Chapter 344: Ten Thousand Souls Banner (Requesting Monthly Tickets)
Chapter 344: Ten Thousand Souls Banner (Requesting Monthly Tickets)
"Indeed. . . I am not the Saint Son. "
Feeling the rejection from the 'Star-Patterned Chessboard', Fang Xi sighed. In the end, he wasn't that kind of peerless genius.
However, even the Saint Son only wielded this treasure upon achieving Core Formation Perfected. Perhaps when he reaches Core Formation Perfected, he can try again?
With his thoughts settled, Fang Xi put away the 'Star-Patterned Chessboard' and opened another jade box.
Inside the jade box lay a small, bone-white banner!
A superior-grade artifact—the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!
Not only was it a superior-grade artifact, but it was also the Saint Son's Life-Bound Artifact, nurtured by him for many years. It was only waiting for him to form his Nascent Soul to be promoted to a fourth-order spirit treasure!
Though Fang Xi had experimented with other demonic cultivators' demonic banner artifacts and even commanded various ghost kings, the quality of this bone-white banner far exceeded his imagination.
The banner face was woven from unknown silkworm threads, harboring tens of thousands of souls within. Just holding it, faint roars and cries of vengeful spirits seemed to echo in his ears. . .
"This artifact. . . would have been strenuous to wield even at Core Formation mid-stage, but now it's just right."
Fang Xi held the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and the immensely powerful Withered Glory Chant's spiritual energy surged into it, instantly dyeing the banner face a greenish-yellow.
His spiritual energy was now at Core Formation late-stage, and the Withered Glory Chant was a top-tier cultivation method. His spiritual energy immediately rushed in like a rampaging dragon, conquering all in its path, shattering the restrictions and spiritual energy imprints within the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, finally forcefully impressing his own spiritual energy imprint. This marked the initial refinement of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
"After being refined by me, the Saint Son's Life-Bound Artifact has not only permanently decreased in power by several tenths, but it also has no chance of ever advancing to a spirit treasure."
Fang Xi sighed but felt no regret, as it was merely a transitional artifact.
His true Life-Bound Artifact, the 'Life and Death Seal', was still inside the Demonic Tree in his Mountain Sea Pearl!
Perhaps it was precisely this 'Seed-Nourishing Art' that allowed him to advance rapidly in spiritual energy without being burdened by cultivating a Life-Bound Artifact, enabling him to reach Core Formation late-stage at the age of two hundred and forty-six.
This achievement was quite good even among Core Formation cultivators in major sects.
As for rogue cultivators at Core Formation? They were even rarer, like phoenix feathers and qilin horns, as many of them were False Core cultivators, and most remained stuck at Core Formation early-stage for their entire lives.
"Even with only five hundred years of lifespan, I would have a full two hundred and fifty years or so to plan for Nascent Soul formation. What's more, I won't be so short-lived. . . my lifespan has now recovered to over two thousand years."
"Furthermore, the nurturing of the 'Life and Death Seal' hasn't fallen behind. . . when I condense my Nascent Soul, perhaps this treasure can advance to the Spirit Treasure rank first, thereby becoming a major means to resist the Nascent Soul tribulation?"
By this point, Fang Xi was already considering the matter of forming a Nascent Soul.
After all, Nascent Soul cultivators were truly at the pinnacle of the cultivation world!
Moreover, this hurdle was quite difficult to overcome.
Fang Xi calculated with a flick of his finger: perhaps he could rely on the 'Withered Glory Chant' and the 'Wood Spirit Body' to overcome the Nascent Soul barrier. He had the 'Heart Demon Quelling Pill' for the heart demon tribulation, and if he prepared thoroughly for the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation, he would probably have two spirit treasures as his reliance!
With such a calculation, his chances of achieving Nascent Soul were enough to make the Core Formation cultivators of those Nascent Soul sects green with envy and hatred.
"However, it's still not enough, I need to accumulate more. . ."
Fang Xi murmured, his Divine Consciousness entering the Ten Thousand Souls Banner inch by inch.
