So the Soul-Catching Banner, this combination-type magical artifact, can be updated and upgraded so easily, primarily because the core of this artifact is actually the spirit body of the ghost refined within the banner.
As for the banner pole and banner surface, they merely serve as the physical entities carrying the ghost.
Over the many days, Zheng Yi in this Luo City has captured at least eight hundred resentful spirits with the Soul-Catching Banner.
These ghosts slaughter each other in the spirit body space of the banner surface, resulting in only a mere forty-nine fierce ghosts.
However, these forty-nine fierce ghosts are indeed the elite crafted from a thousand ghosts, worthy of being called the fiercest among fierce ghosts.
Each ghost shadow heavy, the evil qi on them seems substantial, flowing like black grease.
Their entire bodies are shrouded in thick black mist, only exposing sinister withered claws, and a pair of scarlet eyes, filled with the desire for slaughter.
Among them, the leader is a red-clothed fierce ghost, covered entirely in a blood robe, and her aura is stronger than the other fierce ghosts.
The surging blood evil aura behind her forms a cloak-like presence, wrapping around her body, the skin exposed outside the dense blood aura is also different from other fierce ghosts.
Pale and delicate, with slender fingers.
Only the nails are very long, sharp as hooks, bright red like blood, as if painted with the reddest nail polish.
At this moment, this red-clothed fierce ghost is like a ruler, protected by many other fierce ghosts in the center, standing in front of Zheng Yi.
Indeed!
This is the harvest of Zheng Yi over these days, refining a total of forty-nine fierce ghosts, with the red-clothed female ghost as the main, and the other forty-eight fierce ghosts as auxiliaries.
With so many fierce ghosts within the Soul-Catching Banner, they connect into a formation, reaching the peak of power.
All Zheng Yi needs is to activate the Soul-Catching Banner, forming gusts of gloomy wind, and a hundred ghost night parade, he can activate a formation of forty-nine fierce ghosts.
He is now only in the mid-late stage of the Qi Cultivation Third Layer, but even if facing a cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Fifth or Sixth Layers, he would not be at a disadvantage.
Hence, for the Soul-Catching Banner to reach its current formation, Zheng Yi's decision to stop refining further is a reluctant choice.
Zheng Yi acquired the Soul-Catching Banner and the cultivation technique of the Black Evil Technique through bribing the Outer Sect Elder of the Soul Catching Sect, which doesn't mean he has truly joined the Soul Catching Sect.
At most, he counts as a member of the Outer Sect of the Soul Catching Sect, a disciple of an insignificant branch, who has never even visited the sect's main residence.
Thus, the Soul-Catching Banner in his possession is merely the lowest-grade magical artifact, something every Outer Sect disciple receives upon joining the Soul Catching Sect, not highly valuable.
Therefore, the basic Soul-Catching Banner, limited by the rather low-quality materials, cannot withstand much.
But to be fair, the quality of this Soul-Catching Banner is already sufficient for Outer Sect disciples newly exposed to this magic.
Who could imagine that a small Qi Cultivation Third Layer Demon Cultivator would fill the Soul-Catching Banner with fierce ghosts in just over ten days?
If this cultivation speed were disclosed, it would certainly attract attention, and people would likely suspect Zheng Yi found a place similar to an extremely yin land gathering evil land.
Otherwise, even if an Evil Demon Daoist performed blood sacrifices on mortal villages, refining one village at a time, it couldn't match such speed and efficiency.
After all, the souls of ordinary people are not resilient.
To refine a fierce ghost suitable for the Soul-Catching Banner, it might require the souls of over a hundred individuals.
All of a sudden, Zheng Yi fused forty-nine fierce ghosts, the Soul-Catching Banner could no longer continue refining, or the result would be the destruction of the Soul-Catching Banner.
If the Soul-Catching Banner were destroyed, the refined fierce ghosts would inevitably backlash, and with Zheng Yi's Third Layer realm, he might not withstand it.
However, Zheng Yi isn't in a hurry to leave.
In this doomsday world, those resentful spirits and fierce ghosts are excellent cultivation resources, the grade of soul power is not only decent but also considered top quality.
Ordinary living souls are referred to as life souls.
Cultivators' souls are referred to as divine souls.
Conversely, after people die, they mutate into what becomes ghost souls.
The power of the soul is a type of special cultivation resource needed by cultivators.
Especially many demon cultivators, whether cultivating techniques, refining immortal skills, or crafting demon artifacts, all require a substantial amount of soul resources.
Thus, soul power resources are very precious in the Great Yi City Immortal Realm.
