Cultivation: But Not a Game-Chapter 299 - 209: Return to Blue Mountain Island, Ninth-Tier Wonders and the Nine-Ringed Immortal Banner
With just one glance, Su Yu recognized that this Nine Heavens Purple Thunder Hammer belonged to the Loose Immortal Qilike from the Horned Demon People.
Earlier, just by looking at its power, he felt this Thunder Hammer was extraordinary, and now it seemed even more remarkable than he imagined, with a grade as high as Tier Eight, and of rare quality, its power incredibly strong.
Fortunately, the big moves it came with all required charging and had never been given a chance before. If he happened to be struck by a Nine Heavens Thunder Kill by accident, even paralysis for a few seconds could very well lead to failure.
He quickly refined the Nine Heavens Purple Thunder Hammer, then replaced the True Fire Heart Lantern he had just used for a while with it.
He now had only five artifact slots, with the Sea-Suppressing Pearl being an Innate Spiritual Treasure, occupying one artifact slot unremovably, then the Cyan Cloud Cover occupying another, the Wind God’s Order occupying one more, leaving, aside from the Nine Heavens Purple Thunder Hammer, the last artifact slot equipped with the Wind and Fire Fan.
After all, as an eighth-tier treasure, its priority was above the True Fire Heart Lantern and the Wind-Fire Vajra Wheel.
After refining the artifact, Su Yu took out the Demon Immortal’s essence blood and examined it carefully.
"This thing can’t be consumed directly; a way needs to be found to erase the remaining Demon Immortal’s will inside it first."
His Star Power Immortal Bone from the Heavenly Majesty only targeted heart demon possession attacks below the Celestial Immortal level. Even if the Demon Immortal’s consciousness was weak, it was above Celestial Immortal.
"I’ll deal with it when I get back."
Anyway, there’s no rush for now, not missing this little boost.
In the following days, Su Yu stayed resting in Longwan City.
A week later, the military confirmed the authenticity of that realm and rewarded him with a great merit.
Getting the reward, Su Yu left Longwan City to cultivate abroad.
Although there were many bosses in the Ancient Battlefield, they were too spread out, and the environment was not ideal, making the overall efficiency too low, less convenient than abroad.
Randomly find a place near the sea to dive down, then release Ao Run into the seabed to drive the bosses, driving several at a time, and collecting hundreds of path points in one day.
For a whole month thereafter, he stayed abroad grinding hard, and when the Dragon Transformation Divine Techniques cooled down again, the accumulated path points had surpassed ten thousand.
He unhesitatingly allocated these path points to various Secret Skills, advancing the Jiezhi Concealment Skill and the Invisibility Skill to the fourth level in one breath, just a step away from the fifth level.
With both concealment methods and the Invisibility Technique at the fourth level, the stealth effect was significantly enhanced, and with the innate double bonus, the actual stealth effect wasn’t any worse than having both at the fifth level.
Returning from abroad to Longwan City, Su Yu was going to the Fire Domain again, but when he casually checked the changes over the last month in the Fire Domain, he stopped.
"It’s fought so fiercely!"
When he reported the information about the Fire Domain where the Demon Immortal was sealed to the military, the Horned Demon People became aware as well. The Horned Demon Celestial Derivation Immortal Sect also sent a lot of experts over, clashing just in time with the human military. They fought fiercely for the Fire Domain outside the towering Fire Pillar.
Both sides continually sent in experts, with several Earth Immortals appearing, and thousands of Loose Immortal level cultivators, with neither able to prevail over the other.
As both races stood off, the Fire Domain couldn’t be explored either, and the entrance to the Fire Domain was temporarily sealed by both races working together.
Su Yu specially went to take a look and found the broken void at the Fire Domain entrance was already sealed off; no one could enter, and the previous spectacle of a sky-reaching Fire Pillar thousands of miles high was no longer visible.
