Longevity by Grinding Skills

Chapter 435: Chapter 435: Ten Thousand Souls Banner

For the first time in two hundred years, her decaying optic nerves began to regenerate. The outline of a pupil appeared within the murky whites of her eyes.

She cultivated the path of the Ming Sword Heart, merging with her sword, which naturally gave rise to enlightenment in the Martial Dao and birthed a discerning eye.

Now, nourished by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, her decaying shell was revitalized. Her withered meridians were like parched land receiving a welcome rain, her shriveled flesh and blood revived inch by inch, and even the Sword Bone that had lain dormant for two hundred years was rejuvenated under the washing of the Spiritual Flow.

"Spiritual Qi... This is Spiritual Qi!"

The mud-caked old man frantically tore at the earthy shell on his body. The moment his newborn skin touched the air, it surprisingly stirred the Earth Spirit Qi within a ten-zhang radius into a vortex.

He fell to his knees and wailed, his fingernails digging deep into the ground. He had survived for two hundred years in the Divine Martial Realm by relying on the Earth Veins, but only now did he know what true "Wu Earth Essence" was.

His former life in the Divine Martial Realm had been like scrounging for food in a cesspit to survive. Now, he finally tasted what it was like to be human.

"If the Divine Martial Realm had this kind of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi..."

Elder Ni wiped away his murky tears with a rough palm, his hands trembling as he rubbed off the cracked earthen shell from his body. "How could I have been reduced to this state, neither human nor ghost? Heaven is merciful, Heaven is merciful..."

At this, he came to his senses and gave Xu Yunfan a deep bow. "My thanks, Daoist Master!"

He was naturally clear about his own status. The other party was an Immortal Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator, far beyond what a mere mortal like him could compare to. Even if there was some sentiment owed due to their shared connection with the Taoist Sect, that was between Bi Yuan and Xu Yunfan. He and Xu Yunfan were, at most, familiar strangers.

But the most shocking of all was the dark silhouette formed from incense smoke.

This Divine Traveling Dharma Body of the previous generation’s Taoist Sect Leader was now bathing in the pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

The black mist, formed from the stray thoughts of his followers, receded like a tide. As it peeled away layer by layer, it revealed the phantom of a Daoist in a green robe, with white hair and a youthful face.

His features were clear and bright, the sleeves of his robe fluttering, just as he had looked in his prime when he led the Taoist Sect.

He gazed at his own now-solid hands and suddenly bowed to the ground before Xu Yunfan. "This old Daoist, Zhang Ziyang... offers his thanks for this grace of rebirth!"

Xu Yunfan, however, was staring at Xuezhen—a purple-robed elder. Above the elder’s head, the phantom of an intertwined tortoise and snake was emerging.

’This old monster, who cultivated the Mystic Spirit Divinity Transformation Path to its peak, has actually touched the threshold of Foundation Establishment in the instant of Breaking the Boundary!’

’A pity...’

Xu Yunfan glanced at the other man’s body, which was formed purely of Spiritual Qi. Without a physical form, if he wanted to continue his Cultivation, he could only walk the path of a Ghost Immortal.

"Martial Grand-Uncle, your physical body has been destroyed. I’m afraid it will be harder than ascending to the heavens to return to the Righteous Dao."

Xu Yunfan sighed. "Even if I were to help, I would need to find a natural treasure like an Innate Primordial Spirit to reconstruct a body for you."

His gaze swept over Zhang Ziyang’s slightly flickering Spirit Body, and his voice grew deeper. "Spiritual Objects like that are born and nurtured by heaven and earth. They gain their own consciousness at birth. Why would one willingly sacrifice itself for another?"

As for other methods, the price was too high. A single misstep could even damage his own Dao Foundation.

Naturally, Xu Yunfan was not about to use them lightly.

Hearing this, Zhang Ziyang showed no sign of despair. Instead, a calm smile spread across his youthful, white-haired face.

His green-robed phantom floated slightly. Just as he was about to respond, an invisible wave suddenly rippled from the earth beneath his feet.

"BOOM!"

From deep within the Earth Veins of True Martial Peak, a violent tide of Spiritual Qi erupted, as if a great dragon, asleep for a millennium, had awoken.

A torrent of Spiritual Qi so pure it was almost tangible gushed forth from the confluence of the Earth Veins, instantly transforming the hundred-zhang radius into a churning sea of Spiritual Mist.

