Translator: Cinder Translations
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Seeing the eight ghost banners, Song Wen recalled the method for refining the 'Yin Soul Banner' that he had obtained from the Ghost Patroller in the Withered Blood Secret Realm.
TL: Yin Soul Banner Mentioned in Chapter 110.
The Yin Soul Banner is a versatile magical artifact that combines battle, defense, and evasion. It can be continuously refined with ghostly energy and spiritual materials to enhance its power. In fact, some powerful cultivators refine it into their life-bound magical treasure.
The eight ghost banners before him contained a large amount of Yin souls and had long been corrupted by ghostly energy, making them excellent materials for refining Yin Soul Banners.
Song Wen observed the two ghost generals in the Soul Refining Array, still devouring Yin souls, and found himself in a difficult situation.
He couldn't figure out how to collect the ghost banners and the two ghost generals, as he had never practiced ghostly techniques and was not proficient in controlling ghosts.
His earlier attempt at soul searching Li Jiangu was meant to probe the method for collecting the banners and controlling ghosts, but it had failed.
Song Wen took out Li Jiangu's storage ring and quickly searched it with his spiritual sense.
After a few breaths, he found an array plate and a jade slip in his hand.
The array plate was for the Soul Refining Array, and the jade slip recorded the operation method of the array.
Placing the jade slip against his forehead, Song Wen skimmed through its contents rapidly, finding the method to collect the array.
After half a stick of incense (about two minutes), Song Wen put away the jade slip.
Time was of the essence, and Song Wen had no time to fully refine the array plate. He needed to leave his spiritual sense and spiritual energy on the array plate to be able to collect the array.
With Li Jiangu dead, the spiritual sense imprinted on the two ghost generals had dissipated automatically.
The array plate had become an unowned item.
Song Wen's spiritual sense easily invaded the array plate.
He performed several techniques on the array plate.
The array plate began to emit a grim green light.
The Soul Refining Array also started to operate, and the Yin souls drifting in the array were drawn into the ghost banners.
Only the two ghost generals remained in the array, still roaring.
With Li Jiangu's death, the spiritual imprint he had left on the two ghost generals dissipated, and the two ghost generals, having long been enslaved, were unwilling to be controlled again. They continued to slam against the array, trying to escape.
Song Wen was determined not to let them go. He continuously performed techniques.
The green light on the array plate intensified, and the power of the Soul Refining Array grew stronger. In the end, the two severely weakened ghost generals could not resist the might of the array and were forcibly collected into the ghost banners.
Seeing this, Song Wen's expression brightened. He flew up, collected the eight ghost banners into his storage ring, and then rushed out of the cave, taking the corpse puppet with him as he left.
Outside the cave, Song Wen found that the battle was still ongoing.
Wang Yi and others, having prepared for years for revenge, had managed to slaughter most of the Li family members.
The Li family now had only two early Foundation Establishment cultivators and over ten Qi Refining stage members left, struggling to hold on. They still hoped that Li Jiangu could quickly restore the strength of the two ghost generals and return to rescue them.
Wang Yi and his group had also paid a heavy price. Except for Wang Yi and Nie Qian, the other three members had all been killed in battle.
The objective of this mission had been achieved, and Song Wen did not intend to get involved in the ongoing battle. He was about to withdraw from the rear of the mountain.
Suddenly, he saw two corpses of Li family Foundation Establishment cultivators not far from the battlefield. They seemed to have died recently, and their souls had not yet dissipated.
Song Wen immediately changed his mind and flew towards the two corpses.
When he fled from the Corpse Demon Sect, he had lost four substitute puppets to Wu Ren and Yan Yuyan and lacked cultivator souls to devour, so he had not replenished his soul reserves.
Song Wen flashed past the edge of the battlefield, grabbing two corpses in each hand. After devouring the souls of the two corpses, he conveniently stored their bodies in his storage ring.
His appearance drew the attention of both sides in the battle. The ghostly aura emanating from him made it clear that he was not an orthodox cultivator.
Nie Qian, wary, continued attacking the Li family cultivators while shouting, "Who are you?"
Wang Yi also noticed Song Wen. Seeing him shrouded in a black cloak reminded him of the mysterious cultivator who had inquired about the Xuan Yin Stones in his store that day.
He quickly told Nie Qian, "Don't provoke this person; he shouldn't be our enemy."
The Li family cultivators grew increasingly panicked. They could clearly see that Song Wen had come from the direction of Li Jiangu's secluded cave, which made them uneasy: Li Jiangu might have been killed by this person.
Seeing that neither side seemed inclined to engage him, Song Wen continued to collect a few more corpses whose souls had not yet dissipated.
He then proceeded forward, heading directly towards the Tianhe River.
This place was no longer safe.
The battle had been raging for more than a quarter of an hour, with intense spiritual fluctuations and noise, which could easily attract other cultivators. It was wise to leave as soon as possible.
"Splash!"
Song Wen jumped into the Tianhe River, concealing his presence and letting the surging waters carry him downstream.
After two hours, Song Wen emerged from the river, took out his flying boat, and soared into the sky.
Another half-day later, Song Wen landed on a small mountain more than three thousand miles away.
The area was devoid of spiritual energy, and cultivators generally did not come here. He planned to use this place to refine Wu Ren's corpse into a corpse puppet.
The "Concealment Array" was still in the workshop, and Song Wen did not bring it with him this time.
However, he found a set of formations called the "Nine Palaces Yin Array" in Li Jiangu's storage ring. This was a genuine third-grade formation that had the effect of concealing and hiding the impurities of the heavens and earth.
The Li family's base deep in the mountains used this array to keep their killings and soul refining activities hidden from outsiders.
From a training manual in Li Jiangu's storage ring, Song Wen had a general understanding of this person's background.
The Li family was originally a weak cultivation family with only Qi Refining cultivators. Li Jiangu, with exceptional talent and strong family support, eventually achieved Foundation Establishment.
After entering the Foundation Establishment stage, Li Jiangu's progress slowed significantly due to the limited resources provided by the family.
Unsatisfied with being stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage, Li Jiangu turned to the path of demonic cultivation. Only with powerful strength could he plunder more cultivation resources.
In the orthodox realm, obtaining complete demonic cultivation methods was not easy.
Li Jiangu scraped together various demonic cultivation methods, including corpse, ghost, and blood techniques.
With these techniques, he naturally needed to collect cultivation materials, starting with essence blood and souls.
He began to raid remote areas, slaughtering ordinary people and intercepting solitary rogue cultivators.
After refining powerful ghost generals, he also created vengeful ghosts for his family, enhancing the overall strength of the Li family.
With nearly thirty years of accumulation, the Li family's strength surged, and the resources they plundered increased, leading to more talented family members achieving Foundation Establishment.
It was uncertain whether the ghostly cultivation methods Li Jiangu used were flawed or incomplete, but long-term cultivation in the ghostly path led to excessive ghostly energy entering his body, causing his flesh to gradually wither and appear as if he were an old corpse.
Thus, he began to refine corpse techniques, attempting to devour others' essence blood to replenish his lost vitality.
The corpse dissection platform and blood pool in the cave were used to provide essence blood for him.
(End of the Chapter)
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