He spent some money to find professional intelligence sellers for information and learned that it wouldn’t be open for a while.
If this realm was within the Ancient Battlefield, both sides might negotiate a joint development.
But this newly discovered realm was on the human side, with geographical and support advantages for humans. The military certainly wouldn’t develop it jointly with the Horned Demon people; likely, they would fight a few major battles to drive them out and exclusively occupy this realm.
According to past handling patterns of such situations, it’s likely there will be several dueling sword competitions to determine victory and defeat, with the winner gaining ownership of the realm.
Official dueling sword speed is not fast, meaning this Fire Domain could be sealed for a few months at short, or one to two years at long.
This was quite frustrating, as Su Yu wanted to utilize the Dragon Transformation to gain more benefits once more.
While he was at a loss, the military suddenly issued a notice:
"The military and the Horned Demon Celestial Derivation Sect have reached an agreement; both sides will determine Fire Domain ownership through dueling sword competitions. We are recruiting 50 Dao Foundation cultivators and 50 Qi Refining cultivators."
"To control the scale of battle, competitors from both races on the ranking list are prohibited from participating, limited to levels under 150 and ages under 100. The duel rules are equivalent to arena combat."
"All human race cultivators are welcome to register, with 1000 merit points awarded for successful selection, 1000 merit points for defeating an opponent in the duel, additional small merits for winning three, five, seven matches consecutively, and extra large merits for winning ten, twenty matches and gaining the opportunity to explore the Fire Domain."
"Registration starts now and ends three months from now, please go to the military’s regional branches to register."
"Registration deadline three months from now."
"Time is quite ample!"
Su Yu pinched his chin, a thought forming in his mind.
He acted immediately, spending 1 small merit + 5000 merit points through the Grand Void Divine Network to exchange for a Great Transposition Divine Talisman anchored in Longwan City, then transformed into a stream of light shooting towards the southwest.
Three months was enough time for him to make a round trip to Blue Mountain Island and more.
Prior to obtaining the Primordial Magnetic Flowing Light Bone and mastering the Primordial Magnet Radiant Escape, he wouldn’t have considered this, but now his speed had drastically increased, making a round trip take just two months.
Just as he had departed from Blue Mountain Island to reach the Fallen Star Islands over half a year ago, that Demon Fire Golden Banner should be almost refined by now. Going back to check if it was ready.
If it was, having a Tier Nine Treasure in hand would significantly increase his chances in the dueling sword competition.
Traveling at top speed, one month and two days later, Su Yu reappeared in the seas near Blue Mountain Island.
He directly teleported back to the sect from Mingsu Palace and then went to see the ancestor.
Within Xuankong Mountain, the master and disciple sat facing each other, Su Yu calmly seated below, brewing tea while narrating his experiences from the past half-year.
Upon finishing, Master Xuanwei stroked his beard with a look of deep reflection:
"Who would have thought that the Celestial Derivation Immortal Sect, a prestigious sect of the Human Race, would ultimately be occupied by the other races? Truly a pity."
Su Yu sighed and said:
"The sect has already been taken by them, and it’s hard to reclaim the other half of the Celestial Book."
Master Xuanwei lightly waved his hand and said:
"No matter, it’s been several millennia; failing to find it isn’t your fault. It’s just a pity that the two parts of the Celestial Book can’t be united, leaving the sect’s Heart Skill lacking."
Su Yu said in a deep voice:
"I actually have an idea."
"Let’s hear it."
"I plan to collect some law fragments and use the Power of Law to draw upon the Power of Heavenly Dao to complete the Heart Skill, thereby elevating my cultivation of the Profound Court Manual to the supreme level."
Master Xuanwei nodded and said:
"That is indeed a method, but acquiring law fragments is no easy task."
At this, he suddenly paused, then laughed:
"Here in Blue Mountain, law fragments are indeed rare to come by, but as you mentioned earlier, there are indeed many ways to obtain law fragments over at the Fallen Star Islands. You should give it a try."
