Bai Yu was exhausted.

The location of his mission was a small town about two hundred miles away from the Floating Cloud Sect, the Little Root town. Hundreds of years ago, with the discovery of a miniature spiritual vein on the mountain, gradually cultivators began to converge forming the small town. The lush forest and the rolling mountains almost blocked all land roads leading to the town, but fortunately, after hundred years of development time, a small road was built connecting the remote town to the outside world.

Bai Yu trod that small road but along the way encountered several low-level monsters. Oh, how he missed not dealing with constant ambushes and just skipping all the bullshit trying to kill him.

But alas, it was not meant to be.

Although it was not entirely without respite.

As they say with trials come tribulations, and with tribulations comes improvement, and during his journey, he was able to improve and adjust to his new strength. Even more importantly, he was able to advance in his new movement technique, the [Seven Celestial Steps].

[Seven Celestial Steps] was a long-distance movement art. If one completely mastered it then it was said that their step would be comparable to those mythical giants. Each step crosses over several miles. It was one of the best movement techniques aside from teleportation.

Bai Yu had just reached the starting point of this movement art. With the [Shadowless Movement Art] as the foundation, he was able to quickly grasp the fundamentals of this new movement technique. And using this art extensively to escape from the various monsters and cover long distances, improvement was bound to come.

But having to constantly activate [Insight], and manipulate his Qi precisely to not end up in a ditch somewhere, took quite a toll on him.

Nevertheless, Bai Yu finally caught sight of his destination, he ran along the lush forest. Feeling the slight brush of wind caressing his face, the bright light greeted him at the end of the forest. It was quite poetic in a way, but he didn't dwell on it.

Looking at the small town in front of him, Bai Yu sighed in relief. He took a deep breath, recovered his composure, and walked along the rugged road toward the town hidden in the deep mountains.

-*-*-*-*-*-

"I thank the disciple of Floating Cloud Sect for coming to our humble town. The Daoist is really a young talent, worthy of coming from the fairy sect. I am Hong Zheng, the patriarch of the local Zheng family." The patriarch of the local cultivation family said with a humble smile.

One might be surprised by his words of flattery and humble tone, but you must understand that Floating Cloud Sect is one of the ten great sects of the Eastern region. It was a behemoth for such small cultivation families.

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In fact, Bai Yu was not only surprised by their attitude but also smiled politely and introduced himself. "Patriarch Hong is polite. I am Bai Yu, a disciple of the [First Courtyard] of the outer sect. I came here to solve the problem of the Demon Monkeys."

Bai Yu introduced his background first so that there would be no stupid belittling event and he could smoothly complete this mission. He also wondered why other protagonists never exposed their background, but, well they do them, I guess.

"Yes." Speaking of the Demon Monkey Hong Zheng's face became solemn, and his eyes showed a trace of resentment.

"Those monkeys have been tormenting our spiritual farmers and have stolen multiple spirit peaches. Our family had led a group of people to try and kill those monkeys but we suffered a small loss. I hope the young talent such as yourself helps us to defeat those monsters." Hong Zheng had a pleading expression on his face as he described the current situation.

The monkeys living in the forest near the town seemed to have mutated and transformed into the Demon Monkeys. Originally, there were only twenty or thirty low-level demon monkeys but that soon changed as the number of demon monkeys increased to at least fifty.

With their huge numbers, they swaggeringly attacked the local families and stole various spiritual materials cultivated by the local farmers. The cultivation families in the local area were able to push those monsters back, but they also suffered heavy losses.

"The number of low-level monsters has increased?" Bai Yu frowned slightly. The increase in number was faster than he expected. A thoughtful expression formed on Bai Yu's face.

Seeing the expression, Patriarch Hong hurriedly pleaded again, "I hope that the Daoist helps us. It is estimated that the group of demon monkeys will come again tonight. In order to prepare for it, we have been sending a group of people to stand guard every day."

Bai Yu could see that the Patriarch was desperate to get his help. The current situation has exceeded the scope of the mission so it would not be wrong for him to abandon the mission.

Even the Patriarch couldn't say anything regarding this. It was the difference in their status.

Local Families like the Zheng family only have a few low-leveled cultivators, they depend on the shelter of the [Floating Cloud Sect] to securely occupy the spiritual forest.

Of course, the price is to turn in thirty percent of the spiritual material acquired to the sect every year. It was similar to paying taxes. So, the local cultivation family couldn't restrain Bai Yu.

But Bai Yu's main goal was to kill the demon monkeys. Moreover, it was clear that the town will be ruined by the numerous monsters if the situation is not solved instantly.

So, Bai Yu just responded with an understanding smile, "It's alright. I wanted to solve the problem of the demon monkey anyways. We can follow the Patriarch's plan."

The Patriarch gave him a thankful smile in response, it was clear to see that he was relieved. "Daoist Bai Yu is really a virtuous person. Thank you for your help. We will compensate you for the extra trouble caused by the monsters."

Bai Yu just smiled and said, "Then, Thank the Patriarch. But first, I hope that the patriarch provides me shelter so that I can recover my qi. The journey to this town has been quite long."

Patriarch Zheng nodded understandingly as he personally guided Bai Yu to an empty room.

"Disciple Bai Yu can ask for anything that is required, we will try to fulfill your wishes." Saying that Patriarch Zheng retreated from the room.

Bai Yu just sighed and fell into the sweet embrace of the bed.

...

..

.

Ugh. Too tired.