Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Dang! - Dang! - Dang! - Dang!"

"Dang! - Dang! - Dang! - Dang!"

"Dang! - Dang! - Dang! - Dang!"

The guards on top of the watchtower struck the bell frantically when he noticed a group of injured people approaching the Fu-Rong Town. A few Stone Wolves Demons are chasing them from behind.

"Can you recognize their identity?" the leader of the nightshift guards asked a subordinate beside him.

"They looked like the people from Chu Household Security Escort Business." the subordinate replied.

"We should help. Open the door and get a few men out there!" the guard's leader ordered. In an instant, about ten guards, all of them in between the third and fourth-level of Flesh Refining Layer, left through a secret door to provide assistance.

"Get down on your knees!" one of the guards yelled.

The escapees immediately obeyed the guard's order and went down on their knees. Their swift action saved two people from getting mauled to death. Swords and daggers are immediately unsheathed from its scabbard as a fight ensued between human and demon beast.

Ten minutes later, it finally ended.

Although one of them was injured, it was the guard's victory against the pack of Stone Wolves Demons. The five injured members from the Escort Business is brought back to the guard's outpost as the person in charge from the Chu Household is summoned.

"What happened?" Righteous Spear, Chu Xiang, asked the moment he steps inside the guard's outpost. It worries him by looking at how tattered and traumatized is the subordinates.

"Sir, Leader Liang is dead. Leader Liang is dead!" one of them quickly answered as he holds both of Chu Xiang's arms.

"What? My second brother is dead? Impossible! What happened?" Chu Xiang asked with both of his eyes opened wide in disbelief. Although Chu Liang's cultivation is not as high as his own, he's still a fifth-level Flesh Refining Cultivator!

"Brother Chu Xiang, please excuse me for now as I return to my position. If there's anything you need me, just look for me on the watchtower." the guard's leader excused himself.

"Brother Yu, thank you. This one named Xiang will return the favor once everything is settled here." Chu Xiang cupped his fist as he politely sent guard's leader Yu out from the room.

With no other guest inside the room, Chu Xiang started to question the subordinates after distributing the Flesh Mending Pill and Flesh Foundation Pill.

More unfortunate news came into the Fu-Rong Town after sunrise.

Out of twenty escorting teams, three of them were attacked that night. Close to twenty family members and servants from the Chu Household lost their lives from this attack, along with about thirty affiliated escort members.

This was the most significant loss in their record from the first day the Chu Household established their business here in Fu-Rong Town.

And since the merchandise in the said team is reported as a failure to deliver, multiple smaller businesses gathered outside of the Chu Manor to demand compensation. It was an impactful move against the inexperienced Chu Household.

"These people! How dare they come and demand compensation now! We've not even done with our initial investigation!" Chu Rongye smashed the table in front of him into pieces to vent his anger.

"Patriarch! Patriarch!" his butler came into the room in a hurry. He was the one that personally delivered the bottle of Changshen Dew to Qin Lan last time after the explosion at Huo Zunjie's house.

"What happened?" Chu Rongye rubbed the temple point on his head as he speaks.

"One more team is attacked. Two haulers are injured, and we've lost six horses." the butler quickly reported.

"What? They're doing it, right in the middle of the afternoon?" Chu Rongye couldn't believe his ears. What mountain bandits are them to conduct robbery in broad daylight?

"Deliver the message. Stop all our operations. Prepare the lodging for those out of Fu-Rong Town and tell them to stay in towns and cities until we investigate this matter properly."

"Has any of the other families responded?" Chu Rongye continued.

"The Hu Household and Qin Household sent a butler over to ask if we needed any help from them. They've yet to ask for compensation for the death of their servants." the butler swiftly answered the question.

"How many?" Chu Rongye asked.

"Three from Qin Household and two from the Hu Household." the butler continued.

"We'll try to manage on our own for now. But maintain alert. Gather our experts in the fourth and fifth-level as we plan a counterattack against the bandits."

