Chapter 384: Ten Thousand Soul Banner

The thick scent of blood in this place set even the heart of Vice Sect Master Shi hammering, fueling his dread that more than one ancient Fusion Stage expert lurked here.

If his luck turned completely sour and they crossed paths with someone at the Tribulation Transmutation Stage, it would be his own undoing.

A faint wave of relief washed over him; he felt profoundly grateful to have dragged Lu Yang along, for even if catastrophe befell his own head, surely the Heavenly Court Sect would never allow their young master to perish in such a forsaken place.

"I know precious little about the blood sacrifices of the demonic path, so I must trouble Sect Master Shi regarding the state of this small village," Lu Yang remarked with utmost gravity, speaking nothing but the absolute truth.

Vice Sect Master Shi did not deflect the responsibility; stepping toward the outermost thatched hut, he flung the door open to find it entirely deserted, with bowls and chopsticks still arranged upon the table, as though the occupant had been just about to dine when an unforeseen disaster struck, causing them to vanish without leaving the slightest trace of a struggle or resistance.

Pushing open several more doors in succession, Vice Sect Master Shi found largely identical scenes: the vestiges of daily life remained intact, proving without a doubt that people had resided here until, for some inexplicable reason, every single soul vanished into thin air.

It was as if someone had frozen time itself, carried the inhabitants away one by one, and then allowed the temporal flow to resume.

The sight made Tao Tianye’s skin crawl, mirroring precisely the ghost stories she used to read as a child, huddled beneath her blankets at night.

She cautiously tugged at the corner of Lu Yang’s robe, finding an immediate sense of reassurance in the gesture.

"Has Sect Master Shi discerned what might have transpired here?"

Vice Sect Master Shi analyzed the scene: "To my knowledge, there are two methods capable of achieving this: space confinement and time suspension.

"If it were space confinement, it would be manageable, as a Fusion Stage cultivator well-versed in spatial arts could pull it off; but time suspension would be disastrous, for anyone capable of freezing time must be estimated, at a conservative guess, to be at the Tribulation Transmutation Stage!

"In all my memory, no one has ever truly achieved the suspension of time; even for those at the Tribulation Transmutation Stage, it remains purely theoretical!"

Lu Yang nodded. "The Immortal of Time can accomplish this."

"The Immortal of Time?" Vice Sect Master Shi asked in astonishment, never having heard of such a celestial being.

Lu Yang gave a firm nod. "The Immortal of Time wields the Fruit of the Path of Time; in terms of understanding temporal laws, they stand supreme in antiquity, unmatched by anyone."

"To think such a thing is possible?!" Vice Sect Master Shi cried out, his voice cracking, for the Dao of Time was notoriously cryptic and difficult to grasp, let alone master.

He had never imagined an ancient immortal existed who claimed time itself as their Fruit of the Path; should such a power unleash its might, how terrifying it would be!

Tao Tianye was equally stirred; how could Senior Brother Lu speak so casually of immortals?

Judging by Vice Sect Master Shi's profound reaction, this had to be lore unknown even to the Vice Sect Master of the Nine Serenities Sect.

From where had Senior Brother Lu unearthed such knowledge?

Had the chasm between herself and Senior Brother Lu truly grown so vast?

The look of shock gradually receded from Vice Sect Master Shi's face; blinking, he turned his head to ask Lu Yang, "By the way, my mind wandered for a moment just now. What did you say?"

"Nothing," Lu Yang replied, having previously assumed that a Fusion Stage cultivator might be immune to the memory-erasing trait of an immortal, only to find that even an late-stage Fusion power like Vice Sect Master Shi could not withstand it.

"The probability of the culprit being a Tribulation Transmutation cultivator capable of temporal mastery is slim; I lean toward it being a Fusion Stage expert utilizing space confinement."

From the moment he stepped into the tiny village, Lu Yang’s brow had remained furrowed; with so many dead, and via such a bizarre method, the perpetrator had to be monstrously terrifying.

To slaughter people right under the nose of the imperial court without a single soul noticing.

Huai'an Village was in this state, but what of the other villages? Just how many people had the killer butchered?

