Soul Summoning

Soul Inquiry: A technique for extracting yin souls and ghostly entities; skills form seeds.

After dragging Zhao Shixian into the Soul Banner, Tu Shan Jun had thought Zhao Shixian would struggle and resist.

To his surprise, Zhao Shixian's yin soul inside the banner wore a dull expression, as if it possessed no intelligence whatsoever.

Tu Shan Jun was deeply suspicious by nature.

Putting himself in another's shoes, if he had been weak, would he likewise have feigned weakness and waited for the right moment?

He would.

And that was exactly what he had done.

Thus, as he watched Zhao Shixian's dull-eyed yin soul, Tu Shan Jun remained highly vigilant and did not rashly approach.

He had no desire to capsize in a gutter.

If Zhao Shixian's pretense was ruled out,

then among the yin souls and ghostly entities within the banner, only he, the Main Soul, possessed intelligence.

For the other yin souls all had dull eyes as well.

Tu Shan Jun had once thought it was because ordinary people became yin souls after death, but now it clearly seemed otherwise.

Zhao Shixian was at the Qi Refining Third Layer, an immortal cultivator.

Now that he had become a yin soul, he too was dull-eyed and devoid of consciousness.

Though Tu Shan Jun felt Zhao Shixian did not seem to be pretending, he still remained wary of his yin soul.

Whether he was pretending or not, he would first test his newly acquired ability.

"Soul Inquiry."

Extract:

Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist

Blood Fiend Art, Comprehensive Edition (Qi Refining Preliminary Chapter)

The moment the skill seeds entered Tu Shan Jun's mind, he immediately understood the Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist.

The Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist had only three forms, yet it could strengthen the divine soul.

No wonder that, during their clash of divine souls within Zhao Shixian's sea of consciousness, Tu Shan Jun had nearly been cowed back by that beastly shadow. Now that he thought about it, it must have been because of this technique.

A cultivation method that could directly affect the divine soul—one only had to think about it to know how precious it was.

And Zhao Shixian had actually obtained such a method at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

"Zhao Shixian truly had good fortune, to obtain even a technique like this."

Judging from the technique seed, Zhao Shixian's understanding and practice of it appeared to be no more than a superficial initiation.

As for the preliminary chapter of the Blood Fiend Art, it described cultivation methods before the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. Since it was not bound to any particular attribute, spirit roots of any attribute could use it.

By extracting the technique seeds, Tu Shan Jun had also incidentally learned this world's writing.

Through this, he gained some understanding of the current cultivation system.

He now possessed a little rudimentary understanding of cultivation.

"More than a dozen breaths have passed. Why hasn't that righteous young man who won come to collect the spoils?"

Suppressing the surging excitement in his heart, Tu Shan Jun looked in the young man's direction.

"I wonder how he is doing?"

"Let me see the companion I selected, the powerful new banner master who will walk the immortal path with me in the future..."

Before the word "master" could leave his mouth, the sight before him left Tu Shan Jun stunned.

The young man had fallen too.

Perhaps the battle had lasted too long and drained his body of both spiritual power and strength, leaving him exhausted.

There should not be too terrible an outcome.

He controlled Zhao Shixian's corpse and made it stand.

The body moved with extreme awkwardness, as though trudging beneath a heavy burden.

Zhao Shixian had, after all, been refined into a Banner Slave. His body was under Tu Shan Jun's control; as long as it could walk, that was enough. He could not demand too much.

Tu Shan Jun controlled Zhao Shixian's body as it walked before the young man. Up close, the youth truly was not very old, likely only eighteen or nineteen.

His features were sharp and handsome, but unfortunately, his once-fair skin was now covered in creeping black threads. His wide-open eyes and twisted expression carried a faint terror.

"Dead?!"

Tu Shan Jun's mouth fell open in disbelief.

He had already divided the power of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.

The young man had matched Zhao Shixian blow for blow and had even struck the final killing blow. At the very least, he should have been at the Qi Refining Third Layer, perhaps even the Fourth Layer.

How had he died so suddenly?

As his gaze fell upon him, Tu Shan Jun hurriedly searched for wounds.

When he pulled open the young man's clothing, Tu Shan Jun's expression changed drastically.

There were actually three needle holes in the young man's chest, black blood flowing from them.

Then he looked at the dagger nearby, no longer supported by spiritual power.

The dagger was a decoy; the poisoned needles hidden within it were the real thing.

So this had been the true killing move.

Even the Green-Faced Ghost formed by the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts had merely been one of the distractions, meant to divert the righteous young man's attention.

The dagger had served as a distraction, making the young man believe the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts was the killing move.

The other party had simply not defended against the three daggers, only knocking them away with spiritual power, but that had already triggered the mechanisms inside.

With the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts interfering as well, the young man had not realized at the time that he had already been poisoned.

Only after struggling with all his strength against the ghostly shadow condensed by the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts did he discover the poison.

But by then, the poison had entered his lungs and organs; even the gods could not turn the tide.

If Tu Shan Jun had not suffered backlash and caught Zhao Shixian off guard at the critical moment, Zhao Shixian would absolutely have been the final victor.

Tu Shan Jun broke out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, he had seized the timing well. Otherwise, Zhao, this Demon Cultivator, truly would have been difficult to deal with.

