Soul Banner Ascension, on the Eve of Advancement (Please Keep Reading)

"You're a raider from the Water Marsh Gang. Why have you been lingering in the mortal world to plunder?"

Mo Xue was helping Qiu Yun swiftly clear the battlefield and refine the souls. With a moment to spare, Luo Fanchen planted his foot on the bandit leader's forehead and asked coldly.

"Heh. So you know I'm with the Water Marsh Gang."

"I lost, and I've got nothing to say. I only hate that wine and women hollowed me out until I lost to a little girl."

The one-eyed bandit knew he was crippled, so he gave up all restraint. With half his tongue gone, his curses came out garbled.

His eye bulged with fury as he sneered. "You bastard, I can tell at a glance you've never seen blood."

"You're only at the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, and you dare play the hero? You crossed the Water Marsh Gang today and delayed our plans. The bosses will skin you and tear out your sinews."

"That little girl of yours is pretty, too. My brothers will enjoy her properly for me. Hahaha!"

Luo Fanchen's expression remained as still as a lake. He knew the one-eyed leader was trying to provoke him.

He smiled mildly and ground half the leader's face into the dirt.

Yi Wood True Essence sank through his cheek into his meridians, gnawing through his organs and meridians like fiery fangs. Pain pierced him like ten thousand arrows through the heart, and he immediately howled and thrashed on the ground.

But Luo Fanchen pressed down hard, pinning half the leader's head in place. His body alone flopped and struggled like a torn rag or a dying fish, wrenching itself around his fixed head until he nearly fainted.

"How many bosses does the Water Marsh Gang have? And what plans were you talking about?"

Luo Fanchen's voice was calm. His Yi Wood True Essence swept through the bandit like a gale through dead leaves. Green luminescence spread across his skin, as though tender shoots were about to break through.

What terrifying True Essence...

The leader's consciousness blurred. The True Essence he had painstakingly cultivated through breathing exercises was helpless before this profound power.

The agony nearly drove him mad. All he could manage were low, animal growls.

"Tell me everything from the beginning, and I'll give you a quick death."

The leader's face was ghastly. Torture had twisted him beyond recognition. He tried several times to speak, but he had no strength left.

He regretted it bitterly. Had he known this pretty-faced man was so ruthless, he would have spilled everything while he still could.

Even death by a thousand cuts could hardly have been worse. Yet the True Essence was balanced and gentle, sustaining his Heart Meridian so he could neither pass out nor escape the unbearable pain.

"Quite a character. Torture can't shake you. You could have made something of yourself, yet you chose to become a raider?"

Luo Fanchen frowned slightly, growing more wary of the Water Marsh Gang.

If an ordinary raider could remain unshaken under torture, the gang's cohesion was formidable.

"Since you won't talk, I hope you don't regret it."

"..."

Luo Fanchen formed a hand seal and poured in more Yi Wood True Essence. The leader felt his organs burn from within, as though every cell were vaporizing.

His single eye bulged. His mud-caked face pleaded for mercy, but his lips and tongue had already been scorched. How could he answer?

I'll talk! I'll tell you everything! Just give me a chance to open my mouth!

"Uncle Luo, did you get anything out of him?"

"He's stubborn. His Dao heart is firm as bedrock. He could have achieved much on the righteous path. What a pity."

After a while, Qiu Yun finished gathering the souls and appeared with a smile, gently tugging at Uncle Luo's sleeve.

"It really is a pity."

Qiu Yun sighed and shook her head. Then she summoned the Soul Banner, formed a hand seal, chanted an incantation, and gave Luo Fanchen a sweet smile.

"Shall I help, Uncle Luo? Sometimes the dead loosen their tongues more readily than the living."

"Mmm! Mmm!"

The Soul Banner appeared. An icy wind howled and wronged souls wailed. Bloody tears filled the bandit's lone eye, and terror nearly made him faint.

A ranked Soul Banner? You've got to be joking!

You're a proper Demonic Cultivator! If you'd brought out the Soul Banner earlier, I'd have dropped to my knees and surrendered!

His eye strained wide with despair. Once the banner drew out his soul, even complete annihilation would be a luxury. Endless ages of oblivion awaited him, fallen into an Asura and driven like a Vengeful Ghost.

"What a pity. With my current Soul Power, I can't suppress a cultivator's complete soul."

Qiu Yun formed a hand seal and used Soul Binding. The one-eyed bandit screamed for a long while as his Soul Body was dragged alive from his flesh.

Two of his Three Souls scattered immediately, and only two of his Seven Spirits remained. He could only be refined into a Vengeful Ghost.

Qiu Yun's heart ached. A cultivator's soul was a precious resource; wasting it was a shame.

