Fellow Daoist Entrusts His Child: Immortality Begins with Nurturing a Demoness

Chapter 40: The Ascension of the Soul Banner, On the Eve of Advancement (Please continue reading!)

"You are a plunderer from the Water Margin Gang, why are you lingering in the mortal realm robbing and pillaging?"

Mo Xue was working with Qiu Yun to quickly clean up the battlefield and refine the soul, while Luo Fanchen took advantage of a spare moment to step on the bandit leader's forehead and asked in a cold voice.

"Hehe. You know I'm from the Water Margin."

"I admit defeat and have nothing to say. I only regret that my body has been weakened by wine and women, and I have lost to a little girl."

Knowing he was already a cripple, the one-eyed bandit decided to give up and, having lost half his tongue, his curses became incoherent.

He glared angrily and sneered, "You bastard, you're obviously a pretty boy who's never seen blood."

"You dare to act like a chivalrous knight-errant just because you're only at the fourth level of Qi Refining? Today you dare to provoke my Water Margin Gang and delay our important matters. The leaders will definitely skin you alive and tear your tendons apart."

"Your little girl is quite pretty, my brothers will make sure she's well-fed, hahaha!"

Luo Fanchen's face remained calm, though he knew that the one-eyed bandit leader was trying to provoke him.

His smile was calm as he stepped on Kou Shou's face, burying half of it in the mud.

The True Essence of Yi Wood entered his meridians from his cheeks, eroding his internal organs and meridians like raging fire fangs. The excruciating pain was like being pierced by a thousand arrows, causing him to writhe on the ground in agony.

Unfortunately, Luo Fanchen stepped on him very hard, fixing half of Kou Shou's head in place. His body, like a dead fish in a tattered rag, rolled and struggled, only to be forcibly turned over by the fixed head, almost causing him to faint.

"How many leaders does the Water Margin have? What are you talking about regarding this important matter?"

Luo Fanchen's voice was calm, and his Yi Wood True Essence swept away everything in its path. Kou Shou's skin glowed with a bluish-green light, as if tender buds were about to break through the skin.

What powerful true energy!
Kou Shou's consciousness was blurred. He diligently practiced breathing exercises, but the true essence he cultivated was utterly ineffective in the face of this profound true essence.

The excruciating pain nearly drove him mad, leaving him only able to let out a low, beast-like growl.

Explain everything clearly from beginning to end, and I'll give you a quick and easy solution.

The bandit leader's face was terrifying; he had been tortured beyond recognition. He tried to speak several times, but he simply didn't have the strength.

He was filled with regret. If he had known that this pretty boy was so ruthless, he should have revealed everything while he still had the strength.

Even being torn to pieces wouldn't be this bad, yet this pure essence was perfectly balanced and calm, maintaining his heart meridian and preventing him from falling into a coma, thus enduring unbearable pain.

"He's quite a character, unmoved by torture. What couldn't he do? Why did he choose to become a tribulation cultivator?"

Luo Fanchen frowned slightly, becoming increasingly wary of the Water Margin Gang.

Even a random cultivator possesses the unwavering resolve to face torture, demonstrating the exceptional cohesion of the Water Margin Gang.

"Since you're not going to tell me, I hope you won't regret it."

"."

Luo Fanchen made a hand seal, increasing the injection of Yi Wood True Essence. Kou Shou felt as if his internal organs were burning, as if every cell was being vaporized.

The bandit leader's one eye was wide open, his face covered in mud and full of pleading. His lips and tongue were burned, so how could he possibly respond?

I've said it all, I've already said it, please just give me a chance to speak!

"Uncle Luo, did you get the answer?"

"This fellow is very stubborn, but his resolve is as firm as a rock. If he had followed the righteous path, he would have achieved great things. What a pity."

After a while, Qiu Yun gathered her spirit, smiled and revealed herself, her slender fingers gently tugging at Uncle Luo's clothes.

"It's a pity indeed."

