Chapter 46: Formation of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner (First Update)
The entire Pu Gao Farm fell into unprecedented chaos, with the mass death of the pigs also allowing the Soul Summoning Banner to gain a vast number of Yin Souls.
Half an hour later, there was not a single living pig left in the entire Pu Gao Farm.
A full four million pigs had been annihilated by the Mica Yin Vein Poison.
At this time, several dozen centipedes also returned, carrying the Soul Summoning Banner back to Su Jie's side.
Ominous and bizarre silhouettes of Yin Souls emerged on the Soul Summoning Banner brimming with a vast number of souls, their eerie and hollow gazes penetrating the fabric of the banner, watching over all living beings on the outside.
"Over ten thousand Yin Souls, I've struck it rich overnight!"
Su Jie was overjoyed in his heart, as the Soul Summoning Banners now stored more than ten thousand Yin Souls.
It was a number that would have taken Mu Hua Company a long time to accumulate, but now it had been accomplished all at once by Yikang Company.
Picking up the Soul Summoning Banners, he summoned all of the Yin Souls within.
Whoosh whoosh.
The space around Su Jie became oppressively heavy, as the howling apparitions of Yin Souls spontaneously gathered and took their positions, forming a Yin Soul Blood Nether Array.
Within the Formation, an extremely gloomy mist drifted, with each Yin Soul linking and fitting together, transforming into myriad soul-killing blades, their piercing screams and maniacal laughter reverberating across the wild.
At the same time, a vaguely visible Void Door cracked open in the sky, revealing an ancient world the size of hundreds of acres within.
Vaguely visible inside was a sky filled with bloodlight, endless crimson fog swirling, waves of putrid air nauseating to the sense, and sanguine blood collected into a small river.
Above the Blood River, an old wooden bridge spanned across.
On the bridge railing, dozens of corpses hung, and in the river human remains—torso remnants, organs, limbs, heads—bobbed and floated…
This blood-veiled, ghastly domain of the Blood River was but the tip of the iceberg of the true might of the Yin Souls.
When the number of Yin Souls reaches ten thousand, they automatically huddle together for warmth, forming various mysteries—a natural instinct like ants building nests, no learning necessary.
A large congregation of Yin Souls, driven by their obsessions, created their own dwelling place, the blood-colored world Su Jie had just seen, which essentially amounted to a horrifying Formation constructed by the Yin Souls.
Yin Souls in essence are souls, and when there are enough of them, they can turn illusion into reality, creating various realistic and illusory terrifying Array Maps.
Any living being caught within would have their soul scattered and reduced to ashes across the aeons.
Currently, ten thousand Yin Souls represented one level, a hundred thousand another qualitative change, and a million another level of might.
Legend has it that during ancient times, there was a coalition of Demon Cultivator sects that slaughtered countless living beings, amassing hundreds of millions of Yin Souls, to construct the formidable eighteen levels of hell, intending to turn the entire Tianyuan World into a collecting ground for souls, to have every deceased being's soul collected and then transformed into Yin Souls.
In battle, each level of the eighteen levels of hell was an extreme killing Formation, possessing the might to subdue gods and immortals.
Of course, rumors are just rumors, and who knows whether they are true or not.
Watching the Blood Nether Array constructed by the Yin Souls, Su Jie, as the controller, felt a chill over his whole body, and his soul trembled slightly.
It should be noted that Su Jie's soul had been strengthened by cultivating the Enlightenment Returning Ruins Skill, yet even his spirit was inevitably affected.
Even without trying to fight, Su Jie could sense the power of this great Formation.
"With this, the true power of the Yin Souls is revealed."
Su Jie could hardly hide his shock in his heart, no wonder each disciple of the Heavenly Soul Sect carries a Soul Summoning Banner.
A small number of Yin Souls hold no advantage against Cultivators and can even be utterly defeated one-sidedly.
But with numbers, even to the extent of gathering into a great Array like Su Jie had done, the power becomes something else entirely.
