"That many living souls?"
"Heh heh, what I've said is already the minimum. To truly bring out the Red Soul Banner's full power, you'd need tens of millions of living souls at the very least. Since Fellow Daoist only intends to store objects, you can make do with fewer. The true Red Soul Banner isn't quite in the same league as a Heaven Communing Spirit Treasure, but it won't fall far short of an ordinary spirit treasure either. Its spatial divine ability alone has enticed more cultivators than you could count." The child spoke with a light chuckle.
"Tens of millions of living souls! Unless I went about massacring cities and wiping out islands, there'd be no way to find that many. Hmm — actually, maybe I wouldn't need to go that far to gather enough!" Han Li shook his head repeatedly at first, but suddenly a flash of inspiration struck, and he let out a soft exclamation of surprise as something came to mind.
"Oh? Fellow Daoist has some other clever method?" The child was somewhat taken aback.
Rather than answering the child's question directly, Han Li reached toward his storage pouch once more. Green light flickered, and two pale green banners appeared in his hands. Each was only a few inches tall, yet they shimmered with a hazy green glow and were covered in talismanic script — clearly treasures of no ordinary caliber.
These were the two Ghost Net Banners he had seized during his last trip to
"These are...?" The child's eyes flickered several times, but he did not recognize the banners. This was hardly surprising — when Han Li had ventured to
"I was wondering — if I were to refine the ghost souls within these banners once more, could they be used for the Red Soul Banner's refinement?" Han Li asked the child with a grave expression.
"Any refined spirits will work, naturally. But though these two treasures fall short of the Red Soul Banner, they are far from ordinary items. If you go through with this, they'll be completely destroyed. Moreover, the spirits alone would still fall far short of what's needed for the Red Soul Banner's refinement." The child carefully examined the Ghost Net Banners in Han Li's hands for a while before offering his cautionary words.
"That's no concern of mine. These two treasures are powerful enough, but I already possess spirit treasures — items of this grade hold little use for me anymore. As for the shortage of spirits, if I had around a dozen or so banners of this type, that would surely be enough for the refinement, wouldn't it?" Han Li stroked his chin and said with profound meaning.
"A dozen or so? I see — these are two pieces of a complete set of treasures? Fellow Daoist must still have the others." The child was momentarily stunned before comprehension dawned.
"I don't have the other banners on hand at the moment, but I do know where the remaining ones can be found. Actually, come to think of it, I also know of another similar treasure — one that has far more demon spirits refined into it than even these Ghost Net Banners combined. Unfortunately, that treasure ended up in the hands of a Deity Transformation stage demon, which is not someone I can afford to provoke." Han Li's expression turned to one of regret as he recalled this other treasure.
What he was referring to, of course, was the
The child naturally had no idea what else Han Li was alluding to, but he had no interest in pressing the matter. He merely said in a flat tone:
"If Fellow Daoist can gather enough spirits, I'd be happy to teach you the method for refining the Red Soul Banner free of charge. After all, this Celestial Magnetism Divine Light technique does seem rather interesting — I'd like to see just what kind of power you can wield once you master it. Does Fellow Daoist plan to begin the process as soon as you return to the Tianlan region?"
"There's no rush. Everything must wait until I've cultivated to the peak of the late Nascent Soul stage and fully refined the Five Frost Flame Devils. After all, the remaining Ghost Net Banners are all in the possession of various Nascent Soul demonic cultivators — I'd rather wait until my cultivation has advanced further. For now, I'll return to the Tianlan region first." Han Li shook his head and replied thus.
"Then so be it. Once we return, I'll hand over the Red Soul Banner's refinement method to you first. You can start collecting the other auxiliary materials in the meantime, so you won't waste any more time later." The child was unconcerned; his form wavered, and the illusory figure dissipated and vanished.
Han Li was delighted to hear this. He swept his sleeve, and brilliant green light erupted around his body. His escape light transformed into a faint green streak that pierced through the sky, vanishing from the nearby sea without a trace moments later.
Several months later, Han Li returned to the Tianlan region through the ancient teleportation array.
He recalled the
Two months after that, Han Li arrived at the Yunmeng Mountain Range in Xi Country. He merely sent a voice transmission talisman to Lü Luo to inform him of his return, and without meeting this Elder Lü in person, flew straight back to the Mother-Daughter Peak.
Han Li naturally had no intention of disturbing her practice. For cultivators like them, a brief absence of just over a year was nothing more than the blink of an eye.
The entire Tianlan cultivation world did not even know that their foremost cultivator had once left the Falling Cloud Sect for a time.
Upon receiving word of Han Li's return, Lü Luo breathed a profound sigh of relief. The Falling Cloud Sect's current standing rested entirely on Han Li's reputation. Unless the sect produced three or four more Nascent Soul cultivators, its position as a supreme sect — without Han Li — was far too precarious.
However, no sooner had Han Li returned to his cave dwelling than he sent a jade slip to