I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

"What are your thoughts on this new territory?" Sect Leader Duan Qingyun swept his gaze over the Supreme Elders, letting it rest on Fang Yun for a moment longer than the others.

"We should just use this territory ourselves."

"I agree. We have enough manpower within the sect right now. Assigning some people to an additional small territory won’t have any major impact on us."

"Before our sect’s Spirit Vein was upgraded, I would have completely agreed with you. But things are different now. I think we should give it to one of our subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences."

If a subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence occupied the territory, they would be required to provide the sect with more resources annually.

Any Spirit Vein Land within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory was effectively theirs. When a subordinate influence resided there, it was like they were paying rent—and that rent was paid in resources. Beyond that, they also served as a defensive line.

Subordinate influences had lower standards for recruiting Cultivators.

Cultivators who didn’t want to remain Loose Cultivators but lacked the necessary talent could serve one of the subordinate influences, which was equivalent to serving the Celestial Cloud Sect itself.

To use an analogy, if the subordinate influences represented general education, then the Celestial Cloud Sect provided an elite education.

"Giving the territory to a subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence also allows them to act as our beachhead."

The Supreme Elders all shared their opinions, but Fang Yun had yet to say a word.

When everyone had more or less said their piece, the gazes of many Supreme Elders turned to him.

It seemed he, rather than the Sect Leader, was the true core of the sect.

"I believe this is the first piece of land we’ve managed to carve out of the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory," Fang Yun said, sharing his thoughts. "It holds great significance. We could establish a presence here, something akin to a branch sect of our Celestial Cloud Sect."

He believed it was better for them to manage this territory themselves.

"We’ve discussed this enough. Let’s put it to a vote."

The purpose of voicing various opinions before a vote was to facilitate a thorough exchange of ideas. After such a discussion, it was possible that someone who initially disagreed might see the logic in another’s argument and change their mind.

"All in favor of keeping this territory for us to manage ourselves, raise your hand."

All the Supreme Elders raised their hands except for Wang Lingwei. Sect Leader Duan Qingyun also sided with the majority.

With the majority of the sect’s upper echelon in agreement, the decision was easily made.

The only one who had yet to state an opinion was Miao Qinghong, who was not present.

Her objection wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Besides, based on what they knew of her, Miao Qinghong would most likely have voted in favor too.

The decision was made.

Next came the discussion of the general plan.

The specific implementation details are typically worked out by the Four Peaks, Three Halls, and Two Institutes, then submitted to the Sect Leader for final approval.

「Less than a day later.」

The Spirit Field Institute had already convened a meeting.

They were responsible for Spirit Fields and cultivation.

At the meeting, Mi Xiaoqi began with a general overview of the situation at the territory of the Original Stone Demon Sect.

"There’s a Second Tier, Lower Grade Spirit Vein here. According to the reports we’ve received, after one cycle of cultivation and after absorbing some of the essence from the Demon Vein, this Spirit Vein can be upgraded to Second Tier, Middle Grade.

The current number of developed Spirit Fields are as follows: half a mu of Second Tier, Middle Grade; two mu of Second Tier, Lower Grade; eighteen mu of Tier One, Upper Grade; fifty mu of Tier One, Middle Grade; and one hundred thirty-three mu of Tier One, Lower Grade.

Placed before you is the topographical map of this territory. Does anyone have any thoughts?"

Soon, an Elder from the Spirit Field Institute expressed his opinion.

"I don’t think it’s necessary to develop any more Second Tier Spirit Fields here. We should repurpose the existing two and a half mu of Second Tier fields and develop more Tier One Spirit Fields instead. This location right here would be perfect for them."

"Yes, I’m inclined to agree. If we need more Second Tier Spirit Fields, we can just develop a few more mu back at the sect."

"Honestly, this location isn’t very secure. It’s better to develop more Tier One Spirit Fields. That way, we’ll only need to send more disciples to tend to the Spirit Medicine."

At first, everyone was quite in agreement with the ideas of the Spirit Field Institute’s Elders.

Giving up a few mu of Second Tier Spirit Fields meant many more mu of Tier One Spirit Fields could be developed.

