"I’ll change into them here."

Once he was a certain distance from the sect, Fang Yun took off his Light Silk Boots and put on the Light Wind Boots.

He had already tested the effects of the Light Wind Boots. They were excellent, allowing him, a Qi Refining Tenth Layer cultivator, to ride the air. However, within the sect, he could only perform very brief trials.

Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts consumed a great deal of Spiritual Power and demanded a high degree of control. With his "Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body," it wasn’t surprising that he could precisely manipulate a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact. But the Spiritual Power requirement was what it was, making it impossible for him to fly on the Light Wind Boots for extended periods within the sect.

Now, he could finally let loose and use them to his heart’s content.

Even if he ran into a Sect Disciple along the way, they would only catch a glimpse of him and assume that Senior Brother Fang was practicing his control over a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact while traveling, truly making the most of every moment.

’A four-star Combat Talent is just awesome!’

Flying at a low altitude, Fang Yun’s speed was so fast that an ordinary early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator wouldn’t be able to catch him at all.

The Light Wind Boots felt like a part of his body. When obstacles appeared ahead, he could dodge them with incredible speed, relying on the instincts empowered by his Combat Talent without the slightest hesitation.

’It doesn’t consume much Spiritual Power.’

As he flew, Fang Yun assessed the Spiritual Power consumption.

Besides the boost from his four-star Combat Talent, the low Spiritual Power consumption was also because he was currently using the Light Wind Boots in a low-energy mode.

The fact that he could be so fast in low-energy mode was naturally thanks to his footwear-related Combat Talent boosting his speed.

Faster!

With a single thought, Fang Yun’s speed instantly increased. He was now in a normal Spiritual Power consumption state.

Faster still!

Like a sudden gale, he passed over a lake, parting the water on both sides.

In burst mode, even with Fang Yun’s current eyesight, he couldn’t make out the scenery on either side. And one had to remember that even a Qi Refining Cultivator’s vision was far superior to that of a mortal.

An uninformed Cultivator who witnessed this astonishing speed might think he was using some life-burning Secret Technique to escape an enemy’s pursuit.

After savoring the thrill of high-speed flight, Fang Yun slowed down, returning to the low-energy mode of the Light Wind Boots.

Having left the sect, his destination this time was the Zeng Family, a Qi Refining Cultivation Clan.

War was currently spreading across the territory of the Foundation Establishment Shen Family, affecting nearly all the smaller influences. Faced with this situation, the Shen Family was completely overwhelmed and could only turn to the Celestial Cloud Sect for help.

Thus, Fang Yun had accepted a one-month Guardian mission.

Unlike support missions, the rewards for Guardian missions were primarily paid by the Celestial Cloud Sect. Support missions, on the other hand, were extra requests from powers directly or indirectly affiliated with the Celestial Cloud Sect, and the rewards had to be paid by those powers themselves.

Guardian missions were the Celestial Cloud Sect’s way of protecting its direct and indirect subordinate powers. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

「The Zeng Family’s ancestral land, Celestial Gift Mountain.」

It was home to a Tier One, Upper Grade Spirit Vein.

Among Qi Refining Influences, any that could claim a Tier One, Upper Grade Spirit Vein as their territory possessed considerable comprehensive strength. The Zeng Family, for example, had Cultivators at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.

"Look over there."

"Someone’s coming... It must be an Immortal Master from the Celestial Cloud Sect."

"Quick, inform the Patriarch."

When Fang Yun officially arrived at the ancestral land of the Qi Refining Zeng Family, people were already there to greet him.

Upon seeing Fang Yun, Patriarch Zeng was overjoyed.

"We welcome Immortal Master Fang’s arrival. I am Zeng Hongsheng, Patriarch of the Zeng Family."

"Fang Yun."

Even though the other party knew who he was, Fang Yun still stated his name.

’The patriarch of a Qi Refining Clan recognized me on sight. It seems my reputation isn’t small within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Earth Realm.’

’The Evil Sects must have gathered information on me long ago.’

Fang Yun wondered about his current position on the Evil Sects’ kill list. With the limitation of his Five Spirit Roots, his ranking probably wasn’t particularly high.

’Even if the Evil Sects have information on my surface-level abilities, it’s useless. No one but me knows what level my true strength has reached.’

Led by Patriarch Zeng, Fang Yun first took a brief tour of the Zeng Family’s ancestral land before being shown to his resting quarters.

"Immortal Master Fang, if you have any needs later, you can call for me at any time."

"Alright," Fang Yun nodded.

"Then I won’t disturb your rest, Immortal Master."

As the patriarch of the Zeng Family, being at someone’s beck and call was not normally his duty. However, the fact that Fang Yun was the one from the Celestial Cloud Sect who had accepted the Guardian mission made him take it very seriously.

He knew that Fang Yun, at the Peak of Qi Refining, was stronger than many Half-Step Foundation Establishment Cultivators. With Fang Yun standing guard over them, the Zeng Family could feel much more at ease.

After Patriarch Zeng left, Fang Yun took a book out of his Storage Pouch and began to flip through it.

While touring the Zeng ancestral land with the patriarch just now, he had seen quite a few Zeng Family Cultivators.

For Fang Yun, seeing these cultivators was a necessary task.

He needed to confirm one thing: whether any of these Zeng Family Cultivators bore him any ill will.

Due to the different cultivation paths, not many cultivators in history had sided with Demons, but such phenomena did exist. If there happened to be such a cultivator in the Zeng Family, he was confident in his ability to detect them.

If only one such cultivator appeared, it would be easy to deal with.

If several appeared, it would mean the Zeng Family was slowly being corrupted by the power of Demons. In that case, he would need to act swiftly.

If there was no malice at all, he could relax just as he was now—leisurely reading a book to absorb its knowledge, or beginning to cultivate by refining and absorbing an Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pill to raise his Cultivation.

...

「Ten li outside Celestial Gift Mountain.」

On a small hill, numerous Demons had gathered.