Liang Ling was somewhat surprised. "These Materials are very rare; can you really repair it?"

Fang Hao nodded confidently. Under the state of time deceleration, he had already repaired it countless times in his deductions.

Liang Ling quickly gathered all the Materials, and Fang Hao began the repairs. The process went very smoothly; the moment the Formation was completed, the teleportation Formation suddenly lit up with a soft white light.

"Success." Liang Ling revealed a rare expression of pleasant surprise. "This teleportation Formation connects to a small Secret Realm. I’ve been looking for someone who could repair it for a long time."

She handed Fang Hao a Storage bag. "This is your reward. If you need anything in the future, you can come find me."

Fang Hao took the Storage bag and scanned it with his Divine Sense. Inside were actually ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and several bottles of precious Medicinal Pills!

Returning to the Outer Sect, Fang Hao continued to Cultivate and take on missions. With Liang Ling as his backer, no one dared to cause him trouble anymore. Even Chen Feng would take a detour when he saw him.

Fang Hao’s cultivation was steadily improving, and his level in Formations grew higher and higher. He even began attempting to create his own Formations, combining multiple basic Formations into composite ones with startling effects.

One day, Fang Hao suddenly received a Sect notification: all Outer Sect Disciples at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and above must participate in the Outer Sect Grand Competition in three months. The top ten would receive generous rewards, and the top three would even have the chance to be favored by Nascent Soul Elders and be directly recruited as Inner Sect Disciples!

As soon as the news broke, the entire Outer Sect was in an uproar. Entering the Inner Sect was the dream of every Outer Sect Disciple!

Fang Hao was also tempted. Inner Sect resources far surpassed the Outer Sect, and there were Nascent Soul Elders to provide personal guidance, which would be of great benefit to his cultivation.

But he was currently only at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, which wasn’t considered top-tier among the Outer Sect Disciples. He heard that some veteran Outer Sect Disciples were already at the Qi Refining eighth or ninth layer, and there were even those at the Qi Refining Great Perfection.

To achieve good results in the Grand Competition, he had to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Fang Hao decided to enter seclusion to charge for the Qi Refining seventh layer. With the qiankun ring and time deceleration, three months was equivalent to thirty months—two and a half years was enough for him to make a Breakthrough!

Just as Fang Hao was preparing for seclusion, he suddenly received another communication talisman sent by Liang Ling:

"Come to the Inner Sect immediately; there is an important matter to discuss."

Fang Hao’s heart stirred, and he immediately set off for the Inner Sect. He wondered what Senior Sister Liang wanted with him.

As Fang Hao rushed toward the Inner Sect, his heart was pounding.

Senior Sister Liang Ling was looking for him so urgently; he didn’t know what had happened. It couldn’t be that something went wrong with that ancient teleportation Formation again, could it?

On the way, he saw several Outer Sect Disciples returning in a team. Every one of them was injured, but their faces were filled with excitement as they carried the corpses of several Demon Beasts. Clearly, they had just returned from a hunting mission.

Fang Hao’s heart stirred. Indeed, he was about to participate in the Outer Sect Grand Competition, yet he hadn’t even killed a chicken yet, let alone engaged in actual combat with anyone. If he went onto the arena like this, wouldn’t he just be used as a punching bag?

Despite being at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer and being skilled with Formations, in a real fight with blades and spears, he probably couldn’t even beat someone at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. It was like a scholar who studied well; on a battlefield, he might not even be as good as an ordinary soldier.

"I need to take on a few combat missions for some experience," Fang Hao decided privately. "Otherwise, I’ll definitely make a fool of myself at the Grand Competition."

Arriving at the Inner Sect area, Fang Hao made his way to Liang Ling’s Immortal Cave, a path he was now familiar with.

Liang Ling was already waiting for him and said directly upon meeting, "There is a mission I need your help with."

Fang Hao was stunned. "Please speak, Senior Sister."

"I’ve found the entrance to that small Secret Realm connected by the teleportation Formation, but the entrance is protected by a natural Formation. It requires a Formation expert to crack it," Liang Ling explained. "There might be danger inside the Secret Realm, so I need someone who understands Formations to accompany me."

