Chapter 429: Chapter 321: Qin Ying’s Core Formation
On their way back to the sect, Miao Qinghong recounted some of her experiences in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.
She focused on the incident with the Celestial Demon Sect Leader.
She had come close to killing him.
"...To this day, I still haven’t figured out why he left the Celestial Demon Sect back then." As her story neared its end, Miao Qinghong voiced her lingering confusion.
"The Core Formation Demon you mentioned, the one guarding the Celestial Demon Sect—the reason he left is related to Fang Yun."
Duan Qingyun offered an answer to Miao Qinghong’s confusion.
Not long after the Demons retreated, the sect’s upper echelons realized that Fang Yun was no longer within the sect.
After finding Bai Qinying and getting the full story, they learned that Fang Yun had already headed into the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory to stir up trouble for their affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences.
That was why Duan Qingyun immediately thought of Fang Yun the moment Miao Qinghong brought it up.
"Related to Fang Yun..." Miao Qinghong pondered for a moment. "He went into the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory?"
"That’s right."
"He acted ahead of schedule, then."
At this, Miao Qinghong nodded with satisfaction.
Fang Yun had not disappointed her. Now that he had cleansed his Spirit Root, his chances of breaking through to the Core Formation realm were much higher. Once he succeeded, there would be another Supreme Elder among the sect’s leadership who shared her views.
This was excellent news for Miao Qinghong.
Everything suddenly clicked into place for Miao Qinghong.
Even when factoring in her own impact, the Demons had retreated faster than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t understood why before, but now she knew Fang Yun was part of the reason.
"Sect Leader, you seem quite confident about Fang Yun’s actions," Miao Qinghong observed, looking at Duan Qingyun. His demeanor was clearly different when discussing Fang Yun compared to when he had been discussing her.
Strictly speaking, Fang Yun’s actions were unauthorized.
"Fang Yun is very measured and thorough in his actions." Duan Qingyun explained his reasoning. "That’s why I’m not worried about what he’s doing."
After all, Fang Yun’s previous operations in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory had gone completely undetected. To this day, the Celestial Demon Sect’s Demons still had no idea that Fang Yun was the Foundation Establishment cultivator they were after.
If even the slightest trace of Fang Yun were to be found in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, their Demons could follow the trail right back to him and realize he was the one they were looking for.
"If I hadn’t intercepted the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, he would have gone after Fang Yun," Miao Qinghong said, deliberately probing.
"Even if you hadn’t stopped him, he likely wouldn’t have found Fang Yun."
"It seems I, a Supreme Elder, have underestimated Fang Yun."
This conversation with Sect Leader Duan Qingyun showed Miao Qinghong just how much faith he had in Fang Yun. He was completely at ease with his actions.
It was no exaggeration to say that Fang Yun was crucial to the Celestial Cloud Sect—he was their most precious treasure. For Duan Qingyun, the leader of the sect, to place such unconditional trust in their prize asset spoke volumes about his confidence and approval.
What Miao Qinghong didn’t know was that Duan Qingyun’s approval of Fang Yun had deepened even further after his return from the Land of No Master Secret Realm.
He had learned about some of Fang Yun’s experiences within the Secret Realm.
He highly approved of everything, from Fang Yun’s planned arrangements to the impromptu decisions he made on the fly.
The topic of Fang Yun ended there.
Miao Qinghong then brought up the Ghost Cultivators from the Black Ghost Cave.
"Near the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters, there were also fluctuations of Yin Power. That must have been the Ghost Cultivators from the Black Ghost Cave."
"The Black Ghost Cave most likely doesn’t want us to fall so quickly to the alliance of the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect. They want us to wear each other down further," Duan Qingyun mused, analyzing the strategic thinking of the Black Ghost Cave’s leadership. "They would be happiest to see us wiped out only after we’ve exhausted our strength against the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect."
"The Black Ghost Cave certainly has some wishful thinking."
"Indeed. But this time, they’re in for a disappointment."
After being repelled this time, the Celestial Demon Sect likely wouldn’t try anything against them for the next hundred years.
Such a long period of peace would be especially beneficial for the Celestial Cloud Sect’s development, because they had Fang Yun.
"After this incident, the Black Ghost Cave’s leadership will certainly re-evaluate us. Their attitude toward us will change in the future."
