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

Chapter 391 Inviting Cultivators from All Over the World
Seeing Ye Chen make a move, the five disciples of the Mirage Sect didn't utter a single unnecessary word.

Since these evil forces struck first, then don't blame the righteous for breaking the rules and joining the fray.

The burly disciple at the head of the group roared and brought his heavy sword down with tremendous force.

The beautiful female cultivator's figure was like a ghost, and the two blades at her waist transformed into two beams of moonlight that seemed to kill.

The brothers, one playing a bewitching melody and the other drawing his longbow, had already locked onto Ye Chen's vital points with three arrows gleaming with an eerie light.

The short, stout monk then threw out all the black orbs in his hand, which turned into rolling black lightning.

The five attacked in perfect unison, blocking all of Ye Chen's escape routes from five different directions. Clearly, they had a close relationship and worked together seamlessly.

Ye Chen neither dodged nor avoided, as countless Yin spirits coiled around him, forming a protective array.

The yin energy spread, about to intercept the five people's attack, but at the very moment of collision, the figures of the five people, along with their spells, all became illusory and then merged into the surrounding air.

The entire Pingyun Cliff instantly fell into an eerie silence.

Ye Chen's eyes sharpened.

He had unknowingly fallen into an illusion. These five disciples of the Mirage Sect were not truly fools; they had silently trapped him in the illusionary array.

The next moment, the scene before him suddenly changed. He seemed to be dragged into an ancient, primordial battlefield, with cracked earth beneath his feet and churning blood-red clouds in the sky.

"Moo-!!!"

A roar that seemed to come from the ancient times shook Ye Chen so much that his soul felt like it was about to shatter.

From the depths of the sea of ​​clouds, a colossal, one-legged bull, its entire body a deep blue-green, appeared. Its massive leg, as thick as a pillar supporting the sky, treads upon thunder and fire, and its enormous form blots out the sun.

"Kui Niu?!"

Ye Chen naturally recognized the divine beast.

The aura emanating from this Kui Niu was so real; every inch of its muscle was filled with the power to move mountains and fill seas, and the fierce light burning in its eyes seemed capable of destroying everything.

Although Ye Chen knew that the Kui Niu was formed from an illusion, he dared not be careless in the slightest.

The highest level of illusion magic in the Mirage School is to make the illusion real. You might think it's a fake, but if the Kui Niu were to step on it, it could actually collapse the Pingyun Cliff.

The Kui Niu lowered its head and roared, causing the earth to tremble violently. Thick bolts of lightning, as thick as dragons, descended from the sky and struck down on Ye Chen.

Ye Chen's Myriad Soul Banner unleashed a hundred-foot-long cloud of dark clouds, which collided with Kui Niu's thunder.

There are no fancy techniques involved; it's simply a collision of inspiration.

However, the endless thunder seemed unable to suppress the wailing of the myriad ghosts, and for the time being, it could not break through the protective formation set up by Ye Chen's Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

However, the five disciples of the Mirage Sect were not worried. This Kui Niu was formed from the spiritual energy of the five of them, and it was no longer a technique of the Profound Realm. They believed that they could break the formation next time they could hold out.

As soon as the formation shows even the slightest flaw, they will launch a sneak attack.

The illusion concealed their figures, and Ye Chen couldn't find the five of them at all. They were invincible in this battle.

Thunder rumbled incessantly. Ye Chen, hidden within the formation, sensed the spiritual energy within the magical artifact being continuously depleted, but his face showed no sign of panic.

The illusions of the Mirage Sect are indeed powerful, and Ye Chen is truly unable to break them.

But why should he bother to solve it?

Ye Chen focused his divine sense into the Myriad Soul Banner and commanded one of the vengeful spirits in the Nascent Soul Realm, "Commit suicide."

There was no earth-shattering noise.

There was only one piercing scream, indescribable yet powerful enough to tear the soul apart.

The Myriad Soul Banner has countless crafting techniques, and the vengeful spirits within it possess countless methods of combat. Not every soul's self-destruction is earth-shattering, but the resulting effects are no less significant.

