Although he had been trained, since childhood, to refrain himself from any negative thoughts, Ye Shiqi was still rather unhappy right now.

Indeed, before the Ye Family had saved him, Ye Shiqi was an orphan, who had been drifting homelessly along the streets. At that time, in order to survive, he had foraged leftovers from trash bins, or the drainage area near restaurants. At night, he would sleep in deserted houses, or in a dirty pigpen. At the age of seven, this kind of misery finally ended after he was adopted by the Ye Family, without whom, he would’ve been dead long ago. Therefore, during the last twenty years, he had been extremely loyal towards the Ye Family.

In the beginning, Ye Shiqi was really excited to take part in the Elite Prefecture War, as he had long wished to contribute to the Ye Family in order to pay his debt of gratitude back. Plus, he was a man fond of killing, and would be thrilled by the vision of fresh blood. However, when he was notified, that the main purpose of his task wasn’t to kill enemies, but rather to protect some scrawny young man, who currently sat inside the carriage, he felt greatly disappointed.

Of course, Ye Shiqi had no choice but to follow the family order, however, he figured he did have the right to be unhappy.

Actually, Ye Shiqi had received similar orders from the family, to be the bodyguard of some young lord. He had never revealed his true feelings towards these arrogant young lords, however, deep inside, he would always grumble about this kind of task. This time, he was even supposed to protect some young lord who was only a cultivator in the second level of the Realm of the Commander, which had only made him feel worse.

“Oh, Gosh, why did the family appoint such a young lord to be our leader? Will he be competent enough to not only fight, but also lead his team in the Elite Prefecture War? I really doubt it!” Ye Shiqi shook his head, as he thought to himself.

“Shiqi!” Ye Shisan whispered to Shiqi, trying to cheer him up a little bit.

“Alas!”

Ye Shisan glanced over his shoulder at the curtain, and sighed, expressing his dissatisfaction. It seemed.. as if the young lord behind that curtain was the most conceited one they’d ever met. So far during this trip, Qinghan hadn’t spoken to them once! Therefore, both Shiqi and Shisan believed that this young lord should be even more stuck-up than Qingkuang.

....

One month quietly passed by, Qinghan didn’t speak nor leave the carriage, because he was busy cultivating, which was a form of joy for him on this monotonous journey.

Qinghan was clearing up the remaining two main meridians in his body!”

Back in the Wild Mountain Range, Qinghan had mastered an innovative way to cultivate, which would help him to clear up his meridians at a terrifying speed. He rushed his Battle Qi against the jammed parts in his meridians. And with the help of the bronze ring, the broken meridians would quickly recover. This method had proven to be quite effective – he had already cleared his six small meridians and he had entered into the Realm of the Commander. When he was on his way back to the Ye Family from the Wild Range Mountain, he didn’t stop cultivating, and he had managed to clear the magic meridian. By that time, he had successfully reached the second level of the Realm of the Commander.

The sorrow, brought by the departure from his sister, had converted into the momentum to cultivate. On his way, he almost cultivated around the clock, except for when he slept or ate. Though sometimes, he would play with Little Black for a while.

Based on his previous experience, when he cleared his six small meridians and one main median, Qinghan had found that it was much easier than before to cultivate. Now, when the Battle Qi flooded into the targeted meridian, he wouldn’t faint like before. However, the pain remained the same, which sometimes caused his face to be distorted and out of shape. Strangely, however, he never groaned in this agonizing process.. Perhaps he was numbed by the pain.

Today, however, Qinghan decided to take a break from cultivating, and lifted the curtain, smiling to both Shiqi and Shisan, “Hey, buddies, I’m Ye Qinghan. How should I call you guys?”

“Er?” Looking at the smiling Qinghan, who was speaking in a soft voice, Shiqi was so astonished that he couldn’t even utter a single word.

“Young lord, I’m Ye Shisan, and this is Ye Shiqi.” Ye Shisan immediately cut in, and dropped his reign before he bowed to Qinghan.

“Young lord, I’m Shiqi.” Out of politeness, Ye Shiqi did likewise.

Qinghan waved his hands in embarrassment, for he wasn’t accustomed to such flattery, “Forget about all the formalities and don’t call me young lord, just call me Qinghan.. Er, I should say thank you for all the efforts you’ve made to take care of me. Frankly, i might’ve snubbed you during these days, but let me explain myself a little bit. I’ve been cultivating behind the curtain.. So, I hope you guys won’t mind.”

