1 [Edited Chapter 1] Qin Lan (1)
"Young Master." a servant greeted a youth dressed in blue-azure clothing as he leisurely walked around the courtyard's garden filled with lush, verdant plants.
"Good morning, Young master," another servant followed. It continued as the servant stopped what they're doing to greet this scholar-like individual.
"Everyone, continue with what you're doing." Qin Lan said.
Holding a paper fan in his hand as he stepped out of the garden, this young master called the servant following him to come over.
"Xiao Ke, go to the kitchen and order them to prepare a pot of herbal soup for grandfather. He should be on his way back to the Fu-Rong Town by now. Also, get the horses ready. We'll be going out of the manor to accompany grandfather home." the fifteen years old young master said.
The servant named Xiao Ke immediately went ahead to deliver his young master's order.
As for Qin Lan, he leisurely made his way through a few courtyards and corridors until he was at the empty plot of the Qin Manor. This spot is where the family members often dismount from their horses before going back to their respective family courtyards.
Qin Lan was known to be the third oldest in the younger generation. Along with his older siblings, named Qin Fan, nineteen years old, and Qin Chan, seventeen, all three were fathered by the third son of the Qin Family Patriarch.
Their father's name is Qin Yuan. Unfortunately, Qin Yuan was injured by a demonic cultivator and had a head injury when Qin Lan was three years old. This causes Qin Yuan to behaves like an autistic individual when Qin Lan was growing up.
The family tried their best to hire the best pharmacist available but failed to help him recover.
"Young master! The horses are ready. Shall we make our way to the town's entrance?" Xiao Ke asked.
"Let's go!" Qin Lan smiled and get on the horse. His attendant get on another as both of them made their way out of the manor.
They arrived right on time as the people with a Qin Family Banner waited to get into Fu-Rong Town. The group has about twenty people, ranging from young to old, with a few caravans of goods consisting of both fresh and dried herbs.
Leading them was the patriarch of the Qin Family, known as Qin Tian.
"Qin Lan pay his respect to grandfather!" Qin Lan rode his horse past the guard's garrison and went to Qin Tian's side. From the look of it, the relationship between this grandfather and grandson is exceptionally close.
Even the passersby would feel jealous for the three generations of family to be this close. For them, such a sight was a blessing to the family itself.
"This grandson... Why are you coming out from the manor? Have you taken your medication today?" Qin Tian gently slapped his beloved grandson's arm with a smile hanging on his face.
"Your grandson made sure to drink that before coming out here. Shall we make our way to the pharmacy and drop the goods there before heading back to the manor?" asked Qin Lan.
"En. Let's go." Qin Tian nodded. He took a token out and showed it to the town's guard. It took the guard a few minutes to verify his token, but everything was good after the verification process.
The group of twenty people with eight caravans soon entered the Fu-Rong Town and headed straight to a humbly decorated building in the busiest business street.
[QIN FAMILY PHARMACY]
The guards taking care of the loading entrance immediately open the door for the caravans to get inside. As for the patriarch and Qin Lan, the two used the front entrance instead.
It was a busy day for Qin Tian, but luckily, his grandson was here to help. The storing process takes them a while, but they eventually get everything done before the evening and make their way back to the Qin Manor.
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"Young master, this is the Flesh Foundation Pills for your training today." Xiao Ke said as he placed the pill bowl beside Qin Lan's cultivating spot.
"En. There's nothing else to do for today. You can excuse yourself and return to your room." said Qin Lan.
"Then, this servant will excuse himself first. Please give this servant a shout if there's something young master need." Xiao Ke quietly stepped outside of the room and closed it before leaving.
After Xiao Ke's departure, Qin Lan averted his attention to the bowl of pills beside him. There was a hint of mixed feeling when he's looking at the five Flesh Foundation Pills for his consumption.
Each of these Flesh Foundation Pills works for an hour after consumption, and there is no limit on how many pills one can take in a day. Upon consumption, it would increase the speed of absorbing the Spiritual Energy surrounding them and converting them into Spiritual Qi within their Core.
And from there, the Spiritual Qi would be used to temper the cultivator's flesh until it reaches the requirement to advance into the next stage.
In this continent, the cultivation starts from Flesh Refining Layer. It was further divided into nine levels, from the first to the ninth. Those in the first to the third level is known as Early Stage Flesh Cultivator. Those in the fourth and sixth levels are introduced as a Middle Stage, and the Late Stage is for the seventh to ninth levels.
But the path of cultivation does not stop after one achieving the ninth level of Flesh Refining Layer. They can advance further depending on their cultivation and luck to becoming a Bone Reconstruction Cultivator.
And it was said that there's an even higher layer known as Spiritual Root Creation, but nobody has seen these experts before.
Qin Lan looked troubled when it comes to cultivating. It was understandable because he had an issue with his cultivation. Because his physique was weak since he was young, Qin Lan's cultivation speed is significantly slower than the others even after taking a Flesh Foundation Pill.
And suppose he tried to cultivate without taking one. In that case, he won't even be able to feel the Spiritual Energy around him.
He came out from his room five hours later, with the result barely comparable to a servant that cultivated for just an hour. It was already late in the night right now.
