Chapter 200: Magic Treasure Beast Soul Banner

However.

Their reactions were nowhere near as prepared as Yunhe, who had long been ready.

In Yunhe's dantian qi sea, above the phantom of the five-element spiritual body surrounding his golden core, mana circulated, the five elements mutually generated, and finally the phantom of the yellow dragon representing earth opened its mouth and exhaled a mouthful of extremely pure earth-attribute spiritual energy.

He feigned casting a spell, actually just using earth-attribute mana to conceal the yellow dragon's essence and pour it into the Thick Earth Cauldron.

For a moment.

The Thick Earth Cauldron swelled to several times its size, like a towering mountain, pressing down on Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai.

Virtue bears all things!

Originally full of confidence, the two simultaneously changed expression upon sensing the surging mana fluctuations emanating from the Thick Earth Cauldron.

When did that old turtle become capable of unleashing such a powerful assault?

But speaking of which,

They seemed to have only seen the old turtle defend against attacks, and had never seen him take the offensive.

But now was not the time to consider those things; the two immediately formed hand seals to respond.

Hum—

Suddenly.

A powerful divine sense swept over, and before Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai could react, it heavily struck their souls.

Divine sense attack?!

Wang Lou, who had been sitting quietly in the pavilion watching the show, wore a look of surprise and doubt, suddenly rose, and gazed with a mix of bewilderment and disbelief at the lofty old elder standing in midair.

Comparable to the divine sense of a mid Golden Core cultivator!

But for Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai, who were directly bearing Yunhe's attack, it was not so easy.

The two, who had already felt the pressure from the Thick Earth Cauldron, suddenly suffered a divine sense impact, causing them to fall into a brief stupor.

When they came to, their shocked expressions could no longer be hidden; their prior plans could not be carried out, and they could only respond hastily.

Boom!!

The Thick Earth Cauldron came down heavily, like a mountain crashing to the ground; the entire sea of clouds was blasted into a temporary vacuum, then violently shook up great waves of clouds.

"Hah."

Seeing this, Yunhe's eyes flashed with a cold gleam, and he immediately prepared to form hand seals again.

But at this moment, Wang Lou surged with mana and flew up, appearing between Yunhe and the two bearing the Thick Earth Cauldron's attack, fixing Yunhe with a somewhat solemn expression, and said in a deep voice:

"Fellow Daoist He, out of respect for my face, let today's matter end here."

Upon hearing this, Yunhe's hand movement paused.

To be honest, he never intended to go further.

Wanting to dispose of Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai, relying solely on his newly refined defensive-type treasure, the Thick Earth Cauldron, and his own restricted arts, is impossible.

At least he would need to employ the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword or the Crimson Shadow Golden Wing Bee Swarm to have a chance.

But even if he used those, he had no absolute confidence that after killing Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai he could also deal with Wang Lou.

Defeating a mid Golden Core cultivator, he now has confidence.

But killing a mid Golden Core cultivator is a different matter altogether.

Therefore, the divine sense attack he just used did not employ the "Thousand Poisons Myriad Insects Art," nor did he push his own divine sense to the extreme; it was merely barely comparable to mid Golden Core.

For now, he still does not wish to abandon the entire He Clan.

The He Clan is still useful to him.

This strike is enough to buy the He Clan several decades of peace.

In a decade or so, judging by his steady consumption of elixirs, there is a high probability he will cultivate to mid Golden Core, at least reaching the peak of early Golden Core.

By then, whether to abandon the He Clan will be decided later.

As for dealing with Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai, there is absolutely no need to do so in front of Wang Lou; there will be plenty of opportunities later.

"Since Fellow Daoist Wang has spoken, I, He, naturally dare not disobey."

Yunhe smiled and waved his hand; the Thick Earth Cauldron flew back to him.

And when the Thick Earth Cauldron was moved aside, the disheveled figures of Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai were revealed.

But when they looked at Yunhe, their eyes were filled with intense apprehension.

They recognized the strength of "He Wen"; in a one-on-one fight, perhaps neither of them would be a match for him.

And what they feared most was that if someone with such strength as He Wen truly went berserk, it would be a disaster for the non-Golden Core cultivators of both clans.

