Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Leader, did they fired the flare too early? Should we wait or charge out?" a bandit asked.

"Those fools! I'm going to twist their head off when we get back!" the leader of the bandit's group gritted his teeth together as he's utterly pissed by their recklessness.

Their plan was a simple one.

When the supplies group of this punitive force stopped at this third milestone to take a break, they'll lure the horde of Raging Flame Bulls over to cause a disturbance and stampede.

But to make this plan a success, they'll have to fire the flare in succession.

Worst of all, the first shot of flare was fired way off from the designated mark. That was also the reason the group leader was pissed.

"What are the others doing? Why aren't they fired a consecutive shot to lure the horde over here?" he randomly grabbed one of his men's collars to question.

"I - I got no idea at all, leader!" the bandit stuttered when being asked with a question he had no idea about.

"Grr... We'll wait! Once the flare is fired consecutively, that will be the time we'll make our charge!" the leader said. And to vent out a little of his anger, he threw the subordinate in his grip away.

...

"Sword of Chaotic Bells!" Lu Yi was the first to charge forward, followed by the five servants. And because the Golden Bell Sect's technique focused on delivering immense damage with minimal Spiritual Energy consumption, it ended up allowing Lu Yi to behave recklessly.

Lu Yi's first attack created a gap between him and the next wave of Raging Flame Bulls. In his estimation, there are approximately three hundred of them in this horde, far more than enough to feed the Qin Faction members for the entire journey.

"Golden Bell's Raging Blade!" again, Lu Yi sent a blade of Spiritual Energy out to destroy the Raging Flame Bull's momentum.

"Flame Eyes of Heaven!" the Spiritual attack he inherited from cultivating the Heaven Firmament Art was used when the advantages from attacking first are no longer there.

Almost all of the horde was gone ten minutes after the stampede rush. Turning his head around, Lu Yi notices a few wounds here and there on his servants, but with no casualty.

They hunted close to thirty of the Raging Flame Bulls, along with a few Blood Marten and Fire Breathing Lizards.

"Let's go back." Lu Yi chuckled as he distributes the Qiankun Pouch to the others as they started to collect their spoil in this battle.

...

...

"Why is there no movement at all? Shouldn't the Raging Flame Bull's be here by now?" the leader of this bandit group kicked a tree beside him. How would he know that his meticulously planned tactic is bound to fail at the start because of Lu Yi's interference?

Although the flare was still fired, it was shot at an exact opposite side instead. This made leading the horde straight to where the third milestone checkpoint became impossible.

And like their leader, all the other bandits at their respective checkpoint are also dumbfounded.

"Leader... Are we still going to charge forward?" one of his followers asked.

"Fire all our flares and then attack. Our target is their supplies carriages located on the east side. Quickly!" the leader considered all the options he had and finally came up with a decision.

Soon...

**BAM!**

**BAM!**

**BAM!**

Three red flare signals are fired up onto the sky. And following the loud explosion, a group of close to two hundred bandits was seen charging out from the eastern forest with weapons in their hand.

"Enemy attack!" one of the officers stationed on the eastern formation screamed to alert all the soldiers nearby.

"Enemy attack! Eastern direction! Bandits, sir!" the officer stationed at Expert Yi's side quickly reported according to the sign communicated using the flag.

"Alchemist Qin - Alchemist Qin... It seems you guessed correctly once again..." the half-step Bone Reconstruction expert smiled as he's turned his view towards the eastern side.

"Alright... Time to battle. Make me proud, boys and girls!" Qin Lan chuckled. The men from the Qin Faction that was supposed to be located on the western side came forward without notice.

The battle immediately began the moment Qin Lan's forces and the two hundred or so bandits clashed. Seated on top of his horse, Qin Lan calmly monitors the situation and provides his men with assistance when necessary.

"Leader, these people are not weak at all. Shouldn't they assign all those weaklings here?" a bandit asked their leader as this situation seems to be out of their expectations.

'Everything was wrong... What causes all these mistakes? Where did it go wrong?' the bandit leader asked himself.

But before he managed to get his answer, a blade came fiercely like a dancing willow branch.

**Ding!**

He managed to block the attack but with a cost of a shallow cut on his average-looking face.

"Who are you?" the bandit leader retreated two steps back. His Spiritual Energy is slowly gathering on the edge of his axe as he asked.

"Qin Chan from Cloud Plucking Sect." Qin Lan's second sister introduced herself as she gracefully pointed her sword at the bandit's leader.

"Good... Good... Let me see how strong is the disciples of the so-called righteous sect of our Yunshan Province." the bandit leader chuckled as he made a great leap towards Qin Chan.

"Little lady, try not getting chopped into two before I had my fun!" the bandit leader said. The strength of a first-level in the Bone Reconstruction Layer slowly wraps around his body.

"Come on!" Qin Chan followed. Her palm slides over the body of her sword as she speaks, and more Spiritual Energy is injected into the Offensive Treasure in her hand.

"Tyrant Slash!" the bandit leader shouts.

"Silver Willow's Whipping Technique!" Qin Chan retaliates.

...

"Looks like my second sister can handle that on her own." Qin Lan smiled as he's still comfortably seated on his horse.

**Zup! Zup!**

Close to seven woven strings created by Spiritual Energy spread across the battlefield to capture Qin Lan's men back to their defensive line.

"Th - Thank you, senior sister." they quickly said their thanks to Lu Qing Yun as she continued to monitor the battlefield as a supporting cultivator in this battlefield.

"Qing Yun, if you like, just move forward. I'm here in the back." Qin Lan said as he shows her a smiling expression.

"It's alright. I'm happy to stay here by your side, young master." Lu Qing Yun shyly replied Qin Lan as she threw her Heaven's String out to bring two more servants back.

"Thank you, senior sister. I will... Ouch! Not my face, senior sister!" the servant said his thanks. But because Lu Qing Yun was slightly disturbed by Qin Lan's word, her application of Kuangshan Lu Sect Healer's Art ended up hitting at the wrong point.

The slap that should be aimed at the servant's injured shoulder ended up on his face, telling him to stop talking.