I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely
Chapter 389 - 301: 7-Year Changes, Part 2
"Breaking through to Core Formation is naturally more important," Fang Yun said with an understanding nod.
A year before becoming a Management Elder, Song Qiaoqiao had already broken through to the Peak of Foundation Establishment. Now, she was getting closer and closer to the true Peak of Foundation Establishment, a state where her Qi Sea would be completely filled with Liquid Spiritual Power.
’Once Song Qiaoqiao reaches the true Peak of Foundation Establishment, the Management Elder of Dan Cloud Peak will probably have to be replaced again in another two or three years.’
’In most cases, an Elder holds the position of Management Elder for twenty to eighty years. Song Qiaoqiao most likely won’t even serve for twenty.’
Unlike Bai Heyan’s seclusion for Core Formation, Song Qiaoqiao’s attempt would be aided by a Low-grade Golden Core Pill.
This Low-grade Golden Core Pill had been prepared for her by her great-grandfather, Zhong Yankun.
The Supreme Elders and the Sect Leader had the right to exchange for Golden Core Pills, but this privilege wasn’t something they could use whenever they pleased. It primarily depended on the sect’s specific circumstances.
This included how many Core Formation Seeds the sect had and whether there were any special Foundation Establishment Elders.
Fang Yun was one of those special Foundation Establishment Elders. The sect had not only reserved a Low-grade Golden Core Pill for him, but also a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object to aid in his Core Formation.
Fang Yun had known all of this for a long time.
If he could successfully form his Core, the significance for the entire Celestial Cloud Sect would be immense. For this reason, the sect had begun making preparations long ago.
The fact that Song Qiaoqiao had Dual Spirit Roots was a factor in Zhong Yankun being able to use Sect Contribution Points to exchange for a Low-grade Golden Core Pill for her.
If Song Qiaoqiao only had Three Spirit Roots, the difficulty of exchanging for a Low-grade Golden Core Pill would have increased significantly. If she had Four Spirit Roots, it would have been practically impossible.
Elders with normal Mixed Spirit Roots couldn’t exchange for Golden Core Pills at all. Their only path was to have such high talent in a specific area that they qualified to become a special Elder.
If the special Elders were ranked by importance, Fang Yun was in a class of his own. Otherwise, it would have been much more difficult for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object meant to aid Core Formation to be allocated to him.
They chatted about the Management Elder and spoke of future Core Formation.
Fang Yun certainly hoped that Song Qiaoqiao would succeed in her Core Formation.
The Golden Core Pill was an Upper-Rank Pill relative to the Foundation Establishment Pill. Besides being used at a different Realm, many of their effects were similar, such as protecting the Cultivator attempting to break through.
Over an hour later.
After Song Qiaoqiao left, Fang Yun continued to refine and absorb the Upper-grade Primordial Spirit Pill he had not finished with earlier.
Once his cultivation session ended, he went to the Alchemy Room.
The Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill was the second type of Third Tier pill he had ever refined. It was also his first time refining a Third Tier pill since his Alchemy Talent had been upgraded to eight-star.
As for the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill he had refined before, as long as the Spirit Medicine met the standard, he could already consistently produce a batch where half the yield was Upper-grade pills.
’Three portions of Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pills.’
When the sect established new Spirit Fields, the types of Spirit Medicine planted were usually adjusted according to the sect’s needs.
However, when it came to the ingredients for Third Tier pills, adjustments were extremely rare, as they took over a century to mature.
Take the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill he was about to refine, for example. In a hundred-year period, the sect could typically only gather enough ingredients for three batches. If the Sect Elder responsible for the Third Tier Spirit Medicine was subpar in their duties, there might not even be enough for three batches in that time.
As Fang Yun looked at the Spirit Medicine for the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill, he thought about the Spirit Field Institute. ’The last Elder from the Spirit Field Institute to successfully achieve Core Formation... that seems to have been over a thousand years ago.’
As this crossed his mind, Fang Yun couldn’t help but glance at the Life Talent interface on his status screen. ’My eight-star Planting Talent is about to come in handy.’
Pulling his thoughts back to the present, he quickly took out the Spirit Medicine for the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill and recalled the pill’s formula in his mind.
He had already mastered every Third Tier Pill Formula owned by the Celestial Cloud Sect.
Not long after he had started refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, the formulas for all the other Third Tier pills had come into his possession.
A single portion of ingredients for the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill could yield a maximum of five pills.
