Seeing this, the head of the Huang family couldn’t help but be slightly stunned, followed by uncontrollable ecstasy. In that instant, even someone as steady as him felt an impulse to cry—the bitterness had finally ended, and sweetness had arrived.
“Finally, finally! After over twenty years of offerings, is the Ten Thousand Soul Banner finally going to be completed at this moment?”
The Huang family head raised his slightly trembling hand, his gaze fixed tightly on the location of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, afraid that if he missed a single detail, the banner would simply fly away.
As for Lin Huanhuan and Bai Lingfeng, in his eyes at this moment, they had already become unimportant. They had lost their combat power and posed no threat. The top priority was to secure the Ten Thousand Soul Banner first, then decide how to deal with them.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner slowly rose. The originally tattered flagpole was now as bright and new as if it were polished and waxed for maintenance every single day. Every skeleton on the banner became clearly visible, looking just like freshly harvested skulls.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner began to slowly leave the blood pool, flying towards this side. Although its speed wasn’t fast, it maintained a constant velocity.
The Huang family head couldn’t help but hold his breath, extending both hands towards the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, waiting for it to come to him so he could firmly catch it.
He had heard that artifacts of this level possessed a spirit. There were specific etiquettes for “inviting,” “using,” and “offering” them. Generally, they needed to be stored in extremely precious jade boxes. But since he couldn’t find such a thing now, he could only try to maintain the highest level of etiquette as much as possible.
……
Seeing this scene, Bai Lingfeng’s heart tightened. He gripped his sword, about to take action immediately, but was stopped by Lin Huanhuan, who grabbed the corner of his clothes.
He looked back in confusion, only to see Lin Huanhuan wearing a rather strange expression. She said, “Wait a moment. This Ten Thousand Soul Banner seems a bit off. Let this Huang family head test the waters first.”
‘Is this really okay?’ Bai Lingfeng couldn’t help but ask in his heart. He glanced at Lin Huanhuan again, smiled somewhat helplessly, and finally nodded. “Alright, let’s wait a bit longer. If there’s any danger later, remember to hide behind me. After all, I practice the sword path, which is more suited for close combat. Long-range still relies on you.”
“Don’t worry,” Lin Huanhuan nodded and said.
Lin Huanhuan had a reason for stopping Bai Lingfeng. In fact, the moment the Ten Thousand Soul Banner was completely repaired, her inner demon had already arrogantly laughed in her ear:
‘Hahaha, I never expected this Ten Thousand Soul Banner to be so sensible, actually coming to pledge allegiance to me. This is great! It looks like I can step on this Huang family head and humiliate him thoroughly later. To make me so disheveled, I must torture him repeatedly!’
Lin Huanhuan was somewhat puzzled. ‘Why would the inner demon say that?’
But based on her trust in her “golden finger,” she chose to observe first. Of course, a spell to increase escape speed was also brewing. As soon as the situation turned unfavorable, she would immediately hit the Huang family head with a Wind Confusion technique and make a run for it.
After all, the goal for this trip had already been achieved. Although this way, she definitely wouldn’t be able to gain more, her own safety was the most important. There was no need to risk her life fighting for an opportunity.
The air was filled with the scorching smell of blood and fire, and the ground flowed with shocking amounts of blood. Within this small space, corpses were practically everywhere, like a bloody meat grinder. And in such a place, at this moment, everyone’s gaze was focused on that single Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner drifted slowly. Under the Huang family head’s extremely expectant gaze, it flew right up to him, then, without the slightest pause, continued flying forward, its target precisely Lin Huanhuan and Bai Lingfeng’s side.
The look of pleasant surprise on the Huang family head’s face gradually froze. He mechanically turned his head, watching the Ten Thousand Soul Banner that completely ignored him, his gaze falling into a daze.
Looking at the expression on his face, Lin Huanhuan couldn’t help but think of a scene from her previous life: a “simp” who had exhaustively pursued a goddess for ten years, finally “winning” her over, only to be told by the goddess right before the wedding, “All of this was just my master’s command.”
Lin Huanhuan felt that the Huang family head’s current mood definitely wouldn’t be any better than that poor fellow’s back then—utterly despairing.
The Huang family head quickly snapped back to reality. Disregarding any formality, he rushed forward and reached out to grab it. But the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, as if it had been acting all along, now simply stopped pretending. Its speed suddenly increased, arriving in front of Lin Huanhuan and Bai Lingfeng in the blink of an eye.
Thud!
The Huang family head directly fell to his knees. He stared blankly at this scene, his face full of an indescribable expression, muttering to himself:
“Twenty years ago, my Huang family accidentally obtained the Ten Thousand Soul Banner. From that day on, my family has offered day and night without cease, giving souls when souls were demanded, giving spirit jade when spirit jade was demanded, never daring to stop.”
“At the beginning, to avoid exposure, my father and several elder brothers all smiled and jumped into this blood pool, all for the hope that one day the Ten Thousand Soul Banner would be completely repaired, allowing my Huang family to rise.”
“To fulfill this vision, I severed ties with my father and brothers, blood-sacrificed my own clan, acted as a dog for the Lingyun Sect, acted as a dog for the Demonic Sect—all to avoid exposure, all to wait for today.”
“But… why? Why?”
Lin Huanhuan gave him a rather strange look. Although she felt the Huang family head was a bit pitiful, none of this was caused by her. What did it have to do with her?
The Ten Thousand Soul Banner floated right in front of them, occasionally leaning a bit towards Lin Huanhuan, then occasionally leaning a bit towards Bai Lingfeng. It was as if it didn’t know how to choose and was hesitating.
Lin Huanhuan couldn’t help but frown slightly. She actually saw a shadow of herself in this Ten Thousand Soul Banner. She directly threw caution to the wind, grabbed the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, and took it. “Give it here! Still hesitating like this, do you really think you have a choice?”
The moment it landed in her hand, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner stopped struggling. Since it didn’t know how to choose anyway, this just helped it decide.
Lin Huanhuan glanced somewhat guiltily at Bai Lingfeng, worried he might be angry. But she saw Bai Lingfeng just give her a slight smile, indicating his agreement, which made her sigh in relief.
The next moment, as a stream of information transmitted from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, Lin Huanhuan finally understood why it had flown over and why it had been hesitant. It turned out this Ten Thousand Soul Banner would only choose someone with a powerful soul as its partner.
Although the Huang family head had cultivated a couple of soul-summoning techniques, soul-path resources in the current world were almost extinct, making soul refinement nearly impossible. The Huang family head’s soul was stronger than an average mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator’s, but compared to Lin Huanhuan, a “villain” with memories of a past life, and Bai Lingfeng, the “protagonist,” it was still far inferior. Naturally, the Ten Thousand Soul Banner wouldn’t choose him.
“No! The Ten Thousand Soul Banner is mine, it belongs to my Huang family! You bandits! My Huang family repaired this with the blood of countless people! Let go of it!”
The Huang family head roared and charged forward, his fist smashing fiercely towards Lin Huanhuan. However, before he could even get within ten steps of her, he suddenly felt the world spin.
He saw his own headless corpse slowly falling, and Bai Lingfeng lightly shaking off the bloodstains from his sword. His mind was filled with confusion:
“This… why is it like this? Why does he still have fighting strength?”
His already overburdened soul directly shattered, plunging into endless darkness with this unanswered question.
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