For the past month, Hun Changqing's Taiyin True Qi needed nurturing, preventing him from cultivating or forging the Yin Soul Banner. So, he indulged himself, almost constantly tinkering with Xing su.
Adhering to the principle of pursuing thrills to the extreme, Hun Changqing recalled techniques from a film from a certain country in his past life, then used Taiyin Black Death Wood to create various artifacts, directly recreating the classics.
Even without lightning attribute, Hun Changqing still studied lightning-attribute fighting techniques. He converted energy to generate electricity in his hands. In the Dou Qi Continent, it was possible to cultivate fighting techniques incompatible with one's own attribute, although the power unleashed was pitiful.
The electricity condensed by Hun Changqing, at the Dou Zun realm, didn't even reach the attack power of a Dou Huang. However, Hun Changqing didn't care. He wasn't creating this lightning to fight others, but to amuse himself and satisfy some wicked thoughts in his heart.
Although Xing Su was a Dou Zun (Battle Venerable) with a strong physical body, normally the weak lightning created by Hun Changqing shouldn't have affected her in the slightest.
However, Xing Su's bloodline was destroyed, her Dou Qi was sealed, and her body was weakened by Hun Changqing's actions. Therefore, under Hun Changqing's guidance, the lightning still achieved the effect he expected.
Xing Su was initially stunned when she saw the strange things Hun Changqing had created; these were things she had never heard of or seen before. But upon seeing them, a bad premonition arose in her heart. In her mind, what good could the things created by the utterly wicked Hun Changqing be?
Then, as if wanting to share his masterpiece, Hun Changqing passionately explained the general uses of these things to Xing Su.
Hun Changqing's words made Xing Su's pretty face turn deathly pale, devoid of any color; she was completely terrified.
Xing Su simply couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if these things were used on her. She felt that these things would be countless times more cruel to her than the tortures and instruments of the Soul Palace.
She would rather endure the extreme punishments of the Soul Palace than suffer this private torture inflicted upon her by Hun Changqing, which was utterly humiliating. This was completely unacceptable to the usually proud and aloof Xing Su!
Xing Su struggled violently again, but all of this was in vain. Soon, Xing Su was plunged into her nightmare. From that moment on, it was as if she were constantly in hell, every minute and every second was incredibly agonizing, each day feeling like a year.
Her body, mind, soul, and dignity were all mercilessly trampled underfoot by Hun Changqing, shattered into pieces. This drove the proud Xing Su to the brink of collapse, unable to face this cruel reality.
As Hun Changqing subjected her to increasingly brutal acts, Xing Su's hatred for him grew daily, the soaring resentment and murderous intent almost bursting forth from her body and solidifying into a tangible form.
However, as time passed, Xing Su, consumed by hatred and murderous intent, was horrified to discover that she was unconsciously responding to Hun Changqing's movements, her mouth uncontrollably uttering incredibly shameful sounds.
This discovery made Xing Su feel utterly alienated, as if her long-held beliefs had crumbled, driving her to the brink of madness. She frantically began to resist Hun Changqing, struggling incessantly, trying to stop her unconscious responses to his actions.
However, Xing Su soon discovered with despair that even the slightest movement from Hun Changqing was enough to make her feverish, limp, and powerless, as if Hun Changqing knew her body better than she knew herself.
Later, even without Hun Changqing doing anything, Xingxiu felt her body heat up and soften upon seeing him, a faint yearning emanating from within.
She couldn't help but want to feel the familiar aura emanating from Hun Changqing and touch his cold body. This feeling tormented Xingxiu's intense hatred for Hun Changqing, leaving her utterly confused.
Whenever Hun Changqing left the room to rest and cultivate his Yin energy, Xingxiu would stand blankly before the window, caught in a mental battle. Her heart felt as if it were being roasted by an insane flame, unbearably tormented. Her heart seemed to be split in
two: one part filled with boundless hatred, murderous intent, and raging rage, overflowing with countless negative emotions, hating Hun Changqing to the core, wishing she could devour his flesh and bones, obliterating him completely.
However, another part of her being was consumed by desire, swirling with wicked thoughts. She longed to be close to Hun Changqing, to touch him, to merge her body into his embrace, to feel his breath, to feel his cold body, wanting to fill the void in her body and heart that she had never experienced in the past hundred years.
These two completely different, extreme thoughts constantly intertwined and collided within her heart, causing immense turmoil and making Xingxiu's mind feel like a jumbled mess. This awkward feeling was driving her almost insane.
Just as Xingxiu was lost in confusion and turmoil due to her inner turmoil, another ten days passed in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, in a secret room beneath the villa, wisps of terrifying yin energy rose and swirled in this room constructed of black dead wood. Waves of howling sounds, like the mournful cries of vengeful ghosts, emanated from the rising yin energy. The bone-chilling yin wind, combined with the surrounding dark and eerie environment, made this secret room resemble a ghostly realm.
