Everything suddenly made sense.

Jiang Zhi immediately understood why there were cultivator banner spirits in the opponent’s black banner!

If this person truly came from Kunlun Cave Heaven, then what’s so strange about having the divine souls of cultivators in the black banner?

However, this was completely beyond Jiang Zhi’s understanding.

Why are there cultivators in the Profound Yellow Realm?

People from Kunlun Cave Heaven simply cannot pass through the entrance of this realm’s Origin Spirit Realm to reach the Profound Yellow Realm!

More importantly, the cultivation displayed by the other party was at the Nascent Soul Stage!

A cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Stage!

The man wearing a bronze mask stared at Jiang Zhi, his eyes filled with a hint of amusement.

“A cultivator?”

“Both yes and no.” He responded.

Then, with a mocking gaze, he looked at Jiang Zhi and said, “Didn’t you just find this True Monarch annoying and unwilling to chat?”

Perhaps knowing that the Daoist Junior Martial Uncle must be full of doubts right now, he chose not to speak further but instead waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner once more.

This time, the number of banner spirits that appeared was much smaller, only thirteen.

The terrifying thing was, each banner spirit either had the cultivation of the Eighth Realm or was the divine soul of a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator!

At this moment, the grand array beneath the feet of the Black Moon Sect Leader began to activate.

A gigantic black moon mark appeared on the ground, crescent-shaped.

Endless deathly energy began to spread, and gusts of yin wind started howling.

These thirteen banner spirits became increasingly solid, so much so that their facial features became faintly discernible!

What surprised Jiang Zhi even more was that the expressions of these banner spirits were no longer dull.

“They even have consciousness!”

“Similar to a primordial spirit!”

The aura of these banner spirits began to continuously rise, their power surging within the grand array!

Each banner spirit began to display its most skilled divine technique.

Seeing this, Jiang Zhi remained unafraid.

Just as the Black Moon Sect Leader previously said, he forced himself to drop a realm to nurture that one sword.

His own strength was actually weaker than his former peak state.

However, below the Ninth Realm, he was invincible!

No matter how many Eighth Realm opponents lay ahead, it made no difference.

Because within him was a sliver of the Power of Origin.

That was a qualitative difference!

A sword aura appeared once more at Jiang Zhi’s fingertips.

He looked at his opponent and said indifferently, “I don’t know why you’ve sought me out.”

“But based on your current strength, I’d wager you’ll meet your end here.”

The amusement in the Black Moon Sect Leader’s eyes intensified.

“Oh? Really?”

“This True Monarch is starting to feel a bit scared.”

“Jiang Zhi, your greatest reliance at the moment must be the Power of Origin, right?”

“I’d urge you to summon your lifebound sword quickly, otherwise, with your Eighth Realm cultivation, you might not even be able to harm this True Monarch.”

It was apparent that this man, like Ye Kongxuan, regarded himself as a Nascent Soul True Monarch, hence referring to himself as ‘this True Monarch.’

“Then let us try!” Jiang Zhi shouted, and the sword aura at his fingertips became even more formidable.

The Power of Origin within him rapidly infused into this sword.

In his own eyes, the black lines extending from behind him onto the sword aura were all severed at that moment.

The tens of thousands of fierce ghosts and vengeful spirits in the Human Purgatory behind him retreated in fear, not daring to pull him into the Endless Abyss, nor dare to entangle that sword.

The Power of Origin inherently aligned with the Heavenly Dao; it was the Chaos Power from the birth of the Profound Yellow Realm. How could they dare come into contact with it?

This made this Human Killing God seem as if shackles were released!

The endless killing intent on this sword began to grow even stronger.

Jiang Zhi’s otherwise unremarkable face started to emit a chilling aura that gradually spread, his eyes revealing endless indifference, regarding human lives as insignificant.

The thirteen banner spirits began to form an array to block this sword.

The Black Moon Sect Leader’s Black Banner flew into the air, and with incantations in his mouth, his hands continuously formed seals, causing streams of black energy to pour into the thirteen banner spirits, infusing them with power.

However, before activating the array, he took one last glance at Jiang Zhi, his eyes still showing a hint of amusement.

Soon, he infused the last half-thread of power into the grand array.

“Boom——!”

