A Farmer's Journey To Immortality

The dark green banner fluttered once in Aksai’s hand.

Then it became completely still.

The violent winds sweeping through the battlefield seemed unable to affect it.

Aksai looked at the banner with a solemn expression.

He had obtained this artifact from Kalingoot’s treasury and had only recently finished refining it for his own use.

Actually, Aksai didn’t plan to use this banner for himself at first. Sometimes having too much was just as bad as having too little. The banner seemingly didn’t suit Aksai’s battle style at all. As such, he wanted to give it to one of his subordinates to use in case of emergency.

However, he decided to change his initial plan after he killed Kalina, predicting that troubles were soon about to hit his home base as well. Thus, he refined this flag in advance while he was on his way to Emerald Cove Island from the mainland.

During the refinement process, he had finally learned the banner’s true name.

Hundred Ghosts Banner.

It was a rather ominous name.

And after learning about its abilities, Aksai understood why. Turns out, he had really underestimated the banner’s effects.

Not only was it not unsuitable for his battle style, it had the potential to create a synergetic effect with Aksai’s Devil’s Den when used in the right way at the right time.

The Spirit farmer poured his Spirit Essence into the banner.

Vmmm!

The dark green surface suddenly rippled. Countless faint faces appeared across the fabric. Some were screaming, crying or laughing. Others simply stared with lifeless eyes.

The sight was eerie enough to make an ordinary cultivator’s scalp go numb.

Varesh, however, merely narrowed his eyes.

"Petty tricks. You... your path is too muddled. I don’t think you’ll be able to even become a late-stage Lord in the future. And forget about taking a glimpse of the Nascent Soul realm."

Aksai didn’t answer. As a practitioner of the Heretic Dao, Aksai’s path was supposed to be "muddled" and seemingly chaotic. But he didn’t bother to explain this to the true sword cultivator.

Aksai had somewhat figured out Vareh’s peculiarities. Or rather, it was the kind of peculiarity that was shared by almost all the true sword cultivators. It was that they were too much of a one-track mind, which was extremely opposite of what Heretic Dao practitioners were supposed to be.

This aim of running after singular sword expertise gave the true sword cultivators an absolute edge over most others, turning them into a master of their path. However, they didn’t or rather couldn’t understand much about the other paths.

As such, Varesh was unaware what kind of artifact Aksai had summoned this time and what was its use.

Meanwhile, Aksai slowly raised the Hundred Ghosts Banner.

Hummm...

The banner trembled.

In the next moment—

BOOOOOOM!

A strange dark-green aura erupted from it. The aura spread across the battlefield like an invisible tide. It quickly covered the areas where the woodland creatures and Varesh had fought.

The corpses of the dead Woodland Bears and Woodland Boars trembled. Even the blood that had soaked into the ground began to stir.

Varesh’s expression changed.

His Sword Sense immediately swept across the battlefield.

He sensed something strange. The lingering Spirit strength within the corpses was being pulled out.

It wasn’t just the woodland creatures.

The remnants of the five imperial cultivators who had died earlier were also being affected.

Saelyr.

Neshara.

Droven.

Loken.

Sun Ocean Lord.

Their bodies had already been stored away by Aksai, but their deaths had occurred only recently. Their souls had not completely dissipated, partly thanks to Aksai maintaining the Devil’s Den formation.

The Hundred Ghosts Banner was hungry.

It devoured everything. It didn’t differentiate much between demon creatures and humans.

Hummm!

The dark-green banner shook violently.

Streams of faint spiritual light rose from the battlefield. They converged toward the banner like countless rivers flowing toward the sea.

Varesh’s expression became solemn.

"What kind of demonic artifact is that? Are you from the Wild Devil Lands? One of the men under the Major Three Demonic Sects? But if yes, what are you doing here?"

Aksai finally smiled.

"This isn’t a demonic artifact."

He looked at the banner.

"At least, not entirely."

After saying this, Aksai didn’t say anything any further. After all, this was a life and death battle with both sides having the aim of not having any survivors from the opposite side. As such, he wasn’t bound to answer Varesh’s questions. However, to throw Varesh off from time to time, Aksai still needed to provide him with half-baked information.

