Your Spell Version is Too Low!

Nanming Demon Fire!

Staring at the human-shaped flame that radiated a monstrous aura, Zhao Wuji’s pupils constricted. He froze in his tracks.

"This was all a misunderstanding. Please, brother, don’t mind me. Just pretend I was never here!"

His demeanor changing in an instant, Zhao Wuji reached back to tuck the long banner into his waistband, offered a cupped-fist smile, and turned to leave.

The entire sequence of actions was so smooth and fluid that Ling Jiao’er, standing at the side, was left stunned.

"My lord..." Seeing her potential savior about to flee, Ling Jiao’er let out a coquettish cry. With a pitiful and delicate expression, she reached out a slender hand to grab the corner of Zhao Wuji’s robes.

But with a sharp SMACK, Zhao Wuji unhesitatingly slapped her hand away, his face suddenly stern.

"Stop your nonsense! What ’my lord’? We are mere strangers who just met by chance; I don’t even know your name! This grabbing and pulling... have you no sense of propriety?!"

"Brother, this woman is clearly duplicitous. I’ll leave her for you to handle."

Watching Zhao Wuji’s figure turn and walk away with such righteous conviction, Qi Yun couldn’t help but nod slowly.

’This man’s shamelessness is wasted in the Yellow Springs Netherworld. He should be in my Holy Sect.’

But recognizing talent was one thing.

’The man still can’t be allowed to leave.’

A wall of iron erupted from the ground, completely blocking Zhao Wuji’s path. The increasingly scorching heat wave at his back made Zhao Wuji shake his head in resignation.

"I was reckless..."

With a soft sigh, all expression drained from Zhao Wuji’s face as a ghostly light flared in his eyes. He slowly reached back and gripped the Soul-Gathering Banner at his waist!

He drew the banner!

He spun around!

The moment it was drawn, the seemingly plain Soul-Gathering Banner caught the wind and grew, instantly expanding to several times its original size.

The pale surface of the banner trembled violently as innumerable twisted, tormented faces scrambled to emerge, their mouths all gaping open into black voids.

A terrifying, silent sound wave, potent enough to tear a soul to shreds, erupted forth. It manifested as grey-black ripples that distorted the air, rolling toward Qi Yun with an air of absolute destruction.

Hundred Ghosts Howling Together!

With the Soul-Gathering Banner in hand, Zhao Wuji was able to bypass the magic’s lengthy steps and rituals, instantly casting it with the residual souls imprisoned within.

Not only was its power more terrifying, but it was also nearly impossible to guard against!

Seeing the sound wave approach, a savage glint appeared in Qi Yun’s eyes. He took a deep breath, his chest swelling dramatically.

The next instant!

"ROAR!!!"

A deafening roar, wrapped in Demon Fire, formed a terrifying pillar of flame that violently collided with the cold, sinister sound wave!

In that moment, the two forces ground against each other, wreaking havoc. Visible shockwaves rippled outward in all directions.

Forced back half a step by the shockwave, a trace of clarity flashed through Qi Yun’s eyes.

’This is bad. The Sword Demon state’s influence on my mind is deepening. I have to suppress it.’

With a thought, a large amount of the Nanming Demon Fire contracted back into Qi Yun’s body, leaving only a halo of light formed from Nanming Li Fire Sword Qi behind him.

Sand Iron Technique: Black Rope Hell!

Forming a spell seal, True Qi surged within Qi Yun’s body. Countless motes of incredibly heavy Abyssal Iron Sand instantly gathered before him, transforming into more than a dozen ferocious black pythons. They slithered swiftly along the ground, cunningly striking at Zhao Wuji’s lower body from the left and right!

Meanwhile, the twenty-seven White Bone Skeleton heads needed no command, swarming forward with cackles.

They spewed out great plumes of foul, stinking Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire, blanketing Zhao Wuji like a curtain of bullets.

Others opened their bone-white jaws directly, and with a harsh, scraping sound, bit down hard on the Soul-Gathering Banner.

Zhao Wuji’s expression tightened. He whipped the long banner in his right hand, its surface snapping in the air as black qi billowed out like smoke signals. His left hand, meanwhile, flew through spell seals to cast a magic technique.

Netherworld Ghost Hand!

Rise!

In an instant, several cracks split the ground before him!

Seven or eight pale ghost hands, as large as millstones and condensed from pure Yin Qi, shot out from the fissures. Their fingers were like hooks, fearlessly clawing at the Iron Sand Pythons and the pouncing skulls.

The ghost hands collided with the iron sand, creating the muffled clang of striking metal.

They grappled and tore at the skulls as Yin Fire and Ghost Qi eroded one another, producing a teeth-grinding SIZZLE.

Nanming Sword Demon: Sword Qi Linked Beads!

Qi Yun formed a sword-hand, and the streams of Nanming Demon Fire Sword Qi from the sword wheel behind him tore through the air, slashing straight for Zhao Wuji’s neck!

A hundred swords shot forth at once!

A sudden storm!

Faced with the overwhelming onslaught of Nanming Demon Fire Sword Qi, the hair on Zhao Wuji’s neck stood on end. His sense of impending doom was stronger than ever before.

Casting aside all dignity, he performed a clumsy forward roll, holding the Soul-Gathering Banner firmly above his head as it erupted with endless black qi to block the attack!

SHLICK!

SHLICK!

SHLICK!

As the Sword Qi swept past, huge chunks of the black qi from the Soul-Gathering Banner were sliced away.

The final few streams of Sword Qi even managed to slice off a small piece from the edge of the Soul-Gathering Banner’s surface.

Innumerable shrill, pained wails instantly erupted from within the banner. This attack had clearly damaged the Magical Artifact’s very essence.

