Chapter 778: Eradicating the Artifact Spirit

"It seems this Soul Banner is indeed a Nether Hell item. Its status is probably not far from that Mourning Bell. Otherwise, the Underworld God couldn't be compared with the Mourning Bell," Ye Liuyun thought silently.

At that moment, the Soul Banner was already stunned!

Ye Liuyun even dared to destroy the Underworld God's avatar projection!

"Who is this kid?" it wondered, baffled.

And it seemed the Underworld God also thought this kid was hard to deal with. Otherwise, why would it compromise?

It had never heard of the Underworld God negotiating terms with anyone.

The Underworld God fell silent.

The Underworld God's avatar projection was destroyed twice by Ye Liuyun, and it was furious. Though merely a projection, it still felt its face was utterly disgraced.

It was the first time it encountered such a situation. Only Ye Liuyun would dare to do this, and he did it twice.

Probably, if a similar chance arises again, Ye Liuyun will still act the same.

Only after the projection's energy was completely absorbed by the Sealing Demon Tablet did Ye Liuyun retrieve the Sealing Demon Tablet.

Ye Liuyun destroyed the Underworld God's projection, reclaimed the Sealing Demon Tablet, and turned his gaze toward the Soul Banner.

The Soul Banner trembled, frightened by his piercing stare.

The Gate of Hell was now gradually receding.

This was also the Soul Banner's strongest move; even the Underworld God's projection was summoned, yet it was useless. It had no further powerful attacks.

Ha ha! the artifact spirit forced a laugh twice, covering its embarrassment.

"Good, good, you impressive human kid, I am willing to recognize you as my master!"

The artifact spirit also knew it had no choice now.

The Golden Pupil kid before him dared to destroy even the Underworld God's projection, so eliminating it was a given. Thus it immediately changed its attitude and showed goodwill toward Ye Liuyun.

"Come out and meet me."

Ye Liuyun didn't dare to trust it lightly; he would have it appear first.

"This… you also know, an artifact spirit cannot stay away from its treasure for long…" the artifact spirit began to babble.

Ye Liuyun let go and pressed the Sealing Demon Tablet against the Soul Banner.

Clang!

The Sealing Demon Tablet unceremoniously slammed the Soul Banner onto the ground, cracking the Grand Hall's floor with fissures.

"Hey, hey, I'm coming out then, you're not big, why such a big temper!"

Once the Sealing Demon Tablet pressed it, the Soul Banner could no longer function.

The artifact spirit felt the Sealing Demon Tablet's suction and promptly fled honestly from within the Soul Banner.

Ye Liuyun almost burst into laughter at the sight of the artifact spirit.

The artifact spirit was only half his height, looked about fifty, bald, with a small braid at the back of its head—an extremely odd appearance.

Ye Liuyun suppressed his laugh and asked directly, "What kind of banner is this? Is it a Nether Hell artifact?"

"This banner is called the Hundred-Refined Soul Banner; it was forged by the first-generation Underworld God after countless refinements, gathering countless Yin Souls from the Hell to forge it, and is counted alongside the Mourning Bell and the Underworld God's Sword as the Hell's Three Treasures. If used within Hell, its power far exceeds ordinary divine artifacts. Used outside, its effect diminishes greatly…"

The artifact spirit also knew it had gravely offended Ye Liuyun before, so it dared not ramble now and launched into a nonstop introduction.

Finally, flatteringly it said, "Master, you have the Mourning Bell in your hand, and now you also have me; you can defeat the Underworld God and seize control of Hell!"

"I'm no match for the Underworld God's true body!" Ye Liuyun wasn't swayed by its temptation.

"But you have the Sealing Demon Tablet, which can suppress the Underworld God! Moreover, the Underworld God is wounded, a scar from the Foreign Tribe's invasion of Hell, likely still unhealed! Otherwise, its true body would have rushed over and wouldn't let you destroy its avatar projection. You must know that such a being, even as a projection, cares about face…"

The artifact spirit's spiritual intelligence was indeed high; once it started speaking, it couldn't stop, and its words were all logical.

"How do you know he was wounded?" Ye Liuyun pressed.

"He was my previous master. During a battle with an Alien Evil Artifact, he was injured and lost me. I pretended to recognize the Foreign Tribe as master, was taken here by it, then I destroyed that Foreign Tribe and regained my freedom."

Ye Liuyun felt a stir in his heart upon hearing that.

He wasn't concerned with seizing the Underworld God's authority, nor with the god's injury.

He thought: "This artifact spirit cannot stay! Its spiritual intelligence is too high. Not only did it betray its former master, it also betrays its current master. It must be eradicated, otherwise keeping it nearby is the greatest hidden danger."

With that in mind, he calmly continued to ask the artifact spirit, "What functions does this Soul Banner have?"

The artifact spirit bowed and replied, "Master, this Soul Banner can absorb souls, and those souls can cultivate within it, growing ever stronger. Any soul absorbed must obey your commands and can aid you in battle. Additionally, it can command Yin Souls within Hell, summon the Gate of Hell, and call forth the Underworld God, among other effects."

"It can summon the Underworld God?" Ye Liuyun was somewhat puzzled.

"Yes! Whether it's the Underworld God himself or a projection, that cannot be determined!" the artifact spirit answered honestly.

"It seems I can't use this ability lightly in the future. Otherwise, if the Underworld God's true body appears, I'd be in trouble," Ye Liuyun thought.

"Don't resist; I'll perform a Soul Search directly, I'm too lazy to ask question by question!"

Ye Liuyun said so, and regardless of the artifact spirit's objection, he dragged it straight into his Yin Yang Realm.

After leaving the treasure, the artifact spirit itself wasn't very strong, and Ye Liuyun easily pulled it in.

Then Ye Liuyun began a Soul Search to verify whether its words were true.

After confirming, Ye Liuyun didn't release it, but instead began absorbing its Soul power directly.

"Huh? Master, what are you doing?" the artifact spirit asked tremblingly upon realizing.

"You betrayed your previous master and also devour your master, so I cannot keep you!" Ye Liuyun explained simply.

"Master, spare me! That was in the past; I have no ulterior motives toward you!" the artifact spirit screamed, begging for mercy.

"Not having a betraying heart now doesn't mean there won't be one later." Ye Liuyun ignored it, continuing to accelerate the absorption.

"Without me, the treasure's power will greatly diminish! Master, you're cutting off your own arm!" the artifact spirit pleaded desperately.

"Even cutting off an arm is better than planting a hidden danger beside me!" Ye Liuyun remained unmoved.

Only after completely eradicating the artifact spirit's Soul did he close his Yin Yang Realm.

Then he reclaimed the Sealing Demon Tablet and the Hundred-Refined Soul Banner, refined them, and made them his own treasure.

A treasure without an artifact spirit indeed has poor active attack consciousness, and is also not flexible.

But Ye Liuyun also does not regret. For such a traitor who betrays his master, he will definitely not keep him.

Ye Liuyun finished refining the Soul Banner, then went outside to meet up with Qiong Qi.

「Just saw the Underworld God's projection, I was scared to death! 」

When Qiong Qi saw him having collected the Soul Banner, only then did he completely let out a breath of relief.