Chapter 633: Ten Thousand Soul Banner
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The seven martial arts grandmasters glanced at each other as they surrounded and attacked the Peacock Beast King. Then, they backed away together as one. It was obvious that they were allowing the Peacock Beast King to turn her attention to the men in black robes who were currently taking advantage of her preoccupation with the other human warriors.
The five black-robed martial arts grandmasters were not putting in any effort. Instead, they were trying to make use of them to enter the Fighting Spirit Tower first. This had drawn the ire of all the human martial arts grandmasters.
The Peacock Beast King shared the views of the group of seven. She was furious at those attempting to sneak into the Fighting Spirit Tower. She opened her mouth and spat out golden flames. The golden flames were like balls of fire. The terrifying heat burned the air, making sizzling sounds.
“Humph, it is just a beast. How dare it be so violent.”
The leader of the men in black harrumphed coldly and stretched a pale hand out from his dark black robes. He held a small black colored flag in his hand. The flag was the size of a palm and had many skulls drawn on it. The moment it appeared, a cold wind swept across the area. One could vaguely hear the sounds of ghosts crying and howling from the little flag.
The sounds were tragic and sounded like numerous ghosts crying and hysterically screaming. The terrifying cries of the ghosts made it hard for some of the warriors to breathe. They felt dizzy and their minds dulled subconsciously.
The warriors who were affected were very shocked. They immediately pulled themselves together and concentrated, forcing the evil feeling in their mind out of their bodies.
The moment the little black flag appeared, it immediately released streams of ghost fog. There were oddly shaped ghosts within the fog that looked terrifying. There were so many of them that one could not keep count. They gathered together, forming several dark clouds. The area seemed to darken.
The golden flames hurtled towards it. Yet, the ghosts surged forward, opening their mouths and attacking the flames. Moments later, the terrifying fire released by the Peacock Beast King was completely decimated.
The seven martial arts grandmasters inhaled sharply. They had fought with the Peacock Beast King and knew how terrifying those very hot flames were. None of them would be able to block the Peacock’s spiritual fire without the use of a profound level weapon. Even if they had a profound level weapon, they might still be injured if they were not careful.
The mysterious men in black robes had been able to destroy the Peacock’s spiritual fire so easily, and through a method they had never imagined.
A treasure that could release spirits and ghosts? This sort of treasure was too eerie.
“That’s… the Ten Thousand Soul Banner!”
Mo Wen’s eyes widened. The little black flag in the hands of the man dressed in black robes was the Ten Thousand Soul Banner that was renowned in the Immortal Cultivation World. It was a famous heterodox treasure in the Immortal Cultivation World. It was known to be vicious and sinister and was the bane of those on the path of righteousness.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner was incredibly vicious and bloody. It damaged the peace and harmony of the world and was something that both heaven and earth could not accept.
According to what Mo Wen knew, underworld immortal cultivators liked to craft such treasures. Some underworld immortal cultivators who harbored evil intentions would use it as their natal spiritual treasure.
It did not require any precious materials to craft a Ten Thousand soul Banner. It could be crafted with simple materials. However, the crafting of a Ten Thousand Soul Banner required souls. It required an innumerable number of souls. Furthermore, they could not be dead souls but had to be live.
Live souls were souls that had been dead for less than 15 minutes. Those who had died a long time ago and turned into ghosts could not be used to craft a Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
As such, under normal circumstances, one would have to kill a large number of people to make a Ten Thousand Soul Banner. They would have to kill incessantly.
Some immortal cultivators on the heretic path would even massacre an entire city in order to make a Ten Thousand Soul Banner. Usually, the birth of a Ten Thousand Soul Banner would mean the destruction of a place.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner did not require any precious materials to craft and only needed souls. It also required the constant replenishment of souls. The more souls there were, the more powerful it would be. Some of the terrifying Ten Thousand Soul Banners had an endless stream of aggrieved souls that could cover the sun and the sky, causing the world to turn dark. An immortal cultivator who had such a Ten Thousand Soul Banner could even cross realms and kill other immortal cultivators.
Some of those who harbored evil intentions and were impatient for success liked to make such a heretic treasure.
Because the crafting of a Ten Thousand Soul Banner damaged the peace and harmony of the world, it was not accepted by heaven and earth. When a too-powerful Ten Thousand Soul Banner appeared, heaven would punish the person who crafted it. The crafter and the banner would both be wiped from the earth. Otherwise, if the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was allowed to continue to grow, it was feared that nothing could go against it.
Mo Wen had not expected that he would see the legendary Ten Thousand Soul Banner here. The banner in the hands of the man in black robes must be a Ten Soul Banner, the lowest ranking of all banners. However, he did not know how many people the man had killed to successfully craft the banner.
The power of a Ten Thousand Soul Banner was deemed by the number of aggrieved souls in it. There was a Ten Soul Banner, Hundred Soul Banner, Thousand Soul Banner, Ten Thousand Soul Banner, Hundred Thousand Soul Banner…Million Soul Banner…
The Ten Soul Banner was considered the lowest of the Ten Thousand Soul Banners.
