txolops Chapter 337 The Demon Banner's Mutation
Chapter 337 The Demon Banner's Mutation
But at this moment, the demon banner, which usually lay dormant in silence, was clearly in a bad state.
The banner moved without wind, fluttering and rustling. On its dark surface, thick, inky yin energy surged and churned violently, like boiling black lava.
What's even more unsettling is that the banner constantly emits unstable, dark light, which flickers and its aura fluctuates wildly and is extremely unstable.
Luo Ming's expression hardened, and he dared not be negligent. His powerful divine sense immediately flowed like mercury, probing into the space inside the banner without hesitation.
What his divine sense saw made his heart sink again.
Inside the banner, the space, composed of countless vengeful spirits and demonic souls, resembling a miniature underworld, was now in complete chaos! Countless low-level vengeful spirits cowered in the corners in terror, emitting helpless cries.
At the very core of the space, the ferocious demon king, over ten zhang tall, with six arms and a single horn on its head, was roaring silently to the sky, filled with pain and rage! In its crimson giant eyes, the original violence and coldness had been replaced by an almost insane chaos and desire!
The enormous soul body twisted and expanded violently, emanating a terrifying soul power fluctuation far exceeding that of the past. The fluctuation was extremely unstable, sometimes hovering at the peak of the False Infant stage, and sometimes faintly touching a higher, heart-palpitating level, as if it might break through some kind of boundary at any moment!
On the surface of the Ghost King's soul, fine black arcs of electricity flickered and exploded continuously. With each flicker, it let out a more painful roar, and its soul power became more violent, frantically impacting and tearing at the spatial barrier inside the banner, as well as impacting the divine sense restriction that Luo Ming had imprinted on the core of its soul!
"Not good! This beast has already refined the essence of the Nascent Soul and accumulated enough. Is it... trying to forcefully break through to the Nascent Soul realm? Isn't that a bit too fast?" Luo Ming instantly realized this, and his face turned ugly.
Without hesitation, his hands moved like butterflies flitting among flowers, instantly forming several profound Yin magic seals specifically used to soothe and suppress the souls within the banner. These seals transformed into streaks of dark light, which fiercely struck the Myriad Souls Banner.
However, the previously invincible restriction technique, when injected into the banner this time, was like a mud ox sinking into the sea. It only caused the raging ghost king to pause slightly before it launched an even fiercer counterattack and roar!
The divine consciousness restriction imprinted on the Ghost King's soul body was being frantically attacked and worn down by the increasingly powerful soul force, becoming shaky and on the verge of collapse!
"How could this be?!" Luo Ming was shocked. The Ghost King's resistance was far beyond his expectations!
Just as he was preparing to increase his magical power and forcefully suppress it, the voice of Tianjing Sanren, carrying a hint of urgency and warning, suddenly rang out in his sea of consciousness:
"Young Luo! Stop! Don't try to suppress it any further! This ghost has devoured the essence of the Nascent Soul, its power has surged, and it's now on the verge of a breakthrough. Its soul power is at its most violent and chaotic peak. If you forcefully suppress it, it will only backfire and accelerate its breakthrough. Once it successfully advances, it will turn on you and try to possess you!"
"What?!" Upon hearing this, Luo Ming's expression changed drastically, and his grip on the Ten Thousand Soul Banner tightened involuntarily.
Without the slightest hesitation, he changed his strategy in a flash. He no longer tried to suppress the raging ghost king, but instead changed his hand seals and used all his divine sense to activate the core restriction of the Myriad Soul Banner!
The banner was covered in a dark, swirling light, and the chaotic soul energy space within it was instantly and forcibly separated by an invisible force!
Centered on the six-armed ghost king, an area of several tens of feet in radius was completely isolated and sealed off by a layer of dark light membrane that suddenly appeared and became more solid and thick!
The light membrane was like an airtight cage, trapping the Ghost King, who was frantically attacking and trying to absorb more Yin energy and soul power to help him break through, inside!
At the same time, outside the light membrane, the originally rich and pure Yin energy inside the banner was rapidly drawn away and isolated, unable to seep into the cage in the slightest.
Luo Ming's face was slightly pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. This brief moment of change and manipulation had taken a heavy toll on his mental strength. He could clearly feel that in order to maintain the isolation cage and constantly suppress the Ghost King's counterattack within it, the Myriad Soul Banner needed to allocate at least 80% of its power!
This means that this powerful magic weapon has been temporarily rendered largely useless! Until the Ghost King breaks through the crisis and the crisis is resolved, he will no longer be able to freely command the Myriad Soul Banner to fight as before, let alone use the power of the fake infant Ghost King within it.
