347: 【Xuanming】

The banner's entire body shimmered with a mysterious yellow luster. Dim, obscure light seemed to flow slowly across the surface, where countless flickering, indistinct shadows faintly emerged.

They drifted within it in an unsettled yet orderly fashion, collectively guarding a deep, dark vortex at the center.

This was Lu Ming's Lifebound Treasure—the human emperor banner!

Since this Magic Treasure had been promoted to the peak of the Third Rank, Lu Ming had rarely used it lightly.

It wasn't because it was weak; on the contrary, it was because its power was far too unpredictable!

Over the years, Lu Ming had used his own essence blood as a medium and his Divine Soul as the flame, supplemented by the Blood Nurturing Soul Merging Artifact Sacrificial Method to refine and nourish it day and night. He had long since become one in mind with it, controlling it as easily as his own limbs.

But as the quantity and quality of the Banner Spirits stored within the banner continued to rise, the Magic Treasure's Origin grew increasingly profound.

Lu Ming clearly perceived that a certain profound mystery was beginning to take root within the human emperor banner, undergoing a fundamental transformation that transcended the scope of ordinary Magic Treasures.

That was the sign that an Artifact Spirit embryo was gestating!

An Artifact Spirit was the manifestation of a Magic Treasure's spirituality condensing to the extreme and producing sentience. It was the core hallmark and necessary condition for a Magic Treasure to promote to the Fourth Rank and become a true 'Spirit Treasure'!

If an ordinary Cultivator obtained such an Opportunity, they would likely be ecstatic and spare no expense to help it grow, but Lu Ming had always harbored misgivings about this.

The reason was that the human emperor banner's Origins ultimately traced back to the Soul Devouring Demonic Sect's 'soul devouring banner'.

Even though he had later purified it with secret methods and even reshaped its internal Restrictions, it was hard to guarantee a complete severance from its past path.

He wasn't even certain if, in the core depths of this Magic Treasure, there still lurked hidden hands or backdoors that even he could not detect.

Therefore, once the human emperor banner reached the peak of the Third Rank, he intentionally controlled its growth. Not only did he rarely use its full power, but he also stopped the large-scale investment of high-quality Banner Spirits.

However, the current situation did not allow him to be indecisive any longer.

A living man cannot be stymied by a full bladder. Facing Li Daoxuan's invocation of the Power of the Law of Thick Earth, which contained the rules of heaven and earth, ordinary methods were already difficult to resist. He had no choice but to use this peak Third Rank Magic Treasure!

“Buzz—”

The moment the thought settled, Lu Ming no longer hesitated, linking his mind with the human emperor banner in his hand!

Instantly, a deep, obscure, and profound vibration quietly spread out with the human emperor banner as the center.

The status of a peak Third Rank Magic Treasure was already enough to stand on equal footing with a Golden Core Perfection Cultivator. Moreover, at this moment, an Artifact Spirit embryo was gestating within the banner!

And the trajectory of this Artifact Spirit's formation was extremely unique.

It was originally a supreme Yin object that devoured ten thousand souls, but it had undergone a transformation due to Ji Ruge's joining.

Especially after he became the Main Soul, it had further refined and merged with Imperial Qi, completing the subjugation of the Yin spirits.

In the midst of the unseen, this actually faintly resonated with the profound imagery of 'governing the netherworld and presiding over the dead,' gaining the favor of heavenly authority.

This authority, according to legend, could be traced back to the status of the Son of Yin in myths—the one who governed the Nine Serenities, managed Yin and Yang, judged Life and Death, and held sway over Reincarnation!

That was the supreme Dominator of the netherworld, the final arbiter of the order of Life and Death.

Of course, this was just a legend.

Furthermore, a mere Third Rank Magic Treasure, evolving purely by instinct without anyone to guide it, was absolutely unable to touch upon such a supreme Great Dao.

What it could gestate and manifest was merely the most basic Law characteristic that was closest to its essence within that vast system of authority—[Xuanming].

What was [Xuanming]?

Xuan meant profound, deep, and dark, beyond measure.

Ming meant obscure, silent, and returning to nothingness.

Although it was only the most basic characteristic, this did not mean the Law of [Xuanming] was weak.

On the contrary, its potential was practically infinite!

Simply because it was one of the core subordinate Laws of the Great Dao of [Life and Death]!

And the Great Dao of [Life and Death], like the Great Dao of [Yin and Yang] pursued by Yun Chenzi, were both supreme Laws that pointed directly to the Dao. Both were equally matched and were paths leading to the heavens!

One only needed to look at Yun Chenzi to see; just wielding the Five Elements was already so formidable, so one could imagine how terrifying the transformed [Yin and Yang] would be.

Seeing the whole from a part, if the human emperor banner continued to grow and transform along the path of [Xuanming], it might not be impossible to touch the Great Dao of [Life and Death] in the future.

Of course, that was a luxury for the distant future, and Lu Ming only had a superficial understanding of it.

The reason he knew this much was only because of the slight feedback he received from it after nourishing it as his Lifebound Treasure.

But as for more in-depth knowledge, he did not know.

However, for now, facing Li Daoxuan's single Law of Thick Earth, this newly born wisp of the Law of [Xuanming] was already enough to deal with it!

“Besides...”

Lu Ming gripped the human emperor banner, feeling the profound rhythm coming from within. He looked with burning eyes at the aggressively approaching Li Daoxuan.

“Li Daoxuan, just how much of your strength you can actually exert now is something we'll only know after a fight!”

After saying this, he violently thrust the human emperor banner into the Void Realm in front of him!

In an instant, it was as if it had crashed into an invisible mirror. Deep, dark ripples immediately swayed through the Void Realm, spreading out in all directions!

“Obscure Xuanming, all things return to bone!”

“Edict!”

The command sounded like a knock on the gates of the underworld.

“Boom—”

With the human emperor banner as the center, an indescribable Aura of cold, deathly silence erupted!

Starting from a hundred-foot radius around Lu Ming, light was rapidly drained away as if by a black hole, and the surrounding temperature began to plummet!

The vegetation, soil, and stones on the ground withered and weathered at a speed visible to the naked eye, finally turning into grayish-white dust.

That was not ordinary icy Qi, but a sense of finality that pointed directly toward the decay of all things!

And the world that was originally being pressed down by yellow clouds, invoked by Li Daoxuan's Law of Thick Earth...

At this moment, it was as if thick ink had been splashed into it. An ominous, ashen color quickly crawled up, and even the speed of the churning clouds slowed and stagnated.

Even the Leyline Qi rising from the earth like a Dragon was now flickering uncertainly like a candle in the wind.

Large swaths of Earthen Essence Qi dissipated directly, as if their spirituality had been erased by an invisible force, until they turned into a heart-palpitating, silent Domain of death.

In just a few breaths, an absolute Domain of death that made the heavens and earth lose their color and extinguished all vitality took shape under the human emperor banner!

This was the external manifestation of the Law of [Xuanming], a Law Domain evolved from the Sovereign Extreme Ghost Domain.

It was—the Xuan Ming Death Domain!

Although it was still far from being fully formed, it had already begun to show its terrifying characteristics of withering vitality and all things returning to silence!

Facing Lu Ming's sudden move, Li Daoxuan's expression changed drastically, and his pupils shrank.

He clearly felt that his Law of Thick Earth was being rapidly tainted by this eerie, cold power.

The Earth Element power of heaven and earth, which had been incredibly close to him, became unfamiliar at this moment, being continuously weakened and even isolated!

“Impossible!!”