Qin Lan freely walked around at his own pace, looking at the silent courtyard without servants walking and tending the plants or doing their job.
"Young master," Xiao Ke suddenly appeared out of nowhere with a tray in his hand. The water inside the pot was still warm when Xiao Ke poured a cup for Qin Lan to moisten his dried throat.
"How long have you been here?" Qin Lan smiled while taking the cup from the tray.
"Not too long, young master." Xiao Ke smiled.
"You're lying. Do you think I don't know that you've been waiting outside my room for the whole night?" Qin Lan said after he finished the water inside the cup. Since Xiao Ke was his personal servant who attends to his need daily, it was not weird that he knew about Qin Lan's problem in cultivation.
"Young Master, the patriarch left a pouch of gold on me before we're coming back to the courtyard. If you like, I can accompany you to take a look outside and see if there's anything that caught your attention," said Xiao Ke.
"Hmm... We should take a walk outside. Let's get ourselves changed and prepare to go out." Qin Lan said.
"This servant understood. I'll go get ready." Xiao Ke left the courtyard in a hurry and returned to Qin Lan's room later. The two of them then left the Qin Manor to pay the night market a visit.
Although the street wasn't as busy as it was during the day, it was still packed with commoners and cultivators walking up and down. Almost every premise that is still open for business is filled with people.
"Young master, look at that stall. I think you'll be interested in the new paper fans they had." Xiao Ke pointed at one of the stalls opened on the roadside.
It was filled with trinkets like scent pouches, paper fans, brooches, and hairpins. Both male and female products were available to choose from this stall, but the design is nowhere near Qin Lan's standard.
"Let's take a look at the next few stalls," said Qin Lan. The product was not that bad, but to a rich young master like Qin Lan, it was just below what he's looking for.
They continued moving from one stall to another until they came to the Qin Family Pharmacy.
"Young master, shouldn't the pharmacy close by now? Why would the inside is still so bright at this time?" Xiao Ke pointed his finger at the pharmacy.
"You're correct. The pharmacy should be closed by now. Why is there still light inside the building?" Qin Lan closed the paper fan in his hand and made his way to the pharmacy's main entrance.
He was about to knock on the door for the guard's attention but soon found out that the door wasn't locked.
"Why the door wasn't locked? Did something happened?" Qin Lan gently pushes the door open and takes a peek inside. His jaw dropped the moment he saw one of the guards lying lifelessly on the stone floor.
The sword beside him had some bloodstain on them. It was evident that there's a fight happened here.
"This is bad. Quickly go back and inform grandfather there's a problem in the pharmacy!" Qin Lan ordered his servant to get help immediately while he gets inside to take a look.
"Young master! It might be dangerous if you're going alone!" Xiao Ke was unwilling to leave Qin Lan here alone.
"You fool. I'm a third-level Flesh Refining Cultivator. What kind of problem would I face? Just go home and get more help here. We shouldn't waste our time here and let the thief get away with our goods!" said Qin Lan.
"This servant understood. I'll go and get the patriarch here right away!" Xiao Ke grabbed the sword on the floor and handed it to Qin Lan before leaving.
As for Qin Lan, he quietly made his way into the pharmacy to check out what is going on.
But to his surprise, it was not as messy as he has thought.
"How can the storefront be so clean if they're here to rob the pharmacy? These people must be here for something else!" Qin Lan picked up his speed and went further into the store's back, where it connected to the worker's residence.
His guess was correct. These people were here for something else because burglary was not their concern. It seems that the strength of these people was not weak because even the security leader was injured by the assailants.
"Open the storeroom, and we'll not harm any of you here!" said one of the assailants. From the look of it, he was their leader.
"In your dreams!" the security leader attacked after the female servants working in this pharmacy bandaged his wound.
"Looking for death!" the assailant's leader said. A rainbow-colored Spiritual Qi gathers around his palm as the assailant prepares to fight with the security leader.
"The Rainbow Palm! You're Kun Ning! A dog servant from the Jiao Family!" the security leader immediately recognized the identity of his opponent.
"So what if you recognize me? All of you will die here today! Since you're unwilling to value the chances I'm giving you, then let us kill you before we search your dead body!" the assailant named Kun Ning said.
"Attack them! Kill the men and subdue the women. Let us get a taste of the beautiful servants from the Qins before we torch their building!" Kun Ning ordered.
"Xiao Yun, quickly escape!" the pharmacy manager said and blocked the entrance back to the storefront. From the look of it, this female servant is the one holding the key to the storeroom.
"Chase her! Don't let her leave!" said Kun Ning. His accomplices immediately moved towards the manager and Xiao Yun to kill. Although their strength was just between the first and second levels of Flesh Refining, it was enough to kill two regular people without cultivation.
As for Kun Ning, his cultivation is the same as the security leader, both at the third level.
The manager was quickly killed before he could do anything to stop Kun Ning's accomplices. But their plan was thwarted before their blade managed to get Xiao Yun.
Qin Lan made his appearance by cutting the head of Kun Ning's two accomplices before he planted his blade on the third accomplice.
"I'd like to see who is the one that gave you the guts to mess with the Qin Family," said Qin Lan while pulling Xiao Yun over to his back.
"Y-Young Master Qin Lan!"
