Chapter 123: Double Merit, Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner

Hundreds of Aquatic Demonic Creatures were all cleared out, and everyone received a decent amount of Experience Points. This was especially true for the two players, Jiafang Yifang and Xuanhu Xiaoyao, who were only Level 20-something—they directly leveled up once.

Given their Experience Points, fighting these monsters with such a large level difference came with a hefty Experience Points bonus, so leveling up was naturally fast.

After several rounds of monster grinding, the team members started to get familiar with their coordination, so Ye Rong no longer had to shoulder the burden alone and struggle so much.

The walrus Monster Pet of Voice of the Listening Sea Breeze finally revealed its power in the water, displaying strength that matched its level. Its massive body stood like a thick wall, and when ordinary monsters charged at it, they crashed right into it. Although it only had physical attack methods, it was extremely agile in the water. With a random swing of its paws, an Aquatic Demonic Creature was sent flying.

Killing monsters with these people gave less Experience Points, but there were other benefits. Ye Rong inadvertently noticed that his Karma Points were rising rapidly—about twice as fast as when he leveled up alone.

Ye Rong was puzzled and thought hard about it. After carefully checking his Player Log, he finally found an entry—

The Chief of Tianshu Hall obtains additional Karma Points while guiding disciples of the same sect to improve their cultivation.

Realizing it was due to his identity as the Chief of Tianshu Hall, Ye Rong quickly had Pecking Chicken find several lower-level players from his team. He replaced the higher-level players in the original group, allowing them to level up on their own.

Leading them to grind for Experience Points while he could grind for Karma Points—it was a win-win situation.

“When I reach the milestone of 100,000 Merit, I will qualify to receive a genuine Sect Mission from both Short Elder Zhu Mei and my own master. The rewards are said to be at the level of Seventh-Rank Flying Swords and Eighth-Rank Magical Treasures—it’s really tempting.”

He had just equipped a Fifth-Rank Flying Sword, but Ye Rong’s mind was already drifting toward higher-tier treasures.

According to rumors on the Forum, after the Shushan Sword Alliance killed the Tiger Head Chan Master, they looted the Eighth-Rank Flying Sword he held. Ni Shui Han temporarily took it, claiming it would be considered the alliance’s public property.

Unfortunately, the equipment level requirement for that Eighth-Rank Flying Sword was as high as Level 72. Even Ni Shui Han, the highest-level player in Far Shore, was still far from reaching that goal. It might take him over a month to equip it.

“Damn, that’s an Eighth-Rank Flying Sword! Others might be able to equip it in two months, but who knows if I’ll even get one in two, three, or even four months!”

Ye Rong inwardly groaned and decided that after some time, he must visit the Golden Cabinet Water Manor again. Among the remaining thirty-five Heavenly Apex Treasure Pillars, there were many high-tier flying swords. Last time, he didn’t meet the requirements, but now he could try his luck again. Perhaps he would get lucky and obtain one or two treasures.

Hmm… his expectations weren’t too high—just a flying sword on par with the Neither-Thought-Nor-Non-Thought Sword Scabbard would suffice.

Lost in his thoughts, Ye Rong led these Qingcheng Disciples deeper and deeper. The monsters they encountered became increasingly powerful.

Fortunately, at this moment, a newly joined player raised his hand and unfurled a plain-colored large banner, which condensed immense cold energy. With a single shake, two streams of water froze into ice, trapping several Aquatic Demonic Creatures inside as lifelike ice sculptures, unable to move.

A few sword lights from the others shattered the ice, and the trapped monsters broke apart along with it—a simple and clean kill.

“Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner!”

Ye Rong exclaimed softly. This banner-type Magic Treasure was also one of the components of a banner formation. It required eighty-one banners to form the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array, which could alter the sky and transform the surroundings into a world of ice and snow.

Back when the Shushan Sword Alliance’s Tianshui Division provoked Qingcheng, they managed to retreat unscathed during the chaotic battle thanks to the power of their banner formation. This event sparked a banner formation trend on the Forum for a while.

The banner formation possessed by the Tianshui Division was called the Xuanming Yin Water Banner Formation. It required forty-nine Xuanming Yin Water Banners to set up and was considered one of the easiest banner formations to assemble, alongside Huashan’s Celestial Blazing Fire Banner Array.

Additionally, there were several other well-known banner formations, such as the Ten-Thousand-Mile Yellow Sand Banner Formation, the Blood Ghost Sword Net Banner Formation, and the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array.

Ye Rong had previously taken a special interest in the power of banner formations and had studied them in detail. That was how he recognized this large banner as the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner at a glance.

Regardless of its power, the origins of the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner were quite extraordinary—it was passed down from the Jellyfish Palace sect.

The master of Jellyfish Palace, Jellyfish Mother Ji Xuan, was a top-tier enlightened powerhouse. Regardless of seniority or strength, she surpassed Qingcheng’s two Supreme Elders, Tiandu and Minghe, by a small margin.

This player had just joined the team. He was tall and thin, with an ordinary and unremarkable appearance, yet he possessed such an impressive banner-type Magic Treasure like the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner.

