Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 388 People with Similar Fates
"Ye Chen, come to the Cold Pool to see me."

Without warning, Youluozi's voice rang in his ears, and Ye Chen, who was refining the Myriad Soul Banner in his cave, suddenly froze.

He slowly raised his head, and the dark blue-black aura surrounding him gradually dissipated, revealing an unusually young face.

Ye Chen looked to be in his early twenties, with delicate features and even a scholarly air. However, he was surrounded by countless malevolent, resentful, and poisonous energies, and his eyes were so cold that he seemed to regard everyone as a corpse.

This is the most typical appearance of a demonic cultivator. Because of the excessive killing and the extremely vicious cultivation techniques, these auras that inspire fear naturally form around them.

As the flag bearer under Youluozi, Ye Chen led hundreds of demonic cultivators and was naturally assigned an independent cave dwelling.

However, within the Demonic Sect, this is not a force to be proud of.

Ultimately, he was just a Transcendent Realm cultivator. In this cultivation world where the strong are respected and human life is as worthless as grass, Transcendent Realm cultivators are nothing more than slightly larger ants.

The previous flag bearer before Ye Chen died in some battle, or perhaps was used as a pawn by Youluozi and disappeared without a trace, as light as a feather as those human sacrifices kidnapped underground.

Since Ye Chen took over, his colleagues have changed frequently, like a revolving door.

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is the norm in the world of cultivation.

Especially in the Demonic Sect, the slightest carelessness can lead to death and annihilation, with no peace even in the afterlife. Just like these vengeful spirits struggling and roaring above his Myriad Souls Banner at this moment.

"Ye Chen! You'll die a horrible death!"

"We will definitely tear you to pieces!"

"You despicable scoundrel! Once I'm free, I'll tear you to pieces!"

……

Countless vicious curses were spewed from the mouths of those twisted souls, but Ye Chen was already used to it and didn't even bother to frown.

Ye Chen was a rather traditional demonic cultivator, which is why he liked the Myriad Soul Banner. The first magical artifact he ever acquired was the Myriad Soul Banner, which he had personally crafted.

However, unlike ordinary demonic cultivators, Ye Chen rarely uses the souls of mortals for blood sacrifices.

It's not that I don't like it, it's that I don't want to waste my time.

In his view, the souls of mortals are weak and feeble, and it would take an immense amount of effort and time to cultivate them into vengeful spirits capable of fighting.

The Myriad Soul Banner was originally a magical artifact created for taking shortcuts; to try to refine it step by step would be putting the cart before the horse.

The demonic path of cultivation is about taking shortcuts, and once you've taken a shortcut, you have to see it through to the end.

Before his death, Ye Chen's master repeatedly warned him: in cultivation, one must not be indecisive, waver, or be timid.

In this day and age, if you're a demon lord and you're not bold or ruthless enough, your ultimate fate will be to be refined into the Myriad Souls Banner by someone else.

Ye Chen wholeheartedly agreed.

Therefore, from the very beginning of his cultivation, he had been racking his brains to target those cultivators whose realms were far superior to his own.

These vengeful spirits before him were the "results" of his efforts over the years. These vengeful spirits were all at least at the Tongxuan Realm in their previous lives, and one of them was even an old demon who was once at the Huashen Realm.

Ye Chen waved his hand expressionlessly, and dozens of chilling soul-locking chains roared out, coiling around the vengeful spirits like venomous snakes, trying to drag them little by little into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

Seeing that the old demons were still putting up a stubborn resistance, Ye Chen snorted coldly and drew a sharp wisp of energy from his fingertip, instantly severing one of the vengeful spirits in half at the waist. Immediately afterwards, he cast several strange talismans and, in front of all the spirits, forcibly sewed the vengeful spirit's head back to its legs.

Although vengeful spirits are formless and essentially just a special form of spiritual energy, the fact that they were stitched together into such a distorted shape truly startled the other vengeful spirits.

Once the other vengeful spirits were trembling with fear, Ye Chen threatened them in an extremely vicious tone: "If you dare to resist again, I'll go catch a wild dog and sew your heads one by one onto its whip!"

