Greed

The demonic-looking young man immediately showed a trace of astonishment. "The Hundred Soul Banner?"

"How can a mere mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator like you wield such a treasure?"

As magical artifacts expressly banned by every Righteous Sect, Demonic Soul Banners were something even the Demonic Path Upper Sects did not dare use openly. Yet in secret, quite a few cultivators still refined them in secret.

But there were differences between Soul Banners.

For an ordinary Soul Banner to advance into the Top Grade Magic Tool Hundred Soul Banner, one had to either offer up the souls of several thousand commoners or slaughter hundreds of cultivators.

Such large-scale slaughter was practically impossible in the current environment, with the Demonic Path in decline.

Even if some lucky person truly refined a Hundred Soul Banner, the moment it was used, the Righteous Sects would inevitably lock onto it through divination techniques. Once the karmic consequences of the slaughter became entangled, concealment was virtually impossible.

All these circumstances had led to the Hundred Soul Banner becoming exceedingly rare in the cultivation world.

Even an ordinary Top Grade Magic Tool was a treasure that Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators could only encounter by chance and never seek. Needless to say, the Hundred Soul Banner had already forged an illustrious reputation among Top Grade Magic Tools.

A saying had circulated throughout the cultivation world for years: those who possessed a Hundred Soul Banner were invincible below the Golden Core realm. Though there was some exaggeration in that claim, with the Hundred Soul Banner's advantage, sweeping aside cultivators of the same level was utterly effortless.

Yet such a precious Top Grade Magic Tool had actually been produced from the hands of a mere mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. For a moment, the demonic-looking young man found it difficult to believe.

However, Lu Yan gave the demonic-looking young man no chance to think. With a wave of the Hundred Soul Banner, fully two hundred fierce ghosts charged into the layers of Ghost Mist and pounced toward the demonic-looking young man.

The demonic-looking young man's expression shifted, but the hand seals in his grasp did not slow in the slightest.

Second-Order High-Grade Spell—Red Lotus Protection Spell!

The hand seals transformed into a blood-red lotus that slowly blossomed and enveloped the demonic-looking young man. The incoming fierce ghosts collided with the protective spiritual radiance, and violent booms sent ripples through the Ghost Mist.

No matter how the fierce ghosts attacked, the protective radiance showed no sign of being shaken. Instead, when their soul bodies touched the blood-red radiance, signs of corrosion began to appear on them.

The demonic-looking young man did not hurry to counterattack. Instead, he examined the Soul Banner in Lu Yan's hand. Their brief exchange had allowed him to keenly discover an unusual aura upon the Hundred Soul Banner.

"The Hundred Soul Banner barely contains any Karma left behind by slaughter. There's hardly even any of the negative emotions of hatred and fear. It's so clean that it doesn't look like a Demonic Path Magical Artifact at all."

The fierce ghosts let out shrill wails. The ghostly energy of the two hundred Vengeful Souls transformed into a massive, sinister Ghost Claw that crashed down with streaks of blood-red radiance.

A tremendous boom erupted within the courtyard. The Red Lotus Protection Spell finally began to change. Its radiance dimmed several degrees, and crack after crack appeared across the protective spiritual radiance.

Beneath the protection of the spiritual radiance, the demonic-looking young man swept his Divine Soul across the nearby fierce ghosts. The moment he sensed that the fierce ghosts lacked their earthly and heavenly souls, he suddenly understood. His face filled with uncontrollable delight.

"So that's how it is! The madman rumored to have refined the Ten Thousand Beast Banner within Mount Wu is you!"

The demonic-looking young man burst into wild laughter. The gaze he directed at Lu Yan was filled with bone-chilling greed.

"My sect sent me to investigate the matter at Ten Thousand Spirit Mountain. We suspected that Ten Thousand Spirit Mountain was slaughtering spirit-blooded beasts in the territory of Mount Wu to extract special bloodlines.

"But who would have thought that someone was truly harvesting the souls of spirit-blooded beasts—and that person had even delivered himself right before me? Truly, the Demon Venerable is blessing me!"

