Supreme Emperor of Mist

"is there no deception in everything you told me?" the seventh prince smiled as he steered his horse nonstop toward the Demon Mountain Fort. From the way he looked, it seems that his expedition to the Ancestral Dragoncloud Forest is a profitable one.

"Yes, your highness." his most trusted subordinate replied as he fired a flare to the sky. Soon, they came across a few soldiers with a pair of new horses waiting for their arrival.

After changing the horse they were riding, the two continue with their way as the soldiers following behind went past this checkpoint about half an hour later. Such thing was repeated five times as they soon arrived at the Third Milestone.

"Let's make it quick. I am very interested in my ninth brother's rumored alchemist as well. To think that he managed to create something that not even the capital has. Do you think... That his talent might be above alchemist Leng Ching?" the seventh prince asked.

"This subordinate don't dare to comment about this, but I think they'll be a great match against one another if there's a pill refining contest. Furthermore, your highness has been preparing for this secret weapon for so long... I think that it is time we take them out in this battle against the Wei." the subordinate answered.

"Not yet... How can I bring that out right now? Let's see what my reckless second brother does first. He might be a fool, but eldest brother is not. Taking out that trump card so early in this succession match will be a demerit to my chances to sit in the position of the crown prince."

"How far are we from the Demon Mountain Fort?" he asked. The Demon Mountain Fort can be seen from its current location.

"Another half an hour, I suppose." the subordinate replied his seventh prince.

"Great. I can't wait..." the seventh prince was smiling as he finished his sentence.

...

...

"Ninth brother, do you need to be that cautious against me? Our mutual enemy right now is the Thunder Roaring Palace. They're going to come at us in less than a month," Sun Ding Tian said as he took a sip of the Rock Lotus Fragrance served to him.

"Good wine. What about you, beauty? If you're willing to serve this prince, I'll make sure that you'll be the next princess consort." Sun Ding Tian's hand reaches out to grab the female servant's bum without bothered if his lechery act annoys Sun Wu Jian or not.

"We're in a discussion here. All of you, leave the room." Sun Wu Jian ordered. Although his order was given out in a considerable harsh tone, it was also done to protect them.

Sun Ding Tian's temper and attitude are well known between the royal capital for taking people's lives as he wished without a proper reason behind it. Up to date, those innocent people that died under his hand amounted to no less than ten thousand.

"Yes, your highness." everyone bowed and left the room in a hurry. But none of the servants felt relief yet because they're still under the monitoring of Sun Ding Tian's people. If they were caught doing so, their fate would be worst than getting killed on the spot.

"Is this the alchemist that created the Blood Genesis Pill?" Sun Ding Tian asked. Standing behind him was Da-Lang and Er-Lang from the Lang (Medicine) House.

"Qin Lan pay his respect to the second prince. I am indeed the alchemist your highness heard about." Qin Lan greets the second prince. Although he's irritated by Sun Ding Tian's attitude, this person seated before him is still the prince of a country.

"That's great. Since we're going to work together to resist the invasion from the Thunder Roaring Palace, why not we keep all the pretense aside? My two alchemists are here to learn the recipe for the Blood Genesis Pill, so I hope alchemist Qin would be willing to guide both of them on the refining process."

"When the war is over, I won't be mistreating you nor the ninth brother. In fact, I can even recommend you to the imperial court. With your kind of talents, your opportunity over there will be much better than wasting your time here with my ninth brother." Sun Ding Tian said.

His word shows a hint that he's not putting Sun Wu Jian in his eyes at all.

Furthermore, his order was akin to robbing someone else's wealth while giving out empty promises in return, which Qin Lan hated the most.

"Second prince's offer is hard to resist, but Qin Lan is used to freedom. If the two alchemists are interested, please come to the Pill Hall after this to guide them through the refining process." Qin Lan smiled as he replied.

As for Sun Wu Jian, there was a hint of relief as Qin Lan maintain his attitude towards Sun Ding Tian's ridiculous request. The act of blatantly asking for another alchemist's pill recipe is akin to not treating them as a Treasure Master at all.

"Hahaha, alchemist Qin misunderstood my meaning." Sun Ding Tian laughed as he listened to Qin Lan's reply. Slapping his hand on the table until the wine fell and pouring out from the jar, he continued.

"What I mean is that you should just follow us back and start refining the Blood Genesis Pills together. As for your belonging here, I'm sure the second prince's manor will have them too. Why bother to stay at this tiny fortress and restrict yourself?" Sun Ding Tian said.

"My second brother, please mind your speech." Sun Wu Jian raised his tone slightly after listening to what his brother said.

"I'm afraid I cannot follow what the second prince asks for." Qin Lan replied. His words surprised both Da-Lang and Er-Lang as they thought Qin Lan would accept the arrangement without resistance.

"Alchemist Qin, you might not hear about this before... But I, Sun Ding Tian, hate to have people objecting my opinion." Sun Ding Tian said.

"Then please treat that the Blood Genesis Pill didn't appear before. We lack the ingredient to mass-produce them anyway. What we've got right now is barely enough to support the ninth prince, let alone the second prince's people." Qin Lan replied.