Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Get rid of that Yao Beast!" Qiang Shou charged forward with Spiritual Qi wrapped around both of his fists. The others were following his lead as they surrounded the giant insect from different directions.

"Pummel it to death!" like a street boxer, Qiang Shou delivered his blow fiercely on the head of the scorpion. Amongst the members from his Fist Fighting Team, one of them tried to control the scorpion's stinger as he tried to keep it busy.

"Damn! I got cut by the spikes around its legs!" another member kneeled nearby as the wound on his thigh turned dark purple. It was so poisonous that the blood oozing out from the cut has started to smell foul.

"Quickly take a Thousand Antidotal Pill refined by the Pill Hall. Circulate your Spiritual Qi to stop the poison from spreading." Qiang Shou said as he sends a blow to one of the scorpion's joints.

*Shua!!!*

One of its eight legs was broken by that attack. But that was the start of their nightmare. The poisonous part of the Insect Beast is not only on the stinger and spikes but the blood too.

The Insect Beast splattered its blood almost everywhere as it got panicked from losing one of its limbs.

"Ahh!!!" the member hugging the stinger got thrown far from the battle at last as he loses his grip over the tail. He was moaning in pain on the ground as he crashed into two trees before stopping.

"Sh*t."

"How can an eighth-level Flesh Refining Yao Beast turned out to be this powerful? To think that a group of eight seventh-level Flesh cultivators can't control it.

**Xi? Xi? Xii-Yaa!!!**

The Insect Beast spits a breath of flame suddenly. If it wasn't because the preparation of the attack was too clear to them, perhaps half of them would be roasted into a brick of charcoal right now.

"Holy Heavens... This Insect Beast can spit fire!" one of the members said as he runs away from the path of the flames.

"Mysterious Steel Gauntlet! Help me defeat this Yao Beast!" Qiang Shou leaped above the Insect Beast and hammered the scorpion's head with both hands. His attack finally brought him some results when the beast lost its balance out of sudden.

"Again! I'll take your life with this blow!" Qiang Shou tried to repeat his attack, unaware of the stinger is coming straight at him.

**Whoosh!**

A silhouette drags Qiang Shou away before he managed to deliver the killing blow onto the Insect Beast's head. But that swift escape ended up helping them as the stinger ended up stabbing the scorpion's own head as it writhes on the ground.

It was like two different entities trying to end the battle. Soon, the struggle finally stops as the scorpion no longer responsive.

"Huh... We won..." the other members sat down on where they're standing earlier and quickly take a few pills to recover their strength. Minutes later, more people are appearing from the cave protected by the scorpion.

"You reckless oaf. Are you trying to end up like senior brother Lu Yi last time?" Yi Feng gave the back of Qiang Shou's head a slap. If he did not come at the last second to drag this brute away, he might be twitching on the ground due to the poison right now.

"So... Did we found it?" Qiang Shou laughed as he scratched his head.

"Make a guess?" Yi Feng replied to him back with a question.

"Who wants to stay here between you two?" Han Xue asked as he stored the corpse of the Yao Beast into a different Qiankun Pouch.

"I'll stay. The two of you were the fastest in our four teams, so you'll be responsible for bringing what our young master wants immediately. I'll stay here to make sure nothing happened." Qiang Shou offered to stay.

"Then... Let's depart right now. I'm sure our young master is dying to get his answer." Han Xue said.

"I'm dying for an answer too. Let me have a look first, alright?" Qiang Shou pulled Han Xue's sleeve like a kid.

"Nah! Take a look." Han Xue took a piece of beautiful ruby crystal out from the Qiankun Pouch. It was shaped roughly without a definite pattern. A mild smell like blood is diffused from the crystal when it came in contact with Spiritual Qi.

"Weird... How can it be Fire Elemental Bloodstone if the flame concentration inside this stone is barely as intense as our own flames created from Spiritual Qi?" Qiang Shou asked.

"Who knows? But I'm sure that this is what our young master is looking for." Han Xue took that Bloodstone back and prepared to leave.

"Take care of this place properly. We'll be back faster than you think." Han Xue added as he brought half of his teammates and left. Yi Feng was doing the same as well before leaving.