Fang Hao was startled. Secret Realm exploration? This was no joking matter! He had heard that while there were many opportunities in Secret Realms, there were also many dangers; people died there all the time.

Seeing Fang Hao hesitate, Liang Ling added, "We will split the gains from the Secret Realm seventy-thirty—seventy for me and thirty for you. Additionally, I will guarantee your safety."

Fang Hao thought about it; this was indeed an opportunity. Secret Realms usually contained Heaven And Earth Treasures, which would be of great benefit to cultivation. Moreover, with a Foundation Establishment Stage expert like Liang Ling protecting him, safety shouldn’t be an issue.

"Alright, I agree," Fang Hao nodded. "When do we depart?"

"In three days." Liang Ling handed him a Jade Slip. "This contains information regarding the Secret Realm. Familiarize yourself with it in advance."

Returning to his quarters in the Outer Sect, Fang Hao studied the contents of the Jade Slip.

This Secret Realm was called the ’Mist-Hidden Secret Realm.’ The entrance had a natural Mist-Hidden Formation that required specific techniques to crack. There was a local specialty Spiritual Plant in the Secret Realm called the ’mist concealment flower,’ which was an important material for refining various Medicinal Pills.

However, there were also dangers in the Secret Realm. There was a type of Demon Beast called the ’Mist Concealment Beast’ that was skilled at stealthy ambushes and was very difficult to deal with.

Fang Hao’s brow furrowed as he read. This Mist Concealment Beast sounded hard to handle. With his meager combat experience, wouldn’t he just be going in as fodder?

"I have to cram at the last minute." Fang Hao made up his mind and immediately ran to the Mission Hall.

In the Mission Hall, all sorts of missions were on display. Fang Hao specifically looked for those involving killing Demon Beasts.

"Collect Wolf-Tooth Grass, requires killing the guardian Wolf Demon... Reward: 20 contribution points."

"Clear out Rice Field Rat Demons... Reward: 15 contribution points."

"Hunt Wind Rabbits, requires intact pelts... Reward: 10 contribution points."

Fang Hao took a mission to hunt Wind Rabbits. Wind Rabbits were the lowest level of Demon Beast; they were fast but had almost no offensive power, making them suitable for practice.

Arriving at the mission location, Fang Hao quickly spotted a Wind Rabbit. The rabbit was azure all over and ran like a gust of wind.

Fang Hao pinched a hand seal to cast the Metal Energy Sword Art. A golden Sword Qi shot out, but it missed, only shearing off a patch of grass. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Startled, the Wind Rabbit zipped away. Fang Hao hurriedly gave chase, firing Sword Qi as he ran, but he was always just a bit off.

After chasing for the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Fang Hao was panting with exhaustion, yet he hadn’t even touched a single rabbit hair.

"Damn it, how can this rabbit run so fast!" Fang Hao cursed, then calmed down to think of a strategy.

He remembered that in the ’Detailed Explanation of Basic Spells,’ there was a ’Quagmire Spell’ that could create a small area of swampy ground to slow down enemies.

So Fang Hao changed his strategy. He first predicted the Wind Rabbit’s escape route, set up the Quagmire Spell ahead of it, and then drove it from behind.

This time it actually worked! The Wind Rabbit stepped into the quagmire, and its speed dropped drastically. Fang Hao took the opportunity to fire a Sword Qi, finally resolving the troublesome rabbit.

Carrying the Wind Rabbit’s corpse back to the Mission Hall to turn in the mission, Fang Hao was filled with emotion. He hadn’t expected that killing a single rabbit would be so strenuous; his combat experience was truly lacking.

Over the next two days, Fang Hao took on several more hunting missions, targeting increasingly stronger Demon Beasts.

On the second day, he killed a Steel-Toothed Wild Boar. This thing had thick skin and tough flesh; Fang Hao had to use three Sword Qis just to break its defense.

On the third day, he faced a Flame Fox. This Demon Beast could spit fireballs, and Fang Hao almost had his hair singed. In the end, he relied on a temporarily arranged simple Water Formation to finish it off.

After these three days of intense cramming, Fang Hao had finally accumulated some combat experience; at the very least, he wouldn’t be flustered the moment he saw a Demon Beast.