Chapter 41: The Banner of Ten Thousand Ghosts

  Wan Gui Lao Zu wiped away the divine seal left by Lei Dong on the ordinary Soul Nurturing Tower with one stroke. He hastily cast a detection spell on the only remaining yin soul inside. The golden light almost covered half of the yin soul's body. On that tense face, an expression of wild joy appeared in the blink of an eye. After repeated confirmation, he burst into laughter: "Indeed, it is a top-grade spirit ghost."

  Looking at Leidong again, somehow this kid looks even more pleasing to the eye, and is even more so than Ding Yuanyan, who was already the most pleasing to look at. After all, Ding Yuanyan only had exceptional talent. But Leidong, on the other hand, directly brought back a top-grade spirit ghost for himself. However, no matter what, he was still an elder-level figure, and after experiencing the initial uncontrollable excitement, he also feared losing face in front of this younger generation Leidong. His expression gradually calmed down, and he only said to Leidong and Yan Yuese: "Not bad, indeed a top-grade spirit ghost. Leidong, take it away and make good use of it with a blood sacrifice, it will become your greatest assistant in the future."

  Where is the thunder, I don't know if the old ancestor wants to save face or pretend. If he really didn't recognize himself and took it back, I'm afraid whether the sun can be seen tomorrow is still uncertain. After calming down, he knelt down again with a solemn expression: "I report to the old ancestor, the disciple's talent is dull and has no great future. In his youth, he was impulsive and caused trouble outside, but thanks to the old ancestor's support, he was able to survive until now. Although the disciple's talent is mediocre, he was fortunate enough to be taken in by the old ancestor as a direct disciple, and every month, he would open the altar and lecture, teaching with all his heart, like a teacher and a father. The disciple may not understand what he says, but he remembers it all in his heart, and secretly makes up his mind to serve the old ancestor wholeheartedly, to repay the old ancestor's great kindness. Now that he has obtained a small amount of spiritual energy, as long as it can help the old ancestor advance to the yuan ying stage, the disciple will be satisfied." The words were spoken sincerely and from the heart, not only did the ghost servant nod in agreement on the side, but the old ancestor also showed an extremely satisfied expression on his face.

  Filial piety, this is the true filial piety. The old ancestor also felt a little sentimental, having lived for over 70 years and taken in many disciples, but none of them had ever offered him a high-quality spirit ghost. Even if someone occasionally obtained a high-quality spirit ghost, they would definitely secretly offer it as a blood sacrifice, hiding it from the old ancestor. But Lei Dong, who was also cultivating the Ghost Controlling Technique, not only didn't sacrifice the high-quality spirit ghost but instead wanted to give it to the old ancestor. When he heard Lei Dong say that he regarded him as both a teacher and a father, the old ancestor's heart couldn't help but feel a few strands of affection towards him. After all, Lei Dong had obtained the spirit ghost and could have secretly sacrificed it without anyone knowing.

  At that time, Laozu himself obtained an extremely precious spiritual ghost in the fifth layer of the Qi Refining stage. It wasn't until he reached the Golden Elixir stage that he couldn't help but spread it outwards. Wasn't there anyone who knew about it in between?

  From this, Leidong should be truly loyal and grateful to himself. Otherwise, anyone else would not be able to give away such a good thing as the top-grade spiritual ghost. Wan Gui Laozu thought that he couldn't do it even if he wanted to. Thinking of this, he felt more affectionate towards Leidong: "Leidong, you gave the top-grade spiritual ghost to Laozu, don't you feel heartache?"

  Lei Dong smiled awkwardly: "Old Ancestor, the disciple is indeed heartbroken. However, the disciple knows that his talent is limited, and it's already a great satisfaction to have reached the Foundation Building stage in this life. Sacrificing a high-quality spirit ghost would be a waste for himself. But Old Ancestor has exceptional innate talent, with a good chance of entering the Yuan Ying realm in his lifetime. The disciple also struggled internally for some time before making this decision."

  Wan Gui Lao Zu heard this and felt a sense of relief in his heart, thinking that this was reasonable. However, even so, Lei Dong's filial piety was still quite good. Otherwise, if he had cultivated such a high-quality spirit ghost well, it would have been much more powerful than himself in the future. It seemed like after a moment of contemplation, he reluctantly said: "If I were to decline again, I'm afraid it would hurt your kind intentions. Alright, I'll promise you that I'll help you enter the foundation period, and when you've successfully established your foundation, you can return home and establish a clan. With me backing you up, you'll definitely be able to enjoy unparalleled prosperity for generations to come. Of course, if you want to pursue the Golden Elixir Great Path, it's not impossible, but for your qualifications, it's a bit too difficult. I'll give you another promise: if one day I achieve the indestructible primordial infant, and there's an opportunity, I'll help you enter the elixir path. If there's no opportunity, I can still ensure that your descendants will be safe and sound."

