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墨書 Inktalez
In the midnight of Luliang, it was eerily quiet.
In recent years, large groups of strange creatures had occasionally appeared in the mountains. The small beasts dared not stray far from their homes, but the large carnivorous mountain beasts, naturally sensitive to danger, had long since fled the deep mountains without looking back. Packs of wolves often roamed the yellow earth plains to the west, and even tigers and leopards were sighted.
In times of peace, such unusual phenomena would have drawn people's attention. But now, with battles raging everywhere, no one knew if they would survive today to see tomorrow; who would care about the unusual migrations of beasts?
Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed, resembling thunder on dry ground. One explosion followed another, and more than a dozen fire pillars shot up into the sky from the direction of the deep mountains of Luliang, clearly visible even from the distant yellow earth plains to the west. Thick black smoke surged upward like a malevolent dragon, spiraling into the sky. Before long, it seemed as if it were snowing; foul-smelling white ash drifted with the wind, even reaching the outer yellow earth plains. When the wind blew, it dissipated without a trace.
After a long while, the booming explosions finally ceased, and the flames gradually faded. The deep mountains returned to silence once more, but it was an even deeper silence; not a sound could be heard. Even the insects were too frightened to chirp.
Li Hong stood atop one of the mountain peaks and clapped his hands with a smile, saying, "It's all blown away! These things are a menace; since the Demon Sect Monster won't take them away, why keep them? They'll just turn into deadly poison when it rains!"
"Fire Glaze is great! How did I not think of this? That girl Chu Xi is clever; tsk tsk, kid..." Spirit Stone wanted to continue but noticed Li Hong's expression darken and had to change his words: "Be cautious. If the Demon Sect Monster knows we’ve blown up their Walking Corpse squad, they'll definitely come attacking."
"That's perfect; my Corpse Collection Bottle hasn't been used yet!" Li Hong replied coldly.
The two figures slipped away into the night, blending almost indistinguishably with the dark mountain rocks.
Outside the mountains, elders who had just been summoned back immediately rejoined the patrol and supply team. Currently without any supply missions, the Patrol Team had completely transformed into a combat unit. Over fifty seasoned fighters with battle experience joined in, including Elders Ling Yi Zi, Ling Xiangzi, and Ling Daozi, which truly lifted everyone's spirits.
Tonight at midnight, they would act in unison, deploying personnel in four directions to first blow up those strange unmoving Walking Corpses to lure out the Demon Sect Monster. This would be a tough battle.
As time passed slowly, Li Hong suddenly moved and raised a hand. The elders lying in ambush behind him immediately understood—something was coming!
Li Hong's heart beat steadily as he slowly raised his upper body, his body tense and ready to spring into action. Suddenly he shot up into the air like an arrow released from its bow. Those behind him saw a flash of golden light and immediately followed suit.
In the high sky, Li Hong pounced like a hungry tiger onto the newly manifested group of Demons. The Five Elements Shuttle flashed with brilliance, and several muffled groans echoed simultaneously. With a whoosh, another bolt of Iridescence swiftly struck, and before two Demons could comprehend the situation, they were torn apart.
Two Black Lights swiftly darted out from the blood rain. Li Hong sneered and tossed something into the air. The newly named "Corpse Collection Bottle" aimed directly at the two Black Lights. It managed to ensnare one, but that Black Light twisted desperately like a snake, producing muffled cries. After a brief struggle, it was sucked into the "Corpse Collection Bottle" with a whoosh. The remaining Black Light, terrified, fled in a zigzag pattern, drawing a large circle in the night. The Spirit Stone had long been watching and silently aimed in that direction before hurling the "Corpse Collection Bottle" fiercely.
With precise vision, it narrowly grazed the Black Light. Before the Black Light could even let out a cry, it was sucked in, and the "Corpse Collection Bottle" quickly flew back to the Spirit Stone's side. The Spirit Stone leisurely sniffed the jade bottle and muttered to itself, "Such a good jade bottle has gained such a bad reputation; I must rename it 'Send You to the Afterlife Bottle!'" It chuckled and stored away the jade bottle before no longer hiding its tracks and swiftly charged towards the nearest Demon, shouting, "Today, I will send you to your end!"
Li Hong simultaneously shouted, "We can't let the Demons gather to form their evil formation! Brothers, charge in and kill them all!"
The Five Elements Shuttle and Lingyi danced into a swift Whirlwind, intercepting a Demon and starting a fierce battle. The Elders displayed their powers, creating countless small battle groups in the sky.
Above Mount Lüliang at midnight, bursts of strange multicolored flashes erupted intermittently. Dreamlike and ephemeral like bubbles, they were as fleeting as life itself—just a flash before being extinguished in the river of time.
********
At dawn, the battle concluded.
This time, the Demon Sect Monster was ambushed by the Nine Li Sect. Caught off guard and forced to respond hastily, they immediately lost nearly half their forces. This was a significant loss; even Yin Dan couldn't escape. The remaining Demons were terrified beyond measure and had no idea where the Nine Li Sect had obtained such "evil" treasures that had drained their fighting spirit. Thus, the outcome of this battle was predictable.
Twenty "Corpse Collection Bottles," or rather "Send You to the Afterlife Bottles," displayed their might in this battle. Afterward, everyone counted on their fingers and found that they had eliminated over one hundred and fifty Demons at or above Golden Core Stage cultivation while suffering only about ten serious injuries on their side without any fatalities. Moreover, over ten thousand Walking Corpses that had plagued Nine Li Sect for months were completely wiped out.
A monumental victory in history.
