UGB Chapter 69 Ten Thousand Soul Flags
Chapter 69 Ten Thousand Soul Flags
Chapter 69 The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls (A tribute to the Nightlight Alliance Leader of Daylight!)
Half a month later.
Rumble!
On Little White Island, where Fang Qing's cave is located, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converges, forming a vortex.
"This is... a sign of foundation building?"
"A cultivator has reached the Foundation Establishment stage? And they chose this island?"
"Judging from the location, this is Elder Fang's cave dwelling—it should be that Senior Sister Qin—"
At this moment, most of the Qi Refining cultivators nearby stopped what they were doing and looked towards the direction of the spiritual energy vortex, their eyes filled with envy.
"Senior Sister Qin? Wasn't this girl rumored to have failed at Foundation Establishment twice and wasted two Foundation Establishment Pills from the sect? How could she possibly still have a chance to establish Foundation Establishment?"
"This is wartime. Senior Sister Qin has killed several second-tier demonic beasts. Her achievements are comparable to some Foundation Establishment stage uncles and senior masters. Naturally, the sect will reward her handsomely—I heard that she even went through the sect leader's faction."
When one of the junior disciples spoke the last half of the sentence, his voice was much lower, while the other cultivators who heard it all looked like they understood.
"Three Foundation Establishment attempts—all using Foundation Establishment Pills—"
Looking at this scene, Wu Longzi felt a bitter taste in his mouth. There was really no comparison between people.
If he had a Foundation Establishment Pill, he probably would have become a Foundation Establishment cultivator long ago, but unfortunately—
Boom!
Under the envious or jealous gazes of many cultivators, the vortex of spiritual energy rapidly condensed and rushed into the cave.
Before long, a powerful aura of Foundation Establishment was released, carrying with it a vibrant life force.
"So...it's a success?"
"So fast—some cultivators take up to a hundred days to complete the Foundation Establishment process, known as the 'Hundred-Day Foundation Establishment'—but Senior Sister Qin completed it in just a few days, which shows her deep foundation."
"Heh—a solid foundation can't compare to a powerful background."
"It's great to have a second-tier alchemy master backing you up —"
"Thank you, young master, for helping me establish my foundation!"
Qin Ruxue's face was flushed; she had just expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Fang Qing in her own way.
"Yes, everything will be different after Foundation Establishment."
Fang Qing was also very satisfied with the woman's performance and did not become arrogant because she had successfully established her foundation.
Of course, as a Mingfei who has already been subdued, even if the other party has reached the Core Formation stage, she cannot escape her own grasp.
"Young Master—After this Foundation Establishment, my essence, energy, and spirit have reached perfection, and I have gained considerable insights. I believe that I will soon become a true second-tier low-grade array master."
Qin Ruxue then shared another piece of good news.
"Haha, great!"
Fang Qing was overjoyed: "You should focus on your cultivation for a while to consolidate your strength, and also refine a few more sets of genuine second-tier formations—this beast tide is rare, so we need to hunt down more second-tier demonic beasts."
He smiled slightly as he watched Qin Ruxue go into seclusion.
High-level cultivators in the Qi Refining Path often raise spirit pets to enhance their combat power.
Furthermore, each of the various arts of cultivating immortality is profound and requires a great deal of vital energy. When encountering problems that one cannot solve, one has no choice but to seek help from others.
Therefore, sects, exchange associations, and immortal cities exist.
But I am different. I can directly cultivate the Five Bright Seeds—encompassing alchemy, array formations, talismans, and artifacts—and perhaps in the future, they will be self-sufficient and form a self-sustaining cycle.
What a pity, why are there only five seats? Why not make more?
Wait, there are only five spots, but we can take an unlimited number of disciples—unless their skills are exceptionally outstanding, but their spiritual root aptitude and cultivation level are insufficient, in which case a spot will be given.
After sending Qin Ruxue away, Fang Qing calmed down and pondered the problems that had been exposed during his demon-hunting activities.
"Currently, I lack a decisive combat method among those of the same level—in demon hunting, this is often replaced by the power of formations, but cultivators don't foolishly run into formations when fighting."
He reviewed his own abilities. Whether it was the Vajra Pestle or the second-tier body refining technique, they could kill with a single blow when he was refining his Qi, but after he reached the Foundation Establishment stage, they became ordinary techniques.
After all, Foundation Establishment cultivators generally possess divine sense and can fly, so they wouldn't be foolish enough to let others get close so they can calmly use their body-refining techniques.
Apart from that, although the Transformation Pearl has been upgraded, it is still only a low-grade spiritual artifact. Combined with the Azure Spirit Armor, it can only be said to be of a slightly above-average level among early Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"But I don't want to only fight early Foundation Establishment cultivators—even if I encounter mid or late Foundation Establishment cultivators, I need to be able to pose a threat before I can retreat comfortably—"
"As for the Foundation Establishment spells that come with the Azure Sea Technique, they are more suited for self-preservation and are not very useful for anything else."
This is a common problem among water-based cultivators: they excel at defense and healing, but they are rare when it comes to decisive, one-hit kill tactics.
"It's already difficult to fight here. If we go to Ancient Shu and encounter Foundation Establishment cultivators, it will be even more difficult —"
Fang Qing pursed her lips.
After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, my original intention was to go to Ancient Shu to show off—no, I meant to pretend to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator and conduct more trade.
Unfortunately, lacking the necessary skills, I have never dared to go.
After all, the ancient Shu region had exquisite and unique Taoist techniques, and while there were fewer Foundation Establishment cultivators, they were generally stronger than those who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage.
"Actually, the best way is to find the follow-up to the 'Horse-Head Vajra Guardian Divine Skill' and cultivate the body refinement to the middle or even high level of the second stage—that is still an extremely powerful trump card."