Qiu Yun sighed and shook her head, then summoned the Soul Banner, made hand seals and chanted incantations, and smiled sweetly at Luo Fanchen.

"Shall I help Uncle Luo? Sometimes, the dead are more lenient than the living."

"woooooo"

The soul banner appeared, a cold wind howled, wronged souls wailed, and the bandit's one eye was filled with bloody tears, so frightened that he almost fainted.

A Soul Banner of Rank 1? Are you kidding me?
If you were a legitimate demonic cultivator, you should have taken out the Soul Banner earlier, and I would have immediately knelt down and surrendered.
His eyes were bloodshot and he was almost in despair. After his soul was pulled out by the soul banner, even the dissipation of his soul was a luxury. What awaited him was endless years of ignorance, falling into the realm of Asura, and being driven by vengeful ghosts.

"It's a pity that with my current soul power, I can't suppress a cultivator's complete soul."

Qiu Yun used a hand seal to perform the Soul-Binding Technique. The one-eyed bandit screamed and howled for a long time before his soul was forcibly extracted from his body.

Two of the three souls immediately dissipated, leaving only two of the seven spirits, which could only be refined into a vengeful ghost.

Qiu Yun felt a pang of heartache; cultivators' souls were precious resources, and it would be a waste to squander them.

Fortunately, what remained was the celestial soul, which could retain most of the memories from its previous life.

"That's fine, Uncle Luo."

Qiu Yun's eyes were lowered, as if she were somewhat lost.

The Soul Banner cannot be upgraded, and as Uncle Luo and Mo Xue's cultivation levels increase, its usefulness will become increasingly limited.

Luo Fanchen naturally noticed Qiu Yun's little thoughts.

He reached out and gently stroked the girl's head, feeling the strands of her hair filling his fingers, and whispered.

"It's alright. I've recently figured out a method that, if it works, might allow me to upgrade the Soul Banner smoothly in the future."

“The Soul Banner is ultimately a demonic path, which is against the natural order. I’m afraid it will hinder Uncle Luo’s cultivation.”

Qiu Yun pursed her cherry lips slightly and narrowed her beautiful eyes, as if she were feeling the rough yet gentle touch of her palm.

The method of ascending the soul banner requires demonic artifacts that are all filled with resentment, malice, and evil. Those with heavy karmic burdens will inevitably suffer the karmic force and develop inner demons.

She knew that Uncle Luo had no way to resolve this, and that forcibly refining and sublimating it would most likely lead to falling into the demonic path.

"I have my own sense of proportion."

Luo Fanchen gently pinched Qiu Yun's soft cheeks, and the girl's ears turned slightly red as she let him knead them.

He lacks combat skills, and the Soul Banner is currently his most important means of fighting enemies. However, with the improvement of his cultivation, the first-level low-grade Soul Banner is becoming somewhat inadequate. One of the most important goals of this bandit suppression trip is to sublimate the Soul Banner.

Karma is unpredictable, formless, and imperceptible, but its essence is also composed of some kind of spiritual power.

The poisonous miasma, soul poison, and the insidious poison within the spirit bamboo syrup that were once ineffective against him all essentially eroded his internal organs and plundered his life force through mutated true essence or spiritual power, thus achieving a rapid death.

Since karma is also a form of spiritual power, does that mean there's a slight possibility that it might be ineffective against him?
Even if you fail, you will only be able to advance to the middle grade of the first rank. You can then purchase some Heart Cleansing Pills from the Treasure Pavilion to barely dispel your inner demons.

"Let's begin the ascension ceremony as soon as Mo Xue returns."

Luo Fanchen's mind stirred slightly, and after weighing the pros and cons, he quickly made a decision.

With the imminent arrival of Chang Hao, a Qi Refining Stage 5 cultivator, upgrading the Soul Banner ahead of time would increase their chances of success.

While the bandit leader's body is still warm, this bandit stronghold should be able to gather the magical materials needed for the ascension.

