Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Let's get serious too!" Lu Yi tightened his fist as he speaks. In the next moment, a perfectly executed Mistral Core Long Fist came forth from where he is and shattered the body on a Foul Essence Ant in a hit.

"Great job, Lu Yi. That Mistral Projection Fist Art is executed flawlessly." Qin Lan's praise came from where the battle between two Battering Assault Ants is fighting against four of his mirages.

"Ha!" Lu Qing Yun's Piercing Wave from the Rippling Wave Palm to destroy the brain of a Foul Essence Ant in a blow. But before she managed to say something, the Battering Assault Ant that's chasing her earlier has finally arrived.

"You're too persistent! No girls like it!" Lu Qing Yun made a somersault-move beautifully using the Thousand Miles Travel in a Step technique and lands on top of the Battering Assault Ant.

"Spreading Wave! Continuous Wave!" Lu Qing Yun executes two different moves at once to increase the lethality of her attack. The result is six broken limbs on the Battering Assault Ant.

"AHH!!!" Huo Zunjie is unwilling to lose behind his first and second senior. Relying on his powerful physique of Undying Cultivation Physique, he charged towards the Battering Assault Ant to delivers a massive number of punches on his opponent.

His attack was the crudest amongst the three. But in return, Huo Zunjie's gain can be said to be the most.

The more he dares to brave against death, the better his physique would become. And unlike Lu Yi's Heaven Firmament Art that tempered his body using Spiritual Energy, Huo Zunjie's Undying Cultivation Physique has to rely on external help.

**Shriek!**

A sharp shriek came from within the nest.

In the next moment, the hundred of Foul Essence Ants gathered and attacked Qin Lan, which is believed to be the most threatening individual in this team with four members.

"Young Master!" Lu Qing Yun pulled the sleeve covering her milky right arm to reveal the Heaven Grade (Full) Protective Treasure, Heaven's String.

A hint of Spiritual Energy was absorbed into the Protective Treasure while allowing two out of the nine strings to extend like a snake and captured Qin Lan on his chest and waist.

It pulled Qin Lan over to Lu Qing Yun's side without obstruction. And with a layer of Spiritual Energy protecting the strings and Qin Lan, not even a scratch can be seen on the fabric as it pulled Qin Lan back.

"Thank you, Qing Yun." Qin Lan firmly placed both of his feet on the ground after Lu Qing Yun retracts the strings back to her Protective Treasure.

**Whoosh!**

Qin Lan fired a few projectiles to disturb the incoming wave of Foul Essence Ants. It was an action done while he's still holding the paper fan in his right hand.

**Skree!!!**

The smaller Foul Essence Ants got panicked after it got attacked by Qin Lan's hidden weapon. Only the Battering Assault Ants continued to march forward unhindered by anything on its path.

"Qing Yun, get the one on the left. I'll handle the one on the right. You're getting close to the third-level. A little more experience would be beneficial to you." Qin Lan said.

"Yes, young master!" Lu Qing Yun let down her sleeve again and prepared her fighting stance as she gets ready to engage the Battering Assault Ant.

As for Qin Lan, he vanished from his position and reappeared in the form of four mirages.

Their fight continued for close to two incense sticks worth of time. With the last Battering Assault Ant is killed, the swarm disperse. The continuous screeches from the "leader" within the nest are no longer worthy of leadership because all of it's guards are dead.

It was just like the hierarchy of a human being. A king is only a king if the citizens worship him and his regime. Without the protectors, the administration is bound to fell.

And those who remained loyal to the "leader" side can be said to be the last line of defense before the throne is usurped.

**Scree!!!**

A Foul Essence Ant with a deep jet-black body made its appearance. It has a more elongated torso, unlike those ants that fought against Qin Lan's team earlier, along with a pair of human-like arms.

"Another Quasi Fourth-Level Demon Soldier... Looks like the Western Demon Forest has something irregular going on inside the core forest." Qin Lan scanned the leader of this nest from top to toe to determine it's real identity.

"Now, this is quite surprising," Qin Lan opened the fan in his hand as he maintained his distance from the swarm leader.

(A mutated Foul Essence Ant with a hint of bloodline related to the Demonic Essence Serpent? What kind of unexpected could happen in the world nowadays?)

