Journey Home

Leaving the completely destroyed cult stronghold behind, Mo Yuan did not hurry back to the mortuary.

He chose a more circuitous ancient road, one rumored to have seen many injustices.

This experience had taught him that cultivation was not merely the accumulation of power, but also the tempering of one's character and the cultivation of merit.

The Soul Cleansing Banner in his hand was still at the Low-Grade Magic Item stage. To grow, it urgently needed to guide departed souls onward and accumulate yin merit before its quality could improve and new wondrous uses could emerge.

The ancient road lay beneath the shroud of night, overgrown with wild grass and lined with swaying shadows of trees. Cold moonlight spilled across the broken stone path, lending it an even greater air of desolation.

Mo Yuan walked steadily, his divine sense silently spreading outward like a net as he sensed the auras along the way.

Near a field of scattered boulders said to have once been an ancient battlefield, he detected powerful resentment and yin energy that had condensed without dispersing.

He stopped and took out the Soul Cleansing Banner. Its pole was made from century-old Soul Nourishing Wood, warm and smooth to the touch; its banner was woven from the essence of spiritual talismans blended with the spirituality of Purity Bamboo, thin as cicada wings yet exceptionally tough. At that moment, it emitted a gentle clear radiance, like a guiding lamp amid the sinister surroundings.

As a Low-Grade Magic Item, it already possessed the basic abilities to store, nourish, and initially purify souls.

"Life is but a dream; how much joy can there be? Why remain bound by obsession when you can seek release? Enter my treasured banner, enjoy purity, and enter reincarnation once more." Mo Yuan's calm voice carried spiritual power as it spread into the distance, bearing the force of comfort and guidance.

As his words fell, a yin wind began to swirl around them, and the temperature plunged. Blurred white phantoms gradually emerged from the field of boulders.

These wandering souls came in all forms. Some wore broken armor, seeming to be soldiers from ancient times; some were dressed in rags, like refugees who had frozen or starved to death; others had twisted features and radiated obvious malice.

Drawn by the Soul Cleansing Banner's clear radiance, they instinctively gathered near.

The first to approach was an illusory old scholar ghost dressed in clothing from the previous dynasty. He muttered, "The imperial examinations were unfair... my talent went unrecognized..."

Mo Yuan gently reached out with his divine sense, perceiving the ghost's obsession, and softly said, "Fame and fortune are all dust. Writing is an affair for the ages; only one's own heart knows gain and loss. Heaven and earth can bear witness to your talent, sir. Why remain trapped by a single pursuit of fame?" The Soul Cleansing Banner's clear light flowed and enveloped the old scholar. The resentment clinging to his soul gradually dissipated, and he became peaceful and translucent. At last, he turned into a wisp of green smoke and was drawn into the banner.

Mo Yuan could feel the space within the banner tremble faintly and become slightly more stable, returning a thread of cool energy that nourished his divine sense.

This was the power of yin merit. Though it could not directly raise his cultivation, it could subtly strengthen his foundation and improve his comprehension.

Next, a water ghost drenched from head to toe and constantly struggling was drawn over by the banner's light. Mo Yuan guided a thread of clear spiritual energy from within the banner, soothing the fear and agony of its drowning death, helping it recognize its situation and let go of its obsession.

The process of guiding souls onward was not always smooth. A vicious soldier ghost heavy with baleful energy fiercely resisted the banner's light, roaring as it tried to charge Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan did not resort to thunderous methods. Instead, he continuously activated the Soul Cleansing Banner while chanting Maoshan's Soul Calming Incantation, using his pure spiritual power and the force of the mantra to wear away the ghost's malice bit by bit, like spring rain soaking the earth.

After roughly the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the crimson in the soldier ghost's eyes gradually faded. It regained a moment of clarity, gave Mo Yuan a complicated look, then entered the banner in dejection.

