The next morning came, and the boss of the bandits at the Cave of the Immortals and Yan-Yu's troops were preparing to go to the castle in the middle of the forest, as they had agreed. The boss at the cave decided to leave the cave unguarded because they did not have enough men to stay at the cave…

So, they had to leave the cave first, and they planned to seize it back when they were ready. This was Da-Hu's plan. He realized that with that number of men, the cave would not be protected anyway. He chose to keep his men safe first…

It had been two shichens since the two parties left the cave. They stopped by a courtyard that the bandits usually stopped at every time they had to go to the castle from the cave…

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

Not long after that, Tong-Kuang also arrived at the courtyard. He brought 20 warriors with him, and all of them were on the fifth level of the Foundation Building stage. The great three women were also in the group. Fan-He did not join because Tong-Kuang asked him to accompany the rest of the group back to the clan…

"I believe you guys know what you should do," Tong-Kuang said while turning to look at the 20 warriors that were behind him…

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone responded to Tong-Kuang at once with eagerness, especially the great three women. Tong-Kuang usually ordered them to stay at the first toll booth, which was something that put them down. This was the first time that they would get into action, so they were extra excited…

After Tong-Kuang talked to his team, he contacted Yan-Yu, who was smiling at the boss of the bandits, through a sound wave. He wanted to tell him that he and his team had arrived at the courtyard and were ready to attack…

"Um… Boss… Well…"

Yan-Yu intended to act reluctantly towards the boss of the bandits after he finished communicating with Tong-Kuang. He acted that way because he wanted to signal to his team to get prepared for the attack. The boss of the bandits, seeing that, turned to look at Yan-Yu and asked…

"What's wrong, Master Chen-Hao?" The boss of the bandits at the cave asked puzzledly, looking at Yan-Yu stammering…

"Well, the thing is I'm ready…" Yan-Yu said with a light smile…

"Ready!?" The boss of the bandits became even more puzzled after hearing Yan-Yu's response. He wanted to ask what Yan-Yu meant by saying that. Tonk-Kuang, at the same time, got a confirmation from Yan-Yu, so he said…

"Alright! Let's go!"

Rustle!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Tong-Kuang's team soared off to the courtyard where Yan-Yu was at maximum speed after they heard Tong-Kuang's order. They also let out their killing intents…

Whoosh!

The boss of the bandits, who was confused by Yan-Yu's gesture, started to feel goosebumps. His facial expression changed instantly the minute he felt the killing intents from those 20 warriors. So, he turned towards that direction…

Thud!

As soon as the boss turned in that direction, he was in utmost shock because he saw a group of about 20 warriors slaughtering his men. He and his men did not see that coming. But before he could get back to himself and turn to look at Yan-Yu…

Stab!

A beam of sword light went through his neck. The boss of the bandits felt the thick liquid on his neck, so he touched it to see what it was. When he saw what was on his fingers, he widened his eyes in shock because what he saw was his own blood…

"Master Chen-Hao…" The boss of the bandits could not call Yan-Yu's fake name clearly because he was in a state of extreme astonishment…

"Ah…!?! What happened to you, boss?" Yan-Yu asked, still pretending to care about the boss of the bandits, even though he was holding the sword that was soaked with the boss's blood in his hand…

"Argh!"

The boss of the bandits finally collapsed because his windpipe had been slashed. He could no longer stay alive. As he was lying on the ground, his eyes continued to fix on Yan-Yu, full of confusion…

Thud!

After getting rid of all the bandits, Tong-Kuang soared down from the tree and stopped in front of Yan-Yu and Ji-Zhung-Gong. Both of them smiled after they saw Tong-Kuang. They exclaimed…

"Big brother!"

"You guys did well. Alright, let's prepare to go back to the clan!" When Tong-Kuang finished the sentence, he soared off of the scene immediately…

"Yes, sir!"

The team answered Tong-Kuang's order at once and soared off of the scene after him without saying any words, leaving behind the dead bandits who were full of confusion…

Two days had passed…

Fan-He and the first troop finally reached the clan with chests that carried Qi energy stones. Their arrival livened the people in the clan tremendously…

After Kong-Shi heard the news that the troops from the mission had come back, he rushed out to see them immediately. However, he did not see Tong-Kuang, Yan-Yu, or Ji-Zhung-Gong there. He felt surprised and walked to Fan-He, asking…

"Where's Tong-Kuang?"

"Respecting Master Kong-Shi! Master Tong-Kuang told us to come back first, sir. I think that they're preparing to come back soon."

Bang!

