Chapter 146: Chapter 105: Core Formation (Part 3)

"Alright, together it is." Gu Haitang agreed without hesitation.

This way, it would also prevent any suspicious signs during her Core Formation from being noticed by this demonic witch.

Little did they know that Qingqing had the same thought in mind, which was why she deliberately provoked, ensuring her secrets weren’t discovered by this troublesome woman.

After Chu Xuan completed his Core Formation, he felt more at ease and merely smiled slightly, saying, "Do you need me to build a wall between you two?"

It was meant as a joke, but unexpectedly, the two women replied in unison:

"Yes!"

Though their minds should be too occupied during their breakthroughs to notice the outside world, it was natural for them to remain cautious of each other.

Chu Xuan shook his head helplessly. He raised his hand, and a wall of earth emerged from the central axis of the mountain god temple.

Only then did Qingqing and Gu Haitang feel at ease and began setting up their Spirit Gathering Arrays.

...

Unlike Gu Haitang’s focused attention, Qingqing’s concentration wavered, occasionally sneaking glances at Chu Xuan sitting outside the temple.

It would be better if this woman named Gu were not here. Since she arrived, Chu Xuan had become more reserved and stopped teasing her verbally.

Qingqing realized that she didn’t dislike the feeling of being flirted with by him. In fact, she even missed it...

Actually, she now wanted to say to Chu Xuan, "I can be like Ayue as well."

But just as she was about to speak, Qingqing thought of the sect, remembered her mother, and the mission she bore.

Her expression dimmed, and she questioned herself:

Do you really have Ayue’s courage to disregard everything?

Although doubting oneself before breaking through a realm is a major taboo in cultivation, she couldn’t help but think this way.

So after setting up the Array, Qingqing sat in the center, but did not immediately push for a breakthrough.

She looked at Chu Xuan with longing, thinking, we ultimately can’t be together, can we? The time we can spend together is getting shorter...

At that moment, Duanmu Qing sighed, abandoning any illusions.

The journey had been like a beautiful dream, but now, it was time to wake up.

She closed her eyes, hesitating no more.

...

On Chu Xuan’s side, once the two women were focused, he casually took out an item.

It was a triangular black banner with six tails fluttering gently beneath it. On the surface of the banner, countless mysterious tadpole-like characters and ancient incantations flickered by, exuding an aura of profound antiquity.

This object had resided in his sea of consciousness for over eight years and could finally be put to use today.

Chu Xuan gently caressed the surface of the Six Souls Banner. Although he could only initially control it and couldn’t unleash its full power, he felt somewhat confident.

Faced again with incidents like the siege on Ghost Street or Lan Cai’er’s kidnappings, he no longer needed to temporarily endure, as he now had a trump card to turn the tables.

Initially, Chu Xuan thought the Six Souls Banner might be a top-grade Celestial Tier treasure, or even an ultimate one; but with his growing experiences over the years, he suspected it might very well be an Immortal Artifact-level treasure.

Moreover, it might not even be a product of this world. Perhaps it had crossed over from Earth with him.

Thus, during the Celestial Evil Period, Chu Xuan was assured of this treasure as his key contingency for revival.

Currently, when Chu Xuan sensed it, the inside of the Six Souls Banner was still empty, with no sign of an Artifact Spirit or the like. He didn’t even know how to use this thing.

What, there’s not even a user manual? Chu Xuan couldn’t help but complain about his past self.

He began by trying to write on the banner tails, akin to the legends he’d read on Earth.

Surprisingly, it worked, but each stroke consumed a tremendous amount of mental effort and Magical Power. At his current cultivation level, finishing a single name would nearly exhaust him.

If the characters were complex, it might take even longer.

Afterward, he would perform ritual offerings with talismans nightly, and upon completion, shaking the banner should be able to claim someone’s life, making it a formidable long-distance curse technique.

But exactly how many days was this offering supposed to last?

Chu Xuan recalled that, seemingly, there was no specific duration mentioned?

If it mirrored the "Nailhead Seven Arrow Technique," it should be at least three sets of seven days, or twenty-one days in total.

Considering the Nailhead Seven Arrow technique only targeted a single individual at a time, whereas the Six Souls Banner could target six, perhaps it required forty-nine days?

No, no, no, I don’t have that many enemies; for individual targets, it shouldn’t exceed twenty-one days.

However, Chu Xuan currently had no immediate use for this curse method, especially not in emergency situations.

Thus he tested other aspects of the Six Souls Banner... it seemed particularly effective against ghosts or spirit-related entities.

Chu Xuan extracted a "Soul Bottle" he had bought specifically in East Immortal Market from his storage bracelet.

This item was only at the level of a Magical Artifact, imprisoning a small ghost within, which was perfect for testing.

He opened the Soul Bottle, and out floated a mindless and muddled ghost. Sweeping the banner towards it, without even touching, the little ghost was instantly absorbed into the banner.

Using his Divine Sense, Chu Xuan detected it within, astonished.

He casually released the ghost, watching it drift away to pick up a twig.

Indeed, Chu Xuan could control it freely; he wasn’t a Ghost Cultivator and hadn’t practiced any ghostly Cultivation Techniques, yet capturing the small ghost into the Six Souls Banner instantly granted him unconditional control over it.

At the same time, Chu Xuan realized why he received special treatment on Ghost Street; why when they told him he would win every gamble in the ghost market, even if he lost he’d have the power to overturn the tables.

Could they dare not let him win? If they didn’t allow it, then it would be a case of "Why not join me for a dialogue in my Human Sovereign Banner."

Chu Xuan reminisced about the moment when the White-haired Zombie grasped his wrist—it might have sensed the existence of the Six Souls Banner then.

The creature might not recognize this treasure, yet it surely knew it was a powerful bane against ghostly entities.

Discovering this function left Chu Xuan quite satisfied: from now on, anything ghost-related had better steer clear from me, lest they want a dialogue within the banner. After such a dialogue, everything would go smoothly.