I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 291 - 252: Tapping into Potential (Part 2)

"After taking the medicinal pill, I’m doing okay now." After confirming he was fine, Patriarch Xiao asked the question that concerned him most, "What are our clan’s casualties?"

The Xiao Family elder hadn’t come over immediately because he was assessing the family’s casualties.

"Twelve dead, five seriously injured, and nineteen with minor injuries."

"Among the dead are two at the Peak of Qi Refining, three in the late-stage of Qi Refining, six in the mid-stage, and one in the early-stage..."

The Xiao Family elder reported the situation in detail.

"The situation is manageable."

Patriarch Xiao could accept this outcome.

He had expected a much worse outcome, as the Demons had attacked with overwhelming force, and many of them were at the Qi Refining Stage.

While the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Xiao Family were talking,

Fang Yun began to collect his spoils of war.

The Storage Pouches from any Demons he had personally killed belonged to him.

He also had to take back parts of the Demons’ bodies to exchange for Sect Contribution Points at the Evil Extermination Hall.

After collecting everything, Fang Yun bid farewell to the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Xiao Family and their own Celestial Cloud Sect’s Elder Wang.

His reinforcement mission was complete, and it was time for him to leave.

The three of them respectfully saw Fang Yun off.

Elder Wang was still in the middle of his Guardian mission, so he would remain with the Xiao Family for the time being.

After such a large-scale attack, the Demons would likely lie low for a while.

After Fang Yun left the Xiao Family’s ancestral land,

he had originally planned to return directly to the Celestial Cloud Sect, but on second thought, he realized there might be another opportunity to reap some Talent Points.

’I should go check on White Crane Castle.’

Fang Yun changed direction and headed straight for White Crane Castle.

Both the Shen Family and White Crane Castle were Foundation Establishment Influences bordering the Xiao Family. Of the two, White Crane Castle was closer.

If he was lucky, he might even be able to kill another Foundation Establishment Stage Demon.

...

「In the Spring Spirit Sect’s territory.」

Miao Qinghong, who had come as reinforcements, had already arrived.

Just like Fang Yun reinforcing the Xiao Family, she had come alone.

Unlike when Fang Yun reinforced the Xiao Family, the Spring Spirit Sect’s Sect Array had not been breached like the Xiao Family’s was.

The Foundation Establishment Demons here were still outside, continuously attacking the Grand Array.

"Damn it, since when did the Spring Spirit Sect have an Elder skilled in Arrays?"

"They really hid him well."

"If it weren’t for that Array Master, we would’ve already broken through their Grand Array."

This Spring Spirit Sect Elder who was skilled in Arrays was only at the Peak of Qi Refining Realm and was just a Tier One Array Master.

Even so, a Tier One Array Master controlling a Second Tier Grand Array was far better than an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator using an Array Plate to crudely control it.

The Spring Spirit Sect’s highest-ranking Supreme Elder watched the Foundation Establishment Demons outside.

On the surface, he appeared extremely calm.

They had been caught completely off guard by this sudden attack from the Demons.

Their territory, located within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Earth Realm, was near the Black Ghost Cave. Over a hundred years ago, the Celestial Cloud Sect and the Celestial Demon Sect had fought a great war.

At that time, they had only reinforced other Foundation Establishment Influences; their own sect had been untouched because no Demons had ever attacked them directly.

The last time they had activated their Grand Array was three hundred years ago, when they were attacked by Ghost Cultivators.

This sudden Demon attack had exposed their Array Master Elder. Subsequently, the Spring Spirit Sect would likely become a primary target for the Demons.

A Tier One Array Master was one thing, but if their Elder became a Second Tier Array Master, that was a situation the Celestial Demon Sect would absolutely not want to see.

"Open a path for me. Elder Miao from the Upper Sect is here to provide support, and I will go out to coordinate with her."

"Yes, Supreme Elder."

The moment he saw Miao Qinghong, the Spring Spirit Sect’s Supreme Elder sprang into action.

He had never expected Miao Qinghong to come as reinforcements.

Miao Qinghong’s presence didn’t just mean they needed to hold their ground; it meant they were going to kill the attacking Foundation Establishment Demons.

After all, this Elder Miao was a genuine Sword Cultivator. Furthermore, at the late-stage of Foundation Establishment, she was already known as the number one person below the Core Formation realm in the Celestial Cloud Sect.

When the leading Peak Foundation Establishment Demon saw Miao Qinghong, not only did he show no signs of retreating, he grew even more excited.