Qin Lan waved his left arm to stop Lu Yi, Lu Qing Yun, and Huo Zunjie from coming forward.

"Collect the corpses and retrieve the Qiankun Pouch that I'm going to leave here. Do not follow me, no matter what happened. Dug the nest open and made sure that you collect the eggs if there's any, along with the Foul Essence Silver Ink," Qin Lan instructed.

**Whoosh!**

Qin Lan fired a thicker needle he never revealed to the world before at the leader and retreated. The Mistral Mirage Steps and Thousand Miles Travel in a Step movement art are used alternately to keep his opponent busy when following him from behind.

"Young master..." Lu Qing Yun wanted to follow, but Lu Yi appeared beside her and stopped her with a grab on her wrist.

"My intuition tells me that the Yao Beast is poisonous. We should quickly finish the task given by the young master." Lu Yi shook his head. Just like Lu Qing Yun, he's nervous and worried as well.

The three immediately went to work. While Lu Qing Yun is moving around with the Qiankun Pouch left by Qin Lan, Lu Yi, and Huo Zunjie is busy with unearthing the channels used by the Foul Essence Ant.

...

"Since you're likely not able to reproduce, I'll label you as a king instead of a queen. Come here and let me see what kind of ability you have!" Qin Lan kept his fan back into his sleeve once he found a wider area suitable for an all-out battle.

"Mutated Foul Essence King, that's what I'm going to call you. Let me have a look at how big is the differences between my third-level cultivation against a Quasi Fourth-Level Yao Soldier!"

After Qin Lan made his claim, he withdrew a brush made from bamboo out from his sleeve's pocket.

Spiritual Energy from Qin Lan started to pour into the stationary tool in his hand as an ethereal shape forming around the brush. A sword entirely made from internal qi appeared in Qin Lan's hand as he moved his hand casually.

It was the first time Qin Lan takes a matter seriously.

And the reason behind this is because this opponent before him is not one that can be defeated unless he gets serious.

Furthermore, Qin Lan begins to feel a slight change in his mentality.

(You'll do as the sacrifice to welcome my return into this world!)

"Tomes of Kuangshan Lu Sect!"

"Three Sword Strikes of Zhenwu Gate!"

"Mountain Splitting Strike!"

Qin Lan delivered an attack towards the Mutated Foul Essence King. Because the attack was driven by his Spiritual Energy, Qin Lan's sword strike carries a hint of azure light as it makes its way forward.

**Screech!**

The Mutated Foul Essence King tried to defend against that attack. But the moment both of them clashed, it regretted its decision deeply.

That seemingly simple stroke of a sword strike cleanly dismembered two out of its six insect limbs. Luckily, the attack did not focus entirely on one side.

Soon, the gastrointestinal juices from its stomach were forced to collect within its mouth as the Mutated Foul Essence King retreats. Qin Lan immediately caught a hint of what it's going to do.

"Try to spit the poison out? I'll see how you're going to hit me with that." Qin Lan sped up using the Mistral Mirage Steps and reappeared with four Qin Lans surrounding his opponent.

"Skree! - Skree!"

The Mutated Foul Essence King shot a few times towards Qin Lan. And it missed him every single time. After ten shots, the Yao Soldier finally exhausted every single drop of poison it has.

"Out of poison?" Qin Lan appeared where one of the limbs was cut apart. His words made the Mutated Foul Essence King panicked as it quickly moves aside.

But would Qin Lan allowed it to do so?

"Too late! Golden Lord Holy Fist!" Qin Lan's attack struck accurately on the Mutated Foul Essence King's abdomen.

**Screech!**

The Mutated Foul Essence King rolled on the ground until there's a considerable distance between it and Qin Lan. Fear started to grow within it's yet to developed mind as it shivered and panicked as Qin Lan approaches it.

**Skree!**

It spits out two more shots of poison bullet.

"Too bad, I think that's all you can do right now." Qin Lan shook his head out of disappointment. The two poison bullets hit their target at last.

But it was a mirage of Qin Lan.

"Mountain Splitting Strike!" Qin Lan's swung his sword, cutting the Mutated Foul Essence King into two.

"That's too bad. I hope the board of committees willing to accept this result." Qin Lan stops channeling Spiritual Energy into the bamboo-like brush of his.

The hair of the brush finally loosens and regain its properties as a soft, absorbent brush.