Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Su Baichen hurriedly caught up, only to see Feng Linzi waiting by the roadside with a shocked expression.

"Senior brother, what's going on?"

Feng Linzi rubbed his temples, saying incredulously, "We had just walked a short distance when Yu Renlu ran off without a word... Just now, Senior Yu Xiangke chased after him. Could what he said be true?"

Su Baichen sighed, "Senior brother, I think we'll have to keep the 'Mysterious Yin Heart Mirror' running frequently from now on. This world is too dangerous."

Feng Linzi paused for a moment, then sighed, "I thought this secret technique wouldn't have much use, and would only increase the distance between people... but I never expected it to become almost a necessity now."

The two brothers exchanged a glance, and then felt relieved at the same time: at least they were certain that they could trust each other!

"Senior brother, which direction did the senior go? Let's go take a look."

Feng Linzi immediately strode forward in one direction.

Su Baichen quickly followed.

They were all very fast, and Su Baichen's cultivation had improved significantly during this period. With his leg meridians becoming smoother and his true qi becoming much stronger, he could barely keep up with Feng Linzi's speed.

About fifteen minutes later, the figures of Yu Xiangke and Yu Renlu appeared before them.

As the two approached, they saw Yu Renlu slowly slump to the ground, his true energy dissipating, like a deflated doll...

In Su Baichen's spiritual sense, Yu Renlu's vitality was also rapidly dissipating.

He asked in surprise, "What happened?"

Yu Xiangke said with a grim expression, "He shattered his own Qi Sea... I don't understand, why would he do that?"

This is indeed hard to understand. After all, it's a child you've watched grow up. No one can imagine why someone like that would betray you.

But Su Baichen had a different idea.

He thought of himself: a person who retained memories of his past life.

What if this Yuren Road also retains memories from this life and the past?

He was immediately moved, and an idea quickly came to mind. He then reached for the Soul-Suppressing Sword on his back.

As the Soul-Suppressing Sword was drawn, the Binding God Ribbon binding it came loose, revealing the sword of humanity's guardian, imbued with a chilling demonic aura.

As the sword intent resonated, he connected with the will of countless ancestors, and then unleashed an illusionary domain that enveloped the surroundings.

He himself never expected that he would be able to directly unleash this level of illusion by borrowing the ultimate essence of the Soul-Suppressing Sword.

In this illusion, he brought Feng Linzi, Yu Xiangke, and most importantly, Yu Renlu into the ancient battlefield of the Crimson Land.

The visitor from Yuxiang asked in surprise, "This is...?"

Su Baichen said, "This is an ancient battlefield, an illusionary domain that I can only create with the help of the Soul-Suppressing Sword."

Feng Linzi's expression shifted, then he exclaimed in admiration, "Illusionary Domain? Bai Chen, even Master might not be able to do that... This is something only those who have reached the first rank of the Illusionary Yin Eight Transformations can achieve!"

Su Baichen humbly replied, "This is merely using external forces; in essence, this domain still belongs to the Soul-Suppressing Sword."

Yu Xiangke praised, "This is indeed a priceless treasure, and you are truly fortunate to have gained the recognition of such a treasure."

After saying that, he looked at Yuren Road again...

Then, puzzled, he asked, "Wait, why is the path like this?"

Su Baichen and Feng Linzi looked over together and were surprised to see a clump of unidentified substance, which looked like a blob of ink that had exploded on the floor...

However, it is constantly changing and has no fixed shape.

"Grandmaster... wait, why am I still alive?"

That blob of ink spoke!

Su Baichen took a deep breath and said, "I'm just temporarily trapping its consciousness here. Its physical body has lost its life force, and it won't be long before it disappears here as well."

Yu Xiangke suddenly realized: "This is what its consciousness looks like... It's not human?"

He then solemnly asked, "What exactly are you, and where do you come from?!"

Yu Renlu's consciousness froze for a moment, then cried out in alarm, "No, how did I turn back into this form... Where is my body? I'm a human, I'm a human..."

The consciousness cried out in alarm, emitting a violent mental fluctuation.

Su Baichen took this opportunity to unleash his full power with the "Mysterious Yin Heart Mirror" in an attempt to read Yu Renlu's mind at this moment.

However, he failed; all he read was a blank, dark image, with no other information.

A moment later, the consciousness dissipated.

Su Baichen immediately dispelled the illusionary domain and, through his spiritual senses, discovered that a spirit had vanished from the world.

Unfortunately, he still couldn't sense where the spirit was going.

He lamented, "If only there were a way to preserve its soul."

Feng Linzi thought for a moment, then said, "It's not that there's no way. One of the lineages of our Yin Sect, the Yinming Curse, has a spell called the Soul-Binding Curse, which can forcibly extract the soul of the person affected. However, the soul that is bound must be stored in a special container, otherwise it will quickly dissipate."

Yu Xiangke suddenly blurted out, "A soul-summoning banner."

Su Baichen and Feng Linzi were both taken aback.

Yu Xiangke repeated, "I said the Soul-Serving Banner."

"The demonic artifact, the Soul-Controlling Banner, can imprison or even enslave a soul."

Su Baichen thought to himself, "Good heavens, is he going to refine a demonic artifact?"

Yu Xiangke snapped out of his daze, then said with a serious expression, "I never imagined that Yu Renlu wasn't human at all... no, he was some unknown being who incarnated as a human!"

"But... what exactly is that thing?"

Feng Linzi composed himself and said, "In any case, I should go and escort Lord Wang... Junior brother, please tell your family what happened just now. This is too terrible. I'm worried that there might be such a person in our Changchun Palace as well."

Su Baichen replied, "Yes, I understand."

After listening to the conversation between the two brothers, Yu Xiangke came to his senses: "Bai Chen, I think there is one more thing I need to ask for your help with."

Su Baichen understood after a moment's thought: Yu Xiangke wanted him to help check if there were any similar items in the Liang Kingdom's palace offerings!

He said, "Okay, I'm going to the capital anyway, so I'll just do it while I'm there."

Seeing that he was sensible, Yu Xiangke breathed a slight sigh of relief.

He then smiled and said, "Don't worry, you won't do this for nothing. I'll help you refine a high-grade 'Soul-Controlling Banner' as payment. What do you say?"

Su Baichen said happily, "That would be perfect."

Feng Linzi hesitated, wanting to speak but then stopping himself. He was about to leave, but now he felt uneasy.

This whole thing is... Su Baichen is already being called the "Sword Demon" by people who don't know the truth, so why does he need a demonic artifact like the "Soul-Controlling Banner"?

Although it is said that magical artifacts are neither good nor evil, and the "Soul-Controlling Banner" that Yu Xiangke is going to refine is definitely for dealing with that kind of strange existence, why is his junior brother's style getting darker and darker?