This vicious method of severing and fusing souls is a unique technique that Ye Chen devised himself. It may not necessarily make the vengeful spirit stronger, but it is definitely the most cruel and humiliating torture inflicted on the soul.

Seeing this, the remaining vengeful spirits instantly fell silent, no longer daring to struggle, and obediently allowed the chains to drag them into the endless darkness of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

Putting away his magical artifact, Ye Chen transformed into a streak of light and left the cave.

He seemed to dare not delay for even a moment, but when he fled, he did not exert his full strength. He had served Youluozi for several years, but had never seen his true form, and was not even qualified to approach the cold pool where Youluozi hid.

Today, I was unexpectedly summoned.

Ye Chen felt a sense of unease; this summons might not be a good thing.

However, Ye Chen was well aware of You Luozi's abilities, and knew that it would be difficult for him to escape. He could only prepare to deal with possible dangers.

Before long, Ye Chen arrived at a place filled with a chilling atmosphere.

The biting cold did not originate from ice and snow, but from a deep pool of water ahead.

A maid draped in black veil was already waiting there. She nodded expressionlessly to Ye Chen, then turned and led the way. Ye Chen followed closely behind, but his heart grew heavier and heavier, and he felt that something was increasingly wrong.

In the past, Youluozi was always accompanied by two inseparable personal maids. Why is there only one left today?
Another one either escaped or died?
Did he die at the hands of someone else, or at the hands of Youluozi himself?
Numerous thoughts churned in Ye Chen's mind, and his unease grew increasingly intense.

When he followed the maid to the edge of the cold pool, he did not see the mysterious and majestic witch, but instead saw a little girl sitting on a black rock by the pool, leisurely swinging her snow-white feet.

The moment Ye Chen saw that face, he quickly lowered his head, trying his best to hide his shocked expression.

Youluozi turned her head, looked at Ye Chen with her clear, childlike eyes, and asked, "What? Are you surprised to see my appearance?"

Ye Chen quickly replied, "I dare not. Your Excellency's cultivation is vast and your youth is eternal, which is only natural."

"Ha ha……"

Youluozi let out a string of silvery laughter, but to Ye Chen, the laughter sounded like a thousand fine needles piercing his heart.

"Stop pretending. I know you recognize my face. Didn't we meet briefly five years ago?"

Upon hearing Youluozi's words, Ye Chen felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and fine beads of cold sweat instantly appeared on his forehead.

Youluozi is right.

Ye Chen remembered this face clearly.

Five years ago, he was just an unknown nobody in the underground demonic sect. His daily routine consisted of either evading assassins or plotting against others.

Until one day, deep underground, he unexpectedly discovered a rare herb that was about to mature. It was a true treasure of nature, enough to help him break through his bottleneck and reach a higher level.

However, that treasure had already been snatched up by someone else. An old demon at the Profound Realm had set up multiple arrays around the exotic herb, waiting for it to fully mature before harvesting it to refine pills.

Ye Chen coveted this treasure, so he patiently lay in wait, waiting for the right moment to seize it.

He made thorough preparations, not only to seize the treasure, but also to refine the old demon's soul into his Myriad Soul Banner, so that nothing would be wasted.

However, on the very day the exotic plant matured, the old demon brought a large group of "human sacrifices" from elsewhere, intending to use a blood sacrifice to hasten its ripening.

Among those hundreds of human sacrifices, one was the little girl in front of us.

Ye Chen only glanced at her briefly, but he still remembered this little girl in the crowd. She was innocent and naive, and she didn't cry out even when she was crushed into mincemeat.

Ye Chen assumed that she was bewitched by the old demon's magic and wouldn't resist at all.

Ye Chen also felt a pang of conscience. He had killed countless people, but he also prided himself on having his own bottom line and never harmed children as young as a few years old.

However, that fleeting moment of reluctance could not compare to his endless desire for rare and precious materials.

Ye Chen ultimately chose to remain indifferent. He watched as those human sacrifices were slaughtered, and as all their blood and flesh essence were absorbed into that strange herb, elevating its quality to a higher level.

Only when the old devil was satisfied and thought he had succeeded did Ye Chen activate the trap he had carefully set.

