Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 345 - 343: Ten Thousand Souls Banner (Seeking Monthly Tickets) _1

Chapter 345: Chapter 343: Ten Thousand Souls Banner (Seeking Monthly Tickets) _1

"Indeed... I am not the Saint Child."

Feeling the rejection from the ’Stellar Chessboard,’ Fang Xi sighed. He ultimately was not that kind of peerless genius.

However, even a Saint Child only took control of this treasure upon reaching Perfect Core Formation. Perhaps when he reached Perfect Core Formation, he could try again?

With his mind made up, Fang Xi put the ’Stellar Chessboard’ away, then opened another jade box.

Inside the jade box was a small white bone banner!

A top-grade magical artifact—The Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

It was not only a top-grade magical artifact but also the life-bound magical artifact of that Saint Child, nurtured for many years, waiting only for Nascent Soul stage to promote it to a fourth-rank Spiritual Treasure.

Although Fang Xi had played with other Demon Sect disciples’ demon banners and even controlled various Ghost Kings, the quality of this white bone banner exceeded his expectations.

The banner pole itself was refined from a kind of bone emitting a fierce aura, seemingly the bone of a fourth-rank Transformed Great Demon, infused with countless precious materials and prohibitions. Now the bone was as smooth as jade, shimmering with light.

The banner cloth was even woven from an unknown silk, containing tens of thousands of living souls. Merely holding it in hand, one seemed to hear the faint roars and screams of suffering souls...

"This magical artifact... was somewhat difficult to control at the Core Formation mid-stage, but now it fits just right."

Fang Xi held the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and the overwhelmingly powerful magic power from the Kuyong Skills surged into it, unexpectedly dyeing the banner cloth a greenish-yellow color.

Now his magic power had reached the late stage of Core Formation, and the Kuyong Skills were also top-notch cultivation skills. The magic power instantly surged like a wild dragon, conquering and annexing, battering the banner’s prohibitions and magic markings into disarray. Eventually, he firmly embedded his own magic seal, achieving the initial sacrificial refinement of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

"This Saint Child’s life-bound magical artifact, after my sacrificial refining, not only has its power permanently diminished by several percent, but it also has no chance of promotion to a Spiritual Treasure."

Fang Xi sighed, but did not feel much regret, after all, it was just a transitional magical artifact.

His true life-bound magical artifact, the ’Life-Death Seal,’ was still in the Demonic Tree inside the Mountain Sea Pearl!

Perhaps it was this Treasure Planting Jue that allowed him to avoid the drag of nurturing a life-bound magical artifact, enabling a sudden leap in his magical power, and achieving late Core Formation at the age of two hundred forty-six.

Even among the Core Formation cultivators of the major sects, this achievement was quite remarkable.

As for Individual Cultivators reaching Core Formation? They were even rarer, as many among them were Jia Dan, with most lingering at the early stage of Core Formation for a lifetime.

"Even with only five hundred years of life expectancy, I have around 250 years left to plan for Nascent Soul Formation. What’s more, I won’t have such a short life... my lifespan has now recovered to over two thousand years."

"And the cultivation of the ’Life-Death Seal’ has not been neglected... Maybe by the time I condense my Nascent Soul, this artifact might be promoted to a Spiritual Treasure first, becoming a powerful aid against the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation?"

By this time, Fang Xi was already considering the matter of Nascent Soul Formation.

After all, Nascent Soul cultivators truly belonged to the top echelon of the Cultivation World!

And this barrier was especially difficult to cross.

Fang Xi calculated that he might rely on the ’Kuyong Skills’ and the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ to face the Nascent Soul barrier. For the Heart Demon Tribulation, he had the ’Crossing Extinction Pill,’ and if well-prepared, he could probably count on two Spiritual Treasures to confront the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation!

Such calculations meant his chances of achieving Nascent Soul were enough to make many Nascent Soul cultivators from the major sects envious.