"Miao Qinghong of the Celestial Cloud Sect! I’d like to see for myself just how powerful you so-called Sword Cultivators really are."

As he spoke, the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon stopped bombarding the Spring Spirit Sect’s protective Grand Array and instead charged straight at Miao Qinghong.

Floating in mid-air, Miao Qinghong formed a sword sign with her fingers and slashed out.

A snow-white wave of Sword Qi surged like a flood dragon, causing the very space around it to ripple.

In that instant, the excited Peak Foundation Establishment Demon instinctively felt that something was wrong.

He might not be able to block this attack.

As his Demon Qi surged, the scales on his body stood on end, forming a scale shield in front of him.

The Sword Qi slashed past, and the scale shield split in two.

The aftershock of the Sword Qi left a massive, bleeding gash on the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon’s body.

He hadn’t blocked it.

In that moment, the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon’s attitude toward Miao Qinghong did a complete one-eighty. He had originally thought he was strong enough, that since Miao Qinghong was only late-stage Foundation Establishment and not at the peak, the difference in their Realms meant defeating the Sword Cultivator Miao Qinghong should have been no problem.

As it turned out, he was wrong.

"We’re leaving!"

With the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon’s order, they quickly began to retreat.

"Did I say you could leave?"

Miao Qinghong’s assault had only just begun.

She spat out a Sword Pill, which shot directly toward the fleeing Demon.

"Fellow Daoist Miao, I’ll help!"

The Supreme Elder of the Spring Spirit Sect, who had come out, also made his move. With Miao Qinghong leading the attack, his role was to provide support.

Over the course of the battle, the Spring Spirit Sect’s Supreme Elder realized he hadn’t been of much help. His main contribution was simply delaying the Foundation Establishment Demons’ escape.

Soon, the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon and a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon were killed by their hands.

At this point, the Spring Spirit Sect’s Grand Array was deactivated. The sect’s disciples and Elders charged out to slay the enemy, their targets all being the Qi Refining Stage Demons.

"Elder Miao, should we give chase?"

There had been four Foundation Establishment Demons attacking their Spring Spirit Sect. Besides the Peak and late-stage ones, the remaining two were both at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

The two powerful Demons had been dealt with. The two weaker ones had already fled some distance and had even burst out with greater speed.

"They’re already far away. Let it go this time."

Miao Qinghong was able to become a Management Elder of Battle Peak not just because of her formidable strength; she was no simple-minded brute.

Pursuit was not her strong suit, and in this situation, a brainless chase was unnecessary.

This large-scale Demon offensive might have included ambushes.

"Understood."

Since Miao Qinghong had shaken her head, the Spring Spirit Sect’s Supreme Elder let his Spiritual Power subside.

The battle thus came to a temporary close.

...

「At the location of White Crane Castle.」

As Fang Yun drew near, he felt that something was wrong.

There were no fluctuations of Spiritual Power, nor of Demon Power.

As he got closer, he could smell the thick scent of blood hanging in the air.

At this point, Fang Yun had already come to a conclusion.

The battle at White Crane Castle was already over.

The absence of any cultivators from White Crane Castle meant that it had been annihilated by the Demons.

’I’m too late.’

In a concealed state, Fang Yun entered White Crane Castle.

There were many bloodstains, but not a single corpse. The bodies had clearly been dealt with by the Demons.

Fang Yun didn’t leave right away. He wanted to see if there were any survivors. If there were, he might be able to gather a lot of information from them.

Moving quickly, he searched for survivors at a rapid pace, but in the end, he didn’t find a single one.

’They must all be dead.’

Fang Yun prepared to return to the Celestial Cloud Sect.

There was no need to go anywhere else. After dealing with the Demons attacking the Xiao Family, even coming to the nearest location, White Crane Castle, had been too late. Going to other places would only mean arriving even later.

After annihilating White Crane Castle, the Demons would not occupy this place.

The cultivation environment of a Pure Spirit Vein was completely unsuitable for Demons to cultivate in.

If the Demons wanted to fully occupy this place, they would have to terraform it, a process that takes a very long time. This was the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Earth Realm, and the sect would never allow such a thing to happen—unless the Celestial Cloud Sect itself had already been destroyed by the Demons.

Therefore, to completely occupy an Earth Realm, one must first eliminate the Core Formation Influence within it.

By the same logic, Fang Yun had also left quickly after eliminating the Demons at the Feng Family’s home. Occupying the Feng Family’s ancestral land was useless; the Grand Array set up by the Demons was difficult to control, and the environment where Demon Qi suppressed Spiritual Qi was also very difficult to cultivate in.