After adjusting himself to his optimal state, Fang Yun began the refining process.
His current attempt at refining the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill was on a different level compared to his first time refining the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill. Not only had his Alchemy Talent reached eight-star, but his Realm had also improved, and he now possessed experience from refining other Third Tier pills.
These were all advantageous factors for pill refining.
Among all these factors, the one with the greatest impact was undoubtedly the improvement in his Alchemy Talent.
Even though this was his first time refining the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill, the process went very smoothly.
The Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill was slightly more difficult to refine than the Five Qi Chao Ling Pill, but the result of his first attempt was far better.
On his very first attempt, he produced a Middle-grade Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill.
’One Middle-grade, two Lower-grade, and two Wasted Pills.’
This result was within his expectations. He felt that he should achieve such an outcome; anything less would have been an insult to his Alchemy Talent.
After spending four hours reviewing his experience, Fang Yun once again began refining the Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill.
On his second attempt, although he still produced only one Middle-grade Hundred Herbs Healing Spirit Pill, the rest were all Lower-grade, with no Wasted Pills this time.
He still had one portion of the Spirit Medicine left, but he planned to wait a few days before refining it. He was a bit tired and needed a short rest.
Refining a Third Tier pill consumed far less energy than refining a Magical Treasure.
As he left the Alchemy Room, Fang Yun saw a spiritual light floating outside. It was a summons for a support mission from Battle Peak, a sight to which he had long grown accustomed.
In recent years, the number of support missions had noticeably decreased.
At the same time, whenever he received a mission and went to provide support, the chances of killing a Foundation Establishment Demon were also dropping.
This was due to a change in the Demons’ tactics.
Previously, when our Foundation Establishment Cultivators encountered a Foundation Establishment Demon, they usually had to hold out until reinforcements arrived just to escape successfully.
Now, once a call for help was sent, if a Foundation Establishment Demon couldn’t secure a quick victory, they wouldn’t remain entangled in the fight for long.
At that point, killing a Foundation Establishment Demon depended on the ability of the responding Cultivators to trap them.
This change in the Demons’ strategy showed they were getting smarter.
Fang Yun could only consider this change in the Demons’ strategy a pity; otherwise, he could have obtained more Talent Points for combat.
The probability of obtaining Combat Talent Points from support missions had dropped significantly. In recent years, he also hadn’t been infiltrating Celestial Demon Sect territory to wipe out their subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go.
Rather, the geographical locations of the remaining Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences were all disadvantageous for him.
They were either too close to the Celestial Demon Sect’s main headquarters or too far away from his own sect, near the border where the Dragon Demon Palace and Celestial Demon Sect territories met.
The Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences in either of these locations were difficult to handle.
The Celestial Demon Sect had two mid-stage Core Formation Demons who posed a great threat to him. He figured that after his repeated attacks, if another one of their subordinate influences was in trouble, the sect would most likely dispatch its top brass to help—specifically, those mid-stage Core Formation Demons.
Their response time would be too fast.
Of course, that didn’t guarantee he would be discovered if he went. But he chose to play it safe and not take such a risk.
Compared to those in Celestial Demon Sect territory, many Foundation Establishment Influences within the Demon Spirit Sect’s domain were excellent targets.
The reason Fang Yun hadn’t acted was mainly due to the Demon Spirit Sect itself.
If the Demon Spirit Sect had been fighting the Celestial Cloud Sect with the same vigor as the Celestial Demon Sect, holding nothing back, then he would have acted without hesitation.
But since the Demon Spirit Sect wasn’t exerting as much effort against them as one might expect, he didn’t want to provoke them. If he did, and the Demon Spirit Sect became as aggressive as the Celestial Demon Sect, the Celestial Cloud Sect would have a much harder time coping.
After his rest, Fang Yun went to his Artifact Refining Room to have a look.
’I’m still missing some of the auxiliary Spiritual Materials for refining the Magical Treasure, the Profound Crystal Shield. I wonder if I can gather them all within two years?’
It was currently July. The Elder from the Purple Mist Sect had requested that he arrive at the sect before September, two years from now.
That meant he would have to set out from here in July of that year.
The distance to the Purple Mist Sect was not short; a typical Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would need to depart about two months in advance to make it on time.
Fang Yun hoped to successfully refine the defensive Magical Treasure, the Profound Crystal Shield, before entering the "Land of No Master" Secret Realm.
’It’s about time I went to see Junior Brother Yang to get some information.’