Using an array to break another array, Ye Chen's skill in setting up arrays was also excellent. Coupled with his calculated attack on the unsuspecting opponent, he severely injured the old demon and incidentally refined him into the Myriad Soul Banner. It was quite a coincidence, really.

The old demon who was fighting him for the exotic herb was none other than the unlucky fellow whose head had been sewn to his buttocks in the cave earlier.

Ye Chen never expected that the little girl who turned into fertilizer was actually You Luozi.

Perhaps it was just a clone, or perhaps it was simply an illusion.

But that's not important. What's important is that Ye Chen once stood by and watched Youluozi die.

Is today a day for settling scores later?

But upon closer reflection, Ye Chen felt something was amiss. After he seized this exotic herb, he quickly broke through to the Profound Realm and then received an invitation from Youluozi to join his ranks as a flag bearer.

If Youluozi wanted to settle scores, why did he invite him to join, and why did he have to wait five years to take revenge?

Ye Chen couldn't understand it, but he thought it wasn't time to despair yet.

Ye Chen said loudly, "It was my fault that I did not know that the Venerable One's avatar had descended. Please punish me, Venerable One."

Youluozi laughed and said, "A smart person wouldn't use such pointless rhetoric. You and I both know what this underground place is like. Just standing by and watching someone die is already considered a sign of high moral character. The reason I recruited you is because you have the ability, not because I want to kill you."

Youluozi didn't have any special feelings for Ye Chen. Like many cultivators in the world, Ye Chen was just lucky and a little clever. His talent wasn't particularly good, but it was much better than other useless people.

However, Fei Lian specifically asked Ye Chen to help him break through his cultivation level, so You Luo Zi had to re-evaluate Ye Chen to see if he had misjudged him.

Youluozi had many questions in his mind, and he summoned Ye Chen today to ask him for clarification.

"Ye Chen, you are not a demon from the underground. You were originally a rogue cultivator on the surface. Have you ever had a master?"

Ye Chen didn't know why Youluozi asked about this, but he could only answer honestly: "I did have a master, but my master died at the hands of the Fenxiang Sect cultivators. It was because the Fenxiang Sect was hunting down my master and me that I had no choice but to go underground to seek a way to survive."

Upon hearing this, Youluozi immediately became interested and said to Ye Chen, "Oh, so you have a grudge against the Burning Incense Sect? Then you may tell me the details."

Ye Chen then recounted his past experiences to You Luozi in detail, from his unexpected apprenticeship to the two of them being hunted down by the Burning Incense Sect, and later his master being beaten to death and his soul disappearing. Ye Chen then took his corpse and remnant soul and went underground.

Being hunted down by the righteous path was no secret, and Ye Chen naturally didn't hide it at all.

The more Youluozi listened, the stranger it seemed. It was an ordinary experience, and perhaps a dozen or so out of a hundred demons had similar experiences, but it just felt strange.

Youluozi couldn't help but scrutinize Ye Chen closely, and indeed, she saw something unusual.

This Ye Chen looks somewhat similar to Chen Ye.

It wasn't that they had similar facial features, but rather that they all looked very young and had a more scholarly air than ordinary cultivators.

However, if it were Chen Ye, he certainly wouldn't have stood by and watched someone die.

Perhaps, that's the difference between the two.

Youluozi thought to himself, "It seems that Feilian is interested in this person's fate and destiny. His fate is somewhat similar to Chen Ye's, and Feilian wants to take advantage of him to turn him into a true demonic cultivator like Chen Ye. Interesting. Chen Ye has only been rising to prominence for two years, and Ye Chen is not very old either, yet Feilian has placed his bets on these two. I wonder how long he has been scheming."

Youluozi increasingly felt that Feilian's plan was feasible; however, she also needed to prepare an insurance policy for it.

Having made up his mind, Youluozi stopped beating around the bush.

She looked at Ye Chen, who was still keeping his head down, and said in an unquestionable tone, "Lord Feilian wants to borrow you for a while, and I have already agreed. You will go and do things for him immediately, and you only need to follow his orders."

Ye Chen suddenly raised his head, his face showing undisguised surprise and astonishment.

