Free Web NovelChapter 270: Chapter 268: Venerable Cui Leng
"Get lost. Where would I find any three-hundred-year-old stuff? I can’t even get my hands on it for myself!" Shen Le rolled his eyes. "I only have the fifty-year-old. Take it or leave it!"
"Monkey Wine... I hear it’s good stuff!" Qin Li chimed in with perfectly timed admiration.
Shen Le grinned cheekily. "Of course! I’m not just bragging, but across all of Profound Island, my Thousand Mechanism Sect has the best Monkey Wine! A single jar of hundred-year-old Monkey Wine can increase your Power by twenty years! I’ll send a few jars your way sometime, brother!"
"Shen Le, you scoundrel! You just said you didn’t have any!" Lin Heng’s voice rang out as he gracefully drifted through the path the crowd had parted, his movements as smooth as flowing water. He wore a look of indignation.
"For you, there’s none. For Qin, there is. What are you gonna do, bite me?" Shen Le said, rolling his eyes and sneering. "You’ve got some nerve. The last time you visited the Thousand Mechanism Sect, I discovered twenty jars of hundred-year-old wine had gone missing after you left!"
"Hmph, you drank half of those yourself! Don’t you dare try to pin it all on me!" Lin Heng shot back bluntly.
The trio’s banter, as if no one else was around, infuriated the members of the Cui Family. Yet, every one of them kept their mouth shut. Even the young lady of the Cui Family could only stand there, her pretty face a mask of frost, her eyes filled with humiliation and fury.
She had dared to threaten the Qin Family, but when faced with the Thousand Mechanism Sect and the Lin Family—two powers with foundations no weaker than her own Cui Family—even she did not dare to speak recklessly.
"Heh heh. To think that the esteemed Young Master of the Thousand Mechanism Sect and the fourth son of the Lin Family would stoop to this. Do you two truly believe my Cui Family has no one to answer you?"
A calm voice arose from the front of the Cui Family’s convoy. The sound, however, completely drowned out the clamor of several thousand people, as if it were echoing right beside each person’s ear.
The expression on every face changed in an instant!
Among those present, countless were at the Celestial Shattering Realm, and a great many were at the Celestial Integration Realm. There were even numerous Martial Artists who had reached the Celestial Embracing Realm. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
And yet, that single, unremarkable voice had overwhelmed the sound of them all!
What level of Power did it take to do something like that?
Upon hearing this voice, the enraged members of the Cui Family suddenly fell silent, a profound sense of confidence blooming on each of their faces.
Lin Heng and Shen Le’s expressions also shifted slightly. Then, Shen Le gave a faint smile. "I was wondering who it could be. So, it’s the legendary eldest son of the Cui Family. Congratulations, congratulations. To enter the Venerable Realm before the age of fifty... Cui, you truly are the number one of our generation!"
After a moment of shock, Lin Heng’s expression also returned to normal. For major powers like theirs, with their incredibly deep foundations, the appearance of one more young Venerable among their rivals was merely a nuisance, not a cause for fear. After all, which great family didn’t produce a few young powerhouses of exceptional talent? It was only ever a matter of time.
It was true that in the last few centuries, neither the Lin Family nor the Thousand Mechanism Sect had produced a Venerable in their forties like Cui Leng. But that didn’t mean they never had before, nor that they never would again.
So, at most, they were a little envious. As for fear? ’What’s there to be afraid of? So what if he’s a young Venerable? Which of our families doesn’t have a Venerable? Youth doesn’t guarantee he’ll be able to cultivate to an even higher realm!’
’Plenty of Venerables have gotten stuck at the Human Venerable realm and died of old age!’
A low wave of gasps rippled through the crowd, and looks of disbelief spread across many faces. While there had been speculation that the Cui Family had produced a peerless genius, the term was thrown around loosely. Among the youths of the great families and Sects on Profound Island, at least five out of every ten could be called a "genius"!
This wasn’t a case of "genius" becoming a meaningless term, but rather a result of the abundant Spiritual Qi on Profound Island and the deep foundations of its families and Sects. If a woman began taking various Spiritual Medicines beneficial to fetal development from the moment of conception, how could her child possibly turn out mediocre?
As long as one wasn’t too lazy and was willing to cultivate diligently, most people could break through to the Celestial Level and reach the Celestial Shattering Realm before the age of fifty.
But to break through to the Celestial Integration Realm before the age of one hundred? That required far more effort, as well as exceptional innate talent.
In this world, not everyone could be like Qin Li and Shangguan Shiyu, and very few could reach the level of Shen Le and Lin Heng. But while their achievements were something people could still wrap their heads around, a fifty-year-old Venerable was a phenomenon that might not appear even once in a thousand years!
"Heavens, the Cui Family really produced such a young powerhouse? That’s terrifying! Is it due to incredible talent or incredible nurturing?"
"Who knows? It’s a closely guarded secret in the Cui Family. I can’t believe a true Venerable Realm expert has shown up for the Venerable tournament. Damn, looks like the Cui Family is guaranteed one of the Golden Palace’s ten spots!"
"Yeah. Who can possibly stand against someone in the Venerable Realm?"
Cui Leng’s body moved with an extreme, effortless grace. As he drifted over from the distance, his movements seemed even more fluid than Shen Le’s and Lin Heng’s.