...

...

"What were the two of you doing?" Peng Yan's head pops out from the opened window as she took a peek inside Qin Lan's office. It was located in the small courtyard right beside the Pill Hall.

"We're not doing anything!" Zhou Mei replied like a rabbit that got caught trying to steal a carrot.

"Is that osmanthus cake you two eating there? I'm hungry too... Can I come in?" said Peng Yan.

"Your nose is much more sensitive than a mouse. How can you be here all the time whenever we're having the osmanthus cake?" Zhou Mei added. But her words were not the same as her action because she's walking to the door while she speaks.

The two beauty walked side by side as they came to the table.

Gracefully, Peng Yan used some Spiritual Qi to hold the cake between her fingers without touching it. From the plate to her mouth, the whole process was done while she kept her gaze at Qin Lan.

"Are you eating or practicing mind-controlling technique?" Zhou Mei dissed her for acting as such in front of her and Qin Lan.

"I'm just a pitiful woman stranded in a fort without day and night. Can't I try to get a hold of my own happiness too?" Peng Yan pouted as she answered Zhou Mei's comment about her.

"You? Pitiful?" Zhou Mei chuckled.

"Young Master, this is Han Xue and Yi Feng. We would like to have an audience with you privately." the two finally returned from the abandoned mine near the Third Milestone.

"Come in," Qin Lan responded with a wave of his hand. The Spiritual Qi blows the door open wide as he allowed the two to enter his office.

"This..." Han Xue somewhat hesitates to speak after seeing Peng Yan's attendance inside the room.

"Lady Peng Yan was one of the contributors for the information regarding the abandoned mine. Feel free to talk about your finding related to the Fire Elemental Bloodstone," said Qin Lan.

"If that's the case..." Han Xue took the two Qiankun Pouches out from his waistbelt. The corpse of a Yao Beast was taken out and placed in the middle of the room.

"Crimson Flame Scorpion... Looks like the rumors about the abandoned mine are authentic. Is there anything else except for this?" Qin Lan asked. With the appearance of this Yao Beast in sight, that means the possibility of Fire Elemental Bloodstone is around this place is going to be highly possible.

"Young Master, please take a look at this." Han Xue took a piece of ruby crystal out from another Qiankun Pouch. It was much bigger than the one he let Qiang Shou play with.

"Is this the Bloodstone you're looking for? It seems pretty normal to me..." Zhou Mei said. Her response was the same as Qiang Shou, but that's normal in Qin Lan's opinion because they're not an alchemist.

In Qin Lan and Peng Yan's eyes, this stone is a treasure comparable to Precelestial Essence. The eyes of the two lit up when it was placed in between them.

"A Fire Elemental Bloodstone like this... How many Fiery Lesser Pill can it be turned into?" Peng Yan asked. The Fiery Lesser Pill, or known as Huoyan-Shao Pill, was a specialty product from the Northern Wei.

It was a pill sought after by many cultivators who followed the path of body tempering. In terms of quality, it was more precious than the Turbulence Pill Shan Xiong Xin used.

"Based on the size of this ore... I would say around a hundred." Qin Lan answered. Han Xue, who listened beside them, revealed a look of a surprise after hearing Qin Lan's reply.

'Wouldn't it ended up as a few thousand pills if I poured what we have inside this Qiankun Pouch out?' Han Xue stares at the bag he's holding.

"So... What are you planning?" Peng Yan asked. She's getting more interested in what Qin Lan is planning to do with them.

"Let us go there and have a look first. A decision can be made later after we clarify that it's really a proper Bloodstone Vein there," Qin Lan said while looking at Peng Yan.

"Han Xue, get You Qing along. If Lu Yi, Qing Yun, and Zunjie are not cultivating in seclusion, get them to come as well. Yi Feng, stay here. I'll need you to bring a letter to his highness before we depart." Zhang Qin Feng said.

"Mei... Get back to your room first. I'll be away for a few days." Zhang Qin Feng said as he gave her a kiss on her lips before sending her away.

About an hour later, close to eighty people on horseback left the fort a little before midnight.

Their destination?

The Third Milestone of Demon Flame Mountain. An abandoned mine, to be exact.