Chapter 306 - 260: Mid-stage Foundation Establishment

Battles at the Foundation Establishment Level were not common.

This meant there weren’t many Foundation Establishment Demons active within the Celestial Cloud Sect’s territory either.

Both sides suffered losses in the last large-scale battle. But if we’re talking about who lost more, it was undoubtedly the Demons of the Celestial Demon Sect.

Although the Celestial Cloud Sect lost one of its Foundation Establishment Influences, its Elders suffered no casualties. In contrast, the Celestial Demon Sect not only lost two Late-stage Foundation Establishment Elders, but one at the Peak of Foundation Establishment also died.

It was the third month of spring.

More than three months had passed since Fang Yun upgraded all of his Combat Talents to six stars.

「On this day.」

In Fang Yun’s cave abode, Bai Qinying was also present.

"I have two pieces of news for you—one good, and one bad. Which do you want to hear first?" Bai Qinying asked, looking at Fang Yun.

’Good news and bad news.’

Hearing her words, Fang Yun couldn’t help but feel that Bai Qinying was putting on some kind of act.

"Let’s start with the good news," Fang Yun said after a slight hesitation.

He’d rather hear the good news first.

"The good news is that Elder Miao has reached the Peak of Foundation Establishment."

"Elder Miao is already at the Peak of Foundation Establishment."

Fang Yun was slightly surprised. This was indeed good news. From what he understood, he’d thought it would take Miao Qinghong several more years to reach the Peak of Foundation Establishment. It wouldn’t have been surprising if it had taken her more than a decade.

The Peak of Foundation Establishment was similar in nature to the Peak of Qi Refining.

Reaching this Realm meant one had a chance to break through to the Core Formation Stage. Of course, much like Cultivators at the Peak of Qi Refining, those at the Peak of Foundation Establishment would cultivate to the absolute zenith of their Realm before they would attempt the breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage.

According to the description in his Foundation Establishment Technique, the Nine Fire Lotus Technique, he would officially enter the Peak of Foundation Establishment once the liquid Spiritual Power in his Qi Sea accumulated to ninety percent.

And the true peak, naturally, was when the liquid was accumulated to one hundred percent.

"Once Elder Miao makes her breakthrough to the Core Formation Stage, we’ll have a much stronger position against the Celestial Demon Sect," Fang Yun couldn’t help but say.

As Miao Qinghong was a Sword Cultivator, if she truly broke through to the Core Formation Stage, the Celestial Cloud Sect’s overall strength would definitely experience a considerable increase.

The sect growing stronger was something Fang Yun was very happy to see.

Thus, the news that Miao Qinghong had reached the Peak of Foundation Establishment was, for him, absolutely good news.

Miao Qinghong’s strength had surely risen in advancing from Late-stage Foundation Establishment to the Peak of Foundation Establishment, which also provided a small boost to the sect’s overall power.

"And the bad news?" Fang Yun asked before Bai Qinying had a chance to speak.

"The bad news is that our subordinate Foundation Establishment Influence, the Xiao Family, has been destroyed."

"The Xiao Family... destroyed..."

For a moment, Fang Yun was at a loss for words.

During the Demons’ last large-scale operation, he had arrived just in time to save the Xiao Family, which had been on the brink of destruction. He had even killed many Foundation Establishment Demons.

And now he was being told that the Xiao Family had been destroyed.

Fang Yun quickly adjusted his mindset. In this environment, most Qi Refining Influences could last for over two hundred years, whereas many Foundation Establishment Influences met their end between the two-hundred and five-hundred-year mark.

Especially with two major Core Formation Sects in conflict, the destruction of a Foundation Establishment Influence was perfectly normal.

"Was there no call for reinforcements this time?" Fang Yun asked.

"By the time we received the message, the Xiao Family’s defenses had already been breached."

Fang Yun nodded upon hearing this. In that case, reinforcements would have indeed been useless.

If their Grand Array had been broken by the time the message arrived, then a family like the Xiao’s wouldn’t have been able to hold out for long, even with an Elder from the Celestial Cloud Sect standing guard.

The destruction of the Xiao Family also meant that the Elder the sect had posted there as a Guardian had perished as well.

As the thought occurred to him, Fang Yun asked Bai Qinying about it, and the answer he received was exactly what he’d expected.

The Elder assigned to the guardian mission had, indeed, perished.

"How much force did the Demons commit to take down the Xiao Family?" Fang Yun wanted to know more.

The fact that some news had made it back meant they at least had some information about the attacking Demons. It would have been far worse if the family had been wiped out without a single report.

Fang Yun was all too familiar with that kind of situation, as it was exactly how he had destroyed the Demons’ own Foundation Establishment Influences.

"According to the messages sent back, Demons at the Peak of Foundation Establishment were present, and there were no fewer than ten Foundation Establishment Level Demons in total."

This was different from the Demons’ last large-scale offensive.

This time, they concentrated their forces with the specific goal of annihilating a single Foundation Establishment Influence.

To withstand such an assault, the Defense Array would have to be incredibly strong. That would buy enough time for reinforcements, whether from neighboring Foundation Establishment Influences or from the Celestial Cloud Sect itself, to arrive.

The Xiao Family’s Grand Array was considered merely average among the subordinate Foundation Establishment Influences.

The other method would have been to get advance intelligence, which tested their information-gathering capabilities. An operation involving so many Foundation Establishment Demons should have been easier to detect. One could only conclude that the Xiao Family disciples out gathering information missed the crucial window to discover and report the attack.

After relaying the two pieces of news, Bai Qinying went on to tell Fang Yun the general gist of what was discussed in the meeting hall on Battle Peak.

With the exception of the last reinforcement mission, Bai Qinying was always the one who relayed the details of the Battle Peak meetings to him.

Fang Yun needed this information to plan his future actions.

"...Elder Miao proposed that we take similar actions, but she was met with opposition from most of the other Elders. The Celestial Demon Sect has the secret support of the Demon Spirit Sect. If we were to retaliate in the same manner, the Demon Spirit Sect’s support might no longer be ’in secret’..."