It was as if a pitch-black sun composed of pure resentment and destructive power had been annihilated, and all the cultivation and spiritual energy of this vengeful spirit had transformed into a giant wave that impacted the soul, instantly surging in all directions.

This piercing scream of the soul is faster than sound, sharper than a flying sword, and goes straight to the depths of the soul.

The majestic Kui Niu divine beast shattered like a mirror, revealing five figures emerging from the endless dark clouds. Each of them had a face as pale as gold paper and could not even maintain their flight.

The moment these five people appeared, other vengeful spirits surged forward, unleashing all sorts of vicious spells upon them, all targeting their souls.

Having just suffered an attack, and now besieged by vengeful spirits whose cultivation levels were higher than their own, the five of them eventually lost consciousness.

They originally had many magical treasures, numerous talismans, and even several secret techniques that they had not yet used.

However, the righteous disciples had far too little experience in combat. They never expected that Ye Chen would cause a Nascent Soul Realm vengeful spirit to self-destruct as soon as the battle began.

It's like two groups of people have just slapped each other, and the next moment the other side grabs explosives and dies together with you.

Who would have thought?!

The result was that one wrong step led to another, and their souls were impacted, exposing their weaknesses. Ye Chen accurately seized this weakness and captured all five of them alive.

The curse was planted, sealing the souls of the five people and extinguishing their spiritual energy.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner returned to its original form and floated lightly into Ye Chen's hand.

He looked at the five unconscious Mirage Sect disciples on the ground and said disdainfully, "If all the people on the so-called Profound Ranking are just empty shells, then becoming number one is really not difficult."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Mirage School has been defeated once again.

As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles.

The communication array connecting the Yellow Springs Sect with the major sects had just been completed, and the first "major event" they received was this strange news from the Mirage Sect.

"Five against one, and they were all captured alive in the end?"

Chen Ye looked at the message in the jade slip, rubbing his temples, unsure of what expression to make.

Isn't this Mirage Faction utterly useless?

He reluctantly tossed the intelligence aside.

Ye Chen, a mere cultivator at the Profound Realm, has managed to wreak havoc on the Mirage Sect, one of the Five Great Sects. If word gets out, the prestige of the Five Great Sects will be tarnished, and cultivators throughout the land will live in fear.

Chen Ye wanted to get involved, but there was really nothing he could do about it.

As is widely known, the Yellow Springs Sect and the Mirage Sect have long since broken off relations.

The Mirage Sect came to question him before the founding ceremony, which was a matter of life and death. If he hadn't happened to resolve the matter of the Mirage Demon, the Yellow Springs Sect would still be an illegitimate and heretical sect.

Given these old grudges, even if Chen Ye wanted to intervene, the Mirage Sect would never be accommodating.

Moreover, that was the territory of the Mirage Sect, the bet that the Mirage Sect itself had agreed to, and it was the Mirage Sect disciples who "went back on their word" and launched the attack first.

From both a moral and logical standpoint, Chen Ye had no room to intervene.

At most, Chen Ye could only send someone to deliver a piece of information, offering a perfunctory reminder that "it might be a conspiracy by the Demonic Sect's Lord Fei Lian." Beyond that, there was nothing Chen Ye could do.

We can't exactly make him personally kill his way to the Mirage Sect to capture Ye Chen, and then force the already humiliated Zhou Lang to "determine his superiority and decide his life or death" with him, can we?

Moreover, Ye Chen's actions were indeed quite cunning.

In the first bet, he released a thousand mortals; in the second, he kept his promise and released five thousand mortals, not one of them missing; this, in turn, made him the one who was completely in the right.

Logically speaking, since this demon has gone this far, shouldn't the Mirage Sect disregard their reputation and step in to eliminate it?

Zhou Lang's face was almost peeled off. As one of the five righteous sects, no matter how much they respected the rules, they had no reason to tolerate a demon jumping around on their doorstep.

If the Mirage Sect were to go all out, crushing Ye Chen would be an easy task.

That's how it should be.

Unfortunately, the Mirage Sect's "humility" once again shocked Chen Ye. According to the intelligence records, the Mirage Sect not only did not deal with Ye Chen, but also paid a very considerable "ransom".

