Once those two Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were repaired, they would also provide a massive boost to Qin Sang's strength.
The complete array of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners required all ten banners, but three, six, or nine could also be arranged into a formation.
Among these, setting up the simplest banner formation with three demonic banners could unleash power rivaling a medium-grade magic treasure.
With six banners forming an array, it possessed the might to contend with a high-grade magic treasure.
Nine banners would rival the very pinnacle of high-grade magic treasures!
Cultivators in the late Core Formation stage had a chance to upgrade their life magic treasures to the level of a medium-grade magic treasure. Yi Tiannie in particular, being a sect master who inherited the legacy of Patriarch Kuiyin, had no shortage of medium-grade magic treasures.
High-grade magic treasures, however, were not so easily acquired. Even some Nascent Soul cultivators lacked one; obtaining one during the Core Formation stage required an immense stroke of serendipity.
Top-grade magic treasures were rarer still, exceedingly scarce across the entire cultivation world.
When Patriarch Kuiyin passed away, he had left behind only five Ten Directions Yanluo Banners. Had there been just one more, the outcome of that battle against the Yuanzhao Sect back then might well have been completely different.
The Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were so extraordinary not because Patriarch Kuiyin's crafting techniques were remarkably exquisite, but because of their inherent characteristics.
Speaking of this, one had to mention the third and most crucial component of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banner, the very foundation of the magic treasure—the Nine Nether Demonic Fire!
Without the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were merely ten mediocre flags incapable of achieving anything significant.
Qin Sang had long suspected that the Nine Nether Demonic Fire was extraordinary and likely an external entity rather than something man-made by Patriarch Kuiyin. Soul searching had confirmed his theory.
The Nine Nether Demonic Fire was an unusual cluster of demonic flame Patriarch Kuiyin had discovered in Ziwei Palace.
Back then, Patriarch Kuiyin was already a Nascent Soul expert. After entering Ziwei Palace and chancing upon this demonic flame, he had intended to test it, only to be struck by an immediate counterattack. Caught unprepared, he was nearly reduced to ash and killed on the spot.
In the end, it was only by sacrificing a precious magic treasure that he managed to escape with his life.
Upon learning the description of the true Nine Nether Demonic Fire, Qin Sang compared it in his mind to the Ancestral Holy Fire of the Qingyang Demonic Sect and felt that the true Nine Nether Demonic Fire was even more powerful.
One had to realize that the Nine Nether Demonic Fire Patriarch Kuiyin encountered back then was merely a single plume, whereas the Ancestral Holy Fire sprawled across the summit of Divine Astral Peak. The scale between the two could hardly be compared.
Though deeply pained by the loss of his treasure and having barely escaped alive, Patriarch Kuiyin was thoroughly captivated by the terrifying power of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
Once he realized the flame was masterless, Patriarch Kuiyin hatched an ambition: if he could master such formidable demonic fire, his strength would skyrocket instantly, and dominating the entire Lesser Cold Domain would be effortless.
During that trip to Ziwei Palace, Patriarch Kuiyin went nowhere else, spending the entire time contending with the Nine Nether Demonic Fire. While he grew increasingly familiar with it, he ultimately returned empty-handed.
The true Nine Nether Demonic Fire was simply too terrifying and abnormally violent, impossible for mortal power to subdue. A single slip-up would end in being incinerated to ash.
Yet Patriarch Kuiyin never gave up, for he noticed a dark iron pillar standing around the perimeter of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
The dark iron pillar had already snapped in two, but both its material and the restrictions upon it were exceedingly profound—unlike anything Patriarch Kuiyin had ever seen in his life. The Nine Nether Demonic Fire seemed deeply afraid of this dark iron pillar, trapped by it and unable to leave the area.
The dark iron pillar resembled a cage, as well as a seal.
Even in its damaged, broken state, it still managed to trap this cluster of Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
By that time, Ziwei Palace was on the verge of closing and he had to depart. However, an idea to subdue the demonic fire had already formed in Patriarch Kuiyin's mind.
