Chapter 42: Greed

The eerie young man’s expression shifted to one of astonishment.
“Hundred Soul Banner?”

“How can a mere mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator possess such a treasure?”

Soul banners—tools of demonic cultivation—were explicitly banned by all righteous sects. Even upper-tier demonic sects dared not use them openly. Still, some cultivators in the shadows secretly refined them.

Yet not all soul banners were equal.

To upgrade an ordinary soul banner to the rare Hundred Soul Banner, one would need to either refine thousands of mortal souls—or slaughter hundreds of cultivators.

Such wide-scale slaughter was virtually impossible under the current era, where demonic cultivation was in decline.

And even if someone managed to forge a Hundred Soul Banner, once it was used, the righteous sects would track it through cause and karmic threads. The murderous karma it left behind made hiding it nearly impossible.

Because of this, the Hundred Soul Banner was exceedingly rare.

Even for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, an ordinary top-grade magic artifact was a coveted treasure—let alone the infamous Hundred Soul Banner among them.

There was a saying in the cultivation world: “With the Hundred Soul Banner in hand, none under the Golden Core can stand.”
Though a bit exaggerated, the banner’s ability to sweep through cultivators of the same realm was undeniable.

To see such a treasure wielded by a mere mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator left the eerie youth momentarily speechless.

But Lu Yan didn’t give him time to think.

With a single wave of the banner, two hundred fierce ghosts erupted from the ghostly mist and charged toward the young man.

The eerie youth’s expression changed—but his hands didn’t falter.

Second-Rank High-Grade Spell: Red Lotus Guardian Charm!

A blood-colored lotus bloomed from his hand, encasing him in layers of glowing protection. The rushing ghosts crashed into the red light, releasing thunderous blasts that rippled through the mist.

No matter how ferociously the ghosts attacked, the guardian light remained untouched. In contrast, the ghosts began to corrode just by coming into contact with the red light.

Yet the eerie youth did not strike back immediately. His sharp gaze fell upon Lu Yan’s soul banner, quickly noticing something unusual.

“This banner… it carries barely any karmic backlash from slaughter. Even the negative emotions like hatred and fear are faint. It’s so clean, it doesn’t even feel like a demonic artifact.”

The ghosts wailed piercingly. Two hundred souls merged into a single enormous phantom claw, glowing faintly red as it crashed downward.

A tremendous boom echoed through the courtyard. The Red Lotus Guardian Charm finally began to dim, cracks spreading across its surface.

As the eerie youth scanned the incoming ghosts with his divine sense, he suddenly froze—then burst into ecstatic laughter.

“The missing heavenly and earthly souls… So you’re the madman who forged the Ten Thousand Beast Banner in Wushan!”

His eyes lit with a greed that could make one’s blood run cold.

“The sect sent me to investigate Wanling Mountain. We suspected they were slaughtering spirit-blooded beasts in Wushan to refine special bloodlines.”

“But I never expected someone was collecting spirit-beast souls—and that person would walk right into my hands. The Demon Lord must be smiling upon me!”

“This soul banner is unlike any other. It must be capable of refining beast souls.”

“There were rumors that crafting a Ten Thousand Beast Banner through slaughtering beasts was impossible nonsense—but if you’ve found a method to feed spirit beast souls to fierce ghosts within the banner, it suddenly sounds plausible.”

“Too bad, though. Whether it’s your banner or your method for collecting beast souls… they all belong to me now!”

Just as his words ended, the Red Lotus Guardian Charm shattered, and two hundred fierce ghosts lunged toward the young man, spectral claws extended.

Had those claws pierced his flesh, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s soul would’ve been shredded by the assault of two hundred ghosts at Qi Refining mid-stage strength.

But in that instant, the eerie youth acted.

He raised his right hand—and in it appeared a snow-white bell.

With a flick of his wrist, the tiny bell—no larger than a palm—emitted a harsh, death-like screech, as though it were the cry of someone on the brink of death. Waves of visible sound rippled outward in all directions.

“Urgh!!”

In the blink of an eye, the spectral claws of the fierce ghosts shattered. Their soul bodies dimmed visibly, and their faces twisted in terror. All two hundred ghosts turned and fled instinctively.

Demonic Artifact: White Bone Bell!

Lu Yan instantly recognized the artifact—it was recorded in the Secret Manual of Demonic Artifacts.

Unlike soul banners, which focused on refining methods more than material quality, the White Bone Bell required the bones of powerful beings, sealed with their dying soul remnants through a complex process that even skilled artifact refiners might fail.

The bell in the eerie youth’s hand was clearly a high-grade top-tier artifact, and a deadly one specifically meant for targeting souls.

Watching the ghosts flee, the young man made no move to wipe them out.

In his eyes, the Hundred Soul Banner was already his, and the ghosts were his future property—why destroy what he would soon own?

Bell in hand, he slowly walked toward Lu Yan, smiling faintly.

“If you were at the Foundation Establishment stage—or if I didn’t have this White Bone Bell—you might’ve stood a chance with that soul banner.”

“But now, you have no hope of victory.”

“I’ll give you one more chance. Hand over the banner and tell me your secrets. I’ll spare your life and take you in as a servant under the Red Lotus Demon Sect.”

“If one day I rise to become the Sect Master, you’ll rise with me—as an elder of the sect.”

Lu Yan didn’t respond.

He simply waved the soul banner, calling the fleeing ghosts back into the ghost mist.

The sky-blackening fog surged once more, cloaking the courtyard in an even deeper darkness. From within it, a giant phantom claw—the combined strength of all the fierce ghosts—formed and struck downward.

“Stubborn fool.”

The eerie youth’s tone was cold as he shook the bell once more.

That deathlike wail echoed again. Waves of sound met the massive claw head-on.

But this time—the outcome was not what he expected.

The claw merely hesitated slightly, then continued falling. The rippling sound waves blew away the surrounding fog—revealing the horror behind it.

A monstrous creature, stitched together from hundreds of fierce ghosts, loomed in the dark. Their souls were fused into one, forming a terrifying abomination. The White Bone Bell, not fully activated, failed to shake this monstrosity.

In the next instant, the phantom claw clenched into a fist—and with an earth-shaking roar, came crashing down!

(End of Chapter)