Celestial Cloud Sect.

Task Hall.

Fang Yun had returned after completing his mission.

Just like when he had entered, he didn’t encounter a single Demon on his way out of the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.

If he had run into any Demons from the Qi Refining Stage on his way back, he could have dealt with them easily.

"Steward, I’m here to turn in a mission."

"Ah, it’s Fang Yun. If I recall correctly, this is your first time accepting a mission from the Task Hall." The Steward was a little surprised to see Fang Yun.

The Steward remembered that Fang Yun had only ever posted missions before.

"No." Fang Yun shook his head. "This is my second time."

Previously, he had accepted a mission to support the Shen Family alongside Yang Yingjie.

"Oh, let me see." The Steward checked the records and, sure enough, found a record of Fang Yun accepting a mission. This was indeed his second. "Your mission this time... It was actually this one."

While the Steward was looking up the records, Fang Yun had already taken a box out of his Storage Pouch.

Inside the box was the head of the Demon, Gu Feihu. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Steward, is there a problem with this mission?" Fang Yun asked.

"No problem." The Steward shook his head and said, "This mission was posted by Elder Xu. You’ll need to wait here for a moment. She wants to see you."

As he spoke, the Steward opened the wooden box Fang Yun had placed on the table. After confirming the head inside belonged to the target Demon, he made some adjustments, marked the mission as complete, and sent out a notification.

’Elder Xu?’

Fang Yun thought for a moment. There were two Elders in the sect with the surname Xu, but he didn’t know which one it was.

"Alright." Fang Yun nodded.

An Elder coming to see him directly was a good thing for him.

"Here is your Spirit Stone reward. Give me your Token, and I’ll transfer the Contribution Points to you."

The reward for assassinating a Demon at the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer was two hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones and three hundred Contribution Points.

This was a very generous reward. Normally, a similar mission would have a total reward of around two hundred Lower Grade Spirit Stones.

In fact, the actual rewards would be even greater. Besides the mission reward, killing a Demon also allowed one to claim an additional reward from the Evil Extermination Hall.

Fang Yun didn’t have to wait long in the Task Hall before a middle-aged, beautiful woman walked in from outside.

Fang Yun had seen this particular Elder Xu before, during his master-acceptance ceremony. The other one, he only knew by name.

Xu Qingxuan, the Management Elder of Smoke Cloud Peak.

"Fang Yun, were you the one who completed the mission?" Xu Qingxuan recognized him instantly.

"Yes, Elder Xu."

"Mm, come with me."

Hearing this, Fang Yun nodded and followed Xu Qingxuan out of the Task Hall.

Xu Qingxuan waved her hand, and a small boat flew out of her Storage Pouch, growing larger and larger as it landed in front of Fang Yun.

Seeing this, Fang Yun jumped aboard.

’By the looks of it, Elder Xu Qingxuan is probably taking me to Smoke Cloud Peak to treat me to a meal.’

Just as Fang Yun had thought, that was exactly Xu Qingxuan’s intention.

This was an extra reward she gave to disciples who completed her missions, on top of the official one.

Being treated to a meal of Spiritual Food by a peak’s Management Elder was a matter of great prestige for an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple, but Fang Yun was clearly no longer in that category.

The moment Xu Qingxuan received the notification that the mission was complete, her mood improved considerably.

Her disciple had been avenged, and so quickly too.

The one who died at the hands of a Demon from the Gu Family was her only disciple. To become her disciple, one had to possess exceptional talent in the way of the Spirit Chef. On top of that, the higher their Spirit Root Talent, the better.

The instant her disciple’s Protective Jade Pendant shattered, she had received a corresponding image of the event.

At that moment, she had immediately gone to the Task Hall to post a mission with a very generous reward.

"Fang Yun, how did you lure this Demon out and kill him?" Xu Qingxuan asked, looking back at Fang Yun.

She was quite curious as to how Fang Yun had managed to complete the mission so quickly.

Missions like hers were not easy to complete. First, one had to travel into the territory of the Celestial Demon Sect, and second, one had to set up a plan within the target Demon faction’s domain.

The process of luring the Demon out to be killed, especially the luring part, was particularly crucial.

If the Demon sensed something was wrong, it would be much harder to trick them again, making the assassination far more difficult.

"I didn’t use that method." After a moment of consideration, Fang Yun answered, "I killed him inside the Demon Gu Family’s ancestral grounds."

"You went to the Demon’s ancestral grounds?" Xu Qingxuan couldn’t help but give Fang Yun another look. "You’ve got some nerve. If your master knew what you did, with his temper, he’d scold you to death."

"It’s just a Qi Refining Demon clan. With enough preparation, there’s no problem," Fang Yun said confidently.

Xu Qingxuan considered Fang Yun’s strength.

