Indeed, these are soul flags with golden bases and crimson patterns, a total of three, spinning around rapidly.
[Receiving plot data... interference detected, reception failed.]
[Detecting mission difficulty... mission abnormal, unable to detect.]
[Checking the status of the soul flags... status unknown.]
Dongfang Shu suddenly raised his finger and infused Ye Zhizhou's mind with his spiritual awareness. Then, he forced out a drop of blood from his heart and applied it to Ye Zhizhou's forehead. With a faint glimmer at his fingertip, the blood disappeared, and Ye Zhizhou felt something new in his mind, yet he couldn't quite put into words what had changed.
"It's not a soul flag," Dongfang Shu withdrew his hand, glanced at Su Yin, and then raised his hand to brush over Su Yin's head. The soul flags, which were spinning chaotically, suddenly stopped and shattered into points of light, vanishing without a trace.
Ye Zhizhou was surprised, and the tension in his heart eased slightly. He reached out to tug at Dongfang Shu's sleeve, "How could you see the soul flags? What's going on?"
"Symbiosis," Dongfang Shu bent down to pick him up, helping him tidy his hair. "What's on his head is a fake flag, with no spiritual fluctuations."
"Spiritual fluctuations? Wait, are you about to tell me the truth about the soul flags? Can I know now?"
Dongfang Shu nodded and glanced again at the bewildered Su Yin, who had been rendered even more clueless by their conversation. He slumped to the ground and fell asleep.
Ye Zhizhou snapped out of his excitement about discovering the truth, struggling to get down and check on Su Yin. "What have you done to Master Shu again? Don't be fooled by his appearance; he's actually quite timid, so don't scare him."
"I just let him rest," Dongfang Shu patted his buttocks, walked to the front of the flying artifact, and placed Ye Zhizhou on his lap. "I didn't tell you the truth earlier because it's against the laws of heaven. The soul flags, like the Cultivation Realm and us, are not allowed to appear in front of people from other realms... just like me."
Ye Zhizhou frowned, "So, if someone learns your true identity, you'll be expelled from other realms?"
"Not only us, but you're also an external force, and you, too, will be expelled. People who know our true identities will have all memories related to us erased. Only when you don't know the truth, when you don't understand what you're really doing, can the laws of heaven turn a blind eye and leave a backdoor open for you. That's how the rules of heaven work—finding loopholes rather than forcing it to behave differently."
Ye Zhizhou recalled the days he spent in the previous worlds, working on missions with a heavy heart, and couldn't help but smirk. "Since the soul flags also originate from the Cultivation Realm, why weren't they directly expelled when they went to other worlds? Are they that powerful?"
Dongfang Shu picked up a small mirror from Ye Zhizhou's hand, turned it around, and said, "The Cultivation Banner is an ancient divine artifact."
Ye Zhizhou blinked in confusion. How did the topic suddenly shift here, and why did it sound nothing like a divine artifact?
"Yes," Dongfang Shu pointed at the Cultivation Banner again, a faint light flashing as it suddenly enlarged and hung in front of them. "The Cultivation Banner, also known as the Heaven-Piercing Mirror, can reveal the past and future of all things in the world. It's the weakest of the divine artifacts that have been passed down, but it's also the most suitable. Its abilities happen to counteract the soul flags."
The enlarged mirror displayed two graceful figures. Dongfang Shu was still in white robes, but he no longer looked like a child; instead, he appeared as a handsome man with refined features—identical to his own body.
"Long hair suits Little Zhizhou as well. Grow up quickly," Dongfang Shu teased, pinching his cheek.
Ye Zhizhou closed his gaping mouth, blushing slightly. He turned his head to glare at Dongfang Shu and reached out to touch the Cultivation Banner, asking, "So, this Heaven-Piercing Mirror is the reason it provides me with plot information and information about the harem members? It shows them?"
Dongfang Shu nodded, shrank the Heaven-Piercing Mirror back, and continued, "The Heaven-Piercing Mirror can reveal the future of small worlds and predict the path of the soul flags. Initially, it showed us the person best suited to help us resist the soul flags. As it turns out, its choice was correct."
Ye Zhizhou blushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed by the scrutiny. "So, sometimes the plot information it provides has errors because it's influenced by the soul flags?"
"That's right. Reading the future of a world is very difficult, and with the influence of the soul flags, the Heaven-Piercing Mirror can only obtain a portion of the truth. So, while it can provide plot information, it may be distorted or intentionally misleading due to the soul flags." Dongfang Shu paused, then ruffled Ye Zhizhou's hair. "You've been working hard."
"It hasn't been too hard," Ye Zhizhou nuzzled against his hand, then asked cautiously, "So, the soul flags..."
"They are demonic artifacts, corresponding to the six ancient divine artifacts, there are four ancient demonic artifacts." Dongfang Shu's expression turned cold as he explained, "Everyone in the Cultivation Realm believes that only one ancient divine artifact has been passed down, and the demonic artifacts no longer exist. But they are wrong. In fact, two divine artifacts have been passed down—one is the Sect Master's personal weapon, the Demon-Slaying Sword, and the other is the Heaven-Piercing Mirror. The demonic artifacts also left one behind, known as the Soul-Devouring Pennant."
Ye Zhizhou suddenly recalled the gray space he had once been drawn into, and he felt a chill down his spine. "So, the soul flags were created by that Soul-Devouring Pennant?"
