Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 33: On the Road

The carriage wheels creaked and groaned.

In the fading twilight, the wheels crushed the flying dust beneath them, racing swiftly down the road.

Shrubs and thickets blurred past.

The trees on either side retreated at high speed,

Leaving the herds of wild beasts far behind.

The driver cracked his whip, urging the horses on.

The three carriages formed a small convoy, each bearing a black banner. Even bandits, upon seeing this flag, would never dare to make a move.

Old Commander Bai chewed on dry rations, washing them down with cold water.

His hawk-like eyes scanned the darkness in the forest.

Something flickered faintly within, keeping its distance, trailing them from afar.

Old Bai furrowed his brows, his weathered face etched with sharp, axe-carved lines.

“Faster,” he barked. “This place reeks of trouble.”

If the immortal masters had still been alive, there’d be no need for such tension. But reality was cruel.

When they set out for the county city, there had been over twenty people, including two immortal masters.

Now, they still numbered the same but those two immortal masters lay lifeless in the rear compartments of the carriages.

Summer had arrived. The rising heat was quickly melting even the ice kept in cellars.

So, back in Eight Directions County City, they had called upon a physician to perform preservation rites.

If the corpses began to stink, an outbreak of disease would be a far greater problem.

The living must return and the dead must be brought home.

They had to transport the immortal masters' remains back to Liang City.

All other belongings had been carefully packed away. No one dared to touch them casually.

Every item would be delivered to the Offering Pavilion in Liang City.

As dusk deepened, the creatures lurking in the dark woods felt like sharks catching the scent of blood, staring hungrily at the convoy.

Tu Shanjun awoke.

After his spiritual power was exhausted, his body crumbled and returned to the Soul Banner as black smoke.

He had spent the past days slowly repairing his physical form.

Li Qingfeng’s soul had entered the Soul Banner.

It wasn’t summoned by Tu Shanjun, but rather drawn in naturally upon his death.

The soul had no consciousness, no clarity.

It drifted in a haze unable to speak, unable to listen. Indistinguishable from any other soul.

Tu Shanjun remained silent for a long time.

His expression was complicated.

Remorse.

Hesitation.

And a flood of unfulfilled promises surged in his heart.

He opened his mouth but no words came.

What would be the point of speaking?

It would only comfort himself. Could Li Qingfeng even hear anymore?

Surrounded by evil spirits, Tu Shanjun still felt deeply alone.

As alone as before.

At least he was no longer powerless.

But even with strength, he had failed to keep his promise.

What could be more bitter than that?

“Dying means you weren’t strong enough.”

“Failing to save him means I’m not strong enough,” Tu Shanjun murmured softly.

His voice rasped like iron plates grinding together, harsh and jarring,

Grating to the ears, and to the soul.

Tu Shanjun had originally thought that the Banner Master would be treated specially, or that the Revered Soul Banner would offer some sort of privilege.

But from the looks of it, even the Banner Master had no immunity.

Which also ruled out the possibility that Zhao Shixian was pretending.

With so many new souls gathered, Tu Shanjun's strength had soared, he now stood firmly at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.

Banner Name: Revered Soul Banner

Banner Master:

Rank: Superior-Grade Magical Tool

Banner-Soul Unity (Passive): Absorbing fiendish qi and living souls enhances the banner’s power and rank.

Backlash (Passive): If the banner master’s cultivation and spiritual sense cannot suppress the banner soul, the soul may devour the master and refine them into a Banner Slave.

Soul Harvest: Extracts souls from the dead and traps ghostly spirits below the banner soul’s strength. (Current primary soul's strength: Qi Refining Sixth Layer)

Soul Storage: Stores ghostly souls within the banner (Current: 109/1000)

Repair: Consumes fiendish qi and souls to mend the banner or heal the soul.

Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts: Releases all stored ghosts within the banner to unleash a coordinated soul-art assault.

Soul Condensation Pill: Converts absorbed wandering yin souls and fiend energy into Yin Soul Pills, which aid the banner master’s cultivation. (One pill every twenty-four hours. Absorbing more spirits accelerates the process.)

Zhang Wanlong’s soul was at second layer Qi Refining.

After using “Soul Inquiry,” Tu Shanjun found it identical to the results from Zhang Gui.

The stocky cultivator was almost at fourth layer.

“Soul Inquiry.”

[Extracted:]

[Turtle Spirit Breath-Holding Technique]

[Qi Nourishing Foundation Arts (Initial Volume)]

As the name implied, the Turtle Spirit technique was for concealing one's aura.

It allowed the user to suppress their spiritual presence and mask the aura of cultivation. Surprisingly decent.

The Qi Nourishing technique, however, was plain and common.

Any beginner could buy it in the market for half a spirit stone.

It was widespread and utterly unremarkable.

Progress was slow.

Judging by the man’s bone age, he was already past thirty.

Only at third layer at this age, his future was bleak. No path to immortality.

Still, he had carved out a place in the mortal world and joined the Offering Pavilion.

He could start a family, form a small clan, and pass down the cultivation art.

Eventually, a descendant with good spiritual roots might walk the path to immortality.

After harvesting his skills, Tu Shanjun turned to the middle-aged cultivator who had called himself Wen Lichun.

“Soul Inquiry.”

[Extracted:]

[Bell Control Technique]

[Nether Spirit Arts (Fragment)]

[Refining Insights (Pseudo)]

Three skill seeds shot into Tu Shanjun’s mind.

He immediately understood them.

The bell control technique was specifically for controlling soul-capturing bells.

This explained why the item had affected his ghost body, causing him such frustration in combat.

As a technique for manipulating an item, it wasn’t very useful to Tu Shanjun.

But the Qi Refining technique was interesting. It included all five elements and had a fairly high grade.

From Wen Lichun’s experience, the progress was swift. Surprisingly, its first three layers were more intricate than the Blood Fiend Grand Method.

Unfortunately, it was incomplete. Only the first three layers remained.

Without a full manual, future progress would be very difficult.

Though Tu Shanjun could absorb experiences and insights from others, he was still a beginner in cultivation.

He could mimic perhaps but completing a broken technique was far beyond him.

Without a solid foundation, even genius could not shortcut mastery.

What intrigued Tu Shanjun most was the "Refining Insights (Pseudo)."

This was Wen Lichun’s self-learned and compiled knowledge of artifact refining.

Though he couldn’t forge true magical tools, he could create pseudo artifacts of lesser grade.

Such items weren’t of much use to cultivators, but in the mundane world, they were legendary weapons.

Moreover, a person who could develop their own understanding just by studying had commendable talent.

All of this had now fallen into Tu Shanjun’s hands.

It turned out these cultivators carried all sorts of strange and useful things.

Unfortunately, as a soul banner, Tu Shanjun couldn't retrieve their storage talismans.

Time passed unnoticed on the road.

There was no sun or moon inside the banner.

Tu Shanjun could only count the soul pearls to measure time. In these days, the banner had condensed seven soul pearls by absorbing the surrounding baleful energy.

That meant seven days had passed.

If he counted from that day, today would be Li Qingfeng’s seventh-day memorial.

Tu Shanjun’s expression remained calm, but a complicated light flickered in his eyes.

Ascend to immortality!

This thought further solidified Tu Shanjun’s determination to become an immortal.

Perhaps achieving immortality could resolve the current situation.

Reverse life and death, reclaim a human body.

Escape the cage.

Begin a new life.

(Chapter End)

TL error, Soul Condensation Pill forms a pill every 24 hours, not 12.