"He's here." Su Mingyue stood in the air, frowning slightly at the blood cloud above the city lord's manor. Below, the Foundation Establishment disciples were fighting the demonic cultivators, so there was no need to worry about them for now.
"Roar!" A piercing howl rang out, and a blood-red banner burst from the city lord's manor. It was the Blood Soul Banner.
"How many living souls has this old devil refined? The Blood Soul Banner's might is even more terrifying than it was five years ago."
Su Mingyue immediately formed a spell seal, and a full twelve high-grade flying daggers shot from her storage pouch, stabbing toward the Blood Soul Banner.
The clang of blades rang through the sky as densely packed ghostly figures swept out of the Blood Soul Banner toward the flying daggers.
The twelve high-grade flying daggers had barely plunged into the surging mass of ghostly figures when a sky-filling tide of venomous ghost Qi wrapped tightly around them. Pitch-black corrosion instantly spread across their keen edges.
The artifacts' spiritual light dimmed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and Su Mingyue, who controlled the flying daggers, frowned.
"They really are getting harder and harder to deal with."
With a sharp shout, she drew the Scarlet Flame saber from her back with a clang. Scarlet saber intent spread along its blade, and she rode a streak of scarlet spiritual light straight into the blood mist filling the sky.
In midair, Su Mingyue raised a hand and flung out three Heavenly Fire Blazing Sun Talismans stacked together.
Scorching flames erupted with a boom. Every ghostly figure touched by the fire began to sizzle, letting out heart-rending, agonized wails.
But the Blood Soul Banner had amassed hundreds of thousands of living souls over a full fifty years. How could a few talismans burn them all away?
Countless translucent ghost claws broke through the flames and reached for her.
Su Mingyue turned her wrist, whirling the Scarlet Flame saber through several fierce flourishes. With broad, sweeping strokes, she unleashed dozens of scarlet saber rays, shredding the foremost ghost claws into mist.
Her other hand was not idle either. Spiritual light flashed from the storage pouch at her waist, and a nine-ringed golden soul-locking chain flew out.
The copper bells hanging from the golden chain jingled, and the living souls drifting wildly across the sky reeled three times at their sound. Their movements immediately slowed by more than half.
Su Mingyue's master had prepared this Soul-Pacifying Golden Lock especially for her for this battle.
Su Mingyue had a single fire Spiritual Root and was a sure Nascent Soul seed. The mission to deal with Soul-Devouring Zhenren had been given to her precisely so she could resolve her obsession.
"It works!" Su Mingyue's eyes lit up. She was just about to seize the opening and rush forward to cleave the fabric of the Blood Soul Banner apart when, without warning, a pitch-black specter a full ten feet tall burst from the blood mist deep within.
It was the Blood Soul Banner's artifact spirit.
It opened its mouth and spewed a great torrent of sticky, turbid blood-fiend Qi straight at Su Mingyue's face.
The turbid Qi carried the shrieks of hundreds of living souls, jolting Su Mingyue's sea of consciousness and making her head spin. Her body involuntarily faltered.
By the time she recovered, several ghost claws had silently raked across her red dress. With several sharp rips, three great gashes were torn into the extraordinarily tough heavenly silkworm silk robe.
Bone-chilling ghost Qi instantly clung to Su Mingyue's body.
Su Mingyue grunted and swung an arm back, flinging the Scarlet Flame Pendant hanging from her shoulder out in front of her. Scorching flames instantly enveloped the space three feet around her, burning away every trace of the ghost Qi clinging to her.
Even so, the stray hairs at her temples had been mostly scattered by the drifting ghost Qi, and a faint golden trace of blood had seeped onto her fair cheek. Clearly, the soul shrieks had shaken her badly just now.
Just then, the cry of a sword suddenly rang out beside Su Mingyue's ear, and her eyes lit up.
"Finally." As Su Mingyue spoke, a dazzling azure streak tore through the thick blood mist filling the sky and came speeding through the air from afar.