The next moment, he was startled: "This is. . . tens of thousands of yin souls. . . and three Core Formation ghost kings? This aura. . . no. . . two Core Formation mid-stage, and one Core Formation late-stage ghost king!"
"Furthermore. . . on the banner face, there seems to be another profound layer. These restrictions can form an array, and when combined with the army of yin souls, their power increases even further!"
"That Saint Son was truly careless when dealing with me back then. . . otherwise, if he had just shaken this Ten Thousand Souls Banner, I'm afraid I would have fallen instantly on the spot. . ."
Fang Xi inspected carefully and found that the three ghost kings were somewhat weak, occasionally grabbing nearby yin souls to replenish themselves. He couldn't help but feel even more speechless: "They've been hungry for a long time. . . It seems the number of living souls in this banner was even greater back then. Unfortunately, I am not the Saint Son, and I won't go looking for 'blood food' for this demonic banner. . . The days of two meals every three days will likely continue."
"Even so, with this Ten Thousand Souls Banner in hand, I fear no one, not even a Core Formation Perfected cultivator."
Fang Xi thought for a moment, then pointed his finger.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner immediately transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into his sleeve.
He stood up, first performing a cleansing spell on himself to refresh his robes, then smiled slightly and continued to walk out with the face of 'Yun Jizi'.
"Roar! Roar!"
The Green Corner Fish Dragon immediately let out a roar and came to lie down at Fang Xi's feet.
"No matter how much you try to please me, I know your time is running out. . ."
Fang Xi smiled faintly and withdrew the Green Corner Fish Dragon and the Demonic Blood Flood Dragon into his Mountain Sea Pearl.
Then, a formation flag appeared in his hand, and he gave it a slight flick.
The vast, all-encompassing Wood Spirit divine light converged, and the originally intensely sharp Wood Spirit baleful qi had, at some unknown point, vanished without a trace.
Fang Xi adjusted his aura to Core Formation mid-stage, clasped his hands behind his back, and walked out of the cave abode.
"Congratulations, Young Master, on your advancement to Core Formation mid-stage!"
Feng Bingxian was the first to notice all this and immediately prostrated herself in joyous greeting.
"Congratulations, Young Master, on your advancement to Core Formation mid-stage. Longevity and the immortal path are now within reach."
Jiang Ling and the other maidservants immediately followed suit, their hearts filled with excitement.
Among the nearly hundred Core Formation powers in Yuan Kingdom, whether sects or families, most were actually sustained by Core Formation early-stage cultivators, with many False Cores and External Cores mixed in.
Now that Grand Elder Yun Jizi had advanced to Core Formation mid-stage, the Profound Ice Palace could be considered a mid-tier force even among Core Formation powers.
If he were to advance to Core Formation late-stage one day, they would be one of the few sects below the Nascent Soul powers!
"Young Master has advanced to Core Formation mid-stage. . . should we hold a grand banquet for three days and announce it to the four directions? "
Feng Bingxian asked softly.
If so, she would definitely be the first to inform the Ice Fiend Sect, just to see the ugly expression on that Old Ghost Xuan Bing's face!
"Not necessarily. . ."
Fang Xi thought for a moment and then gave up on the idea: "I broke through to Core Formation mid-stage after cultivating for only a few decades. . . the speed is too fast. To avoid envy from other fellow Daoists, let's just forgo it. . ."
In reality, he simply didn't care for the trifling gifts from the local celebrations.
Therefore, it was simply better to avoid unnecessary trouble.
"However, a small feast for one day is still appropriate."
Fang Xi looked at the several beauties before him and suddenly revealed a faint smile. . .
...
Several days later.
The Profound Ice Palace returned to its usual tranquility.
Fang Xi continued to cultivate in the Small Cold Cave.
After all, having broken through to the late-stage, his spiritual energy advancement was now a smooth path. Naturally, he wanted to quickly cultivate his Core Formation late-stage spiritual energy to perfection, and then plan for forming his Nascent Soul.