The joy and pride that had just surged due to the increased power of the Eight Gates Golden Light Mirror were instantly washed away by this sudden change, leaving only solemnity and a trace of lingering fear.
Luo Ming, his face grim, gripped the still slightly trembling, dark-glowing Myriad Soul Banner. After a moment of silence, he asked the Heavenly Mirror Hermit in his mind, "Senior, is it possible that even with my current... near-mid-Nascent Soul stage spiritual strength, I am unable to control a Ghost King on the verge of a breakthrough?"
The primordial spirit of the Heavenly Mirror Hermit manifested on the Profound Yuan Pearl in his dantian. Upon hearing this, it remained silent for a moment, seemingly organizing its thoughts, before slowly speaking, its voice carrying an unusual seriousness:
"Young Luo, don't underestimate ghosts, especially those that are about to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Ghosts are essentially souls and spirits, so they are naturally stronger than demons or even human cultivators of the same level in terms of spiritual power, especially skilled in soul attacks and defenses."
"You ghost king, you've already reached the limit of the Core Formation realm, just one step away from the Nascent Soul stage. If you successfully break through, your soul essence will undergo a qualitative change, and your soul power will be absolutely comparable to a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator!"
"I once heard that there was a ghost cultivator in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm who painstakingly cultivated a Ghost King who had reached the peak of the Core Formation realm, hoping that it would become his greatest helper after advancing to the next level."
As a result, the moment the Ghost King broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, it not only instantly shattered all the restrictions set up by its master, but also devoured the soul of that Ghost Dao expert, seizing his body and usurping it! You should take this as a warning!
Tianjing Sanren's last words were like ice water poured over Luo Ming's head, sending a chill down his spine and instantly breaking out in a cold sweat. Possession? Being possessed by the main soul of a magical artifact he had nurtured? This was even more humiliating and terrifying than dying at the hands of an enemy! He had actually just been thinking of trying to control it…
"That was close..." Luo Ming thought to himself, feeling lucky. If it weren't for Tianjing Sanren's timely reminder, he might have really done something risky.
But then, a strong sense of resentment welled up in his heart. The Myriad Soul Banner was one of his important trump cards, and the Ghost King was the core combat force among them. Now, however, it was to be "sealed" for this reason and could not be used until he condensed his Nascent Soul. This was tantamount to cutting off his own arm.
"Is... there really no other way?" Luo Ming frowned, his voice low and resentful. "Can we just watch helplessly as I break through to the Nascent Soul stage first?"
"There is a way... of course." Tianjing Sanren pondered, but his tone was not relaxed. "It's quite simple and direct: your spiritual power must surpass that of a Nascent Soul stage Ghost King. In that case, no matter how powerful its soul force is, it won't be able to escape your grasp."
"But you are already in the late stage of Core Formation. The next step is to refine your magical power and strive for the perfection of Core Formation. At this stage, unless you have an extraordinary opportunity, your spiritual sense will hardly increase. If you want your spiritual sense or power to make a qualitative leap, the only way is for you to condense your own Nascent Soul."
Tianjing Sanren slowly explained that, in his view as a former late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, Luo Ming's current late-stage Core Formation stage and his near-mid-stage Nascent Soul level of divine sense was already inconceivable and a heaven-defying existence.
Want to achieve a significant breakthrough in spiritual sense during the Core Formation stage, even surpassing a newly promoted Nascent Soul Ghost King? That's almost impossible, unless you encounter those ancient legendary divine medicines that have long since disappeared from the human world and can directly strengthen and temper the origin of the soul.
Such divine objects exist only in legends and fragments of ancient texts; they have long since disappeared from the world and are extremely rare, with their very existence being uncertain.
Luo Ming listened to Tianjing Sanren's words and fell silent.
This banner was originally something he stole from the Yuling Sect. He didn't have a special method to control this treasure, but only activated it in the same way as other magic treasures. In addition, he didn't store this treasure in his dantian to cultivate it as his natal magic treasure, so it was difficult for him to control it as if it were his own arm.
Now, as the power of this demonic treasure increases, its drawbacks are slowly becoming apparent. With his current powerful divine sense, he is finding it difficult to control the Ghost King who is about to advance to the Nascent Soul stage.
Luo Ming is naturally unable to obtain the method from the Spirit Control Sect that specializes in controlling such treasures. It seems that only an absolutely powerful divine sense can suppress it.
