Chapter 377: Can There Be No Gains from Being Struck by Lightning Every Month?

A chilly wind brushed their faces, and the scene immediately quieted down. Only the mournful wails of various ghosts echoed through the area.

Oink—Moo—Baa—

Neither the wizened old man nor Deputy Cult Master Shi, both at the Integration Stage with thousands of years of experience, had ever witnessed a situation like this.

Deputy Cult Master Shi's expression was inconsistent. Moments ago, he had gravely stated that things were troublesome, as the opponent had successfully refined the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Given the current situation, even if the opponent had refined ten Ten Thousand Souls Banners, it might not be considered troublesome.

The wizened old man also hadn't expected to refine such a collection of entities. He had merely stumbled upon a small village, found its blood aura astonishingly dense, and realized it was perfect for refining the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. He then swept away all the blood aura, choosing a remote spot to refine it against the clock.

With a formidable enemy before him, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had been successfully refined at the last moment. He was about to use the enemy's blood to consecrate the banner, planning to unleash a million vengeful spirits.

And the result was summoning this pile of creatures?

The wizened old man gritted his teeth, formed hand seals with both hands, and activated the Ten Thousand Souls Banner again.

“Very well,” he declared, “whether human or beast, since they can be refined into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, they are all considered vengeful spirits!”

Seeing the wizened old man continue to use the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, Deputy Cult Master Shi also considered the same issue.

This Ten Thousand Souls Banner might look comical, but its power should not be underestimated!

“Go, devour them!” The wizened old man laughed maniacally, decisively issuing the command, intending to bury Lu Yang and his two companions here.

The pigs, cows, and sheep scattered in all directions, running off in every which way. If not for the Ten Thousand Souls Banner holding them, they would have vanished long ago.

A few pigs even nudged the wizened old man, then ambled off to other spots.

The wizened old man: "..."Deputy Cult Master Shi: "..."

“Senior Brother Lu, is this what Integration Stage combat looks like?” Tao Yaoye transmitted her voice to Lu Yang. She was inexperienced, encountering Integration Stage combat for the first time, and couldn't understand the fighting style.

Lu Yang thought to himself, "I'm experiencing this for the first time too."

“Immortal Fairy, why are these livestock, refined into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, uncontrollable?”

In the mental space, the Immortal Fairy was laughing so hard she was bent double, taking a long time to recover.

“Hahaha, you fool!” she roared. “Refining the Ten Thousand Souls Banner with livestock? Why don't you try refining it with insects? Hahaha…”

Once she composed herself, she explained to Lu Yang: “The essence of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner is to command souls. Souls that can be commanded must come from sentient beings, like humans or demonic beasts. The higher the cultivation and stronger the resentment of humans and demonic beasts in life, the greater the banner's power.”

“A bunch of livestock, without sentience, and you expect them to understand commands and attack?”

“But I recall that infant souls can also be refined into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. Infants aren't sentient either, are they?”

“Yes, infant souls can be used to refine the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, but there's something you overlooked: Demonic cultivators don't immediately refine infant souls into the banner. This process takes several years. During these years, the infant's soul form doesn't change, but its intelligence gradually develops, eventually growing to an age where it can understand commands. Only then is the refinement considered complete.”

Before the Immortal Fairy achieved immortality, she had frequent dealings with demonic cultivators. During ancient times, order was chaotic, and demonic cultivators were ubiquitous. Her understanding of demonic cultivation was even deeper than Deputy Cult Master Shi's.

In the end, she also admonished Lu Yang: “You must study hard from now on, and don't be like this old illiterate man.”

Lu Yang received the answer, relayed it to Tao Yaoye, earning her admiring gaze.

Senior Brother Lu is so knowledgeable.

Wait, why does Senior Brother Lu know so much about demonic arts?

The wizened old man tossed the Ten Thousand Souls Banner aside and took out a necklace. Each bead on the necklace was a small skull, with ferocious features and varying expressions.

