Early February.

The bright moon hung high in the sky.

There was still some medicinal power left in the Upper Grade Qi Enhancement Pill, and Fang Yun continued to refine and absorb it.

Once he had finished absorbing it completely, he opened the light screen to check last month’s summary.

——

Kill Adult Flame Scorpion Beast*1, Talent Points +2100.

...

Refine Middle Grade Spirit Ascension Pill*6, Talent Points +1134.

...

Talent Point Bonus: 228%

Summary: Talent Points +27,756.

——

Fang Yun looked at the summary on the light screen; it was just as he had expected.

Killing a Demon Beast of a certain strength granted Talent Points corresponding to that Realm. The Adult Flame Scorpion Beast’s strength was equivalent to a genuine Qi Refining Ninth Layer, so the Talent Points it gave were no different from killing a Qi Refining Ninth Layer Demon.

Last month in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range, a total of six Demon Beasts had died by his hand. Besides the Flame Scorpion Beast, two of the other beasts had strength equivalent to a Qi Refining Seventh Layer Demon.

The remaining three were weaker: one at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer and two at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

To kill six Demon Beasts in just two and a half days was an astonishingly high efficiency compared to a normal Cultivator. The Upper Grade Magical Artifact, the Demon-Seeking Disc, only had so much range. The most important factor was the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots, which allowed him to move quickly with very little Spiritual Power consumption.

For the sake of efficiency, Fang Yun had also taken some Spirit Revival Pills to aid his cultivation. It was all worth it!

Before the bonus, these Demon Beasts alone had provided him with 5,500 Talent Points.

For Tier One pills of the same type, a Middle Grade one provided fifty percent more Talent Points than a Lower Grade one. For Second Tier pills, however, this multiplier was different; a Middle Grade provided eighty percent more than a Lower Grade.

A single Middle Grade Spirit Ascension Pill provided 189 Talent Points.

Last month, he had accepted a task to refine Spirit Ascension Pills. For both the eighth and ninth batches he refined, he produced three Middle Grade Spirit Ascension Pills, one more than in the seventh batch.

With the boost from his five-star Alchemy Talent, his rate of improvement was very fast. Once he reached the Foundation Establishment Stage and could use his Divine Sense to assist with Alchemy, his progress would only accelerate.

The only slight regret for Fang Yun was that his influence within the sect had not increased since he broke through to the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.

Normally, his sect influence would have changed within a month of his breakthrough.

Based on the patterns he’d observed, Fang Yun understood the reason. His influence in the sect was already very high, which naturally made it more difficult to increase.

’With the Talent Points left over from last month, I can draw for Combat Talents twenty-eight times this month. If things continue like this, I have a good chance of raising all my Combat Talents to four stars by the first quarter of next year.’

He began drawing for Combat Talents.

This month’s draws were relatively balanced. Aside from drawing ten fragments for his Sword Talent, he got nine fragments each for his Shield Talent and Shoe Talent.

The Combat Talent interface changed as follows:

[Artifact]Shield Talent ★★★ (25/120)

[Artifact]Sword Talent ★★★ (21/120)

[Artifact]Shoe Talent ★★★ (19/120)

Fang Yun glanced at the changes to his Combat Talents and quickly closed the light screen.

His Shield Talent, the closest to leveling up, was still ninety-five fragments short. Assuming his luck was normal from now on, he would need less than 300,000 Talent Points to upgrade all his Combat Talents to four stars.

’If I make a few more trips to the Supreme Profound Mountain Range, I might be able to upgrade my Combat Talents within the year. I’ll need to plan things out carefully...’

As he mulled it over, Fang Yun couldn’t help but sigh.

"There’s really not enough time!"

Alchemy, Artifact Refining, cultivation, and hunting Demon Beasts in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range.

There were always trade-offs. But Fang Yun, wanting it all, racked his brains to schedule his days more rationally so that he wouldn’t fall behind in anything.

Soon after, having more or less figured things out, drowsiness washed over him.

Fang Yun went straight to bed.

...

「On Battle Peak.」

An Inner Sect Disciple suddenly brought up Fang Yun.

"Say, it feels like Senior Brother Fang hasn’t come here for Magical Combat practice in three months."

"Yeah, I haven’t seen Senior Brother Fang in so long. I still haven’t had a chance to spar with him."

"You guys can forget about Senior Brother Fang. With his strength, coming to Battle Peak would be a waste of time. What kind of improvement could he get from engaging in Magical Combat with you?"

After Fang Yun entered the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, very few disciples still called him junior brother. Everyone addressed him as senior brother.

This was especially true for the disciples who frequented Battle Peak; even those at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer didn’t call him junior brother.

"I think Senior Brother Fang is right not to come. With that time, he’d be better off refining an Upper Grade Magical Artifact for dealing with Demons."

"Even though I really want Senior Brother Fang to come so I can hone my offensive skills, if I could buy an Upper Grade Magical Artifact he refined for fighting Demons, my improvement would definitely be even greater."

