It was a sinister, vicious demon banner.
Lu Li grabbed the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner and immediately sensed the terrifying baleful aura hidden within.
Vaguely, he could even hear the howling and roaring of thousands upon thousands of resentful souls inside it.
Clearly, this was an evil artifact of the Demonic Sect!
Lu Li furrowed his brow slightly.
He wasn't used to using demonic artifacts.
Besides, the army of vengeful ghosts inside the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner needed to be fed the blood and vital essence of the living. They also required living sacrifices to maintain their ferocity.
That went against the natural order!
Sell it?
As Lu Li toyed with the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, an idea surfaced in his mind.
But then he reconsidered. If he sold it, it might end up back in Li Jing's hands.
If Li Jing then sent someone to use this demon banner against him, that would be bad.
What should he do with it?
Lu Li fell into thought.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and two beams of light flashed from them. "I can't sell this thing. If it falls into the hands of the Demonic Sect, it'll only cause more innocent mortals to suffer. I might as well exorcise all the vengeful ghosts inside it and, while I'm at it, upgrade Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm and Spirit Ghost Phantom Step."
That settled it!
Lu Li made up his mind. Without another word, he channeled his magic power and poured it into the demon banner.
Hum.
A faint ring sounded.
Purple-black light flickered across the banner, and a vicious ghost appeared in the center of the Martial Arts Arena.
It was a Headless Ghost.
Its cultivation was at the tenth Qi Refining layer.
The moment it appeared, the Headless Ghost let out a shrill scream and lunged at Lu Li.
"You shouldn't be trapped inside a demon banner, suffering torment. Go on to reincarnation." Lu Li sighed softly and struck with a palm.
Compassion for Heaven and Humanity Palm.
Bang!
His palm struck with tremendous force, blasting the vengeful ghost apart and scattering it into a cloud of dark, sinister ghostly energy.
Before Lu Li could circulate a spell, the Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art stirred within him. He sucked in sharply, swallowing the pure ghostly energy.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Three system notifications rang out at once:
"Your Spirit Ghost Phantom Step absorbed pure ghostly energy. Your spirits are soaring, and your cultivation efficiency has increased by 50%."
"Your Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm converted a vengeful ghost. You feel that your merits are immeasurable and are in an extremely joyful mood. Your cultivation efficiency has increased by 500%."
"Your Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art devoured pure ghostly energy, easing your hunger. Your cultivation efficiency has increased by 100%."
Not bad.
Seeing the results, Lu Li nodded to himself, quite pleased.
Then, without pausing, he channeled his magic power again and released another vengeful ghost.
Bang!
One palm blasted it apart, sending it on to reincarnation.
Then he continued channeling magic power to release more ghosts.
This time, there were two.
Bang! Bang!
Two explosions rang out.
The vengeful ghosts burst into pure ghostly energy, which he sucked into himself.
Just like that, Lu Li released one vengeful ghost after another, exorcising them and absorbing the ghostly energy they became.
As he stood there spacing out, he silently recited a Buddhist sutra, improving his Indestructible Vajra Divine Art.
One after another... turned into ghostly energy... spacing out... silently reciting the sutra.
Again... convert... space out.
Convert, absorb, space out.
He repeated the whole routine over and over.
The system began to fill with notifications.
"Spirit Ghost Phantom Step progress +1%."
"Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm progress +1%."
"Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art progress +1%."
"Indestructible Vajra Divine Art progress +1%."
He only stopped when his magic power was exhausted.
The moment it ran dry, Lu Li returned to the underground cultivation chamber, activated the Spirit Gathering Array, and absorbed the spiritual energy from the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones to recover his magic power.
Before long, his magic power was fully restored.
Lu Li went back up to the second-floor Martial Arts Arena and continued exorcising vengeful ghosts, tireless.
His spirits were high, and his energy was boundless.
He felt like he could go three days and three nights without sleep!
This was probably one of the benefits of breaking through with the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art!
Lu Li simply decided not to sleep. He was determined to convert every vengeful ghost inside the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner.
And so, night fell.
Dawn came.
Night fell again.
Then dawn came again.
Second floor, Martial Arts Arena.
Lu Li struck his final palm, blasting the last vengeful ghost into a cloud of ghostly energy.
Then he opened his mouth and sucked in all the ghostly energy, dividing it into two parts. The Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art absorbed one part, while Spirit Ghost Phantom Step fused with the other.
At last, he had exorcised all ten thousand vengeful ghosts!
Lu Li let out a long breath and casually put away the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, now dim with fading light.
He looked a little tired.
