Chapter 172: Soul-Bewitching Banner

After Huang Shengyue nodded and took on the matter, she gave a wink to several Huang family cultivators in the room. Before long, several people, including Huang Siyuan, all walked out of this secret chamber.

Seeing this, Song Qingming also knew that she was about to state the purpose of coming to find him this time.

"Refining this magic tool, Fellow Daoist Song, don't rush to thank me yet. I also have a matter here that I would like to ask you for help with. If Fellow Daoist Song can agree to this matter, then I will take on this magic tool for you for free. Don't worry, refining this magic tool, I dare not say I have ninety percent certainty, but I still have seven or eight percent confidence. In the entire Qinghe County, except for me, no one else has this ability." After only the two were left in the room, Huang Shengyue then slowly stated her plan.

"Please speak directly, Fellow Daoist Huang. As long as it is within my power, I will definitely do my best."

Huang Shengyue nodded with satisfaction, coughed, and said, "Fellow Daoist Song, I heard that Gao Jinhe should come to Qinghe Market to replace you in half a year. At that time, I would like to invite you to go to the Floating Cloud Mountain Range with us to pick a spiritual herb. I don't know if it is convenient for Fellow Daoist Song."

"With the strength of your Huang family, do you still need to invite others to help pick a spiritual herb in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range? Could it be that the spiritual herb you mentioned is not an ordinary spiritual object?" Song Qingming asked somewhat puzzled.

"Since you have formed a bond with Siyuan, you can be considered half a member of the Huang family. I won't hide this matter from you. It is like this: a few months ago, a junior of my Huang family discovered a third-grade Sky-Mang Flower in the depths of the Floating Cloud Mountain Range. You also know that any high-grade spiritual herb in the wild will generally have a powerful demonic beast guarding it. That junior of mine just got close to that place and was almost discovered by a demonic beast, so he could only return to the family to seek help.

After learning about this, Ninth Brother and I went there once and found that among the wolf demons guarding the place, there were also two late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beasts. The two of us fought a battle with those two demonic beasts, only to find that these two demonic beasts were not simple, and we were unable to win for a time, so we came back to find a way to invite a few Foundation Establishment fellow Daoists to go again."

"Two late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beasts, I don't know how many people you plan to invite to go together besides me, Fellow Daoist Huang?" After knowing this, Song Qingming finally understood a little bit about Huang Shengyue’s intention in coming to find him.

Even Huang Shengxin, the Patriarch, couldn't handle the demonic beasts, so Song Qingming naturally knew that they were definitely not easy to deal with. If the Huang family only invited him to go, then even if there were great benefits, he wouldn't dare to take this risk with them.

Huang Shengyue also seemed to see a trace of Song Qingming’s concerns, and hurriedly said, "Last time we fought a battle with those two demonic beasts, we probably also knew some of their details. As long as two or three more Foundation Establishment fellow Daoists join forces, not to mention being able to behead these two demonic beasts, it shouldn't be a problem for us to get that spiritual herb.

Besides Fellow Daoist Song, I also plan to invite a sect fellow Daoist to help, plus Third Uncle, we will all make a move together. This matter, not to mention being foolproof, is already eight or nine percent certain."

"Since Fellow Daoist Huang has already arranged everything, then Song will go with you when the time comes." Seeing that the Huang family had already made preparations and was determined to get this spiritual herb, Song Qingming thought for a while and agreed.

The Sky-Mang Flower, although it could not be considered a very rare spiritual object among third-grade spiritual herbs, was still a third-grade spiritual herb with a medicinal age of over a thousand years. The value of this kind of spiritual herb was already close to the Water Spirit Fruit that Song Qingming obtained back then. If he took it to the Xiaoyao Sect and added some spirit stones, he could discuss exchanging it for a Foundation Establishment Pill. The Huang family being able to get the news of this object was really a great stroke of luck.

After finalizing this matter with the Huang family, Song Qingming returned to his cave dwelling and soon entered seclusion. This time, he was heading deep into the Floating Cloud Mountain Range; if his luck were poor and he encountered a third-tier demonic beast, it was not an impossibility, so he certainly needed to make some preparations before departing.

During this seclusion, Song Qingming barely left his cave dwelling for nearly half a year. Aside from his daily cultivation, Song Qingming also practiced the Soul-Forging Art he had obtained to the second level, the Foundation Establishment stage. Now, his spiritual sense was about twice as strong as that of an average Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It was a pity that Song Qingming could only practice this technique up to the ninth level of Foundation Establishment; as for the subsequent Core Formation stage spiritual sense technique, he would have to rely on future opportunities.

Two days before Song Qingming was to hand over the defense duties to Gao Jinhe of the Gao family, he finally received the second-tier magic treasure he had commissioned Huang Shengyue to refine.

Although Huang Shengyue’s artifact refining skill was only at the low-grade second-tier, the quality of the magic treasure she refined was truly quite good.

After Huang Shengyue cleared the hundreds of vengeful spirits from the two Soul-Gathering Banners, she fused them directly into a new magic treasure called the Soul-Bewildering Banner.

Although the Soul-Bewildering Banner was no longer a demonic magic treasure, its offensive methods were somewhat similar to the Soul-Gathering Banner; it could release a yellow mist to bewilder enemies and was also an attack-oriented magic treasure targeting the soul. However, compared to the Soul-Gathering Banner refined by demonic cultivators using vengeful spirits, the offensive power of the Soul-Bewildering Banner appeared slightly weaker.

After the Soul-Gathering Banner trapped an enemy, it relied mainly on the vengeful spirits refined into the banner to directly attack the cultivator's soul. Once trapped by the Soul-Gathering Banner, a cultivator would find it difficult to escape in a short time, and after the vengeful spirits attacked and entered their body, it would cause damage to the cultivator's soul, plunging them into pain and panic.

The Soul-Bewildering Banner, however, only retained the enemy-trapping effect of the Soul-Gathering Banner. The yellow mist released from the banner could only bewilder a cultivator's soul and could not directly attack the opponent; its power was still inferior to the Soul-Gathering Banner that had been in Han Tongshan's hands.

After refining the Soul-Bewildering Banner, Song Qingming now had three low-grade second-tier magic treasures on him: the Golden Light Mirror, the Taoguang Sword, and the newly acquired Soul-Bewildering Banner.

Among them, the Golden Light Mirror was obtained years ago in an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling, and this magic treasure had played a significant role during the last battle against the demonic cultivator Han Tongshan.

The Taoguang Sword was purchased at an artifact shop when he went to Jiangling Market two years ago. It was a very ordinary water-attribute second-tier magic treasure. At the time, Song Qingming was lacking a flying sword for sword-flight, and seeing that this flying sword cost only four hundred and fifty spirit stones—a very affordable price—he bought it directly, and it had been with him for over two years.

As for the remaining Soul-Bewildering Banner, it was an enemy-trapping magic treasure. After refining it, Song Qingming specifically found two Song family cultivators to test it and discovered that the banner's effect in trapping enemies was quite good. Cultivators who were hit would basically fall into a state of hallucination for a short time and find it difficult to escape quickly. Especially when used by surprise, if the opponent was unaware, they would easily fall for it, and in battles between experts at or above the Foundation Establishment stage, victory or defeat often hinged on that single moment.

Only one chapter.