「Outside Celestial Gift Mountain.」

A huge, earthen-yellow barrier could be seen covering Celestial Gift Mountain, defending against outside attacks.

"It looks like we’re about to break through the Zeng Family’s Grand Array."

"Brother Jiang is amazing. He must be wreaking havoc inside. The Zeng Family’s Grand Array isn’t even focused on defending against us anymore."

"Put your backs into it! Let’s break it quickly!"

"Right."

The four Demons used their most powerful attacks, all for the sake of breaking open the Zeng Family’s Grand Array as quickly as possible.

It didn’t take long.

Under their continuous assault, the earthen-yellow barrier shattered.

"We did it!"

"How long did that even take? That was way too easy."

"Look! Who’s that?"

"It’s Fang Yun from the Celestial Cloud Sect!"

As the four Demons watched, Fang Yun rushed toward them. At the same time, a series of pale yellow swords flew from his Storage Pouch.

A total of four swords circled around him.

"Didn’t Brother Jiang engage Fang Yun?"

"Never mind that! Let’s attack first and figure it out later!"

Four against one. The advantage was theirs.

They knew Fang Yun possessed the Seven-Aperture Exquisite Body.

This special constitution gave him a significant advantage in one-on-one fights, but in a one-versus-many situation, that advantage became less pronounced.

They didn’t even need to kill Fang Yun. They only needed to stall him, and eventually, he would exhaust his Spiritual Power and become a fish on the chopping block, ready for them to slaughter.

Facing Fang Yun’s attack, the bodies of the four Celestial Demon Sect Demons each underwent different transformations. Even though it was four against one, they held nothing back.

The Celestial Demon Sect Demon at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer felt that Fang Yun was completely underestimating him.

Just like the other three Celestial Demon Sect Demons, he too was facing a pale yellow Long Sword of the Upper Grade Magical Artifact level.

’I can destroy this Upper Grade Magical Artifact.’

"Break!"

Amidst his roar, what broke was not Fang Yun’s Upper Grade Magical Artifact, but his own arm.

"How is this possible..."

The Qi Refining Tenth Layer Celestial Demon Sect Demon couldn’t believe it. How could an Upper Grade Magical Artifact possess such power? This already surpassed a peak-grade magical artifact, and a perfectly controlled one at that.

Normally, neither a Qi Refining Tenth Layer nor a Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivator could perfectly wield the power of a peak-grade magical artifact.

What confused the Celestial Demon Sect Demon the most was that this was indeed an Upper Grade Magical Artifact, not a disguised peak-grade one. Any disguise would have been exposed the moment it unleashed its power.

His mind was full of questions.

As his head hit the ground, there was no one to answer them.

In a single exchange, all four Demons were slain by Fang Yun’s swords.

He didn’t even expend an extra trace of Spiritual Power.

With all seven Demons killed, Fang Yun still had over ninety-five percent of the Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea remaining.

Fang Yun began to collect the spoils.

He had accepted a Guardian mission, not a reinforcement mission, so there was no mention of an extra reward. Therefore, after killing these Celestial Demon Sect Demons, he would need to return to the sect to exchange proof of his kills for Contribution Points.

Compared to other demons, Celestial Demon Sect Demons could be exchanged for over seventy percent more Contribution Points.

"Fifth Brother, it seems there’s nothing for us to do."

"Immortal Master Fang has dealt with all the Demons."

"Yes, there’s nothing for us to do."

They were still on their way.

On the road, they saw Fang Yun returning. He now had several more Storage Pouches on him.

These were clearly the Demons’ Storage Pouches.

"Go back. The Demons have been dealt with," Fang Yun said, looking at the four late-stage Qi Refining members of the Zeng Family.

"Yes, Immortal Master Fang!"

The four of them bowed and replied in unison.

Fang Yun returned to his guest room to rest, while they went back to report the situation to the Patriarch.

Patriarch Zeng had already put away the Array Plate. After the Grand Array on Celestial Gift Mountain was breached, it was deactivated.

"Alright, I understand."

"Patriarch, you’re not surprised at all?" a high-ranking member of the Zeng Family asked.

From the way their Patriarch looked, it was clear he had known the outcome all along.

"I’m not surprised. It’s normal for Immortal Master Fang to have this kind of strength," Patriarch Zeng replied calmly.

"I’m not surprised that Immortal Master Fang could eliminate these invading Demons, but isn’t his efficiency a little too high?"

Fang Yun had already finished the battle while they were still on their way. If they didn’t know Fang Yun’s Realm, they might have thought he was actually a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

What had just happened was clearly beyond his comprehension.

’Can a Qi Refining Tenth Layer Cultivator really be this powerful?’

"Look at you." Patriarch Zeng shook his head. "You’re a high-ranking member of our Zeng Family, after all. How can you act like you’ve never seen the world?"

As he spoke, Patriarch Zeng turned his back to him.

’In truth, if it weren’t for what Fang Yun had told me, I would have been surprised too.’

Before dealing with the Demons, Fang Yun’s brief words—especially the final "trust me"—were telling him, the Patriarch of the Zeng Family, to believe in his strength. He could resolve the situation with the Demons quickly, which was why the Grand Array needed to be at his command.

At first, Patriarch Zeng was clearly still a bit skeptical, which was why he had sent high-ranking family members to provide support.

Now, however, he was a complete believer.

"When was it that Immortal Master Fang took first place in the Four-Sect Trials?" Patriarch Zeng asked.

"The beginning of last year."

"Exactly. Immortal Master Fang already had the strength to take first place in the Four-Sect Trials at the beginning of last year. It’s been almost twenty months since then. Do you really think his strength would have stagnated?"

"Of course not."

"Are you still surprised by Immortal Master Fang’s strength now?"

"...I guess I’m not so surprised anymore," the high-ranking Zeng Family member replied.

’All I can say is that in these twenty months, Fang Yun’s progress each month must have been immense for him to display such power today.’