Chapter 427: Chapter 320: The Dust Settles (Part 2)
They had few Foundation Establishment cultivators to begin with. Faced with the Upper Sect’s mobilization order, sending someone weak would be hard to justify.
"When should we activate the Grand Array protecting our ancestral land?"
"There’s no rush."
The two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Wu Family had gathered because of news from the Celestial Demon Sect.
A mysterious Spirit Refiner had appeared at the Demon Breeding Cave, a Foundation Establishment Influence.
"We’re the farthest from the Demon Breeding Cave, but what if that mysterious Spirit Refiner just happens to run in our direction..."
"Hold on, I know what you’re getting at. In my opinion, it’s unlikely the mysterious Spirit Refiner will come this way. Think about it: all of the Celestial Demon Sect’s Core Formation cultivators, except for the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, have already gone to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Earth Realm. There’s no reason for the Spirit Refiner to go out of his way to come here."
"Besides, even if the mysterious Spirit Refiner does head this way as you fear, it would still take him time to get here. It’s too early to activate the Grand Array."
Once the Grand Array was activated, a protective barrier would form, but many of the clan’s operations would grind to a halt due to the lack of Demon Qi.
Therefore, it was unnecessary to activate the Grand Array unless absolutely required.
Just like right now.
If the mysterious Spirit Refiner really was running this way, the journey itself would take time.
"Fine, we’ll listen to you and activate it later."
"That’s the right call."
Their conversation ended there. They would never have the chance to speak again.
For Fang Yun, who had infiltrated the area and found them, had made his move.
The Demon Breeding Cave at least had one Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon. Here at the Wu Family, the Foundation Establishment Demons were all only at the Early-stage.
Compared to the Demon Breeding Cave, this was a much smaller prize.
But a small prize was far better than no prize at all.
With the protective Grand Array inactive, Fang Yun had a perfect opportunity to take down the Demon Wu Family with ease.
If the protective Grand Array had been active, he could still have taken it down with a brute-force assault given enough time, but for Fang Yun, that would create a significant future risk.
A direct assault would expose his true level of strength.
If a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator possessed the offensive power of an Early-stage Core Formation Cultivator, the Celestial Demon Sect would certainly report this information to the Black Dragon Hall upon learning of it.
It would be extremely dangerous to be targeted by a Nascent Soul Influence.
As it stood, his performance in the eyes of the world was merely that of a top-tier Foundation Establishment cultivator from a Nascent Soul Influence. The Black Dragon Hall wouldn’t go to great lengths for such a minor figure for now.
Perhaps from the Black Dragon Hall’s perspective, this Foundation Establishment cultivator active in the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm might even be from the Purple Mist Sect.
These were all favorable factors, both for him and for the entire Celestial Cloud Sect.
The Demon Wu Family, a Foundation Establishment clan, had far fewer Qi Refining Demons than the Demon Breeding Cave, so Fang Yun dealt with them much more quickly.
He wasn’t certain he had eliminated every last Qi Refining Demon here.
In any case, he made his way to the Wu Family’s clan treasury much sooner.
The Spiritual Materials he harvested here were rather ordinary; there was none of the pleasant surprise he’d felt at the Demon Breeding Cave.
He had now largely annihilated two of the Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.
Now, only four of the Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences could be considered intact.
’If my luck holds, maybe there are other Foundation Establishment Demon Influences that haven’t activated their Grand Arrays yet.’
As Fang Yun left the Wu Family, the Foundation Establishment Demon clan, he found himself wanting more.
...
「As time went on.」
The Celestial Cloud Sect remained impregnable.
After the arrival of the Celestial Demon Sect’s Supreme Elder, Qi Chuqiao, the number of Core Formation Demons there rose to eight, and their assault grew even more ferocious.
However, not long after his arrival, Qi Chuqiao was wounded by none other than the Celestial Cloud Sect Leader.
At that moment, Qi Chuqiao felt incredibly unlucky.
He was supposed to be carrying out a sect mission to pin down a Celestial Cloud Sect Core Formation cultivator, but that cultivator had instead run off to the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters. Then he’d come here to provide support, and while everyone else remained unscathed, he was the one who got carelessly wounded.
Fortunately, the injury wasn’t serious.
Later, in addition to him, the sect’s second-to-last Sect Leader was also wounded.
Of the Celestial Demon Sect’s three Early-stage Core Formation cultivators, his strength was the greatest.
This brought a bit of solace to Qi Chuqiao’s heart. At least he wasn’t the only one injured, so it wasn’t quite so humiliating.
