Supreme Emperor of Mist

"What time did Alchemist Qin and the others left?" Sun Wu Jian was standing by the window when he asked. he letter that was delivered to him in person by Yi Feng meant that whatever inside the letter shall be only between them.

"They left about an incense stick of time ago. Is there something urgent that your highness is asking about Alchemist Qin at this time?" Huang Ping replied.

"Nothing. Huang Ping, how many soldiers do we have right now? Do you think it will be enough for us to control a part of the Kuanglei Province?" Sun Wu Jian asked.

"We have 3,000 soldiers to spare for now if we did not include the fortress security department. A-tenth of them is a skillful cultivator in their half-step and first-level in Bone Reconstruction Layer." Huang Ping immediately replied Sun Wu Jian.

"Then... We'll start from those in their half-step cultivation first. Summon all of them to my courtyard tomorrow. I have something I'll need them to do." Sun Wu Jian said. He placed Qin Lan's letter into his personal Purple-Dragon Spatial Jade at the end of his sentence.

"What do I have to tell them?" Huang Ping asked.

"Just say that... We have a breakthrough in the field of alchemy." Sun Wu Jian said. He let go a chuckle the moment he finished his sentence. Even he wasn't too confident about what Qin Lan mentioned in his private letter.

"I'll go and get them done right now!" Huang Ping excused himself.

'Brother Qin... I hope what you're telling me in the letter is going to be true. Because if this happens, the fighting strength of this ninth prince force will grab all the attention of other princes and princesses when we're gathered in the capital...' Sun Wu Jian whispered to himself.

Even himself was excited as it means his own strength will grow by an amount too when the medicine stated in the letter by Qin Lan is produced in bulk.

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"Are you still not going to tell me what you're planning to do with the Bloodstones?" Peng Yan asked. It seems that only the messenger that followed her around is coming with her on this trip.

"Didn't you already guess it earlier? It will be used to refine the Fiery Lesser Pill, like how you say." Qin Lan entertained her as his mood was insanely good right now.

His reply made the one and only princess of Genius Warfare General feel like giving him a knock on his head. Peng Yan immediately bombarded him with questions as she caught up with Qin Lan's horse.

"Do you think you can treat me like a fool? Who will believe that you'll make that effort just to refine some Fiery Lesser Pill? Speak, or I'll latch myself on you like that day." Peng Yan tried to grab Qin Lan's clothing as her horse getting closer to him.

"So... What you wanted to know?" Qin Lan asked her innocently. It is up to him right now to choose what kind of lies he's going to feed her... Because only himself have the recipe of what he was going to make from the ingredients he has.

"I know that the relationship between you and the ninth prince is not a simple master and servant. Furthermore, he's been calling you brother Qin once in a while along with Shan Xiong Xin." Peng Yan said.

"In my opinion, this Bloodstones is going to be used to strengthen the ninth prince's army. But the method will not be merely to produce a large quantity of Fiery Lesser Pills. Even if you ended up making a million or two pills out of what you're going to mine from here, it would be a facade for a bigger secret behind it."

"A fortress... Your large-scale Pill Hall establishment... Don't tell me... You guys are aiming for the throne to the Next King of Wu? I also heard about something related to a sect from your servant's word."

"Something... About..." Peng Yan continued to talk and kept it mysterious as she noticed that Qin Lan had slowed his horse to match hers.

"About what, Lady Peng?" Qin Lan asked as the two continue on their journey to the abandoned mine accompanied by 78 followers. They were currently in their own small world, undisturbed by everyone else around them.

"Look at the two... Do you think our Young Master will get another wife later?" Yi Feng asked his brother, Han Xue, beside him.

"Talk less crap. Do you think it's possible? She's still somebody who belonged to the Wei. Unless she gives up everything for our Young Master, I will maintain my blade pointing at her at the cost of my master's hatred." Han Xue replied.

Behind the two, Lu Qing Yun was somewhat in a sour mood as she looks at how close is her Young Master with Peng Yan. A fit of slight jealousy cloud her mind, but thanks to the Clear Cloud Lotus Art, it stopped before growing into something more than jealousy.