"I'll listen to Uncle Luo."

Qiu Yun originally wanted to persuade Uncle Luo to take things further, but seeing that he had made up his mind, she didn't want to spoil the mood.

Luo Shu's sublimation of the Soul Banner was partly for her to continue her cultivation in the future. If any problems arose during the sublimation process, she would interrupt it immediately.

"The internal organs of twelve pairs of vicious and wicked people, three human skins, the heart of a cultivator, and the essence and blood of a thousand living beings, all refined together."

"I'll leave the blood and essence tempering to Qiuyun."

After Luo Fanchen finished speaking, he immediately began to collect the internal organs of several minor leaders of the bandit stronghold and skin them.

Mo Xue wanted to lend a hand, but Luo Fanchen called her over to move the corpses because of the bloodshed. She pouted and muttered angrily, but she acted quickly. Soon, the entire underground cave was filled with the corpses of bandits and their families, big and small.

"There are more than a thousand bodies."

"Including the families of the bandits, there were more than 1,300 people."

Mo Xue wiped the fine sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, panting softly, and took the initiative to go outside the cave to protect the Dharma.

"That's fine, Uncle Luo."

At the same time, Qiu Yun, following the Qimen Dunjia pattern, set up the eight directional array eyes in the cave from opposite positions, and engraved intricate ghost patterns on the soul banner until the ground showed dense and deep marks before stopping.

The array pattern is octagonal, and the soul banner pole is deeply embedded in the ground, settling in the central palace, large enough to accommodate thousands of corpses.

"let's start."

Luo Fanchen nodded slightly, made several hand seals, and finally finished with the Spirit Palace Incantation.

The Soul Banner moved without wind, its surface twisting like a ghost. Blood flowers burst from Luo Fanchen's ten fingertips, and a large amount of essence blood mixed with Yi Wood True Essence shot out and entered the Soul Banner. Instantly, the blood patterns on the ground shone brightly, and the static octagonal array pattern seemed to come alive.

Blood mist and radiant light enveloped the cave, and the piled-up corpses began to disintegrate and dissolve under the bloody light, turning into viscous essence blood.

Qiu Yun's face turned slightly pale as she exerted all her strength to control her blood essence with her soul power and infuse it into the array patterns until the array patterns were completely dyed red. Finally, the array patterns began to rotate around the soul banner.

"Uncle Luo, the sacrificial offering!"

Qiu Yun was panting heavily, her pretty face pale and contorted.

Luo Fanchen immediately took out the prepared internal organs, human skin, and the bandit leader's heart.

"The three souls and seven spirits gather, the sage's holy method is condensed, the nine netherworlds gather the spirits and forge the banner, one banner summons all ghosts to listen."

As Luo Fanchen recited the general principles of the Supreme Man Banner Technique, his true essence rapidly dissipated, and the blood-red patterns emitted an evil light. The air immediately became scorching hot, and the entire octagonal array pattern seemed to transform into a furnace, refining the soul banner at its center.

Qiu Yun's soul seemed to ignite an invisible raging fire, causing her body to boil and crackle. The girl's pretty face was taut and wrinkled, clearly suffering extreme pain, but fearing that Uncle Luo would worry, she gritted her teeth and remained silent.

“Mysterious Crystal, Ink Sand”.

Luo Fanchen then used the first-grade mid-level spirit ore he had prepared beforehand and focused on condensing his magic.

"The Curse of the Placenta—Collect the Soul!"

Countless densely packed ghost faces rose on the banner, and after Luo Fanchen made a spell, it seemed as if an invisible veil enveloped them all.

The vengeful spirits of thousands of bandits rioted, but their struggles were futile. In the end, they were refined into soul power by Luo Fanchen with a finger technique.

"Bone Devouring Curse - Soul Stealing!"

Thousands of vengeful spirits instantly vaporized, condensing into pure scarlet soul power that entered Qiu Yun's body.

