I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Adding this function to a shield-type Lifebound Magical Treasure was a simple matter.

Fang Yun added it while he was at it; it wouldn’t cause any problems, after all.

With his Combat Talent, he could enter a battle-ready state the instant he sensed danger. As such, this feature of the No-leak Shield made little difference to him.

Besides, he had already named it the No-leak Shield. Making its functions more comprehensive was only fitting. That was another reason he’d added it.

"Three Lifebound Magical Treasures."

Fang Yun observed the current situation in his Qi Sea.

The three Lifebound Magical Treasures manifested in different forms within his Qi Sea.

From now on, all he needed to do was continuously gather Spiritual Materials to upgrade and perform Sacrificial Refinement on his Lifebound Magical Treasures. If he had any extra, he could refine some auxiliary Magical Treasures for his own use.

Auxiliary-type Magical Treasures were the most popular among ordinary ones, as most Cultivators’ Lifebound Magical Treasures already combined both offense and defense.

With three Lifebound Magical Treasures, Fang Yun’s overall strength had risen.

Defensive measures were also a part of overall strength.

The increase in his overall strength would allow the final step of his plan against the Celestial Demon Sect to proceed more smoothly.

The second-to-last step of the plan was already almost half complete, and the Celestial Demon Sect’s Core Formation Demons were still holed up inside their sect.

...

The Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.

At the site of a sect that was originally an affiliate of the Celestial Demon Sect, Miao Qinghong was currently observing her surroundings.

Meanwhile, Array Elder Zheng Chunyu was setting up a Spirit Array.

Miao Qinghong’s mission was to stand guard here until the Array Elder finished setting up the Grand Array.

By her count, it had been five years since she had broken through to the mid-stage of the Core Formation Stage.

Tasks like this were all taken by her, a Supreme Elder. Every time, she hoped to encounter an attack from a Core Formation Demon, but it never happened.

’According to Elder Fang Taishang’s speculation, it’s most likely that the Celestial Demon Sect’s Core Formation Demons will make a move this time. I hope they show up.’

Miao Qinghong was looking forward to it.

Now that she was at the mid-stage of Core Formation, she was even more itching for a fight than when she was in the early stage. She desperately wanted to trade blows with the Core Formation Demons and see just how strong they were.

Fang Yun had speculated that the Celestial Demon Sect’s Demons were most likely to act this time. The reason was simple: once this new territory was secured, the Celestial Cloud Sect would have taken over the lands of half the Celestial Demon Sect’s affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences.

The first step in their occupation of the territory was to destroy the Demon Veins.

This way, even if the territory was retaken by the Demons, it would take a very, very long time to recover.

They held a significant advantage in seizing territory; they had simply lacked the opportunity before. A century ago, the Cultivators of the Celestial Cloud Sect would never have even dreamed of occupying land in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.

The territories they had previously occupied, apart from the first one, had all been allocated.

Priority for allocation was given to influences that were already Foundation Establishment Influences but lacked a decent territory within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s domain.

These influences were often Qi Refining Influences decades ago. Later, a Cultivator within their ranks would break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, but their territory didn’t keep up. They didn’t even have a single piece of land with their own Second Tier Spirit Vein.

As the Celestial Cloud Sect grew stronger, the number of such nascent Foundation Establishment Influences within its territory began to increase.

They could get priority access to the territory here. If they felt they weren’t strong enough, they could also share a territory with other nascent Foundation Establishment Influences.

As for how the affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences allocated the land amongst themselves, the Celestial Cloud Sect gave them autonomy, but the annual tribute of resources could not be reduced.

To put it bluntly, these territories were rented out by the Celestial Cloud Sect, and the tribute of resources was the rent.

So far, after a Defense Array was set up, every territory occupied within the Celestial Demon Sect’s domain was guarded by at least three Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

These were basically all Cultivators from affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences.

More Foundation Establishment Cultivators here meant fewer Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Celestial Cloud Sect’s own territory.

Since the Demon Spirit Sect and Black Ghost Cave had made almost no moves recently, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences weren’t worried about problems arising back home.

The Demon Spirit Sect’s last move had been dealt with swiftly.

