Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Have you heard about the disappearance of some of the half-step experts from our Demon Mountain Fort? Some said that they've been caught exchanging sensitive information about our fort to outsiders," some of the locals said.

"Really? Then this ought to be a bad thing... With all the recent progress and all..." another local added. His reaction seems to be genuine.

Everyone returned to what they were doing after all those small talks about the cultivators. As for one of the locals, he quickly returned to his house and prepared to release a young, flying Yao Beast messenger.

"Stop it right there unless you want to die." a member of Han Xue's assassination team stops the local from releasing the flying Yao Beast. The short, cold dagger was held at his throat as he trembled.

"Have... Have mercy... I've been threatened to do this..." the local lowered both hands that holding the flying Yao Beast. Vibrating like a ringing bell, he begged for his life.

But, out of a sudden, he struggled and tried to release the Yao Beast in his hands forcefully. Unfortunately for him, there is more than one assassin sneaking around the house. It was killed before it flies away.

"Question him right here. Check who he's working for and how long it has been." Han Xue's voice can be heard before he vanishes once again.

And from one place to another, such a covert mission continues.

...

...

"So... What are we going to do with these people?" Shan Xiong Xin asked as he finished the bottle of wine to its last drop. Looking at the forty or so experts kneeling beside the table, he had an urge to laugh at their foolishness.

Of course, the laugh carried a hint of guilt inside. Without Qin Lan planning it from behind, perhaps more than half of these people would be on their way to another province right now.

And if that happened, who knew how long it will take before more experts come to verify the validity of the information?

To Qin Lan, a Blood Genesis Pill was just a treasure to speed up their cultivation, but that was for those in lower realms. In reality, all the Blood Genesis Pill can do is speeding up their cultivation by two to threefold when an expert had permanently entered the layer of Bone Reconstruction.

Because at the end of the day, the amount of Spiritual Qi a Bone Reconstruction expert needed to amass is close to ten times more than what a Flesh Refining expert required.

The reason Qin Lan brought this pill out wasn't solely because he wanted to strengthen Sun Wu Jian's foundation. It is also for his Qin Faction. After witnessing what happened to Hu Jia, it came to Qin Lan's mind that he has underestimated the extent of what a person can do.

And with the Qin Family now branching out, with more younger generation gathered under his banner here between Fuyun City and Demon Mountain Fort, the demand for having more Bone Reconstruction experts in his faction is higher than before.

At the very least, Qin Lan would love to have at least one to two Bone-level experts to protect the crucial members of his Qin Clan members.

Of course, there's a downside to having more early-stage Bone Reconstruction experts.

Suddenly having a rise in the number of experts will bring up the expenditure for sure. Furthermore, the strength between the master and servant has to be balanced to avoid a situation like last night from repeating itself.

Through Qin Lan's experience of two lifetimes, he had witnessed unaccountable numbers of betrayal, exploitation, and even rebellion.

"Although I would like to kill everyone here, I afraid that our circumstances don't allow us to be so wasteful. The lot of you should be glad that we'll spare your lives." Qin Lan said as he looked at them.

He didn't deliberately lay the trap, but it was a successful lure nevertheless. With their overall strength right now, what is better than having forty or so slaves with the cultivation between Peak Flesh Refining to half-step Bone Reconstruction Layer?

Taking a medicinal bottle out from his Purple-Dragon Spatial Jade, Qin Lan tossed the bottle over to Lu Yi so his men can feed the content into each of these slave's mouth. By pressing on a certain acupoint around their neck, all of them were forced to swallow the bitter medicinal pill with a mysterious ingredient.

"What... What have you fed us?" the forty or so slaves asked as the medicine started to take effect on them.

The feeling of a thousand ants crawling inside their veins slowly get much more uncomfortable as their arteries started to has a bulge like air bubbles here and there. All of them instantly shivered on the ground as the discomfort turning into pain.

"Aargh! You're a demon!" they cried in anguish as the medicine Lu Yi and Huo Zunjie fed them started to react inside their body. The suffering is worst than getting scratch to bleed by the Yao Beast daily.

"Brother Qin, that's..." Sun Wu Jian asked. He was somewhat troubled because such treatment towards the people who betrayed them clashes with the path of a virtuous ruler.

"Foul Essence Tormenting Pellet." Qin Lan replied.

"As long you guys obediently serve the ninth prince for ten years, I'll make sure that the poison pill will not flare-up. But remember the more the Foul Essence Tormenting Pellet, the worst it will get. This is just the first." Qin Lan said as he waved his hand towards the forty or so experts.

A sweeter pill entered their mouth. Everyone swallowed it hurriedly without thinking what that could be. And by the time the second pill takes effect, the shivering and suffering subsided.

What replaces it is a contradicting medicinal effect of a few Bone Foundation Pills coming out from the antidote they've taken.

"This..." they're unsure what kind of reaction they should give Qin Lan. It was like getting beaten by a stick before fed with candy. Hate and appreciation came together at once, making them unable to comprehend what was in Qin Lan's mind.