Chapter 479: The Harvest

"Soul-refining demonic artifact?"

The Yellow Armored Man eyed the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions with a look of intrigue. "From what I know, the Shadowless Sword hails from the righteous sect Shaohua Mountain. In the Small Cold Domain, the righteous and demonic paths are deeply divided, and those righteous sects love to put on airs of virtue. Never would I have expected that Shaohua Mountain’s famed Shadowless Sword would have forged so many soul-refining demonic artifacts. How many lives have been claimed for their creation, I wonder? If word of this got out, it would surely cause an uproar. I wonder if Shaohua Mountain would dare to cleanse its ranks."

"Then I’ll simply make sure no word gets out."

Qin Sang remained unfazed by the Yellow Armored Man’s threats and replied coolly.

Whoosh...

The banners flared with a thunderous roar as endless ghostfire surged forth, engulfing the entire array, including Qin Sang himself.

Waves of fire soared skyward.

The Mountain-Suppressing Stele emitted a deep, resonant hum.

Its lower half became engulfed in ghostfire, while streams of dark yellow qi continuously flowed from its surface. Yet in the face of the fierce, overwhelming ghostfire, it seemed somewhat powerless.

The dark yellow qi could only cling to the area surrounding the stele, but even then, it was being relentlessly eroded.

The Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions proved even more formidable than a talisman astra. It had easily fended off the sneak attack from the Mountain-Suppressing Stele, and now, its counterattack was just as fierce.

While the Mountain-Suppressing Stele was no match for the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions, it wasn't so weak as to be destroyed in one blow.

Seeing this, the Yellow Armored Man’s gaze grew grave. He snorted coldly. "I admit your soul-refining demonic artifact is indeed extraordinary. But the question is, how long can it last in a real battle?"

He could clearly tell that operating the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions came at a heavy cost, especially in the heat of combat. If the user exhausted their spiritual power first, then no matter how powerful the artifact, it would be useless.

Qin Sang had yet to reach the Fake Core Realm, a stage below his own. Moreover, the Yellow Armored Man had great confidence in his own strange battle armor, and so felt no fear toward the banner.

"Fall!"

The Yellow Armored Man shouted, fully unleashing the power of his talisman astra.

The inscriptions on the Mountain-Suppressing Stele lit up with a brilliant dark yellow glow, and its weight suddenly multiplied several times over. It forcefully pressed down upon the ghostfire and slowly descended.

Where ghostfire and stele met, muffled thunderous sounds echoed.

Clusters of ghostfire were extinguished.

But the Mountain-Suppressing Stele fared no better. Its base began to fracture. At first, only a single crack appeared, but as the stele continued to fall, it rapidly spread like a spider web across its lower half.

Crack!

With a sharp snap, a corner of the stele finally broke off. A large chunk fell away and vanished instantly, perhaps swallowed by the ghostfire.

The Yellow Armored Man ignored it all, unleashing the full might of his talisman astra without restraint.

With each explosive boom, the rate at which the Mountain-Suppressing Stele crumbled only quickened. It was as if it were being devoured by the ghostfire, vanishing layer by layer before the naked eye.

Eventually, only half of the stele remained, and even that was covered in cracks.

Boom!

The Mountain-Suppressing Stele suddenly exploded.

A violent gust blasted outward, driving the ghostfire back. And in that moment, the battle armor on the Yellow Armored Man radiated with an intense dark yellow light.

The once-segmented armor plates fused seamlessly into a single whole, not even leaving a gap around his face.

The Yellow Armored Man had become a true armored warrior.

He raised both arms high. The light from his armor surged into his palms and finally condensed into a majestic halberd.

Whoosh!

Gripping the halberd, he casually swung it and effortlessly cleaved off a corner of the black stone.

In the next instant, the Yellow Armored Man’s figure vanished from where he stood and reappeared above the shattered Mountain-Suppressing Stele. It was the very moment of its detonation. Shielded by the explosive wind, his figure spun rapidly.

