This had never happened before.

’Good thing my divination gave me a warning, so I made my move early. If he’d had time to fully prepare, things would have been much more difficult.’

「Before long.」

Li Chang’an returned to Changqing Mountain.

He entered his cave residence, sealed the main entrance, and activated the small array inside to cut himself off from the outside world.

After that, he began to take stock of his spoils.

He opened Pang Xuan’s Storage Pouch, probed it for a moment with his spiritual sense, and quickly found what he was looking for.

’Blood Demon Gold.’

Li Chang’an took it out and tossed it to the Venerable Soul Banner to devour.

After about a quarter of an hour.

The Venerable Soul Banner’s tier rose, reaching Tier Three Middle Grade.

With a thought from Li Chang’an, the millions of Sub-Souls within the Soul Banner gathered their Soul Power and channeled it all into the Evil Soul.

In an instant, the Evil Soul’s aura broke through to Tier Three Middle Stage, making it a match for a Middle Stage Golden Core Cultivator!

Li Chang’an asked it, "Have you learned any new Magic?"

"No, but the Netherworld Evil Domain has gotten stronger. A Middle Stage Golden Core Cultivator would have a hard time breaking it, and even someone at the Late Stage of Golden Core would be trapped for a moment."

"That’s good."

That specific Magic was what Li Chang’an valued most about the Evil Soul.

Any other Soul, even after advancing to Tier Three, wouldn’t have developed a special Magic like this.

This was precisely why the Evil Soul had always served as the Main Soul.

Li Chang’an took out Pang Xuan’s Venerable Soul Banner and tossed it to his own, letting it devour that one as well.

Within that banner were a full 1,500,000 Souls, all of which were transferred over.

At this point, Li Chang’an’s Soul Banner contained a total of 2,500,000 Souls!

He asked the Artifact Spirit, "How many more Souls are needed for the Evil Soul to match a Late Golden Core Stage Cultivator?"

The Artifact Spirit explained.

Although the newly added 1,500,000 Souls were numerous, their quality was quite low, dragging down the overall quality of all the Souls in the Venerable Soul Banner.

Based on their current average quality, it would take about five million Souls for the Evil Soul to match a Cultivator at the Late Stage of Golden Core.

In other words, he still needed another 2,500,000!

’That’s not too many. I should be able to gather enough if I just kill a few more Golden Core members from the Yin Soul Sect who use Venerable Soul Banners.’

’However, with the recent deaths of Pang Xuan and Murong Kang, the Second Saint Child, there’s bound to be a major shake-up within the Yin Soul Sect. Someone from the Nascent Soul Demon Sect might even come to investigate. I can’t rush this.’

Li Chang’an was very patient and in no hurry.

The Evil Soul’s current strength was already sufficient for his needs.

He would figure out a way to get more Souls after he reached Core Formation.

Next, he took out the White Bone Demon God and refined it again, making the Treasure completely his own.

Besides this Tier Three White Bone Demon God,

Pang Xuan’s Storage Pouch also contained numerous Tier Two White Bone Demon Gods, products of Corpse Refinement, and a large quantity of Demonic Materials.

’These are all useless to me. I can trade them for more Souls.’

He wouldn’t have any trouble finding buyers for these items. Demonic Cultivators would be falling over themselves to get them; after all, life within the Demon Sects was far more brutal than in the Righteous Sects.

About an hour later, Li Chang’an finished taking stock of all the Treasures.

He took out the Jade Scroll and carefully examined its contents.

’So the Demon Planting Technique I obtained from Liang Yu’s memories back then really was flawed.’

The Demon Planting Technique within the Jade Scroll was far more complete than the version Li Chang’an had previously acquired.

After a quick comparison, Li Chang’an understood.

If he had cultivated the version of the Demon Planting Technique he’d first obtained, he would have ended up turning himself into one of Murong Kang’s clones.

’However, this version of the Demon Planting Technique might not be complete, either.’

’Could some higher-level entity have put this out as bait?’

Li Chang’an frowned, deep in thought.

This Cultivation Technique was simply too bizarre and suspicious. He couldn’t risk cultivating it.

He was afraid that if he cultivated it to the end, he would become the Puppet or Clone of some Nascent Soul Old Demon.

He took out the Venerable Soul Banner, released Murong Kang’s Soul, and demanded to know where he had obtained this Cultivation Technique.

But Murong Kang remained defiant, refusing to say a word.

Li Chang’an had no patience for his games and tossed him directly to the Evil Soul.

"Evil Soul, get back to work. Break this guy and make him talk!"

"You got it!"

A vicious grin spread across the Evil Soul’s face as it immediately dragged Murong Kang into a small, dark interrogation room it had specially created.

Li Chang’an then continued to examine the rest of the Jade Scroll’s contents.

After the Cultivation Technique, there were several sections on Magic.

It included the Blood Seed Technique, Substitute Death Technique, Clone Technique, and Blood and Flesh Regeneration Technique, all of which he had previously seen in Liang Yu’s memories.

In addition, there were four new entries.

They were "Blood-Dripping Demon Transformation," "Blood and Fire Overlapping," "Blood Demon Body Refinement," and "Three-Body Core Formation Technique."

Li Chang’an had already seen Murong Kang use the first two types of Magic.

Blood-Dripping Demon Transformation could create a clone from a single drop of blood.

According to the description in the Jade Scroll, this clone only shared the user’s exact aura; its actual strength was far inferior. It was a life-saving technique, meant to confuse enemies during an escape.

As for Blood and Fire Overlapping, it was considered a top-tier Life Burning Technique, among the best of its kind.

After reading its description, Li Chang’an grew thoughtful.

’No wonder Murong Kang was able to unleash such power at the end. This Magic truly is remarkable.’

He had seen several people use Life Burning Techniques, such as Mu Qiuyan and Jiang Yunsheng, but none of their methods could compare to Blood and Fire Overlapping.

If it had been anyone else today, Murong Kang might have actually escaped.

Li Chang’an continued reading the Jade Scroll.

’This Blood Demon Body Refinement is a Body Refining Technique that can be cultivated up to Tier Three Peak, just like the Demon Dragon Body Refining Technique I obtained. But Murong Kang obviously hadn’t reached Tier Three with it, most likely due to a lack of resources.’

The resources needed for Body Refinement were astronomical.

The only reason Wan Xing had been able to reach Tier Three was because he had the entire Cyan Cloud Sect supplying him with resources.

The only reason Li Chang’an had come this far on the Path of Body Refining was by relying on his divination to find overlooked treasures.