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

Chapter 413 The Battle of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner

Outside Fengdu City, dark clouds hung low, and a chilling atmosphere permeated the air.

Chen Ye and Ye Chen stood facing each other in mid-air.

Chen Ye stood on a cloud of auspicious light, his posture upright, holding a long, golden banner that shone like the sun in the sky, making him appear as if he were a god descending to earth.

Opposite him, Ye Chen, who had come to challenge him, rode on the back of a monster. This monster seemed to be forcibly stitched together from the souls of countless birds and beasts, its twisted limbs and roaring heads intertwined, exuding a nauseating aura of resentment.

Ye Chen was dressed in black and also held a long banner, but it was eerily ghostly and clearly the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, a common magic weapon of the Demonic Sect.

Both of them looked like teenagers, one was at the height of his career, and the other seemed like an abyss descending upon the world.

Despite sharing similar backgrounds and experiences, they ultimately became two completely different people. Chen Ye looked at Ye Chen and couldn't help but feel a pang of regret. If he hadn't met Su Chunyi first, perhaps he would have been another Ye Chen.

Although the outcome of today's battle was already decided, Chen Ye still asked, "Since I have already promised to admit defeat directly, why do you insist on fighting me to the death here?"

Ye Chen sat on the back of the stitched-together vengeful spirit, his face expressionless. He said, "If I had a choice, I would naturally prefer to cooperate with someone like Sect Master Chen. Unfortunately, I have no choice. Today, one of us will ultimately become the main soul within the other's banner."

Fei Lian wanted Chen Ye dead, and wanted Ye Chen to kill him personally in front of everyone.

We cannot be insincere or make excuses.

Ye Chen could not escape Youluozi's surveillance. The world was so vast that there was nowhere to hide, so if he disobeyed orders, his only fate would be death.

“Perhaps you have other options,” Chen Ye said earnestly. “When I founded the Yellow Springs Sect, I hoped that those who had lost their way could have a chance to start over. Ye Chen, if you disrupt Lord Fei Lian’s plan now, my Yellow Springs Sect is willing to protect you.”

Ye Chen laughed and said, "Protection? I've also heard of the Yellow Springs Sect's rules. Your hellish tortures may not actually harm people, but those who have endured them say they're worse than death; they're the most gruesome punishments in the world. Sect Leader Chen, do you think you can exempt me from these punishments now that I've pledged allegiance?"

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "Impossible. Even I have to endure the tortures of hell regularly, so you are no exception."

Ye Chen laughed and said, "What else is there to say? If I win, Lord Feilian will naturally help me return to the Void and merge with the Dao. If I lose, I will be subjected to torture in your Ten Thousand Soul Banner. If I surrender now, I will be tortured in the same way. Which one do you think I should choose?"

Chen Ye did not respond, as if he had been stumped by Ye Chen's question.

Ye Chen said smugly, "Sect Master Chen, your Yellow Springs Sect's rules are a good thing for mortals, but for us demonic cultivators, they force us to fight to the death, with absolutely no possibility of negotiation. It would be better to promise me some benefits for abandoning darkness and embracing light than to say this nonsense."

Chen Ye looked regretful and explained, "It is precisely because you will be punished no matter what you choose that you can prove that you are truly repentant. If you are tempted by benefits, then what is the point of talking about turning back to the right path?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise, "Do you really want me to repent? Are there really people this naive in the world?"

"Words are unnecessary when we don't see eye to eye. Since you have no regrets whatsoever, then let's get started."

It's hard to persuade someone who deserves to die. This Ye Chen is just one of countless demons, with the victor's mantra on his lips, and he's not much different from other demons.

Ye Chen had been waiting for a long time and gently shook the black banner in his hand.

In an instant, thousands upon thousands of dark figures surged out of the banner like a flood bursting its banks; these were the ghosts he had created using secret methods.

After Hu Chang's death, the secret technique for creating Chang ghosts seemed to have fallen into the hands of Fei Lian and You Luo Zi.

Now that Ye Chen has unleashed it, it is indeed quite powerful.

These vengeful spirits are no longer "ghosts" in the traditional sense. Their minds have been completely destroyed. They are just monsters that resemble ghosts, each with a distorted form and blurred features, filled only with the purest hatred and malice.

They let out a silent howl, transforming into a gray wave that swept towards Chen Ye like a tidal wave.

