Supreme Emperor of Mist

"March forward! We're to move along with the Young Patriarch and defeat the Hushan Bandits!" the wake-up call from a few fellow fourth-level cultivators roused the fighting spirit of those from the punitive force.

There were 400 bandits in total, with almost 380 of them belonged to the third and four-level cultivation. Ten out of the twenty remaining people were experienced, fifth-level experts. As for the remaining ten, they're counted as a quasi fifth-level cultivator.

400 against a hundred should be a handicapped battle due to the differences in sheer number. Furthermore, there was a vast of differences in their experience that added to the winning factor.

Those groomed in a protected environment is like a stalk of herbs grown for a purpose. There were life and reason for its existence, but that's all to it.

And that's how the youths and those groomed behind the four sides of walls looked.

But today, all types of commonsense were broken. Not by a general with a hundred victories over ten provinces, nor a chief disciple that leads an entire sect of juniors.

It was a youth turning sixteen in a few more months. It was a brat in their eyes who's capable of presiding over the Qin Household and three patriarchs to following his direction. Even the town mayor wasn't excluded.

"Kill..." once again, both sides clashed.

The cultivators from the three households fought valiantly with Qin Lan by their side. Various style of martial arts was executed along with their Spiritual Energy like tidal waves.

Some were killed and some injured. But the flow of this battle slowly leaned to the Qin Household.

"Attack their leader! Bring that brat down from his horse first!" two bandit archers pulled the string on their bow and fired an arrow imbued with Spiritual Energy at Qin Lan.

"Ding! Ding!" Qin Lan changed the trajectory of the two arrows with a swing of his Eight Transformation Treasured Brush. Not leaving his other hand idle, Qin Lan fired two hairpins to return the favor.

"Aargh!" one of the hairpins struck the shoulder of the archer.

The second archer chuckled as he deflected the hairpin aimed at him. But as he reached for an arrow from the quiver on his back, the second hairpin came.

*Thud!*

His body fell on the ground, dead.

"Dragon Stealing Heart!" one of the fifth-level assassins executed his killing move towards Huo Zunjie. The outburst of Spiritual Energy quickly surrounded his body and created the image of a scaled serpent on the arm he's using to attack.

"Bring it on!" Huo Zunjie retaliates. Through the same utilization of Spiritual Energy, the Jade Dragon Finger armament on his arm glows brilliantly.

"Mistral Core... Long Fist!" Huo Zunjie's attack carries a hint of spiraling cloud churning towards the scaled serpent. The two martial art moves supported with Spiritual Energy clashed and created a vortex when exploded.

And to the assassin's shock, he was in a state of slight injury after the exchange.

"How is this possible? I'm a fifth-level cultivator, for heaven's sake!" the assassin removes the shawl covering his appearance and decides to fight to the death to recover this shameful exchange.

"Again!" Huo Zunjie took two Flesh Mending Pills and charged forward.

...

...

"Jiao Heng, come down and face me." Qin Lan pointed his finger at this troublemaker.

"So be it!" Spiritual Energy burst out from his body as Jiao Heng kicked the wooden barricade in Qin Lan's direction.

"Second transformation! Golden Spear!" Qin Lan made a leap off from his stead as he smashed the barricade into pieces. The Eight Transformation Treasured Brush has now shapeshifted into a spear made from Spiritual Energy.

"Attack him, attack!" the bandits around Qin Lan shifted their attention to him immediately. Close to six martial attacks are aimed at Qin Lan.

"Insolent!" Qin Lan yelled. A torrent of spear attacks rains down like a hailstorm and slaughtered the bandits wherever Qin Lan goes. Close to ten bandits lose their lives the moment Qin Lan steadily stands on the ground not far from Jiao Heng.

Qin Lan's ferocity immediately opened a space around him. There's no bandit dare to confront him anymore as they're afraid to lose their lives like those unlucky fellows.

"Jiao Heng! Come here!" Qin Lan yelled.

A straight line allowing Jiao Heng to come unobstructed opens up.

"Bring it on! Today, only one of us will walk out of here alive!" Jiao Heng stomps the ground with an unyielding spirit. Worn on his body is a set of two Defensive Treasures and two Offensive Treasures.

(Worthy of being the second-largest family in Fu-Rong Town previously. If a third child like him is given four treasures to protect himself, what about the eldest and the second child of Jiao?)

Qin Lan smirked. The fight against Jiao Heng got tougher with four treasures on his opponent. But at the same time, the return from winning this is huge.

"Black Steel Dragon Blade! Let's go!" Jiao Heng charged forward with his trusted Offensive Treasure. Just like its name, the Black Steel Dragon Blade came with a pitch-black body and a dragon headdress on its hilt.