“No, we won’t. It’s our job to take care of you.” Shisan replied courteously, as he sensed that this young lord was actually rather special, “Young lord, if you don’t mind me asking, since you haven’t come out from behind the curtain for as long as one month, why did you suddenly decide to come out now? Is it because you’ve made another breakthrough in cultivation?”

“Hehe!” Qinghan straightened his arms, trying to do some physical exercises to relax himself from the month-long cultivation. Staring into the near distance, the sunshine poured on the surface of the wild flowers, Qinghan’s mood was lighted up by the beauty of nature and exclaimed, “I’ve finally stepped into the third level of the Realm of the Commander!”

“Err?” Despite all the doubts hidden in Shisan’s heart, he responded discreetly, “Congratulations! Young lord.”

“Congratulations!” Compared with Shisan, Shiqi’s suspicion was visibly-displayed on his face.

“Hehe!” Qinghan raised his head up, and noticed Shiqi’s doubtful expression. However, he didn’t bother to explain the truth to them, because he knew that anyone who learned about this terrifying speed of cultivation would be stunned. He had cleared two main meridians within a month!

The third level of the Realm of the Commander!

Finally, since he had entered the third level of the Realm of the Commander, he did no longer need to suffer from the breaking of his meridians. He was absorbed in the jubilancy of his achievements, that he temporarily forgot the sorrows, as if his bad mood was quickly fading away into the whistling wind.

Cultivation, and only formidable cultivation, could help him survive in the Elite Prefecture War. He had to kill as many demons and barbarians as possible to obtain enough credits, which he would then be able to exchange for a pill of the Spirit Immortal Dan. Only by doing so, would his beloved sister have a chance to wake up!

....

Dusk had fallen, the fleet of carriages arrived at the foot of a mountain, and decided to set up camp here. The carriages were arranged in the shape of a circle, and numerous people got out of each carriage.

Some of them arranged the tents, some hunted for food, some cooked, and still some patrolled around the vicinity. Everyone was doing their own mission, in an orderly and effective manner.

At the same time, Qinghan was sitting quietly in his carriage. Shiqi stood beside Qinghan, while Shisan was giving orders to the other people. Interestingly, Qinghan kept watching the hustle and bustle of the people, for he found it somewhat hilarious.

“Oh, Shall I help them?” Qinghan wriggled his hands embarrassingly.

“Oh, forget it. They don’t have the guts to let the leader do the chores.” Shiqi replied coldly.

“Yeah, I figured!” Qinghan could clearly sense the dissatisfaction in Shiqi’s face, but he didn’t care much. Because, for Qinghan, he had never been a true young lord before, and both Shiqi and Shisan were cultivators in the Realm of the Prince. Therefore, he had to tolerate them in order to maintain a cooperative relationship in the war.

The people who noticed Qinghan, who was outside of his carriage, were all awe-stricken. They were curious about this young leader. As they started to think that he might be more of a hindrance than a help. Meanwhile, Qinghan decided to stay in his carriage, watching people moving to and fro.

“Young lord, do we have to carry the food to your carriage, or?” An hour later, Shisan slowly walked towards Qinghan.

“No, I’ll eat with all of you.” Qinghan smiled genially, as he got out of his carriage.

In the near distance, a campfire was lit, and everyone was sitting around it. When they saw Shisan and Shiqi walking towards them, they all stood up and bowed to them. However, when they saw Qinghan, who was walking behind Shisan, they all kneeled down, and shouted, “Your Majesty, young lord!”

Almost two hundred people yelled out simultaneously, the sound of which impressed Qinghan rather deeply. Never in his lifetime had he experienced the thrill of being respected and awed like this. He rubbed his ears, and turned to Shisan, “Shisan, just to confirm with you, am I the commander in chief of this team?”

The sudden roar of hundreds of people almost deafened his ears, and Shisan found it hard to catch up to Qinghan’s awkward question, “Yes, young lord, all of us, including I and Shiqi, are under your leadership!”

“Alright!” Qinghan turned around and kneeled down, just as all the others did, “Listen, everyone. No one is allowed to kneel down or bow in front of me. I don’t like anyone being too solemn, understand? This is.. an order!”