The White Bone Venerable was one of the six great venerables of the Wuyue Sect and knew much. His Divine Soul's restrictions had already been removed, so naturally, he could not be allowed to just die.

Yuan Ming pressed his palm on the head of the White Bone Venerable, activated the Soul Searching Divine Ability, and quickly withdrew his hand, his expression turning grave.

The White Bone Venerable was now gravely injured and on the brink of death, his Divine Soul exceptionally weak. Moreover, having been split in two earlier and due to the collapse of the azure runes, much of his memory was destroyed.

However, the remaining memories still contained several crucial pieces of information, including why the White Bone Venerable and others gathered large numbers of cultivators' and even mortals' Divine Souls.

This matter was personally commanded by the Wuyue God, whose purpose for requiring so many Divine Souls was for recovery.

The last time the Wuyue Sect was overwhelmed and destroyed by the forces from all over the Yunhuang Continent, the Wuyue God suffered a near-fatal blow and had been sleeping for tens of thousands of years before gradually awakening. To this day, he had not fully recovered, which was why he needed a great number of souls for replenishment.

"So that's why the Wuyue Sect announced its return so long ago, yet it has only been making minor moves, never showing the Wuyue God himself. The reason is he has not fully awakened yet..." Yuan Ming murmured to himself.

Besides this astonishing news, he discovered another important piece of information: Ni Mu's entry into the Three Immortals Island was also dispatched by the Wuyue God.

Ni Mu's purpose, like Xi Ying's, was for the Undying Immortal Fruit. The Wuyue God planned to use the Undying Immortal Fruit to refine the Immortal Elixir to expedite his recovery process.

Moreover, according to the memories of the White Bone Venerable, Ni Mu had already obtained the Undying Immortal Fruit.

Yuan Ming furrowed his brows, considering whether to inform Chang Chun Temple and other high-ranking individuals across the regions of the Yunhuang Continent, to gather an army and strike at the Wuyue Sect while the Wuyue God was not yet fully awakened...

At that moment, the Shura Blood Devouring Map beside him suddenly started to tremble, emitting strands of chaotic Blood Light.

"What is happening? Oh no!" Qi Ye cried out in alarm, emerging from the form on the Shura Blood Devouring Map, his hands moving quickly in a spellcasting gesture, trying to stabilize something.

"What has happened?" Yuan Ming shifted the White Bone Venerable to one side and asked in a deep voice.

"This Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner of yours is too sinister; it is actually devouring blood slaves within the Shura Blood Devouring Map! How could I have forgotten? The blood slaves inside the map are all skeletal in form, brimming with vitality, the perfect nourishment for your Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner!" Qi Ye said vexingly, his hand movements becoming even faster.

Hearing this, Yuan Ming inwardly cursed Qi Ye for his carelessness and immediately lent a hand.

He shot out several strands of Undying Tree Roots from his palm, which entered the Shura Blood Devouring Map, entangling the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner and pulling it outward.

However, the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner seemed crazed, firmly biting into the Shura Blood Devouring Map. No matter how much it was pulled, it would not budge.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming got anxious and quickly weighed his options before summoning the Thunder God Hammer and the God Bombarding Cone.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, you must not! Now that the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner and the Shura Blood Devouring Map are connected, rashly using thunderous methods will hurt both treasures," Qi Ye hurriedly intervened.

"Then what should we do?" Yuan Ming stopped and asked.

"I have a method that might be worth risking," Qi Ye said, his eyes flashing as he suddenly spoke. This сhаptеr wаs mаdе pоssiblе by thе соmmunity аt

Before Yuan Ming could respond, Qi Ye's form merged into the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

Yuan Ming frowned but remained silent, not wanting to disturb him.

The Blood Light on the Shura Blood Devouring Map continued to flash, but it gradually calmed down, no longer as violently chaotic as before.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming's heart, which he had been holding, was slightly eased, as it seemed Qi Ye's method was starting to work.

Time gradually passed, and half a day turned in a blink of an eye, the Shura Blood Devouring Map had already stabilized completely, but there was still no movement from the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner and Qi Ye.

Yuan Ming, exercising patience, waited some more, but Qi Ye still had no movements.

His brows furrowed tightly, and just as he was about to send a message to inquire, a flash of white light crossed the screen, and the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner flew out, hovering mid-air.

The Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner exhibited a crystalline color, emitting strands of white spirit light, seeming much more powerful than before.

Yuan Ming was slightly startled, activated his Divine Sense to probe, and his eyes lit up.

An Artifact Spirit had emerged within the White Bone Banner, and it was exceptionally powerful.

"No, this Artifact Spirit is Elder San Jue!" At first, Yuan Ming was delighted, but then once he realized the true nature of the Artifact Spirit, his face fell.

Elder San Jue was his greatest gain inside the secret realm of the Three Immortals Island, only to have been transformed into an Artifact Spirit!

"That's right, I just refined Elder San Jue's Divine Soul into the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner, turning it into an Artifact Spirit. This Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner has just been repaired and needs a significant amount of Primordial Qi to replenish, which is why it suddenly lashed out to devour the blood slaves in the Shura Blood Devouring Map. Only by completing its missing Artifact Spirit could we calm it down; otherwise, if we let it continue devouring, the Shura Blood Devouring Map would also be in jeopardy. Please understand, Fellow Daoist," Qi Ye said, bowing.

Yuan Ming's expression turned sour, but since the event had already occurred, getting angry was useless. Moreover, considering the importance of the Shura Blood Devouring Map for Body Cultivation, Qi Ye's decision was not incorrect.

"This incident was also unexpected; I don't blame you, Fellow Daoist Qi Ye, but please exercise more caution in the future," he said, forcibly suppressing his anger and speaking slowly.

Qi Ye nodded, relieved and also inwardly regretting.

