Soul of the Revered Banner
Chapter 53: Seizing the Treasure

Shizhu looked in the direction of the voice.

The one who had called out to him was a tall, thin middle-aged man with a goatee, dressed in a long robe.

The man’s cheeks were sunken, his brows clouded with gloom, and his eyes were unnervingly sharp, so sharp they made people instinctively want to look away.

Shizhu was no exception, but he still stopped and asked, “Who are you? What’s the matter?”

Zhou Liang narrowed his eyes. A faint aura of baleful energy lingered around Shizhu.

But it didn’t seem like the kind that lingers after taking a life. Rather, it seemed like the inherent grayish baleful energy that naturally came from certain rare and spiritual items.

That immediately piqued his interest.

He didn’t even glance at the magical fluctuations coming from the Marquis estate.

In fact, it worked in his favor, those fluctuations had drawn the other loose cultivators from the Offering Pavilion, making his movements less conspicuous.

“Is this the residence of Xiang Hu, Baihu Commander Xiang?” Zhou Liang glanced at the doorway of Xiang Hu’s home, then looked back at Shizhu.

Shizhu didn’t try to hide it. He nodded. “It is. But Commander Xiang no longer serves, he was reassigned to the city prison.”

“I’ve still got matters to attend to, so if you’ll excuse me.” He cupped his hands to take his leave.

“Wait.”

“What more do you want?” Shizhu placed a hand on his waist saber, his tone growing impatient.

Xiang Hu had entrusted him with an important task, he didn’t have time to stand around chatting.

Besides, this man showed no reaction upon seeing an Embroidered Guard. As if he didn’t care at all about the uniform.

Though brash, Shizhu had learned some instincts over the years. This man was clearly no ordinary civilian.

“I’m a cultivator from the Offering Pavilion,” Zhou Liang revealed his identity.

He pulled off the badge hanging at his waist and tossed it to Shizhu.

Shizhu caught it steadily. Feeling the material, he flipped it over and saw four gilded characters: "Great Liang Offering Cultivator."

“I didn’t recognize the immortal master, please forgive my rudeness.” Shizhu immediately lowered his head and returned the badge with both hands.

Zhou Liang used a flick of magic to retrieve it: “No blame. I merely wish to ask you something.”

“Please ask, immortal master.”

“A month ago, when you were transporting the corpse of the cultivators from the Offering Pavilion, did you acquire anything from the demonic cultivator?”

Shizhu furrowed his brow in thought, then shook his head. “No, nothing.”

Zhou Liang didn’t believe that. If there really had been nothing, then how could he explain the baleful energy around this soldier?

“Tell me everything that happened during the transport, every detail.”

Shizhu recalled those strange few days.

They had been bizarre enough that he remembered them well.

Tu Shanjun caught the scent of a familiar bloodthirsty aura.

The goateed man in front of him was a cultivator and not just any, but one who practiced the Blood Fiend Grand Method.

Which meant this person was likely one of the other offering cultivators of Liang City.

In that case, he had probably seen Li Qingfeng’s corpse.

Tu Shanjun couldn’t be more familiar with the scent of the Blood Fiend Grand Method.

Shizhu thought carefully.

His mind drifted back over the past half month.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

Something he hadn’t paid attention to before. But now, remembering the item tucked in the lining of his coat, his expression changed drastically.

He reached instinctively toward it, only to forcibly stop himself, instead scratching at his chest like he was itchy.

That tiny movement didn’t escape Zhou Liang’s watchful eyes.

He didn’t believe it was just an itch.

“Soldier, what are you hiding in your coat?”

Shizhu quickly forced a grin and said, “Please don’t misunderstand, immortal master. It’s just the leftover half of a pancake from this morning.”

“I was checking to see if it was still there. If it’s gone, I’ll be going hungry at noon.”

He smiled humbly, head lowered.

Trying to be convincing, Shizhu even pulled out a half-eaten, hardened pancake from inside his coat.

But Zhou Liang didn’t believe a word of it.

That brief moment earlier had been far too unusual, there was no way the thing had been a stale pancake.

“Hand it over,” the goateed cultivator said calmly, reaching out.

“It really is half a pancake.”