Before Fan-He could finish the sentence, Tong-Kuang and the troops arrived at the clan. Everyone looked at them as they walked in. All the clan's Elders rushed to greet Tong-Kuang when they heard that he had come back…

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

"Respecting Master!" Tong-Kuang walked up to Kong-Shi and paid respect to him with his humbleness…

"Hmm. You're back," Kong-Shi said, with the utmost concern on his face…

"Yes, sir. We did not seize the Cave of the Immortals, but we brought back tons of Qi energy stones, sir." Tong-Kuang did not wait to report the outcome of the mission…

"I see! It's alright, even though we don't get the cave. Our warriors' lives are more important." Kong-Shi said while looking at all the warriors with a warm eye…

This mission lost a lot of warriors, but not as many as previous battles. Things had completely changed for the Tian-Tang clan ever since Tong-Kuang and his team were at the clan. They gained not only more power but also more balance and capabilities…

Not long after that, Mo-Zi and the clan's Elders came out to see the troops that had just gotten back. They looked at the chests with excitement because they knew that there were a lot of Qi energy stones in them. The stones would become the resources that strengthened the clan…

Tong-Kuang cupped his fists and greeted Mo-Zi once he saw him, "Respecting the leader of the clan and all Elders."

Regardless of how long Tong-Kuang had been with the clan, he had always respected everyone in the same way. That was why the Elders admired Tong-Kuang very much…

"Please don't be too official with us. After all, you're also one of the clan's Elders." One of the Elders said with a smile…

"That's right, Master Tong-Kuang. You're one of us. Your position is even higher than ours." Another Elder said with a shy smile…

Yan-Yu and Ji-Zhung-Gong agreed with what the Elders said. They also did not understand why Tong-Kuang could be so polite to everyone, even though he was now one of the clan's Elders…

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

All of a sudden, the sounds of the footsteps approached the scene. They were the footsteps of Dan-Chun-Gu, Fu-Tao-Qi, and Wu-Xiao. They rushed to see Tong-Kuang when they heard that he had returned…

"Brother Tong-Kuang! You're back! How are you?" Dan-Chun-Gu was relieved to see Tong-Kuang and the troops had returned after being gone for a month. He was worried about them, even though they contacted each other all the time…

"We're fine. The mission was challenging because they had many more men than us. Luckily, we had a scapegoat, so we could retreat safely."

"A scapegoat!?"

Everyone was puzzled to hear about the scapegoat. Only Kong-Shi and Dan-Chun-Gu's group did not feel so, because they knew about it and the whole situation…

When Mo-Zi saw that some people wanted to ask about the scapegoat, he said, "Well, guys! Everyone must be exhausted and need a rest. We'll discuss the mission at the meeting in two days ."

"Yes, sir!"

The Elders felt disappointed that they could not ask Tong-Kuang about the scapegoat he mentioned…

After Tong-Kuang's troops came back, the spies from every clan returned to their clans to make a report. They talked about the big caravan of chests. The news had spread all over the place within a few shichens, causing chaos everywhere…

Every clan speculated about what might be in those chests. Some thought it was armor or magical armor. Some said it could be fighting manuals. Everyone came up with whatever they could imagine. However, no one knew that it was a large amount of lower-level Qi energy stones. Some were mid-level stones.

They were all Qi energy stones that the Tian-Tang clan stole from the Mountain Tiger Bandits…

If they knew what was in the chests and where the chests came from, they would be very shocked, because it was a bad idea to fight with the Mountain Tiger Bandits. It was hard enough to have a fight between the clans in the region. Fighting with the bandits would be suicidal…

At Zheng-Fu's room…

A young, good-looking woman was lying in Zheng-Fu's bed. She was rolling around on the bed like a little girl. That woman was Qi-Fu-Er…

Thud! Thud! Thud!

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! When will you be back? How long are you going to keep me waiting for you? Sob!

Sob! Sob! Zheng-Fu! You idiot!" Qi-Fu-Er would frequently visit Zheng-Fu's room to complain about his absence. She started to come to his room more often as time passed…

Tang-Ling, who was a mother and a woman, understood how Qi-Fu-Er felt towards her son. Even though her son looked very young, she did not find it strange that an older woman was in love with a young boy. She had seen many couples like that…

Back to the castle in the middle of the forest…

"How come the boss at the cave hasn't come back yet? It's been three days now. Did he contact anyone?" Yi-Feng, who was waiting for the boss at the cave and the martial artists, became frustrated and worried as the boss at the cave had not arrived yet…

It usually took two days and a half to get from the Cave of the Immortals to the castle. However, since it had been three days now, Yi-Feng could not help but be concerned…

While he was waiting for the group to come to the castle, a young man ran up to him, sweating profusely.

Thud!

"Respecting Commander Yi-Feng! According to your investigation order, our spies in Flower City confirmed that they saw black-clad men there. They were also with the seventh prince, sir!"

"What!? A troop of black-clad men with the seventh prince!?" Yi-Feng quickly turned to ask the newsman for confirmation…

Nodded!

The young man nodded to confirm the news. He actually saw that the troop of black-clad men were the seventh prince's men…

"The seventh prince!"

Yi-Feng cried out in anger when he knew that the seventh prince had ordered the attack. He then turned to look at the young man and said…

"Alright! I want you to do something for me. I'd like you to check where the boss at the cave is. Come back as soon as you can!"

"Yes, sir!"

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