Chapter 523 - 368: The Opportunity Has Come
If the mysterious Spirit Refiner of the Celestial Cloud Sect was the person Lu Yaoling wanted to kill most, then the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Fang Yun was second on that list.
Unfortunately, Fang Yun had been hiding within his sect and never came out, so there was nothing they could do about him.
During their previous assault on the Celestial Cloud Sect, they had even tried to get the sect to hand over Fang Yun in exchange for a hundred years of peace.
Thinking back to that time, Lu Yaoling recalled his high spirits.
The current situation was a far cry from before.
The tables had completely turned. They were beaten so badly by the Celestial Cloud Sect that they were now holed up in their own sect, afraid to even venture out.
Now, even if Fang Yun frequently left the Celestial Cloud Sect, they couldn’t find an opportunity to kill him.
"The Celestial Cloud Sect is changing its Sect Leader. I suppose that’s good news for us," Lu Yaoling said.
There was some information they were aware of.
A change in the Celestial Cloud Sect’s leadership meant that the previous Sect Leader’s Life Span was nearly exhausted. This would cause a significant drop in the overall strength of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Core Formation experts.
That much was obvious with a little thought.
The previous Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect, Duan Qingyun, had lived for much longer than him.
The Life Span of a Core Formation Demon was shorter than that of a Spirit Refiner. Lu Yaoling felt that living to the age of four hundred and fifty would be quite an accomplishment.
He was currently just over four hundred and thirty years old.
"Alright, I’ve received the news. You may leave."
"Yes, Supreme Elder."
Hearing this, the Spirit Destruction Hall Master immediately took his leave.
After the man left, Lu Yaoling was lost in thought.
He was thinking that this was, in fact, an opportunity.
An opportunity to send the Elder from Black Dragon Hall back. Otherwise, he would continue to consume their Middle Grade Demon Stones every year and occupy the place Lu Yaoling used to use for his cultivation.
It was the best cultivation site in the entire Celestial Demon Sect.
So, Lu Yaoling went to see the Celestial Demon Sect Leader.
Since the Celestial Demon Sect Leader was the one who had invited the man, it was only natural that he be the one to send him back.
Lu Yaoling soon arrived at the Celestial Demon Sect Leader’s residence.
"Supreme Elder Lu."
"Sect Leader, your opportunity has come."
"What opportunity?" For a moment, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader didn’t understand what Lu Yaoling meant.
"The opportunity to ask that Elder from Black Dragon Hall to return."
"Oh, what should I do?" The Celestial Demon Sect Leader began to listen intently.
After returning from Black Dragon Hall, Supreme Elder Lu Yaoling had said some things to him that the Celestial Demon Sect Leader found very reasonable.
He had been waiting for this opportunity as well.
But to ask an Elder from Black Dragon Hall to leave, one always needed a reason.
"According to the latest news, the Celestial Cloud Sect has a new Sect Leader. This means a powerful mid-stage Core Formation expert from their sect is about to pass away. You can use this opportunity to tell the Elder from Black Dragon Hall that the Celestial Cloud Sect’s power has weakened. He is no longer needed to act as Guardian here and can return to Black Dragon Hall."
"The Celestial Cloud Sect has a new Sect Leader... Did Miao Qinghong become the new Sect Leader?"
"Not Miao Qinghong. It’s that Fang Yun."
"Hm?"
"Don’t be surprised. Nowadays in the Celestial Cloud Sect, the position of Sect Leader no longer goes to the strongest. It goes to the one who has contributed the most to the sect. And among the Supreme Elders of the Celestial Cloud Sect, no one’s contributions can compare to Fang Yun’s."
Even they, in the Celestial Demon Sect, were aware of this, so it went without saying that the Celestial Cloud Sect was even more so.
Lu Yaoling said this calmly, having already forgotten his own reaction when the Spirit Destruction Hall Master had first told him the news.
"Supreme Elder Lu, I’ll go find the Elder from Black Dragon Hall right now." At this moment, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader understood one thing very clearly.
Lu Yaoling had come to him, which meant this was a task only he could carry out.
Besides, it wouldn’t be appropriate for any of the other Supreme Elders to go.
"You can go. Don’t forget to give him this year’s Demon Stones."
"Understood."
The Celestial Demon Sect paid the Elder from Black Dragon Hall his Demon Stones once a year. The time for this year’s payment hadn’t arrived yet; it was still six months away.
Lu Yaoling hated seeing the Black Dragon Hall Elder constantly consuming their Demon Stones while doing nothing, but certain formalities still had to be observed.
