"Brother Jiang, from what I understand, the Zeng Family is quite strong among the Spirit Refiner forces. Can we really annihilate them with our current strength?" a Demon at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer asked.

The hairy-faced Demon, Jiang Yangxia, replied, "Of course we can. Junior Brother Jiang, you can question your own strength, but don’t question mine. Disciples of the Celestial Cloud Sect destroyed one of our Qi Refining Clans in our Earth Realm, so we’ll destroy one of their Qi Refining Clans for fun."

If he completed this mission flawlessly, he would receive better resources for Foundation Establishment upon returning to the Celestial Demon Sect, further increasing his chances of success.

The report from the former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect stated that the Celestial Cloud Sect had to dispatch at least eight Inner Sect Disciples at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer just to annihilate the Gu Family.

Now, only seven of them had come, and not all were at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer. Four were in the late Qi Refining Stage—two at the Ninth Layer and two at the Eighth Layer.

He, their leader, was truly at the Peak of Qi Refining.

Jiang Yangxia continued, "If the seven of us can annihilate the Zeng Family, wouldn’t that put us a cut above the Spirit Refiners of the Celestial Cloud Sect?"

"Mm, Brother Jiang is right. Senior Brother Jiang, you don’t need to worry or be afraid."

"When was I ever afraid?"

"Oh, right. Then just don’t worry."

The Demon surnamed Jiang said no more. ’He looked down on the Demon Beast bloodline this junior brother of his had transplanted. The influence has made him stupid and inarticulate; all he knows is how to blindly follow Jiang Yangxia.’

"Junior Brother Jiang, and you, Junior Sister Yu. Your concealment methods are impressive. See if you can sneak into the Zeng Family’s ancestral land with me before their Grand Array activates."

"Understood, Brother Jiang."

"The rest of you, after the Zeng Family’s Grand Array activates, attack it from the outside with all your might. We’ll aim to take down the Zeng Family within two hours."

"Yes."

With the arrangements made, Jiang Yangxia gave a wave of his hand and led the six Celestial Demon Sect disciples onward, closing in on the Zeng Family’s ancestral land, Celestial Gift Mountain.

A Grand Array protecting a faction’s headquarters almost always integrated both offense and defense.

It could defend against external assaults while also attacking any intruders who had already breached it.

The power a Grand Array can draw upon is finite; the more power allocated to offense, the weaker its defense becomes, and vice versa.

Successfully infiltrating the Zeng Family’s ancestral land would be the best possible start for Jiang Yangxia. In his mind, if the plan unfolded as he envisioned from the outset, they could potentially take down the Zeng Family within an hour, not even needing the full two.

Five li from the Zeng Family’s ancestral land, the seven Celestial Demon Sect Demons split up. The trio led by Jiang Yangxia went ahead, while the other four Demons followed behind.

The four in the back were not as skilled in concealment; getting too close risked discovery and would hinder the movements of Jiang Yangxia’s trio.

「Zeng Family Ancestral Land.」

In the guest room where the Spiritual Qi was densest.

Fang Yun was carefully studying a book. Over half a month had passed since he accepted the mission to act as Guardian for the Zeng Family’s ancestral land.

Thus far, it had been uneventful.

However, just then, Fang Yun snapped his book shut.

He sensed that the Grand Array protecting the Zeng Family’s ancestral land had activated.

This meant a significant number of Demons were attacking the Zeng Family—which was exactly what Fang Yun had been hoping for.

He had taken this Guardian mission precisely because he knew there had been frequent fighting in the territory of the Foundation Establishment Shen Family. He figured it would be easy to run into combat and reap the resulting Talent Points.

Fang Yun quickly left the guest room to find Patriarch Zeng and get an update on the Demon attack.

Along the way, Fang Yun ran into a Zeng Family cultivator.

"Immortal Master Fang, our Patriarch..."

Watching Fang Yun quickly disappear into the distance, the Zeng Family cultivator trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. Apparently, Fang Yun had the same destination in mind.

He had been on his way to find Fang Yun and ask him to meet with their Patriarch so they could resist the Demon invasion together.

It was a good thing for the Zeng Family that Fang Yun was taking his Guardian mission so seriously.

Without lingering, the Zeng Family cultivator hurried off in the same direction Fang Yun had gone.

「A moment later.」

Fang Yun found Patriarch Zeng.

"What’s the situation?" Fang Yun asked immediately.

While manipulating the Array Plate, Patriarch Zeng replied, "There are seven Demons. Three have already entered Celestial Gift Mountain, while the other four are attacking from the outside. The strongest Demon is at the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer."