The first function of the Hundred Ghosts Banner was extremely simple. It absorbed the lingering Spirit strength left behind by the dead within its range. The longer a battle continued, the more nourishment it could gather.

And the battlefield before Aksai was practically a feast prepared specifically for it. Countless woodland creatures had died. Even the ground itself was stained with the lingering aura of death.

And then there were the imperial cultivators and the other two Lords. All five had died because of Aksai’s tricks and influence.

Their deaths had provided the Hundred Ghosts Banner with an amount of nourishment that would normally take years of continuous battles to accumulate.

Hummm!

The banner became brighter and the ghostly faces appearing across its surface became increasingly vivid.

Aksai could feel the accumulated energy gathering inside it. But that was only the first function.

The second function was far more terrifying.

Aksai’s gaze shifted toward the faint spiritual remnants of the three imperial cultivators as well as those who died from his side.

"Come."

His Spirit Essence surged.

The Hundred Ghosts Banner shook violently.

WOOOOOOO—!

Three streams of black-green light suddenly shot toward the remnants. The spiritual fragments of Saelyr, Neshara, Droven, Loken, and the Sun Ocean Lord were forcibly pulled together. Their scattered souls began condensing.

Aksai had no shame in using Loken and Sun Ocean Lord’s souls after their death. The Sun Ocean Lord obviously deserved such treatment in Aksai’s eyes for bringing trouble to his home. Plus, Loken was simply a Pseudo Lord that Aksai had taken under his banner to bolster Kalingoot after he killed the remaining Supremes.

Loken was granted an amnesty by Aksai in the past even though both first met as competitors. The guy was already on borrowed time. As such, Aksai almost felt no remorse.

Meanwhile, the surrounding spiritual energy twisted.

Aksai watched silently as five hazy figures gradually appeared in front of the banner. Their faces were distorted and their bodies were translucent. Their eyes were filled with confusion and hatred.

They were no longer cultivators.

They were ghosts.

Varesh’s pupils contracted.

Next, Aksai simply raised his hand.

The five newly formed ghosts slowly turned toward him. Their expressions were twisted by resentment. Their instincts told them to resist.

Unfortunately, the Hundred Ghosts Banner had already swallowed their lingering Spirit strength. Their souls had been reconstructed using the power of the artifact. Their connection with the banner had already been established.

They had no choice.

Aksai’s fingers moved slightly.

The five ghosts bowed.

Their voices overlapped.

Varesh’s expression became ugly.

Aksai had killed his companions.

Now, he had turned their souls into weapons.

"This bastard..."

His Sword Intent surged.

The black Natal Sword trembled in response.

SHING—!

A furious Sword Cry echoed through the battlefield.

The five ghosts instinctively flinched.

Aksai didn’t care.

He understood that controlling ghosts created by the Hundred Ghosts Banner came with a price.

The banner fed on resentment.

Pain.

Fear.

Hatred.

The stronger those emotions became, the stronger the artifact became.

But prolonged use could affect the mind of its owner, turning them into a rage-driven demon who had no control over his actions.

If someone relied on the Hundred Ghosts Banner too frequently, they could eventually lose their sense of self as well.

Aksai had no intention of allowing that to happen. Fortunately, he had a way to deal with the artifact’s side effects.

The Devil’s Den.

After all, the formation was already designed to process negative energy produced by death, fear, resentment, and despair. As such, the Hundred Ghosts Banner’s side effects weren’t necessarily a burden for Aksai. They could become nourishment instead.

Aksai injected another stream of Spirit Essence into the banner.

BOOM!

The dark-green aura expanded. The entire isolation layer suddenly became colder. Ghostly figures began emerging from the banner one after another.

These ghosts weren’t powerful enough to threaten Varesh individually. But there were five of them. And with the amplification of the Devil’s Den formation and its negative emotions, these ghosts had much more potential inside Aksai’s formation.

Aksai waved the Hundred Ghosts Banner.

"Go."

The five ghostly figures rushed toward Varesh. Behind them, countless weaker ghosts followed, who had died previously on the Emerald Cove Island. Even the residual souls of mortals were also present.

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