The Elders all knew that Fang Yun was highly skilled in stealth.

If his stealth skills were poor, he never could have infiltrated the Demon-run Feng Family and Vortex Cave to eliminate the Foundation Establishment Demons there.

In fact, many of the Sect Elders, including Feng Tianrui himself, had never witnessed Fang Yun’s stealth techniques firsthand.

Today, he had finally seen it for himself. Now he understood even better how Fang Yun could slip into the territory of a Foundation Establishment Influence without a sound.

"Elder Feng, isn’t speed the most crucial factor for a reinforcement mission?"

"Hahaha, you’re absolutely right."

Time is of the essence in a reinforcement mission; the faster one reaches the destination, the better.

Feng Tianrui didn’t waste any time and quickly relayed all the detailed information about the reinforcement mission to Fang Yun.

After getting the details, Fang Yun quickly left the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Once he was some distance away, he exploded forward with even greater speed.

With the detailed information on the target of the reinforcement mission, Fang Yun now knew who he was supposed to kill.

His target wasn’t a Foundation Establishment Demon from the Celestial Demon Sect or one of its subsidiary influences, but rather one from the Demon Spirit Sect.

The reinforcement mission was located in the direction of the Demon Spirit Sect’s territory, which wasn’t very far from his own sect.

He had killed plenty of Foundation Establishment Demons from both the Celestial Demon Sect and its subsidiary influences, but this would be his first time killing a Demon from the Demon Spirit Sect.

The Demon Spirit Sect was now openly supporting the Celestial Demon Sect, putting immense pressure on the Celestial Cloud Sect.

’This reinforcement mission has to be executed perfectly.’

’The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon must be killed. I can’t give him a chance to escape.’

...

The request for reinforcements had been sent.

Ke Huairen hoped the reinforcements from the Celestial Cloud Sect would arrive soon.

He was the Sect Leader of the Celestial Water Sect, a Foundation Establishment Influence.

Among the Celestial Cloud Sect’s subsidiary Foundation Establishment Influences, the Celestial Water Sect ranked in the top three for strength, and he, as its Sect Leader, possessed a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation.

This time, as the Sect Leader of the Celestial Water Sect, he had been on his way to the Celestial Cloud Sect to attend to some business. But en route, a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon had ambushed him.

The moment it happened, he had immediately sent a message to the Celestial Cloud Sect, hoping they would dispatch reinforcements quickly. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

A month ago, he had received a message from the Celestial Cloud Sect warning that the Demon Spirit Sect had changed and that they all needed to pay closer attention to its movements.

He had been very careful on his journey.

Ke Huairen never expected to encounter a Demon here, of all places, so relatively close to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s own grounds.

’Are the Demons from the Demon Spirit Sect insane?’

’How dare they set an ambush here?’

But it was precisely because a Demon from the Demon Spirit Sect had laid an ambush here that he, having let down his guard, had almost fallen into their trap.

Fortunately, his reactions were quick enough. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"With such paltry attack methods, you can’t even hurt me."

A greenish-yellow bronze mirror hovered before him. After using it to block the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Female Demon’s attacks several times in a row, Ke Huairen taunted her.

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Female Demon had a pair of deep-red wings sprouting from her back, and the claws on her hands were exceptionally sharp.

From the looks of it, she seemed to be using her full strength in her attacks against Ke Huairen.

In reality, this was not the case. She was merely creating a false impression for the Sect Leader of the Celestial Water Sect, leading him to believe that this was the extent of her power, even at full strength.

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment Female Demon was named Yun Hanshan.

She was a senior Elder of the Demon Spirit Sect and had broken through to the Late-stage of Foundation Establishment several decades ago.

Ever since the sect’s leadership decided to openly support the Celestial Demon Sect, a plan had been forming in her mind.

A plan to assassinate a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner from the Celestial Cloud Sect.

As far as she knew, from the beginning of the war between the Celestial Demon Sect and the Celestial Cloud Sect up until now, the Celestial Demon Sect had yet to kill a single Late-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner. Instead, they had lost two of their own Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators.

To Yun Hanshan, this situation was a complete joke.

’The Celestial Demon Sect is utterly useless.’

’Today, I’ll prove it. Compared to us in the Demon Spirit Sect, the Celestial Demon Sect’s methods for dealing with Spirit Refiners are far too crude. They need to learn a thing or two from us.’

Besides that, her own personal motivations also contributed to this plan.

She had little interest in fighting Ghost Cultivators but was very keen on fighting Spirit Refiners. Unfortunately, the sect’s support had previously been covert.

Covert support required avoiding direct conflict with the Celestial Cloud Sect. The sect’s leadership, knowing her personality, had not allowed her to participate in the clandestine missions supporting the Celestial Demon Sect.

"Let’s see how long you can keep up that tough talk," Yun Hanshan snorted, resuming her assault.

She still wasn’t using her full power. She knew her own strength; even if she went all out, it would be difficult to take down the Sect Leader of the Celestial Water Sect quickly.

That was why, naturally, she was not acting alone.

Two other Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demons were lying in ambush nearby.

One of them was an Elder from the Demon Spirit Sect, just like her. The other was not; he came from one of the Demon Spirit Sect’s subsidiary Foundation Establishment Influences.

Originally, Yun Hanshan had invited two of her fellow Sect Elders to join the operation. However, the other Elder had declined, feeling her plan was too risky since it had to be carried out so close to the Celestial Cloud Sect’s headquarters.

It was easy for Spirit Refiners from the Celestial Cloud Sect to provide reinforcements in this area. If their luck was bad and a Core Formation expert from the Celestial Cloud Sect showed up, the entire situation would change.

Yun Hanshan knew her plan had its risks. But she thought, ’If you’re not even willing to take a small risk like this, how can you ever hope to kill a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner from the Celestial Cloud Sect?’

The two Late-stage Foundation Establishment Demons still lying in wait were hidden exceptionally well; the Sect Leader of the Celestial Water Sect remained completely oblivious.