Chapter 98: Reforming the Beast Soul Banner!

"Is Senior Brother Huang Ling dead?"

This is one month after Yunhe returned to the Qingzong Sect.

Finally, his damaged divine sense was restored.

He learned from the other Foundation Establishment cultivators of the sect that Huang Ling's soul lamp had gone out, causing Yunhe to fall silent.

As a cultivator of the Qingzong Sect, and with Huang Ling having mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation, his death inevitably gave him a feeling of grief like a rabbit mourning a fox.

Even Foundation Establishment cultivators of the sect are not necessarily safe.

In the face of danger, they will also die.

Even against those who do not fear the sect's power, they will also deal a deadly blow.

Moreover, this might merely be the beginning.

Yunhe, once again sensing danger and urgency, after delivering candied haws to Hua Xin, went out for several days, spending a large amount of spirit stones to purchase many supplies.

Afterward, he returned to the sect's abode and entered closed-door cultivation.

Inside the abode.

Sitting in the Spirit Gathering Array inside the cultivation chamber, Yunhe opened his spirit insect pouch and released two spirit bees.

One was the Red Pattern Spirit Bee Queen he had cultivated, with a golden stripe on its abdomen.

The other was a male Four-winged Gold Spotted Bee purchased from the auction house.

Without further ado, he took out two Breeding Pellets and fed them to them.

This time in closed-door cultivation, he did not believe that these two spirit bees, with the aid of Breeding Pellets and a medium-grade second-tier spirit vein, could not reach the peak of a late first-tier demonic beast.

Reaching second-tier demonic beast level is a bit far, but cultivating them to the peak of late first-tier is still doable.

Once their demonic power meets the standard, he will arrange for them to mate.

Because Yunhe noticed that the Red Pattern Spirit Bees were increasingly unable to keep up with his strength.

In battles against Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were almost useless, so he must use means to force their evolution.

If it fails.

He would then try to obtain other spirit bees or insects to make up for this deficiency.

After placing the two spirit bees, Yunhe then took out the Soul Attracting Jade.

As soon as it appeared, a faint yin energy began to condense within the cultivation chamber.

After several months of study, Yunhe had gained some grasp of the Soul Search Technique.

Moreover, now that his divine sense had recovered, he decided to try using Soul Search on Wang Pei's remnant soul to see if he could obtain any useful information.

Yunhe took a deep breath.

Staring at the Soul Attracting Jade in his hand, his mana operated in an extremely wicked manner, and his divine sense gradually surged.

In his eyes, strands of black aura rose.

If this scene were seen by other cultivators of the Qingzong Sect, they would likely apprehend him as a demonic cultivator.

Soul Search!

Some fragmented image fragments flickered forth from the remnant soul within the jade.

At the same time, the remnant soul, which was merely fragments, dissipated into strands of black aura under this extremely cruel demonic technique.

After a good while.

Yunhe rubbed his temples, set down the Soul Attracting Jade that now held only scattered soul fragments, and let out a long sigh.

"It turns out it was only Wang Pei's divided soul; has the true Wang Pei already died at the hands of the Blood Ritual?"

It seems that after he fled that day, many more things happened.

"The divided soul can counteract the Blood Ritual's Thousand Soul Banner, but I don't know if such a tiny bit of remaining soul can still be effective."

He had originally planned to completely destroy the remnant soul in the Soul Attracting Jade after the soul search ended, but he never expected Wang Pei still had this move as a counter against the Blood Ritual.

So Yunhe hesitated repeatedly, but still put away the Soul Attracting Jade containing the fragments.

Perhaps it could still be of some use later.

Afterward, Yunhe again took from his storage ring the wooden tablet engraved with a beautiful divine bird.

It was also one of only two items in his storage ring at that time.

"I never expected that the Blood Ritual and Wang Pei's attack on the Zou clan was actually for this object."

Yes.

From the remnant soul, Yunhe also learned that the Blood Ritual had plotted extensively with Wang Pei against the Zou clan, but it was not to covet the Zou clan's wealth, nor for Zou Changming's "South Ming Fire Pearl," but for this wooden tablet!

