Chapter 253: Chapter 233: Battle Summary 2

How could he possibly be an early-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner?

Could an early-stage Foundation Establishment Spirit Refiner accurately control a Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact from such a distance?

This barrage of information that defied all logic didn’t numb Shi Tianpo.

Even though he had no hope of survival, he refused to let this Spirit Refiner get off easy.

"I’ll take you down with me!"

Shi Tianpo roared and charged in Fang Yun’s direction.

Facing such a strange Spirit Refiner, this was his only remaining option.

But before he had even covered half the distance, his body was severed into five pieces.

This was the consequence of not defending himself.

The battle ended quickly. Three Earth Yellow Swords and one pale red long sword flew toward Fang Yun.

The deep yellow swords were indeed the Earth Yellow Swords, while the pale red one was the first Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact he had refined that was specialized against Demons.

Fang Yun had named this pale red long sword the Demon-slaying Sword.

In the future, all swords of this type he refined would be called by this name.

As the Demon-slaying Sword and Earth Yellow Swords flew back, Fang Yun mentally reviewed the lessons from the battle.

’When I dealt with the four Foundation Establishment Demons just now, I assigned corresponding Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts to attack them based on their strength. After killing the weaker Demons, I concentrated more power to deal with the stronger ones.’

’With the support of my four-star Combat Talent, when I strike, even activating the full concealment effect of the Half-Hidden Spirit Boots has a hard time suppressing my Spiritual Power fluctuations... A mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon can discover my presence in less than three breaths’ time.’

’If it were a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon, they would probably discover me instantly...’

’When dealing with Demons, the one-Spirit Pattern Demon-slaying Sword performs better in actual combat than the three-Spirit Pattern Earth Yellow Sword. This was within my expectations.’

’With my four-star Combat Talent, even if I know nothing about an enemy, I can easily gauge the precise strength of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment opponent. It should be about the same for the late stage... But for the Core Formation Stage, it’s hard to say...’

This battle gave Fang Yun an even deeper understanding of his four-star Combat Talent.

Since a five-star Combat Talent was an upgrade from a four-star one, he could extrapolate from his current experiences, and most of his conclusions would still apply.

For example, once his Combat Talent upgraded to five-star, when facing a completely unknown early-stage Core Formation Cultivator, he would be able to determine their exact strength just by entering a combat state.

Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in a hundred battles.

The more he delved into his Combat Talent, the more Fang Yun could feel its power.

The enhancement of Spiritual Artifacts’ power, the reduction in Spiritual Power consumption when using them—these were just the most superficial aspects of his Combat Talent.

「A short while earlier.」

In the Shen Family ancestral land.

Patriarch Shen, who was constantly monitoring the Array Plate, suddenly spoke.

"There’s movement!"

"What kind of movement?" Elder Cao of the Celestial Cloud Sect was the quickest to react.

"Elder Cao, look here. There’s an extremely faint fluctuation of Spiritual Power." Patriarch Shen pointed to a spot displayed on the Array Plate. "The Spiritual Power fluctuation is very weak, but I can still determine that this is a Foundation Establishment Cultivator."

Their Shen Family’s ancestral land Grand Array was comprehensive.

Its detection capabilities were not weak. Especially after the Foundation Establishment Demons appeared, this function of the Grand Array had been fully activated, allowing it to probe even farther distances.

"Who has come to support us?" Patriarch Shen asked, looking at Elder Cao.

Elder Cao thought of the several elders from Battle Peak who specialized in stealth.

Just as he was about to say a name, he heard Patriarch Shen exclaim.

"This Elder is approaching the Foundation Establishment Demons!"

"We should go out and help," one of the Shen Family Elders said immediately.

"No." Elder Cao shook his head, stopping the impulsive Shen Family Elder. "If we go out to help now, we’ll alert the enemy. It’s not too late for us to act after he successfully ambushes the Foundation Establishment Demons."

"Alright."

Everyone’s gaze was now focused on the Array Plate that Patriarch Shen was controlling.

The dot representing the faint Spiritual Power fluctuation stopped moving.

Not long after.

They saw four dots of Demon Power fluctuate wildly, and then two of them vanished completely.

"Did he just take out two early-stage Foundation Establishment Demons?"

