novelraw Chapter 348: Thousand Soul Banner
Chapter 348: Thousand Soul Banner
As dusk approached, Long Xuan stopped near the city with the words "Black Rock City" inscribed on its gate.
After a moment of contemplation, he decided to enter the city, find an inn to rest for the night, and continue his journey the next day.
Upon entering the bustling streets, the clamor of voices filled his ears. Occasionally, he overheard snippets of conversation from passersby.
Long Xuan chose to ignore the irrelevant chatter and focused his attention on eavesdropping for valuable information.
With his powerful soul sense extending outward, it didn't take long for a particular conversation between two people to catch his attention.
"Did you hear? Master Sun is offering 80 King Surging Pills to recruit 80 Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivators. It’s said he needs a large group to help him search for a type of Heavenly Fire."
"An opportunity to obtain a breakthrough pill is rare. Are you planning to join?"
Hearing the mention of Heavenly Fire, Long Xuan's ears perked up, and he immediately stopped in his tracks.
The other person responded, "Of course I've heard about it. How could I not?"
"That's a massive offer! Even though the King Surging Pill only provides a 5% chance of breaking through to the Gu King Realm, its value is still extraordinary." "After all, with 80 pills, their collective worth is staggering."
"Don’t say I didn’t warn you—there’s no such thing as a free lunch. If Master Sun dares to offer such high rewards, it means this mission is extremely dangerous."
"Why else would he recruit so many Spiritual Sea-stage Gu cultivators? It's rumored he also enlisted eight Gu Kings."
"Such a powerful assembly of Gu cultivators isn't just about finding a Heavenly Fire—they’re clearly planning to attack a certain faction and seize it by force."
"The danger of this mission is obvious. Anyone participating will likely face significant casualties. You might get the King Surging Pill, but you might not live to enjoy it."
"I'm not willing to take such a risk. A King Surging Pill isn’t worth staking my life for."
The other person countered, "What’s there to fear? With eight Gu Kings and 80 Spiritual Sea Stage Gu cultivators, they could crush any faction they target."
"Master Sun is the top alchemist in Black Rock City. With his connections, he’ll surely find capable and skilled fighters."
"No one values their life more than he does. He must have thoroughly prepared for this mission. If he’s taking part in person, it means he’s confident of success. Otherwise, why would he risk his own life?"
Long Xuan’s lips twitched at this statement. It sounded eerily familiar, reminiscent of what Master Wei had once said.
Master Wei had similarly claimed that participating personally in the hunt for the Black Giant Salamander guaranteed success—only to die a miserable death.
Long Xuan’s expression turned contemplative. The fact that Master Sun had a lead on Heavenly Fire sparked his interest.
The first stage of the Purgatory True Demon Technique involved tempering the body with magma. The second stage required refining it with cold energy. The third stage demanded Heavenly Fire, and the fourth stage relied on the tribulation force for ultimate strengthening.
Long Xuan had already deduced the third stage of the technique and urgently needed Heavenly Fire to proceed.
Without it, mastering the third stage of the Purgatory True Demon Technique was impossible.
He was currently desperate for Heavenly Fire.
However, Heavenly Fire was extraordinarily rare. He hadn’t even found a trace of it. Even when he had offered a limited-edition insect armor in exchange for a single lead, he hadn’t obtained any useful information.
After completing body refinement in the cold jade bed, his progress stalled entirely because he lacked Heavenly Fire.
Now that he finally had a lead, how could he let it slip away?
With Heavenly Fire being so scarce, such an opportunity might never come again. Long Xuan immediately decided to infiltrate Master Sun's team to seize this chance.
Of course, he planned to join under the guise of seeking an opportunity. If the situation allowed, he would act. If it didn’t, he would refrain from taking unnecessary risks.
Unless he had absolute confidence, Long Xuan wouldn’t act rashly.
With eight Gu Kings involved, he wasn’t arrogant enough to believe he could snatch the Heavenly Fire from them.
Long Xuan continued listening to the two men’s conversation. Upon learning that Master Sun’s recruitment would begin the next day, he finally left and headed toward an inn in the city.
Once inside, he rented a room and immediately entered the spatial realm within the Heaven-Devouring World Toad’s body.
Inside the space, Long Xuan noticed that the Disaster Poison Gu was still in deep slumber. judging by its progress, it seemed far from awakening, so he paid it no further attention.
Next, he turned to the Dragon Gu, which had also fallen into a deep sleep after consuming its evolution materials.
The Dragon Gu lay curled up in the area where he stored his treasures, sleeping soundly.
Though the Dragon Gu began its transformation after the Disaster Poison Gu, its progress appeared to be much faster.
After all, the Disaster Poison Gu had been knocked unconscious by its own toxicity, leaving its consciousness clouded. It wouldn’t awaken anytime soon.
Despite some unexpected events during his journey, Long Xuan felt satisfied with his gains.
First, he had acquired scales from a Grade 3 Great Dragon Fish King. With these, the Dragon Gu’s nine transformation materials were now complete, allowing it to enter its evolution state successfully.
