I Can Upgrade My Talent Infinitely

Chapter 307 - 260: Mid-stage Foundation Establishment

Bai Qinying spoke, and Fang Yun listened.

Fang Yun only spoke up when he had a question about something she said.

Fang Yun understood most of the strategic concerns.

Given the environment around the Celestial Cloud Sect, it was indeed difficult to make a move like the Celestial Demon Sect had.

Using too much force would easily attract unwanted attention.

It was best to eliminate the Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence quietly.

Within the entire Celestial Cloud Sect, he was the only one capable of accomplishing this task.

’Once I break through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, I can take action again.’

Fang Yun thought to himself, still feeling it would be better to act after reaching the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Once he entered the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, his strength would increase again, making it much safer to annihilate one of the Celestial Demon Sect’s subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.

"Junior Brother, I’ve finished gathering the Spiritual Materials you requested."

As their conversation wound down, Bai Qinying brought up her own matter just before leaving.

A long time ago, Fang Yun had given her a list for refining a Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact to deal with Demons. It had taken her until now to gather all the Spiritual Materials on it.

"Let me see."

As he spoke, Fang Yun inspected the Spiritual Materials Bai Qinying had collected.

After finishing his inspection, he nodded. They had been gathered according to his specifications.

No matter who gave him materials, he always inspected them. It had become a habit.

"Senior Sister, I will deliver this Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact to you in half a month."

"Then I’ll be counting on you, Junior Brother."

With that, Bai Qinying left.

The stone door of the residence closed, and Fang Yun immediately entered a state of cultivation, beginning to refine and absorb an Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill.

It was worth mentioning that the Celestial Cloud Sect had already informed its other subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences about the Celestial Demon Sect’s recent actions, telling them to be extra cautious and to increase the number of cultivators gathering intelligence.

This would also make it easier to detect traces of the Celestial Demon Sect’s movements.

Having chosen to lay low, Fang Yun dedicated more of his time to cultivation.

「One year later.」

Inside his residence, before Fang Yun had even finished refining a single Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill, the Liquid Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea had already filled it to twenty-five percent capacity.

At this moment, he had reached the peak of the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.

The restricted Liquid Spiritual Power could no longer accumulate. To continue amassing it, he first had to break through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

"I’ve finally reached this step."

Fang Yun calculated the time. Despite his exceptionally slow cultivation speed in the early stages of Qi Refining, it had taken him less than fifteen years to go from just starting Qi Refining to entering Foundation Establishment.

Now, the time it had taken to go from just entering Foundation Establishment to the peak of its initial stage had already exceeded twenty years.

Fang Yun didn’t think this cultivation speed was slow.

For a Five Spirit Roots Cultivator like him, reaching the peak of the initial stage of Foundation Establishment before the age of forty-five was already quite remarkable.

Not long after reaching the peak of the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, Fang Yun entered seclusion to attempt his breakthrough.

He laid out the three Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pills he had prepared long ago.

With the aid of three Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pills, his chances of breaking through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment were at least ninety percent.

Just like with his breakthroughs during the Qi Refining Realm, the three Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pills were to be used at the critical moment of the breakthrough to help him enter the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Activating his Cultivation Technique, the Nine Fire Lotus Technique, Fang Yun, having already adjusted his condition, quickly entered the state of breakthrough.

Breaking through from the initial stage to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment required five to seven days.

Very few cultivators could complete the breakthrough in less than five days or more than seven.

Time passed without him noticing.

It was now the sixth day of Fang Yun’s seclusion.

Today, he had reached the most critical moment in his attempt to break into the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Without the slightest hesitation, at this crucial juncture, Fang Yun quickly consumed one of the Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pills.

The medicinal power of the Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pill spread throughout his body in less than half a breath.

Fang Yun directed this medicinal power, surging it into his Qi Sea.

His breakthrough began to smooth out, and the resistance steadily decreased.

Before long, the medicinal power of one Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pill was completely depleted.

Fang Yun, who was constantly monitoring the pill’s effects, immediately followed up with the second one.

Not long after, the third Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pill also entered his mouth.

At this moment, he was very, very close to breaking through the initial stage and entering the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

Aided by the final Upper-Grade Cyan Clarity Pill, a massive suction force formed around him, constantly drawing in the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

This phenomenon indicated that Fang Yun had successfully completed his breakthrough.