This secret chamber was constructed by Hun Changqing to cultivate his Yin True Qi. Although there was only Xing su, and he could easily find any room to cultivate, creating a special secret chamber seemed unnecessary.
However, Hun Changqing had become accustomed to having a secret chamber in every place he lived. Perhaps it was due to his psychological effect, but Hun Changqing always felt that being in the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the secret chamber made him much more efficient in cultivation, learning combat techniques, or refining treasures. This atmosphere made him feel very comfortable.
At this moment, Hun Changqing was covered in a black robe, his face hidden in the shadow of the hood. The black robe was moving without wind, and the black brim of the hood was also swaying slightly. If one looked closely, one could see that the movement of Hun Changqing's robe had a certain rhythm, which complemented the flowing Yin Qi in the air of the secret chamber.
Hun Changqing sat cross-legged with his eyes closed in the eerie, howling wind of the secret chamber. A chilling aura, unsettling to the core, emanated from his body, steadily rising as if brewing something.
"Bang!"
A muffled sonic boom echoed through the chamber. The howling wind, formed by the Yin energy, abruptly stopped, and the entire chamber fell silent, instantly intensifying the eerie atmosphere.
After a brief silence, the lingering yin winds suddenly began to rage violently, howling and raging. Streams of condensed Taiyin True Qi, almost materializing from energy, erupted from Hun Changqing's dark figure, sweeping wildly in all directions.
The entire secret chamber trembled violently, the dark wooden walls shaking uncontrollably. Had the chamber not been constructed from Hun Changqing's Taiyin Black Death Wood, their origins aligned, the wooden walls would have already been eroded and melted into a pool of yin water by the impact of the extremely yin and frigid Taiyin True Qi. As
time passed, the yin winds within the chamber gradually ceased their howling, transforming into wisps of Taiyin True Qi, like silver serpents, that flowed into Hun Changqing's body.
The vast Taiyin True Qi transformed into countless silver serpents, forming a silver vortex centered on Hun Changqing. Terrifying energy ripples emanated from Hun Changqing's body, causing the air and space within the secret chamber to fluctuate and distort.
Once all the Taiyin True Qi had flowed into Hun Changqing's body, the violently trembling chamber calmed down, the space ceased its distortion, and Hun Changqing's billowing black robe stopped fluttering and slowly settled against his body. The entire secret chamber fell into a deathly silence.
"Hoo..."
With a breath, a chilling aura was exhaled from beneath Hun Changqing's hood. Then, Hun Changqing slowly opened his tightly closed eyes, a brilliant silver light swirling in his deep black pupils, within which a chilling energy aura faintly emanated.
Hun Changqing stretched out his hand and clenched his fist tightly. Extremely cold Yin energy instantly erupted from his fist, producing a piercing sonic boom.
Looking at the swirling Yin energy in his hand and feeling the comfortable sensation of his body once again being filled with energy, Hun Changqing's eyebrows curved slightly, revealing a satisfied smile. After more than a month, the weakness he had experienced from using the phenomenon had finally subsided.
Hun Changqing, however, was also filled with lingering fear. He only knew that using that terrifying phenomenon would weaken him for a period of time, but he hadn't expected it to last so long. Although using the phenomenon had greatly increased his strength, easily suppressing Xingxiu, the price he paid was far too high.
Indeed, the growth of strength wasn't instantaneous. Hun Changqing secretly resolved never to be so reckless again, unless he reached the level of a Half-Saint or even a Battle Saint, where he could fully control this terrifying phenomenon.
Otherwise, this method could only be used in a life-or-death situation. Traveling through this bizarre and unpredictable Dou Qi Continent while weakened for over a month was far too dangerous.
After analyzing the pros and cons of the strange phenomenon, Hun Changqing stopped thinking about it. He lightly raised his finger, and then the storage ring on his finger flashed, revealing an ancient container, a hideous, pale white snake skeleton, and a terrifyingly large snake skin before him.
These were the materials Hun Changqing would use to refine the Yin Soul Banner. For the past month, he had indulged himself to the extreme, practically going wild.
But that was only because he genuinely had nothing else to do, hence his enthusiasm. Now that his condition had fully recovered, Hun Changqing's initial novelty towards the Star Constellation had largely faded after more than a month of in-depth understanding.
He naturally wouldn't indulge in women any longer. As soon as he recovered, he'd be off to The Saints cave. For Hun Changqing at this moment, the forging of the Yin Soul Banner and the matter of the Dry Wood Saint's cave were of paramount importance.
