Soul Devouring Banner's Formidable Reputation! Withered Soul Old Ancestor

Zheng Yi knew that the initial refinement had succeeded. The spiritual power within him coursed rapidly along the blood-red patterns on the Soul Devouring Banner's surface, swiftly refining it and reclaiming control over it.

At once, endless wails and howls of ghosts rose from the pitch-black banner.

In the end, Zheng Yi's power merged seamlessly with the Soul Devouring Banner, refining the entire banner surface anew.

Moreover, the ninety-nine Great Yin-Demon Scripts of Soul-Binding and Ghost-Enslaving were completely refined by him, fully merging with the Soul Devouring Banner and dissolving into it.

Zheng Yi formed hand seals and chanted an incantation, the technique he cast giving rise to waves of strange fluctuations.

The Soul Devouring Banner concealed its brilliance and reverted to an ordinary little black demonic banner, quietly floating before Zheng Yi.

With a beckoning gesture, Zheng Yi drew the demonic banner into his palm, where it lay as obediently as a well-trained puppy.

The Soul Devouring Banner required Three Sacrifices Three Refinements, undergoing repeated upgrades—especially now that he had refined this small banner into his Lifebound Artifact.

Their fates were intertwined, and it concerned his path of cultivation. He could not afford the slightest carelessness.

"It still isn't enough!"

"This demonic artifact truly deserves to be an artifact-refining method passed down by the founding patriarch of the Soul Devouring Sect. It looks simple and is easy to begin with, but easy to learn and hard to master."

"To refine it to the level of a Hundred Soul Banner or Thousand Soul Banner cannot be done without fortuitous opportunities. Otherwise, refining the living souls of ordinary people or the divine souls of cultivators would surely incur the wrath and resentment of all, leading either to being beaten to death or becoming entangled in Blood Sin and suffering a Karmic Force backlash."

"It also requires vast resources to forge a sturdy artifact embryo. Otherwise, the many Yin Soldiers and Malevolent Ghosts refined within it will certainly turn on their master..."

"No wonder this artifact is so powerful, yet within the Soul Devouring Sect, it is merely an auxiliary artifact for ordinary disciples. Few people refine it into a Lifebound Artifact, much less become famous through this demonic artifact."

"The last person to make a name for himself with a Soul Devouring Banner was Withered Soul Old Ancestor two hundred years ago. It was said that he had been born with a yin body and accidentally fell into the Abyss of Evil Demons. Not only did he survive by sheer luck, but he also obtained a Ten Thousand Year Godslaying Purple Essence Stone, which he used to refine a demonic banner. Later, during the third Righteous-Demonic War, he refined countless cultivators, finally establishing this treasure's fearsome reputation!"

"Unfortunately, that Thousand Soul Banner later encountered a Golden Core expert from the Righteous Path's Flying Sword Divine Sect and was cleaved in two. Withered Soul Old Ancestor also perished, his dao dissipating."

"Still, being able to contend with a Golden Core Cultivator for the time it took to drink a cup of tea while only in the Purple Mansion Realm—and against a sword cultivator from the Flying Sword Divine Sect, famed throughout the world for its attack power—proved that the Thousand Soul Banner's reputation was no empty boast..."

Thinking of this, Zheng Yi grew exceedingly excited as well.

With the Apocalyptic World at his back, the day he refined a Thousand Soul Banner surely would not be far off.

Although he lacked an opportunity like Withered Soul Old Ancestor's and could not use a Ten Thousand Year Godslaying Purple Essence Stone to refine a demonic banner, he could use the stacking method, piling up countless resources to raise the power of his Lifebound Artifact, the Soul Devouring Banner.

Purple Smoked Mother Copper, Sandalwood Mysterious Hardwood, Black Essence Hundred Refined Iron...

Grasping the banner pole of the Soul Devouring Banner and sensing the power concealed within, Zheng Yi gained even greater confidence in further upgrading this Lifebound Artifact.

These were all materials Zheng Yi had listed for the Soul Devouring Banner's later upgrades.

Today, he had fortunately purchased some relatively rare Earth Soul Silver in the Sect Marketplace. It only counted as an initial refinement, but it had reinforced the Soul Devouring Banner's foundation.