Ultimately, all Yin Souls were stored by Su Jie in a Soul Summoning Banner, no, it should now be called the Ten Thousand Soul Banner.
The newly formed Ten Thousand Soul Banner looked even more eerie, its fabric soaked with the hue of blood, vaguely revealing a blood-colored river raging and roaring, its rich scent of blood wafting out as if the Blood River truly existed.
"All the Blood Marrow Crystal I spent was worth it."
A slight smile played on the corners of Su Jie's mouth. The Corpse Scale Worms he had acquired at a high price from Tang Peiqing had not only bankrupted the most important asset of Yikang Company but also helped him complete the formation of the Ten Thousand Soul Banner—a double victory indeed.
Glancing in the direction of Pu Gao Farm, Su Jie sneered, "Yikang Company, I hope you will appreciate this return gift."
............
Inside a high-end private club in Xinzheng City.
Yu Duanchong was entertaining a group of guests.
"Mr. Ding, then we have an agreement," Yu Duanchong said, his face sporting a cordial smile as he held his drink.
"Haha, rest assured, Mr. Yu, since you are willing to take over the quota, I will halt the supply to Mu Hua Company for the time being," replied the smiling Mr. Ding. He was a grain merchant from Xiping Province, dealing mainly in common livestock feed materials like corn, soybean meal, and wheat bran, and he was a major supplier for both Mu Hua Company and Yikang Company.
Because Mu Hua had its own pig feed processing factory, it would usually purchase raw materials and process them into feed for pigs.
A disruption in supply would certainly make it difficult to find a new channel in the short term. Even if one were found, transporting large quantities from other regions would push up the breeding costs, as would purchasing feed from other companies.
Yu Duanchong then turned his attention to another man, whispering, "The stocks your wife owns in the United States, I've already taken care of that, take a look at this..."
Lu Pinghu raised his glass and clinked it against Yu Duanchong's, then spoke slowly, "Your points were valid earlier; our department has received a lot of complaints, indicating Mu Hua Company's pollution is indeed serious! Later our environmental bureau will issue a document - it's time for reforms and fines, we can't let these big companies recklessly pollute our green waters and hills."
The smile on Yu Duanchong's face deepened as his gaze shifted to the other guests, who were all important figures in sectors related to Mu Hua Company.
This was the combination punch he had prepared for Mu Hua Company. When they all struck together, Mu Hua Company would either be crippled or at least severely wounded.
Just as Yu Duanchong was preparing to continue his persuasion, his mobile phone inconveniently rang.
The phones of the other guests also rang one after another. After answering, their faces showed odd shifts in expression.
Less than a minute into the call, Yu Duanchong's face turned forbiddingly dark. He hurriedly put down his phone, "Gentlemen, my company has had an emergency, and I must rush back immediately. I'm really sorry. This meal is on me—enjoy yourselves without holding back."
Mr. Ding cleared his throat and said, "Mr. Yu, upon reflection, I believe in doing business with integrity. I fear I won't be able to help with Mu Hua Company anymore."
He had his own sources of information and was already aware of what had happened at Yikang's Pu Gao Farm.
Lu Pinghu said coolly, "Regarding the issuance of the document, our environmental bureau needs to conduct further investigation. We cannot simply take the complaint at face value, can we?"
A bank chairman, looking very distressed, stood up, "Chairman Yu, the loan policy has been tightened recently, and about the 2.2 billion Yikang borrowed last time..."
"Chairman Chen, we'll talk about this later. I need to go back to handle company affairs right now," Yu Duanchong said, before rushing out as if he were fleeing. On his way out, he stumbled and fell, gashing his forehead, but he barely paid attention to the injury, quickly getting up with the help of his secretary and leaving straight away.
In the room, a group of people exchanged glances. Finally, someone whispered,
"Old Yu has suffered such a heavy loss this time, he may not make it through. We should all prepare accordingly."
For a moment, the thoughts of those present diverged.
Even though they had been jovial just before, now that they witnessed Yu Duanchong's fall, they were all thinking about how to distance themselves and recoup their losses. When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter; it was no different in this case.