I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

With Elder Liu of the Black Dragon Hall gone, he was the only one left.

In the Black Dragon Hall, matters such as supporting a Core Formation Influence required the consensus of multiple Elders, and there were specific Elders designated for making such decisions.

The Celestial Demon Sect Leader sat quietly, not daring to move a muscle.

He waited until Elder Liu of the Black Dragon Hall returned.

In all, he had been waiting for about four hours.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, what is the situation?" the Celestial Demon Sect Leader asked impatiently as he rose to his feet.

"Fellow Daoist Lai, your Celestial Demon Sect is in luck. The Black Dragon Hall is willing to dispatch a mid-stage and a late-stage Core Formation Elder to serve as Guardians for your sect."

Upon hearing the first part of Elder Liu’s statement, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader truly thought he was in luck. But by the time Elder Liu finished, the nascent smile on his face had frozen solid.

’This is what you call good luck?’

’They’re only serving as Guardians for our sect, not helping us deal with the Celestial Cloud Sect.’

’Serving as Guardians meant the Black Dragon Hall’s Elders would only intervene if the Celestial Cloud Sect attacked our home territory.’

’If it really came to that point, the Demon Spirit Sect and the Dragon Demon Palace would surely give their full support to prevent our destruction, even without the Black Dragon Hall’s help.’

’What was the difference between this kind of support and no support at all?’

For the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, this outcome was unacceptable.

He felt he had to at least try to negotiate.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, can the two Elders from the Black Dragon Hall only act as Guardians for our Celestial Demon Sect? Is there any other possibility?" the Celestial Demon Sect Leader quickly asked.

"Other possibilities..." Elder Liu looked at the Celestial Demon Sect Leader. It took only a moment for him to understand the man’s implication. "Tell me, Fellow Daoist Lai, you aren’t actually expecting the Black Dragon Hall to help you repel the Celestial Cloud Sect, are you?"

"That is my intention."

Hearing this, Elder Liu from the Black Dragon Hall just smiled and shook his head.

"Let me put it simply. If the Black Dragon Hall were to directly help you repel the Celestial Cloud Sect, the Purple Mist Sect would certainly intervene. Then we would end up in a conflict with them, and for the Black Dragon Hall, it’s just not worth it."

Elder Liu was completely blunt with the Celestial Demon Sect Leader, not even trying to soften the blow as he uttered the three words "not worth it."

This was the stance of the Black Dragon Hall.

There were other things Elder Liu left unsaid.

He felt there was no need to elaborate further to the Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect.

’The Purple Mist Sect, a Nascent Soul Influence of Spirit Refiners, already had the Blood Spirit Sect to deal with. Getting involved would only draw the Purple Mist Sect’s fire, and in doing so, they would indirectly be helping the Blood Spirit Sect.’

’If they were indirectly helping Demon King Valley, they might have been willing. But helping the Blood Spirit Sect, the faction of the Blood Demon? Forget it.’

’They knew that the Purple Mist Sect placed far more importance on Spirit Refiner Core Formation Influences than the Black Dragon Hall did on Demon Cultivation Core Formation Influences.’

’These were all reasons why the Black Dragon Hall would not help the Celestial Demon Sect against the Celestial Cloud Sect.’

’The fact that they were even willing to send Elders to serve as Guardians was already a massive gesture of support. It was just the Celestial Demon Sect’s good fortune that the deciding Elders happened to be in a good mood recently.’

Elder Liu’s bluntness left the Celestial Demon Sect Leader with no room for rebuttal.

The Black Dragon Hall’s Elder had made his position clear. It seemed nothing he said would make a difference.

Recalling Lu Yaoling’s instructions, the Celestial Demon Sect Leader decided to give up. Pushing any further would be seen as ungracious.

"Fellow Daoist Liu, uh... for the two Elders to act as Guardians, what does our Celestial Demon Sect need to offer in return?"

"Demon Stones will suffice," Elder Liu stated the price matter-of-factly. "Forty Middle Grade Demon Stones per year for the mid-stage Core Formation Elder, and one hundred Middle Grade Demon Stones per year for the late-stage one."

The annual cost in Middle Grade Demon Stones far exceeded the Celestial Demon Sect Leader’s expectations.

Facing the Celestial Cloud Sect’s ongoing offensive, the Celestial Demon Sect’s resources were not as plentiful as they once were; the Celestial Cloud Sect had already captured several of their resource points.

While these resource points were not of great use to Spirit Refiners, losing them was a significant and irritating blow.

"Guarding our Celestial Demon Sect doesn’t require that much strength. One mid-stage Core Formation Elder will be sufficient," the Celestial Demon Sect Leader said, decisively rejecting the offer of a late-stage Core Formation Elder.

