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[Soul Refining Banner 7.0: Enhances Magic potency, increases Resentful Soul limit.]

In an instant, an even more powerful and profound Netherworld aura awoke from deep within the banner’s staff.

The strange Magic Patterns flowing across the banner’s surface became even more complex and abstruse.

The dense black Evil Qi permeating the surroundings surged violently, like an ocean tide.

The maximum number of Resentful Souls it could contain also more than doubled, rising from the original ninety-nine to two hundred!

"Not bad." A look of satisfaction flashed in Qi Yun’s eyes.

He didn’t delay in the slightest. He immediately took all the materials he had spent a fortune to acquire—those used to nourish the Soul Banner’s foundation, accelerate the gestation of Yin Souls, and increase the internal concentration of Yin Sha Resentment Qi.

Items such as Centennial Soul Nourishing Wood, Netherworld Blood Jade, and Essence of Yin Condensing Grass were all fed to the Soul Refining Banner in one go.

HUMMM!

The Soul Refining Banner refused nothing, greedily absorbing the Yin Attribute Energy contained within these rare Spiritual Materials.

The black gas within the banner’s inner space grew thicker and more viscous, churning ceaselessly like the boiling Nether River.

Even purer Yin Sha Crystals faintly began to condense on the ground.

"Oh?"

Noticing the Yin Sha Crystals that had condensed inside the Soul Refining Banner, Qi Yun’s brow twitched. With a thought, he retrieved them.

’This is good stuff, a product formed from the condensation of pure Yin Sha Qi.’

’In the Treasure Market, these are in high demand.’

With a behemoth like the Holy Sect Treasure Market backing him, resource supply was no longer a problem.

Fueled by Qi Yun’s frantic investment of Holy Essence to accelerate their growth,

the number of Resentful Souls within the Soul Refining Banner began to skyrocket!

The newly born Soul Bodies quickly condensed and took form in the Yin Sha environment, which was so thick it was almost tangible.

Once the number of Resentful Souls reached the new limit of two hundred, Qi Yun, with another thought, ruthlessly began a new round of culling.

Slaughter, consumption, transformation!

Weaker Soul Bodies were torn apart and absorbed by the stronger Main Souls. The victors’ forms grew more solid, their auras more ferocious.

Their spiritual nature was also passively enhanced in this cruel survival-of-the-fittest process.

Then, Qi Yun would again throw in new "talent" to spawn new Resentful Souls, bringing the number back to the limit, followed by another round of consumption and transformation...

The cycle repeated over and over.

After a few rounds, the scene within the Soul Refining Banner had changed dramatically.

The Resentful Souls, once ferocious-looking with distorted, blurry forms and capable only of unconscious howls, were now vastly different.

Their forms were stable and clear.

Other than their eyes—which were still as black as ink, bottomless, and filled with endless venomous hatred—and their overly pale, bloodless skin,

their facial features and limbs were now indistinguishable from those of an ordinary person.

They stood silently amidst the churning black gas, no longer howling erratically. They simply "stared" into the banner’s inner space with their ink-black pupils.

Looking at these reborn Resentful Souls within the Soul Refining Banner, Qi Yun felt increasingly satisfied.

’These Resentful Souls have been optimized multiple times and have higher spiritual nature; they’ll definitely be more stable and efficient when painting Talismans.’

’I could even teach them some new ones.’

"This Soul Refining Banner is now my personal Talisman factory, endlessly producing Talismans to fill my wallet," Qi Yun said, stroking the cold banner staff and feeling the immense power it contained.

"And this ample wealth can, in turn, be reinvested into my various Magic, allowing me to buy resources and upgrade their versions..."

’With such a virtuous cycle, how could I not achieve the Great Dao!’

As time went on,

the batch of Profound Yin Slash Talismans drawn by the Resentful Souls, which Qi Yun had given to Ning Feng to sell, gradually began to circulate within the Holy Sect and the surrounding Marketplaces.

Although the aura these Talismans emitted was a bit cold and unique,

their power was solid, and their price was competitive.

Sales were surprisingly good.

Thus, Qi Yun began to receive a steady stream of payments from Ning Feng.

His wallet became full once again.

Even more so than before.

With the funds secured, Qi Yun didn’t hesitate. He immediately used the Taixu Jade Order to formally acquire the Magic he had coveted for so long: the Profound Nether Qi Bottle.

At the same time, he paid a hefty fee to commission an expert in Artifact Refining within the sect to follow the blueprints included with the Dharma Gate.

The expert was to custom-make the core vessel for this Magic: the Magical Artifact known as the Profound Nether Qi Bottle.

「Half a month later.」

A sealed Jade Box, affixed with a Sealing Talisman, was delivered to Qi Yun’s cave residence. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Taking the Jade Box, Qi Yun opened it with a sense of anticipation.

