Summoning Souls

[Question Soul: A technique for extracting yin spirits and ghostly beings, forming skill seeds]

Having dragged Zhao Shixian into the soul banner, Tu Shanjun had expected him to struggle and resist.

Unexpectedly, the yin spirit within the banner appeared dazed, seemingly devoid of any intelligence.

Tu Shanjun was deeply suspicious.

Putting himself in the other's shoes, if he were weak, would he also feign weakness to bide his time?

Yes.

And that was exactly what he had done.

So, eyeing Zhao Shixian's dazed yin spirit, Tu Shanjun remained vigilant, not rashly approaching.

He had no intention of capsizing in a ditch.

If he ruled out Zhao Shixian's pretense, then among the yin spirits and ghostly beings in the soul banner, only he, the main soul, possessed intelligence.

Because the other yin spirits were also vacant-eyed.

Previously, Tu Shanjun thought it was because ordinary people became yin spirits after death, but now it clearly wasn't the case.

Zhao Shixian was at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, a cultivator.

Now turned into a yin spirit, he too was dazed and mindless.

Though Tu Shanjun felt Zhao Shixian didn't seem to be faking it, he still remained wary of his yin spirit.

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

"Question Soul."

[Extracting:]

[Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist]

[Blood Fiend Art Synthesis (Qi Refining Prelude)]

As the skill seed entered Tu Shanjun'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 during the soul clash in Zhao Shixian's sea of consciousness, Tu Shanjun had nearly been driven back by the beastly shadow. Now he realized it was likely due to this technique.

A technique that could directly affect the divine soul—its preciousness was obvious just from thinking about it.

And Zhao Shixian had obtained it at the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

"Zhao Shixian was quite fortunate to acquire such a technique."

Judging by the skill seed, Zhao Shixian's understanding and practice seemed only shallow and rudimentary.

As for the Blood Fiend Art Prelude, it covered techniques up to the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. Since it wasn't bound by elemental attributes, any spiritual root attribute could use it.

By extracting the skill seed, Tu Shanjun also learned the script of this world.

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

He now had a shallow grasp of cultivation.

"It's been over ten breaths. Why hasn't that victorious righteous youth come to claim his spoils?"

Suppressing the surging excitement in his heart, Tu Shanjun looked toward the direction of the youth.

"I wonder how this one is?"

"Let me see the companion I've chosen, the powerful new banner that will walk the immortal path with me in the future..."

Before the word "banner" left his mouth, the sight before him left Tu Shanjun stunned.

The youth had also fallen.

Perhaps the prolonged battle had drained his body of mana and strength, leaving him exhausted.

It shouldn't be too dire an outcome.

Controlling Zhao Shixian's corpse to stand up.

The body moved with extreme awkwardness, as if burdened by a heavy load.

After all, Zhao Shixian had now been refined into a Banner Slave, his body under Tu Shanjun's control. As long as he could walk, that was enough; he couldn't ask for much.

Tu Shanjun guided Zhao Shixian's body to the youth's side. Up close, the youth indeed looked young, likely only eighteen or nineteen.

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

"Dead!?"

Tu Shanjun's mouth fell open in disbelief.

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

The youth had matched Zhao Shixian evenly, even striking the killing blow in the end. He should have been at least at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, perhaps even the Fourth.

How could he have died so abruptly?

His gaze landed, and Tu Shanjun hurriedly searched for the wound.

Lifting the young man's clothes, Tu Shanjun's expression shifted dramatically.

On the young man's chest were three needle holes, oozing black blood.

He then looked at the dagger lying nearby, devoid of any spiritual power.

The dagger was a fake; the real killing move was the poisoned needles hidden within it.

So the true lethal strike was this all along.

Even the Green-Faced Ghost, transformed from the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, was merely a distraction, used to divert the righteous young man's attention.

The dagger served as a decoy, making the youth believe the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts was the fatal blow.

The opponent didn't bother defending against the three daggers, simply batting them away with spiritual power, but that had already triggered the mechanism inside.

Compounded by the interference of the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, the young man had no idea at the time that he had already been poisoned.

Only after desperately resisting the ghostly apparitions condensed by the Night Parade did he realize he was poisoned.

But by then, the poison had seeped into his organs, leaving no room for salvation.

If not for Tu Shanjun's backlash catching Zhao Shixian off guard at the critical moment, Zhao Shixian would have undoubtedly emerged victorious.

Tu Shanjun broke out in a cold sweat.

Fortunately, the timing was perfect; otherwise, dealing with this demonic cultivator Zhao would have been no easy task.

Tu Shanjun had no idea that Zhao Shixian had still managed to slay the Fourth Layer righteous youth while only at the Third Layer of Qi Refining.