Thinking of this, a thought that he had long forgotten, or rather, subconsciously ignored, suddenly illuminated Luo Ming's mind like a flash of lightning in the darkness!
He recalled that when he was rebuilding his cultivation by dispersing his core, in order not to waste the essence within his core, he tried to cultivate the Divine Forging Technique by burning his core. As a result, his divine sense experienced an incredible surge. With his cultivation at the early stage of Core Formation, he broke through to the Nascent Soul stage, laying the foundation for his powerful divine sense in the future!
"Devouring the essence of the Golden Core to strengthen my divine sense..." Luo Ming's eyes flashed rapidly, and his heartbeat quickened involuntarily.
"If my own golden core can do this... then what about other people's golden cores?"
The idea was so audacious and unconventional that it seemed absurd to him as soon as it appeared, and he couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
"Doesn't that make me one of those demons and monsters?" Luo Ming laughed self-deprecatingly.
The reason is simple. First, each cultivator practices a different technique, and their magical power attributes and circulation paths vary. The magical power in another's golden core conflicts with one's own technique. Forcibly devouring and refining it can lead to chaotic magical power and demonic possession at best, and complete destruction of meridians and collapse of the golden core at worst.
This is equivalent to pouring dirty water mixed with mud, sand, and poison into one's own clear pond, which is harmful in every way and has no benefit whatsoever.
Secondly, and more importantly and more hiddenly, the Golden Core not only contains magical power, but also a vast "divine consciousness imprint" and "divine soul thoughts" that the original owner cultivated for many years and deeply integrated with his own cultivation techniques, experiences, and temperament!
When a cultivator nurtures their Golden Core, it is, to some extent, a process of constantly refining and purifying that wisp of "divinity" within it, until the core breaks through and the infant is formed.
This results in other people's golden cores becoming "soul bombs" filled with the original owner's will, fragmented memories, emotional obsessions, and even inner demons!
Forcibly devouring something not only involves facing a conflict of magical power, but also requires constantly resisting and digesting the complex and chaotic impact of divine consciousness and emotional pollution. If one is not careful, one will be affected and eroded by the original owner's residual will, leading to a drastic change in one's personality and mental confusion. This is ten thousand times more dangerous than a conflict of magical power!
Therefore, in the cultivation world, killing to seize treasures is common, but directly devouring another's golden core to cultivate is an absolute taboo and a foolish act, no different from courting death.
At most, some demonic and evil techniques can extract some of the pure vital energy from the golden core to aid cultivation through special methods, but these require a huge investment in purification and are fraught with hidden dangers, making it far less reliable than cultivating slowly on one's own.
Luo Ming sat cross-legged in meditation, his powerful divine sense like an invisible tentacle, carefully sensing the six-armed ghost king trapped within the Myriad Soul Banner, which was tightly bound by a dark light membrane.
He could clearly "see" that although the Ghost King's enormous soul body had temporarily "quieted down" after losing the replenishment of external Yin energy, the transformation deep within its soul power—originating from devouring the essence of the Extreme Yin Ancestor's nascent soul and concerning the essence of life—had not stopped, only its speed had been greatly slowed down.
"This monstrous creature... has devoured the nascent soul of extreme Yin, and its essence is undergoing an irreversible sublimation and transformation." Luo Ming frowned and sighed inwardly.
"With the Soul Banner's restrictions and isolation from Yin energy, I can only delay this process for a few years at most, but I cannot truly stop it. And in a few years... there is absolutely no way I can cultivate from the late Core Formation stage to the Nascent Soul stage."
He looked down at the Wanhun Banner in his hand, which was still trembling slightly and shimmering with dark light, and a helpless bitter smile appeared on his face as he gently touched the cold banner pole with his fingers.
"The power of this demonic treasure is indeed astonishing, but the hidden dangers and risks of backlash that come with it are also a real headache..." he muttered to himself, his tone complicated.
This magical artifact had helped him defeat enemies on numerous occasions, especially the fake infant ghost king, who possessed formidable combat power. But now, this greatest asset had become a sword hanging over his head, ready to fall at any moment.
"This matter of refining other people's golden cores is something that others can't do, but I have the Zhiyang Bird's supreme yang spiritual fire that is specifically for the soul, as well as the Spirit Gathering Cauldron with all sorts of miraculous effects, so it's not impossible for me to give it a try."
"Besides, it's just a trial run. If there are any problems, I'll stop immediately. My soul is protected by that supreme yang spiritual fire, so there shouldn't be any hidden dangers."
The secret room was silent. After weighing the pros and cons, Luo Ming's eyes slowly hardened.
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