Supreme Emperor of Mist

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"I've heard that senior brother Jie is going to breakthrough very soon. If that happens, he'll likely be chosen to join the inner sect by all the elders. Should we start approaching the senior brother and serve him?" asked one of the three cultivators.

He had a slightly broad shoulder but skinny legs. Paired with an average look with big fish-like eyes, he can be considered the most unpopular person Qin Lan has ever seen. The two companions of his were about the same.

One of them had a mouth that could stuff a fist inside. As for the other guy, his belly was about the size of two of his friends put together. Even the guy that they killed earlier was better looking than the three cultivators here.

But the weird thing is, they're the ones that did the bullying, not the opposite. This was what puzzling Qin Lan.

The trio soon talked about the resources provided by the sect, the people, and their habits. It seems that most of the topics between them were about which slave disciple to choose from.

Following them allowed Qin Lan to have a rough understanding of these three and their sect.

'Looks like the sect they're in is known as Iron Flesh Sect. But instead of following the common practice of recruiting disciples from town to town, they actually choose to forcefully capture the able people and put them into the division known as slave disciples.' Qin Lan's opinion towards them significantly reduced after listening to their conversation.

But no matter what opinion he had about the Iron Flesh Sect, he had nothing much to comment about what they've been doing.

After all, the concern of a sect was mainly focusing on three essential matters. Their foundation, their disciples, and their resources. Without either one, a sect would have difficulties lasting more than ten years or so.

And from their conversation, it seems the Iron Flesh Sect belonged to one of the weaker sects around this area. Without doing so, a weak sect like this would likely fell in five to ten years.

The three of them were regular people a year ago. But it seems that they had some luck and talent in cultivation for successfully cultivating their strength to the First Stage of Flesh Refining Layer. The one with a pair of fish-like eyes was doing even better than the other two, and he had the cultivation of a Second Stage.

Secretly listening to their conversation also allowed Qin Lan to roughly guess what location he's at right now. But their knowledge was limited to this small county they lived within, and all he got to know from them was that this county is known as the Liu County.

He followed them a little further until the trio arrived at a moderately fortified building. Judging from the patrolling forces guarding the entrance, this place looked more like a bandit's stronghold. It has neither the appearance nor the aura of a proper sect at all.

The only thing worthy around the entrance was the wooden plaque above the door, written "Iron Flesh Sect."

Knowing that it would do nothing good for him even if he returned to this sect, Qin Lan sneaked away quietly and searched for a human settlement nearby.

Qin Lan didn't move randomly. Qin Lan's method soon led him to a middle-sized human settlement using the leftover tracks from walking and the horses. It was located about two hours away from the Iron Flesh Sect.

It was embarrassing, but he had no other choice. Qin Lan acted like he was robbed by the people on his way here, taking off everything he was wearing except for his underwear.

The barely clothed Qin Lan quickly caught the guard's attention by acting as pitiful he could.

"What happened to you, young brother? Are you not from here?" one of the two guards asked. Perhaps because Qin Lan appeared to be helpless, this made him lowered his guard.

"Two brothers... I've been robbed on my way here. All they did was leaving me with a piece of underwear to protect my dignity. Can I ask if I can take refuge in this village?" Qin Lan said.

"Well... I hate to say that you can't, but all decision has to be made by the village chief. Stay close to the fire for now and keep yourself warm. I'll deliver your situation to the village chief and see what his answer is." the guard pointed Qin Lan at a fire stand that doubled as a torch at night.

"Thank you, brother. I'll be bothering you for a while then..." Qin Lan continued with his act. About ten to fifteen minutes later, the guard returned with an elder behind him.

"What's your name, child?" the elder asked. From the look of it, he should be the village chief the guard mentioned.

"This junior's name is Qin Lan. I was supposed to go to a place and become a servant, but we got robbed. Most of the people died, and only a few escaped." Qin Lan answered with a slightly stuttered speech.

The reason he acted so is to gain more pity from the village chief.

"Alright. I'll allow you to help in the village while you get well here. But we have a few rules you'll have to follow. I can see that you're pretty well built. Let's go to my place to grab a set or two articles of clothing and rest."

"Tomorrow, you'll be helping at the farm. Are you fine with it?" the village chief asked.

"Of course." Qin Lan nodded at the village chief. He was then taken to the chief's house to grab a piece of cloth to wear temporarily. Then, Qin Lan was given a few cakes made from mixing flour and mountain yam together before getting into the stable and sleeping with the horses.

The following day, he was taken to where the farm was to help the villagers. Since he was the younger around here, the duty of loosening the field naturally fell to his hand.

"I'm not sure how much you know about farming, but tiling the soil should be an easy task for a youngster. We'll be expecting you to loosen the dirt around this place here, so come back to the barn for your meal after you're done." said the farm manager.

After saying what he had to, the manager left. But to his surprise, Qin Lan came to the barn three hours later.

"I'm done," he said.

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[If you're not reading this at W-E-B-N-O-V-E-L, that means the one you're reading is likely pirated. Please support the author's work if you enjoy what you're reading in W-e-b-n-o-v-e-l. Thank you]

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