"Master, spare my life, Master." The Netherworld Banner shrieked, its voice filled with agony and despair, "If you refine and devour me, the Netherworld Banner will be useless."

"If it's useless, then it's useless. The Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda is already broken anyway, so what good are you?" Lei Dong's eyes burned with fierce resentment as he roared, "Besides, I'm not entirely ignorant of artifact refinement. I can install a new artifact spirit inside the Netherworld Banner, perhaps Mei Xiang, for instance."

The Netherworld Banner was truly desperate this time; it detected not a shred of reluctance in its Master's voice. It seemed that the peerless supreme treasure, the Netherworld Banner, was worth absolutely nothing in his eyes. It screamed inwardly, Damn it, I must have struck eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into such a tyrannical, unreasonable Master. Which of the previous owners who possessed her hadn't treated her like a queen, terrified that she wouldn't exert her full power for them? But this Master—he actually believed that the renowned, fearsome artifact was less valuable than a little girl who hadn't even fully matured? A tragedy, an absolute tragedy! Where did I fall short of her?

"Master," Mei Xiang whispered weakly, "Although the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda is broken, it... it seems to have fused with the Master. I... I can sense it. So, please, just for now, spare Big Sister Netherworld Banner."

"Hmm? Fused with me." Lei Dong was somewhat perplexed. How could the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda have merged with him? His divine sense involuntarily relaxed a fraction.

Seeing even a sliver of a chance to survive, the Netherworld Banner dared not show any arrogance. Fearing Mei Xiang hadn't explained clearly enough, she hurriedly recounted everything that had happened, weeping and shouting as she spoke.

Although Lei Dong found the explanation a bit confusing, he understood that after the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda was damaged, it had been integrated into his body and nascent soul via his Netherworld Body Tempering Art. The only question was what exactly this fusion would entail.

"Master, your divine soul... it seems to harbor a powerful devouring force. If you didn't possess this ability before, perhaps, could it be..." The Netherworld Banner grasped this last slender thread of hope and began spouting possibilities, hoping to divert the attention of her overwhelmingly domineering Master.

Lei Dong paused to consider it—that was indeed a possibility. Although his divine sense had always been potent, it had never possessed any devouring capability. Could it truly be because the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda had merged with him? Had he turned misfortune into fortune, gaining the Pagoda's soul-devouring ability?

In reality, besides these recent complications, there was one other element within Lei Dong's body that he couldn't yet fathom. He had originally cultivated the Profound Yin Art, meaning that, fundamentally, his True Essence should be of the Yin attribute.

But for some inexplicable reason, the previously Yin-white True Essence in his body had completely transformed. It was now dazzling golden, resembling the color of Chaos Spiritual Qi and the primal source. As doubt surfaced, the memories in his mind suddenly reminded him of the Chaos Art.

This was an inconceivably profound and obscure cultivation technique. Yet, bizarrely, Lei Dong seemed to have mastered it completely. Regarding its complex and incomprehensible aspects, thorough explanations naturally arose within his mind.

Simultaneously, he understood why his True Essence had changed: it was due to this inherited cultivation method. The Chaos Art originated from the Nether God, passed down through the Nether King, through successive Demon Emperors of the Demonic Emperor Sect, until the last generation's Demon Emperor, Yan Chixing, who perfected it to its zenith.

It was precisely by cultivating the Chaos Art, coupled with the Demon Emperor's status as a peerless genius, that he managed to ascend to the Supreme level, capable of contending with the Supremes of the Three Realms. During the transmission, the Chaos Art had been completely imprinted into Lei Dong's memory. In times of crisis, much like the Netherworld Body Tempering Art, it activated autonomously, aggressively transmuting Lei Dong's former Profound Yin True Essence entirely into Chaos True Essence.

Lei Dong felt a faint worry: after his Profound Yin True Essence was converted, could he still utilize his series of Netherworld spells? But the thought vanished instantly. Firstly, he had already used the Netherworld Ghost Qi before, and it felt perfectly smooth, with no awkwardness whatsoever. Furthermore, the knowledge in his mind informed him that Chaos True Essence was the progenitor of all True Essences.

Chaos itself was the fundamental root of the universe. Only from Chaos did all things evolve, including the universe itself. Including the fundamental attributes of heaven and earth, derived attributes, everything originated from Chaos.

Thus, Chaos was the root of all existence. To convert Chaos True Essence into Netherworld Ghost Qi was a minor matter; even transforming it into a Fiery attribute was effortless. Of course, this required Lei Dong to have cultivated some kind of fire-attributed technique beforehand.

Moreover, Lei Dong's physique had undergone a colossal transformation. The initial effect of the Netherworld Body Tempering Art had converted him into a Netherworld Physique. Now, however, he had astonishingly become a Chaos Physique. Throughout history, Lei Dong had heard of many elemental physiques, but a Chaos Physique was utterly unheard of.

