Cultivation Starts from Farming Chapter 868 - 387: Upgrading the Ten Thousand Souls Banner

"If my Divine Sense advances any further, using this needle with full force... it might risk shattering!" Xu Ping furrowed his brows slightly.

He was just a step away from reaching Mid-Stage Nascent Soul, and once he broke through, his Divine Sense would experience a qualitative leap.

By then, this Soul-Breaking Needle would no longer be able to fully leverage the advantage of his Divine Sense.

"It seems that I must find a way to enhance the quality of this needle."

Xu Ping thought to himself, his mind racing with ideas.

There were two paths to improvement:

First, through painstaking effort, to continue slowly nurturing and refining it with his own Divine Sense, making gradual progress.

This method was reliable and had a solid foundation, but it took a long time and might not keep pace with his cultivation advancement.

Second, to find a higher-quality Moon Shadow Stone or other top-grade spiritual materials that could bear and amplify the Power of Divine Sense, then refine it into the needle for a second ritual.

This was a shortcut, quick to show results, but... Moon Shadow Stones were already exceedingly rare, and higher-quality ones?

"The Ancient Demon Hall..." A glint of determination flashed in Xu Ping’s eyes.

Nirvana blood relates to the Nirvana golden body, and high-quality Moon Shadow Stones concern the future of the Soul-Breaking Needle.

Clues for both of these heaven-defying items now lead to the infamous Ancient Demon Hall.

"Once I break through to Mid-Stage Nascent Soul, I must take a trip to that Ancient Demon Hall." Xu Ping opened his mouth and swallowed the Soul-Breaking Needle to nurture it.

With his breakthrough to Mid-Stage Nascent Soul, his Divine Techniques should reach a level comparable to Late-Stage Nascent Soul.

Such a power would make him an invincible presence within the Ancient Demon Hall.

At that point, he could thoroughly ransack the Ancient Demon Hall.

At this moment, the figure of a Water Lake Rat emerged ghostlike from the murky seawater below, presenting a massive dragon body, barely alive, at Xu Ping’s feet.

"Master’s divine might captures a dragon with just a flick of the finger, my admiration for you..." The Water Lake Rat’s eyes glowed with flattery and endless praise.

Xu Ping nodded slightly, waving his wide sleeve to store the unconscious Black-Armored Earth Lizard Dragon into a specially-made spirit beast bag.

The reason for keeping its life was naturally to extract its essence, to refine that temporarily set-aside Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

This banner possessed formidable power and the potential for growth, so naturally, it couldn’t be abandoned.

With his current Divine Techniques, slaying ordinary Tier Four Middle Grade Demon Beasts was already easy, making it time to enhance its quality.

...

Several days later, on a desolate dead island in the outer sea.

Within a newly established cave abode, a chilling wind howled, and ghostly energy was abundant.

Xu Ping sat cross-legged on a pitch-black jade altar, intricately carved with a soul-gathering Array Map.

His expression was solemn, and two objects hovered before him.

One was the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, entirely black with a faint dark red blood glow on the banner face, where countless tortured and distorted faces floated and wailed.

The other was the dark gold Demon Beast essence extracted from the Black-Armored Earth Lizard Dragon, still exuding malevolent dragon might and massive soul power.

"Devour Souls, Order!"

Xu Ping formed a sword gesture with his fingers and chanted, causing the esoteric, ancient incantations to materialize as gray runes, which he infused into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The banner shook violently, and those countless faces screamed more horribly, as the center of the banner suddenly tore open into an unfathomable vortex, like a black hole leading to the Nine Nether.

"Roar!"

The Earth Lizard Dragon’s essence seemed to sense its doom, letting out an unwilling roar and struggling, while its dark gold radiance shone brightly!

"Suppress!"

Xu Ping snorted coldly, and the Power of Divine Sense descended.

The struggling dragon soul suddenly stiffened.

Seizing this opportunity, the devouring vortex of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner erupted with terrifying suction, like a giant whale swallowing water, forcibly pulling the refined dark gold dragon soul into the banner.

"Aow!"

A roar filled with endless resentment and pain echoed from within the banner, making the entire cave abode buzz in resonance.

The blood glow on the banner intensified, with sinister ghostly faces with dragon-like features floating and roaring within the blood sea.

The aura of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner surged visibly.

A dark gold dragon pattern gradually emerged along the banner pole, exuding a heart-pounding ferocity.

Xu Ping closed his eyes to sense, then slowly opened them, a sharp gleam flickering within: "Indeed, a great tonic for the soul, the Tier Four Middle Grade Dragon Beast soul."

"The power of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner has significantly enhanced... however..."

Xu Ping furrowed his brows slightly, "Although Demon Beast essences are vicious and wild, when it comes to the purity of soul power... they ultimately fall short compared to the Nascent Soul essence of cultivators of the same rank."

He silently calculated:

At least two more Tier Four Middle Grade Demon Beasts and six Tier Four Lower Grade Demon Beasts’ essences are needed to upgrade it to the Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure level.

"Almost there!"

A flicker of fervent anticipation crossed Xu Ping’s eyes.

With the help of this beast tide, the metamorphosis of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner could be completed.

The Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Treasure level Ten Thousand Souls Banner... I wonder if it poses any threat to Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Xu Ping suppressed his tumultuous thoughts and began his recovery.

The next morning.

With his mana fully restored, Xu Ping removed the cave abode’s Restriction, his form transforming into an inconspicuous Escape Light, merging into the vast outer sea.

...

Time flew by, and several years passed.

Using the precise intelligence on the tracks of the great demons of the Demon Race, transmitted by the Golden Spirit Mouse clan, Xu Ping transformed into a proficient hunter, continuously hunting Fourth Rank Demon Beasts.

With the extraordinary concealment of the Thousand Illusion Concealing Pearl and the deadly power of the Soul-Breaking Needle, he roamed like a shadow in the depths of the outer sea.

One Fourth Rank Demon Beast after another fell into his hands, their essences becoming fodder on the advancement path of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner...

As for the harvested demon beast materials and Demon Cores, they were enough to make even Late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators envious.

However, the monstrous killings and the ever-growing ferocity of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner were like an invisible shackle, ringing alarm bells in Xu Ping’s heart.

Though the outer sea was vast, the successive disappearances and falls of powerful Demon Race beings were no trivial matter.

Even with the assistance of the Golden Spirit Mouse clan in covering up, the risk of he being discovered was accumulating.

Having slain so many Fourth Rank Demon Beasts, once the clues were uncovered, remaining in the outer sea would be impossible.