After the main character who took the blame retired, the female lead quit.

Because she hadn't put her mind at ease with the middle-aged man.

She didn't turn her back completely to the middle-aged man, but rather turned halfway to the side, constantly keeping a watchful eye on his behavior.

Fortunately, the middle-aged man remained completely still throughout, seemingly genuinely intimidated by the reputation of the Qingyun Floating Sect.

Just when Yunqi thought she could get through this unexpected incident safely, the red rope brass gourd she was holding at her side trembled slightly, radiating a precious aura, as if it had detected some kind of treasure.

Suddenly, the middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, and a deep frown appeared on his brow.

"Wait! Young lady, isn't that the broken treasure-hunting gourd hanging on your waist from the Wanbao Pavilion?"

"Huh? No, you're mistaken. This is just a gourd filled with medicine."

Yun Qi stiffened, her smooth hem lifting to reveal a glimpse of her fair thigh. She clutched the hem of her dress to cover the gourd at her waist, then corrected herself.

She's not so naive as to answer every question aloud, especially when the person is clearly interested.

Although her actions were somewhat self-deceptive, murder and robbery were common occurrences within the secret realm, so it was best to be cautious.

However, what Yunqi couldn't understand was that her broken treasure-hunting gourd had been hanging in Wanbaoge for countless years without anyone buying it. It was said that someone had accidentally bought it, but after a few months, instead of getting any treasure, the gourd had taken up all of his limited luck and fortune, making it even harder for him to find any treasures. He found it useless and obediently returned it.

Because of this incident, the name of the Broken Treasure Gourd became famous, but it was ignored for a hundred years.

No one would be interested in a broken gourd, which is why she hung it openly on her waist.

Even if this middle-aged man is a rogue cultivator who has never recognized treasures, how could he not know the famous Broken Treasure Gourd?

"Hey! You little brat, don't worry, I have no interest in this treasure gourd that's been gathering dust in the Wanbao Pavilion."

However, since you bought it, it means... you have the ability to control or activate it, right?!

The middle-aged man rubbed his palm against his bluish chin, and a glint of light appeared in his previously lifeless eyes.

bass!

A flash of golden light appeared, and a pale golden talisman materialized at her fingertips. Yun Qi's expression turned grim.

To make matters worse, this guy wasn't interested in the magic gourd; he was interested in her as a person.

The faint fluctuations caused by the summoning talisman made the middle-aged man nod slightly.

"Hmm, peak Core Formation Realm, you can be considered a little genius. That's fine, it won't be an insult to my magic weapon. Hehe... Little kid, congratulations. I see your forehead is dark, you probably won't live much longer in a few hundred years. I'm willing to save you so that your soul won't wander and scatter between heaven and earth."

Welcome to my Emperor's Banner for a gathering. Your spirit will be eternal and immortal. I'm sure the seniors inside will also like you, their junior..."

As soon as the words fell, a banner, emanating black smoke, fluttering with a dark yellow hue, and entwined with the wailing of countless ghostly spirits, slowly rose from the shadow beneath its feet.

Yun Qi's eyes trembled, and her warm body instantly turned cold.

Is this the Soul Refining Banner?

The person before me... is an evil cultivator!!

Chapter Thirty-Five, The person who invented the Soul Refining Banner was truly a genius.

Magical artifacts are fundamental to a cultivator's practice and are indispensable. However, compared to common elixirs, a good magical artifact that matches one's own nature is not so common and is something that can only be encountered by chance.

The creation of magical artifacts usually involves many steps and requires precious materials, often rare and precious natural treasures or parts of powerful demonic beasts. Only by using these as a basis can a magical artifact of a high grade be created.

The forging of some magical artifacts even requires consideration of the right time, place, and people, and it is necessary to avoid certain unfavorable weather and events in advance.

In addition, there is a certain error rate in the forging of magical artifacts. It requires extremely good forging skills and a veteran who has been immersed in this field for many years to make a good magical artifact while ensuring that no materials are wasted.

Of course, you can also use ready-made magic artifacts from the market, but the number of spirit stones required will be much higher than if you commission one to be made yourself.

