Free Web NovelChapter 146: Chapter 141: Soul Refining Banner
Walking through the ravaged streets, Qi Yun unhurriedly swung the large, pitch-black banner in his hand.
WHOOSH—the wind stirred.
The massive banner looked incredibly heavy, yet in his hands, it felt as light as a feather.
With each unfurling, the banner’s surface whipped up a chilling vortex, precisely sweeping the nearby corpses of several freshly slain Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators into its folds.
This Soul Refining Banner was an unorthodox magic that involved the simultaneous cultivation of both Artifact and Magic.
Its wonders were all contained within the large Magical Artifact banner he held.
Collecting corpses, absorbing remnant souls, and refining them into Resentful Souls were merely its basic functions.
The new Soul Banner in Qi Yun’s hand possessed an immense internal space.
While not as convenient as a Storage Magic Bracelet for accessing external items, it could generate its own Yin Sha Qi, nourishing the souls and resentful energy collected inside.
In battle, one simply had to infuse it with True Essence, and the banner’s surface would unleash streams of nearly tangible black energy. These acted like countless venomous tentacles, whipping and coiling around enemies at the user’s will.
If struck by this black energy, the toxic Yin Sha Qi it contained would instantly invade a person’s marrow and organs.
It not only harmed the physical body, but it could also corrode and defile an opponent’s True Essence, crippling their Cultivation.
It was truly insidious and vicious.
According to the Magic Jade Scroll, if one could cultivate this art to its apex, it was possible to nurture ninety-nine powerful Main Resentful Souls within the banner.
Unleashed in battle, it would summon a hundred howling ghosts to blot out the sky.
The resulting yin domain could significantly weaken enemies, making its power quite formidable.
Of course, Qi Yun didn’t expect it to display such power anytime soon.
He was merely using it as a handy tool for disguise and support.
He swung the large banner, and black energy swept toward the corpses of two Yellow Springs Netherworld disciples who had fallen together.
The corpses were smoothly drawn into the banner. With two soft thuds—THUD, THUD—two dusty Storage Pouches detached from the vanishing bodies and fell to the ground.
An imperceptible glint flashed in Qi Yun’s murky eyes. He bent down smoothly, expertly picked up the two Storage Pouches, and tucked them into his robes.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water. He had clearly done this many times before.
He sent a wisp of his Divine Sense to probe one of the Storage Pouches.
Inside were mostly Yin Attribute Materials, Low Tier Elixirs, and a small number of Spirit Stones. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
But as his Divine Sense swept over the other Storage Pouch, a familiar thrumming sensation, originating from his Magic Technique Panel, gently surfaced.
’Hm?’ Qi Yun’s heart stirred, and he immediately focused his attention on it.
There, in a corner of the Storage Pouch, mixed in with a pile of miscellaneous materials, lay a seven-inch-long coffin nail. It was a dark, blood-red color, its surface covered in twisted Talismans.
The nail emanated an extremely faint, yet distinct, aura that pointed directly toward the Netherworld.
’To search high and low for something, only to find it without any effort at all... With this, the Spiritual Objects needed for the Soul Refining Banner are just about gathered...’ The numb mask on Qi Yun’s face could barely suppress the smile threatening to break through.
Suppressing his glee, he impassively gripped the blood-red coffin nail.
In his Sea of Consciousness, the Magic Technique Panel erupted in a brilliant light!
The blood-red coffin nail in his hand dimmed at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The Daoist Intent it contained was forcibly extracted by the Magic Technique Panel’s Refining Divine Anomalies.
Like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, it all poured into the Soul Refining Banner.
A few breaths later, the Refinement was complete.
[Magic automatically updated. This is a minor version update. The following adjustments have been made to the magic’s effects:]
[Soul Refining Banner 2.0: Increased refining speed for Resentful Souls.]
Raising an eyebrow, Qi Yun read the update on the Magic Technique Panel, then turned his attention to the Soul Refining Banner in his hand to inspect its interior.
It was a murky, sunless dimension, devoid of sun, moon, and stars. There was only a roiling, impenetrably dense, and sinister black energy.
