Chapter 200: Chapter 123: Never Forget for a Lifetime (3)

But as it turns out, he was overthinking things. Even though the Six Souls Banner is of high rank, his own strength is too low. If he dares to let this old ghost out now, there’s a high chance it will escape.

Chu Xuan quietly sensed the feedback from the Six Souls Banner. Currently, he can only control ghostly entities one major realm higher than himself. In other words, he would need to reach the sixth realm to command this old ghost.

Honestly, this is already a very good thing, considering the vast difference in combat power between the sixth and seventh realms.

Not to mention, having or not having a domain is a major factor in determining the victor. Even three sixth realm beings tied together might not be able to defeat a seventh realm one.

"Stop playing dead and tell me the location of the offering leg bone first."

Chu Xuan’s voice echoed within the Six Souls Banner, like rolling thunder, or as if an almighty god were speaking, causing the wisp of black smoke to tremble slightly.

However, it did not voluntarily give up the location and continued to play dead.

So Chu Xuan threatened, "I’ll count to three. If you don’t respond, I’ll refine you into a great pill."

This was no idle threat, as the Six Souls Banner could indeed refine ghostly entities into "Ghost Pills," but Chu Xuan didn’t cultivate ghostly techniques and wasn’t about to recklessly consume such things.

Moreover, turning a powerful future minion into a pill would not be worthwhile.

"Three, two..."

As starry points of green light gradually gathered within the banner, they began to surround the black smoke, ready to refine it. Finally, a flicker of light shot out.

Chu Xuan used his Divine Sense to receive the image information and quickly identified the specific location of the leg bone, which was in the northwest direction, not far from the verdant tree.

He nodded to himself and took the old ghost’s storage ring and the mysterious bone die.

For now, the die could be set aside. The storage ring, however, was a high-grade item, at least an Earth Tier artifact, and could not be opened without the owner’s Divine Sense imprint.

If broken into forcibly, all the fragile items inside would be torn to pieces by spatial forces.

So Chu Xuan again threatened the old ghost, trying to make it open the storage ring voluntarily.

But unexpectedly, this time the creature refused to yield, perhaps seeing that Chu Xuan was unwilling to kill it outright.

Chu Xuan thought for a moment. This old bastard was also once a "capitalist" for many years, with plenty of experience in exploiting creatures, well aware of the "master’s" psychology, knowing its own utility, hence its daring courage.

As he was still within the secret realm, Chu Xuan had no time to slowly interrogate it, so he left it in the Six Souls Banner for future handling.

Picking up the pale bone die, it felt smooth and polished in hand, seemingly refined over many years.

The die weighed three taels seven qian, corresponding to the number "three souls and seven spirits." When shaken, faint wailing of spirits could be heard.

Its exact method of use was still unclear. The old ghost had mentioned that when cast for the first time, whatever results were rolled, the "character will manifest as such."

But surely this thing couldn’t be used only once?

Chu Xuan decided to use it as a medium for a divination, which went fairly well:

The item is rather unique and difficult to categorize. Once refined, it can be cast to show any desired number, but that’s just for cheating and won’t trigger any effects.

The real use is that once randomly cast each day, it can trigger an effect.

Life: restore vitality

Death: suffer injury

Wealth: chance to gain wealth

Fate: causal linkage

Disaster: plagued by misfortune

Void: no effect

Overall, casting Life, Wealth, Fate, or Void isn’t a loss, but casting the remaining two could be quite troublesome.

Even if the first cast results in Death, it won’t be fatal, but injuries will occur, varying in severity.

Chu Xuan shook his head, "One-third chance of consequences, trying to tempt me into gambling for the two-thirds probability, huh? I won’t take the bet."

In fact, the chance to truly benefit was still only half; casting Void would just have no effect.

Gu Haitang saw him fiddling with the item and grew curious, prompting Chu Xuan to explain.

Haitang pondered, "This thing is a bit sinister. I think it’s best not to use it, sealing it would be prudent."

Chu Xuan nodded and put it away, then glanced at the feet of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue, at a large red-hot iron wheel.

This item seemingly originated from the Eight Hot Hells, a type of torture device that could hover above a sinner’s head, spinning and incinerating their skull and brain to inflict extreme pain.

Originally, it was rotating atop the Bodhisattva statue, but after the power within the statue was fully consumed, it fell down on its own.

Carefully probing, Chu Xuan discovered he could pick up the item, which also seemed usable as a type of artifact.

So he decided to take it along, planning to use it later to torment the old ghost into obedient compliance.

"I’ve forced the old ghost to reveal the offering location; now let’s return to the human realm," Chu Xuan said to Gu Haitang.

Originally, he intended to seize the chance to gather some wandering souls, storing them in the Six Souls Banner for future use.

But upon reconsideration, the old ghost likely contained an unknown number of such spirits.

At its level, relying solely on consuming these low-quality beings wouldn’t provide significant cultivation progress. Most likely, it hadn’t digested them yet, just waiting for him to use. Forcing it to regurgitate some would suffice.

Gu Haitang paused for a moment, then quickly caught on, her cheeks flushed. She stepped forward and embraced Chu Xuan tightly, burying her face in his chest again.

Chu Xuan was speechless; that wasn’t what he meant, and they hadn’t even taken off yet. She was already holding on.

Never mind, he shook his head, as long as Gu Haitang doesn’t ask any questions, it’s fine. He controlled his sword and took off, heading skyward.

...

Back in Wuyou Valley, Ji Mingyu, despite disliking how tightly this woman was holding Chu Xuan, felt some joy and confidence upon seeing Chu Xuan muttering her name earlier.