"Also... Tell Heng-Er, Yun-Er, and Qian-Er to stay in the manor. They're not allowed to go to the Western Demon Forest until this matter is solved." Chu Rongye ordered. Using his rich experience of leading the family for this long gave him absolute confidence to tackle this problem.

But on the following day, more incidents happened.

Even the people from Qin Household and Hu Household was attacked by the mysterious forces operating behind the shadow. The only exception from this was the Jiao Family, who's been keeping a low profile.

"Shall we get Young Patriarch out from his seclusion?" Lu Qing Yun asked for an opinion. Seated before her in this hall are Lu Yi, Huo Zunjie, Hu Jia, and the elders.

"Let's wait for a few more days. We should increase the number of patrols around our estate to make sure no mice managed to sneak inside unaware." Qin Tian suggested.

"As for the youngsters, let's place them inside the Martial Library for now," he added.

"We'll leave these to you people. Make sure to notify Qin Lan if there's anything serious. Do not try to be reckless and solve this on your own." led by Qin Tian, the elders soon left without giving out too much of an opinion about what happened.

As the wiser people often said.

[The taller a tree is, the more friction it will face against the blowing wind]

And it is not hard for them to guess the motivation behind this attack.

...

...

...

(The preparation should be enough. Let's begin)

Qin Lan swallowed six of the Xiatian-Ru along with the Precelestial Realm Restructuring Pill. The outburst of Spiritual Energy of the six Precelestial Milk exceeded his expectation as it filled his physique to the brim with all the qi he's capable of handling.

(This is amazing. It seems that my capacity is now twice the amount of what a regular cultivator could handle)

Qin Lan continued with the inhale and exhaling process as the mist of blood spurted out from all the pores around his body. His expression slowly turned into a painful one as the spray started to form a pool of blood right on where he was seated.

"Almost there... Just a little more to... GOOOO!!!" Qin Lan clenched his teeth together. But alas, he failed to keep it in check. The sudden burst of torturous pain struck him like he was stabbed by a thousand needles at once.

Qin Lan's cry echoed inside the chamber as the Spiritual Energy within him run amok. The furniture made out of wood and marble was his first victim as it was destroyed into pieces.

The feeling of having the "container of Spiritual Energy" growing inside his body made Qin Lan felt bloated. Luckily, there's still a rich amount of Qi hidden inside of the Precelestial Realm Restructuring Pill to compensate for what his body thirst for.

There were no other changes externally except for his suddenly fairer, smoother skin. Just like what his three disciples had gone through, Qin Lan had his feature enhanced somewhat to look much more perfect than before.

But many things have changed on the inside.

Even Qin Lan himself finds it hard to believe after the Precelestial Realm Restructuring Pill assimilated with his body.

Two imperfections shown on the Mistral Flesh Diagram were resolved at once from a single advancement as Qin Lan stepped into the fourth-level Flesh Refining Layer. And instead, another one popped out to replace the void.

(So... The pill helped me to resolve the imperfection on my shoulder and left chest at once. And in exchange, one additional slot is opened...)

(Perhaps this is how the Five Governing Law of the World works. Just like how heaven favors those who tried, it would also be inclined to those with luck)

Qin Lan opened the Mistral Flesh Diagram within his mind once more.

(Nape! - Jaw! - Waist! - Navel! - Core!)

The existence of the core was not something he can easily laugh at and ignore. As the person who lost it once, how can Qin Lan be clueless about it's return to his life once more?

Clenching his fist hard, Qin Lan smiled.

Furthermore, the return of this "core" imperfection came with another fold of strength incorporated into his Spiritual Container Body. This allowed Qin Lan's body to store 12,000 units worth of Spiritual Energy in his body.

"I should end my seclusion here and start consolidating my cultivation. Based on this, another half year is all I need to achieve the cultivation of Middle-Attainment Rank to join the Cloud Plucking Sect along with the others!" Qin Lan smiled.

After changing into a clean set of clothing, Qin Lan left his cultivation chamber.

And he was greeted by the four immediately the moment he made his appearance back to the outside.

"What's wrong?" Qin Lan asked.

"Our Fu-Rong Town is facing a big trouble," said Hu Jia.