He told Yuan Ming that the Shura Blood Devouring Map could refine Artifact Spirits, intending to do Yuan Ming a favor and foster a closer relationship, but it backfired unexpectedly.

"How many Blood Slaves are left inside the Shura Blood Devouring Map?" Yuan Ming pondered, then asked.

"Aside from Blood Shadow and Hong Ling, who were released by you, all other Blood Slaves have been devoured by the White Bone Banner," Qi Ye said somewhat awkwardly.

Yuan Ming frowned and activated his Divine Sense to probe into the Shura Blood Devouring Map.

The Blood Bones inside had indeed vanished completely, but fortunately, the runes and the core of the map were intact, not affecting its ability to refine Essence Blood.

"These are the magic treasures from those Blood Slaves, and they are not damaged." Qi Ye waved his hand, and suddenly a small pile of magic treasures clattered to the ground, including Elder San Jue's wine gourd and a set of cyan Flying Swords.

Yuan Ming swept these magic treasures, and the Shura Blood Devouring Map into his sleeve and after a moment of silence, he gave a wry smile.

He had originally intended to add an Artifact Spirit to the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner but hadn't expected to lose almost all the Blood Slaves in the Shura Blood Devouring Map in the process.

Fortunately, this incident confirmed the efficacy of Qi Ye's method. The Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner was refined, and he acquired his second real Spiritual Treasure.

Yuan Ming took the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner and inspected it, finally revealing a trace of happiness on his face.

Having devoured a large number of Blood Slaves, especially powerful ones like Elder San Jue and Jia Sifang, the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner had fully recovered. Its surface was fully restored, and radiated with a smooth, penetrative sense from inside out.

With Elder San Jue as the Artifact Spirit, the power of the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner had increased significantly.

The only imperfection was that Elder San Jue's consciousness had already been erased earlier, making him far less agile as an Artifact Spirit compared to Qi Ye.

Yuan Ming wasn't concerned about this matter; he was wary of overly shrewd Artifact Spirits.

He performed the incantation for refining the Ghostly Soul White Bone Banner, quickly refining twenty-four runes and collected them.

He then reached out and the body of the White Bone Venerable flew over.

Yuan Ming scanned it, frowning.

He had been focused on the Shura Blood Devouring Map just now, and the White Bone Venerable's final trace of life essence had dissipated, but fortunately, its Divine Soul hadn't completely collapsed yet.

He swiftly took out a blood-colored armor, the Blood Puppet Armor, and pointed an incantation at it.

A stream of still-warm fresh blood flew out from the White Bone Venerable's body and merged into the Blood Puppet Armor, causing it to emit a strong Blood Light before it vanished, then reappeared on the White Bone Venerable's body, fitting itself perfectly.

As Yuan Ming activated the Blood Puppet Armor and refined the White Bone Venerable, he also took out the Bone Dragon Corpse, integrating it into the Blood Puppet Armor, replenishing the Venerable's Mana.

Now that Elder San Jue had unexpectedly become an Artifact Spirit, and lacking a powerful combatant, he decided to refine the White Bone Venerable into the Blood Puppet Armor.

This method was slightly inconsistent with the Blood Puppet Armor's principle. Still, since the White Bone Venerable had just died and its Divine Soul had not yet collapsed, there was hope for success.

Half a day passed in the blink of an eye, and Yuan Ming stopped his actions, his expression becoming more relaxed.

The late-stage Nascent Soul level Power and Divine Soul of the White Bone Venerable had all been integrated into the Blood Puppet Armor, replacing a previously mid-stage Nascent Soul Cultivator. Now, any person refining this armor would immediately transform into a late-stage Great Cultivator.

Yuan Ming collected the Blood Puppet Armor into his sleeve, closing his eyes to perform Breathing Control for a while, then continued circulating the Moonlight Technique to refine the Desire Power within his Divine Soul.

After a few days, the issue of his loosely bound Soul Power had significantly eased.

However, just as he was preparing to end his closed-door cultivation, an influx of newly gathered Desire Power unexpectedly reached a new peak. He failed to notice in time, allowing an excess of Desire Power to enter his Sea of Consciousness and violently impact his Divine Soul, which had just started to stabilize but then once again became loosely bound.

Yuan Ming was taken aback, and after a flurry of emergency adjustments, he finally had time to look into the source of this influx of Desire Power.

When he realized it all came from Wan Tianren and their complete eradication of the Wu Yue Sect's forces on other islands in the East Sea during a celebration event, he couldn't help but feel a mix of laughter and tears.

Fortunately, these events ultimately caused him no further harm. Though he couldn't absorb the excess Desire Power at once, it could still be stored in the White Jade Lotus Platform. So, Yuan Ming didn't interfere with the celebration event.

Still, his closed-door cultivation had been prolonged, and due to the injection of a large amount of Desire Power, the halo around the White Jade Lotus Platform, without anyone noticing, became increasingly bright.

...

Half a month later.

The fluctuations of Soul Power within Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness had become even more stable, and his overloaded Divine Soul had returned to a normal state, gradually becoming solid and stable once more.

And after this period of settling, the influx of Desire Power from the outside world was no longer as fierce as when he had just broken through Fusang Island. Though still vast, it no longer caught Yuan Ming off-guard with an excessive influx of Desire Power causing his Divine Soul to become loosely bound.

Grateful hearts are sincere, but only a few sustain their gratitude over time. Once the peak of the wave passes, what remains is merely a steady, delicate flow of continuous remembrance.

However, even this delicate flow is likely not to last long, as the belief of the Cultivators of the East Sea in gratitude is far more illusory than feelings of appreciation, and the time it endures may also not be lengthy.

If Yuan Ming wished to steadily gain Desire Power output, there were indeed ways to accomplish it.