Before the Soul Banner's Legacy, Her Fragrance Faded

After a sleepless night, Luo Fanchen spent the next night cultivating in the side room. Only a knock at the door roused him, and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Uncle Luo. It's me."

Outside, Qiu Yun's voice held a trace of shyness, gentle as water.

Luo Fanchen gave a weary yawn and rose to open the door.

After leaving the previous night, he had returned as usual, concealed his aura, and waited outside the window to listen to the sisters talk.

In a rare show of authority as the elder sister, Mo Xue had given Qiu Yun a thorough scolding. Afterward, the two girls had huddled together, wiping away tears for half the night as they sobbed about how Uncle Luo was a good man and how Mo Xue could feel at ease following him from now on.

Only after confirming that he had won both sisters' trust completely had he returned to his room to refine the snake soup.

He opened the door. At some point, a wooden tray had appeared on the floor, bearing a Storage Bag and a steaming bowl of meat porridge.

He paused, sensing something, then looked toward the end of the corridor. A small head peeked out timidly.

The girl clung to the corner, her lovely eyes blinking. When she noticed his gaze, she lowered her head in embarrassment, her cheeks bright red. Clearly, she still lacked the courage to speak to him.

"Qiu Yun, did you need something?"

Luo Fanchen smiled. Though Qiu Yun was hiding from him, he could plainly see the goodwill in her eyes.

"Uncle Luo, may I come in and talk?"

Ling Qiuyun's voice was timid. Luo Fanchen looked her outfit up and down with interest.

Her cloudlike hair was piled high, and her green chest-high dress was modest and elegant.

Sensing his gaze, Ling Qiuyun recalled how she had submitted at Uncle Luo's knees the night before. Her cheeks burned hotter, and she wished she could crawl into a crack in the floor.

Her lips moved soundlessly as she was about to take her leave, but Luo Fanchen had already stepped aside and gestured into the room. "Come in."

Ling Qiuyun twisted her fingers together. She wanted to flee, but that would be rude, so she slowly shuffled forward in a daze.

By the time she came to herself, Luo Fanchen had led her inside. She sat stiffly at the table, her slender shoulders drawn tight.

Luo Fanchen chuckled and took a sip of the porridge. It was made with ordinary mortal grain, but its savory warmth whetted the appetite.

"You're a good cook."

"It's nothing special. If you like it, Uncle Luo, I'll make it for you every day."

Ling Qiuyun's eyes brightened. She pressed her hands against her thighs, nervous and ill at ease. Luo Fanchen shook his head helplessly.

"Relax. I won't eat you. You came about your Heart Meridian illness, didn't you?"

"Mm... I know the state of my body. Please don't tell my sister, Uncle Luo. It would only add to her worries."

Ling Qiuyun forced a smile, but her fingers tangled beneath her sleeves, and there was little life in her eyes.

"Is that really for the best? Mo Xue would be heartbroken."

"That's why I'll need you to look after her from now on, Uncle Luo. Knowing she has your protection puts my mind at ease."

Ling Qiuyun avoided his eyes, staring at her tangled fingers. Her expression seemed both grateful and embarrassed.

She knew her illness had reached a terminal stage and did not want to dwell on it. Before Luo Fanchen could persuade her otherwise, she changed the subject.

"There's another reason I came to see you, Uncle Luo. I want to give you the Soul Banner legacy my father left behind."

Ling Qiuyun hesitated, then slipped a hand into the front of her dress. After a while, she drew out an irregular black jade pendant. Its surface was smooth, and it seemed to obscure perception; before she took it out, he had not sensed it at all.

Ling Qiuyun held out the pendant with both hands and solemnly placed it in Luo Fanchen's palm, along with an old sheet of golden paper.

The sheet was made of human skin, covered in intricate blood markings that resembled a Blood Contract.

"The Soul Banner legacy is inside this pendant. The Blood Contract is from my father, and it records the exact location of his residence."

"My aptitude is poor. I'll decipher as much of the Blood Contract as I can with the time I have left, but I'm afraid I can only unravel a small portion."

Ling Qiuyun spoke gently. A trace of longing touched her face, though she had grown calmer.

"After I'm gone, you may refine my remains into blood essence."

"When your cultivation advances, perhaps you can use that blood essence to unlock the Blood Contract and find the rest of the opportunity."

With that, Ling Qiuyun tucked her hair behind her ear and pointed to the black jade pendant.

