Chapter 277: Chapter 245: Million Points (2)

Annihilating an entire Foundation Establishment Influence of Demons single-handedly—such a feat had only occurred once before in the entire history of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

All other times a Demon’s Foundation Establishment Influence was eliminated, it had been a joint effort by multiple people, and that was only with meticulous planning and a fair bit of luck.

If the Celestial Demon Sect managed to send reinforcements, eliminating a Demon’s Foundation Establishment Influence would become nearly impossible.

The further increase in his sect influence was something Fang Yun was very happy to see. This influence didn’t just affect the bonus Talent Points he received each month. It also determined how easily he could get things done within the sect.

For an early-stage Foundation Establishment Elder to have such influence meant he could handle most matters within the sect with ease.

’I can draw for Life Talents 16,513 times this month.’

He had eighty-three Talent Points left over from last month, which he added to this month’s total to complete one more draw for a Life Talent.

Fang Yun glanced at the summary screen. Most of the tallied Talent Points came from killing Demons; the base points from that alone were already close to 320,000.

He navigated to the Life Talent interface.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Fang Yun used them all at once, drawing for Life Talents over ten thousand times.

Among the results, he had drawn exactly 5,500 Alchemy Talent fragments.

As for Artifact Refining Talent fragments and Planting Talent fragments, he received 5,531 and 5,482, respectively.

Fang Yun looked at the updated Life Talent interface.

His Alchemy Talent was still the closest to reaching seven stars, now needing only 6,725 more fragments.

Next was Artifact Refining Talent, followed by Planting Talent.

They lagged behind his Alchemy Talent by 57 and 81 fragments, respectively.

’If I get another two million or so Talent Points, all my Life Talents should be able to reach seven stars.’

As things stood, acquiring two million Talent Points was a goal he was confident he could reach before the end of next year.

If any reinforcement missions came up in the meantime, with a bit of luck, he could accelerate the speed at which his Life Talents reached seven stars.

As for proactive attacks like the one that eliminated the Demon Feng Family, he would need to improve his overall strength before he’d have a chance to move against other Foundation Establishment Demon Influences.

Aside from the Demon Feng Family, it would be extremely difficult for him to infiltrate any of the other Foundation Establishment Influences affiliated with the Celestial Demon Sect.

If he were blocked by a Grand Array, the difficulty of killing the Demons would skyrocket, and the level of danger would rise just as sharply.

After closing the screen, Fang Yun prepared to refine Purple Essence Pills.

He currently had one set of the Spirit Medicines required for refining Purple Essence Pills.

If he hadn’t needed to tally his Talent Points at the start of the month, he would already be in the middle of refining the Purple Essence Pills, with the process more than halfway complete.

Waiting a day to check the month’s talent point tally felt a little strange to him.

According to Fang Yun’s personal schedule, a day’s delay for things like Alchemy or Artifact Refining wasn’t an issue.

’There’s a chance I can refine an Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill with this batch.’

Having accumulated experience from refining three more batches of Purple Essence Pills, and given that the Spirit Medicines he was using were of good quality, he was thirty percent confident he could produce an Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill.

After adjusting his condition to its peak,

Fang Yun laid out the Spirit Medicines and immediately began the refining process.

The entire process lasted a little over two days.

A new batch of Purple Essence Pills was fresh from the furnace.

"An Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill!"

A smile spread across Fang Yun’s face as he held the Purple Essence Pill in his hand.

Not only had he refined one Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill, but the other two weren’t Lower-Grade either—they were both Middle-Grade.

Fang Yun was truly satisfied with the results of this refinement.

The rules for purchasing Purple Essence Pills at the Dan Cloud Pavilion had changed long ago, but with his astonishing Alchemy Talent, this change didn’t affect him.

If he wanted to, he could purchase this very Purple Essence Pill immediately after completing the current Alchemy task.

Fang Yun thought for a moment.

’I’m still a good ways from the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage. I’ll only need a Purple Essence Pill when I reach the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. It’ll be plenty of time to buy one when I get to the mid-stage. Besides, as my experience with refining Purple Essence Pills grows, I’ll be able to produce more and more Upper-Grade ones, as long as the Spirit Medicines are of good quality. I won’t buy this Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill for now. I’ll leave it for an Elder at the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage who needs it.’

A single Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill is enough to help an Elder with Three Spirit Roots at the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage smoothly break through to the late-Foundation Establishment stage.

Such was the appeal of an Upper-Grade pill.

...