Duan Qingyun was pointing out a disadvantageous development for the Celestial Cloud Sect.
During their war with the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect, the Black Ghost Cave had been remarkably quiet, ceasing even their usual minor provocations.
After re-evaluating them, the Black Ghost Cave would likely start causing trouble for them from time to time.
This bit of bad news wouldn’t affect them much. Compared to an all-out war with the Celestial Demon Sect and the Demon Spirit Sect, such things were mere child’s play.
Unlike the Celestial Demon Sect, the Black Ghost Cave had absolutely no intention of launching a full-scale war.
「Two days later.」
Fang Yun finally returned to the sect.
He returned much later than the sect’s leadership had anticipated.
Of everyone, Sect Leader Duan Qingyun was the least concerned about Fang Yun’s late return.
He had complete confidence in Fang Yun and believed he wouldn’t run into any trouble. As it turned out, he was right. He also made sure to learn the reason for Fang Yun’s delay.
It had to do with Foundation Establishment Demons.
Fang Yun had only returned to the sect after ambushing several Foundation Establishment Demons.
According to Fang Yun, these Foundation Establishment Demons had died by his hand without managing to send out a single message.
It would take the Celestial Demon Sect several days at the very least to notice. At most, it might take them several months to find out.
The latter was unlikely, however. This situation was unique because he had destroyed the Demon Breeding Caves, so the Celestial Demon Sect’s Demons would probably try to contact the Foundation Establishment cultivators from those caves soon.
Time flew by, and soon it was the first day of the new year.
Fang Yun immediately checked his Talent Point calculation for the previous month.
——
Killed 4 early-stage Foundation Establishment Demons: +200,000 Talent Points
...
Sect Influence: 79%
Talent Point Bonus: 556%
Final Calculation: +5,988,296 Talent Points
——
Last month, he had killed a total of seven Foundation Establishment Demons. The majority were in the early stage, with only one in the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
The base Talent Points from the Foundation Establishment Demons only amounted to 710,000.
He had also killed many Qi Refining Demons, and the scattered base Talent Points from them added up to nearly 200,000.
His Sect Influence, which had stagnated for a long time, had increased by one percentage point last month.
This increase was mostly due to previous accumulation that just happened to reach the threshold last month.
Of course, his actions last month were also a significant contributing factor.
Soon, Fang Yun opened the Combat Talent interface and began his nearly six thousand draws for Combat Talent fragments.
He received over nineteen hundred fragments for each of the three Combat Talents.
Fang Yun looked at his Combat Talent interface and did some quick mental math.
’If I accumulate around another seventeen million Talent Points, I can upgrade my Combat Talent to seven stars... At this rate, I should be able to do it in about five and a half years.’
The Celestial Demon Sect had gone quiet for now.
Unless something unexpected happened, the number of Combat Talent Points he could earn would drop sharply.
His current estimate was based on the normal rate at which he acquired Life Talent Points.
After closing the Combat Talent interface, Fang Yun resumed his cultivation.
By midday, a knock echoed from outside his cave residence. Fang Yun stopped cultivating and quickly made his way to the main hall.
The visitor was Bai Qinying.
"Senior Sister, is the Celestial Demon Sect making trouble again?" Looking at Bai Qinying, Fang Yun’s first thought was of the Celestial Demon Sect.
’It hasn’t even been half a month.’
’If the Celestial Demon Sect was making a move now, it meant they were relentless.’
’Besides allying with the Demon Spirit Sect, the Celestial Demon Sect would have to join forces with the Dragon Demon Palace to have any hope of destroying the Celestial Cloud Sect. But the Dragon Demon Palace was kept in check by the Wind Ling Sect, so that wasn’t a major concern.’
"No." Bai Qinying shook her head. "According to the Sect Leader and the others, the Celestial Demon Sect shouldn’t make a move for the next hundred years. I came to tell you that I’m going into seclusion to attempt Core Formation."
’Seclusion for Core Formation.’
’It seems my Senior Sister is finally ready.’
Fang Yun hoped that in the next year or two, the sect would have a new Supreme Elder.
"That’s great news! Let me be the first to congratulate you on your future success. When you emerge from seclusion, I hope I’ll have to change how I address you."
"Change what? I’ll always be your Senior Sister."
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