"The chosen Banner Master I selected is dead!"

Tu Shanjun looked around in bewilderment, a wave of desolation washing over him.

Though he had backlashed against Zhao Shixian and refined him into a Banner Slave, Tu Shanjun had discovered the fatal flaw of the Banner Slave.

A Banner Slave was inherently a dead thing.

It could not cultivate, much less replenish its spiritual power, and its body would continue to rot, soon becoming too decayed to move.

Tu Shanjun's plan to use the Banner Slave for cultivation after the backlash had vanished like smoke.

Staring at the pitiful, dried-up spiritual power in his dantian, Tu Shanjun truly had no idea what to do.

Still, he had to pull himself together and move on.

He had to keep going forward.

First, gather the spoils.

Then, bide his time and seek out a reliable Banner Master.

"Soul Summon!"

Tu Shanjun controlled the Soul Banner to turn, and a swirl of black mist yanked the young man's living soul from his poisoned body.

Still dazed, the youth saw Zhao Shixian holding the Soul Banner and walking toward him, and immediately glared, shouting angrily, "Demon, take my sword!"

He formed a sword finger with his index and middle fingers, ready to summon his flying sword.

But no matter how he worked his incantation, the flying sword refused to return, and he could no longer sense his own spiritual power.

"Where is my spiritual power?"

"Help me slay the demon!"

"I..." The youth looked down at his fallen corpse, stared for a long moment, and said, "I'm dead."

Tu Shanjun, residing in Zhao Shixian's body, saw that the youth's soul still retained its wits and quickly stepped out of Zhao Shixian's form.

"Benefactor."

The youth looked toward the voice and was startled—the green-faced, fanged, red-haired evil ghost had actually leaped out of Zhao Shixian's body.

Wasn't this about to devour him?

"Alas, I failed to slay the demon and died instead, and now I'm to become a meal for an evil ghost. What can I do about it?"

The youth seemed to resign himself, lowering his hands.

Exposed between heaven and earth, a soul without a physical body was like a flame in a gale, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.

What galled him was becoming an evil ghost's meal.

Now, he could only lament his lack of skill.

Tu Shanjun hurriedly asked, "Benefactor, what is your name, where do you live, and do you have any family?"

The youth's soul froze, staring at the evil ghost that had walked up to him and spoken, then at Zhao Shixian lying on the ground, utterly confused.

The evil ghost wasn't eating him but asking for his address—was it planning to wipe out his whole family?

But Zhao Shixian seemed utterly lifeless.

The youth was no ordinary mortal; he could tell true death from false, and now that he had sobered up, he recalled that before dying, he had actually struck the demonic cultivator.

With wounds like that, the demonic cultivator couldn't possibly have survived.

Tu Shan didn't know how to earn his trust, so he could only explain.

"I was a villager from the previous settlement. A demonic cultivator refined me into the main soul of a soul banner. Your benefactor has already killed that demonic cultivator."

"Right now, I'm speaking with you by possessing a corpse to leave the banner."

"If I ever find a way to break free, I will repay your benefactor's family."

"If there's anything you want to send back to your family, say it now while you still can leave a message."

Tu Shan had already realized that a soul lingering too long between heaven and earth would either become a ghost or simply vanish.

In just this short span of time, the young man's soul had already grown noticeably translucent.

The young man suddenly understood—so this was the banner's main soul. "I see."

Time was pressing, so he didn't stop to wonder how a banner's main soul could possess such clear, coherent awareness.

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

"I ask for no repayment. I only hope you can deliver my Storage Talisman to my family. That Hairpin Spirit Sword is the reward I offer you."

"Now that I am already dead, I have no fear of you deceiving me."

Hou Boxu let out a long sigh. He turned back for one last look.

His eyes were full of reluctance, but there was nothing he could do.

Tu Shan gritted his teeth. "Actually, I do have a way to keep your soul from dispersing, and even give you a chance at the Dao."

Hou Boxu looked at Tu Shan.

Tu Shan hurriedly explained, "If you trust me, you can enter the Soul Banner and wait for the right time."

Though the souls within the Soul Banner lacked intelligence, Tu Shan firmly believed that once the banner evolved enough, it would restore their awareness and allow them to be reborn.

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

He burst into laughter. "A true man fears neither life nor death."

"If I entered that banner and dragged out a miserable existence, how would I be any different from those demonic cultivators?"

"The longer a man lives, the more he fears death. And the fear of death leads to demonhood."

"I refuse to become a demon."

"I can see you are no evil ghost, brother. I hope you hold fast to your heart and achieve the Great Dao."

"We'll meet again."

"We'll meet again."

The final words faded into the wind.

By the time Tu Shan came back to his senses, Hou Boxu's soul had already vanished.

"We'll... meet again."