"We probably don’t need the Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Fields either. Think about it—many basic Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Medicines can be tended to even by Loose Cultivators outside the sect. We should just concentrate on developing Tier One, Middle Grade and Tier One, Upper Grade Spirit Fields here."

"That way, we won’t need to clear new land. We can just repurpose the areas where the Tier One, Lower Grade fields were."

"That’s not bad either. I agree."

As the discussion continued, they quickly came to a conclusion on the specific approach for the Spirit Fields and their cultivation.

After Mi Xiaoqi finished recording and summarizing the conclusions, he added:

"For the initial phase, we’ll need to send an Elder over. There might still be some Spirit Medicine growing in the fields there. Some of it could still be alive and useful to us, and we can’t let it go to waste. Who is willing to go?"

"I’ll go." Before long, an Elder volunteered.

"Good. In that case, Elder Zhang, you will be fully responsible for this matter."

The Spirit Fields at the Original Stone Demon Sect’s headquarters had been abandoned for several months. Not all of the Spirit Medicine would have died and withered in that time. As long as a plant could compete for Spiritual Qi, it had a chance of survival.

As for the medicinal herbs that required Demon Qi to grow, they were doomed to die, since the Demon Vein had been destroyed.

However, among the Spirit Medicines planted by the Demons, there were still quite a few that only required Spiritual Qi and had no need for Demon Qi.

Regarding the matter of the new territory, not all of the sect’s mid-level departments needed to hold a meeting.

Dan Cloud Peak, for instance, wouldn’t be sending any disciples. If they needed to perform Refining for pills, they could simply have the harvested Spirit Medicine transported back.

The meetings that ran relatively long, besides the Spirit Field Institute’s, also included the Battle Peak’s.

The reason the Battle Peak meeting dragged on was that many of its Elders wanted to be stationed there as a Guardian.

Being close to the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory meant they could sometimes take on more missions.

Within the current Battle Peak, the Elders were generally eager to take on missions, and tasks like this were especially popular.

With so many wolves and so little meat, conflict was inevitable.

It wasn’t a simple matter of sending the strongest. The Battle Peak’s Management Elder, along with his second and third in command, had to carefully consider the personnel assignments. Otherwise, the list of dispatched Elders they submitted to the Sect Leader might not even get approved.

Not all proposed plans would be approved by the Sect Leader.

As the leader of an entire sect, his considerations had to be even more comprehensive.

...

「Celestial Demon Sect Territory.」

「Feishu Manor Headquarters.」

A hundred years ago, this was still the territory of the Demon Foundation Establishment Influence, Iron Tiger Manor.

Feishu Manor was also a newly risen Foundation Establishment Influence within the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory. Only its Manor Master was an early-stage Foundation Establishment Demon.

"Manor Master, we still can’t contact the Zhou Family."

"Still can’t contact them..."

The shifty-eyed Manor Master of Feishu Manor couldn’t help but frown.

Sometime earlier, the disciple they’d sent to the Zhou Family had gone missing, and they still hadn’t been able to re-establish contact.

In the current situation...

It seemed there was only one possible explanation.

The Zhou Family had been annihilated—and so quietly that not a single piece of news had gotten out. This was most likely the work of the mysterious Spirit Refiner.

These fledgling Foundation Establishment Influences had all operated under the assumption that the mysterious Spirit Refiner wasn’t interested in them. That had been good news, but their inability to contact the Zhou Family now forced the Feishu Manor Master to abandon that comforting thought.

’Our Feishu Manor could also fall to this mysterious Spirit Refiner.’

"I understand. There’s no need to send any more people to the Zhou Family. You’re dismissed."

"Yes, Manor Master."

When the Feishu Manor Master was the only one left in the room...

He took out a Sound Transmission Talisman.

’I have to report the situation with the Zhou Family to the Celestial Demon Sect.’

’This isn’t something Feishu Manor can handle. If anyone is going to deal with it, it has to be the Celestial Demon Sect. Let them send people to the Zhou Family to see what’s going on.’

After condensing the message, the Feishu Manor Master transmitted the information.

"I just hope they don’t send a message back ordering me to go check it out myself."

The Feishu Manor Master muttered to himself. That was the last thing he wanted, because it would be incredibly dangerous.