Chapter 795: Ghost Luo Banner

This thought flashed through Han Li's mind, but it didn't slow down his activation of the Great Geng Sword Formation in the slightest.

These golden threads were one of the divine abilities of the Great Geng Sword Formation, somewhat similar to a swordsman's technique of transforming swords into threads. They were formed by condensing the astonishing sword qi from a hundred sword lights into fine threads. Because they leveraged the formation's power and were infused with Geng Essence, the flying swords themselves were incredibly sharp. Thus, the resulting sword threads were far more formidable than those of ordinary sword cultivators. Ordinary magic treasures and ancient artifacts simply couldn't withstand the golden threads' cutting power.

As for items like lightning beads, Han Li wasn't afraid. As long as the thirty-six hidden flying swords remained intact, even if these sword threads were shattered, they would continuously reform, rendering them impervious to attacks. This was another terrifying aspect of the Great Geng Sword Formation.

As Han Li pondered, a flash of golden light appeared. The round beads also triggered the sword formation's restrictions, were sliced into several pieces by numerous golden threads, and then exploded. To his great surprise, these round beads didn't contain any lightning or fire. Instead, after exploding, they released dense black-red blood mist. As soon as the blood mist dispersed, it immediately spread, accompanied by a strange, nauseating, and extremely pungent odor.

These round beads were called "Blood Thunder Orbs" (Xueleizi). It was said they were refined from the most defiling substances in heaven and earth. When used against an enemy, any treasure not refined by demonic methods would lose significant power and spiritual essence if touched by this blood mist. No matter how powerful or spiritual your magic treasure was, it would require several days of re-refinement with Infant Fire to restore its full power.

Of course, these Blood Thunder Orbs were extremely rare in the Demonic Sects. Not only were their raw materials exceedingly scarce, but their success rate in refining was also pitifully low, making them much harder to create than ordinary lightning beads. These dozen or so orbs represented the black-robed youth's entire accumulation over nearly a century.

As an elder of one of the Jin State's Ten Great Demonic Sects, he was well-informed. The moment he recognized the sword formation Han Li had set up, he immediately thought of using the Blood Thunder Orbs to pollute Han Li's flying swords. A sword formation inherently required seamless coordination to unleash its divine power. If even a single flying sword in the formation malfunctioned slightly, the formation would naturally collapse on its own. This method was one of the most common tactics used by demonic cultivators in Jin State to counter sword cultivation sects that wielded sword formations. Naturally, such exceptionally valuable items like Blood Thunder Orbs were generally not used in one-on-one combat. They were typically reserved for large-scale confrontations, as, under normal circumstances, how could one person possibly control a sword formation?

Seeing the blood mist, Han Li, although unsure what was happening, clearly sensed something strange. As he silently wondered, a low rumble of thunder suddenly echoed. Simultaneously, streaks of golden light appeared within the blood mist, followed by faint golden electrical arcs shooting out. Upon contact with the blood mist, these arcs instantly burst, obliterating both the arcs and the mist. In the blink of an eye, the dozen or so clumps of blood mist were completely neutralized by Han Li's Pervasive Evil Divine Lightning.

Han Li was stunned. The Pervasive Evil Divine Lightning had shot out from his flying swords automatically, without him activating it—this was a first. And the blood mist, which clearly belonged to an evil artifact, could actually neutralize the Pervasive Evil Divine Lightning; that was truly astonishing. Han Li naturally didn't know that the Blood Thunder Orbs' property of polluting righteous treasures was almost identical to the Pervasive Evil Divine Lightning's characteristic of countering demonic cultivation methods. The two happened to be mutually restrictive, meaning that normally, neither could completely suppress the other. While the blood mist was considerable in quantity, it was naturally far inferior to the divine lightning contained within the thirty-six flying swords. Thus, the blood mist was dispelled completely in an instant.

"Pervasive Evil Divine Lightning! These flying swords are all Golden Lightning Bamboo artifacts! Impossible! How can there be so much Golden Lightning Bamboo?" The black-robed youth's face paled upon seeing this, and he cried out in shock.

"I'll tell you the answer to that question when you're underground!" Han Li retorted unceremoniously. After taking a deep breath, he silently activated another spell.

The golden threads, which had temporarily paused due to the blood mist, silently began to press inward. While the Great Geng Sword Formation was indeed immensely powerful, it was still somewhat strenuous for Han Li at his current cultivation level. Although he could operate the sword formation, the drain on his magic power was astonishing. Furthermore, after activating the formation, he lacked the power to accelerate its movement. Otherwise, if he could just instantly make the sword threads converge, he could immediately annihilate his opponent. He wouldn't just stand by and watch the black-robed youth use other methods to resist him. Han Li estimated that, given the magic power consumption of this sword formation, it was best suited for cultivators in the Mid-Nascent Soul stage to begin practicing this divine ability. If he hadn't only activated half of the sword formation and if his magic power wasn't far superior to that of ordinary Early Nascent Soul cultivators, he wouldn't have been able to use this sword formation at his current level.