The girl's demonic nature surged, and she was about to go berserk and attack indiscriminately. Her fair hands sprouted sharp claws more than two inches long, and she instinctively wanted to tear Luo Fanchen apart. Only after seeing his face clearly did her eyes struggle to regain their clarity.

"Uncle Luo, I'm not going to make it."

"Thank you for your hard work, Qiuyun."

Luo Fanchen sighed softly. He reached out and stroked Qiu Yun's little head. The moment he touched her, her berserk, boiling soul immediately calmed down.

A large amount of Yi Wood True Essence surged into Qiu Yun's body, and reason quickly took over.

"The blood sacrifice is complete, the ascension begins—"

The blood-red light seemed to vanish in an instant, the array patterns crumbled, and the blood boiled and evaporated.

After everything was over, only a small dark red banner remained, fluttering in the wind. Its surface was surrounded by a cold wind, and the banner was no longer rough as before. It was as delicate as silk, exquisite and with its soul power contained.

Looking at Qiu Yun again, her aura has doubled in strength, and her soul has become more solid.

"A mid-grade first-tier soul banner is complete."

Luo Fanchen murmured, then immediately sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and examined his own heart meridian.

My mind is as calm as still water, my blood and qi are in balance, and there is no sign of any inner demons arising. It's just that my true essence is depleted and my qi and blood are slightly deficient.

Two days of rest will be enough, that's fine!
Luo Fanchen smiled faintly. What excited him more than the Soul Banner was his own body.

He might actually possess the legendary special physique, and not just the inferior five spiritual roots.

Just as he was about to get up, he felt a warm sensation in his dantian. His true essence, which should have been depleted, surged continuously from his meridians, as if appearing out of thin air. After overflowing his meridians, it was quickly consumed out of thin air again.

After repeating this process three times, the meridians finally returned to normal.

"strangeness."

Luo Fanchen frowned slightly. He stood up and was about to examine himself carefully when he felt tinnitus and dizziness. A strong sense of emptiness spread from his dantian to his whole body, and he was so weak that he couldn't lift even a finger.

"what happened?"

In the midst of the dizzying spin, Luo Fanchen felt a sense of detachment, his last sight being the upside-down cave ceiling and Qiu Yun's worried face.

The candlelight flickered and glowed. When Luo Fanchen regained consciousness, it was already late at night on the third day.

好虚
Luo Fanchen murmured, his eyelids heavy, too weak to even lift a finger.

Qi and blood deficiency? No, it shouldn't be this serious.

"Master Luo can't open his mouth, but he needs to take spiritual porridge and meridian-opening pills to replenish his spiritual power."

Mo Xue's worried voice lingered in his ears, but Luo Fanchen could detect a hint of shyness in it. He wanted to stand up, but he had no strength. The back of his head was soft and warm, as if he were lying on soft spring water.

As he hesitated, Mo Xue's clear features became increasingly close from top to bottom.

The girl's lips were slightly pouting, with a few drops of glistening liquid remaining on them, like porridge.

"Wait."

Soft and sweet, Luo Fanchen could feel his lips being skillfully pried open. The sweetness mixed with spiritual energy transformed into a warm current that spread through his meridians. In no time, his soft body gained more strength.

As their lips parted, the girl, without bothering to wipe them, took another small sip of the spiritual porridge and bowed her head.

"No."

A sweet, slightly sweet scent, mixed with the aroma of gardenias, filled my nostrils.

Luo Fanchen finally had the strength to get up, but the girl casually pressed him back onto her soft thighs and fed him with low kisses until he finished the whole bowl of spiritual porridge. Only then did he wipe his lips and let out a long breath.

"No wonder Qiuyun was able to feed him the spiritual porridge, so that's how it is."

"."

Luo Fanchen reluctantly opened his eyes slowly. Their eyes met, and the girl's pretty face immediately turned red with embarrassment. She turned her head away to avoid his gaze.

"Master Luo, when did you wake up?"

"Just now."