Most magical artifacts are like this: people, wealth, land, and treasures are all indispensable. However, there are always exceptions. The Human Emperor Banner in the middle-aged man's hand—or rather, the Soul Refining Banner—is an anomaly among magical artifacts.

Strictly speaking, whether it can be considered a magical artifact is debatable, since it does not fall into the four categories mentioned above.

It was invented by a demonic cultivator five hundred years ago. Since its invention, it has caused scenes of bloodshed for thousands of miles and the desertion of hundreds of cities.

First of all, the materials required to make the Soul Refining Banner are very simple, common and cheap, namely the human soul. Compared to things like the reverse scale of a dragon or the essence of white clouds, the soul is very easy to obtain. Even the soul of a mortal can be used to refine it, but the effect is definitely not as good as that of a cultivator.

Secondly, the Soul Refining Banner doesn't require any special skills in its crafting; all you need to do is know how to control spiritual energy and replenish resources in a timely manner.

The person who invented the Soul Refining Banner was truly a genius!

This item is simple to make and uses inexpensive materials. Once it appeared in the world, it caused a huge wave of panic, and everyone was on edge.

It is said that the inventor's inspiration came from the fact that since the horns and scales on the bodies of monsters can be polished into magical artifacts, what about humans, who are also living beings?

Once this idea was conceived, it became unstoppable. The appearance of the Soul Refining Banner was just a prelude. Subsequently, many evil artifacts made from human flesh, bones, blood, and so on were invented. However, compared to these, the Soul Refining Banner, as the predecessor, was more favored.

These items are simple to make, require no shortage of raw materials, and greatly enhance the cultivator's abilities. They also have a special attack attribute against humans. Many rogue cultivators could not resist the temptation and joined in, setting off a wave of "cannibalism".

For a period of time, some places were completely out of order, with chaos and slaughter spreading everywhere. People were killing each other. The inventor of the Soul Refining Banner was even revered as the Blood Refining Ancestor, attracting a large number of followers at the time.

However, such an inhuman phenomenon naturally attracted the attention of all cultivation circles. The Soul Refining Banner flourished quickly, but cooled down even faster.

Led by the Tie family, in almost a month, all the cultivators who were refining the Soul Refining Banner were wiped out and disappeared without a trace. The number of people and sects involved was countless, and the bottom of the Demon Suppression Tower was overcrowded.

The culprit, the Blood Refining Ancestor, was surrounded and killed by several powerful figures. Before his death, unwilling to let his legacy be buried, he self-destructed the first generation Soul Refining Banner, and the method of making the Soul Refining Banner spread widely throughout the cultivation world.

Even now, despite the relentless suppression from all sides of the cultivation world, there are always one or two evil cultivators wielding Soul Refining Banners who emerge from unnoticed corners, giving the impression that the Blood Path is not alone.

However, this has also raised concerns among various cultivation circles. It is absolutely impossible for the Soul Refining Banner to reach the scale of the original Thousand Soul Banner, Ten Thousand Soul Banner, or even Hundred Million Soul Banner.

Both the righteous and the demonic paths reached a high degree of unity regarding this thing, showing absolutely no leniency and tolerating not even a hair on its head; once discovered, they would be annihilated without exception.

It can be said that cultivators who wield the Soul Refining Banner are like rats crossing the street; as soon as they show their faces, everyone shouts to kill them. They are the most despised, scorned, and feared by cultivators.

Even so, traces of the Soul Refining Banner can still be found in various places, or rather, traces of the Blood Refining Ancestor's method of refining people can be found. It's like weeds that can never be burned out; after one batch is burned, another one will sprout up from who knows where.

But it is impossible for it to prosper, because "Heavenly Way" is extremely averse to this thing, a disgust etched into its very bones.

Therefore, the moment Yun Qi saw the middle-aged man unleash the Soul Refining Banner emitting black smoke, she lit the communication talisman left by her senior sister. The talisman in her hand glowed brightly, and the pale golden light enveloped the remaining talisman paper as she rushed towards the other side.

She herself turned and fled, showing no intention of staying to fight.

The evil cultivators of the demonic path, judging from the billowing black smoke emanating from the Soul Refining Banner, have indeed gained some influence.

She was no match for him on her own. All she could do now was escape and try to survive before her senior sister's reinforcements arrived.