「Dan Cloud Peak.」

Inside the Dan Cloud Pavilion.

"I’ll take three Middle-Grade Purple Essence Pills."

"Elder Zhang, we actually have an Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill in stock at the Dan Cloud Pavilion right now," the steward explained.

An Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill had been put into stock two months ago, when Elder Fang came to submit the results of his Purple Essence Pill refining task.

"You have an Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill in stock!" Elder Zhang sounded somewhat surprised.

’Things are changing too fast. How long has it even been?’

"Yes, Elder. Would you like the Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill?"

"Not right now. Give me two or three months."

With that, Elder Zhang immediately left.

"Take care, Elder."

The Spirit Stones and Sect Contribution Points Elder Zhang currently had were enough to purchase three Middle-Grade Purple Essence Pills, but he was still a little short for a single Upper-Grade one.

In three months at most, he would have accumulated enough Spirit Stones and Contribution Points.

He wanted to play it safe, so he planned to buy an Upper-Grade Purple Essence Pill.

For him, three Middle-Grade Purple Essence Pills also gave him a high probability of successfully breaking through to the late-stage Foundation Establishment.

The Dan Cloud Pavilion was already operating under the new purchasing rules for Purple Essence Pills, so Elder Zhang wasn’t worried that the Upper-Grade pill would just be bought by another Elder.

...

「Early July.」

Huang Mengzhu came to see Fang Yun, bringing her younger brother, Huang Mengyang.

More than three years had passed since Huang Mengyang became a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

He had become a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect in March, three years prior. According to sect rules, new disciples were exempt from any missions for their first three years, but Huang Mengyang’s grace period lasted a little over three years and three months.

The grace period for all new disciples ended at a unified time in early July. Since Huang Mengyang, with his Wind Spirit Root, had joined more than three months earlier, his grace period had also been extended by that same amount of time.

After more than three years of growth and a little help from Fang Yun, Huang Mengyang had already reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. In less than a year, he would be able to break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer and become an Inner Sect Disciple.

After exchanging a few words with Fang Yun, Huang Mengzhu gave Huang Mengyang a look, signaling for him to speak up.

The siblings had come to see Fang Yun today to discuss Huang Mengyang’s future.

Once he began undertaking sect affairs, even someone with an Abnormal Spirit Root would be expected to contribute something.

The sect didn’t support its members for nothing. Whether one was an Elder or even a Supreme Elder, everyone had to make their own contributions.

"Brother Fang Yun, I want to pursue Alchemy or Artifact Refining in the future."

"Then we’ll have to see if you have the talent for it." Fang Yun knew Huang Mengyang’s interest in Alchemy and Artifact Refining was entirely due to his own influence.

If Huang Mengyang truly possessed the talent, Fang Yun would be happy to see him pursue Alchemy or Artifact Refining in the future.

It wouldn’t matter if he lacked the talent, though. Huang Mengyang possessed an Abnormal Spirit Root. With such excellent Spirit Root Talent, he was destined to become an important member of the Battle Peak, even if he had no aptitude for anything else.

The Elders of the Battle Peak and the Evil Extermination Hall generally had rather average talent when it came to the Hundred Skills of Cultivation.

"Do you want to try Alchemy or Artifact Refining first?" Fang Yun asked.

"Alchemy."

"Alright."

At Fang Yun’s arrangement, a Pill Formula for the Grain Avoidance Pill and the corresponding Spirit Medicines for refining it were quickly prepared for Huang Mengyang.

The Grain Avoidance Pill was one of the simplest among all Tier One pills.

Huang Mengyang was already at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, giving him an advantage in terms of his Realm when it came to refining Grain Avoidance Pills.

He was to refine a total of ten batches of Grain Avoidance Pills. If Huang Mengyang had any real Alchemy Talent, by the time he got to the tenth batch, he should be able to produce at least six Lower-Grade pills out of a possible ten.

One batch of Grain Avoidance Pills yielded ten pills.

If Huang Mengyang were only at the Qi Refining Third Layer, the requirement would be lowered to four Lower-Grade pills.

Fang Yun would offer no guidance during this time; it was all up to Huang Mengyang. After all, this was a test of his Alchemy Talent.

The entire test was expected to take five or six days.

「Just two days later.」

Huang Mengyang came looking for Fang Yun again.

"What’s wrong?"

"Brother Fang Yun, I’ve refined three batches of Grain Avoidance Pills, and I haven’t managed to produce a single Lower-Grade pill."