113: The Great Function of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner

"Young people..."

Fu Yongnian glanced at Luo Xuanxiao's back and shook his head with a chuckle.

He then looked at Su Ling and calmly accepted the bow. "Little Friend Han, there's no need to be so polite. However, this old man has a presumptuous request. If I should unfortunately fall in this Nether Prison Plane one day, I hope you can recite a Rebirth Mantra for me, so my remnant souls doesn't lose its way in the sea of stars."

"Uh, I wouldn't dare refuse."

Su Ling was startled by the words, then nodded with a wry smile.

He had never imagined that someone would actually volunteer to enter the ten thousand souls banner.

Fu Yongnian's open-mindedness far exceeded his expectations.

"Haha, then it's settled!"

Fu Yongnian laughed heartily and turned toward a corner.

His aged figure, under the dim light, actually exuded a sense of freedom and ease.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, the corpses in the valley were cleared away.

The Cultivators' Storage Pouches, Magic Treasures, and the Lion-beast corpses were all collected and managed.

At Wen Qingzhu's command, Du Rong's Nether Mist Veil unfurled again, completely concealing everyone's presence.

Bolstered by the Spells of the Wind-element Cultivators, the three Flying Boats were enveloped in pale green air currents, flying off into the distance like arrows from a bow.

Only the empty valley remained, with the dark red blood on the ground yet to dry, bearing witness to the bloody battle that had taken place... Over the next half month, Su Ling led the group through the Yangquan Sect war zone. Like a blade hidden in the shadows, they successively wiped out three fifty-man teams belonging to the Yangquan Sect.

By now, they had already crossed the buffer zone and ventured thousands of miles deep into the Yangquan Sect war zone.

Through the previous encounters and the meticulous scouting of the vanguard Cultivators, they gradually figured out the Yangquan Sect's current deployment.

Most Cultivators were still clearing Demon Species within a thirty to forty thousand mile radius of their base; only a few daring squads ventured into the outskirts of the war zone.

Yet even with Su Ling's fifty-one-man team carefully planning and launching surprise attacks every time...

...they still lost seven or eight people to the enemy's counterattacks. The remaining Cultivators were almost all wounded, with wet bloodstains still on their robes.

But behind the casualties lay extremely rich rewards.

The surviving Cultivators each had over ten thousand points, thanks to the comprehensive rules established before the battle and their seamless cooperation.

After every battle, the majority of the points were shared equally under the witness of the Battlefield Monitors, leading to this mutually beneficial outcome.

Of course, the Peak Core Formation Cultivators like Wen Qingzhu, Fu Yongnian, and Luo Xuanxiao, who faced the enemy's Peak Core Formation experts as the main force, had points exceeding twenty thousand.

Keep in mind that the National War had only started half a month ago.

To earn so many points while maintaining a high survival rate was something previously only the top assassins of the Nightmare Sect could achieve.

And such people were few and far between.

Now, however, the forty-plus people in Su Ling's team had all reached this level.

Such results left Wen Qingzhu and the others quite satisfied; even the weaker Cultivators were all smiles, their eyes full of anticipation for the upcoming battles.

As the squad moved to a mountain range filled with the stench of decay to rest, Fu Yongnian was the first to speak, teasing with a chuckle, "Everyone, you should know the benefits of keeping Fellow Daoist Han now, right?"

In these three battles, although the Yangquan Sect squads weren't as large as Wu Keji's group, their overall strength was significantly higher.

However, after each Formation ambush, they didn't reveal themselves immediately to duel. Instead, Su Ling would summon the ten thousand souls banner,

Over a thousand Wandering Souls would surge out from the banner, instantly weaving a Nether Ghost Realm.

This ghost realm not only suppressed the power of the Yang-attribute Cultivation Techniques of the Yangquan Sect's core Disciples, but the waves of sound from the shrieking Wandering Souls also struck first, directly weakening the enemy Cultivators' combat power.

By the time the Yangquan Sect members were in disarray, the Azure Wave Cultivators would strike amidst the chaos, and the battles would often end quickly, more smoothly than expected.

As for the four or five team members who fell, it was simply bad luck—they were targeted by the enemy's Peak Core Formation Cultivators and couldn't escape their fate.

"Haha, Fellow Daoist Han's ten thousand souls banner is practically a battlefield Divine Artifact! Once those thousand Wandering Souls come out, the enemy is dumbfounded, and they can barely even finish their Spells!"

Qi Fei slapped his thigh and laughed heartily.

During the second battle, the Lightning-attribute Cultivators were kept in reserve as planned to conserve their mana, while Qi Fei and the others who specialized in wind became the main attackers.

Under the cover of the ten thousand souls banner, Qi Fei and his group were like tigers with wings, driving the Yangquan Sect Cultivators into a steady retreat.

In particular, Su Ling specifically had the remnant soulss of Wu Keji and another Peak Core Formation expert constantly harass the Yangquan Sect Peak Core Formation Disciple fighting Qi Fei.

In the end, although those two remnant soulss were incinerated by the enemy's Yang-attribute Spells, Qi Fei took the opportunity to slay his opponent, remaining completely unharmed himself.

It could be said that most of the people present were able to survive because Su Ling used the remnant soulss in the ten thousand souls banner to 'die in their place.'

As the saying goes, 'better a Fellow Daoist dies than myself.'

These remnant soulss were either Demonic Souls or the souls of enemy Cultivators, so naturally, no one cared.

As for the remnant soulss of their own fallen Cultivators, Su Ling would use the 'Rebirth Mantra' to help them find peace after every battle.

No one could say for sure how effective it was, but this gesture won everyone's approval.

"I admit, I was too aggressive with my words before."

Qi Yan's face was full of guilt as he looked at Su Ling sheepishly and nodded slightly in apology.

Su Ling's smile remained unchanged, but he didn't take it to heart.

He hadn't forgotten that Qi Yan and two others had once teamed up to kill him.

So, during the first three battles, when Su Ling controlled the ten thousand souls banner, he specifically had the remnant soulss assist other team members in harassing the enemy after disrupting their ranks.

Only around Qi Yan and those two, there wasn't even a shadow of a remnant souls.

Qi Yan himself was a Peak Core Formation Family Disciple with strong power; he could hold his ground even without assistance.

But the other two had only just promoted to Late-stage Core Formation and were of Loose Cultivator origin.

Although they were recruited by Wen Qingzhu for their powerful offensive Spells, their defensive Spells and Magic Treasures were quite ordinary.

The result was self-evident; among the few who fell, these two were prominent on the list.

Even if Qi Yan was slow, he understood that he had completely offended 'Han Yu.'

Furthermore, in the last battle, he was accidentally heavily wounded by an enemy's deathbed counterattack. Now, he had to set aside his pride and take the initiative to show goodwill to Su Ling to ease their relationship.

Given Su Ling's performance and strength, Wen Qingzhu had already included him in the team's high-level meetings.

At this moment, Wen Qingzhu looked at everyone and said in a heavy voice, "We will rest here for the next week. The remnant soulss in Fellow Daoist Han's ten thousand souls banner have suffered severe depletion. If they aren't replenished, it will greatly impact future battles. Moreover, you all must have noticed that the overall strength of the Yangquan Sect squads is getting stronger... It's highly likely they have already sensed our presence."

Some in the team were wounded one after another; if they didn't focus on healing, they would inevitably fall in the coming battles.

Furthermore, the treasures seized recently also required time to be processed to enhance the team's overall strength.

As the saying goes, 'sharpening the axe doesn't delay the woodcutting.' Wen Qingzhu had gone to great lengths to win over so many elites.

It wasn't just for the gains of this half month.