This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

The structure of the guards is such that teams are formed, generally consisting of six cultivators, and the six cultivators come from the six major sects.

Fei Wa, hiding in the shadows nearby, saw that the test matters were settled and stepped out with a smile, "Captain Xu, congratulations to your Tiger Squad for gaining another able member."

After a pause, Fei Wa flung a jade slip from his hand towards Xu Hao, "This is the task assigned by the deputy tower master."

"I have now briefed you on everything, so I will take my leave first."

Xu Hao caught the jade slip and greeted Fei Wa, "Then, thank you, Daoist Fei."

"Don't mention it, I'm just following orders." Fei Wa couldn't resist taking another look at Lu Qingshan before turning to leave.

He remembered what Dantai Qingrun had said when entrusting the jade slip to him.

—After Lu Qingshan passes the Tiger Squad's assessment, hand over this task to the Tiger Squad.

He had found it odd then; Dantai Qingrun hadn't explained what to do if Lu Qingshan failed the assessment.

Now, it all made sense.

How could a sword cultivator, who had mastered the Secret Sword Technique during the Foundation Establishment stage, possibly fail the Tiger Squad's assessment?

Surely, he was someone specially looked after by the deputy tower master, truly remarkable indeed.

Fei Wa marveled inwardly.

...

Xu Hao held the jade slip and motioned to everyone, "Let's get spirited, work has come."

Su Shu lazily stretched and explained to Lu Qingshan, "This must be the deputy tower master's arrangement, to allow us to consolidate the new team through this mission."

Lu Qingshan understood.

—Since it was just to consolidate the team, surely the task would not be too difficult.

Xu Hao explored the content of the jade slip with his divine sense.

"The tower has discovered that the high ranks of the Feiyun Sect and the Netherworld have been secretly colluding. They've been covering for the Netherworld, and we're to eradicate the Feiyun Sect to set an example.

Orders are to kill the high ranks of the Feiyun Sect without negotiation, and if the lower-grade disciples dare to interfere, there is no need to spare them either."

Zhenjiang Tower is not a charity organization; although not typically bloodthirsty, it does not condone leniency during missions.

If the lower-grade disciples of the Feiyun Sect dare resist them and hinder the mission,

even if these disciples are unrelated to the Netherworld and merely uninformed, they may still strike them down. Killing these disciples will not bring about any penalties from Zhenjiang Tower afterward.

Nether Cultivator Zhong Jing said indifferently, "The Feiyun Sect is merely a weak Second Grade sect.

If I remember correctly, the entire sect only has four Foundation Establishment Cultivators, except for the Sect Leader who is in the mid-stage, the others are all in the initial stage.

I don't know what gave them the audacity to defy the Great Xia decree and collude with the Netherworld."

Li Zu rubbed his hands together eagerly, "When do we depart?"

Xu Hao put away the jade slip, and spoke succinctly, "We'll leave after Lu Qingshan has recovered to his prime condition. We'll make it quick and decisive!"

Xu Hao might appear rugged, but he was actually a man of meticulous thoughts, and he instantly considered Lu Qingshan's condition.

After all, being able to be the captain of the Tiger Squad wasn't just because of his high cultivation level.

...

After Lu Qingshan meditated and restored his Spiritual Power to its optimal state, the Tiger Squad officially set out, ready to embark on their first mission.

They left the tower of Zhenjiang Tower.

The group paused and turned their gazes toward the team's Beast Cultivator, Xiao Zhi.

Xiao Zhi released a giant avian from his Spirit Beast Bag.

The beast was seven to eight meters long with a wingspan of twenty meters when they were spread, its red beak flickered with flames, and white feathers interlaced with tinges of brownish-yellow light.

"This is the Red Rock Goose, Xiao Zhi's flying demon pet," Su Shu introduced to Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan's heart stirred.

The strength of a Beast Cultivator can be glimpsed from his demon pets.

Red Rock Goose, a Second Grade demon beast with dual Earth and Fire attributes.

Dual-attributed beasts were already considered to have great potential among Second Grade demon beasts, not to mention it being avian, enhancing its rating even more.

The Red Rock Goose was definitely a supreme quality Spirit Beast for a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

To have tamed such a supreme quality beast, Xiao Zhi's strength was evident.

Indeed, there are no weak cultivators in Zhenjiang Tower.

Lu Qingshan thought to himself.

With a flash, Xiao Zhi appeared on the back of the Red Rock Goose and called out to everyone below, "Come on up."

Everyone leaped onto the back of the Red Rock Goose, and seeing this, Lu Qingshan did not hesitate and followed suit.

"Little Red, off we go!" Xiao Zhi patted the neck of the Red Rock Goose.

The red rocks beneath the slender legs of the crane tensed and forcefully leaped up, its wings suddenly flapping and stirring up a big wind from the flat ground.

Some of the dust on the ground was swept up, creating a gray storm.

Carrying six people, the red rock crane charged directly into the clouds, and even though it was carrying a heavy load, its flying speed was not affected at all. Under Xiao Zhi's command, it flew towards the outskirts of the city.