All cultivators need are rare and precious materials, magical treasures, and secret techniques. Outsiders don't know how much the Mirage Sect gave to redeem the five Transcendent Realm disciples, but Ye Chen was clearly very satisfied.

After receiving the ransom, Ye Chen disappeared without a trace, it was unknown whether he ran away or was preparing to challenge the next target.

Anyway, everyone in the world knows that at the Tongxuan Realm level, the Mirage Sect admits that it is inferior to this demon and has completely surrendered.

Now that things have come to this, the last trace of schadenfreude in Chen Ye's heart has completely disappeared, replaced by a strong sense of unease.

The Mirage Faction's reaction was completely illogical from beginning to end, utterly absurd.

Chen Ye had also asked Pang Duoduo and Mo Suixin to divine the matter, but they only got the four words "internal strife" and then no further clues.

But those four words were practically meaningless; everyone could see there was trouble within the Mirage Sect. It was just a pity that Mo Ci hadn't been able to find out anything, and Chen Ye didn't know the extent of this so-called internal strife within the Mirage Sect. Why was Zhou Lang always the one handling it? Where was Yin Xiaoshuang? Surely she wasn't also in seclusion trying to break through to the Dao Integration Realm?

Chen Ye thought for a long time and decided that he couldn't just sit and wait for his death.

Since Ye Chen's target is the righteous cultivators on the Tongxuan Ranking, he will never give up so easily.

We must turn the tables and take the initiative!
Chen Ye paced back and forth in the Taoist palace for a long time, his mind racing, and finally came up with a bold and direct plan.

Since Ye Chen's target is the scattered Profound Realm cultivators, why wait for him to defeat them one by one? It would be better to gather them all together.

Regardless of any schemes or tricks Ye Chen may have behind it, his core objective is ultimately to challenge the righteous cultivators on the list to a duel. If this demon has come knocking, why can't the righteous cultivators strike first?

With this in mind, Chen Ye no longer hesitated.

He walked to the desk, took out a pen and ink, and wrote a letter in a flowing style. Then he instructed his disciples to send it to all the major righteous sects in the world through a communication array.

The letter was simple and direct. Chen Ye, in the name of the Yellow Springs Sect Master, invited all cultivators at the Profound Realm to Fengdu to discuss important matters.

Since the Yunlu Immortal Sect has declared war on the Demonic Sect, Ye Chen has already taken action on behalf of the Demonic Sect.

Why not let this fire burn even brighter? There's no reason why only the demonic sects can take action while the righteous path can only wait at home for others to come knocking on their door. Why not take this opportunity to join forces and wipe out those demons lurking all over the world?

Once all the cultivators on the Profound Ranking gather at the Yellow Springs Sect, Ye Chen will no longer be able to hide in the shadows. If he wants to accomplish his scheme, he will have no choice but to stand before Chen Ye under everyone's watchful eyes.

However, we can't just gather people together by shouting slogans.

To eliminate demons and protect the righteous path, there must be a target that is worthy of everyone's attention and can also demonstrate the power and prestige of our righteous path.

But most of the demons in the world are hidden in secret. If a large force is mobilized, and in the end only a few minor characters who have just condensed their Qi Sea are found, then this grand "counterattack" will become a laughing stock of the world.

What Chen Ye needs is a target of sufficient significance.

To find such a target, we either need to ask Pang Duoduo and Mo Suixin to expend their energy to forcibly divine the secrets of heaven, or we need to inquire about information from other places.

With Youluozi's path blocked, Chen Ye had no choice but to find someone else.

Chen Ye's first thought was of the elusive Qinghe Sword Sect leader.

This Taoist priest has been traveling around the world lately, and the demons he has captured along the way include many who have reached the level of profound understanding or even the level of divine transformation.

Chen Ye didn't know how he found these secretive individuals, but he figured it must be some kind of closely guarded secret of the Qinghe Sword Sect, just like the Causal Sword Technique that Su Chun practiced.

In that case, why not consult this expert?

If given the opportunity, Chen Ye would also like to ask him for advice on some difficult sword techniques. Although the sword techniques taught by Sheng Huai'an were already very simple, he always felt that he couldn't grasp the essentials and his progress was extremely slow. If he could receive some personal guidance from the Qinghe Sect Leader, it would surely be of great benefit.

