Chapter 184: Chapter 182: Target, Profound Island

Yellow Sand City, the Fang Family estate.

Fang Haonan and Qin Li sat across from each other, drinking and chatting.

Fang Haonan gave a wry smile. "Qin, you were a hard man to find. I followed you all the way to the Imperial Capital but couldn’t locate you, so I had to come back. Not long after, your name spread throughout the Cyan Dragon Kingdom. Only, your identity had changed to that of a down-and-out nobleman from the Great Qi Kingdom. That was quite a move. If you hadn’t smiled at me that day, I wouldn’t even have been sure it was you. Your Disguise Skill is truly incredible! Haha, you have no idea. For the past few days, whenever the big shots in Yellow Sand City talk about you, they all have this look of disbelief. Some have even started to wonder if you and the old Qin Li are the same person at all, hahaha!"

Qin Li laughed as well. "What they think has nothing to do with me. I only care about my friends. As for everyone else... who gives a damn?"

"Haha, then I must be incredibly honored!" Fang Haonan laughed heartily. Then, he lowered his voice. "Qin, because of you, Qin Feng and Qin Hu were abandoned by the Second Prince—oh, I mean, the Emperor. Those two already hated you, and now they’ve left the Imperial Advanced Academy and disappeared. You need to be careful of their revenge."

"Heh, it’s fine. They’re just a couple of pathetic clowns." Qin Li smiled faintly. It wasn’t that he was underestimating his enemies. The truth was, even if those so-called geniuses ran into Hu and the others now, they would be completely outmatched.

Although the royal Tributors had all returned to the Imperial Capital after the Second Prince ascended the throne, the forces around Hu and the others were by no means weak. To say nothing of anything else, the Daqing Gang alone was enough to annihilate the two brothers, Qin Feng and Qin Hu. They were nothing to worry about.

"That’s true. You’re a world apart from who you used to be. Still, I’d suggest you maintain some sort of relationship with the great families of Yellow Sand City. Even if the entire city is now your private property, making enemies of all these powerful families won’t do you any good. But if you have other plans, just pretend I never said anything."

As Fang Haonan spoke, he gave a self-deprecating laugh. He understood that with Qin Li’s current strength and influence, he certainly had the right to disregard every family in Yellow Sand City. But as the scion of a Noble Family himself, Fang Haonan also knew that unless Qin Li wanted to abandon developing his power in the secular world, he couldn’t avoid dealing with these families. They might fear you and not dare to provoke you to your face, but what can you do if they trip you up and play dirty tricks behind your back?

Qin Li nodded and smiled. "Fang, you’re absolutely right. I’ll arrange a banquet in the next few days and invite all the prominent and Noble Families of Yellow Sand City to attend."

Fang Haonan hesitated for a moment, then asked with a mischievous grin, "Brother, let me ask a personal question. Hehe, are you going to invite the Shangguan Family this time?"

Qin Li gave a faint smile and said, "Putting others aside, I still have to give Old Master Shangguan some face."

Fang Haonan’s heart skipped a beat. He was silent for a long moment before smiling. "I understand!"

Between intelligent people, things didn’t need to be spelled out. Everyone knew that the Fang Family was on good terms with Qin Li, and it was even more widely known that Qin Li despised the Shangguan Family.

Given the circumstances, if the Fang Family didn’t seize this opportunity to rise up and replace the Shangguan Family, it would only prove their own incompetence.

However, Qin Li’s words today also made his stance clear. ’You want to rise, you want to grow? Fine. But if you want to use my name to crush the Shangguan Family in one fell swoop, then I’m sorry, but that’s not happening!’

It wasn’t that Qin Li had any particular fondness for the Shangguan Family. This was purely a matter of face. Even if neither Qin Li nor Shangguan Shiyu was willing to admit it, the fact remained that he was the Shangguan Family’s son-in-law.

No one could change that fact.

Even Shangguan Shiyu announcing her departure from the Shangguan Family couldn’t change it.

It was just like how Qin Li had been officially expelled by the Qin Family, yet almost everyone who spoke of him still subconsciously thought of him as a scion of the Qin Family of Yellow Sand City.

This was likely the very reason Qin Hongyuan had hidden Qin Li and his mother away within the Qin Family estate back then. No matter where they went, people would say, "Look, that’s the illegitimate son of the Qin Family of Yellow Sand City..."

For a family that valued face more than life itself, this was clearly unacceptable.

In any case, the once-glorious Qin Family had already vanished like smoke, becoming a thing of the past. The former Qin Family estate, with its sprawling pavilions and waterside gazebos, was now overgrown with weeds and completely desolate.

Because of Qin Li, many family factions that had wanted to occupy that land had quietly withdrawn.

「Three days after his reunion with Fang Haonan,」

Qin Li booked the finest restaurant in Yellow Sand City and hosted a banquet for all the nobles and socialites of status. The Shangguan Family also received Qin Li’s invitation, their hearts filled with conflicting emotions. They had expected to be met with his cold sarcasm once again, but to their surprise, Qin Li made no move to make things difficult for them at the banquet. This allowed the anxious Shangguan Buhui to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Afterward, Qin Li found a large, empty plot of land within Yellow Sand City and had Hu arrange for people to build a Duke’s Mansion there. The location was excellent. The Qin Family and the Shangguan Family had fought over it for many years, reaching a stalemate. The City Lord, Mo Qianxiong, hadn’t wanted to offend either side, so the land had remained vacant.