Fortunately, the heavenly soul remained and could retain most of his memories from life.

"It's done, Uncle Luo..."

Qiu Yun lowered her dewdrop-bright eyes, looking a little downcast.

The Soul Banner could not advance. As Uncle Luo and Mo Xue grew stronger, she would have less and less use to them.

Luo Fanchen noticed what was troubling her.

He reached out and stroked the girl's head, her dark hair spilling between his fingers, and said softly,

"It's all right. I've been working out a method lately. If it works, I may be able to advance the Soul Banner from now on."

"The Soul Banner belongs to the demonic path. It harms the natural order. I'm afraid it'll hinder your cultivation, Uncle Luo."

Qiu Yun pressed her lips together and narrowed her lovely eyes, seeming to savor the rough yet gentle touch of his palm.

The Demonic Treasures needed to ascend the Soul Banner were all steeped in malice and sinister resentment. Their karmic burden was heavy; using them would inevitably bring karmic backlash and breed inner demons.

She knew Uncle Luo had no way to resolve it. Forcing the ascension could very well send him down the demonic path.

"I know my limits."

Luo Fanchen gently pinched Qiu Yun's soft cheek. The tips of her ears reddened, but she let him.

He lacked means to fight other cultivators, and the Soul Banner was currently his most important weapon. As his cultivation rose, its First-Rank Low-Grade power was beginning to fall short. One of his chief goals in clearing out the bandits was to ascend it.

Karmic force was strange and elusive, formless and impossible to sense. But at its core, it too was composed of some kind of spiritual energy.

The poisonous miasma, Soul Poison, and sinister toxin in Spirit Bamboo Brew that had failed to affect him all worked by using altered True Essence or spiritual energy to corrode the organs and steal vitality, killing swiftly.

If karmic force was also spiritual energy, did that mean there was a chance, however slight, that it would not affect him?

Even if he was wrong, the banner would only ascend to First-Rank Mid-Grade. He could buy a few Heart-Cleansing Pills from the Treasure Pavilion afterward and barely suppress any inner demons.

"Once Mo Xue returns, we'll begin the ascension ritual."

Luo Fanchen weighed the risks and benefits and quickly made his decision.

He would soon face Chang Hao, a raider at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. Ascending the Soul Banner beforehand would improve his odds.

Before the bandit leader's corpse cooled, he should be able to gather the demonic materials needed for ascension from this Bandit Stronghold.

"I'll do as you say, Uncle Luo."

Qiu Yun had wanted to urge him to think it through, but seeing his mind was made up, she did not want to dampen his spirits.

He was ascending the Soul Banner partly so she could continue cultivating. If anything went wrong during the process, she would stop it at once.

"The organs of twelve utterly vicious people, three human skins, a cultivator's heart, and the refined blood essence of a thousand living beings..."

"Qiu Yun, I'll leave the blood-essence refinement to you."

With that, Luo Fanchen immediately began harvesting the organs of several minor leaders in the stronghold and skinning them.

Mo Xue wanted to help, but Luo Fanchen sent her to move the bodies, saying the work was too bloody. She pouted and grumbled, though she moved quickly. Soon bandit corpses and family members of all sizes filled the cavern.

"That's more than a thousand."

"Including the bandits' families, there are over thirteen hundred."

Mo Xue wiped the fine sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. Panting lightly, she went to stand guard outside the cavern.

"It's ready, Uncle Luo..."

At the same time, Qiu Yun arranged the Eight-Direction Array Nodes in the cavern in positions opposite those prescribed by Mysterious Gate principles. She carved intricate ghostly patterns with the Soul Banner, stopping only when dense, deep grooves covered the ground.

The array was octagonal. The Soul Banner's pole was driven deep into the earth to anchor the Central Palace, with enough space inside for over a thousand corpses.

"Begin."

Luo Fanchen nodded slightly, formed several hand seals in succession, and finished with the Spirit Palace Incantation.

The Soul Banner stirred without wind, its cloth twisting like a ghost. Blood burst from all ten of Luo Fanchen's fingertips. Streams of blood essence mixed with Yi Wood True Essence shot into the banner, and the blood-red lines underground blazed. The motionless octagonal array seemed to come alive.

A bloody glow filled the cavern. Under its light, the piled corpses began to break apart and dissolve into thick blood essence.

Qiu Yun's face paled slightly. She poured all her strength into guiding the blood essence into the engraved array with her Soul Power. Only when every line was dyed red did the array begin to revolve around the Soul Banner.

"Uncle Luo... the offerings!"

Qiu Yun panted, her pretty face pale and contorted.

