Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Enemy attack!" the bandit standing in the outermost circle was the first one to fall victim to Qin Lan's claw attack. The momentum of a hundred charging horse-riding cultivators is not a force to be underestimated either.

With the moon as their only witness, the fight started.

By bringing down the fight to them, it gave the punitive forces a considerable advantage. Close to fifteen bandits with plenty of experience in a group fight fell victim to all sorts of attack and martial arts.

Qin Lan calmly moves around on horseback as he fired the hairpins in his hand skillfully. Each of his shots is capable of robbing the lives of a bandit wherever he goes.

"Qing Yun, Lu Yi, capture the leader. Zunjie, take care of my back." Qin Lan gave two sets of orders to his direct subordinates as he directed the horse to move into an open space. At this instant, he's like a master strategist fighting on the battlefield.

*Xiu... - Xiu...*

The sound made from a unique whistle sounded on the battlefield.

"Stall the enemies! The help from big brother and old six will be here soon!" their leader, old two, said. Unfortunate for him, his words ended up bringing more trouble to himself as he revealed his position to two hunters.

Lu Yi and Lu Qing Yun made their way to his position at once.

"Second Leader, they're coming for us!" a few team leaders unleashed their Spiritual Energy on the spot to defend against Lu Yi and Lu Qing Yun. In a short moment, six outbursts of Spiritual Energy, all from fourth-level Flesh Refining Layer cultivators, covered the battlefield.

And in that instant, two fifth-level cultivators made their entrance from two different locations.

"It's him!" one of the fifth-level cultivators on Qin Lan's side recognized the stronger opponent between the two new arrivals.

"What's wrong, uncle Chen?" Qin Lan speaks comfortably without bothering the etiquette. That's because this fifth-level expert is someone from the Qin Family.

"That person is the leader of Hushan Bandits from the southern Flame Demon Mountain. He's known as Eldest brother or Lang Xue. I've exchanged a few blows with him before this." the expert Qin Lan addressed as Uncle Chen shares what he knows with Qin Lan.

But Qin Lan could see more from his worried expression.

"Uncle Chen, since you have the experience of fighting against him before, please bring along two fifth-level experts to keep him occupied. We'll try our best here." Qin Lan cupped his hands together and requested uncle Chen to handle Lang Xue on his behalf.

"Your subordinate understands. Brother Kang, brother Xiao, let us keep that notorious bandit occupied!" Uncle Chen pulled two other fifth-level experts with him as the trio made their way to where Lang Xue came from.

But with three fifth-level experts is occupied, there are only seven Middle-Attainment Rank cultivators are standing guard around Qin Lan's side.

"Don't forget that this Gou Ye is also around! Who's coming to entertain me?" Gou Ye, or old six, announced his arrival as he stepped into the battlefield.

"Mister Qian, please bring two cultivators with you and handle that bandit leader called Gou Ye." Qin Lan sent three more fifth-level cultivators out to keep Gou Ye occupied.

"Qian Li will try his best to reach Young Patriarch's expectation. On me!" the Middle-Attainment Rank expert stepped into the battle with two other middle-aged cultivators.

Only four experts left around Qin Lan.

Very soon, old two also unleashed his strength as one of the Middle-Attainment Rank experts.

"Come! Let your father, Xiong Jie, sent you to the wheel of reincarnation!" his provocation made Qin Lan released three more experts to where he is.

And the moment only one fifth-level expert is left on Qin Lan's side, Jiao Heng made his move.

Three experts from the Night Dragon Assassins joined the battle as they made their way towards Qin Lan's position. Even a fool knows that this is a trap made especially for Qin Lan!

"Heh... Who else can you sent out now?" Jiao Heng revealed himself from his hiding spot and taunted Qin Lan. With three fifth-level experts from the Jiao Family's proud Night Dragon Corps, there's no reason for him to get his hand dirty.

"Zunjie. Uncle Pan. Take care of yourselves. Let us shows them what the Qin Family is capable of!" Qin Lan flicked his finger towards the direction where the three assassins from Night Dragon Corps is coming. Three hairpins were aimed at their neck the moment Qin Lan made his move.

