Chapter 19: Main Spirit—The Power Ghost

Lu Yan had wielded the Soul Banner for some time now. Based on its performance, it was indeed a solid weapon among Low-Grade magical tools—but it was still far from the legendary might of the so-called number one magic weapon of the demonic path.

If a Soul Banner could only command vengeful spirits, even amassing tens of thousands of them would still mean nothing to a Nascent Soul or Golden Core cultivator—they could destroy it with a snap of their fingers.

Lu Yan understood clearly that the key reason was that his Soul Banner lacked a Main Spirit.

A Main Spirit could only be refined from the soul of a powerful cultivator. The first-layer lackeys from the Talisman Square Village, for example, had soul strength only marginally greater than that of commoners—nowhere near enough to forge a Main Spirit.

If the vengeful spirits within the banner could be seen as soldiers, then the Main Spirit was the commander who led them. The strength of a Soul Banner largely depended on the strength of this leader.

The Main Spirit could elevate the vengeful spirits’ cultivation levels. And if the Main Spirit possessed ghost-path spell techniques, it could even channel them through the vengeful spirits’ ghostly energy.

Only with a strong enough Main Spirit could the entire banner’s power reach its true potential.

At higher levels, a Main Spirit could even manifest a ghostly domain—an eerie realm of spirits and phantoms. When the Soul Banner was unfurled, that domain would descend, and the might of a true demonic-path banner would be unleashed.

However, such capabilities required a banner on the level of a Thousand Soul Banner, comparable to actual magical treasures. Lu Yan’s current Low-Grade tool was still worlds away from that.

That said, the soul of the transcendent zombie, comparable to a Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivator, was already enough for Lu Yan’s current needs to refine his first Main Spirit.

He glanced at the scattered wandering souls and the towering zombie soul, then ordered his five vengeful spirits:

“Guard the front door. Don’t let any zombies interfere.”

The five spirits immediately moved to block the building’s entrance while Lu Yan began preparations for the refinement.

He flipped open his Secret Manual of Demonic Magical Tools to the page on Main Spirit refinement arrays, then crushed a spirit stone and used the powder to draw the formation.

The ideal material for the array would be the fresh blood of the main soul’s original body. But after its soul was removed, the giant zombie had crumbled into bare bones—there was no blood to speak of. Thus, spirit stone powder had to suffice.

Fortunately, the Main Spirit refinement array wasn’t particularly complex—just an auxiliary tool to help fuse the soul into the banner. It didn’t even qualify as a First-Grade formation.

If it had, Lu Yan wouldn’t have had the knowledge or resources to construct it.

Once the formation was drawn, Lu Yan placed the soul of the giant zombie in its center. Around the formation’s nodes, he arranged dozens of ordinary wandering souls gathered from weaker zombies.

The zombie soul had lost its Heaven and Earth Souls and had been battered by five vengeful spirits—its spiritual energy was depleted. These lesser souls would serve to replenish and stabilize it.

With everything in place, Lu Yan activated the formation using the Soul Banner.

At that moment, a radiant glow rose from the spirit stone powder. The ordinary wandering souls burst into spiritual flame and began to converge on the center of the formation.

The muddled soul of the giant zombie jolted awake from the sudden surge of soul energy, letting out a piercing, soul-shaking shriek.

It tried to flee the array, but without a physical body and under the suppressive glow of the formation, it was powerless to resist.

Dark ghost mist rolled out from the Soul Banner, devouring the entire refinement array. On the surface of the banner, a few simple patterns slowly formed into the image of a towering, vicious ghost.

When the formation light faded, the refinement of the Main Spirit was complete.

With a wave of the Soul Banner, Lu Yan summoned forth a giant ghost, nearly three meters tall, that appeared before him.

This ghost had a blue face and sharp fangs, a hulking frame like a temple guardian statue—vastly different from the sinister and formless vengeful spirits.

The giant ghost looked down at Lu Yan, its eyes flashing with savage light, and reached out its right hand toward him.

Lu Yan remained calm. Without a word, the Soul Banner in his hand stirred on its own. A wave of dark mist turned into searing ghostly fire, sweeping over the spirit’s extended arm.

The ghost’s arm was immediately consumed by the flames, and a pained howl rang out.

“RRAAAHHH!!”

The flames didn’t stop—they crept further across its body, devouring its chest and legs.

As most of its soul body was burned, the unbearable agony forced the ghost to the ground. It prostrated itself, bowing frantically with its sole remaining head, pleading for mercy.

Once its entire body had been consumed—save for the monstrous head—the flames finally died out.

Lu Yan stood before the lone head, the Soul Banner still in hand. The ghost’s twisted face twisted into a pitiful smile, and it obediently lowered its soul defenses.

Lu Yan raised his right hand. A trace of ghost mist shaped like fire imprinted itself upon the ghost’s forehead like a fiery brand.

“You won’t get a second chance.”

His voice was cold, and with that final verdict, the taming was complete.

The ghost mist gathered beneath the disembodied head, forming a new body. But this one was clearly much smaller—barely over two meters—and its previously solid form had become somewhat translucent. Even its aura was unstable.

Clearly, the soul had suffered heavy damage.

But the ghost showed not a hint of dissatisfaction. Instead, it followed behind Lu Yan like a loyal little henchman, looking completely subservient.

Lu Yan glanced at the creature’s muscular build and said coldly:

“From now on, your name is Lishi.”

With that, the naming was complete—and Lu Yan had successfully subdued a Qi Refining Mid-Stage Main Spirit.

Normally, the Soul Banner exerted extremely high control over the ghosts it refined. But Main Spirits were an exception.

All banners’ Main Spirits came from powerful cultivators. To allow them to grow stronger, the banner’s master would often leave a trace of the spirit’s original intelligence intact during the refinement.

That meant if the Main Spirit was too powerful, it could potentially rebel and even turn on its master.

There were many infamous tales of demonic cultivators who were killed by their own Main Spirits and refined in turn.

As a mere Qi Refining First Layer cultivator, Lu Yan was absolutely taking a risk by trying to refine a soul of the fifth or sixth layer. He had to rely on the Soul Banner’s overwhelming suppression.

To ensure obedience, Lu Yan had allowed the ghost mist to burn away most of Lishi’s body, searing terror into its soul before accepting it as his own.

After that brutal lesson, Lishi’s power had clearly fallen—from roughly Qi Refining Fifth Layer down to the Fourth Layer at best.

But Lu Yan had no regrets.

Compared to a powerful yet unpredictable threat, a slightly weaker but fully controlled Main Spirit was far more valuable.

And during the taming process, Lu Yan had discovered something quite interesting:

Transcendent zombies, though they possessed powerful souls, had intelligence that was far inferior to human cultivators.

Had he refined a human cultivator instead, especially one from the demonic path, they might’ve feigned submission and waited for the perfect moment to strike back.

But transcendent zombies wore everything on their face—whether hostility or fear. There were no hidden daggers, no deception.

More importantly, they were ignorant of the world, having no experience with cultivators or their techniques. A good dose of soul-burning from the Soul Banner was enough to reduce them to trembling obedience.

This lack of cunning actually made them perfect candidates for Main Spirit refinement.

(End of Chapter)