Vice Sect Master Shi knelt down and scooped up a handful of dirt from the ground; with a gentle rub of his fingers, the originally dark-brown soil revealed a deep, crimson hue.

Noticing the confusion of Lu Yang and Tao Tianye, he took the initiative to explain: "Too many have died here, causing the very earth to be tainted with the stench of the dead! Yet, because of this, I am certain of one thing!"

"What is it?"

"The stench of blood here should be soaring to the heavens, yet it feels faint; someone must have transferred the bloody essence elsewhere!

"I recall that the essence of blood can be used to refine the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, which is a formidable weapon of the demonic path?" Lu Yang mused, recalling his knowledge of dark cultivation.

"Indeed. Refining the Banner of Soul Summoning, the Banner of Soul Guiding, and the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls all strictly require blood essence and resentful energy."

Exuding complete confidence, Vice Sect Master Shi rubbed the soil into a fine powder, tossed it into the air, and rapidly formed hand seals with one hand to strike it with a black sigil.

Gathered by the black sigil, the soil powder drifted through the air like silk, floating toward the distance.

"Let us follow. If they had refined the blood essence right on the spot, it would be troublesome to track, but since they moved it before refining, I can locate the true site of refinement using these lingering traces!"

Grasping Lu Yang and Tao Tianye, Vice Sect Master Shi took flight, covering hundreds of miles in a single breath before landing within a mountain range.

"The aura snaps right there!"

Vice Sect Master Shi pointed toward a nearby spot; the three exchanged glances, nodded, held their breath, and advanced carefully.

Suddenly, Vice Sect Master Shi and Lu Yang froze in their tracks simultaneously, and Lu Yang reached out to halt Tao Tianye, who was about to step forward.

Looking ahead, Tao Tianye saw only lush green trees and heard the singing of birds amidst fragrant flowers, discerning no difference from any other woodland.

Vice Sect Master Shi stared at Lu Yang in surprise, not expecting the youth's reactions to match his own speed.

"You noticed it too? One more step forward, and we breach a barrier!"

Lu Yang nodded. "In ancient

Deputy Cult Master Shi paid it no mind, gripping a skeletal scythe in his other hand as he bludgeoned and hacked at the withered elder. He could see that his formation-breaking had triggered a backlash within the old man, leaving him in a wretched state.

Beat a dog already in the water!

"Is this all you've got? You're a downright disgrace to ancient cultivators!"

"And what's this about refining a Ten-Thousand Soul Banner? That's old news, stuff I played around with ages ago!"

"Die for your grandpa!"

Deputy Cult Master Shi displayed divine might, forcing the withered elder into a clumsy, rhythmic retreat without even a decent counterattack to show for it.

Boom—

The octagonal sledgehammer and the skeletal scythe came crashing down in tandem, smashing the withered elder deep into the mountainside.

"Excellent, excellent. The younger generation is truly to be feared!" The elder laughed from sheer fury as he stepped out from the cavern, the tattered banner in his hand gleaming with light.

Deputy Cult Master Shi clicked his tongue. "I was careless."

"Careless how?" Tao Tianye asked.

Deputy Cult Master Shi pointed at the withered elder and spat. "I was fighting so fiercely just now that I didn't notice the old codger was refining the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner the entire time he was taking a beating. Now that it's fully refined, he won't be easy to deal with."

The withered elder's face was so dark it looked ready to drip water, his words squeezing out from between his teeth with an intensely grating, sickening resonance.

"By mere chance, this master acquired a massive surge of sanguine aura, perfect for refining the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner. Today, I shall teach you youngsters of the later generations a lesson in my fearsome might!"

"Ten-Thousand Soul Banner, rise!"

A spectral wind howled, chilling to the bone, as the surrounding bleak gales converged upon the withered elder. Countless ghostly phantoms materialized behind him, colossal in stature and numbering far beyond tens of thousands.

As the elder burst into uproarious laughter, the Ten-Thousand Soul Banner achieved complete refinement, the silhouettes of the ghosts growing sharper and clearer.

Lu Yang recognized the countenances of these spirits: pigs, oxen, sheep...

"Huh?"

All four people present froze in sheer bewilderment.