Chen Ye acted on his idea immediately, taking out a small, crystal-clear flying sword, no more than an inch long, from his storage bag.

This was the message that Master Yuji left for him.

As long as you immerse your mind in it, you can input the information, and then release the flying sword, which will naturally be delivered to Master Yuji.

Su Chunyi had also sent Chen Ye a flying sword for delivering messages, but it was clearly just an ordinary one, and it probably wouldn't even fly as fast as Black Whirlwind.

Master Yuji's flying sword for delivering messages was crystal clear, as if it were carved from the most beautiful gemstone in the world.

Previously, Chen Ye couldn't recognize the material of this message-transmitting flying sword, but now he knows that it is the "Void Stone" that can only be found in the caves of ancient immortals.

This is the most important material for creating teleportation arrays. Void Stones have long been exhausted and cannot be found anywhere in the world.

I don't know where the Qinghe Sword Sect got the Void Stone from, but they actually made it into a flying sword for sending messages.

This was also the first time Chen Ye had used this treasure. He condensed his intention into divine thought, poured it into the flying sword, and then gently released it.

With a soft "hum", the Void Stone Flying Sword disappeared from its original spot.

It wasn't that it flew too fast; rather, it tore through space and vanished into the void. Chen Ye could even clearly see the spatial rift that was slowly healing.

"Truly worthy of the Qinghe Sword Sect!"

Chen Ye sighed and pondered, wondering how long it would take to receive a reply. If Master Yuji was free, he estimated a response would come in a day or two; if Master Yuji was busy with other matters, it might take ten days or half a month.

But to Chen Ye's utter surprise, a strange phenomenon of spatial shattering appeared outside Fengdu City in just a short while.

A moment later, Master Yuji was invited to the Yellow Springs Palace and came before Chen Ye.

Master Yuji looked the same as before, like a traveler on a whim. Although he always looked travel-worn, his eyes shone brightly, as if he was quite interested in everything in the world.

Chen Ye quickly stood up to greet him, and couldn't help but tease, "Daoist Master, you've arrived so quickly! Did you capture some foolish demon again and bring him to my Yellow Springs Sect for interrogation on the way?"

Master Yuji shook his head, his expression unusually solemn. He said to Chen Ye, "Not so. I received a message from Sect Master Chen via flying sword. You wish to integrate the righteous cultivators who have attained profound understanding. This is exactly what I want."

"I have just found traces of a demon, but his power is already established and deeply entrenched. I am alone and weak, and I fear I cannot wipe him out in one fell swoop. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your assistance."

Chen Ye was startled: "What kind of demon is this? Even you, Daoist Master, are not entirely confident?"

The man before him was none other than the leader of the Qinghe Sword Sect. Chen Ye even suspected that Fei Lian and You Luozi, even working together, might not be a match for Daoist Yu Ji. Was there any demon in this world that he couldn't defeat?
Master Yuji replied, "It is indeed the culprit who destroyed the Incense Burning Sect, one of the Demonic Sect Masters."

Chen Ye was immediately taken aback. It was actually that mysterious little soulfire figure? Wasn't he severely injured in the battle of Green Coffin Mountain and hiding somewhere to recuperate?!

Chen Ye quickly asked, "Where did you find the Soul Master's whereabouts, Daoist Master?"

Master Yuji sighed and said, "This is precisely why I need to ask the Yellow Springs Sect for help. This demon is hiding in the Central Plains Dynasty and seems to have turned most of the court officials into his puppets."

"Court?"

Chen Ye frowned; this was something he hadn't expected.

The courts of mortals have never been taken seriously by righteous cultivators, because you might just go into seclusion for a short while, and when you come out, there will be a different emperor.

Occasionally, some rogue cultivators and demons would try to control the imperial court, just like the one Chen Ye had encountered before, who turned the palace into his training ground.

But most of them dared not speak out, for if they were discovered, the result would be death.

For thousands of years, there have been occasional tyrants who have angered the heavens and the people, but as long as it is confirmed that they are not the work of demons, neither the righteous nor the unorthodox have paid much attention to such troubles in the mortal world.