  In Lei Dongxuan's ears, Wan Gui Laozu's promise was also extremely valuable. Among them, being able to ensure his own entry into the foundation stage was already a huge surprise. In the 70 years since Laozu had taken in so many direct disciples, only five had entered the foundation stage. It can be seen that advancing to the foundation stage is by no means an easy task.

  Of course, if one doesn't have a heaven-defying treasure in hand, being able to lay the foundation for this life is already a huge stroke of luck. The best outcome would be, as Old Ancestor said, to return to one's hometown after laying the foundation and establish a cultivation family, produce offspring, branch out, and live a glorious life. This ideal may seem grandiose, but it's also feasible. As for Golden Elixir, even if Old Ancestor is willing to help, he might still be powerless. Those who achieve Golden Elixir are all geniuses like Ding Wu Yan. Even for Ding Wu Yan, Old Ancestor only hopes that she can enter the Golden Elixir stage one day, and doesn't dare guarantee it; having a 50-60% chance of success is already enough to make people take notice.

  But Leidong is different now, with the possession of the Soul Devouring Tower, a treasure that can't directly enhance his cultivation realm, but can greatly increase his combat power. As long as he has enough strength, he will have the upper hand when competing for resources in all aspects. Although the Golden Elixir Grand Dao is too far and difficult for him, he will still embark on this path, step by step, to conquer it, never looking back.

  "Thank you, venerable ancestor, for your great kindness and virtue. I am truly terrified." Lei Dong also thought that the old ancestor's promise was already quite good. If it were some other petty old ancestors, they might have just given a little favor and sent him on his way. As for dissatisfaction, who cares about someone with ordinary talent, only having six layers of Qi Refining, like an insignificant ant?

  "Get up, ghost slave. Go and select two top-grade spiritual artifacts from the Thunder Movement, plus 10,000 spirit stones." The old ancestor perhaps felt that his promise was not enough, so he added another sentence. He estimated that even if he got a top-grade spiritual artifact, it would be hard to resist the urge to refine and cultivate it with all his heart. According to the old ancestor's strength, maybe only one blood sacrifice would be needed, and the top-grade spiritual artifact could reach the level of ghost guard.

  After Guinu received the order, he led Leidong to the treasure house of the Wan Gui Cave and told him that he had a time limit to choose slowly.

  For the two top-grade artifacts, plus a million spirit stones. Leidong was indeed somewhat satisfied in his heart and walked into the treasury, only to see rows of shelves with many different types of artifacts placed on them, at least several hundred pieces. However, the vast majority were mid-grade or lower-grade rare items. As for mid-grade and lower-grade artifacts, Leidong naturally ignored them directly.

  But even so, the old ancestor's collection of top-grade artifacts has at least several dozen pieces. These top-grade artifacts are worth tens of thousands of spirits, and some are even worth hundreds of thousands of spirits. Just from this treasure trove alone, it can be seen that the old ancestor's family is indeed not ordinary. Relying on having plenty of time, he carefully examined each of the several dozen top-grade artifacts one by one. Each piece was extraordinary, either with a dark and lustrous aura or with a flowing spiritual light. He liked this piece, but couldn't bear to part with that piece, and for a moment, it was difficult to make a decision.

  Finally, when the time was almost up. Leidong also had an idea after thinking for a while, the first thing he chose was a high-quality Wan Gui Banner. Wan Gui Banner was one of the artifacts that Leidong had planned to obtain long ago. Wan Gui Banner is a very special artifact, a newly refined Wan Gui Banner often has no power at all.

  To enhance the power of the Hyakki Yakou, one must continually collect vengeful spirits or the living souls of Shinsengumi members with it. The more spirits collected, the greater the Hyakki Yakou's power will become. According to legend, the most powerful Hyakki Yakou can summon a thousand oni at once, causing the heavens and earth to change colors. However, the oni within the Hyakki Yakou are of varying quality because their consciousness was erased, leaving them dull-witted and only retaining a hint of their bloodthirsty instincts.

  But even so, once the Ten Thousand Ghosts Flag is formed and has a numerical advantage, its power will be absolutely extraordinary. And Lei Dong, who was originally playing with the Onmyodo, had made up his mind to take the summoning route, and it's impossible for him to ignore the powerful Ten Thousand Ghosts Flag. Especially when capturing yin souls in the usual way, many of those wild ghost soldiers become food for the ghost soldiers, which is a waste. Sacrificing the Ten Thousand Ghosts Flag is the best choice.

  ……