The changgui is immortal and indestructible; it can be restored no matter how it is scattered, because its essence is a dream, a creation manifested from nightmares.

If Chen Ye could still use the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, these vengeful spirits would be nothing more than appetizers served to him.

Ye Chen used the army of ghouls as a test, clearly to confirm this point.

If Chen Ye were to transform into a dream-eating tapir, he would probably turn around and run away.

Although he had lost the means to restrain the vengeful spirits, Chen Ye's expression remained unchanged, and he also raised the golden Ten Thousand Souls Banner in his hand.

This is no ordinary Ten Thousand Souls Banner. It was originally infused with the brow bone of the Demon Lord Wujiu and can hold hundreds of thousands of vengeful souls. It has reached the realm of extreme yin and yang, and has no sinister or ghostly aura. It looks upright and dignified.

Ten thousand golden rays burst forth from the banner, but what flew out from within were all sorts of hideous ghost soldiers.

The leader, a general engulfed in ghostly blue flames, clad in heavy armor and wielding a long sword, was none other than Yang Chongguang, who had served Chen Ye the longest.

The humble old man who was once as insignificant as a farmer has now become a great general.

A heavy suit of armor confines countless distorted human faces, the sinners and vengeful spirits trapped within, constantly subjected to torture, yet no matter how much they struggle and howl, they cannot break free.

The long sword in his hand seemed to be forged from bare white bones, with a cold light flowing across its blade. With just a light slash, the ghosts were cut in half wherever the sword touched.

Although the demons quickly recovered, Yang Chongguang was not afraid at all. He swung his long white bone sword forward, issuing a silent command.

"Form ranks! Prepare for battle!"

From an ordinary ghost to a commander of ghost soldiers, Yang Chongguang was no longer the illiterate old soldier he once was.

Under Yang Chongguang's command, the Yin soldiers did not charge haphazardly like the treacherous ghosts, but quickly formed well-organized battle formations. Some were in groups of three or five, while others were in groups of ten or more, their spiritual energy connected with each other. Various formations were instantly set up, resembling a well-trained army.

The next moment, the black wave of ghostly beings collided violently with the golden and blue battle formation of the Yin soldiers in mid-air.

A great battle erupts between nightmares and the dead.

The changgui are fearless and undaunted, or rather, they have no concept of death at all. Just as a ghost soldier's halberd pierced the chest of a changgui, the changgui's body turned into a wisp of gray smoke, instantly reforming beside him, and clawing at the ghost soldier's head.

However, the ghost soldiers' response was more methodical.

Faced with the re-formed ghostly creature, another shield-bearer immediately stepped forward, and ghostly blue flames ignited from the shield, forming a wall of fire that blocked the ghostly creature's attack. Then, a third ghostly soldier tossed out a chain shimmering with runes, which precisely ensnared the ghostly creature. The chain tightened, the runes glowed, and it imprisoned the creature in a motionless black sphere.

The group of ghost soldiers worked together seamlessly, and their own strength far surpassed that of the cougars, so they were naturally not afraid of these chaotic monsters.

After the large army of ghost soldiers forms a battle formation, they can condense into a huge array, or the Dharma forms of various ghost gods, or countless distorted phantoms.

Countless ghosts were captured, sealed, and suppressed by the Yin soldiers using various methods, and Chen Ye immediately gained the upper hand.

The sky outside Fengdu City seemed to be divided into two parts: one half was a crazy, chaotic, and constantly crashing gray wave, and the other half was a well-organized and strategically positioned golden reef.

But even more ghosts kept pouring out of Ye Chen's Ten Thousand Soul Banner, their number already exceeding ten thousand.

Moreover, most of the cougars can regenerate continuously, making it a war of attrition.

If it were a mortal army, it would have collapsed long ago. Even if the changgui were weak, it would still take effort to kill them. After a great battle, how many cuts could an ordinary soldier make?

But the ghost soldiers are different. They are not living people, and as long as their spiritual energy keeps up, they don't get tired.

This great battle is about who can deplete their spiritual energy first.

Chen Ye and Ye Chen seemed to have a tacit understanding; they were simply directing these ghostly creatures to fight, and neither of them actually made a move.

Seeing that the battle was going against them, Ye Chen remained calm and praised, "You truly deserve to be the sect leader of the Yellow Springs Sect. Only you in the world can make so many Yin spirits willingly serve you."