It's simply because you either don't care, or you care to the very end.

You can't just cut off a tyrant's head because you don't like him, and then issue a few imperial edicts based on your own whims, thinking you can save the country and bring peace to the people.

Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. This vast territory and hundreds of millions of people are not something that even a cultivator can figure out on a whim. If the world is thrown into chaos, that would be the cultivator's fault.

There was once a cultivator from Tianxin Island who believed that he possessed powerful magical abilities and could manage mortal kingdoms at will.

The result was like the Yunlu Immortal Sect's disaster relief efforts; instead of gratitude, mortals resented the cultivators for not understanding how to govern and for setting rules that were completely unrealistic.

Within a few years, this cultivator had incurred the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people, and war broke out all over the world.

Finally, the cultivator from Tianxin Island couldn't help but curse, "When a mortal emperor orders his ministers to die, it's because the emperor commands the ministers to die and the ministers have no choice but to die. But when I let these mortals live, they insist on rising up in rebellion?!"

But no matter how harshly you curse, it's useless. That's how complicated the righteous path is; it can't be as casual as the demonic sect.

Just as the Yunlu Immortal Sect was furious when it was providing disaster relief, it ultimately did not allow its disciples to slaughter mortals to suppress discontent.

Ordinary people are like ants, but if you choose the right path, you can't really treat them like ants and kill them.

Do you kill people to establish your authority? Do you force the world to worship you by killing countless people and making ordinary people live according to your rules?

What's the difference between that and a demon?
It may sound like it's particularly harsh on good people, but being a good person is always harder than being a bad person.

That's just how things are in this world. If good people have an easier life than bad people, then who would want to be a bad person?
The Qinghe Sword Sect, a sect so compassionate towards the people, ultimately only governs the banks of the Qinghe River. This is because the Qinghe Sword Sect has too few disciples; if it expanded its territory, it simply wouldn't be able to manage everything, so it's better to focus on managing its own small area.

The same applies to other righteous sects; they will take care of the people near their mountain gates, but in more distant areas, it is left to the mortals to govern themselves.

In any case, the righteous path does not require the exploitation of the people, so it's better to do less trouble than more trouble.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this thousand-year peace that the Demonic Sect was able to exploit the loophole and seize control of the Central Plains court in such a short time.

Master Yuji said with utmost solemnity, "If we only consider magical combat, I am confident that I can eliminate this demon. However, this matter involves a wide range of people. We don't know how many demons there are inside and outside the court, or how many mortals have been bewitched. The Yellow Spring Sect has a secret technique for the soul, which can inflict pain but not harm on both demons and mortals. Therefore, I would like to ask the Yellow Spring Sect for assistance. Ideally, we should capture them all alive and then examine them one by one later."

"If Sect Leader Chen wants to gather cultivators at the Profound Realm from all over the world to accomplish a great undertaking, why not choose this Demonic Sect Master? That way, the world can witness the supernatural powers and secret techniques of the Yellow Springs Sect. Perhaps by seeing it firsthand, other sects will be able to accept the Yellow Springs Sect's ideals, and the rules of the Underworld will no longer be limited to the Northern Frontier, but can be implemented throughout the world."

Upon hearing Master Yuji's words, Chen Ye immediately thought of Yu Shenxing of the Yunlu Immortal Sect.

This elder brother also mentioned that if the rules of the Yellow Springs Sect were extended to all righteous sects in the world, then all righteous cultivators would have another chance to start over, instead of dying and disappearing directly.

Chen Ye couldn't help but ask, "Master Yuji, does the Qinghe Sword Sect agree with the Huangquan Sect's rules?"

Yu Ji Dao Ren laughed and said, "Sect Master Chen, why ask a question you already know the answer to? You've been swaggering around in front of my master with the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. If the Qinghe Sword Sect didn't approve, would I still be here chatting and laughing with you? Let the Qinghe Sword Sect set an example first. Once this matter of the Soul Venerable is settled, we'll invite the Yellow Springs Sect to establish a second Underworld Division in the Qinghe Sword Sect."

(End of this chapter)