Therefore, after this, the two have already made up their minds.

Before the He Clan Patriarch He Wen passes away, they should try to reduce conflicts with the He Clan, lest they truly drive that "old turtle" mad.

Seeing Yunhe retract the Thick Earth Cauldron, Wang Lou's mana fully retracted, and he laughed heartily: "I, Wang, have also never seen Fellow Daoist He cast a spell before; I didn't expect the outside rumors to be unfounded."

Deep in his eyes, he also harbored a hint of apprehension.

Just like Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai, he also feared provoking He Wen into a rage.

But unlike them, he is confident that in a one-on-one fight he could still overcome He Wen.

Yunhe snorted, clasped his hands, and said: "Then I, He, will take my leave first."

Having said that, he tightened his sleeves, turned, and fled.

Watching his departing streak of light, Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai each put away the formations they had hidden in the sea of clouds.

Earlier, when Yunhe left Mount Lei, if he had not noticed them and entered the formation, they would have hesitated not at all to slay him on the spot.

It's a pity that Yunhe's alertness thwarted their plan, forcing them to settle for a war of attrition instead.

"'Old turtle.'"

Deep down, the two couldn't help but silently curse Yunhe twice more for their wariness.

Afterwards, they all looked toward Wang Lou.

"Wang Daoist friend," Liu Yanfeng spoke.

"No problem." Wang Lou shook his head, the two iron balls in his hand spinning rapidly, "It's just waiting a dozen years or so; it won't affect the arrangements above."

Hearing this, Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai exchanged glances and involuntarily nodded.

Although the arrangements above are important, what matters most to them is still their respective families.

Returned to the He Clan.

Yunhe immediately summoned the clan head He Yuanlin.

"Ancestor."

Seeing Yunhe's pallid complexion and seemingly poor condition, He Yuanlin's heart skipped, and a very bad premonition arose.

Yunhe gave him a cold, expressionless glance and said coldly, "There are people from the Liu Clan and Wang Clan inside the family; you know what to do, right?"

Hearing this, He Yuanlin was shocked and immediately knelt on the ground.

"Ancestor, could it be that you...?"

"It's fine." Yunhe waved his hand, "Just exchanged a few moves with those two juniors, Liu Yanfeng and Wang Fengbai."

"Exchanged moves?!" He Yuanlin felt a surge of sorrow, his eyes slightly reddening; he realized this exchange undoubtedly accelerated the ancestor's death, and he trembled: "Ancestor, your body..."

Yunhe's face paled further, but he still stood and said, "Although I've expended some mana, I can still hold on for a dozen years or so, but afterwards it will be difficult to act again."

But he soon gave a cold chuckle and continued:

"However, those two aren't much better off than I am. I summoned you not only to find the traitors within the clan, but also to send people to take over the shops in the market that originally gave profits to the Liu Clan and Wang Clan. Moreover, the profits from the South Ridge Mountain and South Cloud Mountain mines, originally allocated to those two families, you can also have people reclaim."

"Ah?"

After hearing Yunhe's words, He Yuanlin looked astonished.

"Rest assured, they dare not block or oppose. If anyone truly disagrees, you just need to be firmer; be as firm as you can." Yunhe said with his hands behind his back, in an unquestionable tone.

Now the Liu Clan and Wang Clan absolutely dare not block.

But Yunhe didn't explain to He Yuanlin; he just said, "Just follow my instructions."

"Yes!"

"Recently I need to go into seclusion to recuperate; don't bother me unless necessary. As for those traitors, you figure out how to deal with them yourself."

"Understood!"

Although He Yuanlin didn't know what was going on, he still dared not defy Yunhe's will, and he mobilized many He Clan cultivators to take over some shops in the market and part of the mining sites of the two mines.

But he, who originally thought they'd have to fight a few rounds or at least argue, found that the Liu Clan and Wang Clan cooperated surprisingly well, as if they feared conflict with the He Clan.

This made He Yuanlin suddenly feel quite surprised.

Later, a rumor spread from somewhere saying that the He Clan's ancestor He Wen fought with the two ancestors of the Liu Clan and Wang Clan, and the He Clan's ancestor gained the upper hand.