Additionally, he obtained a small piece of material from the Black Giant Salamander—a protruding section he had picked up while escaping.
Though small, the material could be enhanced using the Repair Gu.
The Repair Gu couldn’t create living creatures, but it could regenerate missing parts from a piece of flesh.
If the material was enlarged by the Repair Gu, Long Xuan could attempt to refine a Regeneration Pill.
As for the recipe for the Regeneration Pill, he planned to visit Master Wei’s alchemy shop later to search for it.
Since Master Wei is already dead, isn’t it reasonable for me to assume his appearance, enter his shop, and loot all his treasures? After all, it would amount to a considerable fortune. Perhaps I might even find the recipe for the Mother-Child Gu. This Gu recipe seems extraordinarily complex to me.
If Master Wei hadn’t died so early, he could have used this Gu recipe to control everyone in Sin City—it’s not impossible.
Afterward, Long Xuan took out the storage bag of the ghost cultivator. Once he emptied the contents of the black storage bag onto the ground, he began inventorying the treasures.
The ghost cultivator’s storage bag contained many ancient texts related to ghost cultivation. Though Long Xuan had no interest in practicing ghost cultivation, his curiosity led him to pick up a few texts and flip through them casually.
One of the records about the Thousand Soul Banner piqued his interest.
The Thousand Soul Banner is a renowned spiritual weapon of ghost cultivators from ancient times. However, as long as one possesses spiritual power, even if they are not a ghost cultivator, they can still wield it.
The Thousand Soul Banner can directly absorb the souls of weaker individuals, converting those souls into ghosts. Once a soul is trapped in the banner, it cannot escape.
The wielder of the Thousand Soul Banner can command countless ferocious ghosts in battle, possessing the power to decimate entire cities.
There are a total of twenty-four Thousand Soul Banners. When all twenty-four are gathered, their combined power is unimaginable.
Crafting the Thousand Soul Banner is incredibly difficult and expensive. No one has ever managed to single-handedly produce all twenty-four banners.
Additionally, the crafting recipe has long been lost. Losing a single Thousand Soul Banner means there’s one less in existence forever.
Long Xuan pulled a small black flag out of the pile of treasures and began to ponder.
This must be the Thousand Soul Banner mentioned in the ghost cultivation texts. Long Xuan found himself quite interested in this artifact.
Using human souls to refine ghosts might be considered evil, but what about using beast souls instead? In neither his past life nor his current one had he ever heard of beast-shaped ghosts. This could be a unique and creative idea worth exploring.
Moreover, with twenty-four banners in total, the combined power of these banners was said to be unimaginable.
What if I use a repair Gu to restore this Thousand Soul Banner and replicate all twenty-four banners? If I manage to gather all twenty-four, what kind of power will they unleash? Long Xuan was filled with anticipation.
...
The next morning, Long Xuan woke up and scanned Black Rock City with his Eye of Heaven’s Secrets. Upon locating the recruitment site for Master Sun’s team, he headed there immediately.
Before long, Long Xuan arrived at the city gate, where he saw Master Sun.
Master Sun, a Gu cultivator at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage, had a goatee and looked somewhat aged. However, his elderly appearance couldn’t hide the arrogance in his demeanor.
As the top alchemist in Black Rock City, Master Sun had every reason to be proud.
At the moment, he was carefully selecting individuals to accompany him, his gaze highly discerning. Anyone below the late Spiritual Sea stage was outright rejected.
Despite this, there were still many left in the selection, creating fierce competition. The eighty available spots were far from sufficient.
Among the crowd were many Spiritual Sea stage Gu cultivators from distant lands, drawn here by the allure of the King Surging Pill. Its reputation was enough to attract strong cultivators from faraway places.
Long Xuan couldn’t help but be impressed. Eighty high-level Spiritual Sea Gu cultivators, plus eight Gu Kings—this kind of force could easily sweep away most powers in the region.
Just what kind of force does Master Sun plan to attack, requiring such a massive team?
This also highlighted the incredible influence of a powerful alchemist.
As long as you have enough pills to offer, just a simple call to action can bring hordes of strong individuals willing to serve you. Alchemists truly are a terrifying profession.
Long Xuan disguised his cultivation level as the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage, adopted the appearance of a young man, and approached with a smile.
After waiting in line for a while, he finally reached the goateed Master Sun.
Master Sun gave him a cursory glance. Seeing that Long Xuan was at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage, he nodded slightly. For the same King Surging Pill, he naturally preferred to recruit someone at the peak stage.
“Use your full strength to punch its stomach once,” Master Sun said suddenly, pointing to the side.
At the spot he indicated lay a large toad, leaning against the wall with its white belly exposed. It was snoring loudly, clearly enjoying its nap.
“This doesn’t seem right,” Long Xuan hesitated.
“Just do as I say. Don’t think that being at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage means much. There are plenty of weaklings at that level. I must test the combat strength of everyone accompanying me.
“Besides, there are countless ways to fake your cultivation level in this world. Who knows if you’re truly at the peak of the Spiritual Sea stage?” Master Sun retorted bluntly.