The entire Nine Li Sect erupted in celebration. The Patrol Team stepped through the Mountain Gate amidst thunderous cheers. Ling Xuzi personally awaited them with a beaming smile at the front of the formation, flanked by thousands of lower-ranking disciples ready to welcome them back triumphantly.
In the crowd, Li Hong flashed with golden light and disappeared; he needed to hurry to Artifact Hall to find Yue Changzi.
The aftermath of victory arrived, as his "Corpse Collection Bottle" could not withstand the massive explosion of Yin Power. In this battle, Li Hong personally killed eleven Demons and absorbed a total of twenty-five Yin Dan, including those from passing foes. As a result, the "Corpse Collection Bottle" buzzed incessantly, and just moments ago, it suddenly exploded.
The explosion occurred within the Cosmic Bag. At that moment, Li Hong was jolted and startled. As his Divine Consciousness probed into the Cosmic Bag, he immediately discovered a strange phenomenon.
After the "Corpse Collection Bottle" shattered, countless black gases emerged, swirling like living beings within the space of the Cosmic Bag. Then the strangest thing happened: all the black gases surged into a black flag and vanished.
This large black flag was one of the commonly used treasures by Demon Sect Monsters, nearly everyone had one. Li Hong frequently dealt with them but did not know when he had acquired one for himself in his Cosmic Bag. After thinking for a long time, he recalled that during the great battle at the Western Region Exit, he had killed a Demon. At that time, the Demon’s Yin Dan had fled, and this large flag fell from mid-air. Without even looking at it, he tossed it into his Cosmic Bag and had completely forgotten about it over time.
Fortunately, aside from this strange occurrence, nothing else in the Cosmic Bag was affected; otherwise, he would have been heartbroken over so many precious items.
With a thought, an identification popped into his mind regarding this strange flag: "Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banner, a mid-grade artifact that can be upgraded, with an extreme Yin nature."
Li Hong's heart raced as he dashed straight to the Artifact Hall.
********
"Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banner?" Yue Changzi pondered as he looked at the shimmering black flag on the table.
"Yes, that's what the Cosmic Bag named it. If it weren't for today's anomaly, I would have truly forgotten that I had once confiscated this strange flag from a Demon Sect Monster," Li Hong said sheepishly while scratching his head.
Now this flag was different; after absorbing so much black gas, it began to shimmer with black light, and strange black lines continuously moved across its surface.
Yue Changzi suggested, "You should ask the Patrol Team if anyone else has confiscated similar items so we can compare."
"That makes sense!" Li Hong replied as he turned to leave.
Before long, he returned empty-handed. "Nothing, just this piece. Everything else was destroyed. I've heard that some were captured, but they all say this thing is ominous and cursed, and it was destroyed upon acquisition."
Yue Changzi tried to channel spiritual energy through the Flagpole, and suddenly the Black Light surged. A stream of black mist swiftly entered Yue Changzi's palm from the Flagpole. The black mist slithered up his arm like a serpent, turning his entire arm black. He hurriedly stepped back, his body igniting with flames as he quickly activated the Nine Departures Scripture, forcibly expelling the black mist from his body. His face turned pale.
"This black mist is alive and toxic! Just now, I heard someone screaming and shouting, Ancestor above! This thing is indeed cursed!" Yue Changzi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, still shaken.
The black mist dispersed into the air and vanished as if it had never existed.
Li Hong's mind stirred as he formed the Summoning Technique. There was no response.
The Artifact Hall had always been a place for forging weapons, a land of Extreme Yang where no yin spirits had ever appeared. Li Hong knew this well, but for some reason, he felt that the black mist resembled a Yin Spirit. Having fought with Demons multiple times, he recalled that each of their Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banners would indeed unleash Yin Spirits; it should be a Yin Spirit without a doubt.
But why did the black mist that resembled a Yin Spirit appear only to vanish? Li Hong was puzzled and thought aloud: "I think this Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banner might be similar to our Flying Sword in form but different in level. I've seen Demon Sect Monsters wielding smaller Black Banners that were even more powerful and carried potent poison. That poison was far more dangerous than this; even with your Early Stage of Nascent Soul cultivation, Master, I doubt you could expel it in such a short time."
"Wait a moment, I need to record this; it's a significant discovery." Yue Changzi's spirit lifted as he immediately embraced his old tradition of taking notes.
He wrote furiously and then asked, "What else?"
"Also, several Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banners can be combined to form a demon formation. I've dealt with at least two types of demon formations before. Once I heard a Demon mention something called the Underworld Formation; it's somewhat like Restrictions that trap people inside. There's another similar one that I'll tentatively call the Minor Netherworld Formation. However, the first formation doesn't have potent poison, while the latter does; ghostly claws with deadly poison extend from the Flag. I suspect this is due to the different levels of these Soul Summoning and Spirit Refining Banners."
Yue Changzi listened intently, his eyes sparkling with focus.
Li Hong smiled; whenever this artifact master heard anything related to "artifacts" or something he didn't understand, he always wore this expression.
"Don't laugh; have you thought of anything else?"
"Also, the Flagpole and Flag will be separated, becoming two different treasures, each with its own function."
"What else?"
Li Hong racked his brain, spreading his hands: "That's it... Master..."
"Don't interrupt, I need to think carefully." Yue Changzi interrupted Li Hong, frowning in thought while quickly jotting down notes.
Li Hong had no choice but to wait.
After a while, Yue Changzi said, "Go and invite Yun Jiuzi, my Great-Granduncle. His cultivation is high; I want to use him for an experiment."
Li Hong hesitated and said, "Master, I came to you about the Corpse Collection Bottle, not for this..."
"Hurry up! I think I've made a significant discovery!" Yue Changzi waved his sleeve dramatically, and Li Hong was involuntarily propelled out the door, leaving him to smile wryly as he went.
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