Chapter 235: Chapter 223: Demon Beast Balance

Fang Yun shook his head in response to Zhong Yankun’s question, indicating he didn’t know.

’I have my suspicions, but it wouldn’t be wise to voice them.’

"Because I know that for you, Alchemy and Artifact Refining are just tools to enhance your Cultivation and strength. What you truly value is the ability to walk further down the path of cultivation. Am I right?"

Fang Yun nodded. That was more or less the case.

’Accumulating Talent Points, raising my talent levels... it’s all so I can go further.’

"The Sect’s successive Sect Leaders and Supreme Elders have rarely come from Dan Cloud Peak, Artifact Casting Peak, Smoke Cloud Peak, or the Spirit Field Institute. Some of the Elders from these four places have already gotten their priorities mixed up..."

As he spoke, Zhong Yankun fell into a memory. The previous Management Elder of Artifact Casting Peak had a very real chance of reaching Core Formation, but sadly, he was too obsessed with the path of Artifact Refining.

So what if he could refine Magical Treasures during the Foundation Establishment Stage?

Even if he refined them, he himself would have a hard time using them.

As they talked, Fang Yun also started talking about himself.

"If I can successfully reach Core Formation in the future, I will definitely vie for the position of Sect Leader," he said bluntly.

"The position of Sect Leader... your ambition is truly not small." Zhong Yankun had underestimated Fang Yun, but in his eyes, this version of Fang Yun was even better. "But it will be very difficult! The position of the next Sect Leader will most likely fall to Elder Miao Qinghong."

"Not only is her talent excellent, with a high chance of reaching Core Formation, but she is also a Sword Cultivator. As for her strength... I’m afraid that once she breaks through to the Core Formation Stage, none of us old geezers will be a match for her."

At this, Zhong Yankun’s gaze fixed on Fang Yun, and he spoke slowly.

"To sit in the Sect Leader’s seat, your strength must be number one in the sect."

"In the future, I will fight for it!" Fang Yun answered without any hesitation.

In an environment surrounded by enemies, the position of Celestial Cloud Sect’s Sect Leader had evolved into a situation where whoever has the biggest fist has the final say.

"Excellent!"

Zhong Yankun was growing more and more satisfied with Fang Yun.

But despite his satisfaction, the goal he had set remained unchanged: Fang Yun would have to become Tao Companions with his great-granddaughter, and to do that, he first needed to at least break through to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Stage.

This casual chat was very fruitful for Fang Yun, giving him a better understanding of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s high-level structure.

Time flew by.

「Seven days later.」

This was the last day of Fang Yun’s third month as a Sect Elder.

His master, Xiong Xingfeng, convened a meeting of the Artifact Casting Peak Elders. During the meeting, it was mainly Xiong Xingfeng who spoke; the other two Artifact Refining Elders said very little.

In terms of Artifact Refining skill, Xiong Xingfeng was in a league of his own compared to the other Elders on Artifact Casting Peak. This was a major reason why Xiong Xingfeng, as the Management Elder, held so much authority on the peak.

Unlike the conflicts on Dan Cloud Peak, none of the Artifact Refining Elders objected to the arrangements Xiong Xingfeng made for him. They all approved, at least verbally.

"Many disciples have given feedback, hoping Elder Fang can refine more Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts for dealing with Demons," said Qi Wenshan, one of the two Artifact Refining Elders.

Of the Artifact Casting Peak’s affairs, he handled many of the matters within the Artifact Pavilion.

The Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts refined by Fang Yun were still in high demand and short supply at the Artifact Pavilion.

"When I have time, I will refine them," Fang Yun replied.

It depended on his schedule. As long as he had free time, he would refine more of these Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts.

’Personally, the Talent Point return from refining Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts is a bit low for me now. Refining them is more about helping the sect’s disciples deal with the Demons.’

After Fang Yun’s reply, Qi Wenshan didn’t say anything more.

He had studied the Upper-Grade Magical Artifacts Fang Yun refined for dealing with Demons. Xiong Xingfeng had even provided him with the corresponding Spiritual Materials, but despite that, successfully refining one was still next to impossible for him.

Qi Wenshan truly admired Fang Yun. Not only could he come up with the combination of materials and patterns for such an artifact, but more crucially, he could also successfully refine it.

The meeting ended.

When Fang Yun returned to his cave residence, he already had a new Artifact Refining task in his hand.

He needed to refine a one-Spirit-Pattern Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact. If he could use these materials to refine a two-Spirit-Pattern Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact, that would be even better, and the reward would be different.

Before starting the refinement, Fang Yun first checked the materials provided for the task, then looked at the task’s functional requirements for the Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

’With the quality of these Spiritual Materials, it will be quite difficult to refine a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact with two Spirit Patterns. No wonder the reward difference is so large.’