Luo Fanchen immediately took out the prepared organs, human skins, and the bandit leader's heart.

"Three Souls and Seven Spirits gather; the Sage Art takes form. The Ninefold Netherworld receives the spirits; the banner's form is cast. One banner calls, and ten thousand ghosts obey."

As Luo Fanchen recited the precepts of the Sage Banner Art, the True Essence within him rapidly dwindled. An evil glow rose from the bloody lines, and the air grew scorching. The entire octagonal array seemed to turn into a furnace, smelting the Soul Banner at its center.

Invisible flames seemed to engulf Qiu Yun's Soul Body. Its surface boiled and crackled.

The girl's pretty face scrunched tight. She was clearly in extreme pain, but afraid of worrying Uncle Luo, she gritted her teeth without a sound.

"Mystic Crystal. Ink Sand."

Luo Fanchen sent in the First-Rank Mid-Grade Spirit Ore he had prepared and focused on forming the art.

"Womb Garment Curse—Collect Souls!"

Countless ghostly faces surged across the banner. Once Luo Fanchen formed the incantation, an invisible veil seemed to cover them all.

The resentful souls of over a thousand bandits rioted, but their struggles were useless. With one final hand seal, Luo Fanchen refined them into Soul Power.

"Bone Devouring Curse—Seize Spirit!"

Over a thousand resentful souls vaporized in an instant, becoming pure scarlet Soul Power that flowed into Qiu Yun.

Demonic impulses surged through the girl. She was about to lash out wildly. Claws over two inches long sprouted from her delicate hands, and instinct drove her to tear at Luo Fanchen. Only when she saw his face did clarity return through the struggle in her eyes.

"Uncle Luo... I can't hold on much longer."

"Thank you for your hard work, Qiu Yun."

Luo Fanchen sighed and stroked Qiu Yun's head. The instant he touched her, her seething, rampaging Soul Body calmed.

A flood of Yi Wood True Essence entered Qiu Yun, and reason soon regained the upper hand.

"The blood sacrifice is complete. Ascend—"

The bloody light vanished in an instant. The array's lines crumbled, and the blood boiled away.

When it was over, only a small dark-red banner remained, fluttering in the wind. An icy wind curled around it. Its cloth was no longer coarse, but fine as silk, exquisite and restrained in its Soul Power.

Qiu Yun's aura had doubled in strength, and her Soul Body had grown more solid.

"A First-Rank Mid-Grade Soul Banner. It worked."

Luo Fanchen murmured, then immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and examined his Heart Meridian.

His mind was as still as water, his blood and vitality steady. There was no sign of inner demons stirring. Only his True Essence was exhausted, and his blood and vitality somewhat depleted.

Two days of rest would set him right. It was possible!

A faint smile touched Luo Fanchen's lips. More than the Soul Banner, it was his own body that excited him.

Perhaps he truly possessed a legendary Special Physique and did not merely have the poor aptitude of a Five-Element Spirit Root.

He was about to rise when warmth spread through his dantian. True Essence that should have been exhausted poured endlessly through his meridians, as if appearing from thin air. Once it filled them, it was just as swiftly consumed.

This happened three times before his meridians finally returned to normal.

"Strange."

Luo Fanchen frowned slightly. He stood to examine himself more carefully, but his ears rang and his vision swam. A crushing emptiness spread from his dantian through his whole body, leaving him too weak to lift a finger.

"What's happening?"

The world spun. Luo Fanchen felt his consciousness slip away. His last sight was the cavern ceiling upside down and Qiu Yun's worried face.

Candlelight flickered. When Luo Fanchen woke again, it was late on the third night.

So weak...

Luo Fanchen murmured. His eyelids felt heavy, and he lacked the strength to move a finger.

Blood and vitality depleted? No. It shouldn't be this bad.

"Master Luo can't open his mouth, but he needs Spirit Porridge and a Meridian-Opening Pill to replenish his spiritual energy."

Mo Xue's worried voice sounded nearby, though Luo Fanchen caught a trace of shyness in it. He tried to sit up, but had no strength. Something soft and warm cradled the back of his head, as though he lay upon a gentle spring.

As he hesitated, Mo Xue's delicate features drew closer from above.

The girl's moist lips pursed slightly. A little glistening porridge still clung to them.

"Wait—mmph."

Soft and sweet. Luo Fanchen felt his lips deftly parted. A thread of sweetness mixed with spiritual energy became warmth spreading through his meridians. Before long, a little strength returned to his limp body.

Their lips parted. Without wiping her mouth, the girl took another small mouthful of Spirit Porridge and lowered her head.

"No—mmph."

Sweet warmth, carrying a faint hint of gardenia, filled his nose.