Luo Fanchen sighed softly, not revealing the girl's little secret.

With Mo Xue's help, he sat up and examined his meridians.

Strange. The blood and qi that should have been lacking are full and abundant, but the true essence is weak and depleted. Moreover, the true essence of Yi wood condensed through the spiritual seed seems to be a bit weaker than before.

"Mo Xue, please check my true energy."

"Master Luo, you've gotten weaker?"

Mo Xue obediently placed her index finger on Luo Fanchen's wrist, then frowned slightly and murmured softly.

Master Luo's Yi Wood True Essence was still far more powerful than that of ordinary cultivators, but he no longer had the same sense of powerlessness that he used to feel when he couldn't compete with him.

The condensation level has weakened considerably. If the true essence used to be a city wall, now it's just an ordinary brick gate.

Although it is sturdy, it lacks a bit of bulkiness.

"Sister Moxue, it's my turn to feed Uncle Luo next time. You go and rest, I'll keep watch."

"Uncle Luo, you're awake?"

Qiu Yun hovered in the air, drifting over gently. When she met Luo Fanchen's gaze, her pretty face flushed slightly.

Her gaze lingered on Uncle Luo's moist lips, her lips pursed slightly as she murmured something.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Luo Fanchen stroked his slightly swollen lips, sat cross-legged, and various speculations arose in his mind.

For the next seven days, he spent most of his time recuperating, and his itinerary had to be changed. Mo Xue took the lead in clearing out the surrounding bandits until his true energy was fully restored.

"Uncle Luo, you've become strong again."

After destroying two more bandit strongholds, Luo Fanchen finally recovered from his weakened state.

The true essence of Yi Wood has become vigorous and balanced again. In addition, the previously closed Zhiwei Cave has inexplicably opened up on its own.

He focused his mind and perceived that his internal energy had been poured into his head by true essence, which had been forcibly opened in an extremely violent way, and there were traces of true essence being contained there. At this point, all the main acupoints of his fourth level of Qi Refining had been opened.

"Almost at the fifth level of Qi Refining, so fast!"

Luo Fanchen murmured, and over the next three days, he also tried to deliberately drain his true essence in order to restore it to its full capacity.

Several attempts ended in failure.

"Cannot be reproduced."

After trying several times, Luo Fanchen had no choice but to give up and could only keep a watchful eye on things.

He was almost certain that he possessed a special, yet-to-be-discovered constitution, which might be the key to his transformation from a five-elemental-root system.

"Now that Uncle Luo has recovered, it's time to fulfill your bet!"

The campfire flickered, Mo Xue's pretty face was serene, and she stretched her delicate body lazily like a cat.

The three were close to the Jubaoge trade route, and were only two ordinary villages away from the bandits mentioned in the intelligence.

Uncle Luo had been weak these past few days, so she finally got to kill to her heart's content. The awkward parts of her sword techniques that she used to have become much clearer, and her breathing exercises were not only unaffected by the pollution of the spiritual energy in the mortal world, but she also made rapid progress.

She has now opened up the twenty-fourth Chengjiang acupoint, and can close the gate at any time to open the Ren meridian and break through to the second level of Qi Refining.

"It's not too late to set off after Qiuyun has stabilized her cultivation and the Soul-Searching Bandit Leader has completed his intelligence."

Luo Fanchen did not rush into anything. His banner technique and Shaoyang wood-transforming skill were both on the verge of breakthrough. He planned to take advantage of Qiuyun's soul-searching time to go into short seclusion again to break through his skills and improve his strength.

During this time, he accumulated two hundred admiration points, plus the one hundred and fifty points he had left.

This is enough to break through both cultivation methods, giving him more confidence when facing cunning cultivators at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

"Alright, I'll listen to Master Luo. I'm about to break through too, so let those bandits live a few more days."

Mo Xue did not refuse; she also felt her meridians swelling and her true energy overflowing.

Breaking through to the second level of Qi Refining should be happening soon.

(End of this chapter)