The chattering of the onlookers didn’t seem to affect the youthful-looking Cui Leng in the slightest. He didn’t even bat an eye at the dead Cui Family disciple on the ground.
He looked at Shen Le, his expression serene, and said coolly, "Have the Thousand Mechanism Sect and the Lin Family decided to walk a path contrary to the Cui Family?"
It was a skillfully phrased question. Instead of directly saying, ’You’ve decided to oppose us,’ he had chosen a different way to frame it.
Shen Le looked up at Cui Leng and grinned, baring his teeth. "Why be so diplomatic, Cui? Did becoming a Supreme Martial Artist make your speech rise with your station? It seems to me we were never on the same path to begin with."
Cui Leng smiled faintly. He wasn’t ugly, but he couldn’t be called handsome either, and he appeared to be only in his mid-thirties. His long hair was casually tied in a bun, and he wore navy-blue combat attire under a black cloak—a common outfit.
It was only the natural aura emanating from him that prevented anyone from daring to take him lightly.
"Is that so? Is that your personal opinion, or that of your family’s elders?" Cui Leng’s voice wasn’t aggressive; on the contrary, it sounded quite mild.
But his words held a hidden barb. He was clearly placing himself in the position of an elder questioning a junior.
Lin Heng and Shen Le exchanged a glance. Their martial talent might not be on par with a prodigy’s, but their minds were certainly no duller than Cui Leng’s. Lin Heng smiled faintly. "The Lin Family and the Thousand Mechanism Sect are equal allies with the Qin Family of Fengsha City. For such a major development, I’d have thought Cui would have heard something. But then again... heh, I suppose Cui is too busy with his cultivation to be bothered with such news."
"Fine. I understand."
Cui Leng’s expression remained unchanged. He turned his clear eyes to Qin Li, looking him up and down before glancing at Shangguan Shiyu standing behind him. A faint smile touched his lips as he pointed a finger at her. "That girl. I like her. She’s mine."
As he spoke, Cui Leng’s body moved like a phantom, pouncing directly toward Shangguan Shiyu. He used no weapon, simply extending a single hand, but his speed was incredible!
He was fast, but Qin Li was faster.
Almost no one saw Qin Li move. In a flash, he stepped back, and the Blood-Drinking Divine Sword in his hand slashed out a streak of purple Sword Qi, aimed straight at Cui Leng!
BOOM!
The two immense energies collided with a thunderous roar, but both combatants controlled the force masterfully, preventing the shockwave from spreading too far.
Cui Leng let out a soft "Hm?" of surprise. He hadn’t expected Qin Li’s control over his power to be so precise. In truth, their first exchange was merely a probe.
He wasn’t actually captivated by Shangguan Shiyu’s stunning beauty. It was just that this Qin Li had repeatedly humiliated the Cui Family, publicly slapping them in the face. If they couldn’t regain their honor, the Cui Family would soon become a laughingstock.
’The other families and Sects on Profound Island wouldn’t dare provoke the Cui Family, but there’s nothing stopping them from laughing behind our backs, is there?’
’A man lives for his reputation. Although Cui Leng didn’t appear angry, it was only because his cultivation was already too high. Why would an elephant bother getting worked up over an ant?’ freēwēbnovel.com
’If you provoke me, I’ll just stomp your nest flat.’
’Besides, a Venerable Realm expert is either still, or strikes like a thunderbolt!’
After that one probing strike, despite his surprise, Cui Leng concluded that while Qin Li possessed excellent talent, he was relying mostly on the power of his weapon.
’In that case, I’ll just take your weapon! And I’ll take your woman! Let’s see what you have left to be arrogant about then!’
With this thought, Cui Leng snorted. An immense pressure, like liquid mercury pouring across the ground, bore down on Qin Li. But, contrary to his expectations, not only was Qin Li not suppressed, but he swung the Divine Weapon in his hand, thrusting at Cui Leng’s throat with lightning speed!
"You’re courting death!"
Cui Leng snorted again, now even more certain that Qin Li possessed a powerful treasure that could resist spiritual pressure, just as his family had reported. He thought, ’Well, since you’re so willing to hand it over, it would be rude of me not to accept it, right?’
With a flick of his wrist, Qin Li sent five streams of Dragon-shaped Sword Qi, imbued with the Five Elements Attribute, blasting toward Cui Leng.
"Petty tricks!" Cui Leng sneered, but his expression was anything but careless. He could feel a sharp, killing intent from those five streams of Sword Qi that was in no way inferior to his own!
Cui Leng’s palms moved, blurring into countless afterimages until it seemed as if he had thousands of hands. An immense, frigid aura abruptly burst forth from his body!
"Ah, is that the Cui Family’s legendary ultimate skill, the Cold Flame Palm Technique? Heavens, I’m finally seeing it in person! It’s so powerful!"
BOOM!
With another thunderous boom, the earth beneath them instantly spiderwebbed with cracks, forming fissures dozens of meters deep. More terrifying still, the dark fissures instantly turned white as they froze solid, and a layer of hard, white ice began to spread rapidly across the ground.
"Is that all you’ve got, Qin Li? I will end you here today!" Cui Leng’s voice rang out, colder than the ice spreading at their feet.
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