Best Young Master
Chapter 548 - 488: The Great Battle Arrives

Chapter 548: Chapter 488: The Great Battle Arrives

Time flowed like water, and before realizing it, seven days had passed.

At dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun spilled over Five Saints Mountain, which gleamed golden in the distance, seemingly no different from usual.

However—

If a cultivator approached, they would discover that a high-level array, the Enchanting Soul Array, had been set up on Five Saints Mountain, and the wandering lonely soul resentment had vanished without a trace.

"Congratulations, Master, on successfully collecting the lonely soul resentment from this place!"

On Five Saints Mountain, Ku Rong noticed that all the lonely soul resentment had been collected by Wu Mu’s black clay pot and immediately offered his congratulations with a smile.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..."

Without replying, Wu Mu’s consciousness stirred, and he lifted the Soul Summoning Array. Five small flags, emanating sinister yin energy, flew through the air towards him, and he grabbed them all, stowing them in the backpack he carried.

Having put away the small flags used to set up the array, Wu Mu gestured with a large hand, and the black clay pot storing the lonely soul resentment flew into the air and landed in his hand.

"Hiss~"

Witnessing this scene, and feeling the cold energy from within the pot, even as an Innate Great Perfection Cultivator, Ku Rong felt a shiver in his heart.

With his current strength, he was incapable of controlling the resentful spirit formed by millions of lonely soul resentment.

On the contrary, if he dared to infuse his mind power into the pot, the resentful spirit within would attack his consciousness immediately, leading to his death and the annihilation of his path.

Compared to Ku Rong, Wu Mu was already a Gang Qi Great Success Realm Cultivator, with one foot stepping into the peak state. His strength far exceeded Ku Rong’s, and his consciousness was much stronger.

Facing the pot that made Ku Rong feel uneasy, Wu Mu looked on as if gazing at a beloved, with a smile in his eyes.

"Master, will you refine the Soul Summoning Banner here, or will you wait until we return to the Sect?" Ku Rong hesitated before asking.

"Naturally, I shall craft it here."

Wu Mu shifted his gaze away from the black pot, speaking with absolute firmness, his eyes full of anticipation.

For cultivators, combat strength mainly consisted of one’s cultivation base, martial arts skills, combat experience, and magic artifacts. Improving any of these aspects would enhance one’s combat ability.

For Wu Mu at present, if he succeeded in refining the top-grade high-level magical artifact, the Soul Summoning Banner, his combat power would greatly increase. He was confident that he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage even if he faced Chu Xuanji.

In such a situation, he was naturally eager to craft the Soul Summoning Banner—why would he wait to return to the Sect?

"Next, your teacher will begin refining the Soul Summoning Banner. It will take approximately twelve hours. During this process, you should stand by quietly and observe without making any noise to disturb me," Wu Mu instructed.

"Yes, Master!"

Ku Rong quickly nodded. As Wu Mu’s eldest disciple, although he had not fully inherited all of Wu Mu’s teaching, he was knowledgeable in artifact crafting and well aware of the difficulties in creating high-level magical artifacts, where the slightest carelessness could lead to failure.

Wu Mu no longer paid attention to Ku Rong but took out an essence of plant that would drive ordinary cultivators to frenzy and ingested it. He then sat down cross-legged and entered meditation, converting the essence of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the plant essence into mind power, replenishing the mental power he had previously expended.

Besides, he could store any remaining essence of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi within his body, in case he ran out of mind power during the process of refining the Soul Summoning Banner.

"Give me the Soul-devouring Blade."

After an unknown period, Wu Mu, his mental power fully restored, suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a strange black gleam.

Ku Rong, hearing the command, didn’t dare delay. He promptly removed the Soul-devouring Blade from his back and handed it to Wu Mu.

The Soul-devouring Blade was roughly a meter long and seven centimeters wide, with a dark, sinister blade and a snow-white edge that was dazzling to the eyes. It had complex patterns engraved on its handle.

As an ancestral treasure of the Nolan clan, passed down through generations, every head of the Nolan Family had practiced blood recognition with the blade, leaving behind a spiritual imprint and making it their life-bound artifact.

Although Wu Mu had traded three magical artifacts with Nolan Mingde for the Soul-devouring Blade, he had not yet erased Mingde’s spiritual imprint within the blade. As such, withdrawing the resentful spirits with his techniques would not be easy.

First, he had to start by erasing Nolan Mingde’s spiritual mark from the Soul-devouring Blade.

As soon as he set his mind to it, a flash of black light shot from Wu Mu’s brow, and an invisible wave of mind power surged from the mind power seed within his forehead into the Soul-devouring Blade, transforming into an intangible blade of consciousness.

Telekinetic Transformation!

This was a technique available only to a Gang Qi Great Success Realm Mage, similar to how a Gang Qi Great Success Realm Martial Artist could physically manifest Gang Qi.

Swish!

The blade of consciousness transformed from Wu Mu’s mental power was incredibly powerful, and it cut through Nolan Mingde’s spiritual imprint in an instant.

With Mingde’s spiritual imprint gone, the Soul-devouring Blade became an ownerless object; the spirits within no longer had any control, instantly lunging towards Wu Mu’s mental projection.

"Hmph!"

Wu Mu let out a cold snort as his mental power evolved again, transforming from a blade into a large net that ensnared the resentful spirit.

Wuwuwu! Wuwuwu!

The resentful spirit was bounded by Wu Mu’s net of mental power and began struggling wildly; ghostly wails resonated within Wu Mu’s mind.

Wu Mu’s consciousness was as unyielding as rock, unshaken. A flash at his brow, and another wave of mental power entered the Soul-devouring Blade, strengthening the net of mind power and greatly increasing its might, rendering the resentful spirit immobile.

Swish!

Having done all this, Wu Mu pulled out a black flag from his backpack. The flag was made from a piece of special cloth adorned with various terrifying patterns, dark as ink and rolling with yin energy.

Ku Rong saw this and his pupils shrunk abruptly.

This flag was the legendary Soul Summoning Banner in its embryonic form, which Wu Mu had once obtained from an ancient tomb. Its age was considerable, its array had dissipated, and it could no longer be classified as a magical artifact. However, Wu Mu was capable of refining it into a fully-formed Soul Summoning Banner.