An object lay quietly upon the soft satin lining.

It was a small bottle, no more than three inches tall, with a simple, archaic design and smooth lines.

The body of the bottle was a deep ink-black, yet it was not a dead, flat color. Instead, it was like the finest black jade, with a lustrous and translucent quality, holding a Treasure Light within.

Light seemed to be absorbed when it fell upon the surface, outlining the edges with only a dim halo.

The mouth of the bottle was small and seamlessly integrated with the body. The entire object gave off a feeling of weight and restraint, yet it also hinted at a hidden, endless corrosive power.

Qi Yun gently picked it up. It was icy cold to the touch, as if he were holding a piece of Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice.

The pure water-attribute Yin Sha Power contained within could be faintly sensed even through the bottle’s walls.

Caressing the Magical Artifact, the corners of Qi Yun’s mouth curved up slightly.

’With this bottle, I can finally start cultivating the Profound Nether Erosive Qi, a technique that specializes in damaging the Dao Foundation and corrupting Spiritual Light. I’ll have another sinister and domineering trump card in my arsenal!’

「Time flew by in a flash.」

In the days that followed, Qi Yun’s life settled into a regular and peaceful rhythm.

He spent most of his time each day stabilizing his Three Souls, which had already grown considerably stronger.

At the same time, he used the endless stream of pure Divine Rhyme from the Platinum Buddha Beads to patiently nourish and nurture his Fetal Light, Shuang Ling, and Ghost Spirit.

He guided them to draw closer to one another, their auras mingling, taking slow but steady steps toward the final goal of "unifying into one."

Meanwhile, he also dedicated some of his energy to cultivating with his new Profound Nether Qi Bottle. He carefully channeled his True Essence, combined it with the Nine Earth Yin Sha Water Qi he had gathered, and began to condense the first wisp of Profound Nether Erosive Qi inside the black jade bottle—a formless, intangible substance that exuded a dangerous aura.

In his spare time, he would contact Ning Feng through the Taixu Jade Order to send over the latest batches of Talismans from the "Resentful Soul factory" within his Soul Refining Banner and collect his payments.

Although his days were somewhat monotonous,

lacking the grand adventures and life-or-death thrills of his time away from the sect, they were filled with the satisfaction of peaceful cultivation and steady improvement.

In the blink of an eye, nearly three years slipped by.

Compared to his previous meteoric rise of breaking through two realms in a single year after leaving the sect,

Qi Yun’s cultivation progress over these three years had returned to a normal pace.

Before the crucial threshold of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer,

he displayed immense patience and caution.

For three years, he had unceasingly nurtured his Three Souls with a massive amount of Divine Rhyme. His Three Souls were now several times stronger and more condensed than they had been three years ago. The connection between them had also grown much tighter, like three bands of light from the same source, shimmering and reflecting one another in the depths of his Purple Mansion.

However, he had still not managed to break through the thin membrane that would allow the three to fully merge and transform into a complete Divine Soul.

Qi Yun knew full well that this was the final step of the Qi Refining Realm and the most crucial one for his foundation.

It would determine the breadth and stability of his future path on the Dao.

’It can’t be rushed, and I can’t afford to panic.’

’Only by letting it happen naturally, when the time is right, can I follow the correct path.’

Aside from his personal cultivation, his Talisman business had also gradually stabilized over the past three years.

The customer base in the Holy Sect and its surrounding Marketplaces was only so large.

After the initial boom, the market gradually became saturated. Sales and profits naturally declined, and there was no longer any explosive growth.

Fortunately, the Holy Essence he had accumulated over the past three years was substantial enough to support his cultivation expenses for a long time to come.

He no longer needed to worry about resources.

On this day, Qi Yun had just finished his daily Soul Stabilization practice and slowly opened his eyes.

The moment he opened them, a golden radiance like a brilliant sun seemed to flash in the depths of his pupils before vanishing.

Although it vanished quickly, that momentary brilliance signified his ever-increasing progress in soul cultivation, bringing him one step closer to the Realm of Divine Soul.

Gently exhaling a breath of Muddy Qi, Qi Yun was about to stand up and stretch when a slight fluctuation came from his cave residence’s Restriction.

"Hm?" Qi Yun raised an eyebrow. He had very few friends in the sect and rarely received visitors.

He waved his hand to open the Restriction, and a Communication Talisman flew into his hand.

It wasn’t an urgent message, but an elegantly crafted... calling card, which even carried a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Qi Yun unfolded the calling card, somewhat puzzled. As his gaze fell upon its contents and the signature at the bottom, his expression tightened.

The card’s wording was polite, expressing a desire to visit and proposing a specific time.

The name in the signature, however, was both surprising and, in a way, expected.

"Him? He entered the Inner Mansion too?" Qi Yun murmured, rubbing the calling card as a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes.

’Should I see him?’

’Or not?’

...