By now, Fang Yun had already refined the three-Spirit-Pattern Earth Yellow Sword and Profound Crystal Shield in his own Artifact Refining Room. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

He had already tested it; simultaneously activating seven Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifacts was effortless for him.

’...If I’m going to do this, I might as well refine a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact with two Spirit Patterns.’

Fang Yun quickly made his decision. For him, what mattered wasn’t the reward, but the fact that a two-Spirit-Pattern Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact would give him many more Talent Points.

Refining a two-Spirit-Pattern Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact would grant a base of over four thousand Talent Points.

After his sect influence increased by four percent, his monthly Talent Point settlement bonus had now reached 345%.

This would be a gain of around eighteen thousand Talent Points.

In the past two months, his Talent Point settlements had both been over fifty thousand.

If nothing unexpected happened in the future, he could accumulate over six hundred thousand Talent Points annually, which meant over six thousand draws for Life Talents.

The number of fragments needed for his Alchemy Talent, the one closest to upgrading, was now less than three thousand.

Before the end of next year, he had a good chance of upgrading all three of his Life Talents to six stars.

「Two days later.」

Fang Yun emerged from his Artifact Refining Room.

The refining process went smoothly, and the final result was excellent. ’Looking at this Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact I’ve just created, the base Talent Points might even break forty-five hundred.’

After completing the Artifact Refining task, it was time for his scheduled cultivation.

He could skimp on other things each month, but not on cultivation time.

Refining and absorbing the medicinal power of the Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pills allowed his Cultivation to advance steadily.

...

「Late December.」

「The Supreme Profound Mountain Range.」

Fang Yun was walking in the outer region, near the border with the inner region, searching for his target Demon Beast.

The inner region was mostly frequented by Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Beasts, but there were also instances of Core Formation Stage Demon Kings appearing. For the current Fang Yun, this was still extremely dangerous.

Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Beasts generally possessed decent intelligence. Finding and killing them was no easy task; in a more serious case, it was possible to be ambushed instead.

Therefore, before officially entering the inner region of the Supreme Profound Mountain Range, Fang Yun planned to refine a pair of Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact-level Half-Hidden Spirit Boots for himself.

This required two main Spiritual Materials, one of which was found on the Demon Beast known as the Weaving Hidden Demon Bat.

An adult Weaving Hidden Demon Bat possessed strength equivalent to a cultivator at the Peak of Qi Refining. Combined with their unique characteristics and pack-living nature, even an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would have to retreat from them.

Lacking the materials, Fang Yun now came to the Weaving Hidden Demon Bat’s territory in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range to try his luck whenever he had time each month. If he encountered other Demon Beasts, he would kill them for their materials and to settle his Talent Points.

Compared to his time in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range during the Qi Refining Stage, his purpose was much clearer now.

’I hope my luck is better this time.’

Every time he came to the Supreme Profound Mountain Range to search for Weaving Hidden Demon Bats, this was Fang Yun’s thought.

The Supreme Profound Mountain Range was vast.

If the Demon Beasts here formed a sect like humans, it would definitely be a powerful fourth-rank Core Formation Stage sect.

The Demon Beasts in the outer and inner regions here needed to be culled periodically.

If they weren’t culled for a long time and the Demon Beasts here were allowed to multiply unchecked, the Core Formation Stage Demon Kings in the core region would drive out the Demon Beasts from the outer and inner regions. While this would relieve the pressure on the Supreme Profound Mountain Range, it would also form a beast tide.

When that happened, the surrounding mortals and Cultivators would suffer.

But the culling couldn’t be too excessive either.

Killing too many Demon Beasts would attract the attention of the Core Formation Stage Demon Kings, which would be another disaster entirely.

In the entire history of the Celestial Cloud Sect, even during its most prosperous period, excessive culling had only happened once. At other times, reaching that point was extremely difficult.

For the Celestial Cloud Sect, it was best to keep the Demon Beast population in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range within a balanced range.

The Celestial Demon Sect was the one who most wanted to disrupt this balance. Especially in the current era, if the Demon Beasts of the Supreme Profound Mountain Range were to riot, this was the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory, and its Cultivators would be forced to handle it.

The Core Formation Stage Demon Kings in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range weren’t fools; they wouldn’t be easily used as pawns by the Celestial Demon Sect.

Moreover, compared to ordinary human Cultivators, Demon Beasts hated Demons who cultivated Demon Power even more.

If an ordinary Cultivator and a Demon appeared before a Demon Beast, the beast would usually attack the Demon first.

Therefore, historically, when problems arose with the Demon Beasts of the Supreme Profound Mountain Range, the Celestial Demon Sect was rarely a factor.

This was all information Fang Yun had gradually come to understand after becoming an Elder.

’My luck has finally turned.’

Wearing his Upper-Grade Magical Artifact-level Half-Hidden Spirit Boots, Fang Yun was now deep inside a cavern.