The sword aura collided with the banner spirit array, Jiang Zhi stepped back three feet, while the Black Moon Sect Leader was forced back ten feet.

However, the thirteen banner spirits were not destroyed.

The man in the bronze mask was merely forced back, still unharmed.

The root of the issue lay in that last half-thread of power.

“Power of Origin!” Jiang Zhi’s brows knitted tightly, involuntarily speaking out, causing his heart to slightly sink.

“You actually have a half-thread of the Power of Origin on you!”

This was something he couldn’t comprehend.

Logically, if the other party was truly a cultivator, then the Heavenly Dao’s origin in the Profound Yellow Realm should reject him, and his power should be suppressed.

But instead, the other party maintained normal strength equivalent to the Great Perfection of the Nascent Soul Stage, comparable to the Peak of the Eighth Realm in the Profound Yellow Realm!

More bizarrely, he could refine a half-thread of the Power of Origin!

Perhaps it was because of this that he wasn’t suppressed by the Heavenly Dao.

Truly strange, logically, I should have been able to sense his possession of the Power of Origin and possibly even locate it.

“Couple this with the banner spirits inside his Black Banner….”

Adding everything together, the strength gap between the two wasn’t too large. Jiang Zhi, who had fallen from his realm and couldn’t summon his lifebound sword, could only gain a slight advantage.

To kill him would take time.

“Did you reveal yourself to temporarily trap me?” His eyebrows slightly raised, he spoke coldly.

“Precisely! A good guess.” The Black Moon Sect Leader started laughing again.

“But what does guessing it do for you?”

“For a while, you can’t kill this True Monarch, can you?”

The killing intent in Jiang Zhi’s eyes began to spread infinitely.

…

…

Three swift horses raced through the dense forest, their hooves shattering the silence.

Chu Huaixu and others arrived at a place called Guanghan Cliff.

Underneath was a Yin Vein, the heavy chill making the temperature lower even in summer. Moreover, the cliff top was ideal for moon watching, thus the name.

“According to the information from the Disciple Courtyard, those evil cultivators have been appearing around here.”

“They seem to be searching for the source of the Yin Vein.”

Chu Huaixu spread his divine sense, silently like mercury, trying to find traces of the evil cultivators.

Both he and Han Shuangjiang had their divine senses strengthened in the Daoist Ancestor Secret Realm. A typical Fourth Realm cultivator, unless exceptionally proficient in Breath Concealment Technique, couldn’t escape their detection.

Moreover, this group of evil cultivators wasn’t small, and among them were weaklings at the Third Realm, making them easier to find.

“To the west!” The Dao couple spoke in unison.

Xu Ziqing, whose divine sense was unenhanced, stood blankly aside, having sensed nothing.

But it didn’t matter; just following along was enough.

Beside a Cold Pool, many evil cultivators seemed to be searching for something.

Suddenly, an evil cultivator at the Fourth Realm shouted, “Be careful!”

The next moment, a total of twenty-one sword auras came whistling from the sky!

Each sword aura moved at a frightening speed.

The dozen or so evil cultivators at the Third Realm couldn’t react in time.

“Pfft—!”

The sword auras instantly left blood holes in their chests.

These evil cultivators, eyes filled with endless confusion and astonishment, fell backward in unison.

The remaining sword auras then flew toward the few Fourth Realm evil cultivators left.

Their higher cultivation allowed them to immediately use their lifebound objects to block the sword auras, then looked warily in the direction the sword auras had come from.

“Damn! This must be a strong Fourth Realm, at least the late stage!”

“I just sensed the sword intent contained within the sword auras!” The evil cultivators treated it as a grave threat.

Yet the newcomers did not conceal their aura.

After sensing with their spiritual sense, the evil cultivators were collectively stunned.

How can it be!

How could it be two at the early stage of the Third Realm and one at the late stage?

What was even more inconceivable to them was that these twenty-one sword auras were completely identical, all fired by a single hand in a moment’s time.

This meant that one of the three had killed a total of 13 Third Realm cultivators in an instant!

Chu Huaixu, holding his sword scabbard, heard the pleasant system notification in his ear.

“[Ding! You have gained 619,121 Experience Points.]”

…

(ps: First update, requesting monthly votes.)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep