What on Earth? You Say You Are Called the Ten Thousand Soul Banner?

Inside the room, the candle fire swayed.

Jun Ao sat cross-legged on the couch, closing his eyes to concentrate, as the “Jinghong Formula” slowly circulated inside his body.

Bursts of warm air currents traveled along his channels and meridians…

That was the true qi fed back by the black banner after killing more than a dozen ghost warriors today.

It was far more dense than last night’s, rushing inside his channels and meridians that had been dried up for twenty years like a small stream.

He really wanted to continue.

He really wanted to break through the barrier of the Third Realm of martial arts in one go, stepping into the Fourth Realm.

That kind of feeling of power growing inside the body was like an addiction.

Right as he urged his true qi, preparing to impact the critical passes of his channels and meridians—

“Kid, I advise you not to do that.”

A voice rang out without any warning.

It was very old, very hoarse, like a stone buried inside the soil for thousands of years suddenly opening its mouth to speak.

Jun Ao’s entire body froze, and his true qi almost flowed in reverse.

He fiercely opened his eyes: “Who?!”

“Me.”

The voice… came from inside his sea of qi.

Jun Ao was taken aback.

His consciousness sank into his sea of qi.

That black banner still hung there, but the banner surface floated lightly, as if it were… breathing?

“You… can speak?” Jun Ao asked tentatively.

“What a joke.” That voice carried a thick ridicule, “This venerable one is a supreme immortal weapon, how could I not speak?”

“Immortal weapon?” Jun Ao was even more bewildered, “Weren’t you brought over by me from Earth? How…”

“Earth also used to have cultivators in the past.” The black banner interrupted him, its tone somewhat impatient, “Later on, the spiritual qi became completely depleted, and the cultivators all died out, leaving only some mortals. This venerable one was forgotten by people in a corner, left untouched for thousands of years, who knew that you, kid, would have such itchy hands and just had to touch me.”

Jun Ao’s Adam’s apple moved a little: “So what exactly… are you?”

“This venerable one’s name and title—the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.”

A buzz went off inside Jun Ao’s brain.

The Ten Thousand Soul Banner.

These three words were all too familiar to him in his past life.

The supreme evil and malicious magical weapon in legends, requiring the blood sacrifice of thousands upon thousands of living souls to be refined, and with every person killed, one could extract their soul to refine into the banner, turning it into one’s own use.

“You… you are an evil object?” Jun Ao’s voice tightened.

“Bullsh*t!” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner acted like its tail had been stepped on, “This venerable one is an immortal weapon! A genuine immortal weapon! It’s just that… a little mishap occurred during the refining back then, and I require blood and qi to nourish me, that’s all.”

It paused for a moment, its tone suddenly becoming somewhat… aggrieved?

“You, kid, are really something, not even killing a single chicken for twenty years. This venerable one’s front chest has been sticking to my back from hunger, and if things continue like this, I am afraid I will degenerate back into ordinary iron!”

Jun Ao: “…”

“Fortunately, during these past two days, you finally opened your mind, and what you killed were even high-stage bastards of martial arts.” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner’s tone turned gentler, “Therefore, the gift given to you by this venerable one can also count as generous.”

Jun Ao suddenly thought of something: “Wait… you say a gift? Then that true qi fed back to me…”

“It was transformed from the full body blood and qi of those people you killed.” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner said it as a matter of course, “This venerable one draws away ninety percent, leaving one percent for you.”

Jun Ao’s face turned completely green.

“You draw away ninety percent! You are really too…”

“Too what?” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner snorted, “Without this venerable one, you wouldn’t even have that single sliver. Also, from now on, this venerable one’s take will increase to 99.999999999999%.”

Hearing that continuous string of nines.

Jun Ao ground his teeth with hatred: “Can you… leave a bit more for me?”

“No.” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner refused flatly and swiftly, “This is the rule. However…”

Its words took a turn: “When your strength becomes great and the level of the people you kill becomes high, even that single sliver will be enough for you to enjoy.”

Jun Ao fell silent.

He suddenly felt as if he had picked up a… dishonest merchant?

“Alright, stop talking nonsense.” The Ten Thousand Soul Banner urged, “Hurry up and press down your true qi firmly. Breaking through realms too fast makes the foundation unstable, and you will have your fill of bitter days in the future.”

Jun Ao took a deep breath, closing his eyes once again as he circulated his cultivation method, slowly pressing the churning true qi inside his body back into his dantian.

This time, he could clearly feel it.

Although the true qi was thin, it was pure, condensed, and solid, as if it had been repeatedly hammered.

It was indeed far more solid than those realms piled up relying on medicinal pills.

Right as he was pressing it down at the critical point—

“Knock! Knock! Knock!”

The hurried sound of knocking on the door rang out.

“Heir!” It was A’San’s voice, revealing tension, “The princess has arrived!”

Jun Ao’s eyebrows knitted together, stopping his work and opening his eyes: “The princess? Princess Huai’an?”

“Exactly!”

