Chapter 39

After half a month, Xu Feiniang returned. Sanfeng and Dongxiu had been eagerly awaiting her return. Upon meeting, they first asked about the junior brother who had gone to the southwest to fetch the treasure. Xu Feiniang smiled and said, "My junior brother has already obtained the treasure, but on his way back, he encountered some people from the Emei Sect who tried to forcibly take it from him. He didn't want to bring the enemy here and create enmity between the Ziyun Palace and the Emei Sect, so he returned to Mount Wutai first and asked me to convey to all the palace mistresses that he will come to pay his respects after he has refined the treasure to the point where it is fully integrated with his spirit, making it impossible for others to snatch it away."

Sanfeng and Dongxiu, both harboring their own thoughts, immediately made many grand statements, saying that the junior brother was too distant and that in the future, if he encountered such matters, he should just come to the Ziyun Palace, and no matter how arrogant the Emei Sect was, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly again. Then, they changed the subject and asked about Yue Qing, especially about the black jade gourd.

Xu Feiniang truthfully told them, "That gourd was refined by a traitor in our sect, named the Six-Six True Essence Gourd, but only a small part of it was completed. Not long ago, Junior Brother Yue killed the traitor, and the treasure fell into his hands. He then refined it into the Six Ding Six Jia Divine Demon Gourd, which contains the Six Ding Six Jia Divine Demons, capable of flying through the air, diving into the earth, moving mountains, and overturning seas, with endless transformations." Seeing the look of longing on their faces, she added, "Junior Brother Yue is extremely upright and has never liked such demonic methods. When he first obtained it, he even thought about destroying it. He always wears the gourd on his body but rarely uses it. He also said that after he cultivates to the stage of forming a spirit embryo, he will use our sect's profound techniques to liberate the divine demons and restore their original spirits, then send them to be reborn."

"That's such a waste!" Dongxiu pouted. "Such a powerful magical treasure, who knows how much time and effort it took to refine it, and he wants to destroy it!" She shook her head. "For us, even a lesser treasure would be hard to come by, and he wants to destroy one he already has. Sister Xu, you should talk to Junior Brother Yue. When he no longer wants the gourd, he could give it to me."

"He wants to liberate the divine demons on the gourd and won't give it to just anyone," Xu Feiniang said, taking Dongxiu's hand. "Sister, don't worry. If you lack magical treasures, it's simple. Junior Brother Yue is the best in our Wutai Sect at refining magical treasures. He can help you refine several powerful demonic treasures that are both easy to use and highly effective, far surpassing your Dragon Sparrow Ring by a hundred times."

Dongxiu's heart raced, but she still demurred, "Junior Brother Yue is a guest from afar. How can I trouble him so much?"

Xu Feiniang became unhappy. "We are like sisters, and Junior Brother Yue is like my own younger brother. Why be so formal? I'll take charge of this! I'll take you to find him, and see if he dares to refuse!"

With that, she pulled Dongxiu to Daxiong Reef, with Sanfeng closely following behind. When they arrived, Yue Qing was instructing Wu Fan in sword techniques. He had given Wu Fan the Black Calamity Sword, which he had taken from Yan Shi after killing him. The Black Calamity Sword had been refined by Yan Shi using the Secret Yin Techniques for over two hundred years, making it a hundred times better than Wu Fan's previous flying sword. Wu Fan was overjoyed and was practicing the techniques Yue Qing had taught him to integrate the sword with his spirit.

Xu Feiniang brought Dongxiu in and explained the situation.

Yue Qing smiled and said, "Sister, with the friendship between us and the warm hospitality you've shown me, refining treasures is no problem. It's not just two or three; even ten or eight wouldn't be an issue! However, to refine treasures, materials are needed. As the saying goes, even a skilled housewife can't cook without rice. No matter how skilled I am, I can't create treasures out of thin air."

Dongxiu quickly said, "Whatever the Ziyun Palace has, just ask! I will definitely give my heartfelt thanks when it's done!"

Yue Qing waved his hand. "There's no need for thanks between us! However, while the Ziyun Palace is beautiful, there are few materials suitable for refining immortal treasures. If you want some ordinary flying knives or flying forks, that wouldn't be difficult, but they wouldn't be of much use to you."

"Then... what materials do you need, Daoist friend? I'll search for them, even if it means going to the heavens or the earth!"

Yue Qing thought for a moment. "Actually, it's not too difficult. I can use the five corpse demons from Yan Shi to refine a Five Yin Demon Banner for you."

"Five Yin Demon!" Xu Feiniang exclaimed in surprise.

Sanfeng and Dongxiu were very curious. "What is the Five Yin Demon? It must be a great treasure to make Sister Xu so flustered."

