I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

’Once the Shoe Talent upgrades, I’ll be able to refine Magical Treasure-grade Half-Hidden Spirit Boots. That will give me a much greater guarantee of safety when I’m out and about.’

Fang Yun had no intention of heading to the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory for the time being.

This was a period of stability. For the entire Celestial Cloud Sect, steady development was paramount.

He had no intention of disrupting it.

The three major Core Formation Influences around the Celestial Cloud Sect—two Demon factions and one Ghost Cultivator Influence—were all marked for destruction in Fang Yun’s future plans.

But all that would have to wait until after he reached Core Formation.

Once he reached Core Formation, he would be able to perfectly unleash the power of a One Prohibition Magical Treasure even without the aid of his Combat Talent. With the boost from his Combat Talent, the effect would be truly terrifying.

Fang Yun was filled with anticipation.

For now, he would calm his mind and focus on his cultivation.

「Three months later.」

It was early June.

Just as Fang Yun expected, his Shoe Talent upgraded at the beginning of the month.

After the searing heat faded, all of his Combat Talents had been upgraded to Seven-star.

Now, the Talent Points required for the next upgrades—Life Talent from Eight-star to Nine-star, and Combat Talent from Seven-star to Eight-star—had become identical.

Both required nearly 1.1 billion Talent Points to raise all three underlying talents to the next level.

’Should I continue upgrading my Combat Talent, or should I switch to my Life Talent?’

Fang Yun began to ponder as he looked at his Life Talent and Combat Talent interfaces.

An upgrade from Eight-star to Nine-star was a major leap, promising an even more dramatic change.

A Nine-star Life Talent would be just barely sufficient even after he broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage and reached the next realm, the Divinity Transformation Stage.

’I’ll upgrade my Life Talent.’

After weighing the pros and cons, Fang Yun made his decision.

Once his Life Talent was upgraded again, his efficiency in resource utilization would improve even further. This would undoubtedly be more advantageous for his future development.

’1.1 billion Talent Points... even if I can earn four million Talent Points a year, it will take me nearly three hundred years to collect enough...’

As Fang Yun mulled this over, he looked away from the glowing interface.

If he pushed himself, earning four million Talent Points a year wouldn’t be a problem, especially in years when he was refining Magical Treasures or Third-Tier medicinal pills.

When he refined the Magical Treasure, the Light Silk Boots, over three months ago, he had gained more than a million Talent Points in that month alone.

As he thought about it, Fang Yun felt that his current talent bonuses weren’t quite enough. Unlocking Regional Influence would help make up the difference.

However, he was still a long way from unlocking Regional Influence. First, he had to break through to the Core Formation Stage. Then, he had to become the Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect. Finally, his influence within the sect had to reach one hundred percent. Only then would Regional Influence unlock, which would drastically increase his efficiency at acquiring Talent Points.

...

「Early July.」

It was the day of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s annual disciple recruitment.

Many children around the age of ten, from all over the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory, were brought by their parents or other elders to have their Spirit Root tested, all hoping to become a Sect Disciple.

Typically, anyone who tested as having Three Spirit Roots or better would be accepted as a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect, unless there was a major issue with their background.

For instance, if their ancestors had ever collaborated with Evil Demons and Crooked Paths, it would be very difficult for such a child to enter the Celestial Cloud Sect and become an Outer Sect Disciple.

Bai Chengyou was one of the Stewards responsible for testing Spirit Roots this year.

At nearly 110 years old, Bai Chengyou had at most a dozen years of his Life Span left.

Looking back on his life, the thing that made him most proud was being the first person to spar with Elder Fang on Battle Peak.

At that time, Elder Fang was only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

"No Spirit Root."

"No Spirit Root."

"Four Spirit Roots. Next."

The children Bai Chengyou was testing had no prior connection to the sect, let alone any direct relatives who were Sect Disciples. As such, someone with Four Spirit Roots did not meet the recruitment standards.

Only those with Three Spirit Roots or better were permitted to stand behind him.

The morning passed.

He had already tested over a thousand children, but only a handful were standing behind him.

The four children behind him all had Three Spirit Roots; there wasn’t a single one with Dual Spirit Roots.

"This is... an Ice Spirit Root!"

Upon learning the result, Bai Chengyou’s face lit up with joy.

