Chapter 491: Banner of Ten Thousand Souls
Cluster Heavy Artillery Massacres Cultivators, Main Text, Volume 523, Chapter 523: Banner of Ten Thousand Souls. Before the sky had completely darkened, Jiang Ding walked out of the city gate.
Near the city gate, many Foundation Establishment and Qi Condensation cultivators guarding the city had dog hair growing on their cheeks, their teeth and lips protruding forward, clearly having turned into sharp canid fangs, drool dripping down.
Even more so, on the city wall, a Jin Dan cultivator had transformed entirely into a spirit dog with glossy black fur, squatting on the ground, alertly looking in all directions.
As Jiang Ding passed, it clearly sensed something, sniffed for a moment, detected no scent of the wanted criminal, and then paid him no further mind.
"With the aid of the formation, his perception ability may have reached the fourth tier."
Jiang Ding judged.
Even if it was not his true body, after he cast the Magnetic Concealment Art, it could still detect his whereabouts without seeming to expend much effort; this was quite remarkable.
His gaze lingered for a moment on a wall near the city gate.
On it, densely hung were countless portraits of men, women, the old, and the young; touching them with spiritual sense revealed even more information: origins, Gong Fa, characteristics of magical treasures, soul fluctuations, and so on.
This was the wanted poster of the Beast Spirit Immortal City.
"Blood Flowing Cloud, born as a horse slave of the Yin family, knowing no respect or hierarchy, fond of slaughter, committing heinous crimes, having killed noble direct bloodlines many times, sparing neither old nor young, women nor children, utterly devoid of conscience... The one who captures him shall be granted the status of an A-class vassal family, a third-tier superior spiritual vein, and eternal protection under General General Heishi..."
"This price?"
"Blood Flowing Cloud is a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator, isn't he?"
Jiang Ding was stunned.
He knew it was not that General General Heishi did not value Blood Flowing Cloud.
For a cultivator of slave origin who had also killed his master, no direct descendant of General General Heishi did not hate and loathe him, wishing to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin.
Divine Crow Master Dinghai Zhenjun had once pursued Blood Flowing Cloud for several years.
The reason for offering such laughable rewards as a third-tier superior spiritual vein and A-class vassal family status to hunt a Nascent Soul-stage cultivator was not perfunctory.
It was because General General Heishi could only offer this much.
The ceiling for non-surnamed individuals was Jin Dan Zhong Qi, at most breaking through to Jin Dan Hou Qi by special exception.
Nascent Soul Gong Fa, auxiliary pills for forming the Nascent Soul, and so on—setting aside whether they were willing to part with them, even if they were willing, they would absolutely not give them to non-surnamed individuals.
Even if a non-surnamed person worked like an ox or a horse, established Da Gong by saving the entire family, or by chance saved the life of a Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun, the most they could receive was things like a third-tier superior spiritual vein.
Anything more was absolutely impossible.
"Eh?"
Jiang Ding continued reading, somewhat curious.
Below Blood Flowing Cloud, the one wanted was not even a peak Jin Dan cultivator.
"Li Jin Yu, a Jin Dan Chu Qi cultivator, stole a precious treasure of the Six Paths Saint Son. For the one who captures and kills him: if from one of the Twenty-Eight Families, direct lineage, reward: one Nascent Soul-forming spiritual object, one Nascent Soul Gong Fa; collateral lineage, reward: three top-tier superior magical treasures, a third-tier supreme spiritual vein, permission to establish a family... non-surnamed..."
"Li Tu, ambushed and killed a Jin Dan of General General Heishi..."
"..."
A huge amount of information was collected by Jiang Ding and stored within his soul, to serve in the future as an intelligence database for various judgments, prepared against any eventuality.
He flew leisurely in the sky, heading toward the location of the Wei family of Tushan.
Ahead, several masked black-robed Jin Dan Jing cultivators each deployed formation flags and magical treasures to block a seductive woman.
"Hand over your storage bag and the Wang Ting token, and your life shall be spared!"
One of the black-robed men shouted coldly.
"The Four Ghosts of Tong Mountain?"
The seductive woman's expression changed; before the opponent's formation could fully unfold, she unhesitatingly burned her vital blood, her speed suddenly exploding, escaping the closing formation in the narrowest of moments.