Of course, it did not mean that ten live souls had to be killed to make a Ten Soul Banner. Instead, a thousand live souls had to be killed. Furthermore, there had to be at least ten souls of immortal cultivators in it for a Ten Soul Banner to be crafted.
Mo Wen did not believe that the man in black robes was the one who had crafted the Ten Soul Banner. That was because one had to kill ten immortal cultivators to make a Ten Soul Banner as well as 100 times that of ordinary souls. Disregarding the souls of ordinary people, it was impossible for a warrior to kill 10 immortal cultivators’ souls. It was difficult to even find an immortal cultivator in this world.
After the endless number of souls surged forward to extinguish the golden fire, they did not continue to attack the Peacock Beast King. Instead, they returned into the ghost fog and surrounded the five men in black robes. Then, they flew into the Fighting Spirit Tower.
The Peacock Beast King had not expected that its peacock spiritual fire would be extinguished so easily by the other party. It was furious when it saw the group trying to enter the Fighting Spirit Tower.
“All those who attempt to enter the tower have to die.” The voice of the Peacock Beast King was pleasant but was filled with viciousness.
Its seven demonic spiritual weapons flew into the air and then came together to form a sword of feathers. The sword of feathers released a brilliant ray of light. There was a flicker of light which appeared above the ghost fog before cleaving down forcefully.
A brilliant gold flame shone. The ghost fog emitted from the Ten Soul Banner could not block the sword of feathers released by the Peacock Beast King. The ghost souls screamed terribly under the sword of feathers. Then, they burned in the golden flames and slowly turned into ashes.
In just mere moments, the ghost fog reduced in size by one-fifth.
“You beast, how dare you damage my precious banner!”
The leader dressed in black robes was furious. The ghost fog twisted and the crowd of men in black robes appeared once more. They were but less than 100 meters away from the Fighting Spirit Tower. However, they could not force their way in with the Peacock Beast King standing in their way.
The leader dressed in black robes did not expect that the Peacock Beast King’s sword of feathers would be so powerful. Not even his Ten Soul Banner could not stop it. Ten Thousand Soul Banners were most afraid of Buddhist treasures and Fire attribute treasures. The power of the sword of feathers was evidently too powerful for the Ten Soul Banner.
If he had just lost some ordinary souls, he would not be so upset. He could just replenish them later. However, three of the ten souls of immortal cultivators which formed the foundations of the Ten Soul Banner were damaged. This was a huge blow and it would not be so easy to recover from this loss.
The Peacock Beast King ignored the man’s threat. The sword of feathers continued to cleave downwards. It was decisive and vicious. It intended to kill all the men in black robes.
“You wretched beast. Since you are seeking death, then you mustn’t blame me for this.”
Chu Yuan’s expression was dark. He had not expected the Peacock Beast King to be so persistent. It had not only discovered his position earlier, but it had also damaged his precious banner. The sword of feathers was really powerful when brought together with a Demonic Spiritual Treasure.
He had not intended to fight the Peacock Beast King and only wanted to sneak into the Fighting Spirit Temple. However, the chances all happened so quickly. The Peacock Beast King had not only discovered him, but the seven human martial arts grandmasters had also stopped fighting it at the same time. This meant that he had no choice but to face the Peacock Beast King’s interference.
“Damned intruders. The sacred flame belongs to the Fire Domain. Don’t even think of stealing it. Even if I die in combat, don’t think I will let you all off easily.”
The Peacock Beast King extended its wings. Rays of brilliant light flowed from its body. The lights gathered together and one could vaguely see five colors in the shimmering light. Streams of fire surged out from her slender body, seemingly endlessly. It was a demonic beast that had cultivated for a thousand years. The power gathered in its body was not something that human martial arts grandmasters could compare to at all.
The sword of feathers that emerged from the gathering of Demonic Spiritual Treasure shone with a brilliant light. Then, it turned into a seemingly tangible phoenix that charged at the men in black robes.
Even Mo Wen, who was 1000 meters away, could sense the destructive powers in the attack. It would have decimated him if it had been used against him.
The expressions of the seven martial arts grandmasters watching by the side all turned grave. Wariness appeared in their eyes. They were afraid that the Peacock Beast King would turn its sword around to attack them.
They had suffered in their earlier battle. The seven of them had worked together and only barely managed to defend themselves against the attack. Some of them had even been injured.
Chu Yuan sensed the destructive energy in the flaming phoenix and his expression changed. He waved his hand and a stone plate suddenly appeared in his hand. The stone plate was light grey and, on the surface, did not look any different from an ordinary stone plate.
However, when Chu Yuan tossed the stone plate into the air, it immediately shone with hazy white light. It suddenly increased in size until it was more than ten meters wide.
The flaming phoenix struck the plate and it shook. However, it managed to block the phoenix’s attack. It only turned around a little before it shook off the force.
However, the flaming phoenix was not an easy opponent. It hit the stone plate viciously once more. Even though the spinning stone plate had managed to shake off the power behind the flaming phoenix’s attack, the power of the phoenix was shocking. It was as if it had an endless reserve of power and its attacks were stunning.
The stone plate seemed unable to withstand such attacks. It sank little by little and its light faded.