Lu Qingshan stood on the back of the red rock crane, squinting as he watched the buildings of Zhenjiang City gradually turn into black dots as they ascended.

Naturally, the speed of the red rock crane was no match for his Liuyan Sword Control Technique, but its advantage lay in carrying multiple people without expending his own Spiritual Power.

This was also the advantage of a Beast Cultivator; they had demon pets for transport when flying or traveling, sparing them from the hardships of travel.

Interestingly, in the "Nine Heavens" game, Beast Cultivators were always heavily affected by whaling.

A demon pet for transport was like a luxury car in reality; tycoons were especially willing to spend big on such vanity projects.

The requirements for flying demon pets were extremely high; they needed to be fast, strong in combat, and have an eye-catching appearance.

Wouldn't it be delightful to ride a high-grade demon pet with a cool appearance, pulling one or two cultivator sisters into the high skies for a ride?

.....

"We're here. Up ahead is the Feiyun Sect," Xiao Zhi said after flying for a long time, controlling the gradually descending red rock crane onto a low mountain peak, and pointing to a towering peak not far ahead.

That peak was Feiyun Peak, where the Feiyun Sect was based.

Though the Feiyun Sect had only been established for a hundred years and, unlike other Second Grade sects that occupied Second Grade Spirit Veins, the Feiyun Peak they occupied did not contain a Second Grade Spirit Vein, but rather had three First Grade Spirit Veins.

The purity of the Spiritual Energy produced by First Grade Spirit Veins was far inferior to that of Second Grade Spirit Veins.

Even though there were three First Grade Spirit Veins, the quantity could not make up for the quality.

Thus, the four Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Feiyun Sect had always progressed very slowly in their cultivation.

For this reason, the upper echelons of the Feiyun Sect, blinded by greed, had clandestine dealings with the Netherworld to exchange for rare cultivation resources.

Xu Hao glanced at Feiyun Peak, his brows furrowing: "Although the Feiyun Sect is not strong, we should still proceed with caution and make sure not to let anyone escape."

Xiao Zhi nodded, slapped the Spirit Beast Bag, and a small, slender mongoose with extremely short limbs appeared in front of him.

The mongoose had a brownish back and a snowy white belly, but what was most striking were its emerald eyes, deep as jewels.

"Emerald Mongoose," Xiao Zhi introduced to Lu Qingshan, "A Second Grade demon beast. It doesn't have much attack capability, but it's very agile and adept at the Earth Escape Skill, making it a great hand for scouting enemy camps."

After introducing his demon pet to Lu Qingshan, Xiao Zhi pointed at the Feiyun Sect in the distance and waved his hand, "Little Green, off you go!"

Lu Qingshan's mouth twitched a little.

Little Red, Little Green – so, is this the Rainbow Squad or what?

...

The Emerald Mongoose, receiving its master's command, saw a flash of light in its green eyes, and then it merged eerily into the ground beneath it, disappearing on the spot.

This was the Earth Escape Skill.

"Wait a moment," Xu Hao turned to Lu Qingshan.

Lu Qingshan nodded; he understood that this was an old member of the Tiger Squad showing him the team's combat method.

After about half an hour.

A small mound formed on the soil in front of Lu Qingshan.

Suddenly, the Emerald Mongoose emerged, constantly calling out to Xiao Zhi and incessantly scratching something on the ground with its toes.

"You've worked hard, return now," Xiao Zhi said after listening for a while and nodding.

After feeding an Qi-Consuming Pill to the Emerald Mongoose from his Storage Ring, he then put it back into the Spirit Beast Bag.

This was another characteristic of Beast Cultivators—dragging the family along, with a whole family's stomachs depending on the Beast Cultivator to be filled.

Unlike other branches of Cultivators, if a Beast Cultivator wished, they could be an army unto themselves.

If there were no certain restrictions on Beast Cultivators, the profession would be so strong as to be seriously unbalanced.

Therefore, firstly, Beast Cultivators could not tame demon beasts of a higher rank than their own cultivation.

For example, as a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Xiao Zhi could currently only tame First and Second Grade demon beasts, and to tame a Third Grade demon beast, he could only do so after advancing to the Golden Core Stage.

Furthermore, Beast Cultivators need to spend a lot of resources on training and feeding their demon pets.

If a Beast Cultivator recklessly tamed a large number of demon pets, even a wealthy person could be bankrupted by these big appetites.

Not to mention, if a lot of resources were spent on demon pets, that would greatly hinder the progress of the Beast Cultivator's own cultivation.

This was all about trade-offs.

Therefore, while it seemed wonderful for a Beast Cultivator to be an army unto themselves, it was actually a huge trap, not for the frugal.

...

"Little Green says that there are currently four Foundation Establishment Cultivators inside the Feiyun Sect, which means all the higher-ups of the Feiyun Sect are present and none are absent; we can capture them all at once," Xiao Zhi said while pointing at the sketch drawn on the ground by the Emerald Mongoose, which also marked four big dots: "This is a rough layout of the Feiyun Sect's buildings, and these four points are the current locations of the four Foundation Establishment Cultivators."