I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 579: Chapter 396: The Dust Settles (Part 2)

With the Demon Spirit Sect’s annihilation by the Celestial Cloud Sect, the Demons here were no longer the final enemy. The ultimate adversaries were now the Spirit Refiners.

"Quick, look! The Spirit Refiners are here."

"Charge!"

Once the Demons were gone, the area devolved into a battlefield between Ghost Cultivators and Spirit Refiners.

Situations like this were happening in many places.

In any territory still defended by Demons, they would be dealt with first. Once the Demons were gone, the conflict would become a free-for-all between the remaining two sides to see who could seize control.

If not for Fang Yun’s intervention, this situation would have continued for a very long time.

His intervention greatly accelerated the pace.

...

Black Ghost Cave.

Deep within its heart.

All the Cave Masters of the Black Ghost Cave were gathered here.

"According to the latest intelligence, the Purple Mist Sect’s mysterious Spirit Refiner is still active within the Demon Spirit Sect’s former territory," the Great Cave Master said, relaying the information he had obtained. "This mysterious Spirit Refiner has caused problems for us on multiple fronts."

"He’s a Core Formation Spirit Refiner. Why is he still doing things like this? It’s not like we’ve made any moves," the Fifth Cave Master said, clearly confused.

’There’s no need for a Core Formation Spirit Refiner to go to these lengths, not even this so-called mysterious one.’

"Fifth Cave Master, the involvement of a ’mysterious Spirit Refiner’ is just speculation for now. We don’t have any direct evidence proving his intervention," the Great Cave Master added.

Much of the information he had received was based on speculation.

"Sometimes, speculative information is enough reason for us to act. Other times, the very fact that the information is speculative is why we cannot act."

"In the end, it all comes down to strength."

"Great Cave Master, have any Spirit Refiners made a move in our territory?" the Second Cave Master asked.

"No." The Great Cave Master shook his head. "Even our Qi Refining-level forces within our territory haven’t encountered any Spirit Refiners."

"Then the Celestial Cloud Sect’s warning is clear: they were the ones who annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect, so all of the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory is now theirs. They forbid us from interfering at this time."

As the Second Cave Master spoke, all the other Cave Masters present—except for the Third Cave Master—thought his analysis was very sound.

"So the Celestial Cloud Sect won’t even leave us the scraps!" the Fifth Cave Master fumed.

"Calm down. The Ghost-Controlling Sect has invested far more in the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory than we have. The fact that they’re contacting us again now shows they’re also thinking of backing down," said the Great Cave Master.

The last time they’d spoken was when Old Ghost Tang of the Ghost-Controlling Sect had urgently summoned him to discuss countermeasures.

Now, even with this new development, he had not reached out.

"Second Cave Master, what are your thoughts now?"

"The Celestial Cloud Sect moved against the Celestial Demon Sect; the conflict between them ran deep. The Celestial Cloud Sect annihilated the Demon Spirit Sect because the Demon Spirit Sect struck first. Judging by the message the Celestial Cloud Sect is sending now, as long as we don’t act, they won’t make a move against us."

When the Second Cave Master reached this point in his explanation, everyone understood.

The Second Cave Master’s meaning was clear: do not provoke the Celestial Cloud Sect.

"What a pity. After all that scheming, the Celestial Cloud Sect ended up reaping all the rewards."

"They did at least annihilate the Demon Spirit Sect on their own. It’s not like we suffered any great loss."

"Holding our current ground is fine. The Celestial Cloud Sect has annihilated the Celestial Demon Sect and now the Demon Spirit Sect. I doubt the Black Dragon Hall will just let this stand. We can cease our own advances, but we must dedicate more manpower to gathering intelligence."

The four Cave Masters of the Black Ghost Cave went back and forth, with only the Third Cave Master remaining silent throughout the discussion.

’This wasn’t the outcome he wanted, but there was nothing he could do now.’

’If he had been in charge of the Black Ghost Cave,’ he thought, ’the Celestial Cloud Sect would never have profited this much.’

...

...

The Purple Mist Sect was holding a meeting of its Elders.

The attending Elders all held important positions within the Purple Mist Sect, and Lin Ke was among them.

This was a momentous meeting, and the topics of discussion were equally significant.

The Celestial Cloud Sect’s annihilation of the Demon Spirit Sect was certainly a major event and was on the agenda for this discussion.

"Elder Lin, what did you say to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Sect Leader? How did they manage to annihilate the Demon Spirit Sect so quickly? Based on our previous intelligence, it should have taken the Celestial Cloud Sect at least fifty years to get to that stage."

"Yes, Elder Lin, I’m curious about that as well. You didn’t promise their Sect Leader something, did you?"