Now that Qin Li had made his powerful return and the entire city of Yellow Sand City had become his property, no one dared to compete with him for this land.

「In the time that followed,」

Qin Li once again entered closed-door cultivation, only emerging the day before the new year.

Before entering seclusion, Qin Li had taken an Essence Pill. Just as Leng Yao had said, this type of elixir was extremely effective even for someone at his level of Divine Sense. His Spiritual Power had increased tremendously!

The most noticeable improvement was that while the range of his Divine Sense was still ten *li*, after using it to its full extent, it would only drain his Spiritual Power, without the uncomfortable feeling of his mind going blank like before.

The Little Princess, Zhao Qianqian, had also begun to train diligently with Bu Yunyan, while also studying business. This girl, born into the Royal Family and well-educated, had finally discovered her greatest passion was, like Bu Yunyan, business!

On the day he emerged from his seclusion, Qin Li gave Zhao Qianqian a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Jade Bracelet as a new year’s gift, making the little girl so happy she couldn’t sleep all night.

The New Emperor, Zhao Xinghai, dispatched a large army to support the besieged Great Qi Kingdom. At the same time, he began trying to contact the ancestors of the Zhao Family within the Mysterious Land. Although he felt helpless about his little sister staying by Qin Li’s side, he also felt it was the best possible choice for her. He could only wish his little sister happiness from afar.

Qin Li’s accumulation of Primordial Power had also reached a terrifying level, but he was still just a hair’s breadth away from a breakthrough. This was because breaking through to the Celestial Shattering Realm required not only a terrifying accumulation of Primordial Power, but also a profound comprehension of the Martial Dao.

This was the main reason why so many Celestial Level Martial Artists were unable to break through in their entire lifetimes.

Qin Li wasn’t anxious. A breakthrough was only a matter of time.

Snowflakes drifted down on Yellow Sand City in the winter chill. Mo Qianxiong felt deeply honored that Qin Li had allowed him to remain as City Lord. He didn’t decline the position for a simple reason: with the flames of war already ignited, no other place was as safe as Yellow Sand City.

Even if the Cyan Dragon Kingdom were to be destroyed, the war wouldn’t reach here for quite some time.

Wars in the Cold Weapon Era could last for a very long time. Although the New Qin Kingdom had many Celestial Shattering Realm Martial Artists, their strength was insignificant in battles involving tens or even hundreds of thousands of people. Even a Celestial Shattering Realm Martial Artist could not withstand a simultaneous volley from ten thousand Strong Bowmen.

Therefore, conquering just the Great Qi Kingdom would be impossible without several years of effort. Moreover, with the Five Nations Alliance now in play, it was still unknown who would devour whom.

Mo Qianxiong’s daughter, Mo Feifei, had also personally apologized to Qin Li. Qin Li didn’t hold much animosity toward this girl who had been so infatuated with Qin Feng. She was just a spoiled and willful young lady, but at least she was genuine, which made her far better than the likes of Qin Feng and Qin Hu. Moreover, after that incident, Mo Feifei seemed to have become a completely different person. She had thoroughly matured, and was now a world away from her past self.

Therefore, Qin Li had no intention of holding a grudge against a girl like her.

「After the new year,」

Qin Li’s true age was now sixteen. It was already his fourth year in this world.

With all preparations complete, Qin Li waved farewell to everyone and, amidst the tears of several girls, set out on the road to Profound Island.

Profound Island was located in a massive canyon west of the New Qin Kingdom and east of the Celestial Lake Kingdom. Unlike the Mysterious Land of the Paradise Celestial Palace, Profound Island’s gate only opened once a year, on the sixth day of the sixth month. If one missed this chance, they would have to wait until the following year.

Furthermore, the gate to Profound Island was situated midway up a sheer cliff. That cliff was a full ten thousand *zhang* high! A true ten-thousand-*zhang* precipice.

The cliff was as steep as if it had been carved by a knife from top to bottom. Martial Artists who had not reached a certain level of strength couldn’t even get close to it.

This was because the area was also home to countless High Level Spirit Beasts. An ordinary person would likely die in the jaws of a Spirit Beast before even reaching the canyon.

However, every year in the sixth month, the month when Profound Island’s gate opened, all the Spirit Beasts would temporarily leave the canyon for the entire month. This point had never changed since ancient times, for reasons unknown.

Perhaps some mysterious power between heaven and earth terrified the Spirit Beasts. Or maybe Profound Island’s power was so immense that even Spirit Beasts that had undergone Transformation had to give it a wide berth.

In any case, as long as one could reach that place during the sixth month, they could basically enter Profound Island safely.

Of course, besides the people inside Profound Island, very few in this world knew this secret.

At this time, Qin Li had reverted to his true appearance. His sixteen-year-old face was exceptionally handsome, with sword-like brows and star-like eyes.

Except for those who were exceptionally familiar with Qin Li, many people would likely fail to recognize him now.

Along the way, Qin Li encountered many armies, especially on the border between the Great Qi Kingdom and the New Qin Kingdom, where a combined force of several hundred thousand soldiers from both sides was engaged in fierce battle.

Qin Li paid them no mind. At this moment, he had only one goal: Profound Island! (To be continued. If you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, supporting the author and legitimate reading!)