"Ding! - Ding! - Ding!" his move is eventually blocked by the assassins effortlessly. The distance between them is shortened bit by bit, with Qin Lan's side forced to kill the bandits obstructing their way as they move forward.

"Protect the Young Patriarch!" a few fourth-level cultivators from the Qin Family roared the moment Qin Lan rides the horse past them. But none of them actually noticed the deception Qin Lan is putting around him to trap his opponent.

With only a brush in his hand, he looked like a scholarly patriarch that tries to kill using a pen. Although the stationary tool in his hand emitted a hint of frail Spiritual Energy that gave out the clue of an Offensive Treasure, it was a writing tool at the end of the day.

Compared to sword, spear, hook, and fists, that eight-inches long brush looked like a joke.

"Qin Young Patriarch! Let me take your pitiful life with a single strike!" the assassin chuckled. Pouring all his Spiritual Energy into the Xuan-Grade, (Half) Offensive Treasure of his, this fifth-level expert approaches Qin Lan.

"Surrender your life!" the assassin aimed the tip of his dagger towards Qin Lan's heart. As for Qin Lan, he's still confidently riding the horse forward with the Eight Transformation Treasured Brush held like the hilt of a sword.

"Three Sword Strikes of Zhenwu Gate, Mountain Splitting Strike." Qin Lan swiftly executed a killing stroke as he dodged the attack aimed at his heart.

None of them managed to see how deadly is Qin Lan's sword stroke, except for the two fifth-level assassins nearby. All they managed to caught using their pitiful sight is a flash of golden light that cuts through his opponent's chest.

But for the two assassins, there are more than that.

Qin Lan's stroke not only managed to cleanly decapitate the chest of his opponent but also leaving a marking on a tree about a hundred meters away from where they were.

"This..." cold sweat rolled from the temple of the two fifth-level assassins. The thought of getting an easy task from their young master seems to be gone now after witnessing Qin Lan's method.

"Assassins?" they trembled. Shame appeared in their mind.

"We're jokes compared to the extent of his skills. Only a real assassin like him can display that kind of ability surpassing their own cultivation." their expression changed.

...

"Interesting..." Lang Xue's palm strike lands accurately on Uncle Chen's chest. At the same time, he noticed the sudden spike in Spiritual Energy nearby and turned his gaze to where Qin Lan at.

He was the only one to notice what is happening on the battlefield, except for Qin Lan.

"Urgh..." Uncle Chen groans in pain as he was supported by an expert called Kang. As for the one named Xiao, he stepped forward to take over Uncle Chen's position.

"It looks like except for Gou Ye and Xiong Jie, only that brat over there has the potential." Lang Xue stares intensely at Qin Lan like a predator. He's wondering what extent Qin Lan could grow as he's just a youth that'll turn sixteen soon.

"Die, bandit! Take my Qilin Mystic Wheel." the expert called Xiao attacked Lang Xue fiercely using a weapon like a grindstone.

...

Qin Lan secretly swallows some Flesh Foundation Pills to recover the strength exhausted in the previous battle. Although the result from his exchange earlier was surprising to the others, it was what he foresaw.

From the moment two imperfection is sculpted through the Mistral Flesh Diagram, Qin Lan knows that his fighting ability will be comparable to those a level above himself.

And added up with his martial prowess from the whole Tomes of Kuangshan Lu Sect's Martial Art, he could even fight as an equal against a sixth-level upper layer cultivator.

Furthermore, Qin Lan held more than these two trump cards.

One of them was his "Spiritual Energy Container" physique, which allowed Qin Lan to utilize natural Spiritual Energy into his core without converting them first. While at the same time, it also tripled the capacity of Spiritual Energy he's able to store compared to a regular cultivator.

That's the reason why Qin Lan is capable of killing the fifth-level assassin from Night Dragon Corp effortlessly.

Qin Lan's 12,000 units of Spiritual Energy is more than double of what his fifth-level opponent has. Although the volume of Spiritual Energy in a cultivator's core can be increased by practicing a cultivation technique, it was not easy to be obtained.

"Follow our Young Patriarch! March forward!" with Qin Lan starting the first kill, the others followed. The battle continues.