A Mortal's Start in the Spirit Beast Mountain

Chapter 70 Demon Banner

In the blink of an eye, the black-robed youth roared, not having time to use any other methods, nor to maintain the protective power of the Thousand Demon Banner, and not even to feel sorry for the demon souls inside the banner.

He frantically made hand seals, and the black energy of the Thousand Demon Banner rapidly contracted. The layers of banner surface, carrying a dense aura of bloodlust, instantly formed a thick barrier in front of him.

"BOOM—!!!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted, and blinding lightning burst forth from the center where the black-robed youth had been standing! The raging, unparalleled power of lightning instantly devoured the blood-fiend barrier, tearing and disintegrating it like a hot knife through butter.

A terrifying shockwave, mixed with streaks of lightning, swept outwards, carving a deep trench in the ground, with dust and arcs of electricity flying everywhere.

"puff!"

Even though the Thousand Demon Banner mitigated some of the power, the black-robed youth was still violently thrown away by the remaining impact. He spat out a mouthful of blood in mid-air, his face turned ashen, and his aura instantly weakened, clearly indicating that he had suffered serious internal injuries. His robes were torn in many places, and his exposed skin was scorched.

The Thousand Demon Banner was also thrown dozens of feet away by the enormous impact.

Although Luo Ming retreated quickly enough and had the golden shield in front of him, he was still too close at the time. The shockwave caused his blood to churn and he slid backward for more than ten feet before he could barely stabilize himself. The golden shield flickered, but it managed to hold on.

Take advantage of his illness and kill him!

Luo Ming suppressed his surging blood and qi, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, giving his opponent no chance to catch his breath.

The Zhiyang Bird immediately let out a clear and long cry, flapped its wings, and transformed into a dazzling white light, carrying rolling pure yang flames, rushing straight towards the injured and fallen black-robed youth!

At the same time, Luo Ming changed his hand seals again, and the Xuanhuo Mirror trembled slightly. The firebird formed by the intertwined three-colored flames did not dissipate, but instead let out a sharp cry and followed closely behind the Zhiyang Bird, attacking the black-robed youth from both sides.

The black-robed youth was terrified. He was severely injured and his spiritual power was in disarray. He was absolutely unable to resist his opponent. He didn't care about wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth or the Thousand Demon Banner, which was damaged due to the loss of a large number of demon souls.

With a tap of his storage bag, he immediately summoned an earth-yellow talisman. The talisman was instantly activated, transforming into an earth-yellow aura that surrounded him. In a flash, it disappeared underground.

"Earth Escape Talisman?"

Luo Ming was shocked. He hadn't expected the other party to use such a high-level talisman. This talisman could allow the wearer to escape to a distance of ten miles, and even a Core Formation cultivator would find it difficult to stop. It was one of the most powerful life-saving methods for low-level cultivators. He had previously tried to buy one with spirit stones to save his life, but unfortunately, he couldn't find one anywhere.

"Since this person has such means of self-defense, he must be a descendant of the Nascent Soul stage old monster of the Spirit Control Sect. If he joins that Core Formation cultivator, I will definitely not escape death."

Luo Ming frowned, secretly regretting his failure to defeat his opponent, while also marveling at how troublesome cultivators with powerful backgrounds were.

He could not linger here, so he immediately put away the Thousand Demon Banner and the storage bag left behind by his follower, and then casually set up a fire to burn away the traces of the battle. He then transformed into a streak of light and flew swiftly towards the spirit stone mine.

He was now flying at full speed, and was less than half a day away from the spirit stone mine. He was betting that the other party would not have time to catch up within half a day. Once he arrived at the Chaotic Star Sea, the sea would be wide enough for fish to leap and the sky would be free for birds to fly.

"It's been over a month since the Yue Kingdom suffered a major defeat, so Han Li should have already repaired the teleportation array." Luo Ming fled eastward at top speed while gripping the spirit stone and circulating his cultivation technique to recover his mana. Although the conversion efficiency of spiritual energy was low, he couldn't care less about that at the moment.

Several hours after he left, a dark streak of light rushed from the sky, and in a flash, the old man in the black robe, Elder Hu, appeared at the dueling site.

He bent down to examine the marks on the ground, his fingertips tracing the furrow carved out by lightning. He paused before a piece of rubble stained with charred blood, and upon closer inspection, his expression changed drastically: "That Foundation Establishment cultivator actually managed to injure Young Master Dongmen?"