He had already considered a million possibilities in his mind: whether he would be used as a pawn to be silenced, or be placed under an even more vicious restriction, or even be refined on the spot. But this was the one possibility he had never considered.

When did the relationship between these eighteen demonic sects become so harmonious that they can even transfer manpower to each other?

Moreover, they borrowed people from Youluozi?!
Everyone knows that Youluozi is the most skilled witch in the demonic sect at bewitching people. Let alone borrowing people from her, even the most trusted confidants that other demons have painstakingly cultivated have to live day and night in fear of being secretly controlled by her.

This doesn't make any sense no matter how you look at it.

But Ye Chen knew very well that he had no room for negotiation. In front of Youluozi, he didn't even have the right to say "no".

He suppressed his shock and respectfully asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, could you please reveal what Your Excellency Feilian has instructed us to do?"

Youluozi smiled again, a smile that was innocent and carefree, and her words seemed genuinely sincere: "Don't worry, it's not a bad thing. For you, it's actually a chance to rise to the top in one step. Take this, and then set off."

As she spoke, Youluozi flipped her hand, and a colorful conch shell appeared out of thin air in her palm.

This conch shell was no bigger than a thumb, yet it shimmered with seven-colored light and rotated slowly, making it exceptionally beautiful. Clearly, it was not the kind of ordinary magical artifact that Youluozi usually used for communication.

Ye Chen dared not delay and quickly extended both hands to respectfully accept it. The object felt warm and smooth to the touch. He cautiously asked, "Master, what is the use of this treasure?"

"It's for saving your life," Youluozi explained succinctly. "Just carry it with you. If you really encounter a life-or-death crisis, it can at least save your life."

"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Excellency!" Ye Chen quickly expressed his gratitude, and then carefully put the seven-colored conch into his storage bag.

Youluozi nodded in satisfaction, told Ye Chen the location agreed upon with Lord Feilian, and then waved his hand to signal that he could leave.

Youluozi was already quite impatient.

The sooner Ye Chen completes Fei Lian's plan, the sooner Fei Lian can achieve Dao, and the sooner she can open the Gate of Return to Nothingness.

Ye Chen bowed and slowly retreated until he could no longer feel the biting cold. Only then did he dare to turn around and transform into a streak of light, flying away into the distance.

After flying for about dozens of miles and getting far out of the cold pool's sensing range, Ye Chen suddenly stopped.

With a solemn expression, he took out several storage bags of different sizes, wrapping them layer by layer, and placed the storage bag containing the seven-colored conch inside. Then, he bit his fingertip and used his blood essence as a guide to cast an extremely hidden sealing array on the outermost storage bag.

All these actions were performed with extreme care, for fear of making the slightest sound.

After doing all this, Ye Chen finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Ye Chen didn't believe a single word Youluozi said.

A chance to rise to the top in one step? Why would Lord Feilian give him a minor character in the Tongxuan Realm for no reason?
Such words are mostly used to deceive people, and are mostly used to make people willingly send themselves to their deaths.

But when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Ye Chen didn't dare throw away the seven-colored conch shell and run away. He could only try to take precautions, and whether they would work was up to fate.

Such is the fate of those with low cultivation levels; they cannot even decide their own life or death.

But Ye Chen never gave up.

If given even the slightest chance, he would do everything in his power and resort to any means to climb to the top!

Until one day, I ascend to immortality and can freely look down upon all living beings!
At that time, you can finally hold your head high and no longer be at the mercy of anyone.

Having made up his mind, Ye Chen no longer hesitated, transforming into a streak of light and rushing towards the agreed location.

When he arrived at the desolate stone forest, the Venerable Feilian, wearing a deer antler hat, was already waiting there.

He simply stood there quietly, without exuding any astonishing aura, yet he possessed a profound sense of harmony with heaven and earth, inspiring awe in those who looked upon him.

Ye Chen thought to himself, "This is what a Demon Sect Master should look like."

Compared to Youluozi's bizarre childlike appearance, this Feilian Venerable Lord truly deserves the description "deep and imposing, majestic and awe-inspiring".

But why is there a crackling sound of electricity shooting out from his head?

Is this a special secret technique cultivated by Lord Feilian?

(End of this chapter)