Supreme Emperor of Mist

He sneaked outside of the Qin Family Manor once again, this time, with two rucksacks instead of one. But even with two backpacks, his target is no longer the White Marten Beast.

Six pieces of leather hides are basically more than enough for him to practice his demonic inscription language. What he's looking forward to the most right now is three kinds of medicinal herbs that could compliment the Fiery Pear Flower Qin Tian gave him.

Just like the Demonic Blood Orange, the Fiery Pear Flower is categorized as a primary ingredient in concocting a rarer cultivation pill, named Litong Pill.

Only three of these pills can be made in a single batch, as each one required the medicinal essence within the seed to congeal into a pellet form.

One Litong Pill is equivalent to taking three Flesh Foundation Pills to cultivate for an hour. Additionally, the Litong Pill also carries a hint of flesh restoration energy that's beneficial to the body. While it was more effective if taken after turning into a pill, the unprocessed version still yields the effect of two foundation pill's worth of cultivating result and flesh restoration energy.

"Six-leaves Sage, often grown in damper place like springs and puddle of water."

"Purple Silk Grass. Found often near the corpses of dead demons."

"Moonbell Flower, a product of Moonfruit Tree."

Qin Lan tried to retrieve the names, appearances, and habitat of the medicinal herbs he's searching for from his mind. The first two choices of herbs were much easy to procure due to how common they are, but the last one is somewhat difficult.

That's because a Moonfruit Tree is also the nest for Amber Snake Demon.

(One - Two - Three - Four. Four adult Amber Snake Demon in total. That means there are around sixteen Amber Snake inside of this nest)

Qin Lan tossed some sulfur powder around him as a precaution.

**Hop!**

Qin Lan made a great leap towards the upper half of the tree and gently sliced off a few stalks of the blooming Moonbell Flower. As it was quite a dull task, he kept his persistence and continue another dozen times before he filled a backpack with the flower.

"Did the fruit just turn ripe?" Qin Lan stared at the Moonfruit Tree that's somewhat trimmed by him as the free of labor cost gardener. A fruit that was hidden close to its trunk is now fully exposed to an outsider's view.

Although the Moonfruit has no medicinal value nor miraculous effect, it was known for the sweet taste similar to bee's honey when ripen.

And he remembered that this fruit used to be his and his grandfather's favorite.

"I guess I'll pluck it and bring it back to grandfather," Qin Lan made another jump towards the tree to grab the fruit. But then, trouble finally arises from behind the fruit.

A young Amber Snake Demon just had to decide to come out and slithers around. The hint of sulfur scattered around the tree only made it more furious. It immediately unleashed a strike at the moving silhouette the moment it came close to its attacking range.

**Shua!!**

The jaw with two sharp, protruding fangs was getting close to a warm, blood-filled wrist.

But at the same time, a dagger came from the top of its head, stabbing through its skull. The Amber Snake Demon was nailed on the body of the tree without knowing how easy it lost its life.

The slight commotion and undulation in spiritual energy awaken the fifteen remaining Amber Snake Demons nesting within the Moonfruit Tree. At a flash, fifteen additional branches jump out from the tree itself, making the Moonfruit Tree hideous to look at.

**Pluck!**

Qin Lan snatched the Moonfruit as he retrieved his heirloom dagger and left without looking back. Even the corpse of the Amber Snake Demon is left ignored, as it was not as precious as his own life.

But his action garnered more hatred from the fifteen Amber Snake Demon, particularly the four adults, which are likely the parents. Amongst them, one has a deeper amber-colored skin compared to the other three.

**Shua...**

It nudged the dead Amber Snake Demon's corpse a few times. Seemingly satisfied with the cold and motionless body, it swallowed the corpse whole before howling in a low frequency.

**Zzz...**

The sound that hardly discernable through human ears spreads around, transforming the Western Demon Forest into a death zone out of sudden.

(D*mn! I really poked the wrong nest this time. Who could have guessed that there's a matured demon inside of that nest?)

Qin Lan hastens up his collection process as he moves around in a zig-zag pattern. The remaining two types of medicinal herbs were quickly found as he was getting closer to the edge of the forest.

But at the same time, the danger is coming even faster.

The Amber Snake Demon's howl alarmed the entire outer forest to search for intruders. By the time Qin Lan reaches the wall of foliage separating the forest and the outside, it was already swarming with demons and beasts.

