I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

And that was indeed the case.

None of the four Elders encountered any issues while refining and absorbing the pill.

The Elder at the Peak of Foundation Establishment was the fastest to finish refining and absorbing it.

He felt that while the Upper-Grade pill was refined and absorbed very quickly, the increase in Spiritual Power it provided was rather mediocre.

This was normal. The main ingredient, the Four-Core Spirit Flower, was merely a mutation of the Three-Core Spirit Flower and was still a Second-Tier, Lower-Grade Spirit Medicine. A pill using it as the main ingredient was primarily intended for early and mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, just like the Spirit Ascension Pill.

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Elder’s experience was not much different from that of the Elder at the Peak of Foundation Establishment, except that the pill was slightly more effective for him, with its effects not diminishing as noticeably.

Since the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Elder had never taken an Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill at this realm, he couldn’t offer many points of comparison.

Fang Yun simply took brief notes on these two Elders, as their results had the least impact on his conclusions.

"Supreme Elder, this pill’s medicinal effects are better than an Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill, and the time it takes to refine and absorb is about the same."

"How much better?"

"About twenty percent."

From the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Elder, Fang Yun obtained a crucial piece of information.

With this information, he knew his new pill could replace the Spirit Ascension Pill.

However, the information from the early-stage Foundation Establishment Elder told him that the Spirit Ascension Pill could not be completely replaced just yet.

For early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, his new pill took ten percent longer to refine and absorb, and only provided a little over a ten percent greater boost to their Cultivation. This was different from the results of the mid-stage trial.

This indicated that the pill could not be fully absorbed by early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, just as it was a veiled form of waste to give the Primordial Spirit Pill to those in the early and mid-stages of Foundation Establishment.

A boost of over ten percent was already quite significant.

But the calculation wasn’t that simple.

One had to consider that the Three-Core Spirit Flower could be harvested over a year earlier than the Four-Core Spirit Flower, and the auxiliary Spirit Medicines required for its refining were also less valuable.

All things considered, his new pill could only replace the Spirit Ascension Pills used by mid-stage Foundation Establishment Elders. For those in the early stage, it was still more cost-effective to use the Spirit Ascension Pill.

’I’ll call it the Refining Spirit Pill from now on.’

Since it could be put into use, it needed a name. The name signified that his new pill was, in a sense, an upgraded and improved version of the Spirit Ascension Pill.

He could now also record this Pill Formula of his onto a Jade Scroll, making it easier for the other Elders to study.

Among the sect’s upper echelons, the first to hear the good news was naturally Song Qiaoqiao.

"How did it go with the new pill, my love?" Song Qiaoqiao asked the moment Fang Yun returned.

"It can replace some of the Spirit Ascension Pills from now on. Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators will benefit more from using my newly developed Refining Spirit Pill."

"The pills used by the Sect Elders haven’t been changed in over a thousand years. I knew you could do it."

A change in pills, especially one that aided in Cultivation, was a major event.

For the entire sect, this was of tremendous significance.

With the change in the auxiliary Cultivation pill used by mid-stage Foundation Establishment Elders, it meant that, on average, future Sect Elders would spend less time in the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm.

Of course, this was assuming all other conditions remained the same.

If the success rate for refining the new pill were to drop drastically, things would certainly be different.

But with Fang Yun, the pill’s creator, that certainly wouldn’t be an issue.

From now on, the refining of the new pill would generally be handled by him.

With his two vessel bodies, Fang Yun could certainly manage the workload.

In the following days, news of this gradually spread throughout the sect’s upper echelons.

Among them, the one most delighted by the news was Sect Leader Duan Qingyun.

「In less than three days.」

News of the new pill had spread to all the mid- and high-level members of the sect.

Among the Elders of the four peaks, Three Halls, and two institutes, the ones who heard the news fastest were undoubtedly the Elders of Alchemy from Dan Cloud Peak.

"Elder Fang Taishang’s new pill can be put into production. I wonder when I’ll be able to start refining it."

"The new pill is an upgraded version of the Spirit Ascension Pill. You’ll probably get the chance to refine it once you can produce at least three Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pills from a single cauldron."

