The starting point is auspicious; the fiancée will not call off the engagement.

Fang Zhou left the west gate of Cheng'an City. The western suburbs were only twenty miles away, and with his Dharma Aspect Realm cultivation, he arrived in an instant.

Fang Zhou took a step, and the twenty-mile journey was completed in an instant.

The terrain in the western suburbs is mainly low hills, covered with shrubs and scattered with gravel.

Fang Zhou landed on a high slope, his divine sense spreading outwards like ripples on water.

Almost instantly, he locked onto his target: three miles to the west, at the foot of a rocky slope, a dozen faint demonic energies were gathered together.

The demonic energy was mixed and inferior; the strongest of its kind was only equivalent to the early stage of the Spirit Aperture Realm, while the rest were not even as good as the Body Tempering Realm.

In Fang Zhou's perception, the demonic energy was like a candle flame flickering in a strong wind. Even a casual press of his divine sense could extinguish it completely. Then, with a thought, he precisely pressed down on the dozen or so demonic energies.

Those demon rats didn't even have a chance to make a sound before they lost their breath.

Fang Zhou's figure flickered, and he was already above the rocky slope.

With a thought, more than a dozen enormous demon rats flew out from the cracks in the rocks and scattered on the ground.

With gray-black fur and crimson eyes, the largest one was as big as a calf, and it must be the Rat King.

However, these demon rats had long lost their usual ferocity and were now lying on the ground, lifeless.

Fang Zhou stretched out his finger, pointed in the air, and reached out to grab a grayish-brown inner core the size of a pigeon egg, which flew from the Rat King's corpse into his palm.

The inner core had a rough surface and emitted a faint fluctuation of demonic energy, confirming that it was indeed the inner core of a second-tier demonic beast.

Fang Zhou stored the inner core in his storage ring, then flew up on his sword and returned along the way he had come.

As he flew over the official road in the western suburbs, he took the opportunity to scan the surrounding area with his divine sense. The middle-aged manager said that caravans in this area had been attacked recently, so since he was here, he might as well investigate.

His divine sense swept across a radius of ten miles, and apart from a few low-level demonic beasts that posed no threat and a caravan camped far away on the official road, there was nothing unusual.

The attack on the caravan should have nothing to do with this den of demon rats.

Fang Zhou did not linger and flew straight back to Cheng'an City.

The same female disciple was still sitting behind the counter in the office.

Seeing Fang Zhou enter, she looked up and asked, "Fellow Daoist Fang, is there anything you don't understand?"

"The demon rats in the western suburbs have been eradicated." Fang Zhou placed the inner core on the counter and then took out the mission token and pushed it over.

The female disciple looked down at her inner core, then at her mission token, and then looked up at Fang Zhou. Her mouth opened and closed in disbelief as she asked, "Fellow Daoist Fang, you...you mean you've already completed the mission to exterminate the demon rats in the western suburbs?"

"Yes."

"This task is assigned to you. You will be back by now." She glanced quickly at the timer array on the counter. The array was flashing with spiritual light, clearly showing the interval between the task acceptance time and the current time: less than half an hour.

"I used a flying artifact to get there," Fang Zhou said calmly. "Can we finish the quest now?"

The female disciple nodded. Flying magical artifacts were not rare items, but a cultivator who could fly so fast using an artifact was at least at the mid-stage of the Spirit Aperture Realm.

The young cultivator in front of her, who looked even younger than her, had a higher cultivation level than she had expected.

She didn't ask any further questions. She picked up the inner core and examined it carefully. She confirmed that it was indeed the inner core of a second-tier rat king. She made a few notes in the booklet, then took out a certificate stamped with the office seal from under the counter and pushed it in front of Fang Zhou along with the spirit card for the refund of the overdue deposit.

"Please keep this mission certificate safe. The 100,000 spirit coins you were detained for have been fully refunded. Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Fang. With this certificate, you may participate in the Wansheng Sect's entrance examination."

Fang Zhou took the certificate and glanced at it. The document contained neatly written details of the task, its completion status, and the evaluation results, with the official vermilion seal of the administrative office stamped in the lower right corner.

"Thank you." Fang Zhou put the certificate into his sleeve and turned to leave.

The female disciple watched him walk out of the affairs hall and muttered under her breath, "Awesome."

Fang Zhou walked back along the main street with light steps. When he passed the market, he bought cat food and a bag of pastries, and also bought a pot of spiritual tea from a tea stall on the street corner.

