Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 384: Myriad Souls Banner

The stench of blood hung so thick in the air that even Vice Creed Leader Shi grew queasy, worried that more than one Fusion cultivator might be lurking here.

If I get even more unlucky and encounter a Transcendent Tribulation cultivator, I’ll be doomed.

A flicker of relief passed through him. Fortunately, I brought Lu Yang along. Even if I’m unlucky, would the Heavenly Court Creed allow their young creed leader to perish in a place like this?

“I know little about the blood sacrifices practiced by the diabolic path. I’ll have to rely on you to look into this village’s situation,” Lu Yang said earnestly. This is the truth.

Vice Creed Leader Shi didn’t refuse. He strode to the outermost thatched hut and pushed the door open.

Not a single soul was in sight. Bowls and chopsticks sat undisturbed on the table, as if their owner had been about to eat—only to vanish without a trace, leaving no sign of struggle, no hint of resistance.

One after another, Vice Creed Leader Shi opened the doors to several houses, each revealing more or less the same scene. Traces of life daily remained, clear evidence that people had once lived here, yet they had all disappeared without explanation. It was as if someone had frozen time and plucked away the occupants one by one before time flowed again.

Tao Yaoye’s hair stood on end. This bore an uncanny resemblance to the ghost stories she had huddled under blankets to read at night as a child. She gingerly tugged at the corner of Lu Yang’s sleeve, instantly feeling reassured.

“Creed Leader Shi, can you tell what happened here?”

Vice Creed Leader Shi analyzed, “As far as I know, there are two methods that could achieve this: Space Confinement and Time Suspension.

“If it’s Space Confinement, that’s somewhat manageable. A Fusion cultivator proficient in spatial spells could pull it off. But if it’s Time Suspension, we are in serious trouble. To stop time, one would need to be at least at the Transcendent Tribulation Stage!

“In my memory, I’ve never heard of anyone capable of stopping time. Even Transcendent Tribulation cultivators can only do so in theory!”

Lu Yang nodded. “The Epoch Immortal could accomplish it.”

“Epoch Immortal?” Vice Creed Leader Shi was startled. I’ve never heard of this immortal before.

Lu Yang nodded again. “The Epoch Immortal wielded the Epoch Dao Fruit. His understanding of time was number one in the ancient era; no one could even come close.”

“Something like that happened?!” Vice Creed Leader Shi blurted out. The Dao of Time is profound and elusive; even grasping the basics is a challenge.

To think that an ancient immortal had once wielded time as their Dao Fruit! The sheer power of such Dao Fruit must have been terrifying!

Tao Yaoye was also stunned. Why does Senior Brother Lu speak so casually of immortals all the time? Judging by Vice Creed Leader’s reaction, this is probably something even the Nine-Netherworlds Creed’s vice creed leaders are unaware of.

So where did Senor Brother Lu learn about such things?

Has the gap between us already grown so vast?

Gradually, the shock faded from Vice Creed Leader Shi’s face. He blinked and turned to Lu Yang. “Oh, my mind wandered for a bit just now. What were you saying?”

“Nothing much.” Lu Yang had thought a Fusion cultivator could be immune to the immortal-forgetting trait. But it seems like even an Advanced Fusion cultivator like Vice Creed Leader Shi can’t resist the effect of immortals.

“The likelihood of our foe being a Transcendent Tribulation expert who manipulates time is slim. I’m more inclined to believe it’s a Fusion cultivator capable of using Space Confinement.”

From the moment they stepped into the village, Lu Yang’s brow had been furrowed. So many deaths, and in such a bizarre manner—just how terrifying must the culprit be?

To have killed people right under the imperial court’s nose without detection...

If Huai’an Village is like this, what about other villages? Exactly how many people had the culprit killed?

Vice Creed Leader Shi crouched down and scooped up a handful of soil. Rubbing it between his fingers, the original dark-brown earth revealed a dark crimson hue.

Noticing Lu Yang’s and Tao Yaoye’s confusion, he explained, “Too many people have died here that even the soil reeks of blood! But this has let me confirm one thing!”

“What?”

“The bloody aura here is overwhelming, yet the scent is too faint in comparison. Someone must have transferred the bloody aura elsewhere!”

“I remember that bloody aura can be refined into a Myriad Souls Banner, a major weapon of the diabolic path?” Lu Yang sieved through his knowledge of the diabolic path.

“That’s right. Be it crafting Soul-Summoning Banners, Soul-Luring Banners, or Myriad Souls Banners, bloody aura and resentment energy are necessary.” Brimming with confidence, Vice Creed Leader Shi crushed the soil into powder and tossed it into the air. With one hand, he swiftly formed seals and shot out a black sigil.

The soil powder gathered around the sigil, drifting through the air like silk before floating into the distance.

“Come, follow it. If they had refined the bloody aura on-site, tracking it would be difficult. But since they transferred it first, I can trace the residual bloody aura to the true refinement location!”

Vice Creed Leader Shi grabbed Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye, flying several hundred li in one go before landing in a mountain range.

“The trail ends there!” Vice Creed Leader Shi pointed ahead.

The three exchanged glances and nodded, approaching cautiously while holding their breath.

Suddenly, Vice Creed Leader Shi and Lu Yang halted simultaneously, with Lu Yang grabbing Tao Yaoye to stop her from moving forward.

