109: Soul-calling banner

“Middle Stage Foundation Establishment,” Li Ke murmured, slowly opening his eyes as he sat cross-legged in his study.

Inside the room, numerous black Qi figures transformed into black Qi, resembling returning swallows, and merged into his body.

Li Ke inspected himself.

Within the pitch-black spiritual pool inside his body, the Demonic Liquid had accumulated to four inches.

Its color had become even darker and deeper, Li Ke a warm piece of Demonic Jade.

As his Realm increased, the density of the liquefied Demonic Qi in this spiritual pool would also grow, eventually solidifying completely when he reached Foundation Establishment Perfection.

Then, the spiritual pool would shatter, and the Golden Core would emerge.

Half a month had passed since Hatties entered seclusion to nurture his new Bloodline.

Hatties still showed no signs of emerging.

However, the Qi within his body became increasingly profound and unified.

This was normal, as Hatties himself had not originally Awakened a transcendent Bloodline.

It was only by relying on the True Spirit Blood Fusion Secret Method that he began to unearth the imprints deep within his own Bloodline.

Having absorbed four or five transcendent Bloodlines far superior to his own at once, a certain amount of time for digestion and Fusion was necessary.

Just yesterday,

Li Ke had already received a notice from the Oak Tree Earl's Mansion.

It stated that the “Purging Operation” had concluded.

A celebratory banquet would be held in half a month.

“Celebratory banquet…”

Li Ke smiled, though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

He felt that after this “Purging Operation,” the Oak Tree Territory seemed to have even more evil demons.

However, setting aside the matter of “purging evil demons,” this operation was indeed worthy of celebration.

His successful annexation of Xilin Town certainly made him one of the victors.

“Speaking of which, it's time to forge a prototype for my Golden Core Stage Lifebound Treasure.”

Li Ke thought to himself.

He rose and walked to the Soul Summoning Forest behind the castle.

After some searching, Li Ke finally stood near a small mound.

The soil here was a strange, dark black, and the Yin Qi was exceptionally dense.

Nearby, a very twisted, withered tree grew.

Its trunk was shriveled and wrinkled, its branches twisting towards the sky Li Ke struggling ghostly claws.

“As expected, the Yin Qi is densest here.”

This was actually the location of the previous corpse-raising ground.

The tree beside it, which appeared to be long dead, had actually been transformed by the power of the Soul Summoning Forest into a high-quality Yin Wood.

From the very beginning,

the Lifebound Treasure Li Ke intended to forge was the Ten Thousand Souls Sect's Soul Summoning Banner.

The greatest advantage of this Magic Treasure was that as long as there were enough living souls, it could almost infinitely advance.

From the Soul Summoning Banner, to the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, and then to the “Human Emperor Banner” emitting black Qi…

It had an incredibly clear growth path with an extremely high Upper limit.

Moreover, besides living souls, its requirements for other Materials were very low, which was perfect for his situation of pioneering in another world.

After all, the various rare Materials required for other Magic Treasures might not be found in this world.

But living souls, he could have as many as he wanted.

“Alas, which world lacks cattle and horses?”

Li Ke sighed softly.

To forge the Soul Summoning Banner, one only needed to take the most Yin wood from the Soul Summoning Forest for the pole.

Then, take human skin imbued with resentment for the banner face.

Add a sufficient number of living souls as a guide, and refine it with a secret method, and the banner could be formed.

Afterward, it could absorb countless living souls, causing them to devour each other and advance.

As the quality of the living souls and vengeful spirits within the banner improved, the banner's main body would also advance accordingly.

Li Ke looked at the current Soul Summoning Forest.

Dense clusters of living souls resided in the treetops, some drifting back and forth in mid-air, their numbers having increased significantly since before.

Clearly, although the Oak Tree Territory had seemingly quieted down during this period, there were still many hidden conflicts.

“There are enough living souls, and I have the Yin Wood. The human skin…”

Li Ke turned his head to look at the Faceless Paper Figure standing beside him, having followed to watch the spectacle.

The Faceless Paper Figure was startled.

Its face rippled, all its features fading away, instantly returning to its faceless appearance.

“I only need one.”

Li Ke smiled faintly.

“Give me the one with the heaviest resentment.”

The entire paper figure froze in place, motionless. Despite having no features, its face conveyed a strong sense of struggle.

After a moment,

the smooth face of the Faceless Paper Figure began to slowly ripple and turn.

One by one, mottled, distorted human faces appeared.

Each face was lifelike, as if still retaining the emotions of its last moments alive.

These faces overlapped, flickering and changing rapidly.

