To be honest, Fang Yun had never thought that the Celestial Cloud Sect could become a fourth-rank sect so quickly.

Third-rank sects and fourth-rank sects are both Core Formation Sects.

He had originally thought that for the Celestial Cloud Sect to be rated as a fourth-rank sect, it would need to have at least one Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator.

Currently, the person with the highest Realm in the sect was still the Sect Leader, Duan Qingyun, with his Mid-stage Core Formation Cultivation.

’The sect became fourth-rank without a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator. This means that becoming a fourth-rank sect might be related to the number of Core Formation Cultivators.’

Fang Yun made this deduction.

He wasn’t one hundred percent certain that a fourth-rank sect’s level was solely related to the number of Core Formation Cultivators and nothing else.

The reason was that Miao Qinghong was no ordinary Core Formation Cultivator.

He had always believed that for the Celestial Cloud Sect to become a fourth-rank sect, it didn’t just need a certain quantity of Core Formation Cultivators, but also a certain quality.

And the Late-stage Core Formation Realm was obviously very important.

Now that the Celestial Cloud Sect had become fourth-rank without producing a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator, his view was a little shaken.

’...It should be related to both, but the conditions aren’t as absolute as I thought. It’s not a strict requirement to have a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator.’

In the game, a sect’s level depended on two conditions: player activity and the realm of the highest-level player.

The situation in reality was different from the one in the game.

If these two conditions were adapted to the Celestial Cloud Sect, they would probably be the strength of the Core Formation Cultivators and the number of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Fang Yun thought about it for a moment, then didn’t dwell on it.

In any case, the sect’s promotion was a huge boon for him.

His original bonus Talent Points were only at 405%, but now it had directly increased by a third, reaching 540%.

A 5.4 times bonus, plus the base Talent Points, meant the final tallied Talent Points would be 6.4 times the base amount.

Fang Yun’s current mood could only be described with two words.

Feeling great!

The biggest impact of the increased Talent Point bonus was on the speed at which his Life Talent could be upgraded to eight stars.

Previously, even after gaining a large amount of Talent Points from killing Foundation Establishment Demons, the time was only reduced by a year or two. Now, it was directly shortened by more than a decade.

Soon, Fang Yun went to his Life Talent interface. After tallying his Talent Points for the month, he set fifty-three aside and began making 2,263 draws for Life Talent fragments.

After this round of draws was over.

The fragments for all three types of Life Talent had all surpassed ninety thousand.

He had already completed nearly a quarter of the progress toward upgrading his Life Talent.

This speed was quite fast. Only eleven years and eight months had passed since his Combat Talent was upgraded to six stars.

Fang Yun closed the interface. He didn’t plan to continue reading; instead, he took out an Upper Grade Spirit Ascension Pill and began to refine and absorb it.

...

「Celestial Demon Sect.」

The place where Demon Qi and Spiritual Qi were most densely intermingled.

This was the residence of the Celestial Demon Sect’s Supreme Elder, Lu Yaoling.

Within the Celestial Demon Sect, the one with the highest status was not the Sect Leader, but the Supreme Elder with the highest Cultivation.

The Sect Leader of the Celestial Demon Sect was generally a newly-advanced Core Formation Stage cultivator.

As the highest-ranking Supreme Elder of the Celestial Demon Sect, Lu Yaoling’s Realm was already at the peak of the Mid-stage Core Formation, only a step away from the Late-stage Core Formation.

But it was a step he had been unable to take for a long time.

He was the one masterminding the Celestial Demon Sect’s operations against the Celestial Cloud Sect.

Lu Yaoling wanted to use these actions to push himself, so that after breaking through to the Late-stage Core Formation, he could strike directly at the heart of the Celestial Cloud Sect.

"Supreme Elder."

The one who entered was the Spirit Destruction Hall Master.

"Hall Master Jiang, speak your mind."

"Yes, Supreme Elder." The Spirit Destruction Hall Master nodded and began his report, "The Celestial Cloud Sect’s Sword Cultivator, Miao Qinghong, has successfully reached Core Formation."

"She succeeded just like that?"

Miao Qinghong’s successful Core Formation increased the Celestial Cloud Sect’s overall strength, which was clearly not good news for their Celestial Demon Sect.

"Yes, Supreme Elder. The information has been confirmed."

"After Miao Qinghong’s Core Formation, the Celestial Cloud Sect now has five Core Formation cultivators, then?"

"That is correct."

Before, their Celestial Demon Sect had two more Core Formation Cultivators than the Celestial Cloud Sect. Now, they only had one more.

With the increase in the Celestial Cloud Sect’s overall strength, it would be very difficult for the Celestial Demon Sect to destroy them on their own. Even if he, Lu Yaoling, broke through to the Late-stage Core Formation, the difficulty of eliminating the Celestial Cloud Sect would be much greater than before.

"Hall Master Jiang."

"I am here."

"Convey my intentions to the Celestial Cloud Sect. If they hand over Fang Yun, our Celestial Demon Sect can guarantee we will not move against them for two hundred years."

The Celestial Demon Sect’s bounty on the Celestial Cloud Sect’s Foundation Establishment Elders was based on the impact they would have on the Celestial Demon Sect after they grew and broke through to the Core Formation Stage.

Before Miao Qinghong reached Core Formation, the Celestial Demon Sect’s bounty on her was second only to Fang Yun’s.

The impact Miao Qinghong posed to the Celestial Demon Sect was mainly direct, stemming from herself. Fang Yun’s, however, was more indirect; he influenced the Celestial Cloud Sect’s other Core Formation Cultivators, who in turn impacted the Celestial Demon Sect.

Now that the one ranked second had successfully reached Core Formation, they had to eliminate the one ranked first while he was still in the Foundation Establishment Stage, if possible. Even though the chances of him reaching Core Formation were slim, it was necessary for their own safety.

Hearing the Supreme Elder’s words, the Spirit Destruction Hall Master hesitated.

’How could the Celestial Cloud Sect possibly hand over Fang Yun? We haven’t pushed them to the brink of desperation yet. Only then would the Celestial Cloud Sect obediently hand him over.’

’But if we’ve already pushed them to the brink, it wouldn’t matter whether they hand Fang Yun over or not. They’d be doomed to destruction either way.’