Free Web NovelChapter 266: Chapter 264: Before the Venerable Tournament
"She’s my wife. What business is it of anyone else’s?"
Qin Li muttered to himself as he reached out and pulled Shangguan Shiyu in front of him. His eyes, filled with deep affection, gazed unreservedly into hers. His lips drew closer, inch by inch, to her glistening mouth.
A flash of panic flickered in Shangguan Shiyu’s stunningly beautiful eyes, but she quickly closed them. Her long, dense lashes fluttered softly. Her face had already turned so red it looked as if it might start to bleed.
The moment their lips touched, both of their hearts skipped a beat. An intoxicating, soul-stealing sensation instantly suffused them. As their lips intertwined, Qin Li gently teased her shy, retreating tongue...
After a long moment, Shangguan Shiyu went limp in Qin Li’s arms, her eyes shimmering like liquid pools. She panted softly, her heart completely filled with a sweet sensation. She felt that, at this very moment, being in his arms was the most wonderful thing in the world. As for the matter of asking Qin Li to comfort Leng Yao, that was now the furthest thing from her mind.
Qin Li forcefully suppressed the passion stirring within him. ’Even if I took her right here, right now, she likely wouldn’t resist,’ he thought. ’But it wouldn’t be what she truly wants.’
’Ah, to hell with it. I’ll just hold out a little longer. We’ll have the wedding as soon as the Venerable Tournament is over! If it’s an early marriage, so be it...’
These thoughts tumbled through Qin Li’s mind. He had no idea that Shangguan Shiyu’s heart, too, was pounding wildly in her chest. When their passions had flared a moment ago, she had clearly felt his body’s reaction, which made her go weak and limp all over. She had been both frightened and excited. Now that he had calmed down, she knew he was doing it to spare her. The thought was sweet, yet tinged with a faint sense of disappointment. More than anything, though, she felt an overwhelming love for him.
"Shiyu, marry me." He wasn’t sure what came over him; the words just slipped out. After he said them, he himself was stunned for a moment, but he still looked seriously into Shangguan Shiyu’s eyes.
Shangguan Shiyu’s face was burning hot, and she could feel her heart pounding violently. Her delicate head couldn’t help but nod, and she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper, "W-weren’t we... already betrothed?"
"That doesn’t count. I want you to truly be my wife!" Qin Li held Shangguan Shiyu’s flawless face in his hands and said possessively, "I want you to be my woman! After the Venerable Tournament is over, we’ll have our wedding, okay?"
Shangguan Shiyu nodded slightly as a mist quickly formed in her eyes. She buried her head in Qin Li’s chest and said in a muffled voice, "You have to keep loving me like this forever!"
"I will!" Qin Li couldn’t help but hug Shangguan Shiyu’s soft, warm body tighter, and his hands couldn’t resist starting to roam.
Shangguan Shiyu jumped out of Qin Li’s embrace, her cheeks flushed as she said, "I-I’m going back to bed!" With that, she scrambled out in a fluster, without a shred of the dignified bearing of a Celestial Integration Realm master.
Qin Li was left behind with a wry smile. He lifted his hand and sniffed it; a lingering fragrance remained.
After sitting there in a daze with a silly grin for a while, Qin Li finally stood up, wiped the smile from his face, and walked out the door. Seeing that the light was still on in Leng Yao’s room, he hesitated for a moment before walking over and knocking gently.
"Who is it?" Leng Yao, who was in her room staring blankly while fiddling with the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Jade Bracelet Qin Li had given her, asked softly. Her voice was cold and clear.
"It’s me. You’re not asleep yet, are you? Can I come in?"
"Ah, it’s you. Wait a moment." Leng Yao hastily put the bracelet back under her pillow, then tidied her hair in the mirror before saying, "You can come in."
Qin Li pushed the door open and entered. He saw that Leng Yao’s face was slightly flushed and she seemed a bit shy. He sighed inwardly, but still smiled and said, "It’s so late. Why aren’t you asleep yet?"
"I can’t sleep." By then, Leng Yao had recovered her composure. She spoke faintly, her voice cold and tinged with sorrow.
"Did you find out who your family’s enemies are?"
Leng Yao nodded lightly, then sighed and said nothing.
"Then you must know that I have a feud with them too, right? Right now, they wish I would drop dead," Qin Li said with a helpless shrug.
"Don’t talk nonsense. All this talk of dying... How could you die!" Leng Yao shot Qin Li a glare, speaking with displeasure.
"Haha, it’s nothing, really. I know what you’re worried about. You’re afraid that if you bring up revenge, it will implicate me and the Qin Family. But if you don’t bring it up, you can’t live with yourself, right?"
Leng Yao gave a faint "mm" and then said, "The Cui Family’s power is too great; they’re practically unshakable. I always knew they were influential, but it wasn’t until I came to Profound Island that I truly understood what a Super Family is! I don’t think I’ll ever have a chance for revenge in this lifetime."
Seeing Leng Yao’s dejected expression, Qin Li nodded. "You’re right, the Cui Family’s power is immense! Conventionally speaking, getting revenge would naturally be very difficult."
When Leng Yao heard Qin Li say this, she felt deeply disappointed—not in Qin Li, because she knew he was speaking the truth.