"This place is actually quite good. . . a third-order superior-grade spirit vein, supplemented by a spirit gathering array and spirit stones. . . it's barely comparable to a fourth-order spirit vein, enough to form a Nascent Soul."
"I just don't know if the Old Ghost's claim that the Withered Glory Chant combined with the Wood Spirit Body can increase the chance of forming a Nascent Soul is naturally so, or if it requires some secret technique. . . That old ghost is holding back on this point, so I'll have to go to that hundred-year appointment."
Fang Xi sat cross-legged on the futon, opened his eyes, and was quite satisfied with the progress of his spiritual energy.
Just then, his expression shifted, and he took out a communication jade slip.
The jade slip shimmered with light, then transformed into a line of text—"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on advancing to Core Formation mid-stage!"
Fang Xi's lips curved slightly, as if he could see the incredible disbelief, envy, and jealousy on the face of Daoist Master Qing Yang on the other side. . . yet he also had to forcibly suppress his unwillingness to deal with him. . .
"He hasn't been thoroughly beaten enough, has he. . ."
He sighed inwardly, his Divine Consciousness entering the jade slip, and he began to reply: "It was merely luck, Daoist Master Qing Yang. Do you have business with me?"
Fang Xi's reply sounded more like that of a scoundrel who used people and then discarded them.
He distinctly felt the other side pause for a moment before a reply came—"Two special jade talisman crafting techniques, in exchange for one of your interventions. How about it?"
"Hehe. . . are they lowering their price?"
"But, the reason I wanted a talisman crafting technique back then was because I already had half a secret technique, and mainly to research void spirit patterns. . ."
"Intervene. . . now there's some friction between the Green Leaf Merchant Guild and the Red Blood Cult. With the shrewdness of those two Nascent Soul old monsters, they might have already seen that someone is pulling strings, but are just putting on a show of surface friction, secretly hunting down the 'rats'. . ."
"This Tianmeng doesn't even dare to act, yet they try to trick me into acting. . . Do I look like someone to take the blame?"
Fang Xi looked at the communication jade slip, his face filled with speechlessness.
Even with his cultivation greatly advanced, he didn't want to get involved in the power struggles between several Nascent Soul forces.
After some thought, he directly refused, using the excuse that he had just broken through and needed to enter seclusion to consolidate his cultivation.
"No matter how eloquently you speak, if I remain a tiger in my den, what can you do to me?"
"Hiding in a small building, unifying it, and observing the changing winds and clouds of the cultivation world is quite interesting too."
After Fang Xi had thought it through, he closed his eyes again and entered the next round of cultivation.
...
Somewhere in an unknown underground cave.
Daoist Master Qing Yang's expression was fluctuating between gloomy and bright, then he suddenly let go.
The jade slip in his hand had, at some unknown point, cracked into several pieces and fallen to the ground.
"Heh. . . I heard that Yun Jizi of the Profound Ice Palace actually made Senior Brother Qing Yang suffer a setback. Is it still the same today?"
A frivolous voice suddenly appeared.
Daoist Master Qing Yang's eyes lit up, and a golden-robed youth appeared before him. He was immediately both surprised and overjoyed: "It's Junior Brother Wei! The sect actually sent you out. . ."
Although this Junior Brother looked young, it was entirely due to his early breakthroughs in major realms, and not because he had consumed any appearance-preserving pills!
He possessed a Heaven-grade metal spirit root, broke through to Foundation Establishment in his teens, formed his Core in his sixties, and was still under two hundred years old, yet he was already at Core Formation mid-stage.
He was regarded by the entire sect as a Nascent Soul seed and treated with utmost care.
"I felt that my cultivation was progressing too quickly, and my spiritual energy was advancing too fiercely, which was not conducive to breaking through the Core Formation late-stage bottleneck. So, I thought it would be good to come out, temper myself, and clear my mind. . . Hearing that Senior Brother Qing Yang was in trouble, I came to help."
Junior Brother Wei revealed a youthful smile: "That Yun Jizi of the Profound Ice Palace has taken the bait several times but refuses to bite. . . Why don't you let me handle it, I will definitely give Senior Brother an explanation."
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