Chen Ye calmly said, "Those who follow the right path receive much help."

Ye Chen retorted, "But what kind of Ten Thousand Souls Banner is this? The real Ten Thousand Souls Banner should look like this."

The black banner in Ye Chen's hand trembled violently once again.

This time, what emerged from the banner was no longer those muddle-headed ghosts.

Instead, they were seven figures with extremely powerful auras and overwhelming resentment.

The moment these seven figures appeared, the entire battlefield came to a standstill, and even the mortals in Fengdu City below felt a chill that originated from the depths of their souls.

This is because it is not an ordinary vengeful spirit, but a monster pieced together from the fragments of different vengeful spirits.

The leading monster had three heads: a burly man with a ferocious face, an old woman with a wrinkled face, and a woman with a blank expression.

The extreme pain of death was frozen on all three faces, which were forcibly sewn onto a bloated body by black soul threads. One arm was as thick as a pillar, while the other arm was as slender as a woman's.

The other monster resembled a centipede pieced together from the spines of several cultivators. Each segment of its body was haphazardly covered with broken arms or legs. It had no head, only countless eyes of varying sizes frantically spinning on its torso, exuding chaos and resentment.

The remaining ones were equally gruesome stitches. Some had dozens of arms belonging to different creatures, like a twisted thousand-armed demon god; others were simply a writhing, floating mass of flesh and blood, with countless indistinct faces floating and wailing within; and one had the upper body of a cultivator wearing tattered Taoist robes, but the lower body was connected to the abdomen and limbs of a giant spider.

These seven monsters were all filled with resentment, as if they embodied the hatred of the entire world.

Every face was wailing, every eye was shedding tears of blood. They were imprisoned among the monsters, forever enduring the pain of being torn apart. The hatred born from the pain transformed into power, allowing the aura of these monsters to overwhelm Chen Ye's Yin soldiers.

Just one glance was enough to make Chen Ye frown deeply, and he couldn't help but say to Ye Chen, "Your methods are far too vicious."

Chen Ye was also a well-informed person who had read many of the secret teachings of the Demonic Sect and knew many of the cruel and inhumane methods.

But what Ye Chen is showing now is ten times more cruel than what is recorded in the book.

Ye Chen said smugly, "These are my supernatural secret techniques, but Sect Master Chen doesn't need to worry about them. They are all demonic souls given to me by Venerable Fei Lian. Each one is at the Nascent Soul stage, and each one has committed numerous evils. The Yellow Springs Sect has cruel punishments, and so do I, though they may look a bit scary."

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "The tortures of the Yellow Springs Sect are punishments, but your methods... are only for your own profit."

"Haha, if Sect Master Chen can't stand it, he might as well rescue them. But before that, you should see what the real Ten Thousand Soul Banner looks like."

Ye Chen shook the Myriad Soul Banner forcefully.

The five stitched-together vengeful spirits immediately dispersed in some mysterious direction, their ghostly energy intertwined, instantly forming a massive demonic array. In an instant, the sky darkened, and the cries of ghosts and gods filled the air as countless jet-black auras scattered, enveloping the entire battlefield. For a moment, the ghostly soldiers under Chen Ye's command felt their limbs weaken, as if they had been fighting for ten days and ten nights, and began to feel exhausted.

As a result, the golden, reef-like defense line began to falter for the first time.

The demon seized the opportunity to counterattack, quickly tearing open a gap and launching a full-scale assault.

Ye Chen arrogantly asked, "Sect Leader Chen, do you recognize this formation?"

Chen Ye blurted out, "The Five Yin Spirit Devouring Array causes the spiritual energy in the body to continuously drain away once one steps into it. Only by meditating quietly for several hours can the effects of the array be dispelled. This array is troublesome to set up and troublesome to activate, but in your hands, it seems that neither is troublesome."

Hearing Chen Ye's praise, Ye Chen felt no joy whatsoever.

He actually saw through the improved Five Yin Spirit Devouring Array at a glance. It was rumored that Chen Ye was a top-notch array genius in the world. I used to think it was an exaggeration, but now I know it's not an exaggeration at all.

However, the purpose of the Five Yin Spirit-Eating Array is to deplete spiritual energy. Now that the array is complete, Chen Ye's Yin soldiers are all affected by it, and in a battle of attrition, they can no longer compare with the Chang Gui.