"This contains the Soul Banner legacy, including the methods for creating and improving one. But a Soul Banner is difficult to make. Its materials are both terribly cruel to obtain and exceedingly precious. If you mean to study it, Uncle Luo, using my father's banner would be best."

"You're the Soul Banner's master. How am I supposed to use it?"

Luo Fanchen accepted the pendant with a smile and rubbed it between his fingers. Threads of coolness lingered on his skin, clearing his mind a little.

This was clearly no ordinary object. It was likely some kind of Demonic Treasure.

At his question, a faint blush rose over Ling Qiuyun's delicate face, and she began to stumble over her words again.

"There are two ways. First, while you cultivate the Soul Banner method, I can stay close and assist you with True Essence. In about a month, you should barely be able to imprint a trace of your soul on it. After another year or so of blood-essence offerings, it will formally recognize you as its master."

"The... the second way would let you finish refining it within a month, if you wish..."

"No need. We'll use the first way."

Luo Fanchen waved a hand. Given Qiu Yun's health, dual cultivation might kill her, and Mo Xue would surely go mad.

Breaking with Mo Xue over a Soul Banner was not worth it.

"Then I'll teach you the method, Uncle Luo. It's vicious and dangerous, so please hold fast to yourself while cultivating it."

Ling Qiuyun's eyes brightened. A faint smile touched her lips, and her admiration for Uncle Luo grew.

She bit her fingertip, condensed a drop of blood essence with her True Essence, and touched it to the black jade pendant. Blood mist swirled across it. Countless tightly packed human faces surged over its surface, struggling as they became blood markings that revealed tiny characters.

"Your hand, Uncle Luo."

Ling Qiuyun visibly wilted. Her face turned pale, and the loss of just one drop of blood essence left her panting.

Luo Fanchen belatedly extended his hand. The girl gripped the blood crystal, spread her slender fingers, and slowly pressed her palm against his, their fingers interlacing.

The instant their index fingers touched, every hair on Luo Fanchen's body stood on end. It was as though he had plunged into an icy river. Thousands of wronged souls seemed to whisper and wail in his ears. His Dao heart shook violently, then inexplicably settled at once.

Countless ancient characters poured into his mind. Though they were not a cultivation art, they were profound and mysterious. Without needing to memorize them, he understood them.

The pendant had the wondrous power of a Jade Slip for transmitting techniques, and even surpassed one.

Meanwhile, Ling Qiuyun held her breath and focused. She summoned the Soul Banner with her True Essence. Amid the howling yin wind, she suppressed the vengeful souls rising over Uncle Luo's skin, ready at any moment to collect the lingering souls and halt the transmission.

Hundreds of blood markings spread across Luo Fanchen's skin. A hazy blood glow ate into him like magma, and every flicker drained away some of his vitality.

The method seemed to lack an incantation for preserving one's state of mind. Receiving the legacy was extremely dangerous: the Soul Banner had to assist, and the process had to be interrupted at the right moment. Only after a hundred or more attempts could one piece together the full legacy. That was how she had comprehended its method.

Uncle Luo should be able to withstand the lingering souls and their temptations.

Seeing Luo Fanchen's breathing quicken and cold sweat cover his brow, Ling Qiuyun knew he had reached his limit. She drove the Soul Banner to forcibly end the transmission.

The Soul Banner howled. In the next instant, the blood markings on Luo Fanchen's skin dimmed and faded before her eyes.

"How is that possible..."

Ling Qiuyun froze. She looked again at the black jade in her palm. Its characters had vanished completely, and its luster was gone.

"Once? Uncle Luo understood the entire Soul Banner method in a single attempt?"

The girl stared blankly. She wanted to wake him, but feared disturbing him, so she stood there, fraught with worry.

What had Uncle Luo been through to forge a Dao heart so firm that ten thousand souls gnawing at it could not shake his will?

For this Soul Banner legacy, her father had been tormented to the point of collapse several times. Negative emotions had corroded his mind and dragged him onto the demonic path. Only his fierce obsession had let him piece together part of the method.

"Perhaps Uncle Luo will accomplish great things."

Ling Qiuyun murmured. Seeing Luo Fanchen's peaceful face and steady True Essence, she finally relaxed.

She did not disturb him. Leaving the Soul Banner and Storage Bag behind, she quietly cleared away the dishes, withdrew, and closed the door.

"Hah... Hoo—"

Two hours later, Luo Fanchen jolted awake. His whole body was icy, and he could not stop trembling.

