I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

"Junior Sister, do you think Junior Brother Fang can win?" Bai Qinying asked via voice transmission.

"My husband will definitely win," Song Qiaoqiao replied.

"I suppose asking you that was pointless. It’s one thing for you to trust Junior Brother Fang, but for him to *definitely* win against Supreme Elder Qinghong... that’s another matter."

"Then, Senior Sister, what do you think my husband’s chances of winning are?"

"Around twenty percent, I’d say." Bai Qinying believed she was giving him reasonable odds.

Among all the Supreme Elders, her prediction for Fang Yun’s chances was the third most optimistic. The most optimistic, without a doubt, was Song Qiaoqiao, and the second most came from Huang Mengyang, who was standing beside them.

As for Song Qiaoqiao’s great-grandfather, he believed Fang Yun’s chances of victory were only ten percent—and that was him being generous.

After all, Fang Yun was still only in the Early-stage Core Formation.

A Cultivator at a lower Realm facing a Sword Cultivator would almost certainly be crushed.

If it weren’t for Fang Yun’s track record—having previously killed an Early-stage Core Formation Demon from the Celestial Demon Sect—they wouldn’t have given him such high odds.

"Elder Fang Taishang, are you ready?"

High above, Miao Qinghong and Fang Yun faced each other on the same level.

"I’m ready whenever you are."

After a moment of silence, Miao Qinghong yielded the first move to Fang Yun. "You may attack first."

Hearing this, Fang Yun simply shook his head.

"Sword Cultivators’ defensive abilities are generally on the weaker side. Elder Miao, you should be the one to attack first. My own defenses are not weak in the slightest. Back in the Qi Refining Stage, my defenses were widely acknowledged as the strongest."

As he spoke, Fang Yun even brought up his exploits from his time as a Qi Refining disciple.

He had many titles back then, but the very first one he earned was "Turtle Immortal."

Recalling for a moment, he had received that title back when he was at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

"Elder Fang Taishang, are you saying that defense is still your strongest suit?" Miao Qinghong asked curiously.

"Theoretically, yes."

Fang Yun told the truth.

Among all his Lifebound Magical Treasures, the No-leak Shield was the most difficult to refine and had the highest value. Theoretically, it was also the strongest, as all his Combat Talent star ratings were the same.

Before Sacrificial Refinement, his weakest Lifebound Magical Treasure was currently his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots.

"What?" Wang Lingwei couldn’t help but exclaim. If one were to name the person among the sect’s upper echelon with the shallowest relationship with Fang Yun, it would have to be her.

Of course, this "shallowest relationship" was only relative to the other high-ranking members. In any other sect, their relationship would be considered quite good.

With Fang Yun’s talent and abilities, no one’s relationship with him would be poor unless he actively sought to make enemies among the sect’s leadership.

The conversation between Miao Qinghong and Fang Yun high above was spoken aloud, so the sect’s upper echelon below could hear it crystal clear.

"So defense is Elder Fang Taishang’s greatest strength. This battle just got interesting." This time, it was Duan Qingyun who spoke.

The vast majority of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s leadership had mentally defaulted to assuming that stealth was Fang Yun’s greatest strength. As it turned out, it wasn’t.

At this, many people couldn’t help but glance at Song Qiaoqiao.

Judging by Song Qiaoqiao’s completely unsurprised expression, it was clear she had known all along.

"Elder Zhong Taishang, it seems you don’t know your great-grandson-in-law very well either."

Zhong Yankun had his reasons. "Why would I go around asking about all that for no reason?"

For things like this, only Song Qiaoqiao, who spent every day with Fang Yun, would know. Others were more familiar with Fang Yun’s talents in Alchemy and Artifact Refining, followed by his skill in planting.

As for Fang Yun’s combat record, that was mostly discussed back when he was a Foundation Establishment Elder.

"Junior Brother Fang’s defensive abilities... so they haven’t changed after all."

Bai Qinying still remembered from her own early Foundation Establishment days that she had been unable to break through Fang Yun’s defenses after he’d also reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

The two of them sparred less and less after that, especially once Fang Yun began dedicating more of his time to Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

While the sect’s upper echelon exchanged comments below, Miao Qinghong, hearing Fang Yun’s words and seeing his confident expression, prepared to make her move.

She wanted to see for herself if Fang Yun truly had the ability to withstand one of her sword strikes.

