Chapter 571: Chapter 392: Lin Ke Comes to the Sect (Part 2)

Time flew by in a flash.

Ten years had passed.

This year, Fang Yun was already one hundred and ninety-nine years old, just one year shy of two hundred.

After a disciple named Han Yichen was discovered to possess exceptional Alchemy Talent, it was only natural for an Elder of Dan Cloud Peak to take him as a disciple. This talent granted him access to a vast amount of cultivation resources, allowing his cultivation speed to advance by leaps and bounds.

Ten years ago, he was still at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. Now, he was an Elder of Dan Cloud Peak.

Over the past decade, they had further intensified their operations against the Demon Spirit Sect and had successfully occupied two territories previously controlled by Foundation Establishment Demons.

Even with these intensified operations, no Core Formation Cultivators were involved.

Fang Yun, of course, had his reasons for not deploying the Core Formation Cultivators.

He could guarantee that as long as they didn’t dispatch Core Formation Cultivators, the Demon Spirit Sect wouldn’t dispatch any for defense either.

A century ago, the Celestial Cloud Sect would only deploy Core Formation Cultivators in response to the Demons doing the same. Now, the situation was reversed.

Of course, the Demon Spirit Sect’s current predicament was different from their own past situation. At the very least, the Demon Spirit Sect had an Elder from the Black Dragon Hall acting as its Guardian.

The Black Dragon Hall Elder was a major problem for Fang Yun.

’If possible, I’d rather not kill the Black Dragon Hall Elder. But when we finally strike the Demon Spirit Sect, I can’t just let that Elder run away, can I?’

Thus, it was a dilemma.

The Demon Spirit Sect must have paid a certain price to have a Black Dragon Hall Elder act as a long-term Guardian. If they could strike when the Demon Spirit Sect could no longer afford that price, it would undoubtedly be the best-case scenario.

However, it was a price they could likely continue to pay. As long as the Demon Spirit Sect allocated a portion of its annual resources, the Black Dragon Hall Elder would most likely remain as their Guardian indefinitely.

At the beginning of the year, the sect’s Core Formation Seed, Zhou Beixing, successfully reached the Core Formation realm using a Top-grade Golden Core Pill.

With Top-grade Golden Core Pills available, the sect’s Core Formation Seeds were always given priority. Whenever Star Moon Valley, Vast Sea Sect, and Wind Ling Sect came to have Golden Core Pills refined, one or two of the Middle-grade Golden Core Pills could always be exchanged for a Top-grade Golden Core Pill.

When a Core Formation Seed used a Top-grade Golden Core Pill to aid their breakthrough, the chance of failure was minuscule—less than ten percent.

With Zhou Beixing’s successful breakthrough, the number of Core Formation Cultivators in the sect reached nine, once again matching its historical peak.

Li Congxue, a Core Formation Seed who had joined the Outer Sect in the same year as Zhou Beixing, was also not far from reaching the true Peak of Foundation Establishment.

If Li Congxue also succeeded in reaching Core Formation, the number of Core Formation Cultivators in the sect would break the record once again.

「In the Alchemy Room.」

Fang Yun had just finished refining a batch of the Third Tier pill, the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill. Naturally, it was a perfectly refined batch of pills.

His vessel could now also perfectly refine the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill; it just required him to expend some mental energy to control the vessel during the refining process.

The reason Fang Yun didn’t have his vessel refine pills of the Third Tier or higher was that he simply didn’t need to refine them very often. For example, he only refined the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill ten to twenty times over the course of several decades.

The number of Third Tier and higher Spirit Fields in the sect was steadily increasing, but the situation regarding the refining of Third Tier pills would only change significantly after another century.

By then, on average, he would be able to refine at least one batch of the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, the most in-demand pill, every year.

After finishing one batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills, Fang Yun, who still had several sets of Spirit Medicines on hand, did not continue refining them.

Instead, he went to his Cultivation Room to cultivate.

A few days ago, Lin Ke from the Purple Mist Sect had sent a message saying she would be visiting the Celestial Cloud Sect soon.

If he started refining another batch of Third Tier pills now, he wouldn’t be able to receive Lin Ke in a timely manner.

「Five days later.」

Fang Yun, who was in the middle of cultivating, received a transmission.

He left his cave abode and soon saw Lin Ke at the main gate of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

"Sect Leader Fang," Lin Ke called out teasingly, smiling and waving at him.

"Oh? In that case, I suppose I should address you as Fellow Daoist Lin."

"You’re still the same, Fang Yun. You haven’t changed one bit."