However, the remnant soul's memory loss was too severe, and Yunhe's grasp of the Soul Search Technique was not yet proficient, so he did not know what this wooden tablet was, nor how to use it or its effects.

But no matter what, the fact that two Core Formation cultivators value it so highly shows this object is absolutely not simple.

After playing with it for a while, he put it back into his storage ring.

These messages are still fairly important, but they do not greatly help his current strength increase.

He took out the treasure Black Wood Seal and activated its incantation.

A long string of complicated ancient characters slowly emerged.

"Really cautious, they even hid a trick on the Black Wood Seal."

If the person who obtains this seal cultivates according to the Ghost Spirit Mystic Classic recorded on it, they might easily deviate into demonic possession and lose their mind.

"Good thing I have no interest in the ghostly path."

From this hidden technique, he found a method for refining a special spiritual artifact.

"Beast Soul Banner!"

The Beast Soul Banner is similar to soul banners like the Hundred Ghost Banner, Thousand Soul Banner, and Ten Thousand Soul Banner, except that the Beast Soul Banner carries the souls of demonic beasts, whereas the Hundred Ghost Banner carries the souls of cultivators.

Thus, the Beast Soul Banner can also be divided into Hundred Soul, Thousand Soul, and Ten Thousand Soul.

Even, gathering twelve poles of myriad beast soul banners can also form the Heavenly Demon Twelve Soul Banner Grand Formation, summoning the souls of Nascent Soul demon beasts!

The strength of such spiritual artifacts and magical treasures depends not only on the materials; the quality of the souls gathered within is equally important.

Of course, the tier of materials used in forging also determines its upper limit.

I don't know how to forge artifacts, but if it's just repairing and swapping some internal restrictions, I should be able to give it a try.

He then took out a broken flagpole from his storage bag, as well as a flag that was still fairly intact.

It was precisely Zhou Kui's Hundred Ghost Banner!

However, the hundred ghosts' souls have all dissipated, and the spiritual artifact's power has dropped to its lowest.

Essentially, the Hundred Ghost Banner and the Beast Soul Banner are similar in materials and forging methods.

Only some internal restrictions differ.

If I can repair and change some restrictions, I won't need to rely on the Qingzong Sect's power like Wang Pei did to gather the rat demon souls when collecting beast souls.

Moreover, in Yao Shou Shijie, there are many yin souls near the Abyssal Ravine.

If I can gather a hundred second-tier beast souls, even if this banner cannot be promoted to a magical treasure, its power will surely surpass that of a top-grade magical artifact.

My divine sense is strong; I can condense the innate fire of Foundation Establishment, so there is still a certain success rate.

Yunhe closed his eyes.

He repeatedly reviewed the method for forging the Beast Soul Banner in his mind.

Three days later.

Only then did he open his eyes again.

Forging the Beast Soul Banner is not difficult; the difficulty lies in gathering those extremely yin-laden yin evil things and collecting the beast souls.

Zhou Kui's Hundred Ghost Banner, compared to the Hundred Ghost Banner of the Blood Ritual that could be promoted to a Thousand Soul Banner, naturally cannot compare in materials.

But relying on this banner to act as he pleases among Foundation Establishment cultivators, its materials are also not bad.

Just the flagpole alone is made from a century-old yin-soul tree trunk combined with bone powder of late-stage second-tier demon beasts.

Various precious materials and prohibitions were also forged into it, making the flagpole warm, smooth like jade, and glossy.

The banner itself is woven from yin silkworm silk and has nurtured living souls for decades; even though the yin souls are now exhausted, it still exudes a ghastly aura.

Fortunately, only the flagpole is damaged; if the banner were broken, I truly couldn't fix it. But for the flagpole, I should be able to patch it together with some effort.

Saying that, he took out several pieces of 'yin wood essence' and a considerable amount of auxiliary materials.

He focused his mind and calmed his breath.

He cast a spell, suspending the flagpole and banner in midair.

He offered the transparent innate fire of Foundation Establishment.

Accompanied by a 'hissing' sound.

The broken flagpole slowly joined together under the adhesive of the yin wood essence.