He took the severed half of the dark iron pillar and, after emerging, spent over a century meticulously studying it before finally finding a method to refine it.
Drawing upon the power of spiritual arrays and ghost dao secret arts, and adapting a refining method from a demonic sect's banner formation, he refined the dark iron pillar into the ten poles of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners.
And on his next entry into Ziwei Palace, he finally subdued the Nine Nether Demonic Fire!
Because the true Nine Nether Demonic Fire was too overwhelmingly potent, Patriarch Kuiyin had actually relied on the intrinsic power of the dark iron pillar, using secret techniques to divide the flame and suppress each portion separately within the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners.
The Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were not truly evil demonic tools, but rather instruments crafted to control fire.
The Nine Nether Demonic Fire sealed inside each Ten Directions Yanluo Banner possessed only a fraction of the original flame's power; thus, when three, six, or ten banners formed an array, the manifested power increased accordingly.
Even with all ten magic treasures assembled, however, they could unleash only a portion of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire's true power.
Yet even a fraction of its power could contend with a top-grade magic treasure, showing just how terrifying the Nine Nether Demonic Fire truly was.
The name 'Nine Nether Demonic Fire' was coined by Patriarch Kuiyin himself. Even now, the Kuiyin Sect did not know its true name.
Even after scouring ancient records, no mention of such a demonic flame could be found, and never again did Patriarch Kuiyin discover a fire like the Nine Nether Demonic Fire anywhere else.
For this reason, when half of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners were destroyed back then, even Patriarch Kuiyin was unable to restore them during his lifetime. Yi Tiannie and the others had not even reached the Nascent Soul stage, making it even more impossible for them to find more of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire.
Without the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, one could not make bricks without straw. Even though Patriarch Kuiyin later managed to retrieve the other half of the dark iron pillar, it was useless.
Having learned the truth, Qin Sang abandoned the idea of forging a complete set of the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners.
Without the Nine Nether Demonic Fire, it was completely impossible. Patriarch Kuiyin had entered and exited Ziwei Palace several times over the years, yet had found only that single cluster.
Nevertheless, knowing that repairing the other two banners would rival a medium-grade magic treasure still filled Qin Sang with excitement.
This meant that while fellow cultivators of his stage were still worrying over low-grade magic treasures, he would possess a medium-grade magic treasure immediately upon forming his core.
After all, even among cultivators in the mid-Core Formation stage, only a minority possessed medium-grade magic treasures.
Factoring in the Flying Yaksha currently undergoing its transformation, Qin Sang believed he would not fear even mid-Golden Core opponents in the slightest, and could completely crush cultivators of his own stage!
Pondering all this, Qin Sang turned the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit over in his hands, reluctant to put it down.
A rich, exotic fragrance greeted his nose, and the cloudy wisps on the spiritual fruit's surface seemed to drift and shift in a wondrous fashion, sending waves of cool sensations through his fingertips.
"Senior, you were bluffing Yi Tiannie earlier, weren't you? I still need to consume this fruit to restore my foundation?"
Yunyouzi nodded slightly and replied, "Though the Three Light Jade Liquid is wondrous, it is ultimately only renowned as an elixir for healing wounds. Whether it can restore your foundation is something I had no certainty of either. Consuming the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit and applying the direct remedy remains the safer course. Regardless of whether the liquid worked or not, however, we could never allow him to hold it over us as a threat. Fortunately, this old Daoist still had some strength left to snatch the spiritual fruit for you."
"Senior speaks the truth..."
Qin Sang nodded in agreement. He too had previously resolved to forfeit the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit in order to slay Yi Tiannie, a choice that had aligned perfectly with Yunyouzi's thinking. "Thank you, Senior, for all your help along the way, allowing this junior to fulfill his wish. Senior, how is your current condition?"
Yunyouzi looked down at himself and shook his head. "I am afraid I will remain weakened for some time before I recover. Once we leave the ancient medicinal garden shortly, I will have to trouble Brother Qin to break through the restrictions on your own."
Chapter 588