Elder Hu had previously pursued the female cultivator from the Qingxu Sect who had reached the Core Formation stage for thousands of miles, but after failing to catch her, he hurriedly turned back. Protecting the young master was his primary responsibility, and pursuing the female cultivator was merely a chance encounter. If anything were to happen to the young master, he would certainly not be spared.

He formed hand seals, dense black energy swirling around his fingertips, and used the Spirit Control Sect's tracking technique. After a few breaths, he withdrew the seals and flew rapidly westward.

Several hours later, Luo Ming finally arrived at the former spirit stone mine, only to find that the former mine had long since become a ruin, with broken stones and dried bloodstains scattered among the broken walls.

He focused his attention on exploring his surroundings. After confirming that there were no traces of cultivators, he followed the secret passage he had dug when he escaped from underground. In a short while, he sneaked into the natural cave. At this moment, Han Li was squatting in the center of the formation, adjusting the nodes by pinching the array flags with his fingertips. The spiritual energy around him was so weak that it was almost at the early stage of Qi Refining. A burly man stood next to him.

"Brother Han, what's your cultivation level?" Luo Ming watched as the teleportation array was gradually repaired, feeling slightly relieved, and then asked knowingly.

Upon hearing this, a bitter expression crossed Han Li's face. There was no reason for him to spread the embarrassing story of having his cultivation drained by a female cultivator. He sighed and changed the subject: "Alas, it's a long story. By the way, did you encounter any demonic cultivators when you came?" He had been restless while repairing the teleportation array, always feeling that danger was approaching.

Demonic cultivators? Luo Ming's heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered that Han Li would definitely encounter Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators before this teleportation. He glanced at the defensive formations set up around the cave and said in a deep voice, "We haven't seen them yet, but to avoid any unforeseen complications, we'd better hurry."

After saying that, Luo Ming also joined the work of repairing the teleportation array. Although he didn't understand the principles of the teleportation array very well, he was still able to lend a hand.

A moment later, Luo Ming's storage bag suddenly stirred; the Thousand Demon Banner was trembling slightly inside. His expression changed drastically: "Not good! This banner actually has a tracking restriction. No wonder that person didn't take it with him when he escaped; there was this trick."

"Brother Han, how long will it take to repair the teleportation array?" he asked urgently.

At this moment, above the ruins of the spirit stone mine, two groups of demonic cultivators stood facing each other.

The young man in the silver-patterned black robe was still pale. Standing next to Old Hu, his eyes were full of resentment. This time, not only was he seriously injured, but the Thousand Demon Banner was also taken away by that person.

This banner was intended to absorb enough divine souls during this great battle to upgrade it into a true magic weapon. Fortunately, it was protected by the sect's tracking restrictions. If it had been lost in his hands, even his Nascent Soul Ancestor would have found it difficult to retain his position as a true disciple.

Opposite them stood a group of Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators, dressed in black and masked, with tokens engraved with skull patterns hanging from their waists. The leader, Wang Chan, wore a dark red brocade robe and had a delicate, effeminate face. She toyed with a ghost-head jade pendant in her hand, her gaze sweeping over the black-robed youth's injuries. With a half-smile, she spoke: "Dongmen Xiao, how did you end up in such a sorry state? Did you perhaps fall into the hands of some rogue cultivator?"

Dongmen Xiao's expression was cold and stern. Although their Yuling Sect and Guiling Sect both belonged to the demonic path, they were in a competitive relationship and did not want to get too entangled with this young master of Guiling Sect: "Young Master Wang, there is no need to ask any more questions. Elder Hu and I are tracking a disciple of Lingshou Mountain. Please make way for us."

He could sense the fluctuations of the Thousand Demon Banner moving steadily below, and thought that Luo Ming should be recovering his magic power down there.

"The disciples of Spirit Beast Mountain, haven't they already submitted to your Spirit Control Sect? Could this person possess some valuable items...?" Wang Chan's heart stirred, and she smiled, "Why don't we join forces to search? If we find that person, we can share the spoils according to the rules, how about that?"

Dongmen Xiao gritted his teeth and said, "That's my Yuling Sect's Thousand Demon Banner, it has nothing to do with you!"