He swallowed a Qi Gathering Pill and cultivated for a long while. Only after his True Essence had completed three Lesser Celestial Circuits did the chill gradually recede.

"What a vicious method..."

Luo Fanchen sat up, his face grave.

He had received the entire Soul Banner legacy. The method was called the Great Sage Perfected Person Banner Method, and it had three branches: crafting the banner, elevating it, and issuing commands.

The crafting branch described how to refine a bonded Soul Banner. Once complete, it would be a First-Rank Low-Grade magical artifact. The resources it consumed and the cruelty of its creation made the Heavenly Demon Spirit Puppet look like a petty trick beside a grand spectacle.

Elevation laid out the requirements for raising the Soul Banner's grade and the Demonic Treasures it needed. This potential for growth was the banner's most important feature.

For instance, to elevate a First-Rank Low-Grade Soul Banner to First-Rank Mid-Grade, one needed the five organs from twelve utterly vicious people, three human skins, and a cultivator's heart, combined with Mystic Crystal and Ink Sand and tempered in the blood essence of a thousand living beings.

Mystic Crystal and Ink Sand were themselves First-Rank Mid-Grade crafting materials.

Human blood was best for the blood essence. At each higher grade, the requirements for sacrifices grew harsher and the quantities greater.

Luo Fanchen glanced over the requirements for reaching Second-Rank Low-Grade. They already called for the heart of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Demon Beast blood essence, and three Demonic Treasures whose combined value was no less than a Foundation Establishment Treasure. The souls of ninety-nine cultivators with Spirit Roots, all born in a yin year, yin month, and yin hour, also had to be refined.

"This method carries a crushing weight of karmic sin. Without a way to avert calamity, inner demons will surely arise, and karma will strike back."

Troubled, Luo Fanchen paced back and forth.

Everyone had emotions, desires, and karmic burdens. Though a mortal's karmic burden amounted to only a thousandth of a cultivator's, it could still drag a cultivator down.

A cultivator who slaughtered indiscriminately would inevitably suffer karmic backlash, a twisted mind, and the birth of inner demons.

Thus, the barriers Demonic Cultivators faced at major realms were several times greater than those of ordinary cultivators, and each breakthrough brought a great calamity. Only the three great demonic sects had methods to dispel karmic burdens and avert calamity; only their members could properly be called orthodox Demonic Cultivators.

The Soul Banner legacy contained no such method. If he forced himself to refine the banner, karmic burdens would cling to him, and he could forget about reaching Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.

"But aside from the Soul Banner, I have no other means of fighting."

Luo Fanchen stood with his hands behind his back, unable to settle the matter in his mind.

His battle with Ling Youdao had laid bare his lack of offensive techniques.

If Ling Youdao had not retained some kindness in his heart, they might have died together. The Soul Banner was the only powerful killing art within Luo Fanchen's reach.

"There's no need to raise its grade yet. First-Rank Low-Grade should serve me until Late Qi Refining."

Luo Fanchen pursed his lips. He watched the Soul Banner flutter without wind, his gaze lingering on its twisted, savage blood-red ghost markings.

He could not bear to sell it. For a cultivator at the bottom, no magical artifact was more perfect than the Soul Banner.

It combined killing power with utility. Its commonly used command arts alone numbered eight.

Illusion Array, Heart Offering, Bone Devouring, Womb Garment, Human Face, Soul Hooking, Baleful Spirit Command, and Purple River Chariot.

Respectively, they created an illusion formation, extracted memories, devoured souls, housed souls, changed appearances, seized souls, commanded a hundred ghosts, and refined souls into an ultimate killing move.

Furthermore, infusing the Soul Banner with spiritual energy allowed even a Qi Refining cultivator to fly. Independent formation patterns could also be engraved on the banner itself.

"If I engrave a Spirit-Gathering Formation on it, won't I be able to use it with soul power alone, without spending Spirit Stones to maintain it?"

Luo Fanchen murmured, his eyes lighting up. He played with the Soul Banner, unwilling to put it down, and tried engraving formation patterns.

Though he was not yet the banner's master, he could tell it would take a Spirit-Gathering Formation. That could save him a great many Spirit Stones.

He continued probing its interior. A First-Rank Low-Grade Soul Banner could hold roughly a hundred dead souls, ten Vengeful Ghosts, and one main soul.

The main soul had to have cultivated while alive. It could retain its own awareness and use some of the Soul Banner's powers.

"A main soul... retaining awareness."

