Chapter 288: Soul Banner

The old ancestor Tianchan held the small beast in one hand and patted it all over with the other, his eyes emitting faint golden light as if performing some secret technique.

Strange indeed!

After being startled awake by the rough handling, the young Qingfeng wolf did not struggle violently; instead, it quietly tucked its tail and allowed Tianchan Laozu to repeatedly examine its body.

"How is it? Has any manipulation been done to this beast?" asked the blue statue.

"It doesn't seem to have been tampered with—not even a trace of a sealing mark can be found."

However, the spirit's words were correct: this young Qingfeng wolf does possess a faint third-rank potential, with a trace of special bloodline within its body—but I cannot identify what kind of bloodline it is."

"Li Huo, younger brother, come take a look," replied Tianchan Laozu, as the golden light in his eyes gradually faded.

"I know a great deal about wolf beasts—let me examine it," said the blue statue, reaching out without hesitation to take the green cub from Tianchan Laozu.

In the next instant, waves of blue light rippled across the statue's body, enveloping both itself and the cub, rendering its actions completely invisible to outsiders.

Wang Yu, witnessing this, showed a look of astonishment.

Yet Tianchan Laozu and Yin Yun Laozu remained expressionless, as if this were an ordinary occurrence.

After a short while, Li Huo Laozu's voice emerged from within the blue aura:

"I also detected no traces of any secret technique on this beast. However, its hidden bloodline is indeed extraordinary—it appears to be that of the Ironwing Wolf."

"Ironwing Wolf? Isn't that a third-rank wolf species unique to the Eastern Wastelands!" Tianchan Laozu exclaimed, surprised.

"Correct. It seems the spirit's claim that this Qingfeng wolf was deliberately brought into the secret realm by Master Jialan is likely true," replied the blue statue slowly, then withdrew its blue aura and returned the cub to Tianchan Laozu.

"Elder Ouyang, would you like to inspect it as well?" Tianchan Laozu asked Yin Yun Laozu as he took back the cub.

"I'm not skilled in this area. Since neither of you found anything amiss, it's probably truly harmless," Yin Yun Laozu waved dismissively, uninterested.

Hearing this, Tianchan Laozu paused briefly, then spoke to Wang Yu.

"Wang Yu, just to be safe, I must keep this Qingfeng wolf for further study for a while—it will remain here. But since this beast was your discovery within the secret realm, I shall reward you with something else. What do you think?"

"I leave all decisions to my master," Wang Yu answered without hesitation.

Any hesitation on his part would have betrayed the high emotional intelligence cultivated by years of watching dramas from Blue Star.

Upon hearing this, Tianchan Laozu's face naturally brightened with satisfaction.

First, he pulled out a yellow pill and shoved it straight into the cub's mouth, causing it to fall into a deep slumber; then, with a flick of his hand, a white rope appeared in his grasp, which he shook once to tightly bind the green cub.

Next, the golden-robed elder withdrew an unknown silver-glowing talisman from his robes and pressed it against the cub's body.

Though its purpose was unknown, the talisman flashed once and vanished entirely into the young Qingfeng wolf's body.

Only then did Tianchan Laozu sweep his sleeve, neatly storing the green cub away.

Wang Yu, who had watched all this unfold, was drenched in sweat.

This beast, treated with such solemn care by a Golden Core elder, had been carelessly tossed into his spiritual beast pouch, left to eat and sleep at will.

He had previously worried he might have been cheated—but now he felt it was incredibly wise to have rid himself of such a hot potato.

"Wang Yu, your storage bags must contain many of your discoveries from the secret realm," Yin Yun Laozu asked casually, glancing at the several pouches at Wang Yu's waist.

"Yes, all my gains from the secret realm are stored in these bags. Please, Elder Ancestors, help me inspect them, just to be safe," Wang Yu thought quickly, understanding the Golden Core elder's implication; though inwardly resigned, he answered without hesitation.

He then removed several storage bags from his waist, along with the single spiritual beast pouch, and offered them up with both hands.

Tianchan Laozu, watching all this nearby, merely glanced once but said nothing.

"Good, you're quite astute," Yin Yun Laozu praised condescendingly, then waved his hand through the air, causing all the bags to invert and spill out their contents.

Among them were vials, jars, boxes of various sizes, and jade caskets.

Most striking of all were piles of gleaming white bones and numerous white skeletal demons wreathed in black mist, nearly covering half the stone chamber's floor.

The red-haired man standing respectfully nearby paled slightly upon seeing this.

The three Golden Core elders ignored it entirely; their eyes simultaneously blazed with light as their immense spiritual senses swept over the scattered items on the ground.

Wang Yu suddenly felt his spiritual sense tremble violently, as if a terrifying colossal presence had descended—he stiffened instinctively, not daring to move.

The red-haired man's face also turned slightly pale; even this Foundation Establishment cultivator struggled under the overwhelming spiritual pressure of the three Golden Core elders.

"Hmm? Is that a Spirit Tea Tree?"

Tianchan Laozu let out a soft exclamation, snatching a small white tree along with its soil and bringing it before him; he plucked a white leaf with two fingers, chewed it slowly, then showed a hint of disappointment.

"It's only a first-rank Spirit Tea Tree—its effect is merely to slightly restore physical strength and spiritual energy."

Tianchan Laozu waved his hand, and the white tree floated back to its original spot.

On the other side, the blue statue gestured, and one of the skeletal demons holding a black small banner flew forward; after examining the banner closely, it said calmly:

"This appears to be the core of a Tianming Sect's Soul Banner—its fabric must be made from the peeled skin and hair of living cultivators, then soaked for forty-nine days in a yin-evil location using the blood of a hundred victims."

"Though most such banners are low-grade, they excel at corrupting other sects' magical artifacts—yet how did these skeletal demons come to possess so many of these cores?"

As the blue statue spoke, twelve more skeletal demons, each holding identical black banners, rose from the ground.

At this, Yin Yun Laozu and Tianchan Laozu also turned their attention, both showing clear interest.

"Soul Banners, Ghost Banners, Blood Banners—these are known as the Three Demon Banners. Though nearly every dark sect cultivator owns one, the Soul Banner is the hardest to forge. Moreover, the Tianming Sect lies far from the Great Ming Province—yet here, so many of these banner cores appear in the hands of these skeletal demons—it's highly unusual."

After studying them for a moment, Tianchan Laozu turned to Wang Yu and asked, his expression grave: "Wang Yu, were these skeletal demons' Soul Banner cores also obtained within the Jialan Secret Realm?"