101: Blood Refining Soul Devouring Banner

The instant the Shadow Leopard was suppressed and roared with its head raised, Xiao Qinghan clearly saw a strange, blood-red talisman flashing deep within its pupils.

Xiao Qinghan's face instantly paled. She retreated to Lin Feng's side: "Junior Brother Lin... that leopard... someone cast an Evil Spell on it. It's definitely not due to poor domestication."

Almost simultaneously, Lin Feng also sensed an anomaly from the disturbance just now.

The two quickly exchanged glances, both seeing deep shock in the other's eyes. This Hundred Beasts Mountain was far from as simple as it appeared.

The banquet continued after this minor interlude, but Lin Feng and Xiao Qinghan's hearts were completely strained.

Sect Master Yan Shi rose again, his face bearing an expression that was difficult to decipher. He announced loudly, his voice spreading throughout the venue:

"Fellow Daoists, we are fortunate to have you grace us with your presence at today's grand assembly. Next, I, Yan, will display an ancient Beast-Taming Secret Treasure that our Hundred Beasts Mountain obtained by chance. This treasure possesses infinite mystery and may allow our Path of Beast Taming to advance another level."

Under the curious and expectant gazes of the crowd, several Disciples carried out an ancient, black, three-legged cauldron adorned with a beast's head and covered in countless strange and indecipherable talismans.

Sect Master Yan Shi looked at the cauldron, began to form a complex hand seal, and chanted Incantations under his breath.

As the Incantation was channeled into it, the Beast-Headed Cauldron began to tremble slightly, and the talismans on its body lit up one by one, emitting a faint, dark glow.

The Beast-Headed Cauldron began to spew out pitch-black smog. The black fog spread at an astonishing speed like a living creature, and a massive, inverted bowl-shaped barrier was visibly solidifying, threatening to engulf the entire Hundred Beasts Mountain.

At the same time, complex blood-red Array Patterns, which had been secretly carved and previously concealed on the ground, suddenly lit up, emitting spiritual energy fluctuations.

A suppressive force began to permeate the air, and all the guests on the square felt their spiritual energy circulation become incredibly sluggish.

"What is happening?"

"My spiritual energy... I can't move it!"

"What is this?"

The guests panicked, trying to struggle free.

The expectation on Sect Master Yan Shi's face instantly turned into shock and disbelief. He looked at the out-of-control black cauldron and shouted hoarsely, "No! This is wrong! This is not a Beast-Taming Secret Treasure at all. This is... this is..."

Just as the black fog erupted, the barrier began to form, and the blood light appeared on the ground, Lin Feng, who had been highly vigilant and had his heaven-stealing vine fully activated, felt a great sense of dread.

"This is bad!"

He had no time to think. Relying almost entirely on instinct, he summoned the wine immortal gourd. At the same time, he grabbed the arm of Xiao Qinghan, whose expression had also changed drastically and who was about to channel her spiritual energy to resist, and shouted, "Go!"

The wine immortal gourd transformed into a golden streak of light and rapidly shot towards a gap above where the barrier had not yet completely closed.

The moment they escaped, the inside and outside of the barrier became two different worlds. The massive, pitch-black barrier finally closed completely, sealing the entire Hundred Beasts Mountain within.

Lin Feng and Xiao Qinghan hovered in mid-air, looking down at the pitch-black barrier, their expressions extremely grave.

"We shouldn't linger here," Lin Feng said in a deep voice. "Senior Sister Xiao, let's go!"

He knew well that the force capable of setting up such a terrifying Grand Array, capturing the entire Hundred Beasts Mountain and its numerous Cultivators in one fell swoop, was definitely not something the two of them could contend with. The most important thing now was to immediately flee this troubled area.

Xiao Qinghan's face was pale, and a trace of reluctance and struggle flashed in her eyes. She looked towards the barrier, seeming to want to do something, but reason told her Lin Feng was right. She gritted her teeth, hugged Lin Feng tightly, and nodded heavily: "Okay."