"Why is Senior Brother Fang the only one refining such useful Upper Grade Magical Artifacts?"

"Junior Sister, that’s a great question. I want to know the answer too. Why aren’t the Artifact Refining Elders making them?"

"Hearing you all talk about it makes me want to go to the Artifact Pavilion and see if they have any of Senior Brother Fang’s Upper Grade Magical Artifacts in stock."

...

「Artifact Casting Peak.」

Inside the Artifact Pavilion.

"Steward, do you have any Upper Grade Magical Artifacts refined by Senior Brother Fang?"

"No."

"Has Senior Brother Fang finished refining his latest magical artifact?"

"No."

That was the thirty-sixth time!

That was how many times Steward Zhang had answered that question today.

Ever since the Upper Grade Magical Artifacts refined by Fang Yun became a sensation over a month ago, the number of times this same question was asked in the Artifact Pavilion had been increasing daily.

At first, Steward Zhang was very patient.

Now, he was getting irritated by the question.

"Steward, um..."

"No!" Before the female Inner Sect Disciple could finish her sentence, Steward Zhang answered directly, mentally counting to thirty-seven.

"...Do you have any long-whip-type Upper Grade Magical Artifacts specifically for trapping enemies?" the female disciple managed to finish.

"We have those. Follow me."

For once, it wasn’t a question about an Upper Grade Magical Artifact refined by Fang Yun. The steward led her to the shelf with the corresponding artifacts.

The female disciple chose an Upper Grade Magical Artifact she was satisfied with and completed the transaction.

Returning to the counter, Steward Zhang felt that this couldn’t go on.

Although there was no precedent for putting up a sign while on duty in the Artifact Pavilion, he was determined to put one up today, no matter what.

"No Fang Yun artifacts remaining."

He wrote down the five words in large script.

Steward Zhang placed the sign in the most conspicuous spot in front of him.

This should finally give him some peace and quiet. Any disciple who saw the sign and had come for one of Fang Yun’s Upper Grade Magical Artifacts would turn around and leave without bothering him.

Steward Zhang was annoyed, but that was that.

He truly admired Fang Yun for being able to refine such Upper Grade Magical Artifacts.

He had looked into some information. While he didn’t know much about the Management Elder, Xiong Xingfeng, he knew about the other Artifact Refining Elders.

None of them could refine an Upper Grade Magical Artifact comparable to Fang Yun’s.

Out of curiosity, he had even specifically inquired about the refining materials Fang Yun used, as well as the required combination of inscribed patterns.

After that, he gave up any thought of refining such an artifact. Based on his own understanding of Artifact Refining and his lifetime of experience, could such a combination even be used to successfully refine a complete Upper Grade Magical Artifact?

But the facts didn’t lie.

It came down to a difference in talent.

His own Artifact Refining talent was decent enough, but compared to Fang Yun, it was a world of difference.

...

「Inner Sect A Zone.」

Inside room number twenty-two.

"Senior Brother Fang, here are the Artifact Refining materials I prepared."

As he spoke, Yang Yingjie placed the materials neatly in the middle of the main hall.

He was still at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, but he was not far from the Peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

"Alright." Fang Yun collected the materials. "Come back for it in about half a month, Junior Brother."

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Yang Yingjie said gratefully.

Other Inner Sect Disciples had to scramble for a chance to get an Upper Grade Magical Artifact refined by Fang Yun for fighting Demons at the Artifact Pavilion, but he could commission one from Fang Yun directly.

Thinking about the change in his relationship with Fang Yun, Yang Yingjie felt he had Wu Junxin to thank.

Wu Junxin had now truly reached the Peak of Qi Refining and had recently been preparing for his breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.

He silently wished Wu Junxin success in reaching Foundation Establishment.

"Senior Brother Fang, have you been able to keep up with all the Artifact Refining lately?" Yang Yingjie asked after sitting down.

"Whether it’s Artifact Refining or Alchemy, you have to take it one step at a time. There’s no rush," Fang Yun said with a smile. "So, naturally, I can keep up."

Fang Yun was well aware of the situation with Artifact Refining and the Artifact Pavilion, but he only had so much time. There was nothing he could do.

The explosive popularity of his refined magical artifacts had caused his influence within the sect to grow by a full two percentage points in just over a month.

This was what Fang Yun had hoped to see.

"That’s good to hear."

With that, Yang Yingjie began to share some information that might interest Fang Yun.

Yang Yingjie now believed he understood Senior Brother Fang very well.

First, Senior Brother Fang must harbor a deep-seated hatred for Demons. Otherwise, he never would have created an Upper Grade Magical Artifact specifically designed to counter them.

Yang Yingjie thought of his Red Spot Long Sword. Fang Yun helping him refine it back then was only the beginning.

He also had a secondary theory about Fang Yun’s attitude toward Demons, based on the type of information Fang Yun found interesting.

As they chatted, Yang Yingjie asked, "Senior Brother, a new task concerning a Demon has been posted in the Task Hall. I was wondering if you might be interested in taking it?"

"Tell me the details."