Man and halberd descended like a meteor, driving straight into the sea of fire.

The Yellow Armored Man was unaware that when he detonated the Mountain-Suppressing Stele, a deeper, purer flame had silently emerged from the depths of the blaze—one even more terrifying than the ghostfire.

The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells!

Within the Yan Luo Array of Ten Directions, the ten primary souls raised the banner together. Qin Sang forced out his own blood and essence, secretly activating the astra.

He had long resolved—he would never let the Yellow Armored Man escape!

But the barriers layered over this place were thick. If the battle dragged on, and the Yellow Armored Man seized an opportunity, he could very well escape with his life. Thus, Qin Sang did not hesitate to bring out the Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions.

He had long regarded the Yellow Armored Man as a formidable adversary and had thoroughly investigated him. The man specialized in close combat, relying on his powerful battle armor and formidable combat techniques to leave opponents completely helpless.

Now is the time!

The astra didn’t just consume Qin Sang’s blood and essence, it devoured his spiritual power as though it were a bottomless pit.

A surge of Demonic Flames of Nine Hells erupted from the astra. Following Qin Sang’s will, it morphed into the shape of a black sword and shot upward like an arrow loose from a bowstring.

The Yellow Armored Man lunged downward like a spear. He sensed an extraordinarily sharp aura rising from the sea of fire—clearly something out of the ordinary. Yet he showed no fear. Instead, he sneered. "I figured you’d have some sort of special spiritual sword!"

"Black Magnetic Sand!"

Holding his war halberd in one hand, he suddenly flung a handful of gray sand with the other.

Black Magnetic Sand was a rare substance devised by the artifact refiners of the Tianxing Alliance, specially effective against flying swords and daggers. Its immense weight allowed it to cling to spiritual weapons and render them sluggish, drastically weakening their power.

Whoosh!

The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells burst forth from the fire.

Then came a scene that stunned the Yellow Armored Man—the Black Magnetic Sand didn’t cling to the black sword. Instead, it was swallowed whole.

That was no sword at all. It was an utterly terrifying flame in disguise!

Whoosh!

The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells revealed its true form, releasing a horrifying aura that swept across the battlefield. Qin Sang no longer concealed it and dispelled the ghostfire completely.

On the ground, amidst the banners, the towering Yan Luo Banner of Ten Directions now stood fully exposed. The sight of it made the Yellow Armored Man’s hair stand on end.

"Astra!"

Terror surged through the Yellow Armored Man. Letting out a strange, panicked cry, he tried to halt his advance and retreat but it was already too late. The Demonic Flames of Nine Hells had reached him and swallowed him whole.

Crack!

No matter how exceptional the Yellow Armored Man’s battle armor might be, it was no match for the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells. Before his very eyes, it turned into nothing more than a pile of scrap metal, engulfed in the demonic fire.

Deprived of his armor, the Yellow Armored Man was like a naked man running through the streets, left to face the flames alone.

The terrifying fire loomed just a few chi away.

He poured all his strength into driving his spiritual power, but it was useless. The aura of death suffocated him with despair.

Even more horrifying, he sensed a presence within the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells—an aura capable of shaking his primordial spirit. Because of it, his thoughts slowed as if dulled. He instinctively tried to draw out another artifact, but his hand moved sluggishly and failed to respond in time.

My life ends here!

The Yellow Armored Man shut his eyes in despair as his primordial spirit took a devastating blow and slipped into unconsciousness.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

At the final moment, Qin Sang suddenly formed a seal and halted the Demonic Flames of Nine Hells, stopping it from devouring the Yellow Armored Man completely.

He flew upward and, upon discovering the Yellow Armored Man still clung to life, his expression lit with joy. He immediately struck out several layers of barriers to seal the man’s cultivation, then stuffed a few healing pills into his mouth.

At long last, he had captured a Fake Core cultivator with his own strength. Unlike the handsome young man from before, this one could be safely taken away.