The tall, thin elder frowned slightly, then nodded in agreement. Initially, sending Old Third to ambush and kill Qin Li was just a favor to the Cui Family, a convenient move. But he never expected that Old Third, who had always been reliable, would actually fail!

The other party unexpectedly had a Celestial Venerable Realm Martial Artist backing them. This forced him to raise his guard. Although, with his current realm, he wasn’t afraid of a Celestial Venerable Realm Martial Artist, if there were more of them, it would ultimately be a hassle, wouldn’t it?

Therefore, this Qin Li absolutely could not be left alive, but they needed to be strategic about it.

The tall, thin elder sighed softly. He never thought that on Profound Island, a place he’d always looked down on, there would actually be an existence that could make him a little wary.

......

When Qin Li returned to the Qin Family once more, an invitation from the Thousand Mechanism Sect had already been delivered to the Qin Mansion.

The Thousand Mechanism Sect was about two thousand *li* from Fengsha City. By horse-drawn carriage, the journey would take about seven or eight days. But along with the invitation delivered to Qin Li’s hands, there was also a letter.

Shen Le wrote that the six other super-factions, besides the Cui Family, had noticed the Cui Family’s abnormalities. They were preparing to use the opportunity of his wedding to have the key figures from each family gather at the Thousand Mechanism Sect, discuss how to respond, and prepare to pressure the Cui Family. Shen Le hoped Qin Li could use this opportunity to get to know some of the major figures on Profound Island. After all, this would be a good thing for Qin Li himself.

After reading it, Qin Li agreed that this was an opportunity. His own power was ultimately limited. Besides, this time, the Cui Family hadn’t just provoked the Qin Family; they had grievously offended the Thousand Mechanism Sect and the Lin Family!

It had almost reached the point of a fight to the death. After all, they had just gone and wiped out experts of the Venerable Realm—two of them, at that. No matter who it was, they probably wouldn’t be able to swallow this grievance.

As for what attitude the other families and Sects would take, it was really hard to say. After all, it seemed the Cui Family was only targeting families and Sects related to the Qin Family.

But Qin Li felt that if the Elders and Patriarchs of those other families and Sects weren’t idiots, they should be able to see the Cui Family’s intentions. They weren’t just retaliating against the Qin Family; they had a much grander scheme!

That old beggar with the Purple Eyes, in particular, gave Qin Li an unsettling feeling. He felt that the Cui Family, which he had originally thought was just very powerful with deep foundations, was now shrouded in an ominous shadow.

Therefore, he had to use Shen Le’s wedding to change things!

’And those bastards from the Thousand Kills Sect...’ Qin Li thought.

The next day, the Qin Family dispatched a large convoy of carriages, laden with numerous gifts, and set off. This time, Qin Li was leading the group, while Qin Suo remained with the family to handle its affairs.

To deal with the many potential crises in the future, Qin Li also had Qin Suo send people out to notify Bu Yunyan and the others who were away to return to Profound Island. Qin Li planned to have them also enter the Golden Palace for secluded cultivation.

Xiaohai would continue his secluded cultivation within the Qin Family Manor. The Golden Eagle, Ink Eagle, and Spiritual Eagle would also remain with the Qin Family, just in case.

The Snake Woman would secretly follow alongside Qin Li to ensure his safety, while Leng Yao, for reasons unknown, had proactively requested to accompany Qin Li to the Thousand Mechanism Sect.

On the road, Qin Li spent most of his time silently contemplating the formation of Sword Intent and continuously absorbing Innate Purple Qi. By now, Qin Li had come to fully understand that the Innate Purple Qi Technique he cultivated was, in this world, an absolutely first-class Cultivation Technique!

Because his Sword Intent was an expression of the ’Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, Only I am Venerable’ combat technique reaching its fourth level, but without the Innate Purple Qi as a foundation, it would be absolutely impossible to use it at a realm like the Celestial Embracing Realm!

Thinking about how everyone on Profound Island’s perception of him was still stuck at the Celestial Integration Realm, Qin Li felt quite satisfied. Before one had sufficient strength, it was better to keep a few trump cards hidden.

The existence of the Innate Purple Qi made it difficult for others to gauge Qin Li’s true strength, which was also a significant advantage.

Elder Jin and Elder Tie had been in a foul mood lately.

The main reason was that on the day they had prepared to ambush Qin Li, a Martial Artist of unfathomable strength had appeared out of nowhere and scared them off. At first, the two had thought it was fine, that Qin Li was surely dead this time. But several days later, Qin Li had actually reappeared at the Qin Family, completely unscathed, and was now preparing to attend the wedding of Shen Le, the Young Master of the Thousand Mechanism Sect.

This came as a great shock to the two of them. They didn’t know what had happened that day or how Qin Li had escaped from that expert’s grasp. But the hatred for Qin Li in their hearts made them single-mindedly want to kill him.

And they would do so at any cost!

They had finally gotten their chance!

Elder Jin and Elder Tie stood on a low hill, watching the convoy several *li* away. The two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously rose into the air and charged toward the convoy.

At the same time, Elder Tie roared from mid-air, "Qin Li, you little beast, get out here and die!"

Inside the carriage, the cultivating Qin Li opened his eyes, a playful expression on his face. ’I was just worrying about how to find you,’ he thought, ’and here you are, daring to come and throw your lives away!’