Although Moonshadow Cat doesn't need to be fed specially, Fang Zhou always wants to prepare some snacks for it.

When we got back to East Third Street, it was still quite bright outside.

During his stay in Cheng'an City these past few days, he actually did some serious work for the first time.

With the proof in hand, the next step is to wait for the Wansheng Sect's assessment to begin, and then openly and legitimately step into the mountain gate of the number one sect in the world.

Fang Zhou pushed open the courtyard gate of the small building.

The vines in the courtyard were still blooming with delicate white flowers, and the afternoon sun shone through the flower trellis onto the bluestone slabs. Everything was exactly the same as when he left. He carried the oil paper package across the courtyard, and as soon as he stepped into the main hall, he stopped in his tracks.

Ye Ninghan sat at the table.

Today she was wearing a plain blue dress, without a sword, and her long hair was loosely draped over her shoulders.

She sat upright, her back straight as a sword, but her eyes and brows showed less of their usual coldness and more of a subtle weariness.

Hearing footsteps, she raised her eyes to look at Fang Zhou, her gaze lingering on him for a moment before she tilted her head slightly.

"You're back?"

Fang Zhou stood there, still holding the spirit fruits and pastries he had just bought. He looked at Ye Ninghan, and Ye Ninghan looked at him too. Her clear, cold eyes quietly watched him, as if to confirm that he was unharmed.

"What brings you here?" Fang Zhou walked in, placed the oil paper package on the table, and asked, "Have you finished dealing with matters at the sect?"

"No, I just came back to see you." Ye Ninghan looked at Fang Zhou, paused, and then asked, "Did you go to pick up a mission?"

Fang Zhou was taken aback.

How did you know?

"The secretariat sent me a message saying that."

"I..." Fang Zhou was about to say something.

"A second-tier demon rat," she said, her tone devoid of emotion. "You went alone?"

Fang Zhou opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Ye Ninghan spoke again. Her voice was slightly softer than before, and her brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.

"Let me know if you need to take on a mission next time."

"You lack practical experience, and your cultivation is only at the Spirit Aperture Realm," Ye Ninghan earnestly advised. "Although the western suburbs aren't considered dangerous, it's still not safe for you to go alone. I can go with you next time."

Fang Zhou stood in the guest hall, speechless. He looked at Ye Ninghan and suddenly wanted to tell her about his cultivation level, but he was also afraid of her unique way of thinking.

What if she feels her talent is mediocre and unworthy of my unparalleled genius, and wants to repay my kindness in another way? Where would he find another fiancée like that? Perhaps it's best to wait until he breaks through to the Saint Realm before telling her. Even if her master intervenes, he might not be able to take her away then.

"……good."

Fang Zhou sat down opposite Ye Ninghan, unwrapped the oil paper package, and pushed the pastries toward her.

Ye Ninghan glanced at the pastries but didn't touch them. Instead, she picked up the iced tea on the table and took a sip.

Moonshadow Cat slipped out of the bedroom at some point, silently leaped onto Fang Zhou's lap, curled into a ball of silvery-white fur, gently swayed its tail, and then closed its eyes.

"If you have time, you can go to the academy to study. I've already spoken to the people there," Ye Ninghan put down her teacup. "I asked my master about joining the sect. She said you can just register directly during the sect's assessment."

No, then why would I bother doing the mission? You should have said so earlier. Wait, maybe I acted too quickly. Fang Zhou was speechless for a moment.

Seeing Fang Zhou's helpless expression, Ye Ninghan smiled slightly, then took out a jade pendant and handed it to Fang Zhou.

"This is a technique I spent time choosing for you. Practice it more often in the future, and you can run away if you encounter someone you can't beat."

She loves me so much, and Fang Zhou was quite touched.

"I still have some matters to attend to within the sect, so I'll be leaving now." Ye Ninghan stood up, paused, and said, "Next time I'll bring you some spiritual herbs, so don't hesitate to spend the money."

After saying that, seeing Fang Zhou standing there dumbfounded with the jade pendant, he turned and left.

Good heavens! I've never received such treatment before. I was completely stunned. There are women like this in the world. I've never seen one like this in my past life.

"Meow~" The evil Hakimi startled Fang Zhou. Fang Zhou looked at Hakimi and decided to take a look at the magic itself first.