"Mhm." Elder Cao nodded, very excited. "It seems the ambush was a great success!"

Like Elder Cao, the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Shen Family were also very excited.

After the excitement wore off, the impulsive Shen Family Elder from before spoke up.

"Let’s hurry out and provide support."

This time, it was Patriarch Shen who stopped him.

"I think... that won’t be necessary." Patriarch Shen pointed at the situation on the Array Plate, where another dot of Demon Power had just disappeared. "With this Elder’s level of strength, it’s now just one-on-one. I’m sure he can handle it with ease."

The moment Patriarch Shen finished speaking, the last dot of Demon Power also vanished.

"Alright, they’ve all been dealt with."

"When did Elder Long become so powerful?" Elder Cao mused aloud now that the battle outside was over.

Skilled in stealth techniques and able to eliminate four Foundation Establishment Demons—two early-stage and two mid-stage—Elder Cao could only think of one person.

The third-in-command of their Battle Peak, the late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Long Xiangwen.

But even for Long Xiangwen, defeating these Foundation Establishment Demons was still too fast. Moreover, these Demons hadn’t shown any intention of escaping at all. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator himself, if he encountered a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon, his first thought would definitely not be to fight to the death, but to run first and ask questions later. That Demon would not be an opponent he could handle.

"Early-stage Foundation Establishment!" Patriarch Shen was stunned.

Previously, the faint Spiritual Power fluctuation only allowed him to determine that it was a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator outside, not which specific stage. Based on the battle’s outcome, he had assumed it was a late-stage or even peak Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

But now, the Spiritual Power fluctuations were no longer faint.

The display on the Array Plate was telling him that the one who came to support them was an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

An early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator... defeated four Foundation Establishment Demons? And two of them were mid-stage!

"This... isn’t Elder Long." Elder Cao was not only shocked but also embarrassed. He shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions so quickly.

The embarrassment passed very quickly. Now, he was desperate to know which Elder the sect had actually sent as reinforcements.

’Does our Celestial Cloud Sect have such a formidable early-stage Foundation Establishment Elder?’

"Let’s go out and see, quickly."

"Alright."

The four of them quickly vanished from the main hall.

Outside the Shen Family ancestral land.

Fang Yun was collecting his spoils of war.

He would open these Storage Pouches after he returned. They might contain a good amount of materials.

As long as the materials were suitable, he could refine more Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts specialized for dealing with Demons.

’One Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect, three Vice Sect Leaders...’

Fang Yun recalled that the very first Foundation Establishment Stage Demon he had killed was also a Vice Sect Leader of the Stone Demon Sect.

If he remembered correctly, the Stone Demon Sect seemed to have only five Foundation Establishment Demons in total, with no other Elders having successfully reached Foundation Establishment yet.

’I’ve wiped out the Stone Demon Sect’s entire upper echelon.’

Fang Yun nodded to himself as he thought.

That was most likely the case.

For him right now, there were two things he was looking forward to. First, how many basic Talent Points a mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon would provide. Second, whether he could find any useful materials in the Demons’ Storage Pouches.

After he had finished collecting all the spoils.

Fang Yun saw Elder Cao from Battle Peak and the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Shen Family land in front of him.

"Elder Fang, it’s actually you!"

Elder Cao looked at Fang Yun, both surprised and not surprised.

Among the early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators in the sect, there weren’t many who were powerful, and Fang Yun, who had long since proven himself, was one of them.

But this time, Fang Yun was a little too powerful. He was nothing like a normal early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Regardless, Elder Cao knew that for their Celestial Cloud Sect, this was definitely a good thing!

"Elder Cao, Patriarch Shen, and the two Elders." Fang Yun greeted each of them with a smile, without any hint of arrogance.

"Hahaha, when I learned there was an early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator outside the ancestral land, I knew it had to be you, Elder Fang." One of the Shen Family Elders returned the greeting and laughed heartily. "Even as a Qi Refining Stage disciple, Elder Fang had the ability to slay a Foundation Establishment Demon."

This Shen Family Elder was the very one who had gone to support the Qi Refining Stage Zeng Family.

In his words now, he didn’t even mention that it was with the Zeng Family’s cooperation.

Back then, he had felt there was more to the story, and now, it was confirmed.