It had been a long time since an Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivator had appeared in their Celestial Cloud Sect.

Discovering an Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivator was not just a great boon for the sect; it also came with a personal, extra reward for the steward who found them. He wouldn’t be able to use such rewards in the few years he had left, but he could pass them down to his descendants. If any of them were later found to have a Spirit Root, they could inherit the legacy he left behind.

"Li Congxue, right? Stand behind me," Bai Chengyou said to the girl in front of him.

"Mm."

The girl did not seem surprised by her Spirit Root.

Evidently, her family had already tested her with a Spirit Testing Talisman or something similar before bringing her to the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Girls like her usually came from a line that had produced Cultivators. Perhaps her grandfather’s generation even had a Loose Cultivator who understood some of the basics of Cultivation. After discovering she had a Spirit Root, they would have given her some rudimentary guidance.

For anyone in the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory who tested as having an Abnormal Spirit Root, being sent to the sect was undoubtedly the best choice. This would give her a much better chance of reaching Core Formation in the future. Without the power and resources of a sect, it was exceedingly rare for an Abnormal Spirit Root Cultivator to successfully achieve Core Formation.

Next, Bai Chengyou tested several more children, all of whom had no Spirit Root.

Every one of these children was crestfallen upon hearing the result.

Finding out they had no Spirit Root here at the Celestial Cloud Sect meant they hadn’t been tested beforehand. If their families had already known, they wouldn’t have bothered making the trip.

One only needed to buy a Spirit Testing Talisman for a nearly foolproof result. The Stewards of the Celestial Cloud Sect used special Magical Artifacts for their tests, but the outcome was no different from what a simple Spirit Testing Talisman would show.

"Next."

The line for the Spirit Root test was long, but Bai Chengyou moved through it quickly.

"Lean your head over," Bai Chengyou said to the boy in front of him.

"Yes."

"This is..."

Bai Chengyou was worried he’d made a mistake in the testing.

He had just found one Abnormal Spirit Root. How could another one appear so soon?

For a moment, Bai Chengyou truly suspected he had made a mistake.

So, he carefully performed the test two more times.

He found no mistake. It was indeed an Abnormal Spirit Root—a Thunder Spirit Root.

"Immortal Elder, is my test finished?" the boy asked nervously. He had noticed it was taking much longer than it had for the others.

"Yes, it is. You also have an Abnormal Spirit Root. Not an Ice Spirit Root, but a Thunder Spirit Root," Bai Chengyou said with a smile. "Congratulations, Zhou Beixing."

"An Abnormal Spirit Root... Immortal Elder, does that mean it’s a good thing?" the boy couldn’t help but ask. Unlike the previous girl, his knowledge of the path of Cultivation was clearly minimal.

It wasn’t easy for children like him to even make it to the Celestial Cloud Sect for a test.

Besides the tests held here at the Celestial Cloud Sect, some Stewards would also take missions to remote areas to scout for promising children.

In those remote areas, even finding someone with Three Spirit Roots to recruit as an Outer Sect Disciple would earn them a decent reward. But finding an Abnormal Spirit Root? The prize for that was enough to tempt even a Sect Elder.

The reward was very generous.

"Very good. Come stand behind me."

Hearing this, the boy gave a happy shout and ran behind Bai Chengyou.

"Steward Bai, I swear, your luck is just too good! Finding two Abnormal Spirit Roots in a row!" The steward testing children at the next station was green with envy.

He had more children standing behind him than Bai Chengyou did, but without an Abnormal Spirit Root among them, he wouldn’t receive any extra rewards.

"Maybe there are more disciples with Abnormal Spirit Roots this year. Perhaps you’ll be able to find one later too, Steward Wang."

"Who’s going to believe that?" Steward Wang replied with a laugh. "Disciples with Abnormal Spirit Roots only show up once every few decades on average. You think there could be a third one this year? I don’t buy it, but I hope you’re right."

Throughout the rest of the testing, no more Abnormal Spirit Roots were found.

It seemed as if Bai Chengyou’s line had used up all its luck. Forget Three Spirit Roots; he found even fewer children with Four or Five Spirit Roots than the other lines.

None of this affected Bai Chengyou’s reward, however. The extra reward for testing Spirit Roots was only given for discovering an Abnormal Spirit Root or a Celestial Spirit Root.