Poof.

With a soft sound, Old Devil Ghost’s body was neatly severed in two from head to waist, and he died on the spot.

Fang Hong’s mind stirred, and the skeleton artifact spirit behind him immediately burst forth with a powerful suction, forcibly pulling Old Devil Ghost’s soul, which had not yet escaped, and firmly trapping it within the banner.

But just then, an unexpected change occurred; the Devil Ghost Banner, now without a master, suddenly erupted, and an aura of destruction emanated from within the banner!

It seemed that when Old Devil Ghost refined the Devil Ghost Banner, he set up some kind of self-destruct restriction. Once he met an unfortunate end, the restriction would be triggered, destroying the Devil Ghost Banner rather than letting anyone else obtain this treasure.

"Thinking of self-destruction? Not that easy." Fang Hong naturally wouldn’t just stand by and watch this Grade Six Immortal Artifact be destroyed.

He immediately cast the Void Secret Technique, and spatial restrictions flew out like chains, firmly enveloping the Devil Ghost Banner, forming a sealed spatial barrier.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

The Devil Ghost Banner frantically crashed within the spatial barrier, attempting to break through the restriction and trigger a self-detonation, but the spatial barrier remained motionless.

Not long after, the Devil Ghost Banner’s rampage gradually subsided, and the self-destruct restriction was suppressed by Fang Hong.

Fang Hong breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the sealed Devil Ghost Banner, a hint of anticipation flashing in his eyes.

He would find a safe place later to properly refine it, then feed it to the demon soul banner.

He wondered how many grades the demon soul banner could advance by doing so; perhaps it could directly breakthrough to a Grade Six Immortal Artifact, or even higher.

Afterward, Fang Hong waved his hand, sweeping Old Devil Ghost’s corpse and the Blood Fiend Sword into the years pearl, then his figure flickered, and he quickly left the battlefield.

Although the battle just now was brief, if he continued to stay here, it might attract the attention of other powerful Cultivators, leading to more trouble. It was best to leave as soon as possible.

Half an hour later, Fang Hong found a secluded cave in a remote, deep mountain.

He set up several concealment restrictions at the cave entrance, and after confirming it was safe, he took out the years pearl, his figure flickering as he entered the internal space of the years pearl to inspect the spoils of war.

After examining Old Devil Ghost’s relics, Fang Hong’s face showed great joy; this old devil was quite wealthy, possessing twenty-five thousand Immortal Stones alone.

In addition to Immortal Stones, Fang Hong also found twenty-one Immortal Artifacts and a Stone of Gloom.

Among these twenty-one Immortal Artifacts were the Grade Six Devil Ghost Banner, the Grade Five Blood Fiend Sword, three Grade Four Immortal Artifacts, six Grade Three Immortal Artifacts, two Grade Two Immortal Artifacts, and eight Grade One Immortal Artifacts.

These Immortal Artifacts were all excellent resources; Fang Hong’s own Immortal Artifacts could be greatly upgraded once again.

As for the Stone of Gloom, that was the treasure that truly delighted Fang Hong the most.

The Stone of Gloom is a precious and special Ore, its interior containing extremely pure Dark Law power.

Its function was quite similar to the fire bodhi fruit Fang Hong had obtained earlier; both are precious treasures capable of helping Cultivators condense Law meridians within their bodies.

This also meant that as long as Fang Hong could successfully refine this Stone of Gloom, he could condense a second Law meridian within his body.

Immortal cultivation technique clearly states that each time a Cultivator Breaks through a realm or condenses a new Law meridian, the Immortal Aperture within his body will expand accordingly.

After the Immortal Aperture expands, the amount of Immortal Qi it can contain naturally becomes more abundant.

If external factors such as Immortal Artifacts, Immortal Talismans, and formations are excluded, among Cultivators of the same realm, those with more Law meridians in their bodies, relying on their more abundant Immortal Qi, would certainly be able to steadily suppress Cultivators with fewer Law meridians.

Fang Hong fed Old Devil Ghost’s corpse to the demon gourd, refining it into a Golden Immortal Middle Stage Immortal Pill.

Subsequently, Fang Hong arrived at the Artifact Refining Room, preparing to feed the Devil Ghost Banner to his destined Immortal Artifact, the demon soul banner, to allow the demon soul banner to complete an advancement.

Time flew by, and two months passed.

In a secluded mountain valley within the internal space of the years pearl, Fang Hong was suspended in mid-air.

He slowly raised his right hand, a layer of purplish-black halo swirling around his fingertips.

Suddenly, a purple beam of light shot out from Fang Hong’s fingertip, accurately striking a mountain peak not far away.

Bang.

A violent explosion echoed throughout the valley, and a powerful shockwave spread in all directions.

That ten-thousand-zhang-high mountain peak, under the impact of the purple beam, instantly turned into flying dust, dissipating into the air.

Fang Hong looked at the scene before him and nodded with satisfaction.

This Immortal Move he had just performed, named Nether Demon Finger, was one of his significant gains during this period.

The Nether Demon Finger is a Grade Five Immortal Move, powerful and only usable by Cultivators who have refined a Dark Law meridian.

This formidable Immortal Move was a Move Fang Hong learned from the cultivation technique secret manual left by Old Devil Ghost, and from its power just now, the effect was quite good.

During these two months, Fang Hong had successfully refined the Stone of Gloom and successfully refined a second Law meridian, the Dark Law meridian, within his body.

With the appearance of this Law meridian, his Immortal Aperture also expanded by a full twofold, directly increasing the upper limit of Immortal Qi it could contain by a significant amount.

However, the expansion of the Immortal Aperture also brought a small problem.

The more Immortal Qi the Immortal Aperture could contain, correspondingly, the more Cultivation resources Fang Hong needed to advance to a higher realm.

Fang Hong was already accustomed to this situation; the more abundant the Immortal Qi, the more resources consumed was a reasonable consequence.

Fang Hong had many ways to acquire resources; he could cultivate Immortal Herbs in the years pearl and refine Immortal Pills after they matured.

He could also use the demon gourd to refine enemies’ corpses into Immortal Pills; in any case, there were ways to gather enough resources.

Therefore, Fang Hong was not only unconcerned about the expansion of the Immortal Aperture but rather wished it could be as large as possible, as a larger Immortal Aperture meant stronger combat power.

In addition to condensing the Dark Law meridian and expanding the Immortal Aperture, the several commonly used treasures on Fang Hong had also greatly improved during this period.

The most significant change was the demon soul banner.

After successfully absorbing Old Devil Ghost’s Devil Ghost Banner, it directly advanced two levels, reaching the rank of a Grade Seven Immortal Artifact, and its power greatly increased.

Besides this, the Swift Wind Wings and the soul severing sword also saw considerable improvements.

These two Immortal Artifacts absorbed the Immortal Artifacts left by Old Devil Ghost, similarly successfully advancing to the ranks of Grade Seven Immortal Artifacts.

At this moment, Fang Hong already possessed these three Grade Seven Immortal Artifacts: the demon soul banner, the Swift Wind Wings, and the soul severing sword.