Supreme Emperor of Mist

"Greetings, Chi-Lan Marquis. It was an honor to us for having you here." a few individuals with a scholar-like appearance greeted Qin Lan firstmost when they stepped into the City of Ye.

Based on the size of luggage with them, it was not exaggerating to say that they're here on a mission.

"Fellow teachers. Please allow this noble to walk you to your accommodation. If there's anything else that wasn't arranged up to your requirement, please let me know. My subordinates will make sure that they can be arranged immediately." Qin Lan added.

"Please!" Qin Lan invited them to follow him as he leads them to the Shuiyue Military Academy.

"Marquis, please!" the teachers returned Qin Lan's friendly gesture through their customary practices.

The procedure lasts for the whole afternoon as Qin Lan was busy housing the academy teachers. A few of them were actually from influential backgrounds. But when they arrived at the academy, they couldn't help but be impressed with the facility provided.

"It looks like our time here won't be as dull as teaching where we were before. Please forgive this educator for speaking honestly, but I am surprised by Chi-Lan Marquis's insight. As long we put some effort over here, I believe that this academy's contribution will not be losing the Royal Academy back in our Wu's Capital!"

One of the teachers speaks his mind freely. Through his attitude, it was evident that he was one of the notable teachers that were instructed to give Qin Lan a hand by the King of Wu.

"Teacher Song's words embarrassed this Marquis. I am just doing what I was told by the king. Whether this academy will be a success or not, it is still up to fellow teachers and trainers." Qin Lan smiled as he humbly replied to them.

"Marquis, the next group of teachers is here." Qin Lan's officer whispered beside his ear.

"Fellow teachers, it seems that the next batch of educators is here. Please excuse this Marquis for now and enjoy your stay here until the students are ready to move in. Feel free to take a look around and get used to the facilities here first." Qin Lan politely excused himself and prepared to return to the City's entrance.

"Lad, we're not strangers. What for coming to the entrance?" one elder said. A white crane descends from the sky with close to twenty martial art and cultivation teachers. It was evident that this elder was someone familiar to Qin Lan.

"Junior Qin Lan greets Elder Yang Wen." Qin Lan cupped his hands together as he greeted one of the core elders from the Cloud Plucking Sect.

"Hahaha... This is quite a good place. To think that this lad even knew a little about the Blessing of Earth. If you were given more resources, won't you come up with a Blessing of Heaven in the future?" Yang Wen laughed.

It seems that the formation that Qin Lan effortlessly told the craftsmen to construct was all for the sake of creating a proper place for education and cultivation. This also explains why it cost such a universal amount of resources to build an academy in a rural county.

At present, Yang Wen was the only one capable of noticing the differences between the academy and outside. Although the Blessing of Earth Qin Lan meticulously arranged only surrounding the academy's territory, it was a considerable effort.

"Lad, to think you're quite wealthy, huh?" Yang Wen jokes around after allowing the educators to get down from the white crane.

After making sure that the educators have been accommodated, Yang Wen took Qin Lan away from the City of Ye as they had something to discuss. The two were accompanied by Jin-Xiong, who hated to be separated from Qin Lan.

The white crane perched on top of one of the mountain's peaks and took its nap. As for the Golden-Grade Martial Beast, it was running around the mountain peak for its own entertainment.

"This place seems to be doing quite well after your arrival. It seems the effort you're putting in managing this place is not as little as it looks." elder Yang Wen said. They were overlooking the City of Ye from afar.

"Junior was only doing what he should as a landowner of this place. Eventually, this land still belongs to the king, and as his vassal, I should be doing as much as I could." Qin Lan replied. Although he was praised by the elder, the praise did not go into his head.

"Remaining humble is good, but too much was not a good thing. Always do things moderately and remember to pay three cautions at everything you're unsure about." the elder said. From the way he speaks, it seems he's trying to give Qin Lan some hint.

"Something happened?" Qin Lan asked.

"I've heard something discreet on our way to the City of Ye. It seems that some of the people you hired had quite a loose lips when it comes to the shady things you're doing at night." the elder said as he took a sip of the wine from the cup.

As it was a sensitive topic for them to talk about, Qin Lan immediately filled the elder's wine cup to the brim again. It seems that he would have to be a little strict with the people under him. If any of these words went out, there's no doubt it would cause some problems to him.

"Junior will make sure he pays attention to them more." Qin Lan nodded.

"En. I believe that you can handle them without us old people getting our hands dirty. What are you going to do next?" since the elder already knew what kind of thing Qin Lan did behind the scene, there's no longer secret between the two.

Furthermore, he can be said to be the guardian of Qin Lan here in Shuiyue County.

"I want to see who gets ready first. I'm sure that the Hall of Treasures already knew by now that their delivery won't be as smooth as they initially thought."

"But what they had no idea is I have more things prepared for them." Qin Lan smiled.

"Then... This elder will anticipate having a good show to watch." elder Yang Wen continues to finish the wine in a shot while Qin Lan keeps refilling the cup.

...

...

...

"County Lord, are you not interested in buying the equipment? If you're not taking them, I' might as well look for another buyer." said the merchant driving past the Wuyue County.

"Hmm... The quality of these gears is good, but their origin seems to be a little shady. Where did they come from?" the lord of Wuyue County asked. Due to the previous gear restructuring order, the military equipment in Wuyue County is in a dire situation right now.

Over half of his men has little to no equipment at all. And because the relationship between them and Shuiyue County is worsening in the past few days, he's worried that the young Marquis will take this opportunity to attack them while they're unprepared.

But no matter how unprepared they were, purchasing military gear from a private source is still considered an offense, especially to someone with the title of a Lord.

The reason behind this precaution was due to an internal rebellion that happened in the past. About a third of the provinces in this Country of Shu rebelled against the current king.

Although the rebellion was controlled, an order was passed from the top. It stated that unless the purchases were made urgently to protect the territories, all private arms dealers were prohibited from doing their business in the Country of Shu.

"City Lord, since we already knew each other for so long, do you think that I will jeopardize my business from selling smuggled products? I can't tell you how I get them, but they're all high-quality equipment from the Hall of Treasures."

"If you're unsure about them, let it be. I'll look for another buyer in the next county. I'm sure after they checked the quality, they'll pay me more than what I expected." the merchant hesitates as he speaks, but after he did, he gets himself ready to leave.

"Wait!" it seems his decisiveness made the Wuyue County Lord regretted slightly. The pressure of having to guard the border with soldiers without weapons and protective gear made him crumbled as he bows down to the sly merchant.

"State your price. How many pieces you got?" the Wuyue County Lord asked.

"One thousand sets. Their price would be a hundred Bone Foundation Pills each." the merchant replied.

"A hundred Bone Foundation Pills each! The price was so much higher! Previously, it was just a mere 50 to 60 Bone Foundation Pills for each set!" the lord complained. The price seemed to be doubled compared to before.

"Milord, the equipment you've seen here is all high-quality merchandise. They're not like the one distributed to the border side county by the Department of Military. Furthermore, these were all made by the Hall of Treasures, so I'm sure the price we're offering is fair." the sly merchant said.

"Wait a moment." the lord stopped the merchant from leaving as he left the room in a hurry. After a while, he appeared with two Qiankun Pouch in hand.

"Leave the merchandise and take your payment. When will you have more of these gears available again?" the lord made his payment.

"It will be depending on how soon I can get my hand on the next batch. I'm sure that you won't regret your purchase, milord. There's something this merchant would like the lord's help. I wonder if you're willing to do me and Hall of Treasure a favor?" the merchant said.

Later that evening, the merchant left with close to 500 Qiankun pouches full of mineral ores.