Tu Shan Jun did not know that Zhao Shixian had defeated a Fourth Layer righteous youth while only at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

"The banner master I had chosen was dead!"

Tu Shan Jun looked around blankly, and a desolate sorrow suddenly arose within him.

Though he had used backlash against Zhao Shixian and refined him into a Banner Slave, Tu Shan Jun had discovered the Banner Slave's fatal weakness.

A Banner Slave was itself a dead thing.

It could not cultivate, much less replenish spiritual power. Its body would continue rotting, and before long it would decay beyond the point of movement.

Tu Shan Jun's notion of using a Banner Slave to cultivate after the backlash also vanished like smoke and clouds.

Looking at the pitiful trickle of spiritual power, dry to the bottom, within his dantian, Tu Shan Jun truly did not know what he should do.

Still, he had to gather himself and set out again.

In the end, he had to keep moving forward.

First, he would gather the spoils.

Then he would patiently await an opportunity and find a reliable banner master.

"Soul Summoning!"

Tu Shan Jun controlled the Soul Banner as it turned. A sweep of black mist dragged the young man's living soul from his poisoned body.

The young man was still dazed when he saw Zhao Shixian, holding the Soul Banner, walk before him. At once, he glared and shouted, "Demon, taste my sword!"

He joined his index and middle fingers into a sword gesture, about to summon his flying sword.

Yet no matter how he used his spell formula, the flying sword did not return. He could not even sense his own spiritual power.

"Where is my spiritual power?"

"Help me slay this demon!"

"I..." The young man lowered his head and looked at the corpse on the ground. After being dazed for a long while, he said, "I... am dead."

Seeing that the young man's soul still retained its intelligence, Tu Shan Jun quickly left Zhao Shixian's body.

"Benefactor."

The young man looked toward the voice and was immediately horrified. That red-haired, green-fanged fiend had actually leapt out of Zhao Shixian's body.

Was it about to eat him?

"Alas, I failed to slay the demon and instead lost my life. Now I am to become an evil ghost's blood food. What can be done?"

The young man lowered his hands as though he had accepted his fate.

A soul exposed between heaven and earth without the shelter of flesh was like a flame in a fierce wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.

He was merely unwilling to become an evil ghost's blood food.

Now, he could only lament that his skills had been lacking.

Tu Shan Jun hurriedly asked, "Benefactor, what is your name? Where do you live? Do you have any family?"

The young man's soul froze. He looked at the evil ghost speaking before him, then at Zhao Shixian lying on the ground, and fell completely into confusion.

The evil ghost was not eating him but asking for his name and address. Did it intend to sweep up his entire family in one net?

But Zhao Shixian looked utterly lifeless.

The young man was no mortal; he could distinguish real death from feigned death. Having regained much of his clarity, he also recalled that he had in fact struck the Demon Cultivator before dying.

With wounds like those, the Demon Cultivator could absolutely not have survived.

Tu Shan Jun did not know how to earn his trust and could only explain.

"I was a villager from the previous village, refined by the Demon Cultivator into the Main Soul of this Soul Banner. Benefactor has already killed the Demon Cultivator."

"I have now left the Soul Banner by possessing his body, so I may speak with you."

"If I ever escape my plight, I will repay Benefactor's family."

"If there is anything Benefactor wishes to have brought back to your family, speak quickly while you can still leave words behind."

Tu Shan Jun had already seen it: if a soul remained between heaven and earth for too long, it would vanish unless it became a ghost.

In only this short time, the young man's soul had already become much more transparent.

The young man suddenly understood. So it was the Main Soul of a magical artifact. "So that is how it is."

Time was urgent, and he had no leisure to ponder why the Main Soul of a magical artifact possessed such clear and orderly intelligence.

"My name is Hou Boxu, legitimate son of the Hou Family of Sun City. I have a wife and a younger brother. My parents passed away long ago."

"I seek no repayment. I only hope you can deliver my Storage Talisman back to my family. That Hairpin Spirit Sword shall be your reward."

"Now that I am dead, I need not fear your deception."

Hou Boxu let out a long sigh and looked back one last time.

His eyes were filled with longing, yet he could do nothing.

Tu Shan Jun gritted his teeth. "Actually, I have a method that can preserve Benefactor's soul from dispersing, and perhaps even give you a chance to attain the Dao."

Hou Boxu looked at Tu Shan Jun.

Tu Shan Jun hurriedly explained, "If Benefactor trusts me, you may enter the Soul Banner and await the right moment."

Though the yin souls within the Soul Banner had no intelligence, Tu Shan Jun firmly believed that once the Soul Banner evolved to become powerful enough, it would surely restore the living souls' intelligence and allow them to live again.

Hou Boxu looked at the Soul Banner in Tu Shan Jun's hand and shook his head.

After laughing heartily, he said, "How could a great man fear life and death?"

"If I entered the Soul Banner and continued to cling to life, how would I differ from those Demon Cultivators?"

"When people live too long, they fear death. Once they fear death, they enter the demonic path."

"I do not wish to enter the demonic path."

"I see that you do not seem to be an evil ghost, brother. I hope you guard your true heart well and attain the Great Dao."

"We shall meet again!"

"We shall meet again."

His final voice dispersed in the wind.

By the time Tu Shan Jun came back to himself, Hou Boxu's soul had already vanished without a trace.

"We shall... meet again."