Yongan Town

"This talisman is essential for escaping with your life."

The blue-robed disciple explained, "When you're exploring dangerous places, if you run into a perilous situation, just crush this talisman and it'll whisk you thirty yards away in an instant."

Under normal circumstances, thirty yards was more than enough for a cultivator caught in danger to escape with his life.

Of course, if the danger involved a sealing formation or the other party had you suppressed, this talisman would be hard to use effectively.

"How much?"

After learning what the Earth Escape Talisman could do, Shen Mo decided it was worth buying.

"Fifteen Spirit Stones."

"I'll take it."

Although the price was comparable to a Qi Gathering Pill, Shen Mo bought it without hesitation.

After leaving the market, he carefully put the two life-saving talismans into his Qiankun Pouch.

"I've made just about all the preparations I need. Time to go!"

He returned to his room and tidied up some odds and ends at home. Then he refined two batches of Qi Recovery Pills and Vitality Strengthening Powder, and finally strapped the long sword reserved for outer disciples to his waist.

Then he stepped through the mountain gate.

After descending the mountain, Shen Mo stuck a Light Body Talisman to his leg. His figure flashed like lightning as he raced through the mountain forests and ravines.

[As you used Thunderbolt Quickstep to travel, you sensed the mysteries of its footwork and gained a deeper understanding of this light-body immortal art. Thunderbolt Quickstep experience +1]

[As you used Thunderbolt Quickstep to travel, you sensed the mysteries of its footwork and gained a deeper understanding of this light-body immortal art. Thunderbolt Quickstep experience +1]

As he traveled, he dashed through the wilderness, using the light-body immortal art without restraint as one system notification after another appeared.

Shen Mo made astonishingly quick progress.

Yongan Town lay a hundred and twenty miles from River-Facing Sect.

He reached the town in less than an hour.

"Might you be the immortal master from the great sect, here to rid my Zhao Family of demons?"

As soon as Shen Mo reached the town gate, he spotted an old man dressed in fine clothes, leading a group of people and waiting expectantly.

"That's right. I'm a disciple of River-Facing Sect. I've come to the Zhao Family on a sect training assignment to slay demons."

He looked at the old man at the head of the group and said coolly, "You're the head of the Zhao Family, I take it?"

"Indeed, immortal master. This old man is Zhao Bing, head of the Zhao Family."

After confirming Shen Mo's identity, Zhao Bing hurriedly bowed to him.

Though the Zhao Family had considerable wealth in Yongan Town and lorded over the area as a local power, the entire family was exceedingly deferential toward Shen Mo—even fawning.

Zhao Bing, the head of the family, addressed him as "immortal master from the great sect" at every turn, bending over backward to please him.

Shen Mo wasn't surprised.

Though he didn't even count as an Inner Sect disciple in River-Facing Sect and was merely a nobody at the bottom of the cultivation world, when he stepped into the mortal realm, even the powerful and wealthy had to lower their eyes and treat him with utmost respect.

That was the divide between immortals and mortals!

"Immortal master, please come back to the Zhao Family with this old man. Knowing you were coming, I already had the family prepare a welcoming banquet to wash the dust from your journey."

"No need." Shen Mo shook his head and got straight to the point. "I'm here to take care of business. Tell me exactly what's going on with your Spirit Field."

Seeing Shen Mo refuse, Zhao Bing didn't insist. He pulled a middle-aged man standing beside him forward and urged him, "Jiachang, quickly tell the immortal master the details about the Spirit Field!"

The middle-aged man was named Zhao Jiachang, Zhao Bing's eldest son.

He had always been responsible for overseeing the Zhao Family's Spirit Field and its other affairs.

"Reporting to the immortal master, the snake demons have now occupied our Spirit Field and killed twenty-three guards."

"The Spirit Field has become forbidden ground for our family. No one dares set foot inside anymore."

He told Shen Mo the whole story.

As it turned out, this wasn't the first time the Zhao Family's Spirit Field had been plagued by demon beasts.

The Vermilion Fruit that the Zhao Family had cultivated for generations was an exceptionally potent spirit medicine.

It could not only increase the strength of Body Tempering Realm cultivators, but also greatly benefit demon beasts.

It was a treasure that made demon beasts drool with desire.

Because the Vermilion Fruit held such fatal allure for low-tier demon beasts, whenever the spirit fruits were about to ripen, demon beasts would inevitably catch their scent and come to the Zhao Family's Spirit Field to steal them, disrupting the family's cultivation work.

The Zhao Family had once had a cultivator ancestor watching over them.

That ancestor had also been a disciple of River-Facing Sect. Unable to break through to the Qi Gathering Realm after many years, he had eventually chosen to descend the mountain.

He married, had children, and expanded the family.

While their ancestor was still alive, the Zhao Family had never worried much about demon beasts intruding.

Yongan Town was a small place, and there were no high-tier demon beasts in the surrounding area.

With a high-tier Body Tempering Realm cultivator ancestor watching over them, the Zhao Family could handle anything.

But ten years ago, their ancestor's lifespan ran out.

To extend his life, he announced that he would enter secluded cultivation to the death.

He went into seclusion—and was never heard from again.

With no ancestor to protect them, the Zhao Family could only spend a fortune hiring fifty martial arts experts as guards to deal with the demon beasts that invaded.

There was strength in numbers, and these martial artists could drive off low-tier demon beasts and keep the Zhao Family safe.

But last month, disaster struck!

"At first, one of the guards reported seeing Silver-Ringed Snake Demons in the Spirit Field, so I organized the guards, had them arm themselves, and went to drive them out."

Even now, Zhao Jiachang still felt a lingering dread as he recalled the incident. "I thought those Silver-Ringed Snake Demons weren't very strong and that we could deal with them easily."

"But the Silver-Ringed Snake Demons that had invaded the Spirit Field weren't like other demon beasts, which roam alone. There were a great many of them!"

Zhao Jiachang estimated that at least a hundred demon snakes had settled in the Spirit Field.

That day, after they killed one of the snakes, all the others became agitated and began attacking the Zhao Family.

One demon snake alone wasn't particularly powerful.

But when a hundred gathered together, their combined strength was enough to make even a high-tier Body Tempering Realm cultivator's scalp prickle.

"That day, half the guards of my Zhao Family lost their lives. The rest were lucky enough to escape, and they wouldn't dare go back in."

"So we had no choice but to report the matter to the great sect and ask the immortal sect to send an immortal master to deal with it."

Zhao Bing picked up where his son left off and said solemnly, "We beg the immortal master to rid our Zhao Family of this scourge of demon snakes!"

"Mm. I have a general idea of the situation."

After hearing Zhao Jiachang's account, Shen Mo felt he understood the situation. "Don't worry. I've come to settle this."

From their description, the demon snakes were numerous, but none of them were very strong.

Most were only low-tier demon beasts, no more powerful than a fifth-layer Body Tempering Realm cultivator.

With Shen Mo's cultivation, he could handle them.

"Where is your Spirit Field? Take me there to have a look."

"Please, this way, immortal master."

Zhao Jiachang led the guards and showed Shen Mo the way.

They passed the Zhao Family's grand residence and arrived at the fertile Spirit Field behind it.

"This is the entrance to the Spirit Field."

Zhao Jiachang cupped his fists. "If there's anything you need the Zhao Family to prepare for your demon-slaying, just let us know."

"There's no need to prepare anything extra." Shen Mo shook his head. "Wait here. The remaining guards can come in with me to take a look."

With that, he strode into the inner reaches of the Spirit Field.

The Zhao Family's guards followed close behind him, not daring to fall even a step back.