Chapter 303: Chapter 272: Banner of Ten Thousand Souls_1

“The Banner of a Thousand Souls? What does that mean? Isn’t that a Demonic Dao artifact?”

Everyone could tell that something was not right with the scene inside the God Refining Tripod, especially after being alerted by the soul cultivators, which made everyone’s faces change.

Could they really be so unlucky? They always run into trouble even when handling routine tasks!

Xu Mu complained in his heart.

Though the scenery was somewhat bizarre, no one there dared to overreact.

After all, the one who was doing this was Prince Jade, a Nascent Soul Stage expert.

“Don’t panic, this Banner of a Thousand Souls has other uses, it has obtained permission from the court.” Prince Jade said calmly.

This statement was hard for people to believe because when they came, they had never heard that refining souls involved using a Banner of a Thousand Souls.

Moreover, cultivating Demonic Dao artifacts should be explicitly forbidden, even if the person in question was a prince from the imperial family.

Everyone looked at each other. Despite having doubts in their hearts, no one dared to protest or even send a message to the outside to inquire.

Everyone was maintaining the operation of the formation amidst this eerie atmosphere, unavoidably reducing the influx of spiritual energy while preparing for any unexpected situation.

While Prince Jade controlled the God Refining Tripod so that the residual souls inside could not escape, he removed a bottle of pills, dividing them among the people present.

“We still have a long way to go; consume these Melting Spirit Pills! Replenish your energy!” Prince Jade said.

Xu Mu had heard of the Melting Spirit Pill; they were tier ten restoration pills, extremely precious.

For those at their level, taking one of these pills could completely restore their vitality in a short period.

However, not one of those who received this valuable pill dared to take it on the spot.

“Thanks for your generosity, Prince, but I currently…!”

Murong Shun, who tried to refuse the offer, was immediately chastised by Prince Jade.

“If I tell you to eat, you eat. No more nonsense!”

Prince Jade’s face turned frosty, immediately exerting a terrifying pressure on the people around him.

After all, he was a Nascent Soul elder, not someone they could offend.

The faces of the crowd turned ugly, trapped in a dilemma.

They felt uneasy about consuming the pill, but neither dared to upset Prince Jade.

At that moment, Xu Mu was the first to take the pill and swallow it. This action made Prince Jade take a second look at him.

When Xu Mu took the pill, his aura swiftly started to recover.

Seeing this, everyone else stopped hesitating and followed suit.

Only then did Prince Jade’s expression return to normal.

“You all continue to attract residual souls, while others take turns controlling the God Refining Tripod!”

Despite being close to the end, they still had to continue. Despite their unwillingness, everyone had no choice but to comply.

Nobody dared to defy Prince Jade, especially in such uncertain circumstances.

What if this was indeed arranged by the imperial family?

That would be incredibly awkward.

Thus the Soul Refining Array continued to operate, attracting a large number of residual souls once again. However, unlike before, Prince Jade didn’t completely let go of control. Instead, he split part of his consciousness and collaborated with several others to control the God Refining Tripod.

“I better level up just in case. It’s better to have an extra means to fight if something were to happen!”

Facing this situation, Xu Mu still felt uneasy, so he opened his system and used part of his mental power to level up his Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron.

Compared to saving Luck Value, it was clear that saving his own life was far more important.

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +100]!

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +100]!

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +100]!

…

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron Proficiency; 1/102400]!

…

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +1000]!

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +1000]!

[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron +1000]!

…

“[Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron: Perfection; 1/204800]!

…

With constant promotion of the spell, Xu Mu gradually discovered something unusual.

Each time he obtained control, his hold over the God Refining Tripod continued to rise, creating an impression that using the nine tripods could refine it.

This discovery made his heartbeat accelerate involuntarily.

If he could refine the God Refining Tripod in such a gradually unnoticed way, he would have a powerful trump card, no matter what happened later on.

After having this thought, Xu Mu accelerated the improvement of the Jue of Heaven and Earth Moving Cauldron. Within five days, it had smoothly been upgraded to a transcendent level.

At this moment, with a single thought, he could completely control the God Refining Tripod, directly wrest it from Prince Jade’s hands without him noticing.

He even had the feeling that he could completely refine it into his body.

Of course, even if he had ten times his current courage, he wouldn’t dare to actually do it.

However, with this feeling, at least he became a little more reassured.

By now, the remnant souls in the dungeon were almost completely absorbed, and the sacrificing spirit array in the God Refining Tripod continued to devour the densely packed remnant souls.

Their energies had risen from the initial Golden Pill stage to the later Golden Pill stage. If they continue devouring at this rate, they were likely to break through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Nine Nascent Soul Stage evil spirits, could Prince Jade really control them?

The unease in everyone’s hearts grew increasingly intense.

Just then, Prince Jade used some unknown spell to initiate a new formation around them, directly enclosing the entire hall.

“Prince, what are you doing this for?” Murong Shun asked with a placatory smile.

At this point, Prince Jade clearly gave up all pretense, and with a summoning gesture, the evil spirits in the tripod flew out instantly, dragging Jiang Wu next to Murong Shun into it.

All could hear the gut-wrenching screams coming from the tripod. Then, quickly, all was quiet.

Everyone present was terrified into silence. Murong Shun turned pale.

“Keep running the array properly! Any more questions and he’ll be next!” Prince Jade coldly warned them.

If Jiang Wu were still alive at this point, he’d likely be furious enough to spit blood.

Why was he dragged in, when it was Murong Shun who asked the question?

Woo woo!

The reason he was dragged in was simple, Prince Jade needed Murong Shun to continue running the array.

The atmosphere became quite delicate. Everyone knew something was wrong and were certain of it. But under Prince Jade’s threat, they didn’t dare act recklessly.

However, if they continue down this path, they too would probably not escape disaster.

Prince Jade sacrificing the spirits certainly hadn’t been approved by the imperial family. His audacious actions meant he would surely silence everyone involved to prevent news leaking out.

Knew they would die, but could do nothing to stop it, could only watch as death approached. This feeling was the most painful.

In this eerie atmosphere, several hours passed. Suddenly, the nine evil spirits flew out of the tripod again, dragging a Soul Cultivator to it, regardless of his resistance.

Facing nine evil spirits at the later Golden Pill stage, almost no one could resist.

“Prince Jade, what is the meaning of this?”

The companion of the Soul Cultivator who was pulled in, asked in an unwilling voice.

“I already said, stay obedient. This one dared to send a message outside, he must be punished.” Prince Jade said calmly.

Listening to these words, the Soul Cultivator’s companion bit his teeth in frustration but had to swallow his anger.

Two soul cultivators had been killed, not enough to truly drive them to desperation.

However, when the nine evil spirits had devoured all remaining souls, Prince Jade made his move again and threw two more Soul Cultivators into the God Refining Tripod.

Everyone couldn’t keep their calm anymore.

“Escape!”

All individuals deployed their own counter-measures and fled in all directions.

“Hmph!”

Prince Jade snorted disdainfully, and with a heavy bang on the great tripod, hundreds of golden fogs flew out, ensnaring everyone like tentacles and forcibly pulling them in.

He activated another spell, summoned the tripod cover, and sealed the God Refining Tripod, locking everyone together with the nine evil spirits inside.

“Without your flesh and souls, how can these evil spirits advance! Only by letting them complete their advancements, and reach the Nascent Soul Stage, can I have a chance at rescuing my father from the heavenly dungeon and successfully escape with my life!”