Zhang Ziyang’s Dharma Body, condensed from Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, trembled violently. Under the impact of the spiritual tide, his green-robed phantom flickered, on the verge of dissipating like a candle in the wind.

The others, who possessed complete physical bodies, felt none of this. On the contrary, they felt invigorated by the increasingly dense Spiritual Qi.

A body of flesh and blood was like a treasured raft, filtering the violent spiritual tide into gentle nourishment, allowing the soul and spirit to reside safely within.

But the Divine Traveling Dharma Body, condensed from Incense Fire Wish Power, had to face the world’s fury in a state that was practically stark naked.

Seeing Zhang Ziyang’s Spirit Body crumbling and his very soul nearly destroyed by the surging Spiritual Qi, the nearby Bi Yuan quickly said, "Yunfan, is there any way to save Junior Martial Uncle Ziyang?"

A glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. He pulled a Blood Banner from his robes, something he had looted from the Foundation Establishment Daoist Master who had foolishly followed them into the Divine Martial Realm and served himself up on a platter.

This banner was nourished by Blood Evil Qi and had devoured the essence-spirits of many Cultivators; it even held a few Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters within it. Once unfurled in the unrestrained environment of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm, it could create a ghostly domain a hundred li wide. Even most Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters would not escape unscathed if trapped within.

A shame for them, but who told them to be so arrogant as to follow into the Divine Martial Realm without the slightest hesitation?

Once this matter was settled, he would naturally have to report it to Daoist Master Hundred Peaks.

If other True Monarchs got involved, it would be beyond his ability to handle.

The Primordial Sect was rife with factions, with six Great True Monarchs each belonging to different cliques. The intensity of their internal struggles was far beyond what those of the Righteous Dao could imagine.

Beside him, Bi Yuan saw Xu Yunfan hesitate. He could clearly see the Blood Banner in Xu Yunfan’s hand, its Evil Nature so intense it was horrifying. He lowered his voice.

"Don’t worry about the method for now. If you can save Junior Martial Uncle Ziyang, then save him... If he hadn’t been wounded by matters of the heart back then, he could have forcibly taken that step and reached the Land Immortal Realm, even in a world without Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi!"

At this, Bi Yuan shook his head and sighed. "It was a matter of timing and fate. Back in the day, he was hailed as the next Ancestral Master Chunyang."

Hearing this, Xu Yunfan hesitated no longer. He immediately channeled his vast True Martial Magical Power into the Blood Banner.

In an instant, the originally sinister Blood Banner began to tremble violently. The ferocious ghostly faces entrenched on its surface let out shrill screams as countless streams of Blood Evil Qi boiled out, only to be washed away by the True Martial Magical Power, dissipating into wisps of black smoke.

He formed a hand seal with his left hand and held the banner with his right. His True Martial Magical Power surged like a river, coalescing into one Black Tortoise Cloud Pattern after another on the surface of the Blood Banner.

The moment the Cloud Patterns formed, they moved like tortoises and snakes, roaming across the banner’s surface like living creatures. Wherever they passed, the banner’s original crimson color gradually faded, revealing a deep, ink-black background.

The essence-spirits of the Cultivators imprisoned within the banner let out whimpers of release. Washed by the True Martial Magical Power, the resentful aura that had clung to them for two hundred years was stripped away inch by inch.

Xu Yunfan stared at the Blood Banner in his hand, a trace of regret flashing in his eyes.

’This Ten Thousand Souls Blood Banner was a supreme evil treasure that a Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator had spent a lifetime of effort Refining. If he could have preserved its original power, he would have been invincible in the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment realm.’

The Ten Thousand Souls Blood Banner was a dark red, the color of clotted blood. Countless twisted, tormented faces could be faintly seen on its surface, wailing in agony. Every single pattern was steeped in the several-hundred-year effort of the Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator.

He could feel the terrifying power dormant within it. The essence-spirits of seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators were entrenched inside, along with the souls of over a million mortals that had been refined into Blood Evil Qi.

If he were to wield this banner against an enemy, any Early-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator would likely flee at the mere sight of it, unable to withstand even a single clash.

He had no idea how that Demon had managed to collect so much Blood Evil Qi.

"What a pity..."

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