"Give me the locations of the three Demons who got in."

"West, southwest, and northwest."

"Never mind the four Demons outside. Focus all the Grand Array’s power on trapping the three who got in. I’m going over to deal with them now."

’Even if we neglect the outer defenses, it will still take the Demons outside some time to break through.’

’And for me, that little bit of time is all I need.’

"Trust me!"

Leaving him with those two words, Fang Yun headed off toward the southwest.

Patriarch Zeng watched Fang Yun’s departing figure, gritted his teeth, and decided to follow his instructions, ignoring the Demons outside for now.

The Grand Array’s power began to shift, becoming extremely unbalanced.

"Patriarch, where is Immortal Master Fang?"

"He’s already on the move. Quickly, gather all the family’s late-stage Qi Refining experts to support Immortal Master Fang."

"Yes, Patriarch!"

Clan members below the late Qi Refining Stage had already received the signal and were evacuating up the mountain to a safe location.

The weakest of the attacking Demons were at the Eighth Layer. Of those who had entered Celestial Gift Mountain, one was at the Ninth Layer, while the other two were at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer and the peak of the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, respectively.

Facing such Demons, clansmen below the late Qi Refining Stage would be of little use.

On the lower slopes of Celestial Gift Mountain.

The hairy-faced Jiang Yangxia was in a good mood.

’The infiltration was a success. This is exactly the scenario I was hoping for.’

’What’s this...? Why are they focusing so much power on attacking me?’

Walls of earth and rock erupted from the mountainside, not only attacking him but also forming a stone cage in an attempt to trap him inside.

’If they’re focusing more power on attacking me, there’s less to deal with the others. This isn’t what I wanted. I was hoping to kill a few more Zeng Family cultivators myself.’

As Jiang Yangxia smashed through a wall of earth and rock blocking his path, he saw a figure speeding toward him.

When he got a clear look at the person, Jiang Yangxia shouted.

"Fang Yun!"

"I didn’t expect to find you guarding this place."

Jiang Yangxia had heard of Fang Yun before. Possessing the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body, his strength during the Qi Refining Stage was immense! But the benefits of the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body became ordinary after Foundation Establishment, and Fang Yun himself was a Five Spirit Roots cultivator. The Elders’ evaluation of him was:

Powerful at Qi Refining, mediocre potential, moderate threat.

In Jiang Yangxia’s view, the Qi Refining Stage, especially the tenth layer, was the absolute peak of Fang Yun’s power relative to his peers.

And yet, at this very moment, facing this version of Fang Yun, Jiang Yangxia felt not a shred of fear. Instead, he was unusually excited.

’If I can kill Fang Yun, I can go back and say: "I hear that Fang Yun from the Celestial Cloud Sect was supposedly number one in some Four-Sect Trial. Well, look, here’s his head."’

The thought made Jiang Yangxia even more thrilled.

Jiang Yangxia knew Fang Yun, but Fang Yun did not know Jiang Yangxia.

Fang Yun only knew of two famous Demons from the Celestial Demon Sect in the Qi Refining Stage, and clearly, Jiang Yangxia was not one of them.

What Fang Yun could tell from looking at the hairy-faced Demon was that his innate talent was excellent, and his affinity with his transplanted Demon Beast bloodline was extremely high.

Just as he was about to finish off the hairy-faced Demon with a single sword strike, Fang Yun’s eyes flickered with surprise.

With the aid of his four-star Combat Talent, whenever he used an Upper-Grade Magical Artifact, he knew precisely how much Spiritual Power was needed to kill an enemy.

Not a single wisp of Spiritual Power would be wasted.

And yet, with this particular sword strike, no matter which fatal point on the hairy-faced Demon he imagined striking, he realized he could not kill him in a single blow.

If a Yellow Iron Sword suited for decapitation or piercing the heart wouldn’t work, Fang Yun would simply use a different Yellow Iron Sword.

"What’s that surprise for?" Jiang Yangxia quickly noted Fang Yun’s reaction. "It seems you’re aware of my strength!"

Fang Yun remained silent as two Yellow Iron Swords flew from his Storage Pouch, slashing toward the hairy-faced Demon.

"What are you holding back for? Don’t you have the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body?"

Jiang Yangxia caught the two oncoming Yellow Iron Swords. The minor cuts they inflicted healed almost instantly.

"Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts are no threat to me. Forget these two pathetic swords—even five of them would be useless..."

"...Poison!"

Jiang Yangxia had only just realized.

From his left and right hands, two poisons—one cold, one hot—spread throughout his entire body.

The two toxins intertwined and erupted, instantly ending his life.