「As time went on.」

Miao Qinghong saw that Zheng Chunyu was about to finish setting up the Grand Array here, yet she hadn’t seen even a shadow of a Core Formation Demon.

Once the Defense Array here was complete, she would have to leave. The Cultivators coming to guard this place and use the land for production would only be at the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Stages.

"The situation now is even smoother than Elder Fang Taishang predicted," Miao Qinghong couldn’t help but murmur.

According to Elder Fang Taishang, this second-to-last step of the plan was the one most likely to go wrong. He had warned her not to let her guard down on this mission.

She hadn’t let her guard down, but the Core Formation Demons still weren’t showing up.

「A short while later.」

Miao Qinghong didn’t sense any fluctuations of Demon Power, but she did sense two waves of Spiritual Power approaching.

It was two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

These two Foundation Establishment Cultivators both came from affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences of the Celestial Cloud Sect. One was from Red Flame Valley, and the other from White Crane Castle.

On their way over, besides being vigilant of their surroundings, they had also been constantly talking.

They were now very close to their destination. With a Supreme Elder from the Upper Sect currently standing guard, their vigilance had lessened considerably upon arrival.

"...Fellow Daoist Du, regarding the cooperation between our White Crane Castle and your Red Flame Valley, let’s settle it like this."

"Mm, if Fellow Daoist Feng has no objections, then the cooperation between our two groups can be confirmed."

"Fellow Daoist Du, let me just confirm, are you sure you can fully represent Red Flame Valley?"

"Of course. I have full authority over this matter now. Isn’t it the same for you, Fellow Daoist Feng?"

This newest territory occupied within the Celestial Demon Sect’s domain wasn’t secured by a single affiliated Foundation Establishment Influence of the Celestial Cloud Sect, but rather through a collaboration between two groups for joint defense and production.

"This place is already very close to the Celestial Demon Sect’s main headquarters. Our two groups must be extra careful when guarding this place."

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Feng. I understand what you’re saying. Even if the Celestial Demon Sect has turtled up like this, we must still be very careful."

The fact that the Celestial Demon Sect had turtled up was something that they, the Cultivators from the Celestial Cloud Sect’s affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences, could all feel very clearly.

This could be seen from one simple point.

Over the years, the number of Foundation Establishment Demons from the Celestial Demon Sect who fought them in the sect’s territory had been gradually decreasing.

"Speaking of which, Fellow Daoist Du, the Xu Family, that former affiliate of your Red Flame Valley, has some really good luck. Someone in their family broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage right at a good time. Even the territory allocated to them is excellent, being the closest to the Upper Sect’s branch headquarters."

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator from Red Flame Valley, surnamed Du, nodded in agreement.

"Their luck is indeed quite good. It’s mainly because the Xu Family’s ancestral land was near the border of the original territory."

Qi Refining Influences were affiliated with them, the Foundation Establishment Influences. When a Cultivator among these Qi Refiners broke through to Foundation Establishment and became a pseudo-Foundation Establishment Influence, they would voluntarily break away and become a direct affiliate of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

The so-called pseudo-Foundation Establishment Influence was one that had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator but no territory befitting a Foundation Establishment Influence.

As more and more territory in the Celestial Demon Sect’s domain was occupied, the Celestial Cloud Sect no longer had any pseudo-Foundation Establishment Influences as affiliates.

After chatting for a while, the two arrived at their destination.

They saw Miao Qinghong.

"Senior Miao!" The moment they saw Miao Qinghong, they both bowed and greeted her in unison.

"Mm." Miao Qinghong nodded lightly.

She naturally knew what the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the affiliated influences were here to do.

And so, she spoke:

"After you two finish dividing everything up, just write down the specific allocations and give me a copy for my records."

"Yes, Senior!"

"Go on and do what you need to do."

After saying this, Miao Qinghong vanished from before them.

Seeing this, the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators began their planning and allocation.

On a Spirit Vein Land, how many acres of Spirit Fields to develop, what grade those Spirit Fields were, how the two groups would divide them, and the ownership of some Spirit Trees and Spiritual Bamboo—anything involving resources had to be clearly defined.

Just as the Cultivators from Red Flame Valley and White Crane Castle were about finished, the Demons of the Celestial Demon Sect were deciding on a major matter.