Looking at the materials before him, a ghostly light flickered in Hun Changqing's eyes. Then, black mist rose from his body, its menacing shape making him appear like a demon. The dense black mist then left Hun Changqing's body and drifted before him.
The black mist surged continuously before Hun Changqing, and as it moved, the temperature in the secret chamber plummeted to an extreme, as if even the air and space were being solidified by the terrifying Yin energy.
Strands of black gas, like serpents, continuously emerged from Hun Changqing's hands and then rapidly flowed into the black mist before him. Black energy continuously poured in, causing the black mass to solidify from its energy form, almost becoming tangible. This black mist continued to compress, and an intense aura of death seeped from the compressed mass, sending chills down
one's spine. When the black mass reached its maximum compression, it stopped absorbing the black energy surging from Hun Changqing's body. The black energy around the mass ceased to rise, and it stood still before Hun Changqing, as if time had frozen.
After a period of stillness, the black mass suddenly began to twist and change, giving a very abrupt feeling. Then, both ends of the black mass began to extend outwards. After reaching a length of five feet, it gradually solidified, with black energy continuously rising from its surface, and strange patterns slowly appearing on it.
As the black mist rising from the long, black object gradually dissipated, a long pole, indistinguishable in its wood or iron, appeared in the air. The pole was entirely black, with eerie, chilling patterns spiraling upwards from its end. A cold, piercing light emanated from these patterns, sending shivers down one's spine.
Hun Changqing looked at the pole before him, feeling its cold, sinister aura, and a hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
However, the solemnity on his face did not diminish; instead, he became even more focused. This pole was merely the pole of the Yin Soul Banner, condensed from a large amount of Taiyin essence combined with the essence of Taiyin Black Death Wood.
But the formation of the pole was only the beginning of the Yin Soul Banner's creation, and Hun Changqing dared not be negligent the moment the pole appeared.
His finger pointed at the hideous snake bones, and the bones, imbued with the essence of the Nine Netherworld Python, dissolved into countless wispy white dust particles. Under Hun Changqing's control, these dust particles merged into the massive snakeskin beside him.
As the dust entered, the snakeskin emitted a chilling, eerie light. The instant the snakeskin shimmered, Hun Changqing immediately guided it towards the banner pole. When the snakeskin, enveloped in Yin True Qi, touched the banner pole, an extremely powerful beam of black light erupted, and terrifying energy instantly swept outwards like a tidal wave.
Seeing this, Hun Changqing quickly completed several bizarre hand seals. As his fingers moved rapidly, strange black runes flashed continuously in his hands. These runes danced in Hun Changqing's hands, and the banner pole and snakeskin subsequently displayed the same runes.
These runes were condensed by Hun Changqing according to the records in the Taiyin True Explanation. Under Hun Changqing's control, these runes slowly merged into the banner pole and the black banner surface, which had become torn and appeared somewhat tattered. After
the runes merged into the banner surface and the banner pole, the two, which had initially slightly repelled each other, slowly fused together. An extremely dense black mist continuously rose from the fused banner surface and banner pole.
After the black mist churned in the air for an unknown period, it finally stopped, gradually thinning, and then slowly converged towards the center of the black mist. When the black mist completely dissipated, a five-foot-long black banner was revealed.
The long banner was bizarrely designed, its entire surface as deep and black as an abyss. Eerie soul waves rippled from its surface; if someone with weaker cultivation stared at it for even a moment, their soul would be unknowingly drawn out and absorbed into the banner—an incredibly domineering, ferocious, and utterly evil force.
Hun Changqing, seeing the fully formed Yin Soul Banner, finally showed joy. He then released his own Yin Essence, slowly enveloping the banner and drawing it before him. Before he could examine it closely, Hun Changqing's expression hardened, his face twitched slightly, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, shimmering with a brilliant silver light—his essence blood containing his Yin Essence.
Blood essence was evenly sprinkled onto the surface and pole of the Yin Soul Banner. Then, Hun Changqing completely immersed his mind in the banner, connecting it to himself. At this moment, a dense black mist surged from both Hun Changqing and the banner, churning and reflecting each other.
As the black mist continued to surge, a mark slowly emerged within Hun Changqing's essence. Hun Changqing's heart tightened; he knew he was about to succeed, but he dared not relax. He concentrated fully, releasing his soul power to its limit, completely enveloping the Yin Soul Banner.
As time passed, the black mist around them became so dense it seemed about to materialize. Suddenly, Hun Changqing opened his eyes. Instantly, a burst of black light erupted from his eyes, and then Hun Changqing gripped the banner's pole tightly.
The moment Hun Changqing grasped the Yin Soul Banner, it trembled instantly, as if resonating with him. The black banner fluttered and billowed without wind.