"Your Hundred Soul Banner is different from the other Demonic Soul Banners. I imagine that it must possess the ability to harvest spirit-blooded beasts.

"The rumor that slaughtering beasts could refine the Ten Thousand Beast Banner is pure nonsense. But if special methods were used to feed the souls of spirit-blooded beasts to the Vengeful Souls and fierce ghosts within a Soul Banner, that would indeed be somewhat believable.

"Unfortunately, both this Hundred Soul Banner in your hands and the method for collecting beast souls will become possessions in my bag!"

The instant his words fell, the protective spiritual radiance of the Red Lotus Protection Spell shattered with a crash. Two hundred fierce ghosts charged before the demonic-looking young man and thrust out their Ghost Claws.

As long as those Ghost Claws pierced the demonic-looking young man's flesh, then regardless of whether he was a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator, his Divine Soul absolutely could not withstand two hundred fierce ghosts comparable to mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.

But at that moment, the demonic-looking young man moved.

He raised his right hand, and a bell of pure white appeared in his grasp.

He gently shook his wrist. Though the bell was clearly no larger than a palm, it issued a hoarse note like the struggle of a dying man. Ripples visible to the naked eye spread from the bell in every direction.

"Ugh!!!"

Almost in the same instant, the Ghost Claws extended by the two hundred fierce ghosts shattered with a crash. Their soul bodies dimmed at a visible speed, and every Vengeful Soul wore an expression of terror as they instinctively fled into the distance.

The Demonic Path Magical Artifact, White Bone Bell!

At a glance, Lu Yan recognized the bell in the demonic-looking young man's hand. It was precisely one of the Demonic Path Magical Artifacts recorded in Demonic Path Magical Artifact Secret Records.

Unlike Soul Banners, which placed little importance on their materials but emphasized the subsequent refinement method, refining a White Bone Bell required the bones of powerful living beings. A special method then had to be used to seal the creature's final wisp of soul before death inside it. The process was so complicated that even a true artifact refiner might not succeed.

The White Bone Bell in the demonic-looking young man's hand was clearly a High-Grade Magic Tool of extremely high quality—a fearsome weapon designed specifically to destroy Divine Souls.

After glancing at the fleeing fierce ghosts, the demonic-looking young man did not pursue them and wipe them all out.

In his eyes, this Hundred Soul Banner already belonged to him, and these fierce ghosts should also be his property. Naturally, he would not exterminate them to the last.

Holding the White Bone Bell, the demonic-looking young man slowly walked toward Lu Yan and spoke with a chuckle:

"If you possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation, or if I did not have this White Bone Bell in my hand, then with this Hundred Soul Banner, you might still have some hope of victory.

"But now, facing me, you have no chance of winning."

"I can give you another chance. Offer up the Hundred Soul Banner of your own accord and tell me the secret you carry. I can let bygones be bygones, take you as my slave, and have you join the Red Lotus Demonic Sect.

"If one day I can take the position of Red Lotus Demonic Sect Master, you will rise with the tide and become an elder of the Red Lotus Demonic Sect."

Lu Yan said nothing. He merely shook the Soul Banner, struggling to control the fleeing fierce ghosts and merge them into the Ghost Mist.

Rolling Ghost Mist surged over, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, making the darkness within this netherworld domain even deeper. A massive Ghost Claw gathered the power of all the fierce ghosts and crashed down.

"Obstinate fool!"

The demonic-looking young man gave his judgment with an indifferent expression and shook the White Bone Bell in his hand.

The deathly whisper of a dying creature rang out once more. Ripples spread and met the massive Ghost Claw.

However, this collision far exceeded the demonic-looking young man's expectations.

The massive Ghost Claw merely paused briefly before continuing to descend upon him. The ripples scattered the Ghost Mist that blanketed the heavens and earth, revealing the strange creature beneath it.

It was a terrifying creature seemingly stitched together from hundreds of fierce ghosts, their souls linked to one another. The White Bone Bell, which had not been driven with its full power, was actually unable to shake this colossal monster.

In the next moment, the Ghost Claw clenched into a fist, and the resulting boom shook the earth!