I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 363: Chapter 288: Different Situation (2)

The problem was, the current Spirit Destruction Hall Master and Jiang Yingtian hadn’t been on good terms before.

That was why Jiang Yingtian barely spoke during the meeting. His opinion wasn’t important; he just had to be there and listen.

In response to the current Spirit Destruction Hall Master’s question, Jiang Yingtian said only one thing.

"Relay the information about the mysterious Spirit Refiner. The sooner the Demon Spirit Sect is notified, the better."

In years past, he’d had plenty of dealings with the Demon Spirit Sect.

The Demon Spirit Sect was notorious for dragging its feet. If this information wasn’t shared with them promptly, they would likely delay taking action.

As a former Hall Master—one whose realm had even regressed—this was not the time for him to cause trouble, nor could he afford to. Regardless of the current Hall Master’s motives for asking, if he deliberately stirred the pot, his own future would be bleak.

"Elder Jiang is correct. I’ll contact the Demon Spirit Sect right away."

A wave of satisfaction washed over the current Spirit Destruction Hall Master as he looked at Jiang Yingtian.

To him, this was a clear sign that Jiang Yingtian had yielded. A former Hall Master with no hope of reaching Core Formation was no match for him, the current Hall Master.

The Spirit Destruction Hall Master was highly efficient.

He said he would contact the Demon Spirit Sect, and he immediately sent the message.

Before they had sent aid to the Dragon Demon Palace against the Wind Ling Sect, they had made an agreement with the Demon Spirit Sect.

If the Celestial Cloud Sect moved against them while they were aiding the Dragon Demon Palace, the Demon Spirit Sect was to mobilize and attack the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory, just as they had before.

For now, there was no need to recall the elders who had been dispatched to the Dragon Demon Palace.

...

「Demon Spirit Sect.」

The message from the Celestial Demon Sect’s Spirit Destruction Hall Master went directly to the Demon Spirit Sect Leader.

Upon receiving the message, the Demon Spirit Sect Leader immediately went to find Supreme Elder Pang Feng.

After finding the Supreme Elder, he immediately reported the situation.

"Supreme Elder, we’ve received a message from the Celestial Demon Sect. There’s more news about the mysterious Spirit Refiner. They are now certain that he is from the Celestial Cloud Sect."

"Has the mysterious Spirit Refiner struck one of their subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences again?" This was Pang Feng’s first thought upon hearing the news.

"Yes, Supreme Elder. The subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence that was attacked this time was one located near the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory..."

The Demon Spirit Sect Leader reported everything he had received in detail.

"This is not good. The mysterious Spirit Refiner is truly from the Celestial Cloud Sect."

As the Supreme Elder of the Demon Spirit Sect and its sole late-stage Core Formation cultivator, even he, Pang Feng, was deeply troubled by the confirmation that the mysterious Spirit Refiner was from the Celestial Cloud Sect.

For them, cultivators like this mysterious Spirit Refiner, who excelled at concealment, were the most troublesome kind.

"And for the Celestial Demon Sect, the situation is even worse."

"Supreme Elder, in that case, should we invade the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory immediately?" the Demon Spirit Sect Leader asked, looking up at Pang Feng.

"We must take action. After all, we already gave them our word."

The two sects had already discussed this. The Celestial Demon Sect had gone to aid the Dragon Demon Palace. Even if the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Spirit Refiners did nothing, the Demon Spirit Sect would still gain some benefits without paying any price.

If the Celestial Cloud Sect did make a move, they would have to pay a price. Of course, in paying that price, the potential benefits were also far greater.

"However, when we act, there’s no need to commit too much strength. We just need to force the Celestial Cloud Sect to divert some of its forces to defend against us," Pang Feng instructed, before giving his reasoning. "The intelligence from the Celestial Demon Sect only mentioned the mysterious Spirit Refiner; it said nothing about any other Spirit Refiners from the Celestial Cloud Sect."

"This means the Celestial Demon Sect isn’t sure if other Spirit Refiners from the Celestial Cloud Sect are on the move. And if the Celestial Cloud Sect happens to deploy more forces to guard against us, a smaller, mobile force will be easier to manage."

"Yes, Supreme Elder!"

The Demon Spirit Sect Leader understood.

’The information I received must be true. The Celestial Demon Sect wouldn’t dare lie to us right now. If we discovered they were lying, the terms we agreed on would be difficult to uphold, which would be detrimental to them.’