Over a year ago, he was number one in the Four Sects’ Trial. With all this time to accumulate power, develop his special constitution, and even break through to the Qi Refining Tenth Layer...

With that kind of strength, he was indeed qualified to make such a claim.

It was precisely because Fang Yun had this strength and accepted her mission that her disciple’s death could be avenged so quickly.

"Since you entered the Demon Qi Refining Clan’s ancestral grounds, you must have killed more than just one Demon, right?" Xu Qingxuan could just imagine the fury of the Demon Gu Family’s upper echelons.

For Fang Yun to go on a killing spree in their ancestral grounds and still emerge unscathed...

It was clear that Fang Yun had indeed made extensive preparations.

’Xiong Xingfeng really took on a good disciple.’

"The vast majority of the Gu Family Demons should be dead at my hands," Fang Yun replied conservatively.

He couldn’t guarantee there weren’t any who had slipped through the net in the Demon Gu Family’s ancestral grounds, nor could he be sure that no Gu Family Demons were away on business that night, thus escaping his slaughter.

"?"

"Elder, careful."

The small boat came to a sudden stop, and Fang Yun almost lost his footing and bumped into Xu Qingxuan.

"You wiped out the Demon Gu Family by yourself?!"

Xu Qingxuan stared at Fang Yun in disbelief. Among the Qi Refining Level Demon factions in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, the Gu Family was considered quite strong.

Even if their Celestial Cloud Sect dispatched an early-stage Foundation Establishment Elder, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to wipe out the Demon Gu Family. As long as the Demon Gu Family could hold their defenses, Foundation Establishment Demons would surely arrive as reinforcements.

"You could say that." Fang Yun nodded, then quickly added, "There was some trickery involved, and I had a bit of good luck on my side."

’It’s okay to be amazing, but not heaven-defying.’

Fang Yun had already prepared a rough story of how he had annihilated the Demon Gu Family.

A vague story was best. Too many details would make it easy for someone to find inconsistencies.

"Tell me about it." Xu Qingxuan’s good mood deepened.

This was the first time she had been this curious since reaching Foundation Establishment.

"Of course, Elder."

Fang Yun briefly described the process of infiltrating the core area of the Demon Gu Family and how he had assassinated them covertly.

"You call it trickery and luck, but in reality, it was your strength." After hearing Fang Yun’s rough account, Xu Qingxuan quickly gave her assessment. "You even managed to refine Upper Grade Magical Artifacts with stacking stealth effects. Artifact Refining skill is a part of one’s strength too."

The Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body, allowing for the precise control of multiple Magical Artifacts at once.

Among all the disciples of the Celestial Cloud Sect, only Fang Yun could accomplish such a feat.

"My luck was also good. I wasn’t discovered. If I had been, it would have been difficult just to kill the mission target," Fang Yun insisted, sticking to his point.

"Oh, you." Xu Qingxuan smiled. With the entire Demon Gu Family annihilated, her mood was even better. "When it comes to Artifact Refining, you’re far more formidable than your master was during his disciple days."

Xu Qingxuan praised him sincerely. She had recently learned that the Upper Grade Magical Artifacts currently being refined by Fang Yun were in such high demand at the Artifact Casting Peak’s Artifact Pavilion that they couldn’t keep them in stock. There were far too many disciples who wanted to buy the Upper Grade Magical Artifacts he refined.

"You flatter me, Elder."

"Fang Yun, you annihilated the Demon Gu Family, completing the mission far more effectively than I could have imagined. If you need any extra reward, just name it."

’Another extra reward?’

Fang Yun wanted to say he had already received it.

Sect Influence +1%↑

Not long after he finished telling her he had wiped out the Demon Gu Family, a notification appeared on the light screen, indicating his sect influence had increased by one percentage point.

This showed that Xu Qingxuan’s attitude towards him had undergone a significant change during their conversation.

His sect influence had now reached 39%. One more percentage point, and it would be equal to the influence provided by his status within the sect.

"If it’s possible, I hope you can look after an Outer Sect Disciple named Huang Mengzhu." In case Xu Qingxuan didn’t know, Fang Yun added, "She is here on Smoke Cloud Peak, handling various affairs."

"I give you an opportunity, and you use it on someone else." The smile on Xu Qingxuan’s face widened. "You don’t need to remind me. I know of this Outer Sect Disciple on my peak. Her talent in the way of the Spirit Chef is quite good."

"Alright, I promise you."

Xu Qingxuan thought for a moment and decided to give Huang Mengzhu an opportunity after she became an Inner Sect Disciple.

An opportunity to become her Direct Disciple.

Originally, Huang Mengzhu’s talent as a Spirit Chef fell a little short of her standards for accepting a disciple.

"Thank you, Elder," Fang Yun said gratefully.