Chapter 510 - 362: A Difficult Choice
"Husband, I have the latest news."
In the largest cave residence on Cloud Summit of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
Song Qiaoqiao knocked on the door of Fang Yun’s Cultivation Room.
"What’s the news?" Fang Yun asked, his cultivation session now over.
While he was focused on improving his Cultivation, both of his carrier clones were also at work. One was handling a task that required no direct intervention from him, but the other needed occasional adjustments.
"The Demon Spirit Sect has made a move."
"Elaborate."
"We received a report from the Celestial Water Sect. They’ve encountered Foundation Establishment Demons in their territory and confirmed they are not from the Celestial Demon Sect..."
Song Qiaoqiao elaborated on the information she had.
If the Demon Spirit Sect wasn’t providing any support to the Celestial Demon Sect, then normally, Foundation Establishment Demons from their sect wouldn’t be appearing in our territory at this time.
The appearance of Qi Refining Level Demons, on the other hand, was to be expected.
"It seems the final step of the plan will have to be postponed," Fang Yun said after listening to her report.
This news confirmed that the Demon Spirit Sect was indeed supporting the Celestial Demon Sect, trying to divert some of the firepower aimed at the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm.
According to Fang Yun’s calculations, his step-by-step plan should have reduced the probability of the Demon Spirit Sect intervening to thirty percent. The likelihood of the Black Ghost Cave getting involved was even lower, at only five percent.
If the Demon Spirit Sect acted, the chance of the Black Ghost Cave joining in would rise to ten percent.
"Husband, when do you plan to make your move?" Song Qiaoqiao asked.
She knew that according to Fang Yun’s plan, any sect that supported the Celestial Demon Sect, be it the Demon Spirit Sect or the Black Ghost Cave, would face his retaliation.
"I’ll act once my carrier clones have finished their tasks."
Moving against the Demon Spirit Sect wasn’t a particularly urgent matter.
There were advantages to acting sooner, just as there were to acting later.
Regardless of when he went, his upcoming operation in the Demon Spirit Sect’s Earth Realm had one primary objective.
He had to silently eliminate two of the Demon Spirit Sect’s vassal influences.
That’s right. Not one, but two!
Eliminating two of their vassal influences would serve as a warning to the Demon Spirit Sect.
If the Demon Spirit Sect backed off as a result, the full-scale campaign against them would be delayed significantly.
In Fang Yun’s grand strategy, the ideal scenario was to eliminate the surrounding Evil Sects one by one, thereby minimizing the cost to his own sect.
Given the Celestial Cloud Sect’s current level of development, and with a clear understanding of his own strength, Fang Yun no longer feared a joint attack from the Celestial Demon Sect, the Demon Spirit Sect, and the Black Ghost Cave. However, fending off such a siege would still come at a considerable cost.
If the Celestial Cloud Sect was to truly rise and become a Nascent Soul Level influence, it would have to face many more trials in the future.
"My dear, have the messages sent from the sect to our vassal Foundation Establishment Influences followed the original plan?" Fang Yun asked, just to be sure.
"Yes, we are following the contingency plan you outlined, Husband."
"Good."
There were different contingency plans in place, whether they were dealing with the Black Ghost Cave, the Demon Spirit Sect, or both simultaneously.
The plan for dealing with the Demon Spirit Sect’s interference was to first instruct their vassal Foundation Establishment Influences not to panic.
They would handle these Demons themselves. The Cultivators dispatched to the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm could simply continue their operations with peace of mind.
...
「The Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory.」
Within a forest in the territory managed by the Celestial Water Sect, two Foundation Establishment Stage Demons lay in ambush.
They were not Foundation Establishment Elders from the Demon Spirit Sect itself, but rather Foundation Establishment Demons from its various vassal influences.
As they lay in wait for the right moment, the two Foundation Establishment Demons communicated via voice transmission.
"I don’t get what the Demon Spirit Sect is thinking. They never mobilized us before, but now that the Celestial Cloud Sect’s vassal influences have grown this powerful, they’re ordering us to attack."
"You’re not the only one; I can’t figure it out either. Just look at how powerful the Celestial Water Sect has become. Even with three of their Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm, they still have three more at home. If we try to wipe out one of their vassal Qi Refining Influences, they can easily send reinforcements."
"Fellow Daoist Gu, your last mission failed?"
"Of course it failed. Even someone as powerful as you, Fellow Daoist Yang, would have found that mission difficult. You couldn’t have succeeded unless the Celestial Water Sect only had a single Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner left."
Their current mission was to ambush and intercept any Celestial Water Sect Foundation Establishment Cultivators returning from the Celestial Demon Sect’s Earth Realm.
With problems stirring up back home, it was highly likely that the Celestial Water Sect would recall some of its members.
"Fellow Daoist Gu, there’s something I’m worried about."
"What is it, Fellow Daoist Yang?"
"Do you think this operation of ours will provoke that mysterious Spirit Refiner into acting against us?"
"That’s the same thing I’m worried about, Fellow Daoist Yang."
Unlike the Demon Spirit Sect, which merely found the mysterious Spirit Refiner to be a headache, these vassal influences were terrified of him.
The systematic annihilation of the Celestial Demon Sect’s vassal influences had already proven one thing: if the mysterious Spirit Refiner decided to target them, the Demon Spirit Sect would be powerless to stop him.
Their only hope would be if a Core Formation Demon from the Demon Spirit Sect could be stationed in their territory long-term.
That, however, was clearly impossible.
"I’ve heard the mysterious Spirit Refiner has been inactive lately. Let’s hope he stays that way for good."
"That would be for the best."
Their intelligence came from the Foundation Establishment Elders of the Demon Spirit Sect.
According to those Foundation Establishment Elders, the mysterious Spirit Refiner had most likely traveled to a distant land. They were told not to worry and to simply mobilize their sects’ forces as ordered.