This was his Natal Magic Treasure, the Eighteen Generations Clan Necklace. To refine this necklace, the refiner must first marry, have children, and propagate their family. Once the lineage reached the eighteenth generation, the lives of the most outstanding descendants from each generation would be taken, subjected to agonizing torture, and refined into individual beads. Then, the wife's intestines would be used as a thread to string the eighteen beads together.

The wizened old man threw the Eighteen Generations Clan Necklace. The necklace broke apart, and each skull bead swelled and grew larger, transforming into bony skulls. They floated in the sky, tearing at Deputy Cult Master Shi.

This single move alone was enough to deter most Integration Stage cultivators from directly resisting.

“Haha, you old man are truly ruthless!” Deputy Cult Master Shi exclaimed. “You've even refined your own eighteen generations of descendants into demonic artifacts. All eighteen generations are connected by blood, ultimately stemming from you, so it's no wonder this necklace is so easy for you to wield!”

Deputy Cult Master Shi's expression remained unchanged. He recognized the necklace's origin, but what of it? To have risen to Deputy Cult Master of the Demonic Cult under the very nose of the Daoist Patriarch, his methods were certainly beyond the wizened old man's imagination.

He gripped a great white bone scythe. Barbs grew from the scythe's handle, piercing his palm. As the scythe absorbed the blood from his palm, a red line appeared in its center.

Swish—

Deputy Cult Master Shi brandished the great white bone scythe, and a beam of light descended from the sky, instantly illuminating the entire mountain peak. Six of the eighteen demonic heads were instantly severed.

The wizened old man's expression changed: “How is this scythe's compatibility higher than my necklace's?!”

Deputy Cult Master Shi strode forward, clashing with the remaining demonic heads: “Nonsense! To refine this scythe, I extracted my own bones and nourished them day and night with my blood, ensuring they remained active even after leaving my body. Only then did I finally refine them into this scythe!”

“No matter how close your eighteen generations of descendants are to you by blood, how can that compare to my connection with my own bones?!”

“You madman!” The wizened old man cursed. Extracting all one's bones to refine them into a magic treasure was a process that took centuries, and was extremely vulnerable to assassination. Should anything go wrong, it would lead to a severe decline in vital energy at best, and death at worst.

“Heh heh,” Deputy Cult Master Shi replied, “it's because Cult Master Qin, that venerable old man, valued me and protected me during the refinement process!”

The two fought with unrestrained fervor. The wizened old man's demonic techniques emerged endlessly; the eighteen demonic heads constantly combined and regrouped, interfering with Deputy Cult Master Shi's attacks. Deputy Cult Master Shi's figure transformed into fleeting afterimages, making him difficult to pin down. The great white bone scythe reaped lives, preventing the wizened old man from engaging in close combat.

“I hereby establish a rule: within a five-hundred-zhang radius, everyone except me shall move slowly!” The wizened old man invoked the power of rules to restrict Deputy Cult Master Shi's movements.

Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye immediately felt as if they were sinking into a mire, unable to move.

Deputy Cult Master Shi sneered, and his spirit left his body. While his physical body moved slowly, his soul remained unaffected. He switched weapons, his spirit now wielding a large hammer, and swung it at the wizened old man.

“So, you're the only one who can set rules?” Deputy Cult Master Shi retorted. “I hereby establish a rule: within a five-hundred-zhang radius, no one shall use demonic artifacts!”

The Eighteen Generations Clan Necklace immediately dimmed, and the eighteen demonic heads vanished.

“Just a soul, and you dare to challenge me?!” The wizened old man met Deputy Cult Master Shi's soul alone and was sent sprawling by a single swing of the hammer.

He cried out in astonishment: “How is this possible?! How can your soul be so powerful?!”

“If you endured a heavenly lightning tribulation worth a billion spirit stones every month, you'd be like this too!”

Deputy Cult Master Shi cursed furiously. He risked his life enduring lightning tribulations every month; how could he not have gained something from it?