Luo Fanchen finally had the strength to sit up, but the girl casually pressed him back onto her soft thighs and resumed feeding him with a kiss. Only after she had given him the entire bowl of Spirit Porridge did she wipe her lips and let out a long breath.

"No wonder Qiu Yun managed to feed him Spirit Porridge. So that's how she did it."

"..."

Luo Fanchen slowly opened his eyes, helpless. Their gazes met, and the girl's pretty face flushed at once. She turned her head away, avoiding his eyes.

"M-Master Luo, when did you wake up?"

"Just now."

Luo Fanchen sighed and did not expose what she was thinking.

With Mo Xue's help, he sat up and examined his meridians.

Strange... His blood and vitality, which should have been depleted, were full and abundant. Instead, his True Essence was thin and nearly exhausted. Even the Yi Wood True Essence condensed through his Spirit Seed seemed somewhat weaker than before.

"Mo Xue, check my True Essence."

"Master Luo... you've grown weaker?"

Obediently, Mo Xue placed her index finger on Luo Fanchen's wrist. She frowned slightly and murmured.

Master Luo's Yi Wood True Essence was still far more substantial than an ordinary cultivator's, but it no longer carried that overwhelming sense that resistance was futile.

It was much less condensed. If his True Essence had once been a city wall, now it was an ordinary brick doorway.

Still sturdy, but missing some of its former weight.

"Sister Mo Xue, it's my turn to feed Uncle Luo next. Go rest. I'll watch over him..."

"Uncle Luo, you're awake?"

Qiu Yun drifted over with her toes suspended above the ground. When she met Luo Fanchen's eyes, a faint blush rose to her cheeks.

Her gaze lingered on Master Luo's damp lips. Her own lips moved soundlessly, then pressed together.

"Thanks for your efforts."

Luo Fanchen touched his slightly swollen lips, sat cross-legged, and turned over several possibilities in his mind.

He spent most of the next seven days recovering. Their plans had to change: Mo Xue took the lead in clearing out the nearby bandits while they waited for his True Essence to fill up again.

"Uncle Luo, you're strong again."

Only after they had destroyed two more Bandit Strongholds did Luo Fanchen finally shake off his weakness.

His Yi Wood True Essence was once more deep and steady. What was more, the Zhiyu Acupoint that had been blocked before had somehow opened on its own.

Focusing inward, he saw that True Essence had poured into it and forced it open with extraordinary violence. Traces of True Essence remained inside. With that, all the major acupoints of his Fourth Level of Qi Refining had been opened.

"Almost at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining. So fast..."

Luo Fanchen murmured. Over the following three days, he also tried deliberately draining his True Essence, hoping to recreate the way it had refilled to overflowing.

Every attempt failed.

"I can't reproduce it."

After several tries, Luo Fanchen gave up. All he could do was keep it in mind.

He was almost certain that an undiscovered Special Physique lay hidden within him. Perhaps it was the key to overcoming his Five-Element Spirit Root.

"Now that you've recovered, Uncle Luo, it's time to make good on our bet~"

The campfire flickered. Mo Xue's face was serene as she stretched her lithe body with a cat's laziness.

The three of them had drawn close to the Treasure Pavilion's trade route. Only two mortal villages stood between them and the bandits named in their intelligence.

With Uncle Luo weakened these past few days, she had finally fought to her heart's content. The parts of her Sword Manual that had once felt awkward now flowed together. Even the tainted spiritual energy of the mortal realm had not hampered her breathing practice; instead, she had advanced swiftly.

She had now opened her twenty-fourth acupoint, the Chengjiang Acupoint. At any time, she could enter seclusion to connect the Conception Vessel and break through to the Second Level of Qi Refining.

"We'll wait until Qiu Yun has stabilized her cultivation and used Soul Search on the bandit chief to fill the gaps in our intelligence. Then we'll set out."

Luo Fanchen had no intention of rushing in. Both his banner techniques and Lesser Yang Wood-Transforming Art stood on the verge of a breakthrough. He planned to use the time Qiu Yun spent on Soul Search for another brief seclusion, breaking through in his art and raising his strength.

During this time, he had saved up two hundred Admiration Points. Added to the hundred and fifty he had left over, that gave him enough.

He could advance both arts. Then, when he faced the cunning rogue cultivator at the Fifth Level of Qi Refining, he would have a little more confidence.

"All right. I'll listen to Master Luo. I'm close to a breakthrough too, so that bandit can live a few more days."

Mo Xue did not object. She could also feel her Meridians swelling, her True Essence on the verge of overflowing.

Her breakthrough to the Second Level of Qi Refining should come any day now.