Chapter 137: Human Emperor Banner

Forging.

In his past life, Lu Ye had forged a total of eight Heavenly Lord-grade weapons.

One for each person.

The Heavenly Lord-grade weapons that Shangguan Huanling used had all been borrowed from other Heavenly Lords. They weren’t just willing to lend them to Lu Ye—they were even willing to be slain by him. They were genuinely nice people.

As for his own Heavenly Lord weapon?

He hadn’t even had the time to forge one.

Looking back on it now, it was honestly funny. A Heavenly Lord without a Heavenly Lord weapon, while eight Empresses, regardless of what kind of people they were, each had one.

He really had been a goddamn purebred simp.

Of course, part of the reason he never forged a Heavenly Lord weapon was because of the stone sword’s fracture.

Lu Ye was someone who valued emotions deeply. The stone sword had accompanied him from the Foundation Core stage all the way to the Great Emperor Realm. It had become his Emperor weapon. But once it shattered, he gave up on using weapons altogether.

Forging Pool.

Blistering heat filled the entire cavern. Molten magma surged below, radiating a golden-red light.

Lu Ye took out a pile of various precious metals and formed hand seals with both hands.

“Boom!”

The True Flame of the Vermilion Bird shot skyward.

With the Vermilion Bird’s True Flame, he no longer needed to seek out all kinds of random divine fires. If he had others, fine; if not, he could just use the Dao to cultivate it. Sooner or later, the Vermilion Bird’s True Flame would reach the ultimate level of the Four Spirits of Heaven.

Zheng Tianhua watched as the chunks of rare metal melted into liquid. Beams of light were continuously branded into them, as Heaven and Earth spiritual energy frenziedly poured in.

The metals and spiritual energy fused through layers of strange marks, forming a unique integration.

There was none of that dramatic, hammer-striking clamor—only a seamless, natural evolution.

The stone sword buzzed, flying to the top of the forging pool. The liquid metal flowed toward it, wrapping around its form.

Little by little, the metal seeped into it. The stone sword vibrated non-stop.

Creak creak, happy!

The stone sword was a naturally formed treasure—once fully matured, it would reach the level of an innate spiritual treasure. If it evolved again, it could ascend to the rank of an innate supreme treasure.

There was no such thing as a postnatal version of it.

Originally, while the stone sword had been sharp, it had never reached the level of an innate spiritual treasure.

Now, Lu Ye was helping it reach full maturity.

Whoosh!

A powerful sword intent spread outward in all directions.

The stone cavern filled with countless sword marks. A peerlessly sharp aura burst forth from the stone sword.

Everything had flowed naturally.

The second item was the Myriad Souls Banner.

Lu Ye felt that the name Myriad Souls Banner sounded a bit unpleasant.

Maybe he could help rename it.

He planned to use it in the future to protect the human race. If it was going to protect humans, then wouldn’t renaming it to the Human Sovereign Banner be fitting?

Perfect!

As strands of black stone turned into liquid within the Vermilion Bird’s True Flame, the liquid emitted agonized wails, as though souls were trapped inside.

The black banner—way too ugly.

Lu Ye pondered for a moment, then quickly formed hand seals. A top-tier divine material, Gilded Divine Jade, was fused into the black liquid. The two substances reacted rapidly, and the black liquid began transforming into gold.

That golden luster—at first glance, it radiated a sense of righteousness and open grandeur.

The golden liquid stretched out, transforming into threads.

They began weaving across the tattered Human Sovereign Banner. A golden hue gradually spread across the banner, overtaking large sections. Black and gold shifted and blended.

In the end, a banner with a black background and golden dragon roared within the Vermilion Bird’s True Flame.

From afar, it looked like a battle flag—a military banner!

Zheng Tianhua watched this scene, his expression rather peculiar.

This...

If he hadn’t seen wrong, that thing had just been the Myriad Souls Banner, right?

Now it looked like this?

Who the hell had a Myriad Souls Banner that looked so upright and dignified?

Lu Ye stowed away the Human Sovereign Banner. Unfortunately, the souls inside hadn’t yet been refined into gold—so if he waved it now, it would still puff out clouds of eerie black smoke.

He would wait until he found the right materials—then he’d render the souls gold too.

When the Human Sovereign Banner was waved, golden light would flood the sky.

One after another, fierce spirits radiating golden brilliance—yet brimming with intense resentment from endless torment—would charge toward the enemy. The scene... was far too beautiful to behold.