It wasn’t something that needed to be hidden, so as most of the Elders turned their gazes toward her, Lin Ke briefly explained.

"The Celestial Cloud Sect’s progress was slow before mainly because they were worried that a Nascent Soul from the Black Dragon Hall would make a move against them."

"Hahaha! The Celestial Cloud Sect sure thinks highly of itself."

An Elder, upon hearing this, laughed out loud.

He wasn’t mocking the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Sect Leader; he just felt the Sect Leader was overthinking things.

"If a Nascent Soul from the Black Dragon Hall really did move against them, the entire Qionglin Domain would descend into utter chaos."

"And if a Nascent Soul *were* to act, it’s more likely that one from the Blood Spirit Sect would attack the Celestial Cloud Sect, not one from the Black Dragon Hall."

"Elder Feng has a point."

"Now that you mention it, that’s exactly right."

The Black Dragon Hall might attack the Celestial Cloud Sect for annihilating a Demon Cultivation Core Formation Influence, but the Blood Spirit Sect’s reasons would be different.

If the Blood Spirit Sect were to attack the Celestial Cloud Sect, it would only be because of them, the Purple Mist Sect.

It was a well-known fact among all the Nascent Soul Influences in the Qionglin Domain that their relationships with the Core Formation Influences were far better than those of the Evil Dao’s Nascent Soul sects.

It was certainly possible for the Blood Spirit Sect to harm the Celestial Cloud Sect just to get at the Purple Mist Sect.

"After destroying the Celestial Demon Sect and then the Demon Spirit Sect, the territory the Celestial Cloud Sect now occupies is considerable. With such a large territory, forget surviving for three thousand years; I think they could last for five thousand without a problem."

"It’s too early to talk about that. The next hundred years are what we should be focusing on."

"Elder Lin, does the Celestial Cloud Sect have any specific plans for their next step?"

"I didn’t ask about that." Lin Ke shook her head.

"If the Celestial Cloud Sect does have a next move, it would most likely be against the Dragon Demon Palace. They could even join forces with the Wind Ling Sect. After they swallow the Dragon Demon Palace’s territory, they won’t be able to expand any further."

"Elder Wen, that’s where you’re wrong. What do you mean they can’t expand further? Even if they annex the Dragon Demon Palace’s territory, the Celestial Cloud Sect can still continue to expand."

"Continue expanding? Elder Feng, do you have any idea what the consequences would be?"

"Of course. But it’s in a crisis like this that we find opportunities we’ve never had before."

They didn’t discuss the matter of the Celestial Cloud Sect for long.

Soon, the topic returned to the Purple Mist Sect itself.

A proactive stance could open up more possibilities.

A conservative approach would ensure greater stability.

The Elders of the Purple Mist Sect, with their different personalities, leaned towards different outcomes.

With both sides making a concession, neither faction was allowed to take the initiative in guiding the Celestial Cloud Sect.

"Elder Yuan, don’t you have anything to say about the Celestial Cloud Sect?"

"What is there for me to say? Everyone claims the Celestial Cloud Sect Leader’s alchemy skills are superb, and that Star Moon Valley, the Vast Sea Sect, and the Wind Ling Sect all go to him to have their Third Tier pills refined."

"If all three of those sects are doing it, Elder Yuan, you should just concede the point."

"One’s alchemy skill is something you have to see to believe. When the opportunity arises, I’ll go and test this Celestial Cloud Sect Leader for myself."

As Elder Yuan said this, he couldn’t help but glance at Lin Ke.

Every time this was brought up, Lin Ke would defend the Celestial Cloud Sect, but now, Lin Ke was completely silent.

’Could it be that when she visited the Celestial Cloud Sect, the Sect Leader discussed this with her as well?’

...

「Early August.」

The moment the new month arrived, Fang Yun, who was at the former site of the Demon Spirit Sect, stopped his cultivation. He immediately opened a glowing screen to check the previous month’s Talent Points tally.

——

Killed 2 Mid-stage Core Formation Demons, +30,000,000 Talent Points

Killed 3 Early-stage Core Formation Demons, +21,000,000 Talent Points

...

Qionglin Domain Influence: 9%

Talent Points Bonus: 1160%

Total: +762,572,160 Talent Points

——

Five days ago, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s influence in the Qionglin Domain had risen by another 1%.

Annihilating the Demon Spirit Sect had provided a total increase of 4% to his influence, adding another 160% to his Talent Point bonus.

Fang Yun was very satisfied with this rate of growth. Regional influence was extremely valuable, and this was only the increase from the Central Domain.

He was becoming more and more confident about the future.

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