The sound of the phoenix’s call echoed in Ji An’s sea of consciousness, as the Earth-Departing Flame Banner emitted a flame-like, bright red cloud.

The cloud was about the size of a human head, swirling above his head.

The Spiritual Artifact shrank, appearing as a nimble red-gold flying bird that flickered within the cloud.

Ji An could sense the joyful and excited emotions emanating from the Spiritual Artifact, and he felt an exceptional happiness himself.

The Earth-Departing Flame Banner, just newly refined, displayed such spirituality that it should easily succeed in transformation after undergoing the Golden Core Thunder Tribulation in the future.

At that time, he wouldn’t need much control when fighting enemies, and with the blood sacrifice connection, it would be like having an extra mind-sensing helper.

He was very curious about the form the Spiritual Artifact would take after transformation, his eyes flickering as he pondered the choice of his Lifebound Magical Treasure.

With the help of the Stone Turtle, he possessed unique conditions that allowed him to rapidly hone his Magic Techniques to the Great Perfection Level.

Coupled with the additional boost from ten Dao Seeds, the effectiveness of his Magic Techniques, whether in attack, defense, or control, far exceeded that of cultivators of the same tier.

The Stone Turtle also possessed effects such as storing Spiritual Qi and refining Clear Spirit Qi to nourish and strengthen the Primordial Life Fire, making it unnecessary to consider auxiliary Lifebound Magical Treasures.

After much deliberation, Ji An made up his mind, preparing to choose the Wuji Xinghuang Banner as his Lifebound Magical Treasure, using it as a central base to gather the Five Elements Banner.

Forming an array with the treasures, with the Five Elements Endless Life, battling opponents by suppressing them with momentum is the most secure and despair-inducing way to fight.

Once the Wuji Xinghuang Banner is refined, he will possess two Spirit Banners.

This approach has two disadvantages: regularly nourishing five Top-Grade Spiritual Artifacts will severely hinder the improvement of his cultivation.

The second disadvantage is that more Power of Divine Sense is needed to control the Spiritual Artifacts.

The higher the tier of the cultivator, the more quickly the battle situations change, sometimes requiring simultaneous control of all Spiritual Artifacts, which imposes a huge burden on the Spirit Soul.

However, Ji An’s Primordial Life Fire is much stronger than others, and his Magical Power is naturally deeper than that of cultivators of the same tier.

With abundant resource supplies, the impact on the speed of cultivation improvement will be greatly reduced. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Additionally, under the dual nourishment of Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea and Soul Nourishing Wood, his Spiritual Strength far exceeds that of his peers, providing the foundation for "multi-thread" parallel operations.

In short, everything he currently possesses can be converted from resources to strength.

Determined in the path ahead, Ji An felt a bright clarity before him, a future full of light.

The imitation of the innate Five Elements Spirit Banner is circulated throughout the Cultivation Realm, and can be obtained at a cost.

In future ventures in Central Continent, he could focus on collecting the other three types of Five Elements Banner.

Ji An’s mind stirred, controlled by his thoughts, as the Earth-Departing Flame Banner descended, the cloud rising from his feet.

A warm aura wrapped around him, akin to the comfort of returning indoors from the outdoor cold of winter.

The Spiritual Artifact mischievously shuttled through the cloud, occasionally flipping his Daoist Robe like a playful child.

Every so often, it emerged from the cloud, circling rapidly around Ji An before quickly retreating back into the mist.

The fire cloud soared, the strong wind howled past his ears, reaching the summit of Red Flame Peak in just two breaths.

The flight speed surpassed Ji An’s cloud riding by a margin.

The mist mixed with Golden Fiend and Fire Fiend from the volcano mouth billowed and struck him, sounding like raindrops tapping on a metallic membrane.

Now, Ji An was also a Body Cultivator of Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment Level, completely immune to the bone-cutting and skin-searing damage.

He released the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, with golden-red mist gleaming with countless fire lines, all converging towards his palm.

As the Fire Element Essence gathered and compressed, a bright red orb the size of an egg bloomed with crimson light, outshining the morning sun.

The Earth-Departing Flame Banner emitted a clear call, suddenly leaping out of the mist with a graceful arc.

It paused in Ji An’s palm, the phoenix bird on the banner lit with golden light, rapidly consuming the Fire Element Essence.

In just over ten breaths, it devoured all the essence, emitting a clear call, conveying a desire for more.

Ji An grinned, and moved to an area with more vigorous fire aura, continuing to release the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, the gathered Fire Element Essence was again devoured by the Earth-Departing Flame Banner.

Half an hour later, the mist enshrouding the summit had turned pale gold, the Spiritual Artifact let out a satisfied call, ceasing to consume essence.

It was full.

Ji An calculated for a moment, and revealed a wry smile; the Earth-Departing Flame Banner had devoured nearly two thousand strands of essence, just in one day!

As the Spiritual Artifact grows stronger, this amount will increase even further.

"Oh dear, another big consumer of resources."

Once he acquires multiple Five Elements Banner, the daily cost of essence will be a huge expense.

...

Mingfeng Mountain.

The Demon Kings gathered at the mountaintop, the Ox Demon tore off a bloody chunk of meat, chewed it a few times before swallowing it.

"Hu Fairy has already returned to Qingqiu, yet orders us to remain here, what is this about?"

He complained, the tier of the spiritual vein here is too low, staying in this Tier Two Upper Grade spiritual vein is a barren place, making the enhancement of demon power cultivation extremely difficult.

"Killing four Golden Core Cultivators sounds easy but is so hard to achieve, and Qingqiu does not offer support.

In my opinion, we should just endure; wasn’t there intel from the Cyan Flood Dragon saying two Golden Core Cultivators of the Human Race are nearing their lifespan’s end?

If we endure for two hundred years, we’ll meet the task requirement!"

Black Wind Wolf Demon King grinned, agreeing:

"What Wild Bull Demon King said is correct, even the Ninth-Layer Golden Core Cyan Flood Dragon was killed by Human Race cultivators, why risk our lives!