard, let alone respect.
After they had all left, Cui Qi’s face slowly turned ashen. He gritted his teeth, his eyes shooting daggers of rage. Seated on the dragon throne, his chest heaved violently.
The eunuch beside him asked softly, "Your Majesty, shall we withdraw the troops?"
"We’re not retreating! Keep fighting! Fight them ruthlessly!" Cui Qi said coldly. He sneered in his heart, ’Come and destroy me then. I don’t care who you are. It would be best if you all just wound up destroying each other!’
It seemed he had come to hate even his own high-and-mighty elders.
...
Another half-month passed. Qin Li and the others finally followed the main road south and returned to Yellow Sand City!
The great city before them didn’t seem to have changed much. It was just as it had always been: massive, majestic, and ancient!
The Little Fox didn’t enter the city, instead drifting gracefully toward Phoenix Lake. She made an agreement with Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu to meet back in Yellow Sand City in half a year, and then they would go to Profound Island to participate in the Venerable’s Grand Tournament.
Shangguan Shiyu gazed at the long-unseen Yellow Sand City, her heart filled with emotion. Inside the carriage, she leaned against Qin Li’s shoulder, her eyes shimmering, and said softly, "Qin Li, do you think Grandpa has broken through to the Celestial Level and come out of seclusion?"
"Maybe. In the blink of an eye, I’ve been away for two or three years myself." What Qin Li was truly thinking about, however, were Leng Yao, Hu, Bu Yunyan, and the disappeared Watermelon!
They were the ones he was truly attached to in this world.
The entire Cyan Dragon Kingdom showed no signs of being affected by the war. The Great Qi Kingdom, on the other hand, was now desolate from top to bottom. Fortunately, the Five Nations Alliance was holding firm, and its million-strong army was constantly engaged in battle with the New Qin Empire. The burden of logistics and supplies did not fall on the Great Qi Kingdom alone.
Yellow Sand City was as bustling as ever. Qin Li didn’t head to the Shangguan Family first, but instead had the driver take the carriage to the residential house they once had in the South City.
Whether it was Qin Li or Shangguan Shiyu, looking out the carriage window at this city that was at once familiar and strange, both felt as if a lifetime had passed.
When the carriage reached the South City, Qin Li was stunned to find that the entire stretch of residential houses had vanished. In its place stood a single, super-massive estate!
It occupied the space of what had once been three entire intersecting streets!
The carriage pulled up to the estate’s main gate. Above the gate, which was a full thirty meters high, was a huge plaque with two large, flamboyantly written words on it—Qin Mansion!
Qin Li stepped out of the carriage, took a deep breath, and murmured, "I’m back."