This black energy was the Yin Sha Qi that the Soul Refining Banner generated on its own.
At this moment, it acted like an invisible millstone, slowly corroding and grinding away at the corpses that had just been swept inside.
The remnant souls let out silent wails within the black energy. They were forcibly stripped away and torn to shreds before being mixed with the Yin Sha Qi, transforming into something more condensed and sinister.
According to the *Soul Refining Banner* magic technique.
To initially refine the collected corpses and souls into "Resentful Souls" with some degree of Attack Power required at least a hundred days of patient work.
They had to be nourished and tempered day and night by Yin Sha Qi before they could finally take shape.
But now, the Soul Refining Banner’s speed at refining Resentful Souls was clearly much faster.
At this rate, the first combat-ready "Resentful Soul" could likely be formed in ten days at most.
This efficiency far surpassed that of an ordinary Soul Refining Banner.
Qi Yun withdrew his Divine Sense and began to calculate.
’In that case, this Soul Refining Banner isn’t just a disguise. It might soon become genuinely useful, another trump card to play against my enemies.’
His original plan was to continue wearing the "Zhang Mazi" persona. He would follow the Holy Sect’s main forces as they attacked the strongholds of the Yellow Springs Netherworld, fishing in troubled waters.
Along the way, he would follow the atlas in the *Essentials* to find and absorb Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend Qi, steadily raising his Cultivation.
But plans rarely survive contact with reality.
Three days ago, a sudden piece of news had dropped like a boulder into a calm lake, instantly causing a stir among the Holy Sect Disciples. It had reached Qi Yun’s ears as well.
[Ten Foundation Establishment Masters from the Holy Sect have joined forces to launch a surprise attack on a Shiyi Realm known as the ’Yin Ruins,’ which is controlled by the Yellow Springs Netherworld!]
The surprise attack was initially quite successful, catching the Yellow Springs Netherworld completely off guard.
As a result, three hundred Outer Disciples, dozens of Inner Sect Disciples, and eight Foundation Establishment Masters from the Yellow Springs Netherworld were trapped inside the Shiyi Realm.
Then, these ten Holy Sect Masters joined forces to lay down a Grand Array, completely sealing off the passage to the "Yin Ruins."
They adopted a stance that clearly showed their intent to trap the Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators inside until they all perished.
Now, the main forces of the two Major Sects were steadily converging on Pot Valley, the location of the entrance to the "Yin Ruins," for a tense standoff.
According to the latest intelligence, the Yellow Springs Netherworld had already assembled nearly a thousand Cultivators around Pot Valley, an imposing force.
As for the Holy Sect’s side...
Apart from the ten Foundation Establishment Masters of unknown intent who were sealing the entrance, as of now, the number of disciples who had rushed to Pot Valley as reinforcements was... negligible.
Or rather... zero.
Looking at the latest message on the Jade Scroll in his hand, Qi Yun nearly failed to maintain his feigned, numb expression. He almost burst out laughing.
He forcibly suppressed the twitch at the corner of his mouth.
’Our Holy Sect’s spirit is truly unified from top to bottom!’
This was obviously just another hook cast out by the higher-ups in the Holy Sect’s Inner Mansion, though who they intended to catch was anyone’s guess.
Anyone could see it was a thankless, unprofitable task. Worse, it was highly likely one could get drawn into a larger vortex or even end up as a sacrificial pawn.
The reaction from the Holy Sect Disciples was almost comically coordinated!
Avoid it if you can, dodge it if you can’t.
And if they absolutely couldn’t get out of it, they would put in a token effort at best, completely unwilling to be sent to the front lines as cannon fodder.
So much for brotherly solidarity. In the face of tangible risks and rewards, such things had to take a backseat.
’Now this is interesting...’ Qi Yun mused, rubbing his chin with a playful glint in his eye.
’The standoff at Pot Valley seems dangerous, but the murkier the water... the greater the opportunity, perhaps?’
He glanced at the Soul Refining Banner in his hand, then sensed the *Secret Manual of the Northwest Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends* and the Golden Ring linked to the Ancient Sword Cultivator’s legacy within his Storage Magic Bracelet.