"What's the connection between The Qin Forces with Kuangshan Lu Sect? From my knowledge, there's no such sect in between the three countries." Peng Yan asked. Thinking about the bizarreness of martial arts they cultivate, Peng Yan had a suspicion that the sect is likely does not originate from this land.

"Lady Peng, sometimes curiosity kills the cat. Why would you bother with something like this? It might be just a random belief amongst us." Qin Lan smiled and gave her a random answer instead.

"Humph... Keep getting mysterious if you want. But believe me, if I can get this information myself, the others would know about it too. The news about your Kuangshan Lu Sect is not as secretive as you think." Peng Yan harumph and picked up her speed.

'Golden Lord's Technique... Golden Bell's Sword Technique...'

'Clear Cloud Lotus Art... Heaven Firmament Art... Silver Willow Sword Technique...'

'Kuangshan Healer's Art, Peak Protection Saint Art, Kuangshan Basic Sutra... And also your wine brewing, alchemy, knowledge, warfare... I'm sure that you're not someone who originated from this land.' Peng Yan whispered.

'Why can't you just try to listen to my heart once and let me find a solution for my cursed body?' her horse went faster as she separated herself from the group.

"Young Master... Shall we gave a chase?" Yi Feng came forward and asked.

"No. Continue leading the way. We'll get busy soon enough," said Qin Lan. With another incense stick of time passed, the group finally reaches the abandoned mine surrounded by Qiang Shou and the others from Qin Faction.

Adding their numbers together, it was a group of 100 men strong. In everyone's hand was a set of weapons and a pick to mine for the Fire Elemental Bloodstone. The sample of the Bloodstone was distributed to each one of them to study. In less than half an hour later, everyone entered the mine cautiously except for Qin Lan.

He was still waiting at the entrance for the arrival of someone else.

Soon, Peng Yan returned while riding the horse. There was a tinge of redness on her cheeks. It's like she just had a marathon or a fit of anger after leaving the group on her own.

"What makes Qin Darling wait outside this abandoned mine? Shouldn't you be the person that most excited about finding this Fire Elemental Bloodstone?" Peng Yan said. There was a hint of weakness on both her legs. Although she tried to hide this fact from Qin Lan, it still failed to escape his sharp eyes.

"Why - Why are you keeping quiet?" Peng Yan suddenly felt a hint of difference in Qin Lan's intense gaze. The way he's looking at her is different than how it is usually. A slight chill punctured all her nerve system as she looks at Qin Lan's composed gaze.

"Come over here." Qin Lan said. One of his hands interlocked on the back of his waist is taken out as the Formation Qi gathered around Qin Lan's palm.

"E - Eighth-Level... No... Ninth-Level? You've broken through two minor levels in this short period?" Peng Yan was shocked. Even she won't be capable of repeating what Qin Lan did.

"Are you going to kill me out in the wild without the protection of my two adjutants? That's your aim for bringing me out?" Peng Yan trembled. If it was the Qin Lan before this, she wouldn't be too worried. But right now, it is hard for her to say.

There was a hint of weaknesses from her action and words. It was an inexplicable reason why Peng Yan is so flustered right now as she stands before Qin Lan.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Come here." Qin Lan placed his palm facing Peng Yan. The Azure-colored Qi instantly grabbed her from afar as it pulled her over to him by force.

To her surprise, Qin Lan's power is three times stronger than a regular peak Flesh Refining Cultivator. Perhaps even a second-level Bone Cultivator won't be his match in a one-to-one battle.

A dreaded feeling came to Peng Yan's heart as she was pulled to Qin Lan by force. Two kinds of thought appeared in her mind at this crucial moment.

'Had I... misjudged his personality? Was what I've said before this went overboard or pried to his untold secret?'

"Or... Had he been holding himself all these while just so he can put his hand on me without people looking at him?'

Peng Yan closed her eyes as she was an arms reach away from the forceful Qin Lan. But the sensation of her body turned out to be unexpected as Qin Lan's hand grabbed one of her voluptuous breasts.

"Ha?" both of them revealed the same embarrassed sound at the same time.