"By the way, your timing in returning is perfect, as your Demon Fire Golden Banner is now reforged. Hold on a moment."
The master closed his eyes, and soon Su Yu suddenly sensed something and looked outside. He saw a meteor flying from the sky directly into the hall, landing in Master Xuanwei’s hand.
The fiery glare receded, revealing a golden banner.
Master Xuanwei tossed the banner to Su Yu, who hurriedly caught it in a clumsy manner.
"Take a look at it. See if there are any changes needed."
Su Yu’s gaze fell upon the banner, and its attributes appeared before his eyes.
Nine-Ring Immortal Banner (Tier Nine): Rare treasure, incomplete. A supreme treasure of the Profound Sect, possessing guardian deities capable of subduing demons and ghosts.
Immortal Banner as Mountain: Activating the banner transforms it into a mountain 1000-10000 meters in size to strike the target, causing a minimum physical damage of 10,000+200% to a maximum of 500,000+500% magic damage, casting range of 50 kilometers, and mana cost of 20,000-150,000 points. Features: Slam, Immovable as a Mountain, Indestructible.
Guardian Deity: Activating the banner summons the guardian deity residing within the banner to attack enemies. The level and template of the guardian deity depend on the refined spirit, quantity: 0/10,000.
Note: Guardian deities can level up and, if killed, will resurrect within the banner after 24 hours.
Banner Suppression: Activating the banner suppresses enemies, using celestial fire to refine them. Celestial fire damage is 30,000+100% magic damage. Dying by celestial fire incurs a penalty of 50 years of lifespan, weakens the individual for the next year, and experience gain is reduced by 75%.
Note: If not opening the banner, dying within it means one will only revive inside the banner, but if the opponent’s soul is strong or protected, they may escape the banner and revive.
Note: If someone completely dies within the Nine-Ring Immortal Banner, 20% of their lifetime accumulated cultivation points and Dao accomplishments will be gained.
Note: The suppression limit of the banner is determined by the master’s realm, able to suppress enemies up to one major realm above the master’s. Enemies beyond this realm can break out by force.
"This Immortal Banner is only initially refined. You can incorporate demon spirits or other spiritual objects to refine guardian deities, but the level of the demon spirits and the grade of spiritual objects determine the guardian deity’s level. Choose high-quality spiritual objects and spirits accordingly."
Master Xuanwei flipped his hand and produced a white jade gourd, handing it to Su Yu, saying:
"Here are some fine-quality spirits. You can later refine them into the banner."
Su Yu hurriedly received it, glancing at the gourd, his eyes immediately lit up.
Inside were 100 spirits of demon creatures with an elite level 150 template, 10 with a terrifying level 150 template, and 1 with an exceptional level 150 template.
"Thank you, Master!"
"As long as you like it."
Su Yu carefully stored the gourd and then asked:
"I notice this Immortal Banner is marked as incomplete. Is this because the guardian deities haven’t been refined yet?"
"Not quite. To complete it, you’ll need to infuse it with merit. Once enough merit is infused, the treasure will gain the characteristic of being free from karmic repercussions."
Su Yu’s eyes lit up on the spot.
"Wow, Master, which big shot did you consult, and what price did you pay to forge such a top-tier treasure?"
Being free from karmic repercussions is an extremely powerful characteristic, comparable to the Immune to All Skill’s feature of the Cyan Cloud Cover.
Simply put, using this won’t decrease merit when killing, won’t affect one’s fate, nor will it incur the disdain of the Heavenly Dao.
As is well known, amongst all beings, regardless of humans, demons, or others, there exist records in the Heavenly Dao that keep track of one’s life’s merits and demerits. For mortals, these determine whether they head to the underworld and what they might reincarnate as in their next life.
For cultivators, during tribulations, the merits and demerits influence the difficulty of their heavenly tribulations.