"Pursue!"
The leader of the black-robed men showed a look of regret and hurriedly led his men to chase after her.
Jiang Ding feigned ignorance, passing right through the middle of them, his gaze not lingering on either side for any longer time.
Who was righteous, who was evil.
He did not wish to ask, did not wish to intervene, did not wish to participate in the karma involved; it had nothing to do with him. He was not interested in the Wang Ting token or any opportunity, nor did he wish to investigate.
He only needed to cultivate safely and steadily.
That would be enough; nothing more was needed.
More than five hundred kilometers away from the Beast Spirit Immortal City, signs of bandit cultivators and battles began to appear along the way; Jin Dan-level fights were seen occasionally.
Of course, within a range of ten thousand li, the people of General General Heishi remained the ones no one dared to provoke.
A Nascent Soul Master Dinghai Zhenjun was meditating here in seclusion.
Apart from that, various struggles over treasures, grudges, and battles were quite severe.
The people of General General Heishi did not care about these; indeed, many of the struggles and grudges were deliberately stirred up by them to consume the lives of these chaotic cultivators, making their rule more stable.
After traveling another hundred-plus kilometers.
"That brat again?"
Jiang Ding paused his steps.
"Only six years... he might have mastered a long-distance teleportation array."
Several dozen kilometers away,
an ordinary-looking stranger youth was being besieged by two Jin Dan peak cultivators of General General Heishi.
Clearly possessing only Jin Dan Chu Qi cultivation, he held a pitch-black Banner of Ten Thousand Souls; with a single shake, over a hundred thousand fierce ghosts flew out from it; Foundation Establishment-level ghost generals were common, and over ten ghost kings were present.
This banner was extremely powerful, allowing him to barely hold off the siege of the two Jin Dan peak cultivators, narrowly surviving.
However, even so, the gap between Jin Dan Chu Qi and Jin Dan peak was too vast; after only a short while, he was repeatedly driven back by a Black Coffin magical treasure and a bronze halberd magical treasure, vomiting fresh blood without cease.
"The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls of the Six Paths Saint Son!"
"This is a supreme treasure with the potential to ascend to a top-tier Infant Treasure."
A red-faced Jin Dan peak cultivator of General General Heishi gazed greedily at the jade-handled long banner in the ordinary-looking youth's hands; while deploying his magical treasure to attack and kill, he kept a wary eye on his companion from time to time.
As direct descendants of the General Heishi, if they returned this treasure, they could obtain a spiritual pill that aids in forming a Nascent Soul!
Under such a great opportunity, even a father and son could not necessarily be trusted.
"Kill this person first."
The other Jin Dan peak cultivator was a beautiful woman who said coldly, "This person managed to escape from the hands of the Six Realms Holy Disciple; he must have some reliance. Kill him first, then speak."
"Indeed so."
The red-faced Jin Dan cultivator paused, deeply agreeing.
As the two's magical treasure assault grew increasingly fierce, slowly grinding down the magic power of the ordinary-faced youth, they dared not be careless in the slightest; they left no gaps, and split off more than half their strength to guard against something, leaving not a single opportunity.
"Damn it! The Profound Heaven Sword was used the last time he escaped!"
The ordinary-faced youth possessed no trump card as they had imagined; despair rose in his heart.
Boom!
The Hei Guan Fa magical treasure struck again, breaking his arm, causing his aura to plummet, declining to the extreme.
"He is in danger."
Jiang Ding withdrew his gaze, his expression calm.
This person, Han Lin, had some karmic connection with him and also some good will; between the two, it could be said their friendship was as light as water, where neither owed the other anything.
To save, or not to save.
Both are acceptable; there is no impact.
Today,
unfortunately,
he did not wish to save anyone.
Perhaps having witnessed so much death, the various cruelties and bloodshed of the Tushan Xiancheng, he momentarily felt that all beings must eventually die, differing only in timing.
Perhaps it was the evil qi radiating from the ten thousand wronged souls and fierce ghosts surrounding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the other's hand that aroused his dislike.
In any case, Jiang Ding, as always, concealed his form and left this place.
Two
End of Chapter
