Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 32: Broken Promise

Spiritual power surged into the Revered Soul Banner.

The banner’s surface instantly stretched out as Tu Shanjun wrapped the heavily injured Li Qingfeng onto his back.

His legs bent, then erupted with explosive force as he leapt past the grand gate in an instant.

The cultivator in tortoiseshell armor swiftly swallowed a pill and charged up again to block him.

“Anyone who blocks me dies!”

Tu Shanjun roared.

His ghostly form surged with energy, and both fists burst forward with force.

Boom.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Then ten punches.

If ten couldn’t, then a hundred.

Ghostly fists, swift and brutal, rained down like hammers on the tortoiseshell magic armor of the stocky cultivator.

In mere seconds, cracks began to spider across the surface of the artifact.

The stocky cultivator’s face twisted in horror.

“How is this possible?!”

Even his spiritual power shield was on the verge of collapse.

Panicking, he turned to Wen Lichun and cried out, “Help me!”

“Break!!”

Tu Shanjun bellowed.

Today, he was going to take Li Qingfeng away.

No one could stop him!

Boom!

The tortoiseshell armor shattered with a deafening crash, and the stocky cultivator spat out three large mouthfuls of blood. His once rosy complexion turned ashen in an instant.

“Why aren’t you attacking?!”

Jingle-jingle-

The infused spell bell rang out, its sound weaving invisible ripples like a net that bound Tu Shanjun in place.

“Swift!”

The ebony sword once more came flying.

Sword light whirled, slicing past Tu Shanjun.

Invisible sword qi flayed his flesh, tearing deep gashes as blood poured out.

Before he could force his way out, three cultivators formed a triangle around him, boxing him in.

Tu Shanjun’s fists trembled slightly.

Shattering the magic tool had left his hands showing signs of collapse.

His crimson ghost eyes scanned the three cultivators warily.

Living cultivators were truly troublesome foes.

Thankfully, among them, there was still a soft one he could crush.

Rather than injure ten fingers, better to break one outright.

As long as there was bloodshed, there would be an opening.

The young immortal master’s gaze darkened.

It was only by luck that he had struck this ghost before. Now, with the stocky cultivator wounded, killing the ghost would be much harder.

He had thought Li Qingfeng was the threat. But no, the real danger was the artifact in his hand: that Revered Soul Banner and the brutal ghost bound within it.

This ghost wasn’t just powerful, it excelled at close-quarters combat, its fists wielded like divine weapons.

And more than that, it was cunning, sharper than most humans.

Nothing like those naturally born muddled ghosts.

Cough-

At the moment the cultivator coughed up blood, Tu Shanjun moved.

A few quick steps closed the gap.

The oppressive aura of the ghost overwhelmed the cultivator, causing his breath to hitch in terror.

And just like that, an opening.

In battle, once breathing faltered, spiritual power couldn’t circulate properly, and the cultivator’s energy would stagnate, this was the most vulnerable moment.

Tu Shanjun seized it.

Amid chaos, he struck with precision, plucking fire from the flames.

The ghost hand slammed down like a hammer-

Boom!

The stocky cultivator’s head shattered like a broken jar.

Red and white splattered everywhere.

Tu Shanjun yanked out his soul and tossed it into the Revered Soul Banner.

With a third layer cultivator’s soul added, Tu Shanjun’s strength surged.

He was now only one step from the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Had it not been for that tortoiseshell artifact protecting the man, he would have long since died under Tu Shanjun’s fists.

There’d have been no need for all this scheming.

The banner devoured the living soul of the Qi Refining cultivator, Tu Shanjun’s wounds began to heal, his torn fists regenerating, even the sword cuts closing up.

Even the pierced injuries stopped bleeding.

Whether Wen Lichun failed to rescue his comrade in time, or simply didn’t intend to help, no one could say.

Even as blood sprayed across the hall, Wen Lichun’s expression remained unchanged. If anything, his gaze burned even brighter as he stared at Tu Shanjun.

So powerful.

A Qi Refining third layer cultivator had been obliterated in a single strike.

A low-grade magic tool had been smashed apart with just fists.

And this was done by just one evil spirit contained within the Revered Soul Banner.

This magical tool was definitely a treasure!

“Could it be… a top-grade magical tool?” Wen Lichun suppressed his excitement, gripping his sword tightly.

As he pondered, the guardian immortal master made his move.

The ebony sword returned to his hand. He swallowed a fiery red pill and clutched several long, rectangular talismans.

“Kill!”

The command was sharp and resolute.

The immortal master charged straight at Tu Shanjun.

With Li Qingfeng on his back, Tu Shanjun had no choice but to meet the attack head-on.

