The potential for an ambush was a more pressing concern than any Demon Power fluctuations.

If there were no Foundation Establishment Demons lying in wait, his painstaking search would all be for nothing.

His ultimate target was the Demons who had surrounded the Shen Family but had yet to attack.

Activating both the concealment and speed functions of the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots, all four Spirit Patterns began to emit a faint glow.

If not for the boost from his four-star Combat Talent, Fang Yun’s current Spiritual Power would have been insufficient to sustain the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots all the way to the Shen Family’s ancestral home.

With the boost, he would have at least sixty percent of his Spiritual Power remaining by the time he reached the Shen Family’s ancestral home.

If he had used the Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, the Light Wind Boots, the Spiritual Power consumption would have been significantly less.

As Fang Yun focused on his journey, he constantly monitored whether his combat state had been passively triggered.

...

「Near the Shen Family’s ancestral home.」

As Fang Yun neared his destination, he had already spotted the Foundation Establishment Demons.

There were two at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and two at the early stage.

Once he drew near, it would be nearly impossible for the early-stage Foundation Establishment Demons to detect him. He had already confirmed this in the Supreme Profound Mountain Range last year.

However, the mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demons still had a chance of discovering him.

To eliminate the Demons more quickly, Fang Yun donned a cloak, stacking its concealment effect on top of his boots’.

Everything was ready.

He began to move steadily closer, waiting until he reached the optimal striking distance.

’The optimal striking distance isn’t the absolute limit of my control over the Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts. It’d be bad if the Demons fled beyond that range the moment I attacked.’

’The optimal distance, first and foremost, must guarantee success.’

’A distance from which I can take them down with absolute certainty.’

The four Foundation Establishment Demons Fang Yun was currently observing were, naturally, from the Stone Demon Sect.

At this very moment, all of them were still looking toward the Shen Family’s ancestral home, not yet aware of the approaching danger.

"Something’s wrong!"

The first to react was Shi Tianpo, the current Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect.

The next moment, they immediately noticed Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts closing in on them. Shi Tianpo saw a pale red Long Sword, while the other three saw dark yellow Long Swords.

The former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect immediately assumed a defensive stance.

One of the Vice Sect Leaders was unconcerned.

’It’s just a single Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact. A quick assessment tells me the one coming for me only has one Spirit Pattern. Blocking it will be ridiculously easy.’

"Where’s the person?"

Faced with the attack from the Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts, Shi Tianpo was more concerned with the whereabouts of the Spirit Refiner who was attacking them.

"Something’s strange..."

The most relaxed Vice Sect Leader stared down at the dark yellow Long Sword that had pierced his abdomen—and his heart along with it. He only managed to utter two words before his life faded.

He had failed to defend against the dark yellow Long Sword’s attack. In his final moments, what puzzled him most wasn’t the power of this Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact, but how the attacking Spirit Refiner knew the exact location of his heart and had struck it with such unerring accuracy.

This was his secret; not even the former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect, the one he was closest to, knew about it.

The other Vice Sect Leader’s life faded at roughly the same time.

His dying thoughts were the same as those of other early-stage Foundation Establishment Demons: he couldn’t understand how a mere Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact could possess such power when its Spiritual Power fluctuations were so ordinary.

"It shattered my defenses so easily! That’s not the kind of power a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact should have! Who is it?" The former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect also began searching for the hidden Spirit Refiner.

As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, he wasn’t taken down as easily as the early-stage Demons, but he was close.

Three dark yellow Long Swords now had their tips pointed at him.

Even when defending with all his might against the last strike, he had still been grievously wounded. The dark yellow Long Sword that had struck him was a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact with three Spirit Patterns. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect’s body began to swell, but it quickly deflated like a punctured ball.

His injuries were too severe, causing his Secret Technique to fail midway and backfire on him.

Compared to him, the situation for Shi Tianpo, the current Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect, was no more optimistic.

Unlike the others, the pale red Long Sword targeting him was even more terrifying in its power, despite having only a single Spirit Pattern.

When the pale red Long Sword slashed toward him, most of the Demon Power he unleashed was instantly annihilated, as if he had never summoned it at all.

In that instant, Shi Tianpo’s first thought was of those special Upper Grade Magical Artifacts.

He remembered it clearly. Mo Yuanhai, an Elder from the Celestial Demon Sect, had said that those Upper Grade Magical Artifacts used against them were special. Their sect’s Artifact Refining Elder asserted that the Celestial Cloud Sect wasn’t yet capable of refining such special Spiritual Artifacts.

The identity of the Artifact Refiner who created those Upper Grade Magical Artifacts was still unconfirmed, but the most likely candidate was the Management Elder of the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Artifact Casting Peak.

The Celestial Cloud Sect had that information locked down tight. It was difficult to investigate and would take more time to find anything concrete.

And now, this type of special Spiritual Artifact had appeared.

Not only was it highly effective against the Demon Power they wielded, but it was also incredibly bizarre.

No matter how he looked at it, this wasn’t the kind of might a Lower Grade Magical Artifact should possess.

In less than a breath’s time since these Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts had appeared, their Stone Demon Sect had already lost two Vice Sect Leaders. The former Sect Leader was now fighting for his own life, on the verge of sudden death at any moment.

To turn the tables now, they had to find the Spirit Refiner controlling these Spiritual Artifacts.

’How can someone controlling four Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts be so good at hiding?’

’Found him!’

Just as the former Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect was struck by the three swords, Shi Tianpo discovered the hidden Fang Yun’s location.

He was quite a distance away from them.

’Is that... early-stage Foundation Establishment?’

Shi Tianpo was stunned. ’With this kind of skill, he should be at the late-stage Foundation Establishment, at the very least.’