Although it's just hearsay, given the He Clan's recent conduct and the Liu Clan and Wang Clan's reactions, it actually seems true.

The elderly He Wen consequently gained considerable fame.

A situation like He Wen's, where his lifespan is about to run out yet his fame is rising, is truly rare.

Only people like He Yuanlin who know a bit of the inside story know that this matter is probably true.

This made He Yuanlin feel astonished at his ancestor's strength, while also feeling increasingly regretful.

The He Clan is indeed now walking the final stretch that appears glorious.

But no matter what.

Because of this commotion, the He Clan's profits have indeed been increasing, and as the He Clan's ancestor who can freely enjoy all the clan's resources, Yunhe naturally gained even more.

Although he no longer appears in person, he still passes information to He Yuanlin.

He ordered him to purchase precious ores, spiritual plants, secret arts, materials, etc.

Or to pool the accumulated Spirit Stones to see if they could be exchanged for higher-grade, more precious top-grade Spirit Stones.

Without worrying about consumption, it's better to use more Spirit Stones than miss out on good things.

Regarding this, He Yuanlin naturally dared not disobey.

In his view, the ancestor's doing this perhaps aims to quickly convert Spirit Stones into treasures, paving the way for the He Clan's future.

Thus, the He Clan began a large-scale sweep.

And Yunhe also obtained many good things through this.

Especially after the Liu Clan and Wang Clan deliberately avoided the He Clan, it allowed the He Clan to gather treasures with few obstacles.

Yunhe directly obtained dozens of uncommon third-level ores, some precious third-level spiritual plants, various secret arts and techniques; even he didn't expect that the He Clan actually managed to get a Fourth Level ore—Bone Condensing Soul Stone!

And three uncommon top-grade Spirit Stones!

If Yunhe had to do it himself, even if he could buy them, it would likely take a lot of time and effort.

With the He Clan at his disposal, he doesn't even need to spend a single Spirit Stone; he can just sit and wait.

And most of Yunhe's energy is still used to increase his Cultivation Base.

At the same time, he is also preparing to refine another Spiritual Artifact.

Beast Soul Banner!

The materials for this Spiritual Artifact were also gathered with the He Clan's help and his own collection, roughly put together.

Especially that Fourth Level ore "Bone Condensing Soul Stone", which can serve as one of the main materials for the banner's pole.

Originally, that top-tier Spiritual Artifact level Beast Soul Banner could no longer meet his demands, and the beast souls obtained from hunting third-level demon beasts with his Demon Beast Body were also not to be wasted.

Moreover.

Now Yunhe's status as the He Clan's ancestor restricts him from using the Five Elements Thunder Sword and the Red Shadow Golden Winged Bees, but relying on a reforged cauldron of thick earth and his own spells, he fares okay against early Golden Core cultivators, but against mid Golden Core cultivators he is somewhat stretched thin.

The Cloud Upper Realm also differs from the Eastern Realm; although there is still a distinction between orthodox and demonic paths, there is no absolute mutual exclusion, so using demonic cultivator's Spiritual Artifacts won't provoke a siege.

However.

A magic treasure requires a blood-bonded master; the cultivator body and demon beast body cannot share a single beast soul banner, and Yunhe even conceived the idea of directly refining two.

After all, refining a beast soul banner is not difficult, and its material requirements are far smaller than those of the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword.

What truly limits the beast soul banner magic treasure is the number and quality of beast souls within it.

For other cultivators, this is the biggest trouble, but for Yunhe it has become the most effortless matter.

A beast soul banner that has reached magic-treasure grade can hold a greater number of beast souls.

And in the Yao Shou Shijie, there are so many demon beasts; in particular, Yunhe hunted dozens of third-rank demon beasts to obtain their third-rank demon beast inner cores.

He naturally kept them all; if they were all incorporated into the beast soul banner, they would be under his control.

It can already be foreseen that this magic treasure, even without spending much time on sacrificial refinement, will be able to exert considerable power.

Therefore he also felt that, whether in demon beast body or cultivator body, there seemed to be no magic treasure more suitable for them than this beast soul banner.

(End of chapter)