Supreme Emperor of Mist

A ball of light gathered around the Martial Beast's jaw before being fired at the escaping martial cultivator. Although the distance was more than half a mile, all it takes was half a second for the beam to arrive and killed him.

"OU! OU!" Jin-Xiong hammered its fist while standing on its back legs to show its might. Feeling that there's no longer any threat around it, the Martial Beast retreated and followed the route the merchant's convoy took.

The battle ended with Qin Lan's victory as Wang Xun safely protects the merchant convoy back to the border. But because of this battle, the border control was stricter than before. Many goods were prohibited from import starting from that night.

From what the County's Lord stated, these items were considered banned goods. Anyone caught under the suspicion of smuggling will be thrown into jail until they're found guilty or not guilty.

Meanwhile, Qin Lan calmly handled this matter by increasing the import from both Wei and Wu merchants. This made the road that was repaired earlier is expecting more merchant traffic. The route also turned into one of the merchant's desirable routes. The trading rates are much more profitable here rather than driving their convoy up to the northwest.

At first, the lack of merchants coming through their border hardly affected Hanyue County. But after a week, they started to have problems, mainly with grains and other items, such as medicinal herbs and timber.

Along with the hesitation to loosen the border control, the county lord's action can be said to be trying to dig a grave for himself to get inside. But nothing of all this matter right now because to Qin Lan, he was preoccupied with something else.

...

...

...

Precisely half a year later.

Xiancheng Province, Ice Maiden Sect.

This was a lifetime opportunity for the outsiders to have a tour of this sacred temple. Known for its mysteriousness and hardly accepting guest's visits, the Ice Maiden Sect finally opened its door today for the Martial Exchange.

In the last half a year, the Supreme Fist Pavilion has been making their preparation for today. Almost all the guests attending this Martial Exchange knew what agenda the Supreme Fist Pavilion had in their mind.

After a round of strict checks on the foothill to the Ice Maiden Sect, the guest who successfully got through the barricade numbered around four thousand people. The weakest amongst them were between the first to the second level of the Bone Reconstruction Layer.

"Milord, would it be acceptable for us to attend this Martial Exchange  with just a few of us?" Qin Lan's subordinate asked while walking up the stairs leading to the main temple where all the guests were seated.

"What are you worried about? We're here for Martial Exchange, not for anything else. Even if something were to happen, we have more than a few backup plans ready to use." Qin Lan replied.

The temple's seating area was already packed with people from all over the continent. Luckily, as the Marquis from the Country of Wu, he had a slightly better standing here. There's already a seat for three prepared to the owner of Shuiyue County by the time Qin Lan walked a little further.

After seating himself comfortably on the chair, Qin Lan took the well-known Lotus Fragrance Wine out from his Spatial Jade and began to drink them straight from the wine bottle. His action is akin to angering the people from Ice Maiden Sect, as it was still a temple with attached doctrine and religion.

But the reprimanding from those who belonged to the Ice Maiden Sect didn't come until the sect leader came to greets everyone presents. Coming along beside the Ice Maiden Sect Leader was the Pavilion Master of the Supreme Fist Pavilion.

The opening ceremony was simple. It was then accompanied by sword dancing, a fire show, and acrobatics to lighten the mood. Food and drinks were served next. The alcohol seems to be part of the compulsory beverage included in each guest's food tray.

This made those looking forward to Qin Lan getting reprimanded by the people from Ice Maiden Sect felt hot on their faces. The embarrassment made them hides behind others while eating what was served.

Soon, the people seated in the front started a conversation here and there.

Since they already started to eat and drink, why not starting to lighten the mood by some light sparring or sharing the insight in cultivation? Was this not their intention for coming here?

Few Ice Maiden Sect's disciples show up on the stage prepared earlier to accept the guest's challenge. The four disciples they're sending were all in Bone Reconstruction Layer cultivator in their first-level to make it look proper. And just like the sect's name suggest, all the disciples were young maidens.

Three random cultivators from some minor or nameless sect challenged the maidens on the stage. As for the last beauty standing on the scene, she was challenged by the Supreme Fist Pavilion's disciple to bring up the mood.

It was all arranged, but they're all for the sake of making this Martial Exchange a success.

But the atmosphere changed when an expert of the fifth level came on the stage and pointed at the people from Supreme Fist Pavilion seated.

"Xihou-Ren! I challenge you in this Martial Exchange!" he said.

"Booo!!! Who are you to challenge the core disciple of the Supreme Fist Pavilion?" some spectators laughed at his recklessness for trying to compete against someone above his strength. But it would seem inappropriate if the pavilion take this challenge lightly.

Not long after the crowd getting rowdier, another disciple came on the stage.

"I am a junior of fellow disciple Xihou. Please give me some advice in this exchange!" the disciple cupped his hand towards the challenger before they started.

The two seem equally matched until Qin Lan finally caught the intention behind their actions.

"Hahaha..." Qin Lan laughed at the two fighters while everyone was focusing on their battle.

"Milord, is there something wrong?" his attendant asked.

"Nothing... Hahaha... Nothing..." Qin Lan was unable to continue his laughter as he gets louder by the second. By the time he fought hard to control himself, everyone's attention is on him.

"What? Is that not funny looking at two clowns dancing on the stage?" Qin Lan added.

[Note: I'm sorry to my loyal readers, but I will rush this book to its incomplete ending and make way for my other book, I RELY ON MY SYSTEM, to continue with the eastern fantasy genre in my mind. Sorry for all the delay, disappointment, and hope, happiness, and everything else. I am thankful for your support so far, so please wish me all the best while I push another 50 or so chapters to make this book end nicely!]