From Beast Abilities to Sect Grand Master

"And face the wrath of the cultivators?" The Emperor threw another teacup at the chief eunuch.

The chief eunuch flinched but tried not to move when the teacup hit his forehead.

"Your Majesty, it’s time we turn the peasants against them."

"And how do I do that! They’ve got so much rapport with the peasants." The Emperor stood up and shouted.

The chief eunuch lowered his head and said, "We can make use of this offense against the Hulu Tripe, frame the cultivators as traitors."

The Emperor squinted his eyes and walked down the flight of stairs, squatted down, and looked into the chief eunuch’s eyes.

"Tell me the details…."

…

Qing Feng Sect.

Lin Fan, Ho Ming, and Hun Yen Kun were waiting at the central square.

Above them were clear skies, and with it, the summer heat made the air stuffy and unbearable.

Hun Yen Kun was fanning himself vigorously with his fan.

A group of female disciples were, as usual, sobbing their hearts out as they prepared to bid farewell to him.

They gave him gifts and scurried away, fearing that Hun Yen Kun wouldn’t be pleased with their gifts.

And when they didn’t hear anything from Hun Yen Kun, they looked back at him, stealing a glance to see whether he had kept their gifts.

This stopped when Han Dang appeared.

Han Dang had his chin up, glanced over to the formation peak, then turned to Lin Fan and the others.

His net, the Nine Heavens Devouring Net, had helped Zhao Qing Ying clinch victory.

And he was happy that his Artifact Peak was able to be on top of Zhao Ming Ye’s Formation Peak for once.

He was dressed in his peak lord robe and had all sorts of artifacts on him.

There were rings on his fingers, bottles, pendants, swords, and other items.

Anyone would have mistaken him for a merchant.

"Peak Lord, we’ve been waiting for so long, let’s get going," Hun Yen Kun said.

He was getting bothered with the attention the female disciples had given him.

Lin Fan and Ho Ming were also getting impatient.

Taking out his map, Lin Fan asked Han Dang, "You have any idea about the Artifact Mountains and Master Su Qi Nian?"

Han Dang took the map, looked at the location marked at the Artifact Mountains.

He gave Lin Fan a big grin and said, "Do I know Artifact Mountains?

"I’ve grown up there.

"See all these artifacts I have on me?

"It’s time for me to show them who’s better.

"As for Master Su Qi Nian, he is rather reclusive and few have seen him."

Lin Fan frowned and continued asking, "Do you have any clue to find him?"

"My family’s ancestors might have some idea," Han Dang said.

Lin Fan was glad that Han Dang had some lead.

He nodded and glanced at all the artifacts on Han Dang.

This trip might be more eventful than he had envisioned, Lin Fan thought.

"Come follow me. I will show you the way there," Han Dang waved to them to follow him as he walked towards the stairs leading to the entrance of Qing Feng Sect.

They got on the horses prepared for them and left Qing Feng Sect after that.

The Artifact Mountains were three days of travel away from Qing Feng Sect.

"I was from one of the families, the Han family in the Artifact Mountains," Han Dang said when they were travelling along a dirt road.

Then he stopped.

And there was silence.

Lin Fan, Ho Ming, and Hun Yen Kun were focused on the road ahead and they didn’t pay much attention to Han Dang.

"Hey, you are supposed to ask me, and…" Han Dang shouted, making them turn their heads at Han Dang.

They glanced at each other and shrugged their shoulders.

Finally, after a moment, they said in unison, "And…"

Han Dang was satisfied, and he continued saying, "I will tell you if Hun Yen Kun passes me some of the lunch boxes those female disciples gave you."

Hun Yen Kun was surprised but he obliged, passing Han Dang one of the lunch boxes.

Han Dang opened the lunch box and took a mouthful of the food.

"What?! It’s as hard as rocks…Pleh…" He tried to take a bite but spat it out immediately.

Hun Yen Kun tried very hard not to laugh out loud.

He stopped when Han Dang stared at him.

"Peak Lord, there’s a reason why I didn’t touch any of these," he said with an innocent look, opening his eyes as big as possible for full effect.

"Anyway…," Han Dang continued with his story, changing the topic, "the Artifact Mountains are rowdy and full of boastful Artifact Cultivators.

"The only respect they give is when you have artifacts that are good and precious.

"So, let me handle those pesky Artifact Cultivators."

Lin Fan took note of what Han Dang said and prepared himself.

In terms of artifacts, he didn’t have much, but he was sure the imperial seal was something they would find rare and precious.

…

Artifact Mountains.

Although it was named Artifact Mountains, it was made up of bustling towns built at the foot of a few mountains.

Han Dang led them to one of the towns, Han Artifact Town, one where his family was.

Lin Fan noticed the difference with the Medicine Valley.

Here, there were mostly cultivators, Artifact Cultivators, Sword Cultivators, as compared to Medicine Valley’s makeup of commoners and cultivators.

They decided to find lodging first before Han Dang went back home to arrange for things to happen.

When they entered the inn, Lin Fan could feel the place stop in motion and patrons looked in their direction.

They scanned Lin Fan from head to toe, then moved on, giving him not much notice when they saw that he didn’t have many artifacts on him.

The same thing happened with Ho Ming and Hun Yen Kun.

All of them gasped when they saw the number of artifacts on Han Dang’s body.

Some even looked at their own body and lowered their head in embarrassment when it was clear that they didn’t even have one-tenth of what Han Dang had.

Han Dang held his head up high, enjoying every moment of it.

One of the patrons suddenly stood up and said, "That is Han Dang?"