"Bastard!" Zhao Wuji was both shocked and furious, his heart aching at the damage. He slapped the banner’s pole and roared:

"Devouring Heart of Ten Thousand Souls!"

The Soul-Gathering Banner began to tremble violently.

The countless tortured faces on the banner’s surface seemed to come alive. They tore themselves free, transforming into a black torrent of extreme malice and madness that surged toward Qi Yun, intending to completely devour his Divine Soul.

The red light in the eyes of the Sword Demon that was Qi Yun flared. Instead of retreating, he advanced, flinging his arms wide!

Nanming Demon Fire - Great Sword Sparrow!

The Demon Fire around his body instantly compressed inward to an extreme degree before violently erupting, like a purplish-red sun of destruction blooming into existence.

Countless fine streams of Nanming Demon Fire Sword Qi shot out from him as the center, fanning out madly in all directions like a peacock spreading its plumage!

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The onrushing torrent of Resentful Souls, faced with a Demon Fire Sword Qi that specialized in destroying illusions and evil spirits, had met its bane. It was easily pierced, torn apart, and incinerated into wisps of green smoke.

A chorus of shrill screams filled the air.

Zhao Wuji had just managed to steady himself from the violent Demon Fire explosion and had not yet had a chance to catch his breath when he felt a sudden chill in his chest.

He looked down in disbelief.

A searing blade condensed entirely from Nanming Demon Fire had already pierced through his chest, its tip protruding from his sternum.

No blood flowed from the wound, only charred flesh and the flickering of Demon Fire.

"Ugh..."

The light in his eyes faded rapidly. His body swayed, and his grip on the Soul-Gathering Banner loosened, the long banner falling to the ground with a CLATTER.

Then his entire body fell backward.

’This man must be one of the top Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Netherworld, on par with Yue Rong. He certainly had a few tricks up his sleeve.’

Staring at Zhao Wuji’s corpse on the ground, Qi Yun was just about to disperse his Nanming Sword Demon form.

Repeatedly using this high-strain magic technique had already caused strange, whispering illusions to sound in his ears, tugging at his Heart and Spirit, trying to plunge him into an endless desire for slaughter.

’Wait!’

’Why haven’t my Spirit Points increased?’

Casually glancing at the unchanging Spiritual Points count on the back of his hand, Qi Yun’s intention to retract his magic came to an abrupt halt.

"Playing dead?"

With a cold snort, a large mass of Abyssal Iron Sand formed into sharp spikes and shot toward Zhao Wuji, who was lying on the ground playing dead.

But the corpse, which had already seemed lifeless, exploded into a cloud of black smoke with a BANG.

In its place, a tattered straw doll about a foot tall lay silently on the ground, a distinct, charred sword mark on its chest.

"A Death Replacement technique?"

Glancing down at the remaining straw doll, Qi Yun took a deep breath and slowly dispelled the Nanming Li Fire Technique.

He waved his hand, making a grasping motion in the air, and pulled the fallen Soul-Gathering Banner into his grip.

The long banner was bone-chilling to the touch, but its surface felt unusually tough and resilient. The twisted faces on it seemed to still be squirming faintly.

This banner had withstood the combined assault of his Sand Iron Skill and Skull Curse with only minor damage. It was truly a high-quality Magical Artifact.

Qi Yun tried to slowly channel a trace of True Qi into the banner, intending to take control of the artifact.

But a powerful sense of resistance and obstruction immediately surged forth, making it impossible for his True Qi to enter.

"A bonded Magical Artifact? A pity, I was hoping to keep and use it."

Seeing that he couldn’t refine and take control of this Magical Artifact, Qi Yun shrugged and immediately released his suppression on the Magic Technique Panel.

He gripped it, and in an instant, it was refined!

Feeling the Soul-Gathering Banner vibrate in his hand, Qi Yun raised an eyebrow. ’It really is a high-grade Magical Artifact, to actually try and resist.’

But such meager resistance was truly fragile when faced with the Magic Technique Panel, which could devour even Celestial and Earthly Spiritual Objects.

It lasted for less than the blink of an eye before the Soul-Gathering Banner was directly refined by the Magic Technique Panel, crumbling into a pile of ash with a dry RUSTLE. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

The Daoist Intent contained within the Soul-Gathering Banner was vast and surging.

It immediately maxed out the progress bar for the Skull Curse, which had only just been updated.

[Magic Technique Auto-Update Complete. This is a minor version update. Magic Technique effect adjustments are as follows:]

[Skull Curse 8.0: Increased magic power, increased number of White Bone Skeletons.]

"Hehehe..."

As he let out a low laugh, the twenty-seven White Bone Skeletons circling Qi Yun began to tremble manically. The dark green Corpse Poisoning Yin Fire around them flared violently, now faintly tinged with a trace of blood-red.

Then, under the incredulous gaze of Ling Jiao’er at the side.

The White Bone Skeletons began to split and evolve one by one. In the blink of an eye, the original twenty-seven skulls had multiplied to eighty-one!

"This... this... this is..."

The scene before her completely shattered Ling Jiao’er’s understanding of the world.

’Unity of Heaven and Law, comprehending Daoist Intent on his own?’

As this state, recorded only in ancient texts, flashed through her mind, Ling Jiao’er’s red lips parted slightly, her beautiful eyes wide with shock.

’Could this man be... of True Monarch Bloodline?!’

While Ling Jiao’er was still reeling from shock, Qi Yun, who was now appreciating the wonders of the new 8.0 version, turned his gaze toward the True Cultivator Disciple from Hehuan Palace.

A bone-chilling cold jolted Ling Jiao’er back to her senses. By then, Qi Yun was already standing before her. A large hand shot out with irresistible force, gripping her smooth, beautiful chin and forcing her to raise her head.

"Demoness, I need you to help me cultivate!"

...