I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

His master had once said that his Alchemy Talent was excellent, second only to the Sect Leader within the entire sect. No matter how vast the gap between first and second, second was still second.

Besides, as number two, his talent far surpassed that of number three.

But it was still incredibly difficult for him to obtain a Golden Core Pill!

The sect bestowed Golden Core Pills based on talent. In the Celestial Cloud Sect, however, the least valued talents were Alchemy Talent and Artifact Refining Talent, and this was directly related to the Sect Leader.

The Sect Leader’s talent in both Alchemy and Artifact Refining was far too high. He handled the refining for all the sect’s Third Tier pills and crucial Second Tier pills. As a result, the sect didn’t actually have a high demand for talented Alchemy Masters.

This also demonstrated the Sect Leader’s brilliant methods. His Core Formation Technique came from the Purple Mist Sect and was particularly compatible with him. Rumor had it that he didn’t personally refine many of the pills credited to him, which explained how he could produce so many.

If the Sect Leader hadn’t cultivated this technique, perhaps the sect’s demand for Alchemy Masters would be different.

"I have to display as much of my talent as possible. That’s the only way to increase my chances of getting a Golden Core Pill later on. By the time I reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment, the sect will have more Golden Core Pills anyway."

Han Yichen comforted himself.

He kept one thought to himself: while the sect would indeed have more Golden Core Pills by then, it would also have more Sect Elders.

With an increase in the number of Sect Elders, the number of highly talented Elders among them would almost certainly increase as well.

...

Time flew by.

Three years had passed.

The Kong Family was a newly risen Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan.

Thirty years ago, their clan leader had only been at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer of Cultivation. Now, the family had two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Many newly promoted Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clans fail to produce a second Foundation Establishment Cultivator within fifty years. In some cases, only the clan leader successfully reaches Foundation Establishment. After a century or so, the family is unable to produce another, and the Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan regresses back into a Qi Refining Clan.

The Kong Family’s patriarch felt that their family had emerged in a good era.

Having just become a Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan, they had obtained an excellent piece of territory, which contained a Second Tier Middle Grade Spirit Vein.

After a Qi Refining Clan becomes a Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan, the most difficult problem to solve is the issue of territory.

The matter of territory could directly affect a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s Cultivation.

After the Celestial Cloud Sect wiped out the Demon Spirit Sect, their Kong Family had solved this problem in one fell swoop.

The Kong Family had now relocated to the former territory of the Demon Spirit Sect. Their lands were situated rather close to the territory of the Ghost-Controlling Sect, a Ghost Cultivator Influence.

"Reporting to the Clan Leader!"

"What is it? Speak."

"Recently, the number of Qi Refining Ghost Cultivators our family’s Cultivators have encountered in skirmishes has increased significantly compared to before."

"Is there any news of Foundation Establishment Ghost Cultivators?" the Kong Family patriarch asked.

"There is no related news."

"Then we can’t be sure."

The Kong Family patriarch considered this. ’If a Foundation Establishment Ghost Cultivator really did appear in our territory, they could just kill our Qi Refining Cultivators so quickly that no message could be sent back. That would also explain the lack of news.’

"What are the family’s recent Cultivator casualties?"

"They are also higher than before." With the increased number of skirmishes, a rise in casualties was to be expected.

"Alright, I understand. You may leave."

"Yes."

The Kong clansman slowly retreated, leaving the Kong Family patriarch alone to think.

Ever since there had been movement from the Dragon Demon Palace, the Celestial Cloud Sect had issued them an order: they were to pay close attention to the movements of the Ghost-Controlling Sect’s Ghost Cultivators. If anything seemed amiss, they were to report it to the Celestial Cloud Sect immediately.

This was not good news for the Kong Family.

A newly risen Foundation Establishment Cultivation Clan like theirs was in desperate need of time to develop.

They had thought that after the Celestial Cloud Sect eliminated the Demon Spirit Sect, they would have at least sixty or seventy years of stable development. But in the end, just over twenty years had passed before the Dragon Demon Palace started making moves.

The Dragon Demon Palace’s activities couldn’t affect them yet. They were far away, and they held no territory in the former lands of the Original Celestial Demon Sect.

But now that the Ghost-Controlling Sect was making moves, it was a different story.

’This news must be reported. It’s highly likely the Ghost-Controlling Sect has already begun to act.’

With that, the Kong Family patriarch began to report his findings.

