Yunmeng Water Palace.
Golden lamplight flickered, its flames illuminating all directions.
The blood-red Innate Yin Sha Qi sizzled under the refinement of his Merit True Fire, and wisps of black qi were dispersed into the void.
Who knew how long passed.
The mass of blood-red qi floating in the air no longer held any sinister or evil aura. Instead, it revealed a trace of righteous brilliance.
Faced with this sight, Zhou Yuan scratched his head.
"Why doesn't this look like an aura of utmost yin and darkness anymore?"
"Never mind. It's Sha Qi either way, so it can't be that different."
Zhou Yuan muttered casually, then stopped paying attention to it.
The moment the blood-red Innate Yin Sha Qi, wreathed in hazy golden light, entered the artifact-refining furnace—
A mysterious law was born within it.
Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged before the furnace with his eyes closed, his concentration fully focused. Forming hand seals and chanting incantations, he continuously sent one Innate Dao Script after another into the artifact-refining furnace.
This was the most crucial step.
Innate Dao Script could communicate with the Great Dao and invoke the laws.
They were the guarantee of this banner's future achievements.
Even though he was already extremely familiar with the method for refining the Myriad Spirits Banner, Zhou Yuan did not dare show the slightest negligence.
After sending all 129,600 Innate Dao Scripts into the banner one by one,
he gave a soft shout:
"Nine Nether Grand Profound, protect the Vast Ocean."
"Myriad Spirits Banner, form!"
Rumble!
As Zhou Yuan completed his final hand seal,
a tremor suddenly spread through the void.
Then, amid blooming blood lotuses and lingering Dao music,
a Myriad Spirits Banner measuring one chi and seven cun fluttered in the wind. Its golden radiance shone brilliantly, with rays of light hanging from its eight corners.
Immortal clouds coiled around it while purple qi surged.
It truly possessed an impressive appearance and formidable might.
With a beckoning gesture from Zhou Yuan, the small banner with its blood-red surface landed in his hand.
Three Innate Dao Scripts flickered upon it.
They were precisely the words "Myriad Spirits Banner."
"Why is this different from the Myriad Spirits Banner recorded in that old devil's inheritance?"
Shouldn't it have been filled with ghostly wails, black qi, and surging blood mist?
Zhou Yuan hurriedly connected his divine sense to the Myriad Spirits Banner.
"Good, good."
"All the functions of this Precious Banner are intact."
"It just has a different skin."
This was even better.
Otherwise, as an upright cultivator,
how awkward would it be to suddenly produce a demonic treasure when facing an enemy?
The treasure had been refined.
Naturally, it was time to get to work.
With a sweep of his sleeve, Zhou Yuan released the father and son, Ao Sheng and Ao Lin.
"Dao Brother, please spare our lives."
The moment Ao Sheng was released, he immediately admitted defeat.
If he did not surrender now, his life would be gone.
"This poor Daoist is kind-hearted. Naturally, I will not take your lives, Fellow Daoists."
Eh? He was this easy to reason with?
Ao Lin raised his head in delighted surprise.
He saw Zhou Yuan holding a golden-red Precious Banner, smiling warmly.
He subconsciously smiled as well.
But in the next instant, black-and-white mysterious light flashed.
Ao Sheng and Ao Lin immediately lost consciousness.
"Come out."
Zhou Yuan spoke softly to the Nine Nether Profound Yin Myriad Spirits Banner.
The next second, scarlet light burst forth.
A little girl around five or six years old appeared in the void, dressed in a red bellyband with her hair tied into twin skyward braids.
The exquisitely cute girl planted her hands on her hips and grinned, speaking in an old-fashioned tone:
"Master, who are we going to kill?"
Zhou Yuan's eyelid twitched.
As expected of something transformed from Innate Yin Sha Qi.
Her killing intent was truly overwhelming.
This little girl was the spirit of the Myriad Spirits Banner, named Nine Nether Profound Yin Su Nü.
If Zhou Yuan had not used Merit Spirit Fire to purify the Innate Yin Sha Qi before refining the Myriad Spirits Banner,
this little girl would likely have been even stranger and more sinister.
"You don't need to make a move."
"Just refine these two white dragons into the banner."
Upon hearing that she would not be needed, Su Nü's little face fell, and her smile immediately vanished.
She muttered:
"Master never calls me when there's something fun to do."
Grumbling was one thing, but work was another.