Luo Fanchen paused and slowly opened his palm. Qiu Yun's lingering scent seemed to remain between his fingers.

Medicine could not save Qiu Yun, but could the Soul Banner preserve her soul? If Mo Xue joined the Dao Sect and her cultivation soared, perhaps there would even be a chance to bring Qiu Yun back to life.

He acted at once. Over the following days, he guided Mo Xue's cultivation while working with Qiu Yun to refine the Soul Banner without a moment's rest.

Progress was astonishingly fast. Perhaps he was unusually compatible with the banner: the refining process, originally estimated to take over a year, had been cut to three months. Qiu Yun was astounded and nearly spoke up several times.

"Uncle Luo... you're actually a prodigy from a lost demonic sect, aren't you?"

"Have you ever seen a prodigy with a Five-Element Spirit Root?"

On the soft bed in the side room, Ling Qiuyun lay exhausted against Luo Fanchen, her eyes curving with playful laughter. Her former shyness had vanished.

Luo Fanchen shook his head helplessly and gently covered her frail, bony body with a down quilt, his eyes troubled.

Over the past half month, Ling Qiuyun's health had deteriorated rapidly. Three days ago, she had lost the strength to get out of bed. Her once-graceful, fair body had grown painfully thin, her skin dry and sallow. She was listless all day and awake for only three hours.

She no longer had the energy to feel embarrassed. To refine the Soul Banner, Luo Fanchen had to climb onto the bed and draw in True Essence while pressed close to her.

"We should tell Mo Xue. Hiding it until the end isn't fair to her."

"She'd be heartbroken if she saw me like this."

Ling Qiuyun's eyes were dull. She rested weakly on Luo Fanchen's shoulder, her thin chin pressing against him.

She seemed to have accepted her fate, yet could not help clinging to the world.

"You may have a Five-Element Spirit Root, Uncle Luo, but your Dao heart is resolute and your will as hard as steel. You'll surely achieve Foundation Establishment one day."

The girl's lips moved with effort, her words coming haltingly.

Luo Fanchen wanted to speak but held back. His gaze remained on the Soul Banner. Ling Qiuyun seemed to notice and forced a smile as she changed the subject.

"Are you having trouble refining the Soul Banner, Uncle Luo?"

"I wouldn't call it trouble."

Luo Fanchen shook his head. He had indeed hit a bottleneck in refining it recently.

The Longevity Art he cultivated was too low-grade. His True Essence was thin and diffuse, unable to meet the Soul Banner's needs. If he relied on slow, steady effort, it would likely take another month to inscribe even a simple imprint and attempt to take in a main soul.

Qiu Yun clearly would not last that long.

Switch cultivation arts? There would be risks. The circulation method of the Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art was exquisite; at the very least, it was a closely guarded secret of a great Aristocratic Clan.

The Jade Slip itself had no restrictions, but it likely contained some hidden means of identifying its user. If his theft of the art was discovered, he would never know peace again.

"If these remains of mine can help you, Uncle Luo, take whatever you need."

After just a few sentences, Qiu Yun's breathing grew labored. She panted, her brows drawn tight.

Only after a long rest could the girl continue haltingly. "I'll... leave a will to bind my sister. If she joins the Dao Sect, she must honor you as her master, help you reach Foundation Establishment, and bring you into the Dao Sect to cultivate."

"There's no need."

Luo Fanchen refused instinctively. His aptitude was poor, and before a colossus like the Dao Sect, he could not help feeling inferior.

Ling Qiuyun shook her head. "You're a good man, Uncle Luo. My sister and I should repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring. Besides, you won't fall behind Mo Xue."

"You think too highly of me."

The girl's sincere praise left Luo Fanchen unexpectedly embarrassed.

With his mere Five-Element Spirit Root, how could he compare to someone with a Superior-Grade Spiritual Root? Mo Xue's cultivation would likely surpass his within five years.

Ling Qiuyun's expression softened. She rested her forehead against Luo Fanchen's chin, her eyes full of longing.

"Uncle Luo, I lied to you. Part of me does hate you for killing my father."

"It's all right."

"I'm sorry, Uncle Luo. I was petty. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"..."

Luo Fanchen said nothing. Ling Qiuyun's eyes slowly closed. As she murmured, her strength gave out and she fell unconscious. "Uncle Luo... where do people go when they die?"

Once the girl had lost consciousness completely, Luo Fanchen covered her with the quilt, his face heavy. He loosened his grip on the technique-transmitting Jade Slip, then clenched it tight again.