txolops Chapter 320 The Power of the Demon Banner
Chapter 320 The Power of the Demon Banner
Her gaze fell on the warm, gray Soul-Nourishing Bead in her palm, her fingertips gently... He continued:
"The reason I was able to come to this Void Heaven Palace is that I found the Void Heaven map fragment and another map of this place hidden inside the storage bag I obtained from killing the young master of the Qingyang Sect."
The map pointed to this secret place and mentioned that a Soul-Nourishing Tree grew there. Although this tree was not a divine object capable of bringing the dead back to life, it could greatly slow down the dissipation of the primordial spirit and soul, buying Senior Sister more time…”
Upon hearing this, Luo Ming nodded slightly and continued, "So, your primary goal in risking coming here is this Soul-Nourishing Wood, hoping to temporarily preserve Fellow Daoist Yanli's primordial spirit?"
"That's right." Yuan Yao nodded, her expression downcast. "I know that the Soul-Nourishing Wood can only delay the damage, not cure it. But Sister Yanli suffered this calamity to save me, and her kindness is heavier than mountains. If I cannot find a way to save her, this matter will become an indelible demon in my heart, and my path of cultivation will be cut off. In any case, I must do something for her."
Luo Ming nodded to himself. Yuan Yao's grateful and loyal nature was one of the key reasons why he valued her and was willing to invest in her upbringing.
He didn't want to see this woman, in the future, like in the original story, use that extremely dangerous forbidden technique, which was almost equivalent to self-destruction, in order to save Yanli.
However, at present, although he knows some rare and precious materials or secret techniques to stabilize the primordial spirit and nourish the soul, he is not entirely confident in how to save a nearly collapsed remnant soul, especially one that has been injured by a vicious magic weapon and may have damaged its very essence.
Perhaps, when he condenses his nascent soul in the future and gains more insight, he may be able to find a solution.
"This matter requires careful consideration and cannot be rushed. For now, let's take the Soul-Nourishing Wood and stabilize Fellow Daoist Yanli's soul first." Luo Ming said no more and worked with Yuan Yao to break the ancient restriction protecting the Soul-Nourishing Wood beside the spirit pool.
This restriction was quite mysterious, and forcibly breaking it might damage the Soul-Nourishing Wood inside. Luo Ming had a deep understanding of Daoist restrictions, and Yuan Yao also knew some tricks from his inheritance. The two of them worked together carefully, and it took them two whole days to finally dismantle the layers of restrictions without disturbing the Soul-Nourishing Wood.
A piece of spirit wood, about a foot long, jet black and glossy, with faint golden patterns flowing through it, and exuding a cool and calming aura, lay quietly in the jade box. Yuan Yao carefully put it away, keeping it safe together with the Soul-Nourishing Pearl.
Afterwards, Luo Ming divided the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual milk equally with Yuan Yao. Before leaving, his gaze fell on the most precious thing in this space—the Spirit Eye Spring, which was still gushing out milky white spiritual liquid.
This spring is firmly locked in this place by a more powerful natural restriction and earth vein. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would find it difficult to move it or destroy the spring's source without special means or a long time.
Luo Ming hesitated for a moment, then his mind stirred. With a flick of his sleeve, a golden "cloud" buzzed out, revealing thousands upon thousands of strange beetles with golden spots on their backs and incredibly sharp mouthparts—Gold-Eating Insects!
Yuan Yao's beautiful eyes lit up instantly, and she understood Luo Ming's plan. She chuckled and said, "Brother Luo's method is brilliant! This spring is protected by restrictions and the earth's veins, making it difficult to shake its foundation. However, these spirit insects can directly devour the spiritual liquid in the spring. But... in this way, this spiritual spring will probably suffer a great loss of vitality. Without hundreds of years of recuperation, it will be difficult to restore it to its former glory."
Luo Ming watched as the swarm of Gold-Devouring Insects pounced into the spiritual spring like hungry tigers, frantically devouring the potent spiritual water. The golden light emanating from the insects intensified, clearly indicating they were reaping significant benefits. He chuckled upon hearing this.
"It's alright. The Void Heaven Palace opens only once every three hundred years. This place is heavily guarded and undisturbed, so the spring will naturally have enough time to recover slowly. Rather than leaving it here to benefit later generations or to be wasted, it's better to let these spirit insects have it."
After the last drop of spiritual liquid was completely absorbed by the Gold-Eating Insect swarm, the once spiritually rich spring was reduced to a dried-up pit and faint traces of the spring vein. Only then did Luo Ming reluctantly put the Gold-Eating Insects, whose carapaces were shining even brighter but who were still hungry, back into his spirit beast bracelet.
Dozens of miles away from the Void Heaven Palace, a soft white light suddenly appeared on the calm sea. The light faded, revealing a man and a woman.
The male cultivator, dressed in a black Daoist robe, looked extremely young, while the female cultivator was charming and alluring, her eyes radiating a unique charm. They were Luo Ming and Yuan Yao, who had left the Void Heaven Palace by relying on the map and activating the secret teleportation array in advance.
The sea breeze carried a faint salty smell, and in the distance, the majestic and ancient outline of the Void Heaven Palace was faintly visible in the light sea mist, still exuding a mysterious and awe-inspiring aura.
Luo Ming glanced back in the direction of the Void Heaven Palace, thinking to himself:
"Han Li has the second half of the map and hints I gave him. As long as his luck isn't too bad, he should have already safely teleported away a day earlier. After all, I was delayed for two more days in order to break the restriction on that Soul-Nourishing Wood."