The red-clad girl glanced at the dragon corpses on the ground.
Scarlet light flickered in her eyes.
Two blood-red divine lights swept across the dragon corpses.
The next instant, two bewildered dragon souls appeared.
Before the dragon souls could speak,
the Myriad Spirits Banner unfurled and swayed gently.
Ao Sheng and Ao Lin's souls were immediately drawn into the banner.
Su Nü narrowed her eyes and sensed them for a moment, then beamed with delight.
"Master, these white dragons are quite strong."
"They are enough to become the Main Souls within the banner."
"My strength has increased too. I can help Master handle even more matters."
"Not bad, not bad."
After praising Su Nü,
Zhou Yuan waved the Myriad Spirits Banner and released Ao Sheng and his son.
"Greetings, Master."
Ao Sheng and his son immediately knelt and bowed.
They had clearly been transformed by the Myriad Spirits Banner, their loyalty utterly maxed out.
Zhou Yuan waved for them to rise.
Somewhat surprised, he said:
"They don't even have the aura of souls?"
Su Nü planted her hands on her hips and said proudly:
"Souls that pass through the Myriad Spirits Banner, so long as their cultivation reaches the True One Realm or above—"
"Can use the heaven-and-earth essence qi and the yin qi within the banner to condense a real Dao body."
"Of course, it still cannot compare to their original bodies."
Zhou Yuan listened to her explanation.
Then nodded in understanding.
Divine Demon Cultivators of the True One Realm had already entered the realm of immortality.
So long as no external force acted upon them, they could theoretically remain undying and indestructible.
That was true for the flesh, and naturally true for the soul as well.
"Now that Ao Sheng and his son have entered the banner, no one below an Innate Dao Lord can detect any changes in their auras."
"But an Innate Dao Lord would be different."
Zhou Yuan pondered.
He still needed to let these two white dragons lie low in Yunmeng Marsh.
After he advanced to the Innate Dao Lord realm, he would find a way to upgrade the Myriad Spirits Banner.
By then, even if he went to the Four Seas,
as long as he did not encounter some ancient monster,
Ao Sheng and Ao Lin should not be exposed.
"Thus, two Hidden Pawns have been planted among the dragon clan."
Zhou Yuan instructed Ao Sheng:
"The Four Seas Dragon Clan now seeks to plot for control over the rivers."
"You should know all the true dragons who came from the Four Seas."
"Keep a close watch on their movements."
"If anything unusual happens, have Ao Lin come find me at the Wei River."
Ao Sheng cupped his hands and said seriously:
"Rest assured, Master."
"Ao Sheng will certainly keep a close eye on them for you."
Even if some of those true dragons had once been his friends, not the slightest ripple arose in Ao Sheng's heart at that moment.
That was the terror of the Myriad Spirits Banner.
Once one entered the soul banner, one's life and death were no longer one's own.
Even one's soul and thoughts would be controlled.
Loyalty to the banner's master would override everything else.
Forget blood brothers—even one's birth parents would not be as close as Zhou Yuan.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan nodded.
This hidden move involving Ao Lin and his father might prove useful someday.
With all matters concluded,
he put away the Myriad Spirits Banner and dismissed Ao Sheng and his son.
Then Zhou Yuan transformed into a streak of light.
He flew straight from Yunmeng Marsh toward the Wei River.
"Several hundred years have passed. I wonder how the Wei River is doing now?"
After Zhou Yuan returned to the Wei River,
he immediately summoned Guizhenzi and the others.
As he listened to them report their accomplishments over this period one by one,
a hint of joy appeared in his eyes.
"You've done well."
Guizhenzi and the other True One cultivators of the Water Mansion had remembered Zhou Yuan's teachings: pick on the weak.
They only attacked water veins that had no powerful backers.
Furthermore, because Zhou Yuan belonged to the Phoenix Perch Mountain demon clan lineage,
the demon clans entering the Tianshui Imperial Dynasty were also unwilling to clash with the Wei River Water Mansion.
As a result, in merely several hundred years, they had swept up all the small water veins in the upper reaches of the Huai River.
Merit deserved reward.
This time, Zhou Yuan had gained quite a few good things from Dao Lord Tianshui.
Thus, he rewarded them with some cultivation resources.
"Gather the troops. Once I emerge from seclusion, we shall resume the campaign."
"Yes!"
Guizhenzi and the others put away their delighted expressions and answered solemnly.
Before you continue