An invisible Sword Intent, swift as lightning, bore down on Fang Yun. This was one of the techniques of a Core Formation Sword Cultivator, a type of Sub-divine Sense attack.

Although not as powerful as a true Divine Sense attack, it could still exert immense mental pressure on an opponent.

At this very moment, Fang Yun was completely at ease.

Having entered a combat state, a portion of the No-leak Shield’s defensive power had already activated.

Miao Qinghong’s Sword Intent had no effect on him whatsoever.

’It’s a good thing I’ve finished refining the No-leak Shield. Otherwise, the pressure of fighting Elder Miao would be much greater.’

If he lacked a shield-type Lifebound Magical Treasure, he would have attacked without hesitation when Miao Qinghong offered him the first move, seizing the initiative.

But now, there was no need.

Unlike the Sword Intent of a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator, that of a Core Formation Sword Cultivator was highly focused on its target. As a result, the sect’s upper echelon below felt nothing at all.

They thought Miao Qinghong had yet to make a move, but in truth, by releasing her Sword Intent, she had already attacked.

"Here it comes!"

Unlike the Sword Intent, when the Lifebound Flying Sword appeared in Miao Qinghong’s hand, it did produce an effect on the observing sect leadership below, though for Core Formation Cultivators, this effect was almost negligible.

After all, the technique Miao Qinghong was currently using was not aimed at them.

In the next moment, before the sect leaders below could even react, Miao Qinghong struck!

A Sword Cultivator’s strike.

An exceptionally simple and unadorned strike.

The Sword Qi unleashed in this slash contained an immense amount of energy.

Her opponent was Fang Yun, so Miao Qinghong held nothing back. This was a strike with her full power. As for whether Fang Yun could withstand it, that was his problem.

One of the key impressions Fang Yun had left on her was that he never did anything he wasn’t confident about.

Since Fang Yun had claimed his defense was his greatest strength, he should at least be able to avoid serious injury from her strike, even if he couldn’t block it completely.

It was perfectly normal for Core Formation Cultivators to suffer minor injuries when they fought.

Compared to the reaction of the Core Formation experts below, Fang Yun’s reaction speed was far faster.

A pale white shield was seen rapidly circling Fang Yun, leaving no blind spots in his defense.

Under the defense of the No-leak Shield, an energy field had formed. The point where the No-leak Shield itself was located was the strongest point of this field’s defense.

Facing Miao Qinghong’s attack, Fang Yun also wanted to test his current defensive capabilities.

He only had a rough estimate of his defensive power and had yet to test it in actual combat.

As Miao Qinghong unleashed her full-power strike, Fang Yun, now in a combat state, was able to make a basic judgment.

This strike posed no threat to him.

One had to understand that a full-power strike from a mid-stage Core Formation Sword Cultivator could already threaten an ordinary Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator.

Miao Qinghong hadn’t been in the mid-stage Core Formation for long, so her strike was on the weaker side overall, but it could still just barely reach the level of power of an Attacking Method used by a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator.

’The amount of Spiritual Power this is consuming... If Elder Miao’s strike were about seventy percent stronger, it might have a chance of breaking through my defense.’

At this moment, Fang Yun had gained a much clearer understanding of his own defensive capabilities.

’It was blocked just like that?’

Miao Qinghong looked at Fang Yun, feeling very pleased.

She was pleased because she had underestimated Fang Yun’s defensive abilities, which meant he was far stronger than she had imagined.

For the entire Celestial Cloud Sect, this was undoubtedly a tremendously good thing.

The stronger Fang Yun was, the easier it would be for the Celestial Cloud Sect to expand its territory in the future. After all, he was still only in the Early-stage Core Formation.

"Elder Miao, did you use your full strength in that strike?" Duan Qingyun asked from below.

The strike had passed, yet Fang Yun remained as steady as a mountain.

Duan Qingyun needed to resolve the doubt in his heart.

As for their Magical Combat, Fang Yun hadn’t even attacked yet, so it was fine for him to ask a few questions.

If the two of them had been in the heat of battle, he wouldn’t have spoken up.

"That was my full-power strike," Miao Qinghong replied.

With Miao Qinghong’s confirmation, all the high-ranking members’ gazes focused on Fang Yun.

Fang Yun had lived in the Celestial Cloud Sect for over a hundred years and had been a high-ranking member for thirty-six of them, yet it seemed they understood him less and less.