But he was even happier.
By exorcising all ten thousand vengeful ghosts, he had greatly improved his cultivation in several arts.
But before anything else, he needed to take a bath!
Lu Li stretched mightily, loosening his muscles and bones.
Then he leaped through the window.
Bang!
His whole body crashed into the pool, sending water spraying several yards into the air.
The waterfall washed over him, and the weariness in his mind vanished in an instant.
Lu Li climbed onto the bank. His blood and qi surged, drying his clothes and hair at once. Then he flicked a finger, sending a streak of blood-red light into the branch of a tall fruit tree beside the pool.
Smack.
Two spirit fruits dropped down.
Lu Li channeled his magic power and reached out, pulling the fruits through the air into his palm.
Then he leaped up, lightly tapping his toes a few times as he landed on the top floor of the Star Gazing Tower.
Lying on the jade bed, Lu Li bathed in the sunlight, ate the spirit fruits, and began cultivating the Purple Haze Sun-Refining Scripture.
At the same time, he silently called up the system panel.
Host: Lu Li. Realm: Fifth Qi Refining Layer. Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation: Second Layer (Progress: 9%). Great Strength Vajra Dharma Incantation: Second Layer (Progress: 12%). Indestructible Vajra Divine Art: Fourth Layer (Progress: 20%). Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art: Fifth Layer (Progress: 86%). Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm: Tenth Layer (Mastered). Spirit Ghost Phantom Step: Tenth Layer (Mastered).
These were the results of exorcising the army of vengeful ghosts inside the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner!
Incredibly gratifying!
Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm and Spirit Ghost Phantom Step had both reached mastery!
On top of that, Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art had reached an astonishing 86% progress. It would soon break through to the sixth layer.
He had the Mutated Millennium Vermilion Fruit to thank for that.
It had provided at least 20% progress.
He had to admit, Ghost Demon True Person had been incredibly generous this time. He hadn't taken back the Low-grade Spirit Ghost or the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner, and he had even given Lu Li a Mutated Vermilion Fruit.
The only regret was that Lu Li had almost completely forgotten the full text of Free and Easy Wandering, which he'd once memorized.
Otherwise, if he recited it from memory, the Kunpeng Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art could evolve even further!
If he also memorized the entire Dao De Jing, he'd be able to soar.
Thinking of this, Lu Li felt regretful.
Right!
The Low-grade Spirit Ghost!
Lu Li suddenly remembered that he still had a Low-grade Spirit Ghost.
After thinking it over, he decided to keep it in the Ten Thousand Ghost Banner for now and sell it to Bai Jinfei later in exchange for a flying sword artifact.
With his current, abundant magic power, he should be able to fly on a sword.
These past few days, he'd watched others fly around while he could only drift along the ground. It had been rather frustrating.
It would also be a problem if he couldn't catch up with an enemy in the future.
"And now that Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm is mastered, shouldn't I find a new Buddhist Sect palm art for it to merge with? Or maybe find a Demonic Sect palm art and have Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation beat it into a Buddhist Sect palm art?"
Lu Li looked at the system panel and fell into thought again.
His offensive techniques were simple.
In close combat, he had Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm.
At range, he had Blood-Devouring Demon Light.
And that was it.
He should have no problem fighting one-on-one.
But if he ever got ganged up on and his opponents kept their distance and protected one another, he'd likely be in grave danger.
"If only I knew a long-range palm art. One palm from afar, and I could blast my enemies apart. Hmm? A palm art that strikes from afar? Tathagata Divine Palm?"
A divine art sprang into Lu Li's mind.
His eyes began to shine.
This palm art descended from the heavens and was extremely powerful. A casual strike could punch through a tall wall, and it could press a massive palm print a full yard deep into the earth. Its power was astonishing.
If he could get his hands on such a fearsome palm art, what would he have to fear from being surrounded?
Lu Li felt a stir of excitement and decided to ask Ghost Demon True Person about it tomorrow.
Or he could go straight to the Scripture Depository and take a look.
For now, though, he needed to sleep and rest!
Lu Li drew a deep breath and closed his eyes. Weariness washed over him at once.
He fell fast asleep.
Who knew how long he slept?
Suddenly, three entries appeared in the System Log:
"Great Mercy and Great Compassion Palm has reached mastery and can no longer advance, so it has decided to venture out in search of an opportunity to break through."
"Before leaving, Great Might Heavenly Dragon Dharma Incantation taught it a move, 'Flying Dragon in the Sky,' for self-defense."
"You have learned Flying Dragon in the Sky."
Before you continue