’That’s strange. Logically speaking, since the Ghost-Controlling Sect didn’t help the Demon Spirit Sect, they shouldn’t be helping the Dragon Demon Palace either...’

The Kong Family patriarch thought about it, but he couldn’t figure it out.

The Kong Family’s location, as well as his own personal experiences, imposed many limitations on him. There were some things one simply couldn’t understand without a higher perspective.

「Over the past month.」

Many of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s vassal Foundation Establishment Influences had sent information to the sect.

The information they passed on was mostly of auxiliary use. The Celestial Cloud Sect’s main source of intelligence was still its own department, the Evil Extermination Hall.

「Celestial Cloud Sect, Cloud Summit.」

Inside a great hall, Fang Yun was currently looking over a summary of intelligence from the Evil Extermination Hall.

’Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect have both started making small moves. This is likely related to Ghost Head Castle... But why would Ghost Head Castle help the Dragon Demon Palace?’

Afterward, Fang Yun began to review the recently collected intelligence on Ghost Head Castle. Ever since Ghost Head Castle had started helping the Dragon Demon Palace against them, information gathering on the castle had never ceased.

Previously, due to their limited interactions with Ghost Head Castle, the intelligence they had gathered on it was scant.

They only knew that Ghost Head Castle was one of the Ghost Cultivator Core Formation Influences. In terms of both overall strength and occupied territory, it ranked among the top.

Fang Yun was not worried about the minor movements of Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect.

With the Celestial Cloud Sect’s current strength, even if Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect recklessly helped the Dragon Demon Palace, they would not be intimidated in the slightest and could handle it with ease.

It wasn’t just them. Over the years, the sect’s vassal Foundation Establishment Influences had also developed well under their care. Among them, the Foundation Establishment Wang Family, Celestial Water Sect, Spring Spirit Sect, and the Foundation Establishment Zhou Family all had a double-digit number of Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Among the other Foundation Establishment Influences, the older ones mostly had more than five Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and the majority of the newly emerged ones were also developing acceptably.

These streams of power from the Foundation Establishment Influences formed lines of defense within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory. Both Demons and Ghost Cultivator Influences had to take them seriously.

As long as Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect made no major moves, the Celestial Cloud Sect wouldn’t even need to dispatch any of its own forces.

But just because they didn’t have to dispatch forces didn’t mean they wouldn’t.

Under Miao Qinghong’s management, the Battle Peak was now even more aggressive than before. The Elders of the Battle Peak were more eager than ever for missions.

When Miao Qinghong, in her capacity as a Supreme Elder, took charge of the Battle Peak again, Fang Yun had expected it would turn out this way.

Everything is a double-edged sword.

Miao Qinghong’s management had its pros and cons.

In the current situation, Fang Yun would not interfere too much with Miao Qinghong’s management.

The words he had spoken to Miao Qinghong were simple: before thinking about further expansion, they first had to finish digesting their previous gains. What was more important now was to protect their existing territory from being affected.

"...Ghost Head Castle’s Supreme Elder, Duan Shiling, is suspected to have recently broken through to the Peak of Core Formation. This piece of information..."

As Fang Yun read this new piece of information, many associations sprang to his mind.

Breaking through from the Late-stage Core Formation to the Peak of Core Formation is difficult. None of the other powers—not Black Ghost Cave, the Ghost-Controlling Sect, nor the Dragon Demon Palace—had a cultivator at the Peak of Core Formation.

Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect at least had Late-stage Core Formation experts. The Dragon Demon Palace didn’t even have that anymore.

Resources are crucial for cultivating quickly in the Core Formation Stage. Many sects have few Third Tier resources for their Core Formation Stage cultivators to begin with, and allocating them is a troublesome affair. Everyone wants to fight for more resources, which creates internal conflict.

Under these circumstances, few could even cultivate to the Late-stage Core Formation, let alone the Peak of Core Formation.

’Duan Shiling’s cultivation talent is extremely high; he could be called the number one prodigy of Ghost Head Castle in several hundred years. Now, if he has reached the Peak of Core Formation, he’s most likely thinking about the Nascent Soul Stage...’

The more Fang Yun thought about it, the clearer everything became.

’Ghost Head Castle is helping the Dragon Demon Palace deal with us, and now they’ve dragged Black Ghost Cave and the Ghost-Controlling Sect into it. The biggest reason for all this is probably this Duan Shiling. He wants to see the situation here descend into greater chaos!’