The Spiritual Qi rapidly converted into Spiritual Power, increasing Fang Yun’s total reserves. However, the twenty-five percent of Liquid Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea showed no increase in volume.

The current increase in his total Spiritual Power came from an improvement in its quality.

Although it was all Liquid Spiritual Power, the quality of Spiritual Power in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment was higher than in the initial stage. This was why most cultivators had to reach the middle stage to perfectly wield the full power of a Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

As his body stopped absorbing Spiritual Power, Fang Yun’s aura also changed.

Middle-stage Foundation Establishment!

Slowly opening his eyes, Fang Yun immediately took stock of the series of changes brought about by his breakthrough from the initial to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment.

First was the increase in the strength of his Divine Sense, expanding from one hundred feet to three hundred feet.

The increase in his Divine Sense’s strength would be beneficial for both Alchemy and Artifact Refining.

The change in Spiritual Power quality meant that controlling Spiritual Artifacts would consume less Spiritual Power.

Fang Yun slapped his Storage Pouch, and the Earth Yellow Sword, which had three Spirit Patterns, immediately flew out.

He flew it in a circle at full power before returning it to his Storage Pouch.

At that moment, Fang Yun immediately came to a new conclusion.

’At the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, with the boost from my six-star Combat Talent, the Spiritual Power consumed when controlling a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact is almost negligible.’

The Spiritual Power consumption was so small that even if he were to use the Earth Yellow Sword at full power for an entire day, he would still have over ninety percent of his Spiritual Power left in his Qi Sea.

Afterwards, he briefly tested both his Middle-Grade and Upper-Grade Spiritual Artifacts.

The Spiritual Power reduction for Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifacts now exceeded ninety-eight percent, while the reduction for Upper-Grade Spiritual Artifacts had surpassed ninety percent.

The Spiritual Power consumed to control his artifacts had decreased, while his total Spiritual Power reserves had increased.

With one factor decreasing and the other increasing, Fang Yun, now at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, could use his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots with Eight Spirit Patterns anytime and anywhere. He no longer needed to consider switching to the four-Spirit-Pattern Half-Hidden Spirit Boots when traveling.

At this rate, the Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact version of his Half-Hidden Spirit Boots would soon be retired.

’I should make a plan. Another huge wave of Talent Points should be settled soon.’

Ever since his Combat Talent was upgraded to six stars and he began drawing Life Talent, if the accumulation of Life Talent fragments were viewed as a progress bar, that bar was filling up extremely slowly.

More than a year had passed, and the progress bar had increased by less than three percent.

If he could obtain two or three million Talent Points, the time needed to upgrade his seven-star Life Talent to eight stars would be shortened by a year or two.

"For now, let’s test the effect of the Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill."

The Spirit Ascension Pill had a decent supportive effect for both the initial and middle stages of Foundation Establishment.

As the most common Second-Tier pill within the Celestial Cloud Sect, Fang Yun, having broken through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, naturally chose to continue using Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pills to aid his cultivation.

After swallowing an Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill, Fang Yun immediately began to refine and absorb it.

During the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, it took him a full day to completely refine and absorb one Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill.

Now in the middle stage, he only needed sixteen hours to finish refining and absorbing one.

"The time consumed was shortened by a third, but the amount of Spiritual Power gained was reduced by about two-fifths."

Compared to just after his breakthrough, his Qi Sea now had a few more drops of Spiritual Power converted from the Upper-Grade Spirit Ascension Pill.

This decrease in volume wasn’t because the Spirit Ascension Pill was less effective for the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. Rather, it was due to the change in his Spiritual Power’s quality. For Fang Yun, who had little resistance to Spirit Ascension Pills, the total amount of Spiritual Power gained from refining one pill remained unchanged.

Just like Upper-Grade Tier One pills used to assist cultivation, Upper-Grade Second-Tier pills were the same; long-term, high-volume consumption would not produce resistance.

However, long-term overconsumption was a different matter, something Fang Yun controlled very well.

’Once my Liquid Spiritual Power fills fifty percent of my Qi Sea, I’ll be at the peak of the middle stage of Foundation Establishment. I need to plan carefully if I want a chance to break through to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment within forty years...’