"However, it’s still not enough. I need to accumulate more..."

Fang Xi murmured, his Divine Consciousness probing inch by inch into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The next moment, he got a fright: "This is... tens of thousands of Yin Souls... and three Core Formation Ghost Kings? This aura... no, it’s two mid-stage Core Formation, one late-stage Core Formation Ghost King!"

"And... on the banner cloth, there seems to be another layer of mystery. These prohibitions could form an Array, which, together with the Yin Soul army, would enhance its power!"

"Back then, when the Saint Child confronted me, he really did take it lightly... Otherwise, just by shaking this Ten Thousand Souls Banner, I’m afraid I would have collapsed on the spot..."

Fang Xi checked carefully and found that the three Ghost Kings were somewhat listless, occasionally having to grab a nearby Yin Soul to replenish themselves, which made him even more speechless: "They’ve been starved for a long time... It seems that there were even more living souls in this banner before, but unfortunately I am not the Saint Child. I will not search for blood food for this Demon Banner... Looks like the days of being starved every other day will continue."

"Even so, with this Ten Thousand Souls Banner in hand, even if I reach Perfect Core Formation, I will not be afraid."

Fang Xi thought for a moment and pointed with his hand.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner immediately turned into a stream of light and disappeared into his sleeve.

He stood up, cast a Cleaning Skill to freshen up his robe, and with a slight smile, continued to walk out with the appearance of ’Yun Jiezi.’

"Roar roar!"

The Azure horn Fish Dragon immediately let out a roar and lay down at Fang Xi’s feet.

"Even if you try to please me, I know your time is running out..."

Fang Xi smiled faintly and took the Azure horn Fish Dragon and the Demon Blood Flood Dragon back into the Mountain Sea Pearl.

Then, a banner appeared in his hand, and with a slight shake.

The Yi Wood Divine Light gathered in the sky dissipated, and the intense Qi from the Qing Mu vanished without a trace.

Fang Xi adjusted his aura to the mid-stage of Core Formation and walked out of the Dongfu with his hands behind his back.

"Congratulations, young master, on your advancement to Core Formation mid-stage!"

Feng Bingxian was the first to notice this and immediately fell to her knees with joy.

"Congratulations, young master, on your advancement to Core Formation mid-stage, the prospect for a long life on the Immortal Path is promising."

Jiang Ling and the other maids also promptly followed suit, their hearts filled with excitement.

In the Yuan Country, nearly a hundred Core Formation powers, whether sects or families, mostly relied on early Core Formation to hold their ground, and among them, there was a mix of many Jia Dan and External Pill cultivators.

Recently, Master Yun Jiezi has ascended to the mid-stage of Core Formation, and even among Core Formation forces, the Profound Ice Palace is considered average.

If one day he ascends to the late-stage of Core Formation, then it would be one of the notable Sects just below those of Nascent Soul power!

"Young Master has ascended to the mid-stage of Core Formation... Shall we hold a grand feast for three days and then announce it to all four corners?"

Feng Bingxian asked softly.

If that were the case, she would certainly be the first to notify the Icefiend Sect, eager to witness the disgrace of that old ghost, Xuan Bing!

"That won’t be necessary..."

Fang Xi thought it over and decided to forego it, "I’ve broken through to the mid-stage of Core Formation after only several decades of cultivation... The progression is too rapid, and to avoid jealousy from my fellow Daoists, let’s dispense with the celebration."

In fact, he simply looked down on the trivial gains from the local congratulatory gifts.

So, it was better to avoid trouble altogether.

"However, a small celebration for a day is still appropriate."

Fang Xi looked at the bevy of beauties before him and suddenly smiled...

...

A few days later.

The Profound Ice Palace returned to its usual calm.

Fang Xi was still cultivating in the Little Cold Cave.

After all, following his breakthrough to the later stage, he saw a clear path forward in his magic power development and naturally aimed to quickly perfect his cultivation of the late Core Formation stage and then plan for forming his Nascent Soul.

