Tianjin, starting with unorthodox methods to achieve immortality

He closed his eyes and sensed it closely. The true energy of Taiyin surged into the flagpole, and he quickly figured out the details of this thing.

This "Wraith Banner" is, in essence, just a container.

For ordinary people to use it, they must first drip their own blood onto the banner and use their own vital energy as a guide to forcibly awaken the evil spirits sealed inside.

Each awakening consumes a significant amount of essence and blood.

Essence and blood are the foundation of a person and the source of lifespan.

Using it once will shorten your lifespan by several days; using it too often will ruin you.

Therefore, in the hands of ordinary practitioners, this thing is a life-saving treasure kept at the bottom of their chest, and they dare not take it out to use easily.

But Chen Mo is different.

Possessing the energy of Yin, one not only does not need essence and blood, but the pure Yin energy can also gradually enhance the strength of the Yin spirit within the banner.

He probed the stock inside the banner.

Seven or eight ghosts huddled inside the banner, like seven or eight wisps of cold mist, some thicker, some thinner.

The one with the strongest aura was probably a drowned ghost, its aura carrying the stench of water. When the Yin energy probed towards it, it timidly shrank back.

The others are even weaker.

It is estimated that due to a long-term lack of blood and yin energy, some of them are so faint that they are almost dissipating, leaving only a blurry mass of resentment. They probably haven't even preserved their complete consciousness.

He withdrew his inner energy, stared at the banner in his hand, and suddenly felt annoyed.

I thought of the old dog and the old Hou I met last night.

Although those two weren't very skilled, they were still people involved in unorthodox practices and had their own methods. Their spirits after death would definitely be much stronger than these wandering ghosts.

If they had collected their souls back then, there would be two more generals in the banner now.

But he was only focused on looting things, and once he was done, he just packed up and left, without ever thinking about this.

By now, the souls of those two people are probably scattered in the mass grave.

"waste!"

Chen Mo scratched his head, put down the Yin Soul Banner, picked up the booklet the fat man had given him, and skimmed through it.

The booklet was thin, only a dozen pages, and the pages were yellowed, as if it had been flipped through many times.

The handwriting was messy, and there were dark stains in some places.

He turned the pages one by one, his brows slowly furrowing and then relaxing.

This banner is just a replica.

The booklet doesn't describe in detail what the original Yin Soul Banner looked like, only mentioning that "only those with great magical power can activate it, otherwise they will suffer a backlash."

The counterfeit version has reduced the effectiveness by 70% and also lowered the barrier to entry by 70%. It doesn't require magic power; it can be awakened with essence blood.

Of course, the price is also clearly stated: essence and blood are life itself.

One drop of blood, three days of life.

Ten drops of blood, one month of life.

One hundred drops of blood, one year of life.

If the essence and blood are exhausted, the soul will be devoured by the banner and will never be able to escape.

He turned to the back, where there was a page specifically about how to enhance the power of the banner.

There are two solutions.

First, one should collect powerful spirits, the stronger the better, especially those transformed from the spirits of cultivators after death, who harbor deep resentment and whose intelligence has not been extinguished.

Otherwise, a powerful ghost or spirit will also work.

One such ghost is worth ten, or even a hundred.

The booklet had a line circled: "The soul of a cultivator is something that can only be encountered by chance. If one obtains it, it should be sealed with a secret method and slowly refined. It should not be used hastily."

Secondly, it involves collecting the souls of ordinary people.

This page is written in exceptional detail, as if it were teaching someone how to kill a chicken.

Kill an ordinary person, take their soul, and throw it into a banner; you will obtain a wandering spirit.

Kill ten, and you will gain ten paths.

Kill a hundred, and you'll gain a hundred rewards.

With more banners, their power naturally increases.

Although the soul of an ordinary person is very weak, it can withstand the power of many souls.

When 990 ordinary people get together, their resentment can create quite a stir.

The booklet also thoughtfully included a table showing that killing one person increases the power by one point.

Killing ten people increases its power by ten percent.

Killing a hundred people doubles its power, enough to counteract the soul of a cultivator.