"However, that doesn’t mean there’s no hope at all!"
Qin Li’s next words rekindled the fire of hope in Leng Yao’s dim eyes.
"What hope is there? I heard the Cui Family has at least several dozen experts in the Venerable Realm! With our current strength, we wouldn’t even be enough to get stuck in their teeth!" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"You can’t look at it that way. Have you forgotten the Ancient Pill Formula Secret Manual we have? Why do you think I’m establishing my own force in that Mysterious Land in the Paradise Celestial Palace? Don’t you understand?" Qin Li said with a calm expression. "I’ve already found almost all the ingredients for the Blast Pill, with only one Spirit Grass left to find. And for the Strengthening Pill, I’ve already found the other four types of Spirit Flowers, leaving only the one that grows exclusively on a sea island!"
"Really?" A look of pleasant surprise lit up Leng Yao’s eyes. Besides revenge, her greatest interest was probably Alchemy!
"Of course, it’s true. However, we can’t refine Elixirs on Profound Island. The Qin Family has treated me well, but this place is too unsafe!"
"Yes, there are so many powerful Noble Families and Sects on Profound Island. There’s simply no comparison to the Potala Holy Land where I used to live!" Leng Yao said, a faint sneer appearing on her lips. "I heard the Qin Family is a famous Alchemy Clan on Profound Island, but from what I’ve seen, their Elixirs are really quite ordinary!" freёwebnovel.com
Qin Li gave a wry smile and asked, "Back then, were the Elixirs your Leng Family refined as good as the Qin Family’s?"
Hearing this, Leng Yao was taken aback. Although she had been young when her family met with disaster, she still had some memory of things. After thinking for a long moment, she said, "So it was the Ancient Pill Formula Secret Manual that raised my standards..."
"Of course. So, don’t worry. We have the best Pill Formulas in the world in our hands. Why would we be afraid of not being able to build a powerful force? Leng Yao, have you ever thought about it? As long as your strength reaches the Celestial Integration Realm, or even the Celestial Embracing Realm, you’ll have a lifespan of several hundred years. And a few hundred years is more than enough time to establish our own power. By then, the Cui Family might not seem as terrifying as they do today!"
There was something else Qin Li didn’t say. ’If I break through to the Venerable Realm, what is there to fear from the entire Cui Family?’ But saying something like that now would seem frivolous. Qin Li never spoke of things he wasn’t confident he could achieve.
The icy mask on Leng Yao’s face finally began to melt. Her gaze toward Qin Li became incredibly gentle, and she said softly, "Qin Li, thank you!"
...
Seven days later, Bu Yunyan, Linghu Feiyue, Zhao Qianqian, and the others, accompanied by a large contingent of Qin Family Martial Artists, reluctantly bid farewell to Qin Li and headed for the secular world.
Although Qin Li also felt a pang of reluctance to see them go, he vaguely understood their reasons for doing so. He wasn’t sure if he felt grateful or disappointed. After all, Qin Li wasn’t made of stone; he wasn’t heartless. It was just that some forms of affection were difficult to accept.
After her talk with Qin Li, Leng Yao began to focus wholeheartedly on her training. She rarely even refined Elixirs anymore. She felt that what Qin Li said made a lot of sense. As long as her strength increased and she lived for many more years, she would sooner or later see the day the Cui Family was destroyed!
「Several months passed by quietly, and in the blink of an eye, winter arrived on Profound Island.」
Of course, on Profound Island, apart from Four Seasons Valley where the four seasons were distinct, the rest of the island remained as warm as spring, evergreen all year round.
The Venerable Tournament was held only once every seventy years. Therefore, everyone on Profound Island, regardless of whether they were from large or small Noble Families or Sects, or even unaffiliated Martial Artists, wanted to try their luck.
Of course, the Venerable Tournament also involved death and all sorts of conspiracies. After all, many families held grudges against one another, and if their members were to meet, it would be a fight to the death.
Two Noble Families couldn’t easily go to war, but the younger members from two rival families could use this opportunity to engage in a life-or-death battle.
Therefore, not every family dared to send their most outstanding young members to participate in the Venerable Tournament. Even if there were no pre-existing grudges, there were always intensely jealous people who would deliberately make a vicious move to destroy a family’s most promising disciple, which was basically equivalent to destroying that family’s future.
There was never a shortage of people interested in such malicious acts that brought others down without necessarily benefiting themselves.
The Golden Palace would appear at the highest peak of Profound Island, which was the head of the Xuanwu. That place was about a half-month’s journey from Fengsha City, where the Qin Family resided.
Therefore, a month before the Golden Palace was due to appear, the entire Qin Family was already fully prepared. This time, Qin Li was the main force, along with over twenty other outstanding young members of the Qin Family. Uh, alright, some of them weren’t so young anymore. Someone like Qin Wenxuan, who had just broken through to the Celestial Integration Realm, was still considered young.
After all, the rule of the Golden Palace was that participants had to be under one hundred years old. And after tens of millions of years of accumulation, recent Venerable Tournaments had seen young masters under one hundred years old emerging one after another!
However, there was one more thing: to participate in the Venerable Tournament, strength alone wasn’t enough. The most important thing was luck.
