Chapter 940: Soul-Attracting Refining Banner

The Human World

Qin Sang stared intently at the Soul-Nourishing Wood.

The Soul-Nourishing Wood was jet-black all over, riddled with holes, resembling a piece of decayed wood eaten by worms. It appeared exactly as Qin Sang had seen it described in ancient texts.

A faint green glow shimmered on the surface of the Soul-Nourishing Wood. Merely seeing it with the naked eye felt as if even one's spirit was soothed; this was the unique soul-light of the Soul-Nourishing Wood.

"So big!" Qin Sang's heart trembled, filled with immense surprise.

The Seamless Blood Mulberry he had obtained from the Thunder Falcon Demon's nest was just a thin slice, yet it had elevated his Dharma Tool to the Dharma Treasure rank. If he could refine this piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood, to what extent could the Ebony Sword be improved? Could it perhaps directly advance to a Spirit Treasure?

A piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood this large would surely be able to counteract the Seamless Blood Mulberry's corrosive effects. On second thought, it made sense. If the Soul-Nourishing Wood were too small and its soul-light's power insufficient, it was unlikely that Bai's lingering soul could have persisted for so long.

Qin Sang glanced at Bai, wondering if he would honestly hand over all the Soul-Nourishing Wood. However, even if Bai was secretly hoarding some of the spirit wood, Qin Sang didn't want to press the issue further. As the saying goes, know when to stop; there's no need to be insatiably greedy. This amount of Soul-Nourishing Wood was enough to elevate his Ebony Sword to an unimaginable level, allowing him to roam freely within the current cultivation world. More crucially, his cultivation would no longer be restricted, which was already a tremendous surprise. There was no need to pressure him further. If Bai were pushed too far and desperately destroyed the Soul-Nourishing Wood, leading to a lose-lose situation, it wouldn't be good.

Bai had been secretly observing Qin Sang's expression. When their gazes met, Bai's heart tightened, but he saw that Qin Sang's expression was normal, and he wasn't pressing the issue. Bai gave Qin Sang a deep look, then raised the Soul-Nourishing Wood and said, "Fellow Daoist, as you can see, the soul-light of this treasure is genuine. Of course, I cannot give you the entire piece; I also need to keep a portion to aid my cultivation."

After speaking, Bai hesitated for a moment, then pointed his finger to the middle of the Soul-Nourishing Wood, indicating he wanted to split it equally with Qin Sang. After some bargaining, Bai claimed his bottom line was to keep at least a quarter.

After some consideration, Qin Sang slowly nodded. "I'll agree to your terms, Fellow Daoist! However, I've heard that Soul-Nourishing Wood is more special than other spirit woods; it cannot be cut with brute force and must be handled carefully, otherwise its power might be damaged..."

Bai confidently replied, "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist. I've been with this Soul-Nourishing Wood day and night and know it like the back of my hand. Moreover, the Soul-Nourishing Wood's fragility is relative to the Ten Divine Woods. As long as I'm careful enough, the spirit wood will definitely not be damaged. Since you agree, I will now divide the spirit wood..."

As he spoke, Bai placed his other palm above the Soul-Nourishing Wood. Corpse qi surged from both palms, forming countless complex runes. After a distortion, they transformed into a corpse qi blade as thin as a cicada's wing. The corpse qi blade trembled slightly, descended to the spot Bai had just indicated, and slowly began to cut downwards. The corpse qi blade seemed to flow, silently 'streaming' along the Soul-Nourishing Wood's grain, gradually separating the spirit wood. Bai's actions were extremely cautious, and even Qin Sang, observing, couldn't help but feel a little tense.

After a good while, the Soul-Nourishing Wood was successfully split into two pieces. The moment it was successful, both of them simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

"Once we leave this haunted land, this piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood will be yours, Fellow Daoist. If you don't trust me, feel free to place restrictions on it first," Bai said with a slight smile.