Hopefully, the talisman my senior sister gave me will keep him trapped for a while.

Yunqi prayed silently in her heart, while also feeling a little regretful.

I should have listened to my senior sister and asked for more talismans. But who can say what the future holds?

In a strictly guarded secret realm that only allows disciples of righteous sects to enter, the probability of encountering an evil cultivator using the Soul Refining Banner is... It's even more absurd than if you were just sitting peacefully in your room and suddenly a great fortune crashed in and sent you directly to another world.

"Little tricks!"

Peng!

The middle-aged man moved without wind, and a condensed black aura formed a barrier, blowing away the incoming sea of ​​runes. The golden, sharp rune radiating blade energy stopped in front of his face, just an inch away from severing his nose and piercing his skull.

His lifeless eyes flickered, glancing at the golden talisman paper before him, frozen in black mystic energy, trembling and motionless. He nodded.

"Great treasure, great talisman, it's just that the user's experience isn't very good..."

The black mystic energy then condensed into a giant aura hand, its power overwhelming, and it grabbed Yun Qi, who was fleeing towards the flashing lightning, from afar.

Suddenly, a beam of light shone through the condensed gas and appeared directly in front of the middle-aged man.

click!

The flying sword came swiftly, but just like the previous talisman, it got stuck an inch away from the middle-aged man, unable to move.

"Looks like you're a sword cultivator after all. I'll have to make some more room for you..."

After a moment of reflection, the middle-aged man twirled his hand, conjuring a round, jet-black "balloon" that contained the flying sword and the talisman.

The greatest threat to a natal sword cultivator is their elusive natal flying sword. Now that the flying sword is gone, they've become fish on a chopping board.

Feeling that both the flying sword and the talisman had lost contact with her, Yun Qi lowered her head, a sense of powerlessness rising in her heart.

damn...

Qi Dao's large hand tightened, just as he was about to pull the girl in yellow closer, but suddenly, a burst of light emanated from the girl's body, and a faint talisman robe made of pieces of transparent talisman paper appeared from her body.

The transparent talisman paper has winding, interconnected patterns, all of which are Vajra talismans known for their defensive properties within the talisman.

The surging golden light pinned the girl to her spot, and no matter how the middle-aged man pulled her, she remained unmoved.

Yun Qi, protected by the talisman, was startled. Her senior sister's calm face flashed through her mind, and a touch of emotion welled up in her heart.

"Sister..."

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man didn't shout or yell, but the knot in his brows tightened even more, just like the layers of dark clouds piling up in the distant sky.

Just as he condensed his black profound energy again, preparing to increase the force of his hand, a blade of light enveloped in pure and righteous profound energy sliced ​​through his condensed qi hand from top to bottom, accompanied by a deep, reprimanding voice:

"I've finally found you, you traitor who abused my Tie family's magic..."

Boom!

His figure landed, blocking the path between the young girl Yun Qi and the middle-aged man. His tall body was framed by a ferocious face, resembling a mask made by the ancient beast Zheng, which trembled slightly. The pure and righteous Xuan Qi that emanated from him contrasted sharply with the scattered black Xuan Qi.

The masked "man" stood with a knife in his hand, his glassy eyes filled with resentment, displaying extraordinary hostility towards the middle-aged man opposite him.

Chapter Thirty-Six, Calling for People

At the same time, on the side of the Three Flower Goddess, Zi Yun's pupils shrank. Where the Three Flower Goddess was staring, a pretty woman walked over with her hands behind her back.

"Ah! It's Miss Fengling! What are you doing here? That's wonderful! I was just about to look for you!"

Seeing that they weren't strangers, Zi Yun took a step forward. Heaven knows how safe it felt to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar secret place.

"Um... Hello fellow Daoist, I'm sorry, I was just passing by, did I disturb you? Eh?! Big Flower?"

However, in contrast to the extremely enthusiastic Zi Yun, he was much colder towards the pretty Zi Yun, his bright eyes showing a blankness and confusion, looking at Zi Yun as if she were a stranger.

However, when she turned her head and saw the Three Flower Goddess squatting on the rock, and subconsciously asked in confusion, Zi Yun knew why.