“Don’t make me take it by force.”

His face turned grim, and spiritual energy surged around him.

Shizhu turned and ran.

Whatever he was hiding, Xiang Hu had entrusted it to him. He couldn’t give it to this man.

Even if it was just some ordinary item, what if this cultivator decided to take it for himself?

Shizhu didn’t dare bet that the man would return it.

And if it truly was a treasure? There was no way he could let the cultivator see it.

Bang!

The goateed cultivator struck.

Shizhu staggered from the blow.

The palm-sized jade object hidden in his coat slipped out through an opening.

Shizhu stumbled and scrambled forward, trying to snatch it back.

But another hand was faster.

Zhou Liang had held back on that strike, he didn’t want to kill the man, or he wouldn’t be able to ask questions.

But he never expected that this blow would actually produce something.

He picked up the soul banner, still unaware of what it was.

Cold to the touch, faintly emanating baleful energy, and strange beyond words.

After examining it, he realized what it was.

It was a Soul Banner, Revered Soul Banner.

A magical tool described in the Blood Fiend Grand Method manuals.

Disciples of the Blood Fiend Sect who reached the Qi Refining stage would typically refine a Revered Soul Banner as their primary magical tool.

Zhou Liang poured his spiritual energy into it.

The palm-sized banner instantly grew to three feet in length.

Its surface unfurled, twisted grotesque face of an evil spirit appeared, seemingly ready to leap out at any moment.

“Magical tool, a Revered Soul Banner!”

Zhou Liang was incoherent with excitement.

His eyes were filled with awe and astonishment.

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

The Blood Fiend Grand Method explicitly included a technique called Banner Control.

Yet when they had received the corpse of that demonic cultivator, there had been no sign of this banner.

Only two items had been sent with the corpse, one being a traditional sword used by righteous cultivators.

So this was the missing Revered Soul Banner.

It had been taken by the Embroidered Guard soldier escorting the corpses and hidden away for over a month.

If not for the arrival of that high-ranking Five Spirits Sect cultivator from Eight Directions County, they would all still be clueless.

Only thanks to his sharp instincts and attention to small clues had Zhou Liang discovered the truth.

Otherwise, this magical tool would’ve slipped through his fingers.

Barely restraining his laughter, Zhou Liang raised the banner in his hand.

[Bind new banner master?]

“Bind.”

Tu Shanjun made the decision to bind.

Since this man was a cultivator of the Offering Pavilion and now held the banner, of course he would bind it.

“A primary soul ghost more powerful than me?”

“Attack spell, ‘Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts!’”

“Nearly two hundred souls, and there are actually several resentful yin spirits of Qi Refining cultivators!”

Zhou Liang’s breathing turned ragged, his chest heaving. His eyes bloodshot.

He was almost delirious with excitement.

It was a blessing from the heavens.

A treasure falling from the sky.

No wonder that high-ranking cultivator had chased it across the region, this was a superior-grade magical tool!

Forget loose cultivators, even sect cultivators might not get their hands on a superior-grade weapon.

Owning a mid-grade magic tool was already enough to drain the savings of a mid-to-late Qi Refining cultivator, often requiring borrowed help from friends.

And yet today, he had gotten his hands on a superior-grade magical tool.

“Hahaha!”

Zhou Liang raised the three-foot-long Soul Banner and laughed loudly.

With this in hand, who cared about being an Offering cultivator of Great Liang?

The vast world was his to roam freely.

“Put it down. That belongs to me.”

Shizhu, coughing up blood, grabbed Zhou Liang’s ankle and roared.

“Yours?”

Zhou Liang’s smile vanished. His eyes went cold.

“You die, and it’s mine.”

“Oh, right.

“I should thank you all for keeping it safe. Otherwise, I’d never have snatched it from Old Daoist Lu and the rest.”

“Since that’s the case, I’ll be merciful and grant you the honor to join the banner. You can become one of the soul servants.”

With that, Zhou Liang raised his foot, now shrouded in spiritual power.

This stomp would be enough to crush Shizhu’s head, even if he was a third-rate martial artist.

Inside the Revered Soul Banner, Tu Shanjun furrowed his brows.

“Backlash!”

(Chapter End)