This series of incredible changes filled Lei Dong with both shock and joy. The legacy left by the Demon Emperor this time seemed exceedingly generous. Naturally, he also understood why the Demon Emperor had placed a threshold on accessing this third level of inheritance: if his cultivation level hadn't reached this degree, he simply wouldn't have been able to withstand the inheritance and might have been torn apart by the violent influx of power.

In fact, even having reached this level, danger still lurked within the inheritance. Fortunately, Lei Dong had overcome this tribulation through various means. Not only had his cultivation soared to the middle stage of Void Refinement, but his gains in other aspects were even more significant.

The only thing that slightly troubled him was whether he had truly mastered all the functions of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda.

A string of thoughts spun through Lei Dong's mind, and the entire sequence of events became clear. His gloomy expression gradually softened. It seemed that although the Netherworld Banner had acted rashly and selfishly, nearly causing a major disaster, its mistake had paradoxically resulted in something beneficial.

He had intended to comfort the Netherworld Banner with a few words, but recalling its irritating, punchable appearance, Lei Dong merely snorted, "I understand the situation. I will provisionally note down your transgression. If I cannot inherit the functions of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda, I will settle accounts with you later."

"Yes, yes, thank you, Master, for not killing me." The Netherworld Banner breathed a sigh of relief, sensing that although the Master's tone was harsh, his killing intent toward her had apparently subsided. As for settling accounts later, while the Netherworld Banner felt apprehension, she wasn't overwhelmingly terrified. Her Master’s desire to kill her now was merely an impulse following the destruction of his beloved treasure. As long as she fought hard to show her capabilities and earned his trust and reliance, making him unwilling to kill her, she could preserve her life. If she truly knew the full extent of the Chaos Soul Devouring Pagoda's power, she probably wouldn't dare to think this way.

"Hmph, I'm not killing you only because Mei Xiang pleaded on your behalf. Enough pointless talk. State your name and all your abilities. Since you claim to be a Chaos Supreme Treasure, you shouldn't be too disappointing." Lei Dong said coldly.

"Yes, yes, your servant's name is Ming Ji, the artifact spirit of the Netherworld Banner." Ming Ji began to materialize, emerging elegantly from the Netherworld Banner and manifesting within Lei Dong's divine soul as a woman resembling a mature, alluring matron. She bowed deeply, "Master, since Ming Ji controls the Netherworld Banner, she is naturally most adept at refining Ghost Soldiers and Ghost Generals. However, please do not use souls that are too low-level; it would be a waste of my power."

"Cut the nonsense. If I give you a Nascent Soul-level soul, what exactly can you forge?" Lei Dong was extremely familiar with banner-type treasures and was disinclined to listen to her elaboration.

"If it is a complete Nascent Soul-level soul, your servant can forge it into a single Netherworld Ghost Soldier." Ming Ji was genuinely terrified by Lei Dong, trembling slightly, "The combat power of a Netherworld Ghost Soldier depends on the quality of the refined soul. If it's early Nascent Soul stage, it will be a common Netherworld Ghost Soldier. If it is mid-stage Nascent Soul, an elite Netherworld Ghost Soldier can be forged."

"What is the strength of a Netherworld Ghost Soldier?" Lei Dong frowned. "Besides Ghost Soldiers, what else can you refine?"

"The combat power of one Netherworld Ghost Soldier is roughly equivalent to an ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. If it absorbs pure Netherworld Ghost Qi, the Ghost Soldier's power can surge considerably," Ming Ji stated hesitantly, terrified that Lei Dong would be dissatisfied. "To forge a Netherworld Ghost General, a Void Refinement-level primordial spirit is required. The strength of a Netherworld Ghost General is comparable to a Void Refinement-level demonic beast. Furthermore, your servant can refine Netherworld Ghost Kings. Each Netherworld Ghost King’s combat power rivals that of the Integration stage."

Now it was Lei Dong's turn to be stunned. He had always known the Netherworld Banner was powerful, assuming it was perhaps only slightly stronger than his Nether Flame Ghost Banner. But he never imagined the Netherworld Banner was this formidable—able to forge a Ghost King comparable to an Integration-stage entity using an Integration-stage primordial spirit. Powerful, truly too powerful. No wonder this Ming Ji was so arrogant, constantly claiming she was a Chaos Supreme Treasure, far superior to those trash Spirit Treasures?

Looking at it now, she hadn't been bragging much after all; it truly was an extraordinary Chaos Supreme Treasure. Once one possessed the Netherworld Banner, they would grow stronger with every battle, making the claim of unrivaled power not mere hyperbole.

However, Lei Dong also harbored a question. "Since you are so powerful, why did the Nether King who once possessed you end up so wretched? Killed off?"

"That's all the fault of that bitch, Fairy Bibo!" Upon hearing this, Ming Ji became agitated again, letting out an obscenity, "That pretentious woman, utterly shameless!"

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