Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 86 Mysterious Yin Spirit-Seizing Array

When Chen Ye arrived at the Qinghe Sword Sect's headquarters on the Black Whirlwind, he deeply felt what it meant for people to be incomparable to each other.

The same applies to sects.

Upon entering the Incense Burning Gate, one is greeted by a majestic white jade archway and an incense burner shrouded in ethereal mist. Inside, pavilions and towers are arranged in a harmonious and orderly manner, clearly a paradise on earth.

The Qinghe Sword Sect, the number one sect, is located in a single-story house that resembles a courtyard.

It's not even grand; there's not even a gatekeeper.

When Chen Ye landed, Su Chunyi personally came to greet him.

Looking around, weeds grow everywhere, making the courtyard look like a farmhouse.

Chen Ye asked, "Miss Su, this is the Qinghe Sword Sect's headquarters. I'm afraid this small courtyard can't accommodate many people, can it?"

Su Chun nodded and explained, "The Qinghe Sword Sect doesn't have many disciples to begin with. Usually, it's Senior Brother Wang Yichen and his wife who are stationed here."

Everyone says that the Qinghe Sword Sect has few members, but Chen Ye never really felt that way until now.

The Incense Burning Sect probably has dozens of disciples in Hundred Seas Valley, while the Qinghe Sword Sect only has two, and Su Chunyi just arrived.

Chen Ye asked, "Is it convenient for me to take refuge here?"

Su Chun smiled and said, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Wang is very easy to talk to. I'll introduce you."

Chen Ye followed Su Chunyi into the rather simple courtyard. He originally thought that there was a hidden world inside, and that entering the door might be another small world.

However, once inside, it remained as plain as ever, and Chen Ye couldn't even discern any trace of any formation.

It was just an ordinary house, with no other use than being a place to live.

The place wasn't big, so there wasn't much to walk. Just a few steps inside, I arrived at the inner hall and met the "easy-to-talk-to" Senior Brother Wang.

This senior brother Wang looked to be in his early thirties, with three long wisps of beard, wearing a gray-blue Taoist robe, and without any adornments on his body.

He was just an ordinary Taoist priest.

But Chen Ye felt a heavy pressure on him after just one glance, just like when he first met the monk Fang Yuan.

Nascent Soul Realm? Or Void Return Realm?
Regardless of their level, they were all figures of utmost respect for Chen Ye.

Su Chunyi, seemingly oblivious, said to Wang Yichen, "Senior brother, this is my friend Chen Ye."

Chen Ye quickly bowed, and Wang Yichen, without any airs, greeted Chen Ye with a smile. Chen Ye naturally returned the courtesy, and the atmosphere seemed quite harmonious.

But as they were talking, Wang Yichen suddenly changed the subject and said to Su Chunyi, "Junior sister, your sister-in-law said she wants you to go over there. I'll take Fellow Daoist Chen to the side room to take a look."

Su Chun nodded and then got up to take her leave.

Wang Yichen led Chen Ye to the south wing room. The room looked simple, but it had everything one needed for daily life.

Chen Ye was very satisfied; it was much better than the cave he had found.

"Fellow Daoist, please stay here temporarily. If you need anything, just let me know."

Chen Ye quickly thanked him, but then Wang Yichen said casually, "Fellow Daoist Chen is quite accomplished at such a young age. I heard you are not even twenty yet, and it is truly remarkable that you have such cultivation."

Chen Ye also said politely, "Thanks to Miss Su's help, if it weren't for the spiritual medicine she gave me, I'm afraid I would still be trying to condense my Qi Sea."

Wang Yichen praised, "My junior sister has always been helpful since she was a child, but she is simple-minded and has difficulty distinguishing between good and bad. Thanks to Fellow Daoist Chen's help, the matter in Cui County was resolved perfectly."

Chen Ye could tell that there was a hidden meaning in what this person was saying. What did he mean by being simple-minded and unable to distinguish between good and bad? This was a subtle warning to Chen Ye not to be the bad guy and deceive the innocent Su Chunyi.

However, this was much gentler than Chen Ye had imagined.

I thought the Qinghe Sword Sect were all people who didn't know how to mince words, but I didn't expect that this Taoist priest Wang was also quite good at the art of speaking.

If Wei Changsheng had the same cultivation level as Wang Yichen, he would have looked down on people and wouldn't have been so easy to talk to Chen Ye.

No wonder the Qinghe Sword Sect has such a good reputation; despite wielding the power to move mountains, they still have compassion for all living beings.

But Chen Yegang thought that this Taoist priest Wang was indeed "easy to talk to," but then he heard him change the subject and ask, "I heard that you have a close relationship with the chief of the Seven Star Hall of the Incense Burning Sect? Fellow Taoist Chen really has a wide circle of friends."

Chen Ye's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that Wang Yichen's eyes had become sharper.

The phrase Mo Ci had repeatedly mentioned kept resurfacing in my mind: "One look from me is enough to kill you."

It seems that this Taoist priest Wang was not just being polite to Chen Ye, but wanted an answer.

But if asked this question, Chen Ye had nothing to fear and frankly replied, "Miss Mo and I became acquainted through a fight, and we are now both teacher and friend. She taught me divination techniques, and I gifted the Heavenly Book Secret Technique to the Incense Burning Sect."

Wang Yichen pressed further: "Is that all?"

Chen Ye smiled and said, "For the time being, that's really all."

"So, fellow Daoist wishes to advance further?"

