A typical late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator traveling at full speed would be completely spent before covering even a twentieth of his journey.

"This is the route, then!"

Fang Yun had planned out his route.

The route was mostly straight, with few detours.

The route he planned was definitely not what a typical late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would choose. Theirs would be more circuitous, allowing them to pass through the territory of the Vast Sea Sect.

In terms of safety, passing through the Vast Sea Sect’s Earth Realm was certainly safer than the Earth Realms of other Evil Demons and Crooked Paths.

Fang Yun had a very peaceful June.

There were two support missions within the sect, but he missed them both because he had to focus on Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

「It was now early July.」

Fang Yun was ready to head to the Purple Mist Sect. The peaceful month of June had brought him close to 250,000 Talent Points. Nowadays, his monthly gain of Talent Points was typically between 240,000 and 270,000.

Before officially departing for the Purple Mist Sect, he met up with Song Qiaoqiao.

Song Qiaoqiao saw him off at the sect gate, and there they also saw Sect Leader Duan Qingyun.

Evidently, Duan Qingyun knew that Fang Yun was departing today.

"Elder Fang, be careful on your journey."

"I will. Please rest assured, Sect Leader."

Finally, under the watchful eyes of Song Qiaoqiao and Sect Leader Duan Qingyun, Fang Yun left the Celestial Cloud Sect and headed northwest.

This was the direction of the Purple Mist Sect.

Not long after leaving the sect, Fang Yun had already concealed his aura.

He had fully activated the concealment effect of his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots, which were etched with Eight Spirit Patterns.

He wasn’t moving particularly fast.

He had ample time. Even at this pace, following the route he’d planned, he could still reach the Purple Mist Sect by early August.

Fang Yun’s plan allowed him to arrive at the Purple Mist Sect as late as mid-to-late August without issue.

’The Earth Realm of the Black Ghost Cave...’

Previously, he had always traveled by Spirit Ship, passing high above the Black Ghost Cave’s Earth Realm.

Now, he was flying at a low altitude, which counted as his first true entry into the Black Ghost Cave’s Earth Realm.

Although this was the Black Ghost Cave’s Earth Realm, it was relatively close to the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm.

Typically, when traveling to the Purple Mist Sect, it was better to stick to the border between the Black Ghost Cave and Celestial Demon Sect Earth Realms. Fang Yun’s current path, however, was more direct.

For him, the danger was almost nonexistent.

Unless a Core Formation Stage Ghost Cultivator from the Black Ghost Cave appeared right here, no one would be able to find a trace of him.

As for Ghost Cultivators below the Core Formation Stage, Fang Yun could fly right past them and they would never know.

The actual location of the Black Ghost Cave’s main sect was still quite far from his travel route.

If he were to encounter anyone here, it would at most be a Foundation Establishment Stage Ghost Cultivator.

For Fang Yun, this was a good thing.

The route he had designed, his complete concealment, and his deliberately slow speed were all for one purpose: to test his luck and see if he could acquire some Combat Talent Points.

As long as he could kill a single early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, with a base of 50,000 Talent Points from the kill, his total acquired Talent Points for the month would exceed 300,000.

His slow speed allowed for better observation.

It was all a matter of luck.

By the time he left the Black Ghost Cave’s Earth Realm, Fang Yun had acquired over four thousand base Talent Points by killing three Qi Refining Level Ghost Cultivators, two of whom he had found together.

By the time Fang Yun discovered them, and before they had a chance to react, these Yin Power cultivators were so thoroughly annihilated that they couldn’t even become ghosts in death.

He had now entered the Earth Realm of the Red Sect.

The Red Sect was the Earth Realm of Blood Demons. The Cultivators here cultivated Blood Power, which required them to raise ordinary people in captivity for their Cultivation Technique.

Whether it was cultivating Demon Power or Yin Power, Fang Yun felt it was still somewhat acceptable. But cultivating Blood Power was something else entirely in his eyes.

The distinction was only clear in comparison; the cultivation methods for Demon Power and Yin Power only seemed acceptable because of how they contrasted with Blood Power.

After leaving the Red Sect, he would have to enter the Blood Dew Palace, which was also Blood Demon territory.

The Earth Realm of the Blood Dew Palace was larger than the Earth Realms of the Red Sect and Black Ghost Cave combined. According to the map, the Vast Sea Sect, which bordered the Blood Dew Palace, was semi-encircled by it.

Whether in the Earth Realm of the Black Ghost Cave or the Red Sect, Fang Yun felt his luck had been rather average.

