Chapter 455 - 334: Position Change (2)
Now at the Core Formation Stage, he was already a Supreme Elder of the sect, but the official change in his status was not yet complete.
This simple process hadn’t been completed, so when Fang Yun had looked at the status screen earlier, he still only saw his title as an Elder.
Duan Qingyun personally handled the two Tokens, and the information was quickly transferred from one to the other.
Records like his Sect Contribution Points all had to be transferred over accurately.
As Fang Yun took the new Token back from the Sect Leader, he glanced at the changes on the screen.
[Celestial Cloud Sect]
Sect Level: 4
Sect Position: Supreme Elder
Sect Influence: 95%
The Sect Position field had been updated.
Following the previous pattern, now that he was a Supreme Elder, the bonus from his position would reach 80%.
The position bonus plus the sect influence bonus totaled 175%. When multiplied by the Sect Level, that became 700%.
The extra bonus to his Talent Points had reached 700%.
The number of Talent Points he received each month would now be eight times the base amount.
At this rate, just killing a single Demon at the Peak of Foundation Establishment would grant him over four million Talent Points.
The position of Sect Leader, a one hundred percent influence bonus, and unlocking the regional influence bonus—these were Fang Yun’s next goals for acquiring Talent Points.
「A few hours later.」
Several dozen li outside the Celestial Cloud Sect, Fang Yun’s figure appeared in the sky above a sparse forest.
Having temporarily left the Celestial Cloud Sect, he wanted to test the changes in his power.
An Early-stage Core Formation Cultivator, after diligent practice, can perfectly unleash the power of a Magical Treasure with one Prohibition. However, thanks to his Combat Talent, Fang Yun could instantly wield any sword, shield, or shoe-type Magical Treasure to its full potential for his current Realm—even without any extra power boosts.
This saved him a great deal of time by allowing him to skip the diligent practice phase.
Now that he had successfully achieved Core Formation, he could already unleash the full might of a Magical Treasure with one Prohibition.
First, on his way here, he had already used the Magical Treasure-grade Light Silk Boots.
When he pushed the Light Silk Boots, a Magical Treasure with one Prohibition, to their maximum speed, they were boosted by his seven-star Combat Talent, reaching a terrifying velocity.
With a single light push, Fang Yun could travel several li.
If he had traveled at full speed from the Celestial Cloud Sect, he would have arrived in only a few breaths.
Not only had his speed increased enormously, but his Spiritual Power consumption had also been drastically reduced.
Back in the Foundation Establishment Stage, using a Magical Treasure consumed a large amount of Spiritual Power. The cost only seemed low due to the reduction from his Combat Talent, making it affordable for him as a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator.
After reaching Core Formation, he could already activate Magical Treasures with ease. With the additional boost from his Combat Talent, the improvement was a qualitative leap compared to before.
’This spot will do.’
After moving several more li and finding a suitable place, Fang Yun casually swung his sword.
With the Earth Yellow Sword in hand, he unleashed a single beam of Sword Qi.
In the eyes of a true Sword Cultivator like Miao Qinghong, this couldn’t be called Sword Qi at all; it was merely an ordinary cultivator’s imitation, relying on a Magical Treasure.
For Fang Yun, this was considered a very weak strike.
But from this one strike, he could roughly gauge his current level of strength.
’This power... In terms of strength, I’m probably stronger than a normal Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator now.’
Fang Yun looked at the result, nodding in satisfaction. He then concealed the damage he had done to the land, making it look no different than before.
What he had unleashed wasn’t true Sword Qi, so the energy quickly dissipated without a trace.
Now that he had a general understanding of his strength after reaching Core Formation, Fang Yun already had some initial ideas for his personal plans and how to influence the sect.
He was still only in the Early-stage Core Formation Stage. Once he refined his Lifebound Magical Treasure, his strength would grow even greater.
He quickly returned to the sect.
Upon returning to the Cultivation Room in his cave residence, Fang Yun immediately began to cultivate.
Next, he needed to complete the conversion of his cultivation technique and officially begin practicing the Core Formation Technique, the *Skillful Heaven-Stealing Technique*.
His Foundation Establishment Technique was of the Fire Attribute, as was his new Core Formation Technique.
This would accelerate the conversion process for Fang Yun, saving him a significant amount of cultivation time.
