Gateway of Immortality

After repairing the two Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions, Qin Sang's strength received a considerable boost.

The full formation of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions required ten complete banners, but it could also be arranged in formations of three, six, or nine.

A set of three banners formed the simplest banner array, capable of unleashing power equivalent to a middle-grade astra.

With six banners, the array could contend with high-grade astras.

And nine banners equaled the might of the most formidable high-grade astras.

For a late-stage Core Formation cultivator, refining one's life-bound astra to the level of a middle-grade astra was already quite an achievement. Yi Tianye, being the leader of a sect and inheritor of Founder Kuiyin's legacy, naturally didn't lack middle-grade astras.

But high-grade astras were another matter entirely. Even some Spiritual Infant cultivators didn't possess them; acquiring one during the Core Formation Realm required extraordinary fortune.

As for top-grade astras, they were rarities across the entire cultivation world.

After Founder Kuiyin's death, he had only left behind five Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions. Had there been even one more, Yi Tianye might not have been defeated so miserably in the battle against Yuanzhao Sect.

The uniqueness of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions wasn't due to the refinement method itself but stemmed from their inherent nature.

This brought up the most crucial component of the banners, the third and foundational element: the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

Without the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions were just ten ordinary flags with no real force.

Qin Sang had long suspected that the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells were extraordinary, likely not something refined by Founder Kuiyin. The soul search confirmed this.

The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells were a strange, innate flame discovered by Founder Kuiyin within Ziwei Palace.

At the time, Kuiyin was already a Spiritual Infant expert. When he entered Ziwei Palace and encountered the flame, he attempted to test it, but was instantly counterattacked. Caught off guard, he was nearly burned to ashes on the spot.

It was only by sacrificing a valuable astra that he narrowly escaped with his life.

After seeing a detailed description of the true Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, Qin Sang couldn't help but compare it to the Ancestral Sacred Flame of the Devilish Qingyang Sect. He came to the conclusion that the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells were even more powerful.

After all, Kuiyin had encountered only a single cluster of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, whereas the Ancestral Sacred Flame sat atop Divine Gale Peak in a grand scale. And still, the single cluster was enough to nearly kill a Spiritual Infant expert.

The loss of his astra pained Kuiyin greatly, but the might of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells was too enticing to ignore.

When he discovered the flames were unowned, he began to devise a way to subdue them. If he succeeded, his strength would skyrocket, and he could easily dominate the Small Cold Domain.

During that trip to Ziwei Palace, he went nowhere else. He spent the entire time confronting the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells. Though he grew more familiar with them over time, he ultimately returned empty-handed.

The true Devilish Flames of Nine Hells were terrifying and wildly violent. No human effort could control them. A single misstep meant being burned to ash.

But Kuiyin never gave up, because he noticed something: a black iron column stood near the flames.

The column had already broken into two pieces. Its material and the inscriptions on it were incredibly intricate, unlike anything Kuiyin had seen before. The Devilish Flames of Nine Hells seemed to fear it greatly and were trapped within its range, unable to escape.

That black iron column resembled a cage or perhaps a seal.

Even when it was fractured and broken, it still managed to confine the flames.

As Ziwei Palace neared its closing time and Kuiyin was forced to leave, a plan had already taken root in his mind. He was going to use the black iron column to subdue the flames.

He took the broken half with him and spent over a hundred years refining and researching it. Eventually, he devised a method to refine it.

Through the use of spiritual arrays and ghost path secret techniques, combined with a flag-refining method adapted from the devilish sects, Kuiyin successfully refined the column into ten Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions.

And on his next entry into Ziwei Palace, he succeeded in subduing the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

The true Devilish Flames of Nine Hells were simply too powerful. Kuiyin didn't tame them through brute force but instead used the power of the black iron column to divide the flame and seal its fragments within the ten banners through a secret technique.

Thus, the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions were not exactly evil artifacts. In truth, they were tools for controlling fire.

Each banner held a sealed portion of the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells, containing only a fraction of the original flame's power. When used in sets of three, six, nine, or ten, the array's power scaled accordingly.

Yet even with all ten banners, only a portion of the Devilish Flames' true power could be unleashed.

And even this fractional power was enough to rival that of top-grade astras. This was a testament to just how terrifying the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells truly were.

The name Devilish Flames of Nine Hells had been coined by Founder Kuiyin himself. Even now, the disciples of Kuiyin Sect had no idea what the true name of the flame was.

Despite scouring ancient texts, not a single record could be found about such a type of devilish flame. Founder Kuiyin had never encountered another flame like it again for the rest of his life.

For this reason, even when half of the Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions were destroyed, he had been unable to restore them while still alive. As for Yi Tianye and the others, none of them had even reached the Spiritual Infant Realm, let alone found another Devilish Flame of Nine Hells.

Without the flame, even the most skilled craftsman couldn't cook without rice. Though Kuiyin later managed to retrieve the other half of the black iron column, it was useless without the flame.

Upon learning the full story, Qin Sang dismissed the idea of fully restoring all ten Yan Luo Banners of Ten Directions.

First, he would never slaughter so many innocent souls to weave the banners. Second, he had no way of obtaining the Devilish Flames of Nine Hells.

Even after entering Ziwei Palace multiple times, Founder Kuiyin had only ever found one cluster of the flame.

Still, the fact that he had repaired two more banners and now possessed a weapon on par with a middle-grade astra left Qin Sang thrilled.

This meant that while other cultivators of his stage were still fretting over low-grade astras, he would possess a middle-grade astra the moment he entered the Core Formation Realm.

Among middle-stage Core Formation cultivators, those who wielded middle-grade astras were few and far between.

With the addition of the flying yaksha, now undergoing metamorphosis, Qin Sang was confident that he had nothing to fear even against middle-stage Golden Core opponents. Against those at his own stage, he was confident he could crush them outright.

As he thought about this, Qin Sang fondly toyed with the Purple Cloud Fruit, reluctant to put it away.

A rich, exotic fragrance wafted into his nostrils. The cloud-like filaments on the surface of the spiritual fruit seemed to ripple and move, wondrously alive. A wave of coolness spread from his fingertips.

"Senior, earlier you were bluffing Yi Tianye, weren't you? I still have to consume this fruit to restore my foundation, don't I?"

Wandering Man nodded gently and said, "The Jade Liquid of Three Radiances is certainly extraordinary, but in the end, it's only said to be a miracle elixir for healing. Whether it can restore your foundation, I can't say for sure. It's still safer to use the Purple Cloud Fruit, as it's more specifically suited to your condition. Still, even if the fruit were ineffective, we couldn't let him hold it over your head any longer. Thankfully, I had just enough strength left to snatch the fruit back for you."

"You're absolutely right..."

Qin Sang nodded in agreement. He, too, had resolved to give up the fruit and slay Yi Tianye instead. His thoughts had aligned perfectly with Wandering Man's. "I'm deeply grateful for your help, Senior. Without you, I couldn't have achieved what I wished for. How are you feeling now?"

Wandering Man glanced at his own state and shook his head. "I'm afraid I'll remain weak for a while longer. Once we leave the ancient herb garden, I'll have to trouble you, Brother Qin, to break through the barriers on your own."