That night, Mo Yuan remained beside the ancient battlefield ruins, like a patient ferryman guiding these lost departed souls. With every soul he successfully guided onward, the Soul Cleansing Banner's clear radiance became a little more condensed, the space within expanded slightly, and the spirituality of the Purity Bamboo grew increasingly vibrant.

After guiding more than ten souls onward, a faint golden halo began to appear within the banner's originally pale cyan background. This was a sign of accumulated yin merit and improved quality, indicating that it was advancing from a newly formed Low-Grade Magic Item toward a Mid-Grade Magic Item.

A Mid-Grade Magic Item would not only be more powerful and purify souls more efficiently, but might even begin to develop certain simple auxiliary properties.

At dawn, Mo Yuan put away the treasured banner and continued onward. As he traveled by day, he reflected on his insights from guiding souls through the night and tempered his divine sense, while also nourishing the Thunder Dragon Evil-Slaying Spear with his spiritual power.

Though this spear had been a Low-Grade Magic Item from the moment it was forged, its extraordinary materials—the Ten Thousand-Year Lightning Strike Wood Core, metal essence, and Thunder Dragon Soul Essence—gave it an exceptionally solid foundation and immense potential. He needed to regularly commune with it through his mind and refine it with spiritual power before it could move as naturally as an extension of his arm and lay the foundation for its future advancement.

Thus, he traveled by day and guided souls by night for several days in a row. Mo Yuan no longer deliberately sought places of extreme yin, instead proceeding as fate led him. One night, he arrived at a mountain village abandoned for many years.

Resentment soared through the village, and a tragedy had clearly taken place there. Dozens of wronged souls resembling villagers wandered amid the ruins, their cries sharp and mournful.

Among them was a core resentful soul whose aura far surpassed the others, nearly transforming into a vicious ghost.

Mo Yuan's expression grew solemn as he activated the Soul Cleansing Banner with all his strength. The clear radiance on its surface flared brilliantly, transforming into a curtain of light that enveloped the wronged souls. At the same time, he performed the Dipper Steps and formed hand seals, assisting the banner's light in its purification.

Guiding these deeply resentful souls onward consumed far more mental energy than before. The core resentful soul in particular had resentment so dense it was nearly tangible, and it resisted fiercely.

Mo Yuan held his mind steady and spared no spiritual power, driving the Soul Calming Incantation to its limit. Combined with the Soul Cleansing Banner's purifying power, it gradually dissolved the soul's overwhelming resentment.

The entire process lasted half the night. When the final core resentful soul regained clarity within the banner's light, wept freely, and transformed into white light as it entered the banner, the resentment throughout the village abruptly dispersed, and even the air became much fresher.

The Soul Cleansing Banner shook violently. Its clear radiance drew inward, while the strand of golden halo upon its surface became clearly visible, like a rim of gold.

The space within the banner stabilized and expanded by more than double. The Purity Bamboo's spirituality became lively, even automatically absorbing the faint wandering yin energy in the surroundings and converting it into pure energy that it returned to its master. Its quality had now stabilized at the Mid-Grade Magic Item level. Its deterrent and purifying effects on souls had greatly increased, and it had even begun to possess the weak ability to influence the real environment, such as dispersing gloomy miasma.

Mo Yuan let out a long breath. Sweat beaded at his temples, but his eyes were bright. He could clearly feel that, with the Soul Cleansing Banner's advancement to mid-grade, the yin merit it fed back to him had become much richer. His divine sense grew increasingly condensed, his perception of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy became sharper, his sixth level of Qi Refinement was completely stabilized, and he had even touched the threshold of the seventh level.

This journey home had brought rewards far beyond his expectations. He had not only completely destroyed an important Black Fiend Sect stronghold, broken through in cultivation, and tested the Thunder Dragon Evil-Slaying Spear's edge for the first time, but had also raised the Soul Cleansing Banner to a Mid-Grade Magic Item and accumulated considerable yin merit by guiding departed souls onward.

Gazing at Ren Family Town, whose outline was already visible in the distance, Mo Yuan's heart was calm and resolute.