Chapter 477 - 345: Silently
With the Core Array Plate now in his hands, no Demon would be able to detect him even if he didn’t conceal his Spiritual Power so thoroughly.
Besides, the only ones left in Iron Wolf Castle now were Qi Refining Stage Demons.
With a thought, the carrier body double materialized beside Fang Yun.
He handed some of the Upper Grade Magical Artifact-level Yellow Iron Swords to the carrier body double to increase the efficiency of eliminating the Qi Refining Demons.
"Move out."
As soon as Fang Yun finished speaking, he and the carrier body double vanished on the spot.
Using an Upper Grade Magical Artifact consumed a negligible amount of his Spiritual Power now. Even if he let the carrier body double wield one for three straight years, he wouldn’t be incapacitated from a lack of Spiritual Power.
In addition to the Yellow Iron Swords, the carrier body double also wore the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots.
These were the very same Half-Hidden Spirit Boots with Eight Spirit Patterns.
In the pursuit of efficiency, he couldn’t give the Qi Refining Demons of Iron Wolf Castle any chance to react.
Therefore, it was essential to keep Spiritual Power fluctuations to a minimum.
...
「Celestial Demon Sect」
「Soul Destruction Hall」
"Hall Master Xue, this is terrible!"
"What happened?"
"We can’t get in touch with Iron Wolf Castle."
"Not a single one of their Foundation Establishment members?" the Spirit Destruction Hall Master immediately asked.
"That’s right. Not a single one."
Iron Wolf Castle was a subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence, and what’s more, it was the second strongest among all such influences under the Celestial Demon Sect. For not a single one of their Foundation Establishment members to be reachable meant the problem was extremely serious.
Without any hesitation, he said, "Let’s go. We’ll head over and see for ourselves immediately!"
The Spirit Destruction Hall Master decided to investigate personally, heading straight for Iron Wolf Castle to assess the situation.
Iron Wolf Castle wasn’t far from the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters. Traveling at full speed, he could arrive in less than four hours.
The entirety of Iron Wolf Castle was eerily silent.
The Spirit Destruction Hall Master was stunned when he arrived.
After a long moment of hesitation, he finally spoke, his words faltering.
"Iron Wolf Castle... It’s been... wiped... wiped out?"
"Hall Master... I believe so."
As much as they refused to believe it, the scene before them forced them to accept reality.
Iron Wolf Castle had indeed been annihilated. Most critically, they had no idea when it had happened.
They hadn’t received any word at all.
This meant that Iron Wolf Castle had been silently annihilated right under the Celestial Demon Sect’s nose.
This was an extremely serious matter!
"Hall Master, this has to be the work of the mysterious Spirit Refiner, doesn’t it?"
"Most likely," the Spirit Destruction Hall Master replied. Though he wasn’t completely certain, it was the only possibility that came to his mind.
It seemed no one but the mysterious Spirit Refiner could accomplish such a feat.
’But even the mysterious Spirit Refiner shouldn’t be capable of this, should he?’
Previously, when the mysterious Spirit Refiner had attacked, they had received news very quickly.
Although the mysterious Spirit Refiner moved so quickly that they had no chance to send reinforcements, they had at least received timely reports of his attacks.
But this time, they didn’t even know when Iron Wolf Castle had been destroyed.
"Hall Master, what should we do now?"
"We’ll go back and report this."
There was nothing else they could do besides return and inform the sect’s leadership.
The Celestial Demon Sect Elder hesitated, showing no sign of wanting to return immediately.
The Spirit Destruction Hall Master glanced at the Elder beside him, then back at what was left of Iron Wolf Castle.
He understood.
"If you want to search for Iron Wolf Castle’s treasury, go ahead... but judging by the situation, I doubt there’s anything left."
"There’s something you probably don’t know yet. According to the Artifact Refining Elder, the Spirit Refiner needs to refine Spiritual Artifacts to use against us. Many of the Spiritual Materials we use are the very ingredients needed for that refining process."
Compared to before, their possessions were undoubtedly far more valuable to a Spirit Refiner.
As the Hall Master of the Soul Destruction Hall, he had received comprehensive reports after the previous subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences were destroyed, including whether their treasuries had been plundered. He knew all the details.
The Celestial Demon Sect Elder’s intentions had been laid bare.