They had both been wounded by a Mid-stage Core Formation Spirit Refiner from the Celestial Cloud Sect.
When trying to break the array, one had to guard against the enemy, which hampered efficiency. But not guarding against them meant getting easily injured.
Both of them were Core Formation cultivators from the Celestial Demon Sect and had been working tirelessly to break the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Grand Array. In contrast, the Early-stage Core Formation cultivator from the Demon Spirit Sect wasn’t exerting himself as much. He had focused more on guarding against sneak attacks from the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Core Formation Spirit Refiners, and thus remained uninjured.
"Dammit!"
Lu Yaoling, at the very front, let out a great roar.
His all-out strike shattered the earthen wall before him.
However, within the earthen wall lay a golden barrier.
Metal hidden within earth; earth begets metal!
As the golden barrier was destroyed, it would generate a thick white mist, further reducing their visibility.
Lu Yaoling had expended a great deal of energy and had already consumed several pills to restore his Demon Power.
His self-allotted time was now up.
If he couldn’t break the Celestial Cloud Sect’s All Things Five Elements Array within his self-imposed time limit, he would have to retreat. Continuing the assault would only become increasingly disadvantageous for them.
When they had first appeared, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Core Formation Spirit Refiners had most likely already called for reinforcements.
Advancing was difficult, but retreating was much easier.
Soon, Lu Yaoling exited the range of the white mist.
Not long after he emerged, another Core Formation Demon came out as well.
"Brother Lu, what’s your plan now?"
"Let’s go." Having reined in his anger, Lu Yaoling spoke these two words calmly.
"Very well." Pang Feng nodded, then added a comforting remark. "I imagine that in the days to come, the mysterious Spirit Refiner won’t be appearing in your Earth Realm."
According to the information Pang Feng had, the mysterious Spirit Refiner only ever acted when the Celestial Demon Sect launched an offensive against the Celestial Cloud Sect.
During times of peace, there was no need to be on guard against this mysterious Spirit Refiner.
"Withdraw!"
At Lu Yaoling’s command, the remaining six Core Formation Demons all emerged from the white mist.
At the same time, the Foundation Establishment Demons in the distance all received the command.
They had been on constant standby.
The moment the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Grand Array was breached was supposed to be their signal to charge in.
They could be of little help in the actual array-breaking process.
If they tried to assist, the flames that erupted periodically from the Third Tier Grand Array would be enough to reduce them to cinders.
"They’re retreating. Let’s hurry back and see what’s happened."
The speaker was the Cave Master of the Demon Breeding Cave.
They had already received the news that the Demon Breeding Cave had been attacked by the mysterious Spirit Refiner.
They had accepted a mission from their Upper Sect, only to have their home base raided. Naturally, the three Foundation Establishment Demons from the Demon Breeding Cave were in the foulest mood of all the Foundation Establishment Demons present.
"I wonder how many of our Demon Breeding Cave’s disciples are left?"
"Let’s hope more of them managed to escape."
The Foundation Establishment Demons also began to withdraw.
「Inside the Celestial Cloud Sect.」
The moment the eight Demons departed, Sect Leader Duan Qingyun immediately sent a message to Miao Qinghong.
The Core Formation Demons had left. It was best for her to leave the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters immediately and to be careful not to run into the retreating Demons on her way back.
On Battle Peak, Bai Qinying saw what was happening and also immediately relayed a message.
News like this had to be conveyed to Fang Yun at the earliest opportunity.
Stationed on Battle Peak, she had been in a constant state of combat readiness even though the Sect Array hadn’t been breached. The retreat of the Core Formation Demons was, of course, a good thing.
Bai Qinying was well aware of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s current approximate strength.
After sending the message to Fang Yun, Bai Qinying’s thoughts turned to her own seclusion for Core Formation.
’I need to reach Core Formation soon.’
If she could successfully reach Core Formation, the sect’s overall strength would rise once more.
「The center of the Celestial Cloud Sect.」
Here, the Array Master Deng Fusheng was still controlling the Core Array Plate of the All Things Five Elements Array.
His position was at the very center of the Grand Array, allowing him to control the Core Array Plate with twice the result for half the effort.
Once all the dots displayed on the Core Array Plate had vanished...
...he finally deactivated the All Things Five Elements Array, leaving only its most basic detection functions active.
He remained where he was for the time being, just in case the Demons tried to pull a feint and launch a surprise counterattack.
The likelihood of such a maneuver was minuscule, however.
Only a sustained assault gave the Demons any chance of breaking the Grand Array. Their retreat now gave him, the Array Master, more opportunities to make adjustments. Coming back would be essentially pointless.
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