As soon as Hun Changqing held the banner, he felt a deep connection to it, a smile appearing on his face. Holding the banner horizontally before him, he examined the billowing, now radiating malevolent energy. His satisfaction was palpable. With
a flick of his wrist, Hun Changqing channeled his Yin True Qi, wielding the banner. Instantly, the entire secret chamber was enveloped in black mist, a howling wind raging, and streams of soul power surged from within, like sharp blades hidden in the night, brimming with killing intent.
"Hehehe..."
Seeing the power of the Yin Soul Banner, Hun Changqing was utterly satisfied, bursting into a wild, unrestrained laugh.
Hun Changqing's eerie laughter, coupled with the churning black mist and howling winds within the pitch-black chamber, was utterly chilling. Anyone who witnessed the scene would invariably believe that the black-clad Hun Changqing was a vengeful ghost from hell, come to claim souls.
But soon, Hun Changqing ceased his maniacal laughter, waved his hand, dispersing all the energy within the chamber, calming his excited heart, and regaining his composure. While the Yin Soul Banner possessed terrifying power, it was still only a work in progress. To fully realize the terrifying power described in the Taiyin True Explanation, it needed one final step: incorporating a soul.
Hun Changqing's expression turned solemn. Taking a deep breath, he retrieved the soul he had refined into the main soul from the container on the ground. A flash of silver light appeared in his eyes as he looked at the main soul in his hand. Then, with a flick of his finger, he sent the shimmering silver soul into the banner.
Looking at the soul now integrated into the banner, a strange smile curved Hun Changqing's lips.
"Dragon Venerable? I haven't broken my promise. You have the honor of becoming the first main soul of my Yin Soul Banner… Hehehe…"
A sinister and terrifying laugh echoed continuously in the pitch-black chamber. This shrill laughter was incredibly piercing, carrying waves of cold energy that caused the walls of the chamber, constructed of black dead wood, to creak and groan.
...
At this moment, Xingxiu, who was in the room, was unable to sense any aura because Hun Changqing had set up an array to isolate her aura in the secret room. Therefore, she did not notice the movement coming from the secret room under the villa.
Xing Su was in her room. Hun Changqing hadn't appeared for ten days, as if he had vanished completely, but Xing Su didn't intend to leave.
She knew that although where didn't know where he had gone, he certainly hadn't gone far, and he was keeping track of her aura. With her sealed battle qi, no matter where she ran, she would be caught. Given Hun Changqing's personality, he wouldn't let someone who knew about the so-called Ganmu Saint's cave escape his sight.
Moreover, with Xing Su's current sealed strength, it could be said that there was really no place on the entire Dou Qi Continent safer than Hun Changqing's villa.
So, during the days Hun Changqing was away, Xing Su found herself with nothing to do. For the first two days, she tried to break through the seal Hun Changqing had placed on her battle qi, but the weakness caused by the destruction of her bloodline made her unable to overcome the seal in the slightest.
Giving up on her futile struggles, Xing Su could only stare blankly in the room. And when she did, her mind would involuntarily wander, filled with images of Hun Changqing's face, his body, his movements, and his scent—everything that had happened between them on this wooden bed.
Scenes played out in her mind like a movie, and she tried desperately to banish them.
But she quickly realized with despair that no matter how hard she tried, she could no longer recall those unbearable images, and they became increasingly vivid. Xing Su, who had always been so confident in herself, was horrified to discover that she couldn't control herself, couldn't control her own heart.
Xing Su lay on her side on the dark wooden bed, her brows slightly furrowed, a hint of impatience on her face. An inexplicable, restless heart made her toss and turn in bed.
Her long, jade-like legs began to rub together unconsciously, hot breaths escaping from her slightly parted, smooth red lips, followed by heavy panting.
However, realizing her actions, Xing Su froze, her eyes widening in horror. She stared blankly at the spot where her pale fingers had been, her face filled with disbelief. She could hardly believe she had done this. Xing Su quickly
withdrew her hands, crossed her legs, and hastily formed a cultivation mudra with her slender fingers. Although she couldn't cultivate at this moment, she adopted the posture to enter a state of complete tranquility and self-forgetfulness, calming her restless heart.
But as soon as she closed her eyes, before she could fully immerse herself in the moment as usual, the image of Hun Changqing reappeared in her mind.
Hun Changqing's arrogant and wicked smile filled Xingxiu's mind, causing her heart to tremble. She felt an intense urge to embrace him, to feel his cool body temperature, to smell the aura of his Yin True Body, to be with him…
Xingxiu, who had just closed her eyes, opened them again. The images in her mind were unbearable. Her eyes were filled with complex emotions. She bit her lip and then said through gritted teeth,
"Damn you, Youhun… how dare you treat me like this! You deserve… to die"