Finally, it settled on a woman's face, twisted with venomous resentment.

It was a rather beautiful face, but at this moment, due to extreme hatred, its features were contorted.

Immediately after, the edges of this face began to slowly curl up, Li Ke a poorly attached, cheap mask.

The Faceless Paper Figure extended its paper-thin hands, pinching the curled edge,

Then, it pulled down forcefully.

“Screech…”

A slight, teeth-grating sound.

A human skin, thin as a cicada's wing, streaked with blood,

was forcibly torn from its face.

The moment the human skin left its body, the Faceless Paper Figure staggered back half a step, its form appearing somewhat dim.

It held the human skin, somewhat reluctantly, and offered it to Li Ke.

Li Ke reached out and took it.

The human skin felt cold and slick to the touch, and a bone-chilling surge of resentment tried to burrow into his body through his fingertips.

The Demonic Qi within his body rotated slightly, easily crushing that resentment.

“Not bad.”

Li Ke nodded in satisfaction.

He held the human skin and turned to walk towards the twisted, withered tree nearby.

He pressed his fingers together Li Ke a knife and lightly sliced one of the ghostly claw-Li Ke branches.

A section of branch, as thick as an arm, completely black, and emanating a bone-chilling cold, silently broke off and fell into his hand.

This section of Yin Wood felt incredibly heavy in his hand, as if it were not wood, but a piece of ancient, solidified cold iron.

Li Ke held the Yin Wood as the pole and slowly unfurled the resentful human skin.

He chanted incantations, beginning to form hand seals.

As the incantations sounded, the Yin Qi from the entire Soul Summoning Forest began to converge towards the Yin Wood and human skin in his hand.

The human skin, thin as a cicada's wing, seemed to come alive, automatically adhering to and wrapping around one end of the Yin Wood, stretching into a small banner face.

The woman's venomous features twisted for a moment on the banner face before completely dissipating, turning into a pure, ghastly white.

“Not enough yet.”

Li Ke shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the entire Soul Summoning Forest.

He suddenly plunged the Soul Summoning Banner in his hand deep into the corpse-raising ground beneath his feet!

The Summoning Demon Scripture within his body operated at full power.

“Come!”

A soft cry.

The entire Soul Summoning Forest instantly boiled!

Countless living souls residing in the treetops and wandering through the forest seemed to be compelled by an irresistible command.

They let out silent shrieks, transforming into wisps of gray-white smoke, surging frantically towards the small banner, vying for precedence.

For a time, Yin winds howled, and ghosts wailed.

As living souls merged into the ghastly white banner face, the banner face moved without wind, fluttering violently.

As more and more living souls poured in,

the color of the banner face became darker and deeper, and a faint, eerie glow even began to appear on its surface.

After a long time,

when there was no longer a single wandering living soul in the Soul Summoning Forest,

Li Ke finally reached out and pulled the Soul Summoning Banner from the ground.

At this moment, the banner felt heavy in his hand.

It emanated a chilling aura that made one's Divine Soul tremble.

He could clearly feel

the chaotic scene within the banner, where thousands of living souls were entangled, tearing, and devouring each other.

This was because the banner had quantity but lacked a powerful enough main soul to command them.

“Indeed, only thirty-six Dao Laws.”

Li Ke's spiritual sense probed within it.

This Magic Treasure prototype had only just reached the threshold of a Low Grade Magical Artifact.

This was also the special aspect of the Soul Summoning Banner.

Other Magical Artifacts and Magic Treasures had their overall grade determined at the beginning of their refinement.

However, the Soul Summoning Banner was different; it always started as the lowest Low Grade Magical Artifact.

It continuously advanced in grade based on the number of living souls it contained and the strength of the fierce souls.

Starting from thirty-six Dao Laws, then to seventy-two, and then to one hundred and eight…

When Li Ke advanced to the Golden Core Stage in the future,

he would only need to find a sufficiently powerful fierce soul, refine it into the banner, and make it the main soul.

Then, this Soul Summoning Banner would truly transform into a Magic Treasure.

A smile appeared on Li Ke's face,

and he reinserted the Soul Summoning Banner into the Soul Summoning Forest.

The Soul Summoning Banner and the Soul Summoning Forest were inherently complementary, originating from the same source.

As the Soul Summoning Forest gradually expanded, its range and power to absorb living souls would continuously grow,

providing a steady stream of living souls to the Soul Summoning Banner.

With this prototype, one day,

this small banner would grow into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner that could cover the sky.

By then, with one banner in hand, billions of living souls would move at his will.

That would be the true demeanor of a Demonic Path giant.