Once these Yin soldiers are dispersed, Chen Ye will be overwhelmed by endless changgui. Without the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts, he will not be able to transform into a dream-eating beast, and he will only die in hatred under the siege of changgui!
This is the power of the Five Yin Spirit Devouring Formation. No matter how well you understand the formation, it's useless; you can't break it, nor do you need to, because the formation takes effect the moment it's formed.

The ghost soldiers immediately sensed the loss of spiritual energy. Even though they were well-trained and quickly tightened their formation, they began to feel weak. If too much spiritual energy was consumed, they might even dissipate.

How to solve an unbreakable formation?

"Commander Yang, you may step down for now."

At Chen Ye's command, Yang Chongguang immediately transformed into a ten-zhang-tall demonic figure, his long sword slicing a path through the horde of ghosts. He then led the Yin soldiers out of the encirclement and flew towards Chen Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

The spirit body is not bound by the physical body. Yang Chongguang changed the formation at an extremely fast speed. By the time Ye Chen wanted to use the stitched-together vengeful spirits to intercept them, it was already too late.

All the ghostly soldiers burrowed into Chen Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner, making a perfect exit without a single one missing.

Although he failed to inflict heavy losses on Chen Ye's troops, Ye Chen was not concerned. Now, how would he deal with the endless hordes of cougars?
Just when they thought victory was assured, they saw Chen Ye wave the Ten Thousand Souls Banner once again.

With a whoosh, another group of ferocious and terrifying ghost soldiers appeared, fighting against the newly formed cougars.

These ghost soldiers were more numerous than before, equally well-trained, and of similar cultivation level—no, their cultivation was even stronger.

Ye Chen saw that among these Yin soldiers, there were about a dozen with special appearances, and they were obviously much more powerful than ordinary Yin soldiers. Each of them could cast spells, which utterly defeated the Chang Gui. Before they could reassemble, they were repeatedly blasted into ashes.

Ye Chen was unaware that these special "ghost soldiers" were actually the City Gods worshipped in the Northern Frontier.

Each of the City Gods is a deity worshipped in the Northern Frontier for many years. Now that they have gained sentience, their cultivation of magic is naturally twice as effective. When they use their magic against enemies, they are far more powerful than the Yin soldiers.

Ye Chen's eyes widened in surprise.

Can you do this?

There were already tens of thousands of ghost soldiers who appeared just now, and now tens of thousands more are appearing again?
No, is the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in Chen Ye's hand really what it means literally?

It's no wonder Ye Chen was surprised. Although the Myriad Soul Banner is a common magic weapon in the Demonic Sect, a Myriad Soul Banner that can truly contain tens of thousands of Yin Souls is extremely rare, which requires exceptionally high-quality materials.

Keep in mind that the resentment and anger of these spirits can be overwhelming and could turn against you at any moment. Binding one spirit is not as simple as just increasing the difficulty of binding ten thousand.

The more spirits there are, the stronger the Myriad Souls Banner becomes, but it could also destroy the magic weapon directly.

The reason Ye Chen had to cut and stitch those vengeful spirits together was because even his Myriad Soul Banner couldn't hold that many.

Seven thousand vengeful spirits, plus these few stitched-together vengeful souls, this is already the limit.

But Chen Ye replaced the ghost soldiers without a second thought, and who knows how many were actually inside his Ten Thousand Souls Banner? This is the real Ten Thousand Souls Banner; it truly contains ten thousand souls, without any exaggeration.

"Roar!"

The entire army of ghost soldiers roared in unison, their voices converging into a visible golden wave that forcefully dispersed half of the wave of ghouls.

Immediately afterwards, the massive army of ghost soldiers began to change formation.

They were no longer scattered small battle formations, but quickly gathered together to form an enormous divine and magical image.

The Dharma image was a thousand feet tall, clad in heavy armor, and had a majestic face. It was the Dharma image of the Fengdu Emperor, a supernatural power cultivated by Chen Ye!

The Emperor of Fengdu, formed from tens of thousands of Yin soldiers and the power of endless incense offerings, wields a giant sword composed of countless phantom images of weapons.

A sword was swung out.

There was no earth-shattering sword light, no sword energy that could cleave the sky.

Along the path the giant sword traversed, space itself began to twist and fold in a bizarre manner, and five layers of chaotic and undefined alternate dimensions unfolded like a scroll.