’One Middle Grade Demon Stone is worth over a hundred Lower Grade Demon Stones. If that late-stage Core Formation Elder from the Black Dragon Hall stood guard for ten years, it would cost us over a hundred thousand Lower Grade Demon Stones.’

"Alright, your call." Elder Liu agreed immediately with a nod.

’For a late-stage Core Formation Elder from the Black Dragon Hall to serve as Guardian for a year, one hundred Middle Grade Demon Stones was an absolute bargain. The Celestial Demon Sect was clearly the one profiting from this arrangement.’

’In his opinion, the current Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect was truly inept.’

’Turning down a deal that was pure profit.’

’There must be a problem with the Celestial Demon Sect’s system for choosing a Sect Leader.’

After a moment’s thought, Elder Liu didn’t dwell on the Celestial Demon Sect Leader’s incompetence. Besides, he wasn’t the one who would be dispatched to the sect.

"If there’s nothing else, I’ll arrange a place for you to rest. Once our Elder from the Black Dragon Hall is ready, they will travel with you to the Celestial Demon Sect."

"There is nothing else. Let’s proceed as you’ve said."

"Very well. Follow me."

After nodding, Elder Liu led the Celestial Demon Sect Leader to his temporary quarters.

...

「Almost half a year later.」

「The home territory of the Celestial Demon Sect.」

Because the mid-stage Core Formation Elder dispatched by the Black Dragon Hall was merely serving as a Guardian for the sect, his presence had a negligible effect on the Celestial Cloud Sect.

The Celestial Cloud Sect’s offensive continued unabated.

Because of this, Lu Yaoling had a talk with the Celestial Demon Sect Leader.

"Inviting him here to be a ’Guardian’... you’re just wasting our Demon Stones."

"Elder Lu, I didn’t want it to be this way either. But the Black Dragon Hall was only willing to send an Elder to guard our sect. As for helping us repel the Celestial Cloud Sect, they stated explicitly that it wasn’t worth it."

"If they said it wasn’t worth it, you shouldn’t have hired one to be a Guardian at all."

If the Black Dragon Hall Elder’s guardianship had at least slowed the Celestial Cloud Sect’s advance, that would have been one thing. But it had almost no effect whatsoever.

They had already intentionally leaked the news that an Elder from the Black Dragon Hall was serving as their Guardian.

"Elder Lu, you don’t understand the situation back then. I had already rejected the late-stage Core Formation Elder. If I had rejected both, how would that Elder Liu have viewed me? Besides, you were the one who provided me with that intelligence in the first place."

The Celestial Demon Sect Leader explained, his voice tinged with helplessness.

If he had rejected both offers, it would have been like he was toying with the Black Dragon Hall.

"Judging by how things turned out, it seems rejecting both would have been perfectly fine."

"Yes," the Celestial Demon Sect Leader admitted.

"Let’s move on from this. What we need to do now is find the right time to politely send this Elder from the Black Dragon Hall on his way."

They were wasting forty Middle Grade Demon Stones a year, on top of providing him with their finest living quarters.

Inviting an Elder from the Black Dragon Hall to be a Guardian felt more like they were hosting a demanding ancestor.

...

「Celestial Cloud Sect, Cloud Summit.」

Two years had passed since the Celestial Demon Sect Leader’s return from the Black Dragon Hall.

During those two years, the Celestial Cloud Sect received word that the Celestial Demon Sect was hosting an Elder from the Black Dragon Hall. They made a point to verify this intelligence, and it turned out to be true.

It was Fang Yun who had requested the verification.

This information was of great importance to him.

In his plan, the final step was to take down the Celestial Demon Sect. If they had a Guardian Elder from the Black Dragon Hall, it would create a major complication.

For the Black Dragon Hall, there was a world of difference between the annihilation of the Celestial Demon Sect and the death of one of their Elders.

The latter would bring endless trouble for the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Of course, the upper echelons of the Celestial Demon Sect were oblivious to Fang Yun’s plans, and thus, they were completely unaware of the true value their mid-stage Core Formation Elder from the Black Dragon Hall represented.

In the great meeting hall on Cloud Summit.

Today, Sect Leader Duan Qingyun had convened a meeting.

The topic was not the Celestial Demon Sect, but a personal matter of his—an internal affair of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Once Duan Qingyun saw that all the Supreme Elders were present, he began to speak.

"My remaining days are numbered. In three years at most, my Life Span will be exhausted."

The closer his great limit approached, the more certain Duan Qingyun felt.

"It is time we decided on the next Sect Leader of our Celestial Cloud Sect."