In the Earth Realm of the Blood Dew Palace, his luck turned. He killed an early-stage Foundation Establishment Blood Demon who came from a subsidiary Foundation Establishment Influence of the Blood Dew Palace.

...

「Early August.」

Fang Yun’s figure had appeared in the Earth Realm of the Withered Demon Sect.

This area was already quite close to the Purple Mist Sect.

Among the Demon Core Formation Sects, the Withered Demon Sect was one of the top two in terms of comprehensive strength.

The Withered Demon Sect’s Earth Realm was even larger than that of the Blood Dew Palace.

As he reached the Earth Realm of the Withered Demon Sect, information about the sect surfaced in Fang Yun’s mind.

’After passing the Withered Demon Sect and entering the Hundred Peaks Sect’s Earth Realm, I just need to head further northwest to officially enter the Purple Mist Sect’s Earth Realm.’

Fang Yun also opened his map and took a quick look.

In the Qionglin Domain, of the six major Core Formation Sects that cultivated Spiritual Power, the Earth Realms of two of them bordered the Purple Mist Sect. The Hundred Peaks Sect was one of these two.

The Core Formation Sect furthest from the Purple Mist Sect was not their Celestial Cloud Sect, but the Wind Ling Sect.

In terms of straight-line distance, the Wind Ling Sect was over a thousand li further away.

For a Core Formation Sect like Hundred Peaks Sect, whose Earth Realm bordered the Purple Mist Sect, there were both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was, of course, the obvious issue of safety; every Nascent Soul Level influence within the Qionglin Domain had its own long and storied history.

Fang Yun had read in records that the Purple Mist Sect had existed for over ten thousand years.

The disadvantage was that being close to the Purple Mist Sect meant being heavily influenced by it. Although a Core Formation Influence had its own sect Earth Realm, their proximity to the Purple Mist Sect made them seem more like its subsidiary.

’For the Withered Demon Sect to remain so powerful in such an environment, they must really be something special.’

After a final thought, Fang Yun put away his map.

There were no other Demon influences in the area surrounding the Withered Demon Sect’s Earth Realm. Because of the Hundred Peaks Sect’s presence, they did not directly border the Purple Mist Sect; however, they did border a Nascent Soul Influence, the Blood Spirit Sect.

The seven Nascent Soul Level influences were all located either in the central region of the Qionglin Domain or very close to it.

The Celestial Cloud Sect’s location was in a relatively peripheral area, situated in the southeast corner of the Qionglin Domain.

Within the Withered Demon Sect’s Earth Realm, Fang Yun continued to advance stealthily.

Before arriving at the Withered Demon Sect, he had already passed through the Earth Realms of two Ghost Cultivator sects, two Blood Demon sects, and one Demon Core Formation Sect.

Traveling at the normal speed of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, the total journey was quite long.

The rough map in Fang Yun’s hand covered about a quarter of the Qionglin Domain’s total area. This map included all the Nascent Soul and Core Formation influences that cultivated Spiritual Power. The remaining three-quarters of the domain, not shown on the map, were the warring grounds of Blood Demons, Demons, and Ghost Cultivators.

If you were to add up the Earth Realms of the six Core Formation influences and the Purple Mist Sect, their total area would still be less than one-tenth the size of the Qionglin Domain.

The Blood Demons, Demons, and Ghost Cultivators each occupied more than thirty percent of the region.

It was only due to the existence of the Purple Mist Sect, as well as the relative balance of power between the other three factions, that cultivators who practiced with Spiritual Power were able to maintain their current scale.

If the Purple Mist Sect were to fall, or if the balance between the three factions were to be broken, the cultivators of Spiritual Power would not be far from extinction.

Not long after entering the Withered Demon Sect’s Earth Realm, Fang Yun’s heart leaped with joy.

It was the fluctuation of Demon Power! And it was from a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon.

A late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon could now provide a total of over 1.5 million Talent Points.

Slightly adjusting his direction, the fully concealed Fang Yun, empowered by his six-star Combat Talent, also activated the maximum speed of his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots.

At the settlement in early August, because he had killed an early-stage Foundation Establishment Blood Demon, his total settled Talent Points were just shy of 400,000.

Fang Yun was undoubtedly satisfied with this Talent Point settlement, as it already exceeded his current monthly average. Without the early-stage Foundation Establishment Blood Demon, the Talent Point settlement for early August would not have even reached six digits.

Fang Yun had already spotted the figure of the late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon.

The Demon’s movement speed was fast, but it was still far inferior to Fang Yun’s.