Tao Yaoye peered ahead. Lush trees, birds singing, floral scents—nothing seems amiss.

Vice Creed Leader Shi looked at Lu Yang in surprise, not expecting him to react as swiftly as himself.

“You sensed it too? One more step and we’d hit a barrier!”

Lu Yang nodded. “In the ancient era, this was called the Ghost Wall Array. Those who enter this array will lose all sense of direction and become hopelessly lost until they die trapped inside!

“It still goes by the same name now.”

“To have placed a Ghost Wall Array here to deter intruders must imply there are secrets within!”

“And not just that! Various arrays are hidden within the Ghost Wall Array, blocking external detection while preventing those inside from sensing the outside!”

“Someone is likely cultivating inside and doesn’t want to be disturbed!”

“I catch a whiff of blood. It's leaking from the array!”

“Judging by the arrangement of the arrays, it doesn’t seem to be the work of a Transcendent Tribulation cultivator.”

“As long as it isn’t a Transcendent Tribulation cultivator.”

Their back-and-forth analysis pieced together what might have happened inside the array: A Fusion cultivator had set up arrays in the mountain to refine bloody aura without being disturbed, and their cultivating within the array was undoubtedly connected to the Huai’an Village massacre.

Tao Yaoye followed behind silently, struggling to keep pace with Lu Yang’s deductions. Why can Senior Brother Lu discuss such matters so fluently with a Fusion cultivator?

During external missions, Tao Yaoye had met stellar cultivators at the Foundation Establishment and Golden Core stages. They spoke eloquently before me and appeared omniscient, but they would stammer timidly in the face of Divine Transfiguration cultivators. If they encountered Void Refinement or Fusion cultivators, they wouldn’t even be able to form a coherent sentence. Compared to Senior Brother Lu, they fall far short.

Vice Creed Leader Shi chuckled. He particularly enjoyed interrupting other people’s cultivation. Best if I can drive the archaic Fusion cultivator inside into qi deviation!

He whipped out an eight-sided hammer and tossed it upward. As if air was being blown into the hammer, it inflated to the size of a hill, each corner gleaming coldly.

The hammer plunged downward like a meteor with overbearing momentum.

Crack. The colossal hammer appeared to have struck something invisible.

Rubbing his hands, Vice Creed Leader Shi attempted to press down harder, imbuing the eight-sided hammer with more force until it shattered the invisible barrier.

Crack. Crack. Crash. The barrier broke, unleashing a wave of blood fetor.

Tao Yaoye’s beautiful eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the sight before her.

Gone was the picturesque scenery.

Trees were withered, blood flowed like rivers, the earth was stained red, and ghost shadows howled furiously in bitter winds. At the center sat a wizened old man cross-legged beside a tattered blood-red banner.

“Who are you?!” The old man’s eyes snapped open, automatically ignoring Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye to glare fixedly at Vice Creed Leader Shi with his teeth gnashing.

My arrays should have been undetectable! The only flaw was the leaked bloody aura, which can only be discovered by seasoned old monsters.

But they have no grudge with me? Why would they destroy my arrays?!

“I’m your grandfather!” Vice Creed Leader Shi roared with laughter, recalling his eight-sided hammer and swinging it toward him.

The shriveled old man grabbed his tattered banner and dodged, all the while reciting something.

Vice Creed Leader Shi didn’t think much of it. Wielding a bone scythe in his other hand, he hacked relentlessly at the old man. He could tell that breaking the array had caused a backlash to the old man, leaving him in poor condition.

Time to beat a drowning dog! Pulverize the enemy when he’s down!

“That’s all you have? What an embarrassment to archaic cultivators! And you even refined some Myriad Souls Banner? I outgrew such toys long ago!

“Your grandfather wants you dead!” Vice Creed Leader Shi displayed his might, driving the old man back without allowing a single proper counterattack.

Boom! The eight-sided hammer and bone scythe descended simultaneously, smashing the wizened old man into the mountain.

“Good, good! The younger generation truly is to be feared!” The old man was so irate that he laughed as he walked out of the mountain cave, the tattered banner in his hand now glowing.

Vice Creed Leader Shi clicked his tongue. “Got too careless.”

“How so?” Tao Yaoye asked.

Vice Creed Leader Shi pointed at the wizened old man and spat a mouthful of spit. “I was too carried away just now that I didn’t notice that he kept refining his Myriad Souls Banner throughout the fight. It’s now complete. This won’t be easy to deal with.”

The old man’s face was so dark as if ink could drip out, and his words sounded like they had slithered through clenched teeth, giving people an uncomfortable feeling.

“This esteemed one chanced upon a vast amount of bloody aura, perfect for refining the Myriad Souls Banner. Today, I’ll let you juniors know my true power!

“Myriad Souls Banner, rise!”

Bitter winds screeched with a bone-piercing chill as they converged on the wizened old man. Countless ghostly apparitions of massive sizes manifested behind him, their numbers far beyond ten thousand.

As the old man laughed out loud, the Myriad Souls Banner’s refinement was finally completed, the silhouettes of the ghosts growing more distinct.

Lu Yang recognized their forms: pig, cow, sheep...

“Hmm?”

All four present were dazed.

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