The tone was like that of someone meeting the parents. Chen Ye knew he should decisively draw a line to reassure Wang Yichen, his "parent," but instead, he said, "Master Wang, before coming here, I bid farewell to three friends. One of them is nearing the end of his lifespan and still cannot break through to the Gang Sha Refining Body realm. He wanted to buy a dose of Vajra Powder from the Burning Incense Sect, but he was short of money and can only wait to die now." Wang Yichen was puzzled, but still offered a word of comfort: "The path of cultivation is inherently fraught with difficulties. Countless exceptionally talented individuals have exhausted their lifespans. Fellow Daoist Chen, please accept my condolences. However, what does this have to do with my question?"

“It has nothing to do with Master Wang’s worries, but it is of great concern to me. I don’t want to wait in despair until my lifespan ends, so I have no time to think about anything else. I just want to cultivate peacefully.”

"Does this mean you have no interest in romantic relationships for the time being?"

Chen Ye smiled and said, "If you insist on asking for an answer, I can only say, let it be. I have only known Miss Su for half a month, so it is too early to talk about these things now."

Chen Ye didn't want to beat around the bush when facing the people of the Qinghe Sword Sect.

Having lived two lives, I am indeed indifferent to matters of love and romance. I take things as they come and find peace in whatever comes my way. Cultivation is the key, and apart from immortality, everything else is just a minor detail.

Wang Yichen smiled and said, "I was presumptuous. Then I won't disturb Fellow Daoist Chen's cultivation."

Chen Ye hurriedly saw Wang Yichen off.

Once the door was closed, Chen Ye breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had successfully passed the test.

With the protection of the Qinghe Sword Sect, he doesn't care about the resurgence of the Red Serpent. He will cultivate here until the world turns dark, and hopefully no one will disturb him before he becomes an immortal.

However, Chen Ye's cultivation problem has not yet been resolved.

Chen Ye originally thought that the Qinghe Sword Sect's base should have some special formations, or it should be a place with good feng shui, with enough spiritual energy for him to cultivate with the Six-Syllable Mantra.

But this house was extremely ordinary, not a place with any auspicious feng shui, and its spiritual energy was no different from other places.

Even if Chen Ye focuses on cultivation, he will still experience a lack of spiritual energy.

"Perhaps I should set up a formation here."

The formation for gathering spiritual energy is very simple, and even a rogue cultivator like Chen Ye knows how to do it; he had set it up when he was refining pills.

However, the effect of ordinary spirit-gathering arrays seems to be not very good, and it should not be enough to support the throughput of Chen Ye's eighteen Qi Seas.

As he was pondering this, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner began to flutter, making a rustling sound.

Chen Ye looked over in confusion and saw several lines of text on the white banner: "You wicked disciple, this Ten Thousand Souls Banner has been reforged and has many wonderful uses. You can ask Yang Chongguang about it."

Previously, when Chen Ye injured his ear, Mo Ci figured out a way to communicate using written language. Now that he dared not speak casually, he had no choice but to communicate with Chen Ye in this way.

Chen Ye was surprised by this unexpected joy. He shook the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and summoned Yang Chongguang.

The ghost of this veteran looked more solid than before, but the fierce aura had dissipated considerably, and he looked like an ordinary old farmer.

Yang Chongguang hurriedly asked, "My benefactor, what are your orders?"

"Old Yang, this Ten Thousand Souls Banner has been reforged by the Qinghe Sword Sect, right? What extra uses does it have? Tell me about it."

"Haha, my benefactor, if you hadn't asked, I would have jumped out to report to you already." Yang Chongguang said excitedly as he introduced the new use of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to Chen Ye.

The Qinghe Sword Sect was not familiar with the crafting of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, so they only improved the materials. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner itself still had its original function: to collect yin spirits and carry out various demonic tortures.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise; there's nothing we can do about it.

Therefore, the Qinghe Sword Sect took a different approach and strengthened this magic weapon in another way, which was to teach Yang Chongguang and others to set up a formation of yin spirits.

One of them is called the "Mysterious Yin Spirit-Absorbing Array".

Chen Ye gently shook the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in his hand, and in an instant, dozens of Yin spirits roared out from the banner.

These ethereal spirits appeared much gentler than before. They quickly dispersed to different locations, surrounding Chen Ye in the center.

At Yang Chongguang's command, these spirits began to intertwine and fly about. The spiritual energy contained within them was like agile threads, intertwining and merging with each other, outlining countless mysterious runes in the air.

Chen Ye immediately felt a massive surge of spiritual energy coming from all directions.

Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "This formation doesn't seem to gather the spiritual energy from the surrounding area."

The flow of spiritual energy is not as convenient as that of air; it is much slower.

That's why Chen Ye would drain the surrounding spiritual energy during his cultivation, leaving no time to replenish it.

Ordinary spirit-gathering arrays have similar effects, simply by continuously compressing spiritual energy to attract it from all directions to gather automatically. However, the replenishment speed is ultimately greatly limited.

But the formations set up by these spirits were different; they seemed to have punched a hole in the heavens and earth, and this hole connected to an ocean of spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy surged in, completely engulfing Chen Ye.

Ignoring the principles behind it, Chen Ye was almost "suffocated" by the rich spiritual energy and quickly began chanting the Six-Syllable Mantra.

This time, there was no longer a feeling of lack of spiritual energy.

The eighteen Qi Seas frantically absorbed spiritual energy, but this spiritual energy seemed inexhaustible and could not be exhausted at all.

Chen Ye thought to himself, "This formation must have punched a hole in the Immortal Realm and stolen its spiritual energy, right?"
But there's no time to worry about that now. Cultivation is the top priority, so let's start practicing first.

(End of this chapter)