Xu Feiniang explained, "The Five Yin Demon is one of the ten mountain demons of the Northern Demon Sect! Once refined, it is invisible and intangible, immune to any blade, water, fire, wind, or lightning. It can fly through the air, dive into the earth, and do anything. It can easily devour souls and spirits, and even a celestial immortal about to ascend would be captured if they don't have a treasure to counter it."

Dongxiu's face lit up with joy. "If so, Daoist friend Yue, please tell us the materials, and we will go search for them."

Yue Qing thought for a moment and said, "Corpse demons have form and substance, while Yin demons are formless and intangible. To refine corpse demons into Yin demons requires a great deal of effort. First, 365 kinds of immortal herbs must be boiled into a spiritual broth, and the corpse demons must be refined nine times to become formless. Then, using the blood of a living person as a guide, 108 kinds of spiritual herbs must be refined into a demon-summoning pill to gather the demons and prevent them from escaping. Since Yin demons are formless and intangible, ordinary materials cannot contain them, so the banner must be made with Gouli Fire Jade for the pole, silk from a thousand-year-old fire silkworm for the fabric, refined Xuanjin for the rim, Xuanhuang Dragon Sand for the ink, and Xuanlang hair for the brush. After the calligraphy is completed, the entire banner must be refined with spiritual herbs three times. The rest doesn't require any materials; I just need to spend 18 days of hard work to make the Yin demons permanently reside on the banner and be controllable."

In fact, for Yue Qing, refining the Five Yin Demon Banner wasn't so complicated. He just needed to combine the five corpse demons with the Five Ghosts Soul-Stealing Banner. In fact, he had already started refining it and had completed a small part in the past few days. The materials he asked Dongxiu for were carefully chosen with Xu Feiniang, and the Ziyun Palace had them all, though a few were quite rare and valuable. They wanted to see if Dongxiu, with her status in the palace, could provide these items.

Wu Fan, who was very adept at handling tasks, had already prepared bamboo paper on a side table and recorded all the materials Yue Qing mentioned. He then cut them into small pages, bound them into a thick little book, and presented it to Dongxiu.

Dongxiu held it in her hands, cradled it to her chest, and said happily, "Most of the things Brother Yue mentioned are in the Ziyun Palace. I'll go search for them right away, and whatever we have, I'll bring over tomorrow!" She pulled Xu Feiniang and Sanfeng. "Sisters, come help me choose. I don't want to waste effort searching outside if we already have them here!"

Sanfeng also wanted to test Yue Qing's abilities and, since Dongxiu was always on her side, was happy to see her obtain a powerful treasure. She strongly supported the idea and took Dongxiu to the various medicine palaces sealed by immortal techniques to collect the herbs. In just half a day, they gathered everything and sent Wu Fan to deliver them to Daxiong Reef.

Dongxiu was still a bit nervous. "Fortunately, the heavens favored us, and we had all these things in the Ziyun Palace. Otherwise, I would have had to go to the three mountains and four seas to gather herbs, and who knows how long it would have taken."

Xu Feiniang chatted with her for a while, then changed the subject, saying in front of Sanfeng, "Sister Dongxiu, there are some things I must mention. It's been over thirty years since I last saw Junior Brother Yue. Although we have a bond from our past as fellow disciples, he is not like me. We are like sisters, and when you asked me to help refine the youth-preserving elixir, I didn't hesitate and put all my effort into it to show our bond. However, this is Junior Brother Yue's first visit here, and I know refining the Five Yin Demon Banner is very labor-intensive. Just the process of steaming and drying so many herbs to make the elixirs is very demanding, and the Yin demons are cunning, so a slight mistake could lead to a disaster. Do you understand what I mean, Sister Dongxiu?"

Dongxiu was taken aback and said, "Sister, you make it sound so serious. I know refining treasures is hard work, and I wouldn't let Junior Brother Yue do it for nothing. When the treasure is completed, he can choose any rare treasures from the palace..."

Xu Feiniang smiled. "What kind of person is Junior Brother Yue? He wouldn't pick his own reward."

"Then I'll choose a few things for him myself!"

Xu Feiniang shook her head slightly. "Do you know that the Five Yin Demon Banner was a great treasure of the Northern Demon Sect? Now that the Northern Demon Sect is gone, the only person who can refine such a banner is Junior Brother Yue. Giving him a few pieces of gold, jade, or spiritual herbs won't make him say anything, but I, as his senior sister, would feel wronged for him!"

Dongxiu understood Xu Feiniang's meaning. She also thought that she should give Yue Qing some thanks, but she was used to being frugal and didn't have much to offer. After a moment of thought, she said, "In that case, I will transcribe a copy of the Heavenly Demon Secret Manual that I obtained from Yue'er Island for him."