The next day, about forty riders exited the main entrance of the Lin Family estate orderly. Seated on the horses were all experts from the Lin Family and the two riding majestically at the head of this procession were Lin Xiao and Lin Ken. For this mission, the Lin Family had sent out two Heavenly Yuan Stage practitioners. From this, one could see the importance of the operation.

Within the group of horses, a fiery-red shadow was extremely eye-catching. With an awe-inspiring aura, this was naturally Little Flame and at present, Lin Dong was seated on its back. The current physique of Little Flame was almost the same size as a normal tiger, more than enough to be ridden as a steed. And the strength of its legs and its speed was much better than a normal horse. After all, even though Little Flame was young, it was still a Demonic Beast.

"Since this little brat is also interested, you should bring him along too for experience and treat this as a practise. However, remember that nothing can happen to him or else the both of you can forget about returning to see me!" Just outside the entrance, Lin Zhentian first looked towards Lin Dong, who was saddled on the back of his tiger, before turning his gaze to Lin Xiao and Lin Ken as he sternly warned them.

"Fret not father." Lin Ken smiled. With the protection of two Heavenly Yuan Stage expert, within fifty kilometer radius around QingYan Town, there was no one able to harm even a single hair on Lin Dong.

"Okay, remember to keep in constant contact and be careful. I will also pay attention to the Lei Family on this front." Lin Zhentian nodded as he said in a low voice.

"Yes." Lin Xiao and Lin Ken both acknowledged by nodding their heads and then took a headcount of their men. Without any more delays, they straightaway raised their horsewhips and turned to rush towards the outskirts of Qingyang Town.

"Little Flame, follow."

Seeing that the operation had started, Lin Dong also lightly patted Little Flame. The latter let out a deep, low growl and stepped forward on all fours before speedily catching up to the group.

As this flashy mount travelled across Qingyang Town, it undoubtedly gave rise to disturbances. The gazes that looked towards the two were thick with envy.

...

Steel Wood Manor. A rather famous manor within the vicinity of Qingyang Town. Steel Wood was produced here in abundance and this type of Steel Wood was just like quality steel. It was resistant to both water and fire plus it was thick and strong, extremely suited for manufacturing weapons and construction purposes. Thus, this type of Steel Wood was relatively highly priced, combined with the fact that the Steel Wood Manor was the only source of Steel Wood within a 50 kilometer radius. Therefore, all these years, the Lei Family had grown extremely rich from the Steel Wood Manor.

If the Lin Family managed to take over this Steel Wood Manor, their profits for the year would at least double. On the other hand, losing one Steel Wood Manor would cause some significant losses for the Lei Family.

It was half a day's journey to reach the Steel Wood Manor from Qingyang Town and after a whole morning of riding, Lin Xiao and the rest finally reached the edge of the Steel Wood Manor at noon.

...

From the back of the tiger, Lin Dong gazed down the slope. At the end of the road, an exceedingly vast manor stood. With just one look, it was impossible to see where the manor ended, however, into the distance, some huge black trees were vaguely discernable. These were the unique resource of the Steel Wood Manor, Steel Wood.

"The main entrance is tightly shut, looks like this will not go well..." Lin Ken squinted at the manor door that was closed securely as he said in an indifferent manner.

Lin Xiao lightly nodded in response before waving his hand. The Lin Family members behind him quickly went on alert. 'Qiang qiang' sounds could be heard as cold steel was drawn on horseback. With cold expressions, the atmosphere surged with killing intent.

At this sight, Lin Dong's fists involuntarily tightened up till his fingers turned a little white. This was the real world. All the fights he had experienced in the past was child's play compared to this genuine life or death situation. In this scene, there was no compromise with words, it was either your death or mine...

"Qin Ying, take two people and protect Dong-er, move!" Lin Xiao shouted in a low voice before drawing out his horsewhip and immediately dashing forward as yellow dirt rushed up to the skies.

