This Day and Age, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner Needs Packaging Too

Behind this Void Return Realm grand cultivator stood twelve Spirit Transmutation cultivators and seventy-two Nascent Soul cultivators.

Click.

With a soft sound, the faceplate of his helmet automatically retracted, revealing a remarkably handsome face.

True Person Xiaoning of the Supreme Dao Sect!

As a grand cultivator who had only recently ascended to the Void Return Realm, he was required to oversee the Sword Sect branch of the Ancient Cultivator Response Department for a century.

Looking down at the crimson array patterns fading below, he was just about to sweep the area with his divine sense when a streak of light arrived from nowhere, tearing across the sky and hovering before him.

Within the hazy white glow was a palm-sized, sword-shaped jade talisman.

"Uncle-Master, isn't that the Sword Sect's..." A Spirit Transmutation cultivator behind him started to speak, then hesitated.

"Mm, it is a Sword Sect Talisman Order."

The Sword Sect Talisman Order was used by Sword Sect elders and above to transmit messages to their disciples.

The group behind him expressed their indignation upon hearing this.

"The Sword Sect is going too far!"

"Our Supreme Dao Sect is also an Immortal Sect! It's one thing for them to look down their noses at us, but now they dare to treat us like subordinates!"

"Uncle-Master! Why not just crush it, report it to the sect, and demand an explanation from the Sword Sect!"

The group chimed in one after another, appearing filled with righteous fury, yet no one dared to touch the talisman hovering in mid-air.

Each of them had truly mastered the essence of the "path of caution."

True Person Xiaoning was left speechless.

However, in the few moments they spent talking, the Sword Sect Talisman Order seemed to lose patience; with a flash of white light, it surged directly into the center of True Person Xiaoning's brow.

The group was shocked, scrambling backward and leaving True Person Xiaoning standing alone in place.

The talisman contained only a single sentence.

'The one emerging in Mystic Sword City, Sword Province, is of our Sword Sect. No need for concern.'

A vast voice echoed, and the jade talisman, having fulfilled its mission, shattered into a swirling, sharp purple aura that circled within his sea of consciousness.

Void-Breaking Evil-Slaying Sword Qi.

It was something only a sword cultivator who had surpassed the Void Return Realm could manifest, a material for refining techniques he had desperately needed but could never obtain—yet now, it had been delivered to his doorstep.

Was this payment in advance?

But at least tell me what I'm supposed to do!

"Uncle-Master, are you alright?" another Spirit Transmutation cultivator shouted.

Watching his nephews standing so far away, True Person Xiaoning's eye twitched.

In recent years, for reasons unknown, a trend of "steady-style cultivation" had emerged within the Supreme Dao Sect, and many had been influenced by it.

The number of disciples practicing breath-concealment and avatar techniques within the sect had increased significantly.

If nothing else, there was a good chance that some of the nephews who had come with him were merely avatars.

"The Sword Sect is a righteous Immortal Sect, and their relationship with our Supreme Dao Sect has always been good. You don't need to be so cautious."

"Uncle-Master is right."

"But one can never be too sure; someone might be impersonating them. It's better to be careful."

As if anyone would dare impersonate a Sword Sect Talisman Order.

True Person Xiaoning grumbled inwardly.

Forget it!

"This Sword Sect Talisman Order is a Purple Sword Talisman Order. The person emerging nearby is a Sword Sect cultivator; we only need to inform the mayor later."

The Purple Sword Talisman Order was a high-level order, second only to the Ancestral Sword Talisman Order.

It seemed the person emerging this time held a high status.

One of the four Sword Sect elders?

Or perhaps some Sword Sect Supreme Elder they were unaware of?

"Understood!"

The group responded in unison, then followed True Person Xiaoning as they descended into the city below.

On the outskirts of Mystic Sword City, as the city-protecting grand array shut down, a young man in white sportswear walked in at a leisurely pace.

He had an ordinary appearance and a sunny, easygoing temperament that made people feel well-disposed toward him at first glance.

But after taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked up into the distance.

One Void Return, twelve Spirit Transmutation, seventy-two Nascent Soul.

"Not bad, not bad. All disciples of Immortal Sects, with pure souls."

It was worth it that three years ago, he used his own bloodline as a lure and cast a spell to deceive his foolish younger brother into walking to his death, allowing him to gather all the materials in one fell swoop.

Otherwise, in this current era, trying to hunt down a high-quality soul of a Void Return Realm cultivator without leaving any hidden dangers would be truly, incredibly difficult.