Ye Chen could set up the Five Yin Spirit Devouring Array in an instant, and Chen Ye's Fengdu Emperor could also cleave out five layers of hell space with a single sword strike, trapping him inside.

Ye Chen's expression finally changed.

He could sense that once he was enveloped by these five strange spaces, he would be like a flying insect caught in a spider web, with no chance of escaping.

"Hold it!"

The seven stitched-together monsters simultaneously let out an extremely piercing scream, their imprisoned pain and resentment being squeezed to the extreme at this moment.

The stronger the resentment of a vengeful spirit, the stronger it is.

This soaring resentment could pierce even hell.

The seven stitched monsters let out agonizing howls. The wounds that had been forcibly sewn together on their bloated bodies burst open inch by inch, and thick resentment gushed out like black blood.

Despite his injuries, Ye Chen finally found a glimmer of hope.

Having just torn through five layers of hell, Ye Chen gritted his teeth and took out an item.

It was an exquisite treasure box, and Chen Ye's pupils contracted after just one glance.

He recognized the box; it was the one the Soul Lord used to store the Time Arrow.

Is this kid trying to use the Time Arrow to deal with me, just like that Soul Master?
Just as Chen Ye was about to warn the Emperor of Fengdu against Ye Chen's sneak attack, he saw Ye Chen open the treasure box, grab a bunch of Time Arrows, and then forcefully stab them into his own body.

As the bone arrow pierced his body, Ye Chen's body began to undergo drastic changes. His once youthful face instantly turned weathered, his jet-black hair turned gray at a visible speed, and his skin lost its luster and became covered with wrinkles.

But Ye Chen's aura was much stronger than before.

The effect of the Arrow of Time was instantaneous. By the time Ye Chen reopened his eyes, he had already broken through his cultivation level.

Chen Ye urged the Emperor of Fengdu to launch an attack again, but Ye Chen simply raised his hands and ran his fingers across his body.

Several jet-black lines appeared out of thin air, slicing through the sky and heading towards the phantom of the Fengdu Emperor.

A sense of alarm rose in Chen Ye's heart, and he immediately urged his Dharma Image to swing the sword to defend. However, the black lines seemed to have no substance and directly pierced through the giant sword made of weapon phantoms, cutting straight into the Dharma Image's body.

"Shoot-"

That's the sound that comes when the soul is torn apart.

The image of the Dharma form, composed of tens of thousands of Yin soldiers, had crisscrossing black lines running across its left shoulder.

The dozens of Yin soldiers who made up that area didn't even have time to let out a scream before their spiritual connection with the entire legion was instantly severed, and black cracks appeared on their bodies.

They were "sliced" out of the collective of Dharma images and turned into dozens of isolated and helpless souls.

A cruel smile appeared on Ye Chen's face.

He raised one hand and made a grasping motion in the air towards the separated Yin soldiers.

Under the pull of Ye Chen's palm, these Yin soldiers were involuntarily pulled and squeezed together. Their armor shattered inch by inch, their souls twisted and deformed, emitting silent wails.

It only took a moment.

Those dozens of imposing ghost soldiers were forcibly molded into a shapeless mass of flesh. Mutilated arms stretched haphazardly from the mass, and pained faces floated on its surface, emitting mournful howls.

"Hahaha……"

Feeling the unprecedented power within his body, Ye Chen let out a hoarse and maniacal laugh.

"Chen Ye, your Ten Thousand Souls Banner does indeed have tens of thousands of Yin soldiers, but no matter how many there are, they will only become my aid now. You are destined to lose this battle today, and it is you who should be added to the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!"

Just as Ye Chen was feeling smug, expecting to see Chen Ye's panicked expression, he instead saw Chen Ye sigh and then take out an identical treasure box.

Chen Ye muttered to himself, "Why didn't I think of this? This Time Arrow can indeed save me hundreds of years of hard work."

To Ye Chen's astonishment, Chen Ye plunged the handful of Time Arrows into his own chest.

Unlike Ye Chen, Chen Ye's appearance remained unchanged, as if his lifespan was so long that several hundred years was nothing to him.

But his aura remained unchanged, as if he had not broken through from the Profound Realm to the Divine Transformation Realm even after hundreds of years.

Ye Chen wondered what kind of future he had chosen for himself after consuming so much of his lifespan.

To Ye Chen's puzzled look, Chen Ye suddenly produced a sword.

(End of this chapter)