The wine immortal gourd turned into a streak of light, carrying the two of them without hesitation and speeding away from Hundred Beasts Mountain at an astonishing pace.

However, just as they had flown out only about ten miles and were about to disappear into the distant mountains.

Boom!!!

A massive sound came from the direction of Hundred Beasts Mountain behind them.

The two turned their heads to look.

They saw the massive black barrier in the distance shaking violently, with countless Wraith-like black shadows frantically moving and howling across its surface.

At the top of the barrier, a huge vortex spun wildly, and in the center of the vortex, the faint phantom of the Beast-Headed Cauldron appeared.

Just then, a furious roar ripped through the sky:

"No! Ghost Spirit Sect! You tricked me!"

This voice belonged to Yan Shi, the Sect Master of Hundred Beasts Mountain.

"This is not a Beast-Taming Sacred Item at all. You promised me... you promised me you would... You swore a Heart Demon Vow. Pfft..."

His enraged shout was interrupted by a muffled groan and the sound of spitting blood; he was clearly already restrained.

Immediately afterward, a chilling laugh echoed from the center of the vortex, reverberating through the heavens and earth:

"Hahahaha! Yan Shi. You fool. It's too late now that you understand. Thank you, a Sect Master, for so willingly offering your entire Sect's Disciples, all your guests, and even the Spirit Beasts of this mountain as Blood Sacrifices."

"Today, with all this, we shall forge the supreme treasure of my Holy Sect—the Soul-Devouring Banner, rise!"

Following this proclamation, Yan Shi's final wail, filled with endless regret and pain, was completely drowned out.

"No!!"

"Father! Brother!"

Countless desperate wails erupted from within the barrier, only to be instantly and mercilessly swallowed by the giant vortex.

The next moment, the entire black barrier, along with all the living beings, buildings, and Spirit Beasts within it... seemed to be tightly squeezed by an invisible giant hand, surging into the phantom cauldron at the center of the vortex.

In just a few breaths, the massive barrier covering the entire Hundred Beasts Mountain was forcibly compressed and completely devoured, leaving only a huge, scorched pit behind.

And in the center of the vortex, the phantom completely solidified, turning into a pitch-black Demonic Banner.

On the distant mountaintop, Lin Feng and Xiao Qinghan took in the entire scene. Both their faces were deathly pale, and they felt cold all over.

Xiao Qinghan's body trembled slightly, her eyes filled with unbelievable shock and grief as she murmured, "Yuerong... Xingyuan... Hundred Beasts Mountain... it's all... all gone..."

Lin Feng tightly clenched his fists, his knuckles white from the effort. Although he did not have a deep friendship with the Yan family siblings, the hellish scene and the final desperate cries still shook his heart, stirring up a chill and anger.

Ghost Spirit Sect... Soul-Devouring Banner... the methods of this Demonic Path Sect were truly this cruel.

"Go!" Lin Feng took a deep breath, suppressing his turbulent emotions. He once again activated the wine immortal gourd, turning it into a streak of light, and sped away from this place of despair as quickly as possible.

However, after they had flown out only about a hundred miles, a sharp sound of rushing air came from the sky behind them. Three streaks of Escaping Light were rapidly approaching, all of them at the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage.

Xiao Qinghan's face was pale, and she urgently said, "They are targeting us. If we keep going like this, they will catch up."

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the terrain below. He controlled the gourd to change direction again, heading toward a dense mountain forest shrouded in mist.

Upon entering the forest, the light instantly dimmed. The gourd instantly shrank and was retracted by him. At the same time, he grabbed Xiao Qinghan's wrist, and using the momentum of their dive, they plunged with a splash directly into the bone-chilling stream, kicking up spray.

Almost the instant they landed, the three streaks of Escaping Light behind them had already reached the sky above the forest.

Having lost a clear target, their speed clearly slowed. They circled above the forest canopy, their powerful Divine Sense sweeping repeatedly over the dense forest below like an invisible net.