Not to mention the massive quantity of auxiliary souls required.

With the seven great immortal sects ruling together, even with his current cultivation level, he would not dare to slaughter mortals on a large scale.

"Sigh~"

With a soft sigh, a small, silvery-white banner appeared in the young man's hand. Its entire body shimmered with flowing light, and the phantoms of a dragon and phoenix leaped across its surface, looking just like a legendary immortal artifact.

This was the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, a classic artifact of the demonic path.

However, due to the changing times, the great powers of the demonic path had modified it.

Otherwise, in the original, gloomy version, you would have been caught by the great powers of the righteous path before you even finished refining the treasure after collecting the living souls.

"Refining an artifact is truly no easy task."

In truth, this was not the best time; an ancient cultivator had recently emerged from seclusion, and heaven knows what realm he was in.

If it happened to be an old monster on the level of a Supreme Dao Sect elder, he might be slapped to death in an instant.

But the opportunity was too rare...

He had been planning this Ten Thousand Soul Banner for a long time, even going so far as to refine his own biological brother into it.

A Void Return Realm cultivator from the Supreme Dao Sect was right before his eyes; the soul of such a person alone was worth two ordinary Void Return Realm souls.

If he could refine this Ten Thousand Soul Banner using True Person Xiaoning as the main soul, he was confident he could advance to the next realm within a hundred years.

As his thoughts raced, he took out two dark purple beads glowing with a ghostly light. After refining them with his mana, the purple light within the beads faded, leaving them pure white and flawless.

With a flick of his wrist, the pure white beads fell to the ground, but instead of shattering, they melted directly into it.

The beads sank deeper and deeper, eventually seeping into the foundation of the city's protective array.

Hum~

With a soft sound, a phantom, clear light rose from the array foundation and shot toward the high heavens.

"Three hundred and sixty-four locations left."

As soon as he finished speaking, one phantom figure after another stepped out from his body, rushing toward the city—or more accurately, toward the locations of the array foundations within the city.

If this protective array hadn't just been activated, he wouldn't have been able to reverse its nature so easily.

At Mystic Sword City No. 3 Middle School, because the protective array had been deactivated, many people who were previously inside the classrooms had come outside.

"Notice: The great Void Return Realm cultivator, True Person Xiaoning, has arrived in this city with a delegation of ancient cultivators."

"The protective array has been deactivated."

"To ensure the personal safety of all citizens, please do not leave the school or the various sect residences for now, and await further instructions."

The announcement rang out quickly, spreading throughout the entire city.

For a moment, the tense atmosphere within Mystic Sword City dissipated significantly.

Regardless, with a Void Return Realm cultivator presiding over the city, even if that newly emerged ancient cultivator truly wanted to cause trouble, it would be much easier to stop him.

Zhang Yunlu came outside the classroom, feeling the gradually calming spiritual energy, and looked into the distance.

She saw streaks of clear light rising into the high heavens, transforming into two massive phantoms—one dragon and one phoenix—that circled above Mystic Sword City, weaving through the clouds in a truly spectacular display.

"As expected of a Void Return Realm cultivator, his entrance is quite grand," she couldn't help but exclaim.

"Grand?" Xu Xing walked to her side, looking up at the dragon and phoenix phantoms shrouding the entire city. "This thing, I'm afraid, was not created by that True Person Xiaoning."

"Ah?"

Not True Person Xiaoning?

Then who could it be?

"Among demonic cultivators, there is a very vicious artifact that is quite easy to refine, though it requires collecting many living souls and, furthermore, the soul of one or more great cultivators to serve as the main soul."

"You mean... the Ten Thousand Soul Banner?"

It had been a long time since any cultivator had dared to refine such a forbidden artifact.

"Correct." Xu Xing nodded, continuing to explain, "But collecting living souls—whether it be the massive number of auxiliary souls or hunting the souls of powerful cultivators—is prone to problems, so the great powers of the demonic path designed a specific array for it."

Hearing this, Zhang Yunlu recalled the ancient history she had seen on the spiritual network, and her heart tightened.

"The Soul-Deterring Array? You don't mean..."

"You're quick to react," Xu Xing praised, his gaze still fixed on the dragon and phoenix phantoms. "The one above our heads is the Soul-Deterring Array, and an improved version at that."

To think that even the Ten Thousand Soul Banner needs to be packaged like this now, disguised as an immortal treasure.

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