Chapter 372: Chapter 140: The Cloud Dragon’s Night Journey, The Soul Banner Devours the Fiend, The True Purpose of Yue Mankong’s Mission

SCHLICK!

The Sword Gang sliced through the woman without any resistance, cleaving her in two.

But in the next moment, the scattered black mist instantly reconverged. The woman’s figure rematerialized, completely unharmed. In fact, she laughed with even more wild abandon.

’A Deceitful Object?!’

Chu Fan’s hair stood on end, and goosebumps erupted all over his skin.

The unknown, combined with its immortality, gave rise to a sliver of fear in his heart.

And the source of fear is often... insufficient firepower!

His thoughts raced, and he immediately tried to connect with the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

That Magical Treasure was the bane of all Soul Bodies, the perfect weapon against this kind of evil creature!

’Huh?’

Chu Fan’s expression changed drastically!

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner wasn’t responding! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Not only could he not sense it, but the connection between them had also become faint and intermittent.

It wasn’t just the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; the Five Elements Cauldron... he couldn’t sense it either!

’How could this be?!’

As the Deceitful Object lunged at him again, Chu Fan could only rely on his Body Technique to dodge while swinging his saber, unleashing one strike after another from the Nine Blood Soul Blades.

The Sword Gang crisscrossed the air, scattering the black mist time and again, but the woman always reformed in an instant, clinging to him like a persistent plague.

Her decadent voice and coquettish laughter continued to erode his mind.

After his prolonged, fruitless attacks, Chu Fan’s mind surprisingly began to calm.

He stopped his futile hacking. Instead, he leaped backward and sat down cross-legged, his Long Saber laid across his lap.

The Deceitful Object floating in the air seemed to freeze for a moment, then let out a string of triumphant, charming laughter.

Amidst the roiling black mist, she instantly drifted behind Chu Fan. She wrapped her cold arms around his waist again, her seductive voice whispering right next to his ear, "Now this is more like it, darling. You should have done this from the start... Come with me and..."

Chu Fan ignored the soft words in his ear. Instead, he grinned, letting out a low, sarcastic laugh.

"Heh..."

The sound of his laugh made the Deceitful Object pressed against him stiffen, and even her alluring voice faltered.

"Your tricks are nothing special."

Chu Fan spoke coldly, his voice flat and without a single ripple. "Weaving a dreamscape to trap a person’s Divine Soul. That’s all this is."

"What nonsense are you talking about, darling?"

The Deceitful Object feigned composure, its voice growing even more seductive. The soul-stealing sound was like a demonic chant boring into his ears, trying to disrupt Chu Fan’s mind once more.

But Chu Fan had already seen the truth. His mind was as steady as a boulder, completely unmoved.

’That’s right, this is a dreamscape!’

’That’s why he couldn’t sense any of his Refined Magical Treasures, like the Ten Thousand Souls Banner or the Five Elements Cauldron.’

’That’s why his Vajra Undying Body could be so easily wounded.’

’And that’s why the Spirit Array Map, which should have only lasted for fifteen breaths, was still running steadily without any sign of collapse, even though far more than fifteen breaths had passed since the creature had grabbed him!’

All the anomalies now had a logical explanation.

’If that’s the case...’

Chu Fan no longer hesitated. His lips moved slightly, and a cryptic, ancient Mantra filled with a ghastly, demonic aura slowly recited from his mouth...

It was the very Spell from the Netherworld Soul Refining Technique used to connect with and activate the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

Although he hadn’t formally cultivated it, the Spell had been carved into the depths of his soul during the Refinement of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

"AHHH—!"

The moment he began the Mantra, the Deceitful Object behind him let out a piercing shriek, as if burned by an invisible force. It abruptly released Chu Fan and retreated hastily, instantly vanishing into the thick darkness!

"Damn you! Stop! Stop it!"

Her panicked and fearful screams echoed through the void.

Chu Fan turned a deaf ear, focused his mind, and recited the Spell from the Netherworld Soul Refining Technique over and over.

To the Netherworld Soul Refining Technique, a Deceitful Object like this was prime "material"!

You could have walked the open road to heaven.

But you chose to barge through the closed gates of hell!

The empty Ten Thousand Souls Banner was starving!

As he continued the Spell, the surrounding black mist, so thick it was almost solid, began to roil violently as if it had met its bane, receding like a tide.

The distorted, blurry scene gradually sharpened, and the true outline of the canyon became faintly visible.

’The time is right!’

A sharp glint flashed in Chu Fan’s eyes. He formed a sword-finger with his right hand, slapped it against his Chest Acupoint, and let out a thunderous shout, "Wake up!"

CRACK!

It was as if a pane of invisible glass had been shattered. Chu Fan’s body shook violently, the illusion before him receded like a tidal wave, and his eyes snapped open!

The real, cold night of the mountain forest re-entered his vision.

At almost the exact moment he awoke, a sharp, agonized shriek rang out from not far ahead of him!

Without a second thought, Chu Fan threw up his left hand—

SWOOSH!

A streak of black light shot from his palm, growing in the wind until it transformed into a ten-foot-tall black Soul Banner, which hovered in mid-air.

The surface of the banner billowed and snapped as if in a strong wind, though there was none!

It was the Ten Thousand Souls Banner!

WHIIINE—!

The shriek instantly turned into a terrified wail.

The Deceitful Object from the dream revealed its true form—there was not a trace of the nation-toppling beauty from before. It was clearly a deathly-pale skeleton!

Scarlet Ghost Fire danced in the skeleton’s eye sockets, black mist coiled around its body, and the phantoms of several smaller skulls struggled and wailed around it!

The skeletal Deceitful Object struggled desperately to escape, but the center of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had already transformed into a massive black vortex, emitting an irresistible suction force!

The residual black mist and even the phantom skulls were all violently dragged into the vortex like rivers flowing to the sea!

The skeletal Deceitful Object waved its bony claws in vain, letting out desperate, piercing shrieks, but it was completely powerless against the Ten Thousand Souls Banner’s innate suppression of Soul Bodies!

Even though Chu Fan hadn’t used any Primordial Qi to power the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, how could a mere Deceitful Object that only knew how to weave dreams possibly contend with it?

When Chu Fan had first obtained the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, he had sensed its indescribable "hunger" after its Refinement...

Now, facing this skeletal Deceitful Object, the Ten Thousand Souls Banner was like a wolf that had been starved for three days!

In just a few breaths, the skeletal Deceitful Object, along with the Resentful Soul skulls it controlled, was completely sucked into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. The shrieking came to an abrupt halt.

Chu Fan beckoned with his hand. The Ten Thousand Souls Banner rapidly shrank, transforming into a stream of light that shot into his left palm.

He focused his mind inward and could clearly "see" that inside the previously empty space of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, there was now a skeletal Soul Body bound by chains of black energy, along with a few smaller skulls.