If the attributes of his Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Techniques had been different, the conversion would have taken a very long time. Typically, cultivators in that situation would have to enter a long period of seclusion after reaching the Core Formation Stage.
’Done.’
When he opened his eyes again, Fang Yun had already completed the conversion of his cultivation technique.
The Core Formation Technique, the *Skillful Heaven-Stealing Technique*, was a cultivation technique well-suited for Artifact Refiners.
What Fang Yun valued most about this technique was its Clone Technique.
This Clone Technique didn’t just create a simple clone out of condensed Spiritual Power; this clone required a physical vessel.
And this vessel had to be refined by him, and only by him. This was because the refining process required him to infuse his own blood essence at precisely the right moment and ensure it was fully integrated.
This was an extreme test of an Artifact Refiner’s skill.
The cultivation technique recommended waiting until one had broken through to the middle stage of Core Formation. By then, one would have a longer period of accumulation and further improved their Artifact Refining skills, making it a better time to learn the Clone Technique.
If even a minor problem occurred during the vessel’s refining, it would result in immediate and irreversible failure. This was unlike ordinary Artifact Refining, where a refiner could often salvage a flawed process, or at the very least, settle for a lesser outcome, such as turning what was meant to be a Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact into a Lower-Grade one.
The Spiritual Materials required to refine the vessel were far fewer and much easier to collect than those for a Lifebound Magical Treasure.
The most difficult to collect was a Third-Tier Spiritual Material, the Cangmu Spirit Jade.
Fang Yun already had one set of the materials needed to refine the vessel.
He planned to begin the refining process right away.
Fang Yun was confident that with his current Artifact Refining skill and the boost from his eight-star Artifact Refining talent, refining the vessel would not be too difficult.
After he got up and left the Cultivation Room, Song Qiaoqiao, who was in the main hall, said to him.
"Husband, Elder Wan just paid a visit. He delivered three sets of Spirit Medicine for refining Purple Essence Pills."
The Elder Wan that Song Qiaoqiao mentioned was Wan Xuanye, the current Management Elder of Dan Cloud Peak.
After becoming a Supreme Elder, he no longer needed to go to the Dan Cloud Pavilion on Dan Cloud Peak to accept alchemy tasks.
Now, an Elder of Alchemy would deliver the ingredients to his door for any alchemy tasks.
Since he was living with Song Qiaoqiao, as long as they weren’t both in seclusion, others could simply give their messages to her, and she would relay them to him.
"Qiaoqiao, could you please go to Dan Cloud Peak and prepare a set of Spirit Medicines for me to refine Qi Enhancement Pills and Spirit Ascension Pills? I’ll need them later. For now, I’m going into seclusion for Artifact Refining and to practice my Cultivation Techniques and Secret Arts."
"No problem."
The two of them chatted for a little while. After giving Song Qiaoqiao some final instructions, Fang Yun entered the Artifact Refining Room.
The requested Spirit Medicines for the Qi Enhancement Pills and Spirit Ascension Pills were not for him to refine, but for his clone.
Once he refined the vessel and created the clone, he would naturally need to test its ability to perform Alchemy and Artifact Refining on its own.
Later, he would also have to test its ability in planting.
The creator of the *Skillful Heaven-Stealing Technique* intended for the Clone Technique to be a tool to assist in Artifact Refining, helping one create better Magical Treasures. He would never have imagined that a future cultivator would have the idea of using the clone to perform Artifact Refining independently.
Even if the clone could perform Artifact Refining on its own, its skill would certainly be far inferior to the main body’s.
A cultivator practicing the *Skillful Heaven-Stealing Technique* should be pursuing the creation of more difficult and superior Magical Treasures, not wasting their energy refining mere Spiritual Artifacts.
Once one has the ability to refine Magical Treasures, refining Spiritual Artifacts does little to improve one’s Artifact Refining skill.
No Artifact Refiner with a normal mindset would ever think like Fang Yun.
But for Fang Yun, Artifact Refining wasn’t just about refining artifacts; it was a way to generate Talent Points for his Life Talent.
Back in the Artifact Refining Room, Fang Yun finished his preparations and began refining the vessel.
The first thing he had to process was the Third-Tier Spiritual Material, the Cangmu Spirit Jade.
As the only Third-Tier Spiritual Material for the vessel, the Cangmu Spirit Jade was meant to form its very core.