"That could take a while. I haven’t even managed to refine a single Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill yet."

Compared to a century ago, the requirements Dan Cloud Peak placed on its Elders of Alchemy were now far, far stricter.

There were necessary conditions that had to be met to refine any Second-Tier pill.

If you couldn’t meet the conditions, then you had to practice until you could.

Once the news spread, the happiest group among the Sect Elders were those currently in the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"How much more expensive is the new Refining Spirit Pill compared to the Spirit Ascension Pill?"

"Ten percent more."

’A ten percent price increase for a twenty percent boost to my Cultivation... I’ll be able to reach the peak of mid-stage Foundation Establishment much sooner.’

"Hahaha, I just broke through to mid-stage Foundation Establishment, and now Elder Fang Taishang has developed a new pill that’s even more beneficial for us. My luck is pretty good, I’d say!"

"You have Elder Fang Taishang to thank for that."

...

「Red Flame Valley.」

One of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.

As the Celestial Cloud Sect continued to grow, its subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences that benefited from its rise also developed rapidly.

Compared to a century ago, the overall strength of Red Flame Valley had nearly doubled.

On this day, Red Flame Valley convened a high-level meeting attended exclusively by Foundation Establishment Level Cultivators.

The reason for the meeting was related to a message they had received from their Upper Sect, the Celestial Cloud Sect.

"Everyone, our opportunity has arrived," the Valley Master of Red Flame Valley announced.

"What opportunity?"

"The Celestial Cloud Sect has sent word. They’re going to begin seizing large swathes of the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory. How much we can gain from the Celestial Demon Sect’s lands will depend on our own performance."

As soon as he said this, the upper echelons of Red Flame Valley all understood what it meant.

It meant that the Celestial Cloud Sect was escalating its offensive against the Celestial Demon Sect.

Their Red Flame Valley’s domain bordered the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, giving them a geographical advantage in this operation compared to most of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s other subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.

Currently, only three of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences directly bordered the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.

"If we can secure another piece of territory, our Red Flame Valley will grow even stronger."

"Indeed. We simply don’t have enough Second-Tier resources right now."

Listening to the discussion among the valley’s high-ranking members, the Valley Master of Red Flame Valley couldn’t help but sigh. "A hundred years ago, I never would have imagined a day like this."

A century ago, when he was already one of Red Flame Valley’s leaders, his ambitions were simple.

He had hoped that Red Flame Valley could simply survive, that it wouldn’t be annihilated by the Demons from the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory.

Now, he was already thinking about seizing more territory.

He was well aware that all of this was thanks to the current might of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Five years ago, the Celestial Cloud Sect had gained another Core Formation Supreme Elder, bringing their total number of Core Formation Cultivators to nine.

Furthermore, in that same year, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Supreme Elder, Fang Yun, had developed a new pill.

In the future, they too would have the chance to use this new pill.

"I just wonder if the Celestial Cloud Sect will demand an extra ten or twenty percent in tribute from us each year after we acquire new territory."

"I doubt it. And even if they did add ten or twenty percent, our resource gains would still be far greater than what we have now."

The Celestial Cloud Sect required its subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences to pay a fixed tribute based on the Spirit Veins in their territory. If they acquired a new territory, they would certainly have to pay the tribute for that new territory.

This was completely acceptable to them. What they feared was being required to pay the tribute of three territories after acquiring only two.

"Don’t overthink it. That definitely won’t happen. We’ll have to expend much more energy to defend the territory we seize from the Celestial Demon Sect. Given that, the Celestial Cloud Sect won’t make additional demands on us."

"You’re all thinking about what comes after before we’ve even secured the territory," the Valley Master of Red Flame Valley said, shaking his head with a smile.

The matter of the annual resource tribute.

That could wait until they actually had a second territory.

"Regarding the operation in the Celestial Demon Sect’s territory, how much of our strength do you think we should commit?"

"The more you contribute, the more you gain. We should commit at least half of our forces."

"Yes, I think even sixty percent wouldn’t be too much."