"Hmph! Do you really think a mere sword formation can trap me? Your sword formation may be sharp, but can it sever my sect's most treasured artifact?" the black-robed youth scoffed, a layer of black energy rising on his face. He then looked at the golden threads, which were now less than ten feet from him. Without a word, he raised a hand and struck his own chest with a heavy fist.

With a "puff," a mouthful of black blood spewed out, and nestled within it was a small, green banner about an inch long. As soon as the banner emerged, it flickered with green light, instantly absorbing all the surrounding black blood. The banner turned a jade green color. The black-robed youth gloomily beckoned the banner. With a "whoosh," the small banner transformed into a black streak and shot into his hand. As he rubbed his hands together, a brilliant light erupted, and the green banner immediately expanded to several feet in size. The banner's surface shimmered with green light and was shrouded in ominous clouds, making its true form unclear. However, it was evident that one corner of the banner was missing, seemingly damaged and unrepaired.

Han Li's pupils contracted, and he murmured: "Ghost Luo Banner!"

Back then, the Yin Luo Sect Master had spoken of using the sect's most treasured artifact, the Ghost Luo Banner, to deal with Old Devil Hehuan. Although it wasn't actually used, Han Li had committed its name to memory. Now that the black-robed youth had taken out this small banner, Han Li naturally guessed correctly.

"You're quite sharp! This is one of the main banners of the Twelve Ghost Luo Banners. As for its power, you can experience it for yourself." The black-robed youth was initially startled when Han Li recognized the item in his hand, but then he sneered, seemingly full of confidence in his artifact. The youth then firmly grasped the banner and lightly waved it towards the golden threads in a certain direction.

With a "whoosh," a jade-green ominous cloud emerged from the banner, then rapidly surged, engulfing the youth's figure. Nearby, a biting cold, malevolent wind began to blow fiercely. Numerous dark clouds appeared in the sky from an unknown direction, and the entire sky quickly turned pitch-black, completely obscuring the sunlight. The sky became incredibly dim. Greenish ghostly mist appeared all around from an unknown time, and the wails of ghosts intensified. Just a slight wave of the banner in his hand caused the very colors of heaven and earth to shift. No wonder this person was so confident in it. Even with his considerable confidence in the Great Geng Sword Formation, Han Li felt a tremor of alarm in his heart.

Just then, a tearing sound came from the opposite side as countless fine black lines shot out from the mist where the youth was, directly coiling towards Han Li. With a flash of golden light, the sword formation's restrictions activated. Countless golden threads flashed across, and all the black lines paused briefly, then broke into numerous small pieces and fell. But immediately, these broken black lines transformed into clumps of green mist, shooting back and re-integrating into the main green mist.

"Oh!" Han Li hadn't felt anything yet, but the black-robed youth in the green mist cried out in surprise. These soul threads were incredibly tough, yet they were shattered so easily by the opponent's sword formation. This was somewhat beyond his expectations.

After a brief deliberation, he finally unleashed the full power of the Ghost Banner in his hand, holding nothing back. He then suddenly threw the banner from his hand out of the green mist, where it landed exactly three feet in front of him, standing motionless. Obscure incantations then echoed from within the mist, as gusts of ominous wind swept the surrounding mist from all directions towards the center. The green banner swayed and rapidly swelled, reaching a height of two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) in an instant. The mist on its surface began to disperse, revealing its true appearance.

Upon seeing it, Han Li's expression changed drastically. "You actually used so many living souls to refine this banner? How many people did you kill?" Han Li roared angrily.

On the jade-green surface of the banner, countless human faces, shrunken to an unknown degree, were densely packed. These faces, including men, women, the elderly, and children, squirmed ceaselessly as if alive, each displaying an expression of extreme agony. It was truly horrifying.

"How many? Who knows! Perhaps tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands. And among them, there must be hundreds of cultivators' souls to refine such a main banner," came the youth's sinister voice from within the green mist.

Han Li fell silent, staring coldly at the green mist. A moment later, he uttered a few words. "You deserve to die."

"Deserve to die? I've heard those words from countless people. Yet, I'm still alive and well. Those who said them, however, had their souls collected into this banner, becoming a part of it. You won't be an exception," the youth said mockingly. He then stopped speaking, and a red spell seal struck the giant banner.

A brilliant green light burst forth, and suddenly a large hole several feet in diameter appeared on the banner. After a puff of black energy, gusts of ominous wind swept out from within. Consecutive "thump-thump" sounds were heard. Several gigantic skull heads, their eyes glowing with ghostly fire and mouths exhaling green smoke, flew out from the banner unhurriedly, lining up in a row. The largest of these skulls had two huge ox horns, but its facial features seemed human-like. Could this skull have belonged to a demon beast in the Transformation Stage during its life? Han Li was startled.

However, what happened next made Han Li push that question out of his mind. Besides the first few skulls that emerged, various ghostly fire skulls continuously poured out from the black hole on the green banner. In an instant, hundreds appeared, crowding the area around the black-robed figure.

"Go!" the black-robed youth, still within the green mist, chanted a spell and pointed a finger towards Han Li.