In an instant, the two clashed in fierce combat.

Wen Lichun didn’t stay idle either, he joined the battle.

The entire main hall was thrown into chaos.

Half of it had already been reduced to ruins.

Now, only the central dome remained, barely held up by a few strained columns, teetering on collapse.

Tu Shanjun’s fists landed with meaty thuds.

But the immortal master was protected by golden light, though it was weaker than the tortoiseshell armor, it still deflected much of the damage.

Tu Shanjun, on the other hand, accumulated more wounds with every exchange.

If this dragged on, once Li Qingfeng’s spiritual power ran out, they would be lambs awaiting slaughter.

He needed to break the stalemate.

And that damned Wen Lichun kept using his bell to harass Tu Shanjun.

Their already disadvantageous battle was tipping further out of balance.

“I must kill one of them, just one. If I can break through to Qi Refining sixth layer, I can turn this around.”

Tu Shanjun waited for his chance.

He noticed Wen Lichun constantly targeting his back, clearly aiming to kill Li Qingfeng.

To protect him, Tu Shanjun had to reposition again and again, facing the two attackers directly.

In the flurry of movement, more wounds opened on his body.

The immortal master frowned. He felt these underhanded tactics were despicable but he couldn’t bring himself to reprimand them.

On the battlefield, any move that worked was a good move. No one had time for honor or pride.

The priority was still to destroy the ghost and the Revered Soul Banner.

Meanwhile, Wen Lichun was plotting.

Why not use this ghost to get rid of this Five Spirits Sect disciple?

No one would know exactly what happened anyway and there’d be one less person to split the spoils.

The Five Spirits Sect would reclaim their disciple’s belongings but that fatty's items were still in the storage talisman.

Wen Lichun immediately decided to pretend to be low on spiritual power. The bell’s suppressive effects weakened accordingly.

That way, the core disciple would shoulder most of the pressure.

If he loosened his grip just a little, the whole tide might turn.

The immortal master’s expression grew grim. That loose cultivator’s spiritual power seemed depleted.

Now, he was shouldering 70% of the pressure. The situation was becoming critical.

Tu Shanjun, sensing the opportunity, suppressed his inner joy and began to shift closer to Wen Lichun while maintaining his defense.

Since someone had already shown signs of depletion, this could serve perfectly as the breakthrough point.

“Die!”

Feigning exhaustion himself, Tu Shanjun was the first to launch an attack.

Wen Lichun’s eyes went wide. Flustered, he scrambled to summon his spiritual power.

He reached for his bell, never expecting the ghost to be faking too.

Why didn't it attack the guardian immortal master, who was shouldering seventy percent of the pressure, and instead targeted him?

He had forgotten that in battle, you always go for the softest target.

The bell was slapped flying in an instant.

At the same time, a ghost claw shattered Wen Lichun’s skull.

His living soul at the fourth layer Qi Refining was seized and thrown into the Revered Soul Banner.

Tu Shanjun’s power immediately broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Roar!

A piercing ghost wail tore through the air.

“Shit!”

The immortal master’s expression crumbled, ashen-faced.

The ghost had broken through mid-battle after devouring another soul and had become even stronger.

Boom!

Tu Shanjun slammed his palm into the immortal master’s chest.

The golden protection flared, then vanished.

The immortal master was blasted backwards, snapping a column of the central hall and causing the already precarious ceiling to collapse.

Crash!

Broken wood and shattered stone flew everywhere.

Dust billowed in thick clouds.

Tu Shanjun, bracing his body, shielded Li Qingfeng beneath his ribs.

He bore the full weight of the falling debris.

Only once it ceased collapsing did he dare move.

But at that moment, Tu Shanjun felt the spiritual power sustaining him begin to fade.

He reached down and checked the breath of the man under his arm.

His body trembled slightly.

Li Qingfeng’s face was serene.

But there was no longer any life in it.

The last spiritual stone in his hand had crumbled into dust, yet he still clutched it tightly.

Even in death, he hadn’t stopped channeling spiritual power into the Revered Soul Banner.

Li Qingfeng… was dead.

Tu Shanjun could feel his own form dimming.

He was being pulled back into the Revered Soul Banner.

“Ahhh!”

A wail of grief erupted from him.

Ghostly energy surged, lingering in the air.

Tu Shanjun clenched his fists.

And slammed them against the ground with all his might.

He…

He had broken his word.

He had said he’d take Li Qingfeng out of there.

He had promised.

Drip.

A single crystalline drop fell to the floor.

(Chapter End)

And Li Qingfeng had just started growing on me too, sigh...