As she spoke, Lin Ke arrived at Fang Yun’s side. He made a welcoming gesture, and the two flew side-by-side toward Cloud Summit.

"You’re the same, too."

Reunited, the two couldn’t help but reminisce about the past, especially their experience traveling to the Secret Realm known as the Land of No Master.

「Atop Cloud Summit.」

As the two sat there talking, their conversation drifted from small matters to major events, eventually turning to the current situation.

Fang Yun asked, "Has the Black Dragon Hall made any moves recently?"

"It would be difficult for the Black Dragon Hall to make any moves right now."

"How so?"

"There’s some trouble brewing within the Black Dragon Hall," Lin Ke replied.

Separated as they were, their information exchange was limited, so they only passed along the most critical, up-to-date information.

To have a truly comprehensive exchange of information, they needed to sit down and talk face-to-face.

’Internal trouble... could it be an uneven distribution of power?’ That was Fang Yun’s first thought.

"We don’t know the specific details," Lin Ke said, shaking her head. "It’s very difficult for us to get more detailed information right now."

Fang Yun could understand.

Gathering intelligence within the Black Dragon Hall’s domain was difficult enough, and the Purple Mist Sect was located quite far from them. The Evil Dao Nascent Soul Influence closest to the Purple Mist Sect was actually the Blood Spirit Sect.

In recent decades, the Black Dragon Hall had taken some action against the Purple Mist Sect because of him and his sect, but the Purple Mist Sect’s primary conflict was still with the Blood Spirit Sect. Therefore, they couldn’t focus too much of their energy on the Black Dragon Hall.

"Fang Yun, you’ve hidden your identity as the mysterious Spirit Refiner very well. Even now, those Demons don’t know who the mysterious Spirit Refiner really is."

"It would be difficult for them to connect it to me."

"Exactly. You’re the Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect, unparalleled in both Alchemy and Artifact Refining. Who would ever guess that you, who spend your years refining pills and artifacts within the sect, are also the mysterious Spirit Refiner?"

The public information about Fang Yun was too misleading; it was almost impossible to connect the two identities.

"According to the intelligence I’ve gathered, the Demon forces all believe the mysterious Spirit Refiner is from your Purple Mist Sect. I’m sorry you’ve had to bear that burden," Fang Yun couldn’t help but say.

The Black Dragon Hall’s actions against the Purple Mist Sect were precisely because of this mysterious Spirit Refiner.

If the Purple Mist Sect hadn’t been taking the heat, the Black Dragon Hall might have moved against the Celestial Cloud Sect first.

"Don’t mention it. If the Celestial Cloud Sect can truly grow strong under your leadership, it will be a great benefit to our Purple Mist Sect." Lin Ke was very clear about the Purple Mist Sect’s situation within the Qionglin Domain.

If the Celestial Cloud Sect didn’t rise and the situation in the Qionglin Domain continued unchanged, then as time went on, things would only become more and more difficult for the Purple Mist Sect.

Even if the Celestial Cloud Sect didn’t produce a Nascent Soul Cultivator in the future, just growing into a top-tier Core Formation Influence would be a great help to the Purple Mist Sect.

The Purple Mist Sect held sway over a large region, while the Celestial Cloud Sect held sway over a smaller one.

Together, they would cover one large region and one small one.

"By the way, Fang Yun, what’s the current situation with you and the Demon Spirit Sect?"

"We’ve already occupied two territories that belonged to their subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences."

"Not bad," Lin Ke said with a nod, then continued, "So when do you plan to launch the final battle against the Demon Spirit Sect?"

"Probably in another few decades," Fang Yun replied.

"That long? From what you’ve said, your offensive against the Demon Spirit Sect seems to be going quite smoothly. Why wait so long...?"

"The Demon Spirit Sect has a Core Formation Demon from the Black Dragon Hall acting as its Guardian. That’s the part that’s difficult for us to handle," Fang Yun said, explaining a key reason for the slow progress. "Dealing with the Black Dragon Hall’s Elder might attract the attention of their Nascent Soul."

For this reason, they needed to become stronger before taking that final step.

’Give me a few more decades, and I’ll become even stronger.’

"So that’s what you’re worried about."

Hearing this, Fang Yun looked quizzically at Lin Ke, who was covering her mouth with a smile.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"You can rest assured about that. Whether it’s the Nascent Soul masters from the Black Dragon Hall or from any other Evil Dao Nascent Soul Influence, they won’t intervene lightly. Your Celestial Cloud Sect doesn’t even have a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator, let alone one at the Peak of Core Formation. That makes it even less likely they’ll make a move."

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