Chapter 177: Even More Terrifying

Yeah, it really was stuffed.

Even though the Banner of the Human Emperor had been refined by Lu Ye, at its core, it was still only an innate spiritual treasure. It had now advanced into a postnatal supreme treasure—

But that still wasn’t enough. Not even close.

Back when the Heavenly Demon Emperor wielded the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, what kinds of souls did it absorb?

Weak devils. Weak humans.

You could say that even finding a single Soul Condensation cultivator inside was rare beyond belief.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner had been starved.

If any of its fellow banners were still around, they’d be laughing their fabric off—Look at this loser! Just look at the crap you’ve been eating!

But the situation was different now.

It had transformed—from Ten Thousand Souls Banner into Banner of the Human Emperor.

Ever since the name change, it felt like its entire destiny had shifted.

It started as an innate spiritual treasure. And then? Soul after soul, stuffed into its belly.

Soul Condensation? Tribulation Crossing? Scattered Gods? Strong, weak—it didn’t matter. Lu Ye just shoveled them in.

For the first time in its existence, the Banner of the Human Emperor felt full. Actually satiated.

After some digestion, it had followed its master into the Second Heaven—and holy hell.

Its master had lost his mind!

It was just an innate spiritual treasure, but Lu Ye was using it like it was a primal chaos artifact! No, even a primal chaos artifact wouldn’t be abused like this!

Great Ascension souls. True Lord souls. Earth Immortal souls. Heavenly God souls—

What divine merit had it ever earned to deserve a feast of Heavenly God souls?

It had only just evolved into a postnatal supreme treasure, and it foolishly thought it could handle more...

What a delusion.

An absolute delusion.

Hundreds of thousands of powerful cultivator souls.

The banner was scared shitless.

It had to evolve again. It needed to evolve again!

To do that, it would need eight Main Souls. Once it acquired them, its power would skyrocket.

But selecting Main Souls couldn’t be done lightly. It had to be cautious.

Right now, it was only satisfied with one—it didn’t even know the name, only that it was some guy with a spear.

Still needed seven more. Where to find—

Just then, nine figures emerged from all directions, surrounding Lu Ye.

The Banner of the Human Emperor froze.

One, two, three, four... Nine?!

It had just been stressing about not having enough candidates—and now suddenly nine popped up?

And they all looked like perfect Main Soul material!

Lu Ye stopped walking.

He recognized these people.

Some of them... had even once exchanged nods with him in passing.

But that was all from the previous life.

A faint ripple stirred in Lu Ye’s heart. His voice, however, remained ice-cold.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“Oh? And why’s that?” Xu Tianhe asked casually, a smile playing on his lips.

“You’ll die.”

Lu Ye’s tone was flat, like stating a fact.

They would die.

“Hahahahaha...”

Elder Baijie burst out laughing. His voice thundered, hearty and wild.

“Nine of the Heavenly God Rankings’ elites joining forces to kill a single man—this has never happened since the rankings were created. Do you even understand what the rankings mean? With nine of us, you have no chance. Not even a sliver. You’re absolutely, utterly doomed!”

The nine auras gathered—murderous intent ready to explode at any second.

Lu Ye let out a faint sigh.

A sigh for the lives of former acquaintances.

And then—

Heavenly Venerable Fist!

BOOM!

A single fist shadow drifted lazily toward Elder Baijie, tearing through the air. Where it passed, the fabric of space split into countless hairline fractures—tiny, but enough to showcase its devastating power.

“Shit!” Wang Canghai’s face darkened. He thrust out a finger toward the fist shadow.

Boom!

His finger ray shattered.

A sword light slashed toward the fist—it shattered too.

Elder Baijie let out a roar that shook the skies.

“Hundred Tribulations Undying!”

In that instant, countless runes lit up on his body, reinforcing every inch of him.

He hurled his fists, crackling with lightning, pouring his full strength into a direct clash with Lu Ye’s attack.

BOOM!

Lightning exploded.

Runes collapsed.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

A single strike—instant kill.

That was the Heavenly Venerable Fist.

No matter your technique or power, one punch breaks all.

Nothing withstands it. Nothing survives it.

The sheer devastation stunned the remaining eight.

What the actual hell?!

Was this even human?

Someone instantly regretted coming. If they’d known Lu Ye was this strong, they wouldn’t have stepped foot within a thousand miles.

“All together!”

Seven figures charged forward—one turned and bolted at full speed. Screw this! He wasn’t fighting anymore. Whoever wanted to die could do it without him.

Lu Ye met the seven remaining attackers head-on with his sword.

BOOM!

In an instant, a storm of unimaginable energy erupted.

But within moments—Lu Ye was pushed into a disadvantage. Genuinely.

Since his rebirth, this was the first time Lu Ye had been forced into a losing position.

So—time for something more.

On top of the Silkworm Nine Transformations—he added another burst!

The wild storm of spiritual force abruptly collapsed—half ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ of it was forcibly sucked into Lu Ye’s body.

His flesh tore open, blood gushed forth. His Nascent Soul body expanded drastically, even cracking in places.

But it didn’t matter.

Heavenly God First Layer!

As Lu Ye broke through to the first layer of the Heavenly God Realm, three Lu Yes stepped forward in unison.

All of them—Heavenly God First Layer.

Three Heavenly Venerable Fists, one Supreme Sword Slash.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Destruction.

Two powerhouses were instantly obliterated. One more was nearly cleaved in two. Xu Tianhe vomited a stream of blood mixed with organs. His body fractured like shattered porcelain, skidding across the ground and gouging out a massive trench.

He had taken a direct hit from a Heavenly Venerable Fist.

Though he hadn’t died on the spot, his aura had nearly vanished. He couldn’t even crawl anymore.

But surviving even one blow from the Heavenly Venerable Fist—was testament to his terrifying strength.

In the blink of an eye, of the nine elite cultivators, only three remained with any fighting ability.

The four Lu Yes turned to look at them.

“I surrender! Don’t kill me—I surrender!” one of the three cried out in terror.

The other two were equally horrified, their guts frozen with fear.

What the hell is this monster?!

He’d already used a burst-type secret technique—and then layered another burst on top?!

What kind of freak was this?!

So this was what it meant to be Rank One on the Myriad Ancient Geniuses Ranking?!

But to Lu Ye—“surrender” wasn’t a word that existed.

Not in this life.

If someone came to kill him, would surrender ever spare him?

Obviously not.

So now—why would he spare anyone?

Three Lu Yes lunged forward.

Meanwhile, Lu Ye’s true body walked up to Xu Tianhe.

Xu Tianhe’s chest was rising and falling violently. He was exhaling more than he was inhaling—on the verge of death.

His eyes were wide, still reeling in shock from what he’d just witnessed.

What... what even is this?

Why?

Why did it turn out like this?

In their past life, Lu Ye and Xu Tianhe had once fought side by side.

“Go,” Lu Ye said. “The Eight Desolation Sect will not be destroyed.”

Xu Tianhe’s eyes widened even further.

That meant—Lu Ye still had accounts to settle.

A single sword cut through the air.

Xu Tianhe’s head rolled. His body fell apart.

Even his Nascent Soul was shredded by sword intent.

And as for the remaining three?

There was no way any of them could survive against Lu Ye at the Heavenly God First Layer.

Nine great powerhouses had joined forces to slay one man.

In mere moments—

Eight dead. One fled.