“This is the Myriad Souls Banner?” Zheng Tianhua finally couldn’t hold back and asked.

“No. This is the Human Sovereign Banner.”

Lu Ye’s tone was [N O V E L I G H T] resolute.

Zheng Tianhua... Human Sovereign Banner, my ass. That was obviously the Myriad Souls Banner.

At present, the Human Sovereign Banner was also an innate spiritual treasure.

The final item Lu Ye was going to forge was a pill furnace.

That’s right—a pill furnace!

Which meant, if Daoist Qinghuo knew that Lu Ye had come to the Forging Summit to forge a pill furnace, he’d probably flip the entire Forging Summit upside down.

His entire connection with Lu Ye hinged on the Nine-Dragon Departing Flame Furnace. If Lu Ye forged his own pill furnace, it was clear he wouldn’t be going to Pill Summit anymore.

But ultimately, Lu Ye did need one.

A three-legged, two-eared pill furnace gradually took shape within the Vermilion Bird’s True Flame. In the forging pool, torrents of spiritual energy howled, and the essence of fire continuously tempered the furnace, purifying all impurities.

Eventually, it was complete.

On the surface of the pill furnace, a Vermilion Bird spread its wings—vivid and lifelike.

Its entire body glowed crimson, precious light dancing along its surface. Etched into the furnace walls were eighty-one great formations, each one linked to the next, their interconnectedness deeply profound.

It had become an innate spiritual treasure!

Zheng Tianhua was thoroughly stunned.

Innate spiritual treasure!

The two treasures forged earlier didn’t really count—those were already strong to begin with. One was being upgraded, the other repaired, so it was hard to assess Lu Ye’s true level of forging skill.

But now—this, from nothing to completion, in one seamless process—he’d forged a furnace that reached the level of an innate spiritual treasure. It was truly awe-inspiring.

Immeasurable Heavenly Lord! Freaking amazing!

“Peak Master Zheng, here are some notes I wrote on forging. If you find them useful, feel free to look them over. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave,” Lu Ye said.

Zheng Tianhua stared at the jade slip and hurried to persuade him to stay, but it was to no avail.

In his previous life, he had taken a long time to ascend to the Second Heaven because he’d been waiting for his Dao companion.

With nothing else to do, while waiting for Yue Hongling and the others, he had started teaching disciples of the Grand Dao Sect—and that was what led to the sect’s explosive growth in power.

But now he didn’t have to bring a few deadweights along for the ascension.

Naturally, Lu Ye had no time to waste lingering in the First Heaven.

From the current pace of things, he was already entering the countdown to his ascension.

Even though he was only at the eighth layer of the Combined Dao Realm.

Returning to his room—

Lu Ye began refining pills.

Before long, a fragrant medicinal aroma spread, flowers and grasses flourished, and within several kilometers around Lu Ye, life bloomed vibrantly.

After pill refinement, he cultivated.

On the ninth day—Combined Dao, ninth layer!

Accumulate. Accumulate. Accumulate.

And as expected, he reached the tenth layer of the Combined Dao Realm!

Grind, grind, grind.

It wasn’t that Lu Ye wanted to grind—he had no choice. Once he broke through to the Tribulation Crossing Realm, he would have to face unknown poisons. To stand a chance, he had to perfect his Combined Dao Realm first.

Only then could he better withstand the venom.

Speaking of which, Lu Ye still didn’t know exactly what kind of poison Shangguan Huanling had used on him.

Eight Empresses, eight poisons.

Whether it was the Celestial Zombie Poison or the Slaughter Lotus Heart, any of them might’ve obtained such things.

But the emergence of the Cycle of Obsession made Lu Ye smell the scent of conspiracy.

The Six Paths of Reincarnation were guarded by a Reincarnation Heavenly Lord.

Because of the immense merit earned in shaping the Six Paths, the Reincarnation Heavenly Lord existed in an extremely special state—above Heavenly Lords, beneath Saints, nearly undying and indestructible.

To steal the Cycle of Obsession from under his nose?

Practically impossible.

And Shangguan the Runner—no, Shangguan Huanling, the weakest of the Eight Empresses. No, she might not even be able to defeat a quasi-Emperor. For her to find a poison effective against a Heavenly Lord?

You could imagine how absurd that was.

Time to go ask Shangguan Huanling!