Chapter 2565: All Clues Are Before Us

Zu An’s expression darkened. He'd been so happy to be reunited with Yun Yuqing that he only thought about this possibility when the Mermaid Queen mentioned it. He turned to the Goddess of Wu Mountain and asked with a quivering voice, “What will happen to the person with the Cruel Poison Constitution during the forging of the Myriad Souls Banner?”

“Don’t worry. The person with the Cruel Poison Constitution will only be assimilated into the Myriad Souls Banner at the final step of the forging to maximize its prowess. The forging isn’t at its final step yet, so Miss Ji shouldn’t be in danger yet,” the Goddess of Wu Mountain consoled him, knowing what he was worried about.

Zu An breathed a sigh of relief.

Even though the Chang clan and the Genesis Shaman race had likely been wiped out by the Myriad Souls Banner, it was still considered a small-scale massacre compared to what it was truly capable of. There were legends that when a true Myriad Souls Banner appeared, the sky would darken and all lives would be assimilated.

Wuhui also said, “I have heard some rumors about the Myriad Souls Banner. Its flagpole is usually made of thousand-year-old yin wood from Scholar Trees or coffin wood. However, this Myriad Souls Banner is a special one. Its flagpole is made from yin wood that has been soaked with malevolent energies from ancient battlefields, or corpse ki, for at least ten thousand years.

“The banner normally has to be embroidered with human skin, but neither the Chang clansmen nor the Genesis Shamans have been skinned, so the culprit must have opted for another method. The other alternative is to use cloth stripped from powerful corpses overflowing with resentment.

“Other than that, the Myriad Souls Banner requires a core—a powerful vengeful spirit dripping with resentment to control other vengeful spirits. The mysterious man has likely chosen your friend as the main vengeful spirit. Your friend might be lacking in strength, but her unique poison constitution makes up for that. If the forging succeeds, the resulting Myriad Souls Banner will be far stronger than the world has ever seen. Wherever it appears, countless will die.”

“That means Xiaoxi is in danger!” Zu An was alarmed.

“It takes 81 days to forge the core. Miss Yun, how many days has it been since your companion was kidnapped?” Wuhui asked Yun Yuqing.

Yun Yuqing’s face turned pale. “It has been 63 days.”

“Then you still have 18 days to rescue your friend,” Wuhui said. “We can investigate based on the materials I have just mentioned.”

But Zu An wasn’t as optimistic. While it took 81 days to forge the banner core, each day that passed meant another day of suffering for Xiaoxi. Furthermore, the forging of the banner core was a malevolent process. There was no saying whether XIaoxi would still be alive near the end of the forging process.

“Yuqing, what abilities did the mysterious man use when he kidnapped Xiaoxi? Was there anything unusual?” Zu An knew Wuhui’s solution was unfeasible; Xiaoxi wouldn’t last that long.

Wuhui harrumphed. “Do you think I wouldn’t have asked that? The strength disparity between Miss Yun and the mysterious man is so great that there would have been no way for her to force the other party to reveal his specialization.”

Indeed, there was nothing useful in what Yun Yuqing described afterward. It was just like a human stomping on a roadside ant; how could the ant tell how much strength the human used and his posture when stomping down?

Zu An fell into deep thought to organize the information he had gathered thus far.

The Chang clan’s massacre. Yumen Beiqing’s disappearance. The Genesis Shaman race’s bizarre death. All of these were likely tied to the forging of the Myriad Souls Banner...

Hold on, I feel as if I've neglected something important.

He quickly racked his brains, and his eyes eventually fell on the Genesis Shamans. A thought popped into his mind. “I thought we had no more clues left, but the biggest clue is right before our eyes.”

“What do you mean?” The others were taken aback.

Zu An slowly explained, “We came here to investigate because of that metal cauldron fragment. The Genesis Shamans forged a unique cauldron for that mysterious man. What does he need the cauldron for when he already has the Myriad Souls Banner?”

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“Cauldron?” Wuhui was confused. “What cauldron?”

Zu An took out the metal fragment. When he saw the human face imprinted on it, Wuhui’s complexion darkened. “It’s a living soul!”

“Indeed. That mysterious man not only forged a Myriad Souls Banner, but also requested the Genesis Shamans to forge a cauldron for collecting living souls for him,” Zu An said. “This means his ambitions are greater than what we have imagined.”

The Goddess of Wu Mountain was alarmed. “Just the Myriad Souls Banner is enough to lay waste to the world. What does he need such a cauldron for?”

Wuhui’s face turned livid. “I have heard about a legendary formation that requires these two items. However, that formation requires an entire world of living beings as tribute. Who has the gall and capability to pull off something like that?

“Furthermore, the Myriad Souls Banner required for that formation needs more than just someone with the Cruel Poison Constitution; it requires at least nine other powerful vengeful spirits too. But where can you find so many powerful individuals who harbor great resentment during their moment of death? The Celestial Court would have heard about it if such a thing happened.”

He kept talking as if he had thought of something terrifying, but wanted to refute his conjecture.

The golden-armored warriors paled upon hearing his words. Patrolling the mortal world usually gave them a sense of self-importance, as everyone else was a country bumpkin compared to them. But this case far surpassed their wildest imagination. It could even be beyond the capacity of the Fire Celestial to deal with.

Zu An walked up to the Genesis Shaman chieftain as he said, “We overlooked an important issue earlier. Why did the Genesis Shamans agree to forge the cauldron for that mysterious man?”

According to the Goddess of Wu Mountain, the Genesis Shaman race was decently powerful. Many years ago, someone could still be able to coerce them into forging an item for them, but that should no longer have been an issue.

The Mermaid Queen’s heart skipped a beat. “Are you saying that the Genesis Shamans did it willingly?”

“Indeed. It doesn’t look as if they were coerced into it.” Zu An nodded.

“That doesn’t make sense. A cauldron that captures living souls can only be used for malicious purposes. The Genesis Shaman race, on the whole, still belongs to the lawful camp. How could they have willingly forged something like that?” the Goddess of Wu Mountain exclaimed.

“There are two possibilities. One, they didn’t know the true purpose of the cauldron, which is unlikely given that they were master blacksmiths. This leaves the second possibility.” Zu An looked at the Genesis Shamans kneeling respectfully to the sculpture. “The mysterious man’s identity was significant enough to dispel the Genesis Shamans’ doubts, such that they were willing to forge a malevolent artifact for him.”