I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

It was the Sect Leader of the Profound Essence Sect.

Fang Yun made his judgment in an instant. The next moment, he struck.

A pale red Long Sword shot out instantly. Under his full concealment, the nine-Spirit-Pattern Demon-slaying Sword generated almost no Spiritual Power fluctuations.

The effect of the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots wasn’t limited to his body; it also covered the Long Sword he controlled.

The smaller the fluctuations in Spiritual Power, the better the cloaking effect.

The Profound Essence Sect’s Sect Leader, deep in thought, suddenly felt that something was wrong.

But in that very instant, he saw a pale red Long Sword pierce through his body. It struck a spot nine inches below his heart—the weakest point on his body, his vital spot.

The scene filled his vision.

’This...’

The Profound Essence Sect Leader hadn’t even begun to process what had happened.

He felt his mind go blank as his life force rapidly drained away.

And just like that, the Peak Foundation Establishment Demon became a corpse.

Fang Yun had specifically enhanced this nine-Spirit-Pattern Demon-slaying Sword’s ability to strip a Demon of its life force. Boosted by his Combat Talent, this ability was even more terrifying.

A Demon at the level of Peak Foundation Establishment would lose all life force the moment his Demon-slaying Sword struck their weak point, leaving them unable to even think.

The attacker was unseen.

He didn’t have time for a final thought.

Dying under such circumstances meant that besides the information that his Demon Jar had shattered, no other message could be sent out.

Of course, Fang Yun couldn’t be one hundred percent certain that no information would leak.

All he could do was execute his plan to the best of his ability.

As time passed, one by one, under Fang Yun’s watchful gaze, the Demons fell to the ground, never to rise again.

Finally, when the Profound Essence Sect fell silent, Fang Yun began to loot the premises.

He took everything that was even slightly useful to him.

He could fit it all anyway.

While he looted, he didn’t let his guard down completely. After all, this was still the Demons’ Earth Realm; it was always right to be cautious.

「Forty-five minutes later.」

Fluctuations of Demon Power could be felt in the distance.

Before long, the figure of an early-stage Foundation Establishment Demon appeared.

He was one of the Profound Essence Sect’s Supreme Elders.

He was returning after completing a round of his Guardian duties.

"What’s going on?"

As he approached the sect, he noticed something was wrong.

There wasn’t even the slightest fluctuation of Demon Power in the entire sect’s grounds.

At that moment, the Profound Essence Sect’s Supreme Elder immediately thought of something.

’The mysterious Spirit Refiner!’

The moment those four words appeared in his mind, his first thought was to report it to the Celestial Demon Sect.

Then, he’d return to the sect and secure whatever wealth was left.

Afterward, if the other Supreme Elder asked, he would just say the mysterious Spirit Refiner had taken everything.

He also needed to look for clues to deduce when the mysterious Spirit Refiner had been here.

Just as the Profound Essence Sect’s Supreme Elder had his plan figured out and was about to act, he felt a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

’Not good!’

The thought had barely formed in his mind before he plummeted to the ground.

Fang Yun, who had not yet left the Profound Essence Sect, had struck.

The farther the Demon-slaying Sword flew, the harder it was to conceal the Spiritual Power fluctuations from its blade.

It was no longer necessary to be as meticulous as before; a slight fluctuation of Spiritual Power was of no great consequence.

Killing another Foundation Establishment Demon, even if it was only an early-stage one, still yielded 400,000 Talent Points thanks to his bonuses.

’The Profound Essence Sect still has one Foundation Establishment Demon left alive, but after this, the Celestial Demon Sect most likely won’t be able to sit still.’

Fang Yun, laden with spoils, couldn’t help but think this as he left the grounds of the Profound Essence Sect.

It was all part of his plan for the Celestial Demon Sect to make a move after this incident.

If the Celestial Demon Sect didn’t react, he would have to change his plans.

When plans couldn’t keep up with changing circumstances, one had to be ready to adapt.

...

「The headquarters of the Celestial Demon Sect.」

The sect’s upper echelon had gathered in the conference hall.

The atmosphere was exceptionally grim.

Lu Yaoling, a Supreme Elder of the Celestial Demon Sect, had already explained the entire situation.