Qin Sang didn't stand on ceremony, casting several restrictions that landed on the Soul-Nourishing Wood, sealing the treasure. Bai didn't mind, putting away his portion of the Soul-Nourishing Wood, and said with some eagerness, "We've wasted a lot of time discussing terms. Since the opening time for this secret realm is limited, let's get to work quickly! I don't want to stay here for another moment!"

"I, on the other hand, don't think it was a waste. Only this way can we trust each other and cooperate sincerely," Qin Sang chuckled. He then flipped his palm to retrieve the demon banner pole and said to Bai, "Fellow Daoist, please lead the lingering souls over. I'll begin refining the refined soul threads now. Once the demon banners are forged, we can go collect the demon flames."

"Very well, I'll go awaken the lingering souls. The rest will depend on you, Fellow Daoist." Bai's figure flashed, and he disappeared into the ghostly mist.

Before long, a wailing sound of ghosts echoed from the depths of the ghostly mist. Then, the mist began to churn, and countless ethereal figures emerged within it, creating a rather terrifying scene.

Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the bone mountain, holding a banner pole and gently swaying it. Once Bai had led the lingering souls over, the two exchanged a glance. Then Bai waved his palm, manipulating the ghostly mist to restrain the lingering souls, allowing Qin Sang to focus on extracting the soul essence from them.

Qin Sang silently activated a secret art, lightly flicking his fingers to send out runes that landed on the first row of lingering souls. The lingering souls stirred. Bai's expression darkened, and he let out a low growl. The ghostly mist abruptly pressed down, weighing heavily on the lingering souls as if a thousand tons. All the lingering souls obediently stood still, awaiting Qin Sang's spell.

The moment the secret art was completed, strands of pure soul essence drifted from these lingering souls and converged towards Qin Sang. After this portion of soul essence was extracted, the lingering souls appeared somewhat weakened, but it was still much better than being refined away. Qin Sang gathered the soul essence and fully focused on refining the refined soul threads. The Twin-Headed Hou and the avatar guarded him, one on each side.

Bai glanced at Qin Sang, then retreated back into the ghostly mist to attract new lingering souls. Although this method was much more cumbersome than before, it didn't require Qin Sang to divert his attention to suppress the lingering souls, so the speed wasn't slow. Soon, a long refined soul thread appeared in Qin Sang's hand. He signaled Bai to stop, then picked up a banner pole and began forging the demon banner.

After all, it was his first time refining, so Qin Sang was still a bit unfamiliar. After a few failures, it became much smoother. The refined soul threads coiled around and merged with the banner pole, and then the rudimentary form of a demon banner slowly appeared. For the Ten Directions Yama Banners, the most difficult part was actually splitting the Profound Iron Pillar and forging the banner poles. Moreover, Qin Sang's current artifact forging skills surpassed his previous ones, so refining the banner surface was much easier than the pole. In the end, he successfully forged a demon banner.

Qin Sang swung it vigorously; the demon banner swayed, but no unusual phenomena occurred. It would only become a complete Dharma Treasure after collecting the Nine Nether Demon Flames.

Bai stood on the periphery, curiously examining the demon banner in Qin Sang's hand. When he saw Qin Sang take out another banner pole, he immediately went to attract more lingering souls without delay. Bai ran back and forth countless times. Soon, Qin Sang had eight more black banners resting on his lap.

"Fellow Daoist, just how many demon banners are you planning to forge?" Bai was panting. Manipulating the ghostly mist and restraining the lingering souls was not an easy task. He was expending a lot of energy and becoming increasingly exhausted. Fortunately, this was a haunted land, so he could still persist.

Qin Sang looked up, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Only seven more banners to forge, and then I'll be finished. That should be enough to help you break the demonic restriction, shouldn't it?"

"More than enough!" Bai gritted his teeth, then said with a look of surprise, "Fifteen banners, plus the three you already had, that makes eighteen demon banners, doesn't it? These demon banners are subtly connected and can form a grand formation. The more there are, the stronger the formation's power. With eighteen demon banners in your hand, Fellow Daoist, you would have the power to contend even with a Nascent Soul cultivator, wouldn't you?"