However, in the doomsday world, there's no worry about such things, here ghost souls are everywhere, resentful spirits rampant, zombies rampant, slaughtering them is purely eliminating demons, removing the sores and rashes of this world.
After obtaining the Black Evil Technique and Soul-Catching Banner, Zheng Yi didn't leave the Demon City.
With his Qi Cultivation Third Layer realm, leaving Blood Mist Abyss City, he might not even know how he would end up dead.
He needs at least a certain level of life-preservation capability before considering leaving the Demon City.
Now that the Soul-Catching Banner is refined, next, it's time to cultivate the Black Evil Technique.
Unlike the Chao Yuan Technique he cultivated before, which absorbs the spiritual qi of heaven and earth or spirit grass and elixir pills, slowly elevating the realm.
This Black Evil Technique besides normal breathing and absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth cultivation, to enhance the power of the technique, and speed up cultivation, it must refine a type of black evil qi.
To absorb, one needs to find a gathering evil land, use various yin fiends as a guide, increasing the power of the Black Evil Technique, boosting cultivation efficiency.
The second method faster, more powerful, involves absorbing soul power, whether from resentful souls, fierce ghosts, or living souls, cultivators' divine souls all can be absorbed.
Thus, it's a cultivation technique with an extremely high potential, but is built up with vast cultivation resources, making it somewhat impractical.
But using it to establish a foundation for ordinary Outer Sect disciples is still good.
Moreover, the key point is, the Soul Catching Sect provides only the first five layers of the Black Evil Technique.
Once cultivated, to obtain higher-level techniques, one must obediently return to the Soul Catching Sect.
This is one of the reasons Demon Realm demon cultivation sects are unafraid of technique leaks, teaching without discrimination.
Anyway, as long as higher techniques don't leak, it ensures a constant return stream of sect disciples, unnoticeably screening talent for the sect.
From crushing waves, what remains are elites, good aptitude, excellent temperament acolytes.
The cultivation techniques in the Great Yi City Immortal Realm are typically divided by realm, primarily looking at which tier they can directly achieve, e.g. Foundation Establishment techniques, Purple Mansion techniques, Golden Core realm techniques.
Each level is again divided into four ranks, arranged from strongest to weakest.
Although the Black Evil Technique can be further explored, it's demanding, needs cultivators' life souls and divine souls to build on, capable of upgrading step by step, unlocking potential.
Of course, for ordinary loose cultivators, it is considered a good cultivation method.
Even in the loose cultivator major city, Profound Void City, many loose cultivators are still practicing the lowest tier breathing skill to date.
The Chao Yuan Technique that Zheng Yi practices is an inheritance left by his parents, allegedly found in a loose cultivator's cave mansion.
Otherwise, he might also be practicing the most ordinary breathing skill to this day.
Actually, within the Soul Catching Sect, some Outer Sect disciples with backgrounds prefer other easily convertible cultivation methods rather than this technique.
But for Zheng Yi, it's the perfect fit.
Indeed, Zheng Yi's choice of the Soul Catching Sect is tightly linked with the Black Evil Technique.
In the doomsday world, slaying various zombies and fierce ghosts, these monsters mutated by the Blood Moon, are inherently the pathogens and tumors of this world, exterminating them counts as eliminating demons, following the heavens' path, and it wouldn't generate karmic force.
Since he is an unexpected visitor in this world, no matter how much massacre he conducts, it's unlikely that a righteous cultivator suddenly pops out shouting the heavens' path name to fight him.
The Black Evil Technique can lay down a foundation, but the flaw is slow cultivation unless absorbing soul resources, capable of quickly enhancing power and cultivation speed.
The more resentful spirits and fierce ghosts refined, the stronger the Black Evil power.
Furthermore, the transformation from quantity to quality within the Black Evil Qi continuously upgrades, cultivation speed increasingly fast, divided into Black Evil, Profound Yin Fiend, Cyan Profound Fiend, Ink Spirit Evil, Purple Demon Fiend, and Nine Netherworld Soul Slaughter Fiend.
This method initially is a regular Qi Cultivation Stage technique, but as it upgrades, the grade increases.
If one can achieve the final Nine Netherworld Soul Slaughter Fiend, it would certainly be one of the closest techniques to the Golden Core period threshold, its power absolutely astonishing.
This is also why Zheng Yi chooses this technique.
Initially, turning Black Evil Qi into Profound Yin Evil Qi requires ninety-nine ordinary humans' life souls, or nine Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators' divine souls, or fierce ghosts.
To refine into a Cyan Profound Fiend, requires refining nine hundred and ninety-nine living souls, or ninety-nine same-tier cultivators' divine souls or fierce ghosts.
Each level up, the number of fierce ghosts needed multiplies by ten times.