"Da da!" (Clatter of horse hooves)

After Lin Xiao rushed forward, tens of trails of yellow dust also followed. In a few minutes, they appeared before the tightly shut manor door.

"Those arriving, halt. This is the Lei Family manor. Without permission, no one can enter!"

When Lin Xiao and the rest reached the entrance to the manor, several flashes of cold steel being drawn could be seen from the towering wall of the manor as a person shouted to Lin Xiao and the rest below.

"Let the person in charge here come out. Today, our Lin Family is here to take over the Steel Wood Manor!" Lin Xiao shouted in a low tone, using the vigorous Yuan Power to amplify his voice until it thundered across the whole manor.

"Heh, isn't your Lin Family too impatient? If you want us to hand over the manor, first go to the Lei Family residence to complete the procedures before returning here." On the manor wall, two figures suddenly appeared and a somewhat mocking voice sounded out.

"Lei Nuo and Lei Ying."

Seeing the duo atop the manor wall, Lin Xiao's and Lin Ken's eyebrows slightly raised. These two were core members of the Lei Family and they were both at Heavenly Yuan Early Stage. Looks like the Lei Family was also on guard.

"Haha, Brother Lin Xiao and Brother Lin Ken, since our Lei Family has already said that we will hand the Steel Wood Manor over to your Lin Family, we would naturally do so. Why do all of you have to be so anxious? How about this, wait another five days and our Lei Family would officially hand over the Steel Wood Manor to you all, without any more delays. How does that sound?" From the top of the manor wall, a man in grey who had a somewhat long nose chuckled.

"Brother Lei Ying, you've already dragged this out for a month. Your words are hardly trustworthy now." Lin Ken retorted.

"There seems to be some other motive behind this delay?" At the back of the group, after Lin Dong heard the Lei Family's wrangling, his eyebrows involuntarily knitted together. He stared at Lei Ying and Lei Nuo and found that as the two were speaking, they could not help but glance towards the inside of the manor from the corners of their eyes.

"Uncle Qin Ying, there seems to be something amiss, come with me."

Lin Dong's eyes slightly flashed as he suddenly spoke to his guardian in a low voice.

"Young master Lin Dong..."

At these words, Qin Ying was stunned. Just as he intended to tell Lin Dong that it was better to just stay put, he cast a glance towards Little Flame and remembered that the youngster before him was no ignorant or naive child. After hesitating for a while, he waved his hand and stealthily beckoned his two other comrades to follow behind Lin Dong as they swiftly entered into the woods to one side.

"Uncle Qin Ying, do you know any other way to enter the Steel Wood Manor?" As they entered the forest, Lin Dong softly inquired.

"Yes, the Steel Wood Manor is too big, they could not possible fortify every part of it. According to my knowledge, there are quite a few spots where we can sneak in." Qin Ying muttered in reply.

"Go, let us first enter the inner manor to scout around. Be prepared to signal my father and the rest at any time." Lin Dong decisively instructed.

"This...alright."

Hearing that Lin Dong actually intended to infiltrate the manor, Qin Ying was slightly shocked. However, when he thought about it, the two Heavenly Yuan Stage experts were currently both stuck at the manor entrance. With their party's current strength, defending themselves was not a problem. Furthermore, since they were so near to the main force, as long as they fired a signal, Lin Xiao and the rest could easily reinforce them. Thus Qin Ying nodded in agreement as he led the party onwards.

A party of four men and one beast rapidly travelled through the forest. A long while later, they successfully crossed over an unmanned part of the wall and leapt into the manor.

Inside the manor, everything looked to be quite peaceful. Lin Dong scanned the surroundings before silently running towards the area where the Steel Wood was planted.

The Steel Wood were all grown in a designated area of the Steel Wood Manor. However, when Lin Dong and his group sneaked into that area, they could not help but turn ashen-faced at the sight that was reflected in their eyes.

"These scumbags..."

As they gazed at the scene before their eyes, Qin Ying gnashed his teeth and cursed in rage from beside Lin Dong.