"This place is actually quite good... A third-grade premium Spiritual Vein, if combined with a Spirit Gathering Array and supplemented with Spirit Stones... it almost rivals a fourth-grade Spiritual Vein, which is sufficient for forming a Nascent Soul."

"I just wonder whether the Kuyong Skills paired with the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ the old ghost spoke of could actually increase the chances of forming the Nascent Soul, whether it’s naturally so, or if it requires pairing with some special method... This old ghost’s refusal to let go of that detail means I really have to attend the centennial appointment."

Fang Xi sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, opening his eyes, quite pleased with the progress of his magic power.

Just then, his expression changed, and he took out a communication jade talisman.

The jade talisman flickered with light, and then formed a line of text—’Congratulations, Sir, on ascending to the mid-stage of Core Formation!’

Fang Xi’s lips curled slightly, as if he could see the disbelief, envy, and jealousy of Master Qingyang on the other end... yet he had to forcibly endure dealing with him...

’He has been beaten up too little in his experiences...’

He sighed in his heart and sent his Divine Consciousness into the jade talisman to reply, ’It is but a stroke of luck, does Sir Qingyang need something?’

This reply from Fang Xi came off more like a player who discards others after use.

He clearly felt a pause from the other side before receiving a response—’Two special talisman making skills in exchange for you taking action once, how about it?’

"Hehe... Is this a price reduction?"

"However, I initially wanted a talisman-making skill only because I already had half of a secret method, and mainly it was for researching void-based Spirit Marks..."

"Taking action... now that the Green Leaf Commerce Association and the Blood Sect have some friction, with both their Nascent Soul old monsters’ astuteness, they might well have seen someone is causing mischief. It’s possible they’re just putting on a show of conflict on the surface, while secretly catching a rat..."

"The Heaven Alliance isn’t daring to act on its own, now they want to coax me into action... Do I look like the type to take the fall for others?"

Fang Xi looked at the communication jade talisman, his expression full of speechlessness.

Even with his substantial advancement in cultivation, he had no desire to get entangled in the strife among Nascent Soul powers.

After some thought, he decided to refuse outright, citing the need to seclude himself to consolidate his cultivation after his recent breakthrough.

"No matter how you dress it up, I’m the tiger who won’t leave his den—you can’t do a thing about me."

"Hiding in my tower makes one invincible, watching the Cultivation World’s upheavals and transformations is quite interesting."

Having made up his mind, Fang Xi continued to close his eyes and entered the next round of cultivation.

...

A nameless underground cave somewhere.

Master Qingyang’s expression changed unpredictably before he finally let go.

The jade talisman he held had cracked into several pieces and fell to the ground without a trace.

"Heh... I heard that Yun Jiezi of the Profound Ice Palace made Master Qingyang eat humble pie. Could it be the same today?"

A frivolous voice suddenly appeared.

Master Qingyang’s eyes lit up as a young man in a golden robe appeared, both shocked and delighted, "It’s Wei, my junior brother! Our sect has even dispatched you..."

Although this junior brother looked young, it was purely because he had broken through major realms very early and hadn’t relied on Wrinkle-Resisting Pills!

He possessed a Heavenly Grade Golden Spirit Root, achieved Foundation Establishment as a teenager, Core Formation in his sixties, and now, not even two hundred years old, had already reached mid-stage Core Formation cultivation.

Esteemed and cherished by the sect, he was regarded as a Nascent Soul seed.

"I felt that my cultivation was advancing too quickly, and the surge in magic power wasn’t conducive to overcoming the bottleneck of late-stage Core Formation, so I thought it would be good to refine myself and relax. Hearing that Master Qingyang was in a predicament, I came to help."

Wei, the junior brother, showed a naive smile, "Yun Jiezi of the Profound Ice Palace has taken the bait several times but hasn’t been hooked... why not let this junior take action and assure Master Qingyang of a resolution?"