Ye Rong couldn’t help but pay extra attention to him, carefully observing the power of the single Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner. Since he had obtained one, he must at least know how to access the quest related to this banner-type Magic Treasure. No matter how difficult or complex the process, as long as there was a clue, there was a slim possibility of collecting the full set.

“Huh, this kid’s skills are pretty good—not worse than Hengheng Haha’s.”

After watching for a while, Ye Rong noticed that although the tall, thin boy had only the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner and average gear, his Flying Sword control was remarkably free from rigid System Sword Moves, leaning more toward the Free Control Style. Some of the transitions and changes were still a bit rough, but it was quite impressive. In this team, only Hengheng Haha had reached this level.

As the Chief of Tianshu Hall, Ye Rong had the authority to check the names and Levels of nearby Qingcheng Disciples. He took a moment to flip through a page of the Virtue Record and discovered that the tall, thin boy was named Trail-breaking Pony.

With everyone working together, they finally eliminated the entire group of Five-Colored Koi. As Ye Rong lightly shouted and sliced the last Five-Colored Koi in half, a white level-up light finally flashed around him—

The Shangqing Blessing Token further boosted the Experience Points Ye Rong received. Although the increase wasn’t as dramatic as with the Diligence Jade Talisman, making him feel a bit unused to it, the Experience Bar slowly climbed past the threshold, pushing him to Level 37.

For him, reaching Level 37 meant he could now equip the Cast Snow Sword. Both Flying Swords in the Neither-Thought-Nor-Non-Thought Sword Scabbard were successfully upgraded, both becoming Fifth-Rank Flying Swords.

The Sword Light in his hand shifted as the Sinking Water Sword was replaced by the Cast Snow Sword. Holding it, he felt a faint chill seep into his hand, cooling his mind, as if he were gripping a Flying Sword forged from ice crystals.

In terms of additional spells, the Nether Phoenix Black Prison was like child’s play compared to the Arctic Ice Crystal Prison—it could hardly be called a large-scale destructive spell and was more of a method to restrict opponents.

Once the Arctic Ice Crystal Prison was activated, it could truly freeze and destroy all things within a radius of three hundred zhang, dealing layered damage. It was extremely effective against both players and monsters.

“Pony, is that banner in your hand the Heavenly One Mystic Ice Banner?”

After clearing this group of monsters, they didn’t immediately rush to attract new ones. Everyone needed to rest and recover, consuming elixirs to restore their Qi and Blood and True Qi to full. Ye Rong was intensely curious about the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array and asked Trail-breaking Pony.

“Mm.”

“Where did you get the quest for this banner Magic Treasure? It’s fine if you don’t want to say.”

Expecting every subordinate to bare their hearts and share everything was impossible; it might even provoke resentment. Ye Rong asked casually. If Trail-breaking Pony was willing to answer, that would be best—he could find time to check it out. If things went smoothly, he could mobilize other players to complete the quest as well.

After all, this type of banner Magic Treasure only revealed its full potential when the entire set was assembled. A single banner was just an ordinary Magic Treasure at best.

If these players could gather a complete set of the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array, it would significantly enhance the entire team’s strength. They wouldn’t be at a disadvantage when grinding monsters or fighting on their own and could become an elite squad in Ye Rong’s plans.

“I forgot.”

“Boss Yijian, Trail-breaking Pony is someone I met while leveling here. He just joined. To say I know him is a stretch—I haven’t exchanged more than five words with him so far. He usually levels up alone, keeps to himself, and I’ve never seen him interact with anyone.”

Hengheng Haha squeezed next to Ye Rong and whispered to him.

“He’s a weird guy. He doesn’t respond when you talk to him. I only added him because his skills are good.”

“If he doesn’t want to share, forget it. These banner formation Magic Treasures aren’t easy to assemble anyway—missing just one banner renders the set useless. It might end up being a wasted effort, like drawing water with a bamboo basket—everything leaks out.”

Ye Rong could tell Hengheng Haha was eager to distance himself, but he wasn’t angry at all.

Having the Heavenly One Profound Ice Banner Array would be great, but not getting it was normal. These banner formation-type Magic Treasures weren’t designed for them in the first place. Usually, only disciples of third-rate sects or Rogue Cultivators could access such quests.

With two Fifth-Rank Flying Swords in hand, Ye Rong’s attack power increased significantly, and his monster-killing efficiency improved even further.

Watching his Karma Points climb steadily, finally breaking through the 30,000 mark, Ye Rong stopped after clearing the current batch of Aquatic Demonic Creatures. It was already the third group of players he had rotated in. The lower-level ones had basically leveled up three to four times, while the higher-level ones had at least leveled up once.

With his mind set on the Golden Cabinet Water Manor, Ye Rong handed over this “mentoring” task to Hengheng Haha and made his exit.

“By the way, take these two copies of the ‘Heavenly Craft Revelation Compendium’ and use them. They should directly raise your profession level by two or three levels, so you won’t have to struggle with early-stage profession Experience Points in the future.