Asking someone to leave without giving them this year’s Demon Stones was a completely different matter from asking them to leave after giving them the payment.
After the Elder from Black Dragon Hall arrived, he spent nearly every day in the Celestial Demon Sect’s best cultivation site.
He could be found there directly.
When the Celestial Demon Sect Leader arrived, the Elder from Black Dragon Hall was still cultivating.
"Fellow Daoist Cheng, my apologies for the interruption. Here are your forty Middle Grade Demon Stones for the year."
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader said as he entered, placing the forty Middle Grade Demon Stones on the stone table.
"Sect Leader Lai, what is the meaning of this? It’s not yet time for this year’s payment, is it?"
The Elder from Black Dragon Hall frowned. He asked the question, but with a wave of his hand, he still swept all forty Middle Grade Demon Stones into his possession.
"The time has not yet come," the Celestial Demon Sect Leader first nodded, then explained. "We’ve received some recent news, so for the time being, we will no longer need to trouble you to act as our Guardian, Fellow Daoist Cheng."
"What news?"
"A mid-stage Core Formation Cultivator from the Celestial Cloud Sect has passed away." The Celestial Demon Sect Leader didn’t explain the situation directly but rather accelerated the timeline of events. "It was the old Sect Leader of the Celestial Cloud Sect. His strength ranked at least in the top two within the sect. Now that he has passed, the pressure on us has been greatly reduced."
Having said this, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader did not continue.
He believed that by this point, the Elder from Black Dragon Hall would understand.
If the Elder from Black Dragon Hall showed no intention of leaving after he had made things so clear, it meant he just wanted to freeload off the Celestial Demon Sect for their Demon Stones.
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader had already prepared what he would say next in that case.
But as it turned out, Elder Cheng of Black Dragon Hall accepted very directly.
"Starting tomorrow, I will return to Black Dragon Hall."
’So decisive?’
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader was quite surprised.
When he came here, he thought he would have to waste a lot of breath trying to persuade this Elder to return to Black Dragon Hall.
"Sect Leader Lai, is there anything else besides this matter?" Elder Cheng of Black Dragon Hall asked.
"Then I won’t disturb your cultivation any longer, Fellow Daoist Cheng."
With that, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader left immediately.
As he reached the doorway, he remembered one more thing.
Because things had gone more simply than he had expected, he had almost forgotten the final step.
"Fellow Daoist Cheng, I will see you off on your journey back to Black Dragon Hall tomorrow."
"No need to trouble yourself. Are you worried I might run into danger, Sect Leader Lai?"
"No, of course not."
Only then did the Celestial Demon Sect Leader formally depart.
He had expected that asking Elder Cheng from Black Dragon Hall to leave would be met with a direct refusal. That was within his calculations.
That last sentence was just a polite formality, and the other party clearly understood that.
All in all, the matter had been much easier than he had imagined.
The Celestial Demon Sect Leader would never have guessed that the Elder from Black Dragon Hall had agreed so readily because he had also been wanting to go back for a long time.
The Celestial Demon Sect provided him with their best cultivation environment.
But even this "best" cultivation environment was still subpar for him.
Elder Cheng of Black Dragon Hall knew that the conditions at a Core Formation Influence were average, but he hadn’t expected them to be *this* average.
Only forty Middle Grade Demon Stones per year... He had originally planned to wait five or six years, then negotiate with the Celestial Demon Sect’s upper echelons to demand an increase to seventy Middle Grade Demon Stones per year. Otherwise, he was taking too much of a loss.
Now that the Celestial Demon Sect wanted him to return, it was something he was happy to see.
After all, he had come here on a mission from Black Dragon Hall.
If he were to return on his own initiative, he would have to answer for abandoning his mission.
But with the Celestial Demon Sect actively asking him to go back, it was a completely different matter.
In any deal, if both parties agree readily, it’s highly likely that both think they’ve gotten the better end of it.
For Elder Cheng of Black Dragon Hall, acting as Guardian for the Celestial Demon Sect was a real loss. He felt like he was losing out on thirty Middle Grade Demon Stones every year.
...
Less than half a month after Fang Yun became Sect Leader, a piece of good news arrived.
As Sect Leader, unlike when he was a Supreme Elder, a great deal of the sect’s intelligence now converged on him.
Some matters even required his direct decision.
"The Black Dragon Hall Elder stationed as a Guardian at the Celestial Demon Sect has gone back."
When Fang Yun learned this news, he was overjoyed.
If the Elder from Black Dragon Hall had remained at the Celestial Demon Sect, the final step of his plan would have been truly difficult to execute.
Now, his chance had come.