’The fact that the message didn’t mention any other Spirit Refiners from the Celestial Cloud Sect means they genuinely haven’t discovered any.’

’If they had found anything at all, they would have certainly included it in their report.’

"Go and make the arrangements."

"Yes!"

Now that he had a general idea of what to do, the subsequent arrangements were much easier for the Demon Spirit Sect Leader.

First, he would use a small force to harass the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory. Their subsequent moves would depend on how much strength the Celestial Cloud Sect committed against the Celestial Demon Sect.

From the Demon Spirit Sect’s perspective, it was a good thing for the Celestial Demon Sect to be weakened somewhat, but if they were weakened too much, it would become a problem.

How to arrange things most rationally to secure the greatest benefits for the sect’s future—this was a test of the upper echelon’s decision-making.

...

「The Stone Demon Sect’s headquarters.」

Fang Yun had already arrived.

After killing the Foundation Establishment Demon and most of the Qi Refining Demons at Iron Tiger Manor, and then giving the place a thorough search, he had rushed over to the Stone Demon Sect.

Currently, the Stone Demon Sect had only a single Sect Leader at the early Foundation Establishment Stage, and not a single Vice Sect Leader.

Compared to its former days, the Stone Demon Sect’s overall strength had undoubtedly plummeted.

’Good. The Grand Array isn’t active.’

The first thing Fang Yun did upon arriving was check if the Stone Demon Sect had activated its protective Grand Array.

The Celestial Demon Sect had most likely already received news of his actions at Iron Tiger Manor.

After all, a small number of Qi Refining Demons had managed to escape from Iron Tiger Manor.

With Iron Tiger Manor having fallen, it was possible that the Stone Demon Sect had been alerted and made preparations.

’In my view, this current situation is the more likely outcome. The last time I was in the Celestial Demon Realm, whether I was striking the Feng Family’s Foundation Establishment Demon or the Vortex Cave, I always left quickly after I succeeded, without lingering. The Demons of the Celestial Demon Sect probably think that’s my M.O.’

But they were wrong.

All of his actions were based on a synthesis of a great deal of information.

For instance, coming here to the Stone Demon Sect to harvest Combat Talent Points after killing most of the Demons at Iron Tiger Manor was, for him, a low-risk move.

What’s more, the elders from Battle Peak, led by Bai Qinying, were also participating in this operation.

The risk was already low to begin with, and their involvement reduced the chance of anything going wrong for him even further.

’The Stone Demon Sect only has one Foundation Establishment Demon. After I kill him, I’ll go after the Qi Refining Demons...’

Just before entering the Stone Demon Sect’s grounds, Fang Yun went over the plan in his mind one more time.

Unlike the attack on Iron Tiger Manor, this time against the Stone Demon Sect, there was a high probability he could wipe out not only the Foundation Establishment Demon but also all of the Qi Refining Demons.

With only one Foundation Establishment Demon, he wouldn’t have to prioritize rushing to another location to deal with another one after this, which would save him a considerable amount of time.

Moreover, when infiltrating the Stone Demon Sect, all he had to do was find the Sect Leader, the one at the early Foundation Establishment Stage, and strike directly.

Time to move!

Less than a hundred breaths after he infiltrated, Fang Yun found the Stone Demon Sect’s sole Foundation Establishment Demon and killed him.

The next moment, more than twenty pale yellow Long Swords were everywhere, reaping the lives of the Stone Demon Sect’s Qi Refining Stage elders and disciples.

"What’s happening?"

"Who cares what’s happening? Just run!"

"I saw—"

The elders and disciples of the Stone Demon Sect had just noticed something was wrong.

Many of them were cut down by a pale yellow Long Sword in the middle of a brief exchange, their words left unspoken.

With Fang Yun at the center of the slaughter, no Demon from the Stone Demon Sect managed to escape more than twenty li.

"That should be all of them."

After dealing with all visible targets, Fang Yun took out his Demon-Seeking Disc, checking for any hidden Demons.

Compared to those who fled, the ones who hid were slightly more troublesome.

But only slightly.

Besides checking for any stragglers who might have slipped through the net, he also needed to find the Stone Demon Sect’s treasury.

Unlike before, he now had plenty of time for a thorough search.

Ever since he started refining Spiritual Artifacts designed to counter Demons, any Spiritual Materials used by the Demons were now useful to him.

"Huh? Is this Qilin Horn Sand? What a find."