’Perhaps,’ he thought, ’this sudden storm isn’t entirely a bad thing for me.’
...
「Pot Valley」
The terrain lived up to its name. Steep mountains converged on both sides, shaped like a gigantic teapot with only a single, narrow opening in the middle.
But today, this once-desolate valley was saturated with a suffocating, murderous air.
Outside the valley entrance was a dense, dark mass of Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators.
Nearly a thousand figures were clustered together. The thick Yin Sha Qi they exuded converged into a cloud that blotted out the sky, and the wail of ten thousand ghosts was faintly audible.
Countless Magical Artifacts and Soul Banners glittered with eerie green and ghastly white light, standing tall like a dense forest. It was as if a grim Ghost Realm had descended upon the world.
The sky-high resentment and murderous intent nearly stained the sky before Pot Valley an inky black.
In stark contrast to this grand spectacle was the exceptionally "thin" defensive line at the entrance to Pot Valley.
Just ten people.
Ten figures dressed in Wuji Holy Sect robes stood there. They appeared to be standing casually, yet they were like ten insurmountable, majestic Divine Mountains, firmly guarding the passage to the "Yin Ruins" Shiyi Realm behind them.
Their auras were all different, each one unfathomably deep. Faint glimmers of light flickered around them. The sheer pressure they naturally exuded was enough to keep the thousand Yellow Springs Netherworld Cultivators from making any rash moves, resulting in a bizarre stalemate.
These ten Holy Sect Masters were clearly extraordinary, even judging by their silhouettes alone.
One was built like an iron pagoda, cradling a sheathless greatsword. Its dark red blade looked as if it had been soaked in the blood of countless victims. As he stood there silently, a sharp intent powerful enough to split the very heavens seemed to emanate from him.
Another was shrouded in a voluminous black robe, their face obscured. Only two crimson points of light flickered in the shadows as the ground beneath their feet silently dissolved into a corrosive mire.
Another had the air of a celestial immortal, holding a Duster with a gentle smile. But with every blink, invisible shockwaves of Heart and Spirit pulsed outward, causing the faces of the more weak-willed Yellow Springs Netherworld disciples to turn pale and their Divine Souls to tremble.
They did not communicate much with each other.
Even their positioning seemed somewhat distant.
Yet their auras were faintly linked, forming an invisible but impenetrable barrier.
Amid the stalemate, a pale, beardless Holy Sect Master with somewhat effeminate eyes glanced nonchalantly at the empty ground behind them. He also noted the faint glimmers of Escape Lights belonging to a few Holy Sect Disciples in the distance, who were circling but refusing to advance.
The corner of his mouth twitched almost imperceptibly. He sent a Divine Thought to his fellow sect member beside him, the one cradling the greatsword.
"Senior Brother Li, it seems... our little cubs have made up their minds. They’re just going to watch the show and see how we old geezers handle it."
The burly Master known as Senior Brother Li snorted, the sound barely audible. The arms cradling his sword didn’t move an inch as his Divine Thought replied, tinged with gruffness and resignation:
"Hmph. Every last one of them is more cunning than a ghost!
You expect them to rush up here and fight to the death when there’s no profit in it?
Bah, let them be. We’re not helpless without them."
The other Master, the one with the celestial air and the Duster, heard this and chimed in with his own Divine Thought, a faint smile on his face:
"Hehe, Junior Brother Li, I must disagree.
This is merely our Holy Sect Disciples demonstrating their ability to weigh pros and cons, to understand and assess a situation.
It is truly a blessing for the Sect, a time-honored virtue."
As soon as he said this, the other Masters fell silent, sharing a tacit understanding.
For a moment, the atmosphere became strangely harmonious... and utterly exasperating.
Yes, a time-honored virtue.
Ten Masters, facing an army of a thousand, with not a single ally behind them.
They exchanged a look of mutual understanding.
That look was a mixture of annoyance, amusement, and, above all, a resigned acceptance that this was just how things were. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
So be it.
Since they couldn’t count on the younger generation, it was up to these ten old bones to hold the line at Pot Valley, at the entrance to the "Yin Ruins".
...
