Chapter 44: Beginning the Breakthrough, This Might Hurt a Bit!
The situation took a sudden turn for the worse!
You poured out all your martial arts, yet still couldn't gain an advantage against the Tiger Demon.
You couldn't kill it, and it couldn't kill you, but it kept you entangled, not letting you leave.
If you were to compare stamina, you probably wouldn't be its match.
"Ten Thousand Souls Banner, do you have absolutely no moves left?!"
"Don't panic! I've already prepared a premium suite for you, move-in ready upon death!"
"Dammit!!"
At this critical moment, a massive golden staff descended from the heavens!
"BOOM!!"
One staff settled the heavens and earth, shaking the mountains and plains, transforming the clear sky for miles!
That puny Tiger Demon, even after activating its Golden Body state, was instantly smashed into a pulp of rotten mud!
The golden staff standing tall upon the earth gave people a strange sense of security.
A nimble figure leaped onto it.
"Hey! Good friend, we meet again! We really have fate, don't we!"
It was the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey.
You scratched your cheek awkwardly.
"Are you sure it's not you who's been following me?"
"Hahaha! Then please forgive me. My brother and I have to protect our Master and the common people of Divine Arms County. It was truly a matter of no choice."
You knew the Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey had seen through the existence of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
But these past days, only he and that four-eyed monkey had been following you, with no others in sight.
This indicated they hadn't revealed this matter to anyone else.
"Be that as it may, my brother and I did indeed overstep. To express our apology, I can help you with a small favor."
The Fiery-Eyed Golden Monkey knew you were studying a Heart Art but couldn't find the right path. He offered to give you a few pointers to help you get started.
With someone willing to guide you, you gladly accepted the instruction with an open mind.
A few hours later, the problem of mastering the Heart Art's basics that had troubled you for days was smoothly resolved!
However, you hadn't yet reached the Soul Tempering realm. Even though you grasped the Heart Art's circulation method, you couldn't yet condense Essence Energy.
After observing you, the two great spirit monkeys concluded you weren't someone who used the Ten Thousand Souls Banner to slaughter innocents indiscriminately, but rather were eliminating demons and monsters. They stopped keeping an eye on you.
Time in the simulation passed in the blink of an eye.
In the blink of an eye, another five years went by.
During these five years, Chen Yi continued to travel around eliminating demons, collecting demon souls, and using demonic materials to earn Spirit Crystals.
Although his cultivation realm was stuck at the twelfth layer of Spirit Gathering, the proficiency and realm of his many techniques were constantly improving.
Once he had accumulated sufficient resources, he could finally attempt the breakthrough to Soul Tempering!
Year 28, age 45.
Drawing a trait...
Draw successful!
「Sudden Inspiration」(Purple): Your mind will occasionally have flashes of brilliance. This might bring you a brilliant idea, or might cause a sudden burst of comprehension. Let's hope it's not a terrible idea.
Adjust traits?
Yes/No
"Oh? A low-spec version of a trait that enhances comprehension. Useful, but not by much. Slots are tight for now, I'll think about it later."
You selected No.
You collected multiple sets of materials to craft a low-spec Ten Thousand Souls Banner and also acquired enough Spirit Crystals.
You returned to Divine Arms City once more and requested the forging masters of the Hidden Arms Tower to craft the Spirit Artifact body for your Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
Your luck was decent. After one failure, that skilled old master forged a High-Grade Spirit Artifact version of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner for you.
The other party stared at the black great banner, which was emitting cool, dark smoke fresh from the forge, falling into deep thought.
You, however, told him these were all normal phenomena.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner was fairly satisfied with its new body, declaring proudly and tsundere-like.
"Oh, not-so-young warrior, with your diligence and bravery, you have replaced my old body. Please do not worry about the wealth lost in the process. I shall use my new body to seize back everything you have lost!"
"Stop adding your own drama..."
Now, you had already left Divine Arms County and arrived in Nanyang County, one county over.
A loose cultivator martial artist proficient in formations had settled here.
You met him while traveling around looking for demon tribes.
"Brother Mo Ye, I need you to set up a formation for me. It's related to whether I can break through to Soul Tempering. I'm counting on you! Regardless of success or failure, I have prepared a sum of Spirit Crystals as payment."
Mo Ye was around your age. Although he understood formations, his martial cultivation realm wasn't high either, also stuck at the twelfth layer of Spirit Gathering.
In fact, Mo Ye didn't have a Low-Grade Bone Structure;
he had a Mid-Grade Bone Structure.
But that didn't stop him from being stuck at a bottleneck.
Everyone had their own bottlenecks. Some could break through, while others never grasped the key and remained stuck.
It was like someone attending a top-tier 211 university versus someone at an ordinary first-tier university. The former might fail the postgraduate entrance exam, while the latter might succeed.
"Hahaha! Brother Chen, why talk of payment? It's just setting up a formation, a mere trifle! Do you have the formation blueprint? Let me take a look, and I'll set it up immediately!"
You handed him the Ten Thousand Souls Empowerment Array blueprint provided by the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. It contained detailed setup methods and all the resources required.
Of course, you had prepared all these resources.
This formation looked extremely complex. To an outsider like you, the blueprint was no different from heavenly script.
Mo Ye took one look, then looked up and said.
"Brother Chen, perhaps we should discuss the payment matter after all..."
It seemed it wasn't such a trifle.
You carefully selected a remote, empty piece of land devoid of Monster Aura and human traces to set up the formation and attempt the breakthrough.
Several days later.
After multiple attempts and failures, Mo Ye, covered in dust and grime like an auto mechanic, jumped out of the formation pattern trench you had helped him dig.
"Done, done! It's running! Startup successful! All pathways lit, Spirit Crystal consumption normal, no explosions, no extinguishing, functional test normal!"
You felt he somewhat resembled your previous life's old profession: a programmer.
You also wondered if the formation he set up had any bugs.
After all, Mo Ye was a loose cultivator, self-taught.
But he had quite a talent. Without guidance from a professional Formation Master, relying only on a formation textbook he obtained by chance and practicing on various clients, he had actually achieved some small skill in the path of formations.
The key point was: he was cheap.
After the formation was successfully set up, you gave him the payment.
Mo Ye tactfully took the initiative to leave, showing no interest in prying into your secrets.
Those who often wandered the martial world knew: lacking a sense of boundaries could easily get you killed.
"Begin the breakthrough! Ten Thousand Souls Banner! It's your time to perform!"
Now possessing a High-Grade Spirit Artifact body, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner looked mighty and imposing.
With a flap of its banner, it blotted out the sun, like thick fog from hell directly enveloping half the mountain peak.
"Awooo—"
The demon souls you had collected over the years, no longer "dissolved," were all preserved until now, accumulating to over three hundred.
The Ten Thousand Souls Banner released them all in one go.
When they tried to escape, they were blocked and thrown back by the Ten Thousand Souls Empowerment Array.
Numerous Spirit Crystals burned within the formation. Every second of this formation's operation relied on these crystals for power.
"Chen Yi! Are you ready? This might hurt a bit?"
Your gaze was resolute, your Dao heart like iron!
"Come on! If I'm not afraid of death, why would I fear this?!"
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