Chapter 530 - 372: A Hidden Hand
"Support the Celestial Demon Sect? How did we get a mission like this?"
"What else could it be? The Celestial Cloud Sect is attacking the Celestial Demon Sect, obviously."
"I know that, of course. What I mean is, it’s strange for the Celestial Cloud Sect to suddenly attack the Celestial Demon Sect’s headquarters. Shouldn’t they have conquered all of the Celestial Demon Sect’s affiliated Foundation Establishment Influences first? Right now, there are still many territories in the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm adjacent to our Dragon Demon Palace that haven’t been occupied."
"Stop overthinking it. You’re not one of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s decision-makers. Let’s hurry up and move out."
Since the territories in the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm bordering the Dragon Demon Palace’s hadn’t been occupied by the Celestial Cloud Sect, it would be very easy for them to send support.
The Demons of the Dragon Demon Palace thought this way because if the Celestial Cloud Sect had occupied those territories, it would have been much more difficult for the Dragon Demon Palace to reinforce the Celestial Demon Sect.
They were puzzled why the Celestial Cloud Sect hadn’t created any trouble for them when they decided to attack the Celestial Demon Sect’s main headquarters.
These Demons from the Dragon Demon Palace, who thought the Celestial Cloud Sect’s leaders were incompetent, would soon understand why they had made this decision.
Not long after the reinforcement teams set out, the Dragon Demon Palace Master began receiving a stream of messages.
They had been ambushed!
"The Spirit Refiners of the Wind Ling Sect..."
The Dragon Demon Palace Master took a deep breath. He now understood that the Celestial Cloud Sect had no intention of letting them reinforce the Celestial Demon Sect.
The Wind Ling Sect’s ambush had been waiting for them all along.
Under these circumstances, they could still force their way through to support the Celestial Demon Sect, but they would suffer heavy losses. Moreover, not many Foundation Establishment and Core Formation cultivators would actually make it there to help.
It was time for him to make a decision.
He quickly came to a decision.
Their main priority would be to deal with the Wind Ling Sect’s Spirit Refiners. Any forces left over would be sent to reinforce the Celestial Demon Sect.
With the Dragon Demon Palace Master’s decision, some forces would eventually reach the Celestial Demon Sect, but they would be a very small contingent.
...
The Celestial Demon Sect headquarters.
「Time rewound to when Cao Yuchen sent his message.」
After killing the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, Fang Yun ignored the other three Core Formation Demons. His target was Lu Yaoling.
To be precise, his target was the Grand Array Core Array Plate in Lu Yaoling’s hands.
As long as he destroyed the Grand Array Core Array Plate, the Celestial Demon Sect’s Grand Array would be more than halfway paralyzed.
This way, it would be much easier for Miao Qinghong and the others attacking from the outside to break through the Grand Array.
It could be said that in Fang Yun’s plan, the moment the Celestial Demon Sect’s Grand Array Core Array Plate was damaged, their mission to destroy the sect would be as good as complete.
The mysterious Spirit Refiner closed in.
Lu Yaoling instantly understood the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s intentions.
There were seven Core Formation cultivators from the Celestial Cloud Sect outside. The Celestial Demon Sect’s Grand Array was the key to stopping them. As long as they could stall for long enough, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s plan to destroy them would fail once reinforcements arrived.
However, for this mysterious Spirit Refiner to dare attack him was audacious.
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader had been the weakest Demon among them. He, Lu Yaoling, was the strongest!
As a Late-stage Core Formation Demon, he possessed the true power befitting his Realm.
’You think I’ll be afraid of you just because I have to control the Grand Array?’
’How naive!’
At that moment, Lu Yaoling chose not to use the Grand Array to attack the mysterious Spirit Refiner. Instead, he canceled his active operations and left the Grand Array on its most basic defensive settings.
He wanted to see if he could eliminate the mysterious Spirit Refiner in a short amount of time.
The mysterious Spirit Refiner had killed their Celestial Demon Sect Leader in a single blow.
This was proof enough of the Spirit Refiner’s powerful Attacking Methods. Therefore, facing him, Lu Yaoling held nothing back.
Unleashing his Demon Power to its fullest, he met the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s sword strike.
Judging from the fluctuations of energy, the Demon Power completely overwhelmed the Spiritual Power. Yet, the sword strike tore a huge gash through the Demon Power and left a deep sword wound on Lu Yaoling’s body.
’Sure enough, it’s still hard for me to kill a Late-stage Core Formation Demon instantly.’
After crossing swords with a Late-stage Core Formation Demon, Fang Yun wasn’t surprised by the result at all.
He was confident in his own strength, but he wouldn’t overestimate it.
For him, at his current level, instantly killing a Late-stage Core Formation Demon was still too difficult. If his Lifebound Magical Treasure, the Profound Jade Sword, could be further enhanced through Sacrificial Refinement to gain one more Prohibition, then perhaps, combined with his Combat Talent, he could kill a Late-stage Core Formation Demon in a single strike.
An increase in strength would allow him to optimize his plans.
Time was a critical factor, which was why he hadn’t waited for the Profound Jade Sword to be further upgraded before executing the final step of his plan against the Celestial Demon Sect.
Failing to kill the Late-stage Core Formation Lu Yaoling in one strike was within Fang Yun’s expectations. Lu Yaoling, on the other hand, was completely shocked by the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s power.
’He’s merely an Early-stage Core Formation cultivator, yet he wounded me with a single sword strike.’
’Once this mysterious Spirit Refiner breaks through to the mid-stage of Core Formation, wouldn’t he be able to kill me in a single strike?’
At this very moment, Lu Yaoling felt a sliver of fear.
"Attack together!"
Lu Yaoling quickly calmed himself.
This was the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory. There was only one mysterious Spirit Refiner, while they had four Core Formation cultivators on their side. The advantage was theirs.
"No, Elder Ye, stay away from him."
Of the four remaining, Elder Ye was at the Early-stage Core Formation.
He had already gauged the power of the mysterious Spirit Refiner’s sword strike. Even with a full defense, an Early-stage Core Formation cultivator like Elder Ye probably couldn’t withstand a single blow.
Furthermore, this mysterious Spirit Refiner’s perception was abnormally powerful. In the heat of battle, he knew the exact locations of both the Celestial Demon Sect Leader’s Demon Core and his own.