"Yellowtail Fox Demon, second-level Flesh Refining!"

"Violet Legged Spider Demon, second-level Flesh Refining!"

"Black Haired Rodent Demon, first-level Flesh Refining!"

(What level exactly is that mature Amber Snake Demon? To be able to command so many proper cultivating beasts?)

Qin Lan is somewhat disturbed mentally. It seems that his quick decision to escape ends up as a wiser choice that saved his life once again. And amongst the three demons guarding the foliage walls, the Black Haired Rodent Demon is his best option to scythe across.

And although he's yet to fill both of his backpacks to the brim, leaving the forest first would be the wisest thing for him to do now.

He flicked a stone at the demon, similar to how he hunted the White Marten. With his right hand curved into the shape of a claw, Qin Lan's counterattack struck the Black Haired Rodent Demon accurately with yet another martial style from the Kuangshan Lu Sect's martial art.

"Heart Digging Stroke!"

The Black Haired Rodent Demon rolled on the ground without giving out any further response.

(I should go)

Qin Lan grabbed the corpse and left through a wider gap between the foliage. The sound of the demon beast roaring and howling still can be heard even after he was a few miles away from the forest.

Back to the Qin Family Manor again, Qin Lan changed.

He returned to being a cripple again and listened to the disdainful words from other cousins while slowly inhaling the morning mist without failure. Now with the fertilizer added to the plants to enhance their growth, it won't take too long for the morning mist to enveloped his private garden with a thick layer of fog.

Qin Lan returned to his room once he had his lunch assisted by Xiao Yun.

The table in the middle of his room is filled with random medicinal herbs once more as he ordered Xiao-Ke to collect. But today, this dull servant actually failed to notice the bottle of pills he purposely left on the table.

Removing the cork that keeps the medicinal potency from escaping, Qin Lan scanned the content inside of the bottle.

(Not even a single pill is missing. This Xiao-Ke... Should I say he's stupid or plain honest?)

Qin Lan chuckled. Xiao-Ke's behavior is no different from his student that he adopted a reincarnation ago. But sometimes, being too honest is not beneficial, especially if they're living in a household with three factions holding a knife on each other's throat.

(It would be best if I keep things as a secret from Xiao-Ke for now. Letting the world know about my recovery will only collect more hatred and alarmed those hidden behind the curtain wishing for my grandfather's fall)

(Well, I guess I won't be courteous to myself. I'll reward you handsomely next time, Xiao-Ke. For now, let your young master strengthen his own foundation first)

The bottle of ten Flesh Foundation Pills he concocted using the two Demonic Blood Orange was poured into his mouth and swallowed like candies. As his body is now no different from a Spiritual Energy Container, there is no reason for him to be so reserved when it comes to digesting the pills!

What comes next is concocting the Litong Pill. As concocting this medicinal pill will smear his appearance slightly in the process, Qin Lan removes the long robe he's wearing, along with his top.

"Six-leaves Sage, often grown in damper place like springs and puddle of water."

"Purple Silk Grass. Found often near the corpses of dead demons."

"Moonbell Flower, a product of Moonfruit Tree."

(Six-Leaves Sage shall be crush and boiled before dried. Purple Silk Grass, remove the stem and keep the blades. Moonbell Flower, only petals, no others!)

(Three gentle Yin to compensate the Yang. Three herbs for three seeds. The pod as the mold and the fiery petals as the cap. Litong Pill, congeal!)

The medicinal fragrance of the freshly made Litong Pill quickly spread outwards until it was close to leaving his room. But as Qin Lan was so concerned with his own safety, he inhaled a deep breath to pull the fragrance back.

"Ah... Worthy of being called an upper-class cultivation pill. Even the pill fragrance is comparable to a day worth of my morning breathing session." Qin Lan smiled.

But then, the door to his room was pushed open without knocking, as Xiao Yun entered in a rush.

"Xiao! - Xiao Yun!" Qin Lan was caught standing by the side of the table. Although he wasn't stark naked to the extent of a pervert, he was still caught by surprise!

"Young master, you're naked."

"No - no - no."

"You're standing..."

"No, not this either..."

"Ah! Yes! Xiao-Ke is getting bullied by the people from the third elder's courtyard!" Xiao Yun stuttered and was emotionally challenged for a while before she remembered what she was going to say.