Ye Lingtian touched the tip of his foot to the spine of the Clear Profound Sword, and the Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent overflowing around him spread out.
The venomous ghostly figures that had entangled Su Mingyue and left her helpless sizzled and melted away the instant they touched the sword intent, like lingering snow before the blazing sun.
"Sorry, setting up the formation took some time." Ye Lingtian frowned at the injured Su Mingyue.
Ye Lingtian turned, his icy gaze sweeping over the ten-foot-tall Blood Soul Banner dancing wildly in the blood mist. He formed a seal with his hand, and the Clear Profound Sword split into countless copies. Flying swords covering the mountains and plains rang out together in response.
In the blink of an eye, countless tiny azure sword threads filled the space around Ye Lingtian.
Sensing a deadly threat, the black banner artifact spirit that had just been injured roared and lunged at Ye Lingtian's face.
But before it could get within three feet of Ye Lingtian, sword light wrapped in Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent pierced straight through its soul body.
The artifact spirit, in which hundreds of years of resentment had gathered, could not even struggle. Nearly half its body instantly dispersed, and what remained of its soul was completely dissolved by the utterly firm, utterly yang sword Qi.
"Even a ghost dares challenge the might of the Heavenly Dipper?"
"You little brat, you dare destroy my bonded artifact spirit! I'll rip out your living soul and refine it for a hundred years!"
Inside the city lord's manor, Soul-Devouring Zhenren spat out a mouthful of turbid blood as his bonded artifact was damaged. Unable to remain seated any longer, he rushed straight out.
He formed a massive blood claw in his hand and struck at the crown of Ye Lingtian's head.
Ye Lingtian neither dodged nor retreated. He pointed his sword fingers into the air, and all the sword threads coalesced into an azure sword projection hundreds of feet long, cleaving the blood claw apart by sheer force.
Without losing momentum, the sword projection slashed straight at Soul-Devouring Zhenren's face. Scared out of his wits, the old devil hurriedly held the Blood Soul Banner crosswise before him to block it head-on.
With a sharp tearing sound, the sword projection cut a five-foot-long gash straight through the banner fabric, which had been refined for a full fifty years.
"You're Ye Lingtian!" With his bonded artifact damaged, Soul-Devouring Zhenren was not faring well either. He promptly spat out a mouthful of turbid blood, and his presence weakened by thirty percent.
Only now did Soul-Devouring Zhenren realize who the young man before him was.
"Since you recognize me, why don't you surrender at once?" Ye Lingtian said coldly.
"Heh! A greenhorn like you wants me to surrender? You're not qualified!" Soul-Devouring Zhenren's eyes turned blood-red. He hurled the half-ruined Blood Soul Banner above his head and began chanting.
Nearly solid blood-fiend Qi burst out around him. A flash of almost maniacal ruthlessness crossed Soul-Devouring Zhenren's face as his withered hand clenched fiercely at the empty air.
The next second, every demonic cultivator fighting the Primordial Sect disciples inside and outside Desolate City stiffened in place. Countless fine blood-red lines suddenly appeared across their bodies.
Before they could scream, all their cultivation turned into streams of scarlet blood Qi that surged toward Soul-Devouring Zhenren.
Su Mingyue's pupils contracted sharply. "That old dog had another trick up his sleeve!"
Ye Lingtian also frowned. "A demonic method indeed. He won't even spare his own subordinates."
"I'll deal with them now!" Su Mingyue had discerned a little of what was happening and made to deal with those disciples first.
"Heh! You've only just noticed? Too late!" Soul-Devouring Zhenren sneered, his face full of delight. He loved seeing righteous cultivators unable to do anything to him.
"Attack and finish him before he absorbs all the demonic cultivators!" Ye Lingtian leaped forward, and the Clear Profound Sword in his hand fired a beam of golden light.
Heavenly Dipper Sword Intent was the bane of the demonic path, and Soul-Devouring Zhenren did not dare take the attack head-on. He immediately spewed out a thick blood mist to conceal himself.