"Unfortunately, Xu Hei is not capable, and the secret monks cannot cross over to the east. The secret techniques of the ancient Shu are actually very rare. If we send Xu Hei to the secret domain, it would be almost like sending him to his death."
"Instead of searching for subsequent cultivation methods, it's better to use the 'Book of Viewing the Black Tomb' to forge a foundation for your Dao—a Dao Foundation cultivator's own immortal foundation possesses all sorts of mysterious and unpredictable abilities, which, according to the Dao book, are almost equivalent to 'pseudo-supernatural powers.'"
Innate divine abilities are a talent possessed only by third-tier demonic beasts, while pseudo-divine abilities are already enough to make one stand out among Foundation Establishment cultivators!
This is also what makes the ancient Shu cultivators so terrifying!
Unfortunately, the [Ji Shui] spirit object still cannot be found.
Given the strict control exerted by the higher-ups in ancient Shu, it would be extremely difficult for independent cultivators to establish a foundation for their Dao. Fang Qing would need to wait for an opportunity.
"We can't deal with the Ancient Shu for now, so we need to turn our attention to the Azure Sea Sect. After all, they have abundant resources and other means—if I were given a Tide-Born Pearl external core—forget it, I'd rather hope to obtain a talisman treasure."
Fang Qing had read the description of the talisman in the ancient books. It was a third-tier talisman that only Core Formation cultivators could make, and it required sacrificing the power of their natal magic weapon.
In the hands of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, even a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, that would be a trump card.
"Such treasures are probably only found in one or two of the direct descendants of the Core Formation Ancestor—no amount of spirit stones could buy them, or rather, there was no way to purchase them."
However, with this approach, once the mind was opened up, many ideas suddenly came to mind.
"Cultivating Foundation Establishment spells takes a long time and is not something that can be accomplished overnight. However, if one acquires a large number of second-tier talismans and bombards them relentlessly, or if one obtains a mid-grade or high-grade spiritual artifact, one can greatly enhance the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
However, since it is wartime now, the price of such items that can quickly improve combat power has skyrocketed, making them even more sought after than pills that can enhance cultivation.
"If you can't buy it, then forge it yourself! I remember there's a secret technique called 'Ten Thousand Soul Banner' in the sect's Heavenly Book Pavilion—it can be used to forge a special kind of soul banner." This spiritual weapon is simple to forge, and its power depends entirely on the souls imprisoned within it. If it only contains some first-tier demon beast souls, it's just an ordinary magic weapon. But if it's forged with the essence of a second-tier demon beast as its leader, it has the power of a spiritual weapon. If it has ten or eight second-tier essences, it's comparable to a mid-grade spiritual weapon—and if it reaches the level of the 'Hundred Soul Banner,' then even a high-grade spiritual weapon will be inferior in power—"
Fang Qing acted on her ideas immediately.
Although Little White Island is not a sect, the Bronze Hall offers almost all kinds of exchange items.
In particular, the "Soul Aura" secret technique is selling exceptionally well!
"Haha—Junior brother, you also want to forge a soul banner?"
Elder Wanbao took out a piece of pure white jade slip and laughed heartily: "This item is simple to make. Use the bones of a second-tier demon beast as the pole and the animal hide as the banner—then use the Soul-Guiding Technique to draw in the demon's soul and imprison it within, and it will be complete—most of the demon-hunting cultivators in our sect like to refine one, making the most of the material. Just remember, you must never imprison a cultivator's soul, otherwise you will fall into the demonic path—"
"Thank you for reminding me, senior brother. I understand the implications."
Fang Qing left the bronze hall and immersed his divine sense into the pure white jade slip. Sure enough, he saw a vast amount of information about this secret technique, numbering in the hundreds of thousands of words.
"This technique has a demonic aspect to it. This soul-guiding and soul-refining technique doesn't seem like a righteous method at all. It should be a relic of some demonic cultivator?"
In the cultivation world of Xiaohuanhai, there is no conflict between good and evil; cultivators simply practice whatever spells are advantageous to them.
However, such matters as prohibiting cultivators from cultivating their own souls, or even taking the blood and energy of ordinary people for cultivation, are still somewhat taboo.
Indeed, the people are simple and honest, much better than in ancient Shu. If this secret technique were used in ancient Shu, those Dao-foundation forces might select commoners as cultivators within their respective territories, eventually making them cultivate themselves into the souls on the Myriad Souls Banner, and even giving it a grand name, like the "Human Emperor Banner" or something like that.
Fang Qing inwardly scoffed, but upon seeing the refining method, his eyes lit up: "Sure enough, refining it with demon beast materials is like using the original ingredients to make the original food—and the method is extremely simple, even I could give it a try—"
He had no knowledge of weapon crafting, and even with the help of divine sense, it would be impossible for him to advance to the second rank in a short period of time.
However, the method for crafting this soul banner is actually quite simple.
"This flagpole should ideally be made from a single spine—if that's not possible, then it can be pieced together using the technique of 'bone joining' to create a strong skeleton—"
Fang Qing happened to have some materials from second-tier demonic beasts, so he took out a few sections to practice on.
"etc----"
At this moment, he flipped to the back of the jade slip and found that there was another method for devouring and fusing similar soul banners, and a thought struck him.
"If I had a cheat code and didn't use it, would I be a fool to go and refine weapons?"
Fang Qing's heart stirred, and he activated the Plum Blossom Divination, seeing a hexagram: "The benefit of water and marsh lies in the southwest—"
"So, in the southwest of the Taibai Sea, there will be a kind person who will help me complete my Soul Banner?"
"Haha—I have absorbed the essence of many ancient Shu divination books, and my divination skills have indeed improved again."
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