After all, this demonic banner had originally been a mass-produced item for Outer Sect Disciples. Its materials had been so poor they made one's scalp tingle.

Had Zheng Yi not refined several hundred Vengeful Spirits and Malevolent Ghosts in the Apocalyptic World, it would have been impossible for this artifact to possess such power.

But if he wanted to take it a step further, it still required many complex sacrificial refinements and nearly dozens of materials.

Of course, these materials, some precious and some ordinary, were not merely for raising the Soul Devouring Banner to the peak of the Qi Refining Stage.

From the very beginning, Zheng Yi had set his sights on an artifact at the Foundation Establishment Realm level.

After all, the Soul Devouring Banner was his Lifebound Artifact during the Qi Refining Stage.

With the Apocalyptic World behind him, Zheng Yi did not lack cultivation resources. The astonishing numbers of Vengeful Spirits and Malevolent Ghosts there could be said to be resources for advancement everywhere.

The Blood Fiend Female Ghost and Hundred-Year Azure Ghost he had encountered before were likely no more than appetizers in that bizarre Apocalyptic World.

As he gradually explored the Apocalyptic World, even more terrifying ghostly beings and Spiritual Objects would emerge.

If he encountered a terrifying ghostly being he could not fight head-on, how was Zheng Yi supposed to stop it?

On this point, Zheng Yi had never harbored any doubts.

During his previous journey into the Apocalyptic World, Zheng Yi had also come into contact with some local survivors and learned several horrifying rumors from them.

It was said that a complete ghost army roamed one particular city, numbering over ten thousand. They were disciplined and overwhelmingly powerful. In a single day, they had swept through an entire city, slaughtering every human and zombie within.

One had to know that among those million zombies were not merely ordinary creatures. There were many mutated Red-Eyed Zombies, as well as a Zombie King commanding them—a true local overlord beyond question.

Yet even with such strength, they had still been swept aside and crushed by the ghost army.

There was also said to be a colossal ghostly being a hundred meters tall. Wherever it passed, there was no question of resistance; anyone shrouded in its terrifying ghost qi would be directly corroded and transformed into a dreadful ghostly being.

In any case, there were too many bizarre and unimaginable legends surrounding the Apocalyptic World to count.

All kinds of powerful Evil Ghosts, Zombie Kings, terrifying mutated beasts, and more gradually calmed Zheng Yi's originally excited heart.

This world was still far too dangerous. It was not a place that a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator like him could simply play around in. He needed to proceed steadily and reveal the true face of this bizarre Apocalyptic World step by step.

That was right!

What Zheng Yi lacked was time.

In the short term, he could continue refining Vengeful Spirits and Malevolent Ghosts with the characteristics of the Black Fiend Technique, upgrading his Sha Qi. However, the advancement in realm brought by improving his cultivation technique could not possibly come too quickly.

After all, he did not want to attempt a breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment Realm someday, only to find his foundation unstable and be left unable to advance.

Thus, Zheng Yi had no choice but to turn his attention to artifacts.

As long as the Soul Devouring Banner became sturdy and powerful enough to imprison stronger Malevolent Ghosts and refine more Yin Soldiers,

his combat strength would rise with the tide.

For instance, the three Hundred-Year Azure Ghosts he had encountered last time—if the Soul Devouring Banner had been able to bear it, he would have long since acted and had the banner devour them.

The Soul Devouring Banner in his hand had already reached its limit. After obtaining the Soul Devouring Banner's subsequent advancement method from the inner sect's Law Transmission Hall, he would diligently search for all sorts of advancement materials.

He had nearly turned the entire Sect Marketplace upside down, yet the things Zheng Yi found amounted to less than thirty percent. He was still vastly short of gathering everything.

However, he lacked only several materials to raise the Soul Devouring Banner by one rank. Zheng Yi planned to complete them during this trip to guard the Black Essence Iron Mine.

Naturally, searching for so many materials cost quite a bit.

After selling the Blue Essence Soul obtained from refining the Hundred-Year Azure Ghost, only a few hundred Spirit Stones remained.

This trip to the mine was half for finding materials and half for earning some Spirit Stones.