One month later.

Yao Shou Shijie.

Abyssal Ravine Cliff.

Yunhe and the little fox stood here.

Before them, black mist permeated, yin energy swirled, presenting indeed a grim, ghostly haunt.

Whooo—

Watching the scene before them, the little fox let out a low whimper and leaned closer to Yunhe.

What are they doing here?

Not to mention the gloom, everywhere are yin evil ghostly things, and even in midair there drift many demon beast souls.

Facing its doubt, Yunhe did not answer.

He merely lightly patted his storage bag.

Instantly, a banner likewise exuding yin aura was summoned forth.

Beast Soul Banner!

But this Beast Soul Banner looks rather unimpressive.

Not only does the flagpole have an extremely obvious bulge in the middle, it is a conspicuous repair made after a break, done in an extremely crude manner.

Moreover, the banner is full of burrs; many of the yin silkworm threads are on the verge of snapping, these are traces left after altering the prohibitions.

It is practically a defective spiritual artifact.

But actually, aside from its somewhat unsightly appearance, it possesses all the functions of a Beast Soul Banner.

Even because Yunhe spared no expense, melting all the 'yin wood essence' into it, its power has subtly increased.

Now what is lacking is merely the beast souls within the banner.

Whooo!!

Seeing this banner, the little fox shuddered violently and almost jumped up.

This, this, this is.

Yunhe glanced at it sideways and said with a smile:

Don't be nervous.

Saying that, he mobilized demonic power, chanted the incantation, and formed the hand seal.

In an instant, on the cliff, a great yin wind arose.

A large amount of yin energy was drawn in by the 'Beast Soul Banner'; the entire banner emitted a faint black glow, as if it had come alive again.

At the same time, the many wandering demon souls drifting in and around the Abyssal Ravine were attracted by the 'Beast Soul Banner' and gradually gathered into it.

As the beast souls were infused, the Beast Soul Banner finally gradually revealed its power.

low-grade Spiritual Artifact medium-grade Spiritual Artifact

「Wuu—」

The little fox shivered, its teeth lightly chattering; the heavy yin evil qi made it feel very uncomfortable.

As a spirit fox, its perception and reaction to these auras were even more keen.

Yunhe pressed his paw against its forehead.

「It's fine; to deal with a Rotten Wood Jiao stronger than Old Huangyang, we naturally need stronger means. 」

Hearing that, the little fox startled, then its gaze gradually became firm, and it nodded heavily.

「Wuu! 」

After a moment, the Beast Soul Banner ceased its movement.

「Wuu? 」

「Let's change places; the beast souls here have been mostly collected. 」

Immediately, Yunhe brought the little fox to wander around this Ghostly Mire, continuously infusing beast souls into the Beast Soul Banner.

When the number of beast souls in the banner exceeded a hundred, its power finally could rival a high-grade Spiritual Artifact.

Feeling this change in aura, the little fox's eyes involuntarily lit up.

How impressive!

It had a feeling that even with just this Beast Soul Banner, even at its peak state it probably couldn't handle it.

Perhaps there really is a chance to find it for revenge before the Rotten Wood Jiao breaks through to third stage!

But while the little fox thought it was impressive, Yunhe was not very satisfied.

「We've only gathered some ordinary beast souls, not even as good as the rat-demon souls Wang Pei collected; we need to supplement with vital souls. Moreover, it's best to use beast souls of second-stage strength. 」

From now on, it's not as simple as just pulling out the Beast Soul Banner and sucking; we need to take action.

However, Yunhe originally estimated the banner's upper limit might be a top-grade Spiritual Artifact, but now merely gathering some ordinary beast souls can already rival a high-grade Spiritual Artifact to some extent.

「Gathering more vital souls from second-tier beasts, especially finding a powerful master soul, might even surpass a top-grade Spiritual Artifact. 」

This thought arose, making Yunhe feel somewhat exhilarated.

「Let's go; from now on we need to do it ourselves. It might be a bit dangerous, so stay close to me. 」

「Ao. 」

The little fox obediently nodded.

(End of chapter)