A loud, deafening sound rang out on the spot. Sharp blade energy spreads around the area as Qin Lan fought against Jiao Heng using the golden spear formed using Spiritual Energy.

"Qin Lan, if that's all you have, then your defeat is unavoidable!" Jiao Heng proudly announced his victory from that slight advantage he received from having four treasures instead of one.

"Jiao Heng, did your father not teach you to not calculate how many chickens you'll have before the eggs hatched?" Qin Lan turned around and swung his golden spear to deflects another attack from Jiao Heng.

"Ah! I'm sorry." he changed his tone out of sudden.

"You got no father to teach you." Qin Lan added another sentence to add salt into Jiao Heng's injury.

"QIN LAN!!!" Jiao Heng's fiery temper explodes like firecrackers as he listened to what Qin Lan just said. The Black Steel Dragon Blade in his hand hums louder as more Spiritual Energy is injected within.

"Violent Torrent in Four Directions!" Jiao Heng expands a hefty sum of Spiritual Energy to deliver a killing blow. It was only a single swing from his Offensive Treasure, but four energy blades race forward, one faster than another, charging in Qin Lan's direction.

(How unfair! To think that the Defensive Treasure he's wearing could actually supplement him with enough Spiritual Energy to execute this level of attack!)

Qin Lan retreated a few steps and gathered all Spiritual Energy he had into a single point on the tip of his spear.

"Three Sword Strikes of Zhenwu Gate!"

"Sea Splitting Strike!" a perfectly formed crescent moon could be seen the moment Qin Lan smoothly swung the spear in a horizontal line. Next is a display of Spiritual Energy outburst that cancels all four energy blades from Jiao Heng.

"Im - Impossible!" Jiao Heng screamed in disbelief as he looks at how Qin Lan canceled his attack. Worst of all, he's currently out of Spiritual Energy.

Lucky for him, Qin Lan was exhausted as well.

The two of them can be said to be evenly matched in the first round of battle.

"This..." the exciting match between the two young masters turned everyone around them into spectators. Even the three bandit leaders are no exception as they're awed by the way they fought.

In their opinion, Jiao Heng was fierce, daunting, and destructive. His two Defensive Treasures, Robe of Everlasting Spirit and Belt of Xuan Qi, are two well-known artifacts capable of supplementing Spiritual Energy continuously to the wearer.

As for the Offensive Treasure, Jiao Heng had the Black Steel Dragon Blade in his dominant arm. Although it was just a Precelestial Huang-Grade, (Half) Offensive Treasure, this artifact is well-known for its sharpness.

On his other hand is the Amber Scale Glove, another Xuan-Grade (half) Offensive Treasure. It is known for the ability to enhancing the wearer's physical strength. And honestly, such a setup is said to be a perfect match for those cultivating in fist and sword martial arts.

And Jiao Heng is an example of how the treasures can be utilized in a matching set.

But Qin Lan ridiculously trampled the fact today with a brush in his hand. A pen belonged to a scholar that's hardly emitting the brilliance of a treasure above Precelestial Huang-Grade, (Half) Offensive Treasure.

Even to the fifth-level experts present, Qin Lan's brush is nothing more than an ordinary bamboo pen for a painter to create a calligraphy work.

Of course, that's not because their cultivation is too low to discern the magical ability behind Qin Lan's Eight Transformation Treasured Brush. It is because the Offensive Treasure is considered incomplete.

Being incomplete meant something worst than a Quasi Treasure in the eyes of a Treasure Master.

The end of their first-round made the battlefield now completely silent. Only the sound of their rushed breathing can be heard between the two young masters as they absorb the natural Spiritual Energy around them to recover their strength.

"Qin Lan, you're bound to be defeated on the second round..." Jiao Heng placed his hand into a hidden pocket and took two hardened drops of Precelestial Essence out.

"I'm sure that you have no idea how long I've been keeping this for the sake of killing you!" Jiao Heng swallowed them and started to direct the energy gushing out from the two drops of Precelestial Essence into his immature core.

In that instant, two thousand units of energy or equivalent to two thousand Flesh Refining Pills filled a third of Jiao Heng's core.

"Let me send you off first! If you want to blame, blame it on your limited ability for not having the Precelestial Essence!" Jiao Heng raised the Black Steel Dragon Blade once more as he approaches Qin Lan.

"DIE!" Jiao Heng swings his blade at Qin Lan.

The Black Steel Dragon Blade cuts through Qin Lan and drives into the ground. But there was no blood to be seen.

"I thought there's more from you." Qin Lan clicked his tongue as four mirages surrounded Jiao Heng.

"Golden Lord's Holy Fist!" the strength of a fourth-level Flesh Refining Cultivator burst out from Qin Lan as he gave Jiao Heng a punch from his back.