Sitting opposite Qin Li, the silent, cultivating Black-clothed Snake Woman opened her eyes at the same moment. She glanced at Qin Li and said flatly, "Should I go take care of them?"

Qin Li said softly, "Leave one for me. I want to test some of my theories!"

"Alright!" the Snake Woman said. Her body abruptly vanished from the carriage. The next moment, she appeared with startling suddenness in mid-air and swatted a palm toward Elder Jin, the one with the stronger aura.

The supremely confident Elder Jin was momentarily stunned. Immediately after, a deep sense of dread welled up from the depths of his heart. Although his opponent hadn’t revealed her full aura, the very fact that this woman could evade his Divine Sense and suddenly appear here was enough to prove her power!

"Who are you?" Elder Jin hastily met the Snake Woman’s palm with one of his own and demanded loudly.

BOOM!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering bang drowned out Elder Jin’s words. Looking at him again, he was like a kite with a broken string, sent flying far into the distance. His entire chest had completely caved in. His eyes were wide with disbelief, unable to accept even in death that his opponent possessed such tyrannical strength. First, she had snapped his wrist, then, with the force of splitting bamboo, she had continuously struck his chest with three palm strikes!

Because the speed was too great, it had looked like a single palm strike!

Elder Jin’s body crashed to the ground. Even though he had reached the Venerable Realm and his Tendons and Bones, flesh and skin were extremely durable, the fall from dozens of meters high still shattered every bone in his body!

"AHHH!" The Black-faced Iron Elder let out a roar of utmost grief and fury. "Big Brother!"

His body shot like a bolt of lightning toward the Black-clothed Snake Woman. At the same time, his body began to emit an extremely dangerous aura!

"Be careful, he’s going to self-destruct!" Qin Li shouted as a warning.

In truth, there was no need for Qin Li’s warning. The Snake Woman already knew what the black-faced elder was trying to do. She snorted coldly, "He’s courting death himself. I’m not leaving him for you!"

As she spoke, her body abruptly vanished from the air. The next moment, she appeared with startling abruptness in front of Elder Tie and viciously kicked toward his Dantian.

THUD!

With a muffled thud, she forcefully kicked and ruptured Elder Tie’s Dantian!

Elder Tie didn’t even have time to self-destruct before the Snake Woman kicked him to death!

The Snake Woman pouted, her body quickly returning to Qin Li’s carriage. With an impatient look, she said, "So annoying. Two fly-like people actually dared to provoke us!"

Though it takes a while to describe, this all happened in an instant. Many of the Qin Family disciples hadn’t even realized what was happening before the battle was already over!

Leng Yao watched the entire scene unfold from the carriage window. Although she couldn’t clearly see the Snake Woman’s movements, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of envy.

She hesitated, pulling out two porcelain vials from her clothes. One of these vials contained a Blast Pill, the other an Essence Pill. She had already found four of the flowers needed for the Strengthening Pill, but two were still missing and could only be found by going out to sea.

Facing the vast Great Sea, even a Supreme Martial Artist would feel their own insignificance. When would she ever be able to find them? She had already taken the Essence Pill, and its effects were astonishingly good. With Leng Yao’s current strength, which was not yet at the Celestial Shattering Realm, she didn’t even feel much discomfort when facing the pressure of the Celestial Embracing Realm.

Leng Yao hesitated, wondering if she should risk taking a Blast Pill.

After much thought, Leng Yao decided to hold back for now. Even if she took the Blast Pill now, there was no guarantee she would immediately gain immense power, and if she ran into danger, she would just be a burden to Qin Li!

The Black-clothed Snake Woman’s strength gave Leng Yao hope for her revenge. She had come out with Qin Li this time precisely to see if she might run into her enemies at Shen Le’s wedding feast!

So many years had passed, but Leng Yao still couldn’t forget those arrogant voices. They had become like a nightmare to her; whenever she was startled awake from a bad dream, it was always those voices in her head.

Therefore, as long as those people appeared at the Thousand Mechanism Sect, and as long as their voices hadn’t changed too much, Leng Yao was confident she could identify them!

Qin Li looked at the still-unsatisfied Snake Woman and couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry smile. He asked casually, "I say... Xiaoxue, could you try not to be so violent? You go up and just crush people to death. At least pretend to fight for a little while and leave one for me to practice on!"

"They’re your enemies. Why would I leave them?" The Snake Woman looked at Qin Li with an innocent expression, completely baffled by his way of thinking. She had always believed in taking revenge for a grudge—just kill them directly. Why did humans always like to make things so convoluted?

Qin Li shrugged and threw up his hands, indicating that there was no getting through to her.

Those two unlucky Venerables had truly died unjust deaths. If they had just lingered for even a little while longer that day, they would have seen the Black-clothed Snake Woman’s divine might.

’Still, they’re dead, and that’s that. It’s one less thing to worry about,’ he thought. ’But when I get a chance, I still need to talk to this Snake Woman with her severe violent tendencies. Once we get to the Thousand Mechanism Sect, even if we run into that bunch of bastards from the Cui Family, she can’t just attack them recklessly.’

For one, Qin Li didn’t want to ruin his friend’s wedding. For another, if a move had to be made, the Thousand Mechanism Sect had plenty of people! It would be a perfect opportunity to see just how deep the Thousand Mechanism Sect’s foundations really were.