"Han Li has the second half of the map and hints I gave him. As long as his luck isn't too bad, he should have already safely teleported away a day earlier. After all, I was delayed for two more days in order to break the restriction on that Soul-Nourishing Wood."
After the two of them dealt with Xuan Gu and Ji Yin, they used the remaining Blood Jade Spider, with Luo Ming personally pulling on another spider silk, to finally pull out the Void Heaven Cauldron.
Since the Void Heaven Cauldron could not be opened, Han Li entrusted it to Luo Ming for safekeeping, citing Luo Ming's superior strength. They agreed to open it together after their strength had greatly improved. As for the Azure Ice Flame, Han Li divided it into two parts using the Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder, with each of them taking one part.
The two then parted ways. Luo Ming went to the Spirit Pool under the pretext of having personal matters to attend to, while Han Li immediately summoned the blood-red cloak and quickly left the Void Heaven Palace.
After Yuan Yao emerged, she cautiously used her divine sense to carefully investigate. Only after confirming there was no immediate danger did she breathe a slight sigh of relief. She then turned to Luo Ming, her beautiful face showing a hint of deep worry, and asked in a low voice:
"Brother Luo, have the righteous and demonic paths truly begun a formal war against the Star Palace?"
Just as Luo Ming was about to speak, his brows furrowed sharply, a cold glint flashed in his eyes, and his icy gaze pierced the azure sea below like a sharp sword!
"Hmph! Looks like there really are some fools out there, lying in wait, dreaming of killing and robbing!"
Before he finished speaking, he casually flicked his sleeve, and a flash of dark light appeared. A pitch-black demon banner, exuding an aura of yin energy, was now in his hand—the Thousand Demon Banner!
"go!"
With a low shout, the Thousand Demon Banner flew out of his hand, spinning rapidly into the air. It grew larger with the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a sky-covering demon banner, its dark surface shrouding an area of more than a hundred feet below!
The banner moved without wind, fluttering loudly. Thick, ink-like, and icy black energy poured out of the banner like the floodwaters of the Styx, instantly turning the area above the sea into a ghostly realm!
The black mist surged and billowed, within which countless twisted, malevolent spirits appeared and disappeared, emitting chilling howls as they greedily gazed down below.
Even more chilling was that at the core of the densest black aura, a ferocious ghostly figure, over ten feet tall, with six arms, a single horn on its head, and scarlet eyes burning with violent flames, gradually became clear. It exuded a terrifying pressure far exceeding that of ordinary Core Formation cultivators. It was none other than the Six-Armed Ghost King whose aura had greatly increased after devouring the Nascent Soul essence of the Extreme Yin Ancestor!
The moment it appeared, the temperature of the surrounding sea dropped sharply, and the air was filled with a chilling, deathly aura that sent shivers down one's spine.
"This...this is?" Yuan Yao, who was standing to the side, felt the oppressive and frightening aura emanating from the Ghost King, and her beautiful eyes were instantly filled with shock.
She clearly remembered that back in the Land of Ghostly Vengeance, the demonic banner in Luo Ming's hand was powerful, but it had no main soul as terrifying as this!
Luo Ming naturally noticed Yuan Yao's shocked gaze, but he had no time to explain, his mind mostly focused on the Thousand Demon Banner and the Ghost King. Sensing the increasingly clear, almost impending breakthrough of some boundary within the Ghost King's aura, he felt a surge of joy.
"This Nascent Soul of the Extreme Yin Demon is indeed a great tonic! Once the Ghost King refines and absorbs all the essence of that Nascent Soul, he will become a true Nascent Soul-level ghost. At that time, wielding this banner, I will be able to fight even against a Nascent Soul cultivator in their prime!"
Back at Hanlitai, the extremely Yin nascent soul was naturally devoured by the ghost king of the Thousand Demon Banner, and only it could unleash the nascent soul's maximum effect.
The primordial spirit of Xuan Gu was devoured by the Wind Fox Beast. Because its primordial spirit was of a higher level, it was not digested by the Wind Fox Beast, but instead transformed into the Wind Fox Beast's ghost servant, also known as the Chang Gui.
Just as Luo Ming's mind raced, the power of the Thousand Demon Banner was fully unleashed. Countless Yin spirits and demonic souls, led by dozens of powerful demonic souls, charged into the black-tinged seawater below with excited shrieks, like a school of piranhas smelling blood!
After absorbing the massive amount of Yin spirits gathered by the Ghostly Land, the true power of this banner gradually became apparent, and it was no weaker than his natal magic weapon among all his magical treasures.
"Boom! Crash—!"
Beneath the sea surface, the previously concealed spiritual energy fluctuations instantly became violent and chaotic. In less than ten breaths, accompanied by several angry shouts and the loud clashing of magical treasures, five streaks of light of different colors, looking disheveled, suddenly broke through the sea surface and hovered in mid-air. They were the five Core Formation cultivators who had been lying in ambush.
These five people were not weak; two were in the late stage of Core Formation and three were in the middle stage. However, at this moment, they all changed color and formed a small array back to back. The spiritual light of their various magical treasures shone brightly as they resisted the continuous attacks of the Yin spirits coming from all directions.
One of them, a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator with a sinister face, wielded a crimson flying sword. The fire-attribute spiritual power on the sword was clearly effective against Yin spirits. Wherever the sword light passed, ordinary low-level Yin spirits crumbled upon contact, and even some Foundation Establishment stage demon souls could hardly withstand it. He was the most efficient killer among the five.
However, the other four were not so relaxed.