Chapter 468 - 341: Steady Progress
Faced with Cao Yuchen’s explanation, Lu Yaoling was left speechless.
But just because he couldn’t refute the point didn’t mean he couldn’t move on to the next issue.
"According to your decision, Supreme Elder Cao, what will you do when the Celestial Cloud Sect’s mysterious Spirit Refiner appears again?"
Whenever the mysterious Spirit Refiner was mentioned, and his actions recalled, the sect’s Core Formation Cultivators all knew what Lu Yaoling was implying.
The reappearance of the mysterious Spirit Refiner meant another one of their vassal Foundation Establishment Influences was about to suffer.
Before, this kind of problem only happened during major wars.
Now, however, there were no guarantees.
"I told you, Elder Lu, you’re being too hasty. I’ve already said we can’t be rash right now. If you’re going to speculate about future possibilities, then I can just as easily speculate that the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Spirit Refiner will only attack our Elder this one time and that nothing like this will happen again."
Having said this, Cao Yuchen paused, waiting to hear what else Lu Yaoling had to say.
When Lu Yaoling remained silent,
he added another point.
"By staying put and defending, we hold the geographical advantage. Even with the Celestial Cloud Sect’s current strength, and even without help from the Demon Spirit Sect or other Core Formation Influences, they don’t have the power to destroy us. Not unless they can bring in Core Formation Cultivators from other Spirit Refiner factions."
This was why Cao Yuchen was not in a hurry. Compared to Lu Yaoling’s aggression, he was far more conservative.
He also wanted to destroy the Celestial Cloud Sect, but now was simply not the right time.
That opportunity would have to be seized by the sect’s future leaders.
The right time, in Cao Yuchen’s view, would be when the Celestial Cloud Sect was nearly as weak as it had been at its historical low point. Only then could they make a real move, and only then would they have a high probability of destroying the sect.
In Cao Yuchen’s heart, he believed the Celestial Cloud Sect was doomed to fall eventually.
After all, three thousand years ago, there were many more Spirit Refiner Core Formation Influences. Now, only six remained.
Within the Qionglin Domain, the Spirit Refiners were destined to be the first to go extinct.
After the other high-ranking sect members voiced no objections, Lu Yaoling, as the most powerful Supreme Elder of the Celestial Demon Sect, still had to have the last word.
"We will proceed as Supreme Elder Cao says. As for investigating certain information, I have already tasked Hall Master Xue with the arrangements."
In truth, Lu Yaoling was also well aware that it was nearly impossible for the Celestial Cloud Sect to destroy their Celestial Demon Sect.
Everything he had just said was intended to instill a sense of crisis in the other high-ranking members.
He wanted to make them feel that taking the initiative and attacking was the right course of action.
"Hall Master Xue has already gone to make the arrangements? Excellent."
Cao Yuchen nodded upon hearing this. On the matter of intelligence gathering, he had few conflicts with Lu Yaoling and generally approved of his methods.
The meeting had concluded with his decision being the one they would act upon.
He felt quite pleased.
’Finally, for once, things went my way.’ He believed it would be like this from now on; he wouldn’t have to wait for Lu Yaoling’s Life Span to run out.
...
「Celestial Cloud Sect, Cloud Summit.」
Inside a cave dwelling rich with Spiritual Qi.
The Management Elder of Dan Cloud Peak, Wan Xuanye, brought Fang Yun the Spirit Medicines for refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill.
There were ten sets in total, just like before.
"Supreme Elder, the Spirit Medicines for refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill are all here. The overall quality of the Spirit Medicines for this batch is quite good."
"Mm, let me see."
Fang Yun nodded and opened the Storage Pouch to take a look.
Indeed, compared to the last time he refined the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, the overall quality of the Spirit Medicines was significantly higher.
This would help him perfectly refine the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill even faster.
After delivering the Spirit Medicines for the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, Wan Xuanye did not linger.
He knew Fang Yun was very busy—even more so after reaching Core Formation. During the Foundation Establishment Stage, he only had Artifact Refining and Alchemy to worry about, but now in Core Formation, he had also taken up planting.
「Not long after.」
Fang Yun’s figure appeared in the Alchemy Room.
Right now, his vessel avatar was tending to Spirit Medicines in a Second-Tier, Lower Grade Spirit Field.
In the art of planting, he was rich in theoretical knowledge, and with the help of his eight-star Planting Talent, his practical experience was accumulating at an incredible pace.
Now, even his vessel avatar was capable of tending to Second-Tier, Lower Grade Spirit Medicines on its own.
This improvement in his planting ability also gave him more freedom in managing his time.
Previously, he couldn’t yet entrust the task of caring for Spirit Medicines to his vessel avatar. This added more factors to consider in his time management, reducing the flexibility of his schedule.
After adjusting his condition to its peak, Fang Yun began refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill.
This was the first time he was refining a Third-Tier pill since reaching Core Formation.
Compared to when he was in the Foundation Establishment Stage, refining a Third-Tier pill after reaching Core Formation allowed him to handle certain steps of the process more quickly, which saved a little time.
When the time saved from multiple steps was added up, the total was even more significant.
「Five and a half days later.」
Fang Yun completed the refining of one batch of Five Qi Chao Ling Pills.
He remembered that the first time he refined the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, it had taken him more than five days and eight two-hour periods.
He was now faster by more than two two-hour periods.
The time he now spent refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill was close to its limit. Many steps in alchemy had strict requirements for timing, medicinal power processing, and fire intensity, leaving no room to save any more time.
Saving more than two two-hour periods per batch meant that over ten batches, he could save nearly two days.
To a Core Formation Cultivator, two days might not seem like much. But for Fang Yun, who had so much to do and sought rapid progress, every bit of time was squeezed out and put to use.
The six Five Qi Chao Ling Pills from the cauldron landed in his hand.
Two were Upper Grade, and the rest were Middle Grade.
’With the quality of the Spirit Medicines in this batch, a perfect refinement would yield three Upper-Grade and three Middle-Grade pills. The influence of reaching Core Formation is much greater than I imagined.’