“This fast?” Jun Ao stood up, pushing open the room door, “The Southern Border is currently fighting a war, how does she dare to come to Jiangnan?”

A’San lowered his voice: “Heir, by the princess’s side… she also brought a person.”

“What kind of person?”

“Not clear.” A’San’s face was grave, “But when this subordinate saw him, that kind of feeling… was exactly the same as the prince and the young mistress.”

Jun Ao’s heart gave a shiver.

A Celestial?

Princess Huai’an actually brought a Celestial here?

What did she want to do?

Snatch the position of the primary wife?

Or…

He gazed toward the direction of the mansion gate, his look sinking down.

“Let’s go,” Jun Ao tidied his robes a little, “go and have a look.”

The morning wind blew through the courtyard, carrying the chill of late autumn.

In the distance, outside the mansion gate, a slender and graceful figure could be vaguely seen, as well as the man beside her who stood like a deep abyss and a towering mountain.

The voice of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner rang out faintly inside his sea of qi:

“Kid, the visitor has no good intentions.”

“My cultivation, can he see through it?”

“Rest assured, with this venerable one around, no one can see through your cultivation!”

Only then did Jun Ao put down his mind.

Taking his steps, he walked toward the mansion gate.

He walked closer.

Jun Ao’s gaze first fell upon that man.

The man wore a set of gray clothes, cloth shoes, and an unnoticeable wooden sword hung at his waist.

He stood there, yet he was like a patch of deep pool, so peaceful that it made one’s heart palpitate.

His countenance was clean and handsome, and a few degrees of detachment were carried between his eyebrows and eyes, being precisely the number two sword in the world… Li Hanyi.

While the woman standing beside him…

When Jun Ao’s gaze fell upon her, his breathing caught slightly.

That was Princess Huai’an.

She wore a set of crimson palace attire, with gold thread embroidering a phoenix that looked ready to spread its wings and fly.

Her ink-black hair was like clouds, loosely gathered up using a pure gold hair ornament, with a few strands of stray hair hanging beside her cheeks, contrasting her skin to look like snow.

Her eyebrows were like distant mountains containing a dark tint, her eyes like autumn water with horizontal ripples, and her lips like a dot of vermillion, beautiful to a shocking degree.

But what left the deepest impression was not her appearance, it was that aura…

She was not gentle, refined, and dignified like ordinary princesses, but instead carried a few degrees of laziness, a few degrees of craftiness, and an unspeakable agility within the shifting ripples of her eyes.

Like a beautiful cat, seemingly docile, yet its claws were hidden inside its paw pads.

At this moment, she was also sizing up Jun Ao.

Before coming, those loose-tongued palace maids and old nannies inside the palace all said that the Zhennan Prince’s heir, Jun Ao, was a trash who could not cultivate.

She was originally extremely resistant toward this marriage arrangement, feeling that it was her imperial father pushing her into a fire pit.

But now seeing him with her own eyes…

A trace of surprise flashed through the depths of Huai’an’s eyes.

Jun Ao wore a set of plain white brocade robes, his posture erect like a pine tree.

This face of his was indeed born exceptionally well…

His eyebrows and eyes were clear, his nose bridge high and straight, carrying a few degrees of thin coldness when his thin lips were slightly pursed.

What was most special were that pair of eyes, like black jade soaked inside a cold pool, deep and bottomless.

This face… indeed looked extremely like the Jinghong Fairy.

Huai’an suddenly felt that this marriage arrangement also seemed not completely unacceptable.

At least, looking at it was pleasing to the eye.

Moreover, an heir with no cultivation… wouldn’t he be even easier to manage?

Thinking up to this point, the corners of her lips curved up slightly, revealing a smile that was not quite a smile.

“You are Jun Ao?” She spoke, her voice crisp, carrying a few degrees of carelessness.

Jun Ao cupped his hands, his etiquette complete: “Jun Ao greets the princess.”

Then he turned toward Li Hanyi, his expression respectful: “This gentleman is…”

“My teacher, Li Hanyi.” Huai’an introduced.

Li Hanyi, that number two sword in the world who lost to Mother?

Jun Ao’s heart shook, yet his face showed no sign of it as he saluted once again: “So it is Mr. Li. I have long heard your grand name, and seeing you today, it indeed lives up to its reputation.”

Li Hanyi nodded faintly, his gaze lingering upon Jun Ao for an instant, immediately shifting away after: “The heir praises me too highly.”

That glance was very brief, yet Jun Ao felt as if he had been swept by the tip of a sword, the small of his back turning slightly cool.

Huai’an raised her eyebrows: “What is it? The heir doesn’t plan to invite us inside?”

Jun Ao slapped his forehead, revealing a well-timed realization: “Look at this memory of mine. Princess, Mr. Li, please come inside.”

He stepped aside to make way, while at the same time speaking a low command to A’San behind him: “Go and find A’Qing and A’Shui, tell them to hurry over.”

A’San was taken aback, lowering his voice: “Heir, didn’t you say they cannot show their faces?”

“What do you know?” Jun Ao cast a glance at him, “How was I to know the princess would bring Li Hanyi along.”