The Profound Essence Sect, their most powerful vassal, had been reduced to a fraction of its strength, with only a single mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon remaining. This was practically no different from the sect being wiped out.

The most critical point was that when the Profound Essence Sect was struck by the mysterious Spirit Refiner, not a single piece of information had been sent out.

This was the strongest Foundation Establishment Influence within their Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm. Logically, this shouldn’t have been the case.

Even if the mysterious Spirit Refiner could annihilate them, it should have been impossible for them to be unable to send out even a shred of information.

"It has come to this. We have still underestimated the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s methods."

Amidst the heavy atmosphere, Cao Yuchen, the Supreme Elder of the Celestial Demon Sect whose authority was second only to Lu Yaoling’s, finally spoke.

This incident had once again exceeded the expectations of all the sect’s higher-ups.

With the Profound Essence Sect existing in name only, the combined strength of the Celestial Demon Sect’s vassal Foundation Establishment Demon influences was now greatly diminished.

"Supreme Elder Cao, do you still insist on your ideas?" Lu Yaoling asked, looking at Cao Yuchen. "If this continues, our Celestial Demon Sect’s vassal Foundation Establishment Influences will sooner or later be completely wiped out by the Celestial Cloud Sect’s mysterious Spirit Refiner."

Having said that, Lu Yaoling added another sentence.

"Even if they aren’t completely wiped out by the mysterious Spirit Refiner, they will all run away."

Under the current circumstances, simply surviving was a blessing.

Cao Yuchen fell silent upon hearing this.

The fact that the strength of their Celestial Demon Sect’s vassal Foundation Establishment Influences had been weakened to this extent by the mysterious Spirit Refiner was a cold, hard truth he could not refute.

After the last high-level meeting in the sect, he had been leading most of the Celestial Demon Sect’s affairs.

He had stuck to his strategy, but this was not the outcome he had envisioned for it.

"As the Celestial Cloud Sect grows stronger, they truly have the intention to destroy us."

"Indeed. I used to think the Celestial Cloud Sect would pull back after acting to a certain extent, but now it seems they have no intention of stopping."

"We must strike against the Celestial Cloud Sect again!"

With the Profound Essence Sect, a vassal Foundation Establishment Influence, having all but one of its Foundation Establishment Demons killed, the attitude of the Celestial Demon Sect’s upper echelon changed once again.

As the sect’s higher-ups voiced their opinions, Lu Yaoling had once again taken the dominant position.

Just then, Cao Yuchen looked at Lu Yaoling and said a few words.

"Ultimately, if it weren’t for your previous decisions, Supreme Elder Lu, the situation would not have become like this. I said it long ago: we should strike the Celestial Cloud Sect when they are weak, not when they are at the peak of their power."

By bringing up the past, Cao Yuchen was trying to shift the blame.

He wanted to make it clear that his own role in things developing to this point was minimal.

If not for what happened before, they and the Celestial Cloud Sect would surely be in a period of stability right now.

Neither side would be attacking the other excessively, and any conflicts would be limited to minor squabbles between Qi Refining disciples.

Lu Yaoling completely disagreed with Cao Yuchen’s statement. He snorted coldly and said:

"The Celestial Cloud Sect has an elusive, mysterious Spirit Refiner, and their own strength is formidable. Even if we had done nothing, they would have eventually been unable to resist making a move. Supreme Elder Cao, don’t pin all the blame for your flawed decisions on me. If you had listened to me before, things would not have developed this way."

Since they hadn’t continued to follow his decisions, no one knew what would have actually happened.

Therefore, Lu Yaoling could say whatever he wanted; since it was a hypothetical situation, no one could refute him.

"If we had followed your decisions, Supreme Elder Lu, we would be even more passive now," Cao Yuchen retorted, unconvinced.

"How would you know without trying? All I know now is that the Celestial Cloud Sect has been pushing their luck. What, does Supreme Elder Cao still intend to do nothing?"

Cao Yuchen fell silent once more.

There was now one point of consensus among all the sect’s upper echelon.

They absolutely could not allow the Celestial Cloud Sect’s actions to continue.

If they waited any longer, perhaps the Celestial Demon Sect would be the only power left in their Earth Realm with Demons at Foundation Establishment or above.

Not a single vassal Foundation Establishment Influence would be left.