’There’s nothing wrong with my idea,’ he thought.
But since the Hall Master had put it that way, he lost the desire to look.
’I’ll just return to the sect and report the news.’
The Spirit Destruction Hall Master was the one responsible for reporting to the leadership, so there wasn’t really anything left for the Elder to do. That was why he’d had the idea in the first place.
’The Hall Master can go back, and I’ll stay and have a look.’
「Back within the Celestial Demon Sect.」
The Spirit Destruction Hall Master had already delivered his report.
As always, he delivered the firsthand news directly to Supreme Elder Lu Yaoling.
After learning of the situation, Lu Yaoling’s expression turned grave, and he immediately convened a meeting of the sect’s senior leadership.
This was a major event.
An extremely serious one at that!
"Elder Lu, what has happened?"
As soon as everyone was present, one of the sect’s Core Formation leaders immediately asked the question.
In recent years, a suddenly convened meeting of the senior leadership was never a sign of good news.
Because of this, the other members of the Celestial Demon Sect’s leadership had mentally prepared themselves.
"Iron Wolf Castle has been wiped out."
"Is that all?"
"There’s no need to call a special meeting just because Iron Wolf Castle was destroyed. Considering the Celestial Cloud Sect’s actions over the past few years, it’s not surprising they would suddenly attack one of our subordinate influences."
The loss of a single subordinate influence was acceptable to them.
During the last great war, many of their subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences had fallen to the mysterious Spirit Refiner.
This attack was most likely the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s doing as well.
That much was obvious.
"Elder Lu, by the time you arrived, the mysterious Spirit Refiner must have long since vanished, right?"
"You still don’t understand the gravity of the situation. I received no call for aid, nor did I go to Iron Wolf Castle. The fortress wasn’t destroyed today, and I have no idea when it fell. We can’t even be certain if this was the work of the mysterious Spirit Refiner."
"What!"
Only after Lu Yaoling provided these additional details did the other Core Formation leaders of the Celestial Demon Sect grasp the severity of the situation.
Not knowing when Iron Wolf Castle was destroyed meant that not a single message had escaped during the attack.
To accomplish something like that would be incredibly difficult.
Iron Wolf Castle didn’t just have Foundation Establishment members; any Qi Refining disciple could have sent a message the moment they detected a disturbance.
Fleeing members would have been more than willing to send a message. In addition to calling for aid, the first person to report such an incident would receive a handsome reward.
"For not a single message to get out... how is that even possible?"
"We can’t be certain it was the mysterious Spirit Refiner, but my gut tells me it was. No other Spirit Refiner should be capable of this. Compared to before, he has undoubtedly grown much more formidable."
"That’s right. For us, the only good news is that the mysterious Spirit Refiner has not yet broken through to the Core Formation Stage."
All the Core Formation leaders of the Celestial Demon Sect nodded in agreement at this.
If the mysterious Spirit Refiner were to break through to the Core Formation Stage, he wouldn’t stop at merely destroying a subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence.
While he remained at the Foundation Establishment Stage, his lack of Spiritual Power would limit his ability to annihilate their subordinate influences.
"We must keep a close watch on the Celestial Cloud Sect from now on. If anyone else achieves Core Formation, we must be vigilant. The next person to do so could very well be this mysterious Spirit Refiner."
"If the mysterious Spirit Refiner truly succeeds in reaching Core Formation, we must inform the Black Dragon Hall. Faced with a Spirit Refiner of that level, the Black Dragon Hall is unlikely to sit idly by."
"Elder Qi is right."
As a Nascent Soul Level Demon influence, the Black Dragon Hall could afford to be indifferent to a Spirit Refiner at the Foundation Establishment Stage, but one at the Core Formation Stage would be a different matter entirely.
If they could secure the Black Dragon Hall’s help, the situation would change completely.
They had never once received help from the Black Dragon Hall.
Because they had never needed it before.
They had always been the ones on the offensive.
But now, with the Celestial Cloud Sect taking the initiative, they could clearly feel that they had been forced onto the back foot.
"After this meeting, pass this information to all our subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences. Tell them to increase their vigilance against the mysterious Spirit Refiner and to report any disturbance to us the moment it happens."
"If the reports are timely, we might still have a chance to catch him."
"Yes. I will have Hall Master Xue see to the arrangements."