It killed 990 people, the banners were full, and its power was at its peak.

There is another line of smaller text below, with handwriting different from the main text, as if someone added it later.

This method is the easiest, but also the most dangerous.

Kill one person, and you'll make a grudge.

Kill ten people, and you'll make ten enemies.

Kill a hundred people, and the whole city will be your enemy.

Be careful, be very careful.

Chen Mo stared at the line of small characters for a long time, and a slow smile spread across his face.

Kill ordinary people?

He looked up at the window; the street was bustling with people.

If all the souls in this entire street were captured, how much more powerful would this banner become?

One street isn't enough.

Add another alley.

Add another market.

Add another residential area.

He counted them up: nine hundred and ninety, not too many, not too few.

Kill ten every day, and you'll reach the limit in three months.

If you kill thirty every day, you'll reach the limit in a month.

If you harden your heart, overnight...

"Okay, if I keep thinking about this, I'll really become a demon."

Chen Mo shook his head, interrupting this bold idea in his mind.

People should have some principles; we're not like those lunatics from the Moon Worship Cult.

"Let's wait for an opportunity to talk about it."

He put the items on the table back into his bag one by one, folded the Ghost Banner, gently placed it on top of the bag, and tightened the drawstring.

In addition to these gains last night, there was also the Old Hou family's Shadow Puppet Technique and the Soul-Capturing Secret Technique that I got for free at the auction house.

Chen Mo was quite interested in the technique of blending paper figures into shadows.

"The Moonlit Mirror".

He silently recited the mantra, and two cultivation techniques quickly appeared on the mirror of the treasure mirror in his sea of ​​consciousness.

【Shadow Puppet Technique】

[Inherited Rank: Low-grade Human]

[Inheritance Overview: Taking paper as its form, it fuses shadows to create a puppet. By day, it lurks within human shadows; by night, it emerges to claim souls. This art uses lifeblood to consecrate the paper and the mind to control the shadow. However, without a fundamental mental cultivation method, prolonged practice will inevitably damage one's life force. Furthermore, once the paper puppet develops sentience, it will surely turn against its master. Be extremely cautious.]

[First layer: Cutting paper...]

[Second Layer: Refining...]

[Third Layer: Merging Shadows...]

[Fourth Level: Puppet Mastery...]

[Fifth Level: Nourishing the Spirit...]

This Shadow Puppet Technique only has five layers in total, one less than the first half of his family's Paper Making Technique.

For some reason, they also lacked the fundamental mental cultivation method and could only be driven by their essence and blood.

"I'll study this further when I have time, and see if it can be fused with paper puppets and weapons."

Chen Mo tapped his index finger unconsciously on the table, lost in thought.

While the Shadow Puppet's abilities are rather bizarre, they are best suited for stealthy attacks; they are less effective at direct confrontation.

If the two secret techniques could be combined, the paper puppets and swords could both blend into the shadows to launch sneak attacks and confront enemies head-on, while remaining immune to ordinary physical attacks...

After pondering for a few minutes, he turned his attention to another soul-capturing secret technique.

【The Secret Technique of Soul Capture】

[Inheritance Grade: Low-grade Profound Rank (Fragment)]

[Overview of the Inheritance: This is a fragmentary text, containing only the method of soul-capturing and a secret technique of Yin Soul Stabbing. It lacks fundamental methods and a complete system. If it encounters a powerful enemy and suffers a backlash, it can result in anything from losing one's soul to instant death.]

[Soul Collection: If a person's soul has not completely dissipated within one incense stick's time since death, it can be collected using magic.]

[The Soul-Slaying Strike: Using the soul as its blade and thought as its edge, it pierces directly into the enemy's spirit. Silent and invisible, it inflicts excruciating pain on the soul, causing either momentary loss of consciousness or immediate unconsciousness. If the enemy's spirit is weak, it can be fatal with a single strike.]

[Method of execution: Concentrate your mind and gather your energy, using your thoughts to drive the Yin Soul Needle, aiming directly at the enemy's brow. If the enemy's spirit is stronger than yours, they may be able to counterattack.]