"Soul-Devouring Pennant, as the name suggests, gains power by consuming souls. From ancient times to the present, who knows how many tens of thousands of years have passed. During this long period, it hid in unknown corners, secretly devouring souls. Gradually, it even gave birth to a powerful evil spirit with its own consciousness and will. It wanted to become a real person, not just an evil spirit devoid even of a weapon spirit." Dongfang Shu pointed at the Heaven-Piercing Mirror again and said, "Weapon spirits naturally evolve with their weapons, but there's only one in a million. After becoming a cultivator's life weapon, they cultivate together and ascend, eventually transforming into immortals and achieving the Dao. But for demonic artifacts... it's incredibly difficult for demonic cultivators to ascend, let alone an evil spirit within a demonic artifact."
Ye Zhizhou furrowed his brow. "So, what about the soul flags in various small worlds?"
"Soul-Devouring Pennant, being an ancient demonic artifact, naturally has its peculiarities. It can absorb the aura of luck from the souls it devours." Dongfang Shu handed the Heaven-Piercing Mirror to him and explained in detail, "In other words, if it were to devour my soul, it could absorb a part of my spiritual energy, aura of luck, and even karmic merits and consequences, then convert them all into its own."
Ye Zhizhou couldn't help but grip his hand tightly.
"That evil spirit saw the potential in this ability of the Soul-Devouring Pennant and hatched a conspiracy hidden in the shadows," Dongfang Shu continued, holding him in his arms and gripping his hand in return. "However, the spiritual energy, karmic merits, and consequences needed to reshape the body for ascension are massive. No matter what, it couldn't accumulate enough power without alarming the Cultivation Realm and the heavens."
Suddenly, Ye Zhizhou remembered his speculation about aura of luck, and he fell silent. So, it really was aura of luck... Should he praise himself for being clever?
Dongfang Shu, unaware of his self-praise, continued, "Cultivators must undergo a tribulation period before ascending, and everyone's tribulation is different, but it's undoubtedly extremely dangerous. The evil spirit inside the Soul-Devouring Pennant saw this opportunity and secretly scattered ninety-nine eighty-one formation flags into various corners of the Cultivation Realm. It sought out cultivators going through the tribulation when they were at their weakest, pulled their souls into other small worlds, creating the illusion that the cultivators' souls had entered the cycle of reincarnation during the tribulation. Then, it disguised itself as if the cultivators had already ascended, deceiving the entire Cultivation Realm."
Ye Zhizhou, sharp-minded, seized the key point. "Ninety-nine eighty-one formation flags? So, the flags I removed were the formation flags of the Soul-Devouring Pennant? And the harem members..."
"They are the cultivators whose souls were drawn into small worlds by the Soul-Devouring Pennant."
The truth about the soul flags was actually like this. He pinched the back of his hand, feeling a bit of pain, and then thought of something. He hurriedly asked, "So, what about the transfer of soul flags in the subsequent worlds? What about the protagonist? Is it that evil spirit? And Jia Jia..."
"Don't rush." Dongfang Shu enveloped him with his spiritual awareness and spoke soothingly. "Cultivators have powerful souls and carry more karmic merits and consequences than ordinary people. But there's a group of individuals with even more karmic merits and consequences in each world, known as the Aura of Luck's Chosen One."
Ye Zhizhou mumbled, "Oh, that phrase sounds familiar."
"Later, when you removed too many soul flags, the evil spirit grew anxious and no longer focused solely on cultivators' souls. It began targeting the Aura of Luck's Chosen Ones born from the small worlds themselves. As for the protagonists in various worlds... within the Soul-Devouring Pennant, many souls were devoured, not just the evil spirit. On each of the ninety-nine eighty-one formation flags, there were numerous soul fragments. The protagonist is an existence born from these soul fragments. The Soul-Devouring Pennant pieced together these soul fragments and sent them into the small worlds to enter the cycle of reincarnation, thus becoming the so-called protagonist."
Ye Zhizhou was dumbfounded. "And Jia Jia..."
"She's also a soul fragment, but perhaps her soul didn't fragment too severely, so she retained some humanity." Dongfang Shu patted his back gently. "Little Zhizhou, the Soul-Devouring Pennant is a demonic artifact. Regardless of how the devoured souls were initially, over time, they gradually assimilate and corrupt. In the end, Jia Jia sacrificed her soul to save you, a form of self-redemption."
"I know..." He lowered his head and sniffled, tracing the patterns on the small mirror. "That gray and disgusting place... staying there for a long time can indeed drive you insane..."
Dongfang Shu quietly accompanied him in silence for a while, waiting for his emotions to calm down.
He took a deep breath to suppress his emotions and steered his thoughts back to the main topic. "Ninety-nine eighty-one formation flags. Does that mean a total of eighty-one cultivators going through tribulation were drawn into the small worlds?"
Dongfang Shu nodded.
"So, how do you explain the three times you acted as the male protagonist?"
"I was forcefully ascending at the time when the Soul-Devouring Pennant found me. Due to the heavy sins I had committed, my soul scattered after enduring the final heavenly tribulation. That's why the Soul-Devouring Pennant only absorbed a part of my soul."
Ye Zhizhou furrowed his brow deeply. "Forcefully ascending? Are you trying to tell me you didn't want to live anymore? You're such an impulsive idiot!" He didn't believe for a second that his lover would be so reckless and foolish as to attempt forced ascension. This man was trying to commit suicide! Bastard!
Dongfang Shu pinched his earlobe, his lips curving into a gentle smile. "That was in the past. After meeting you, my soul instinctively began to gather, wanting to survive and be by your side."
Ye Zhizhou forcefully pulled away his hand and said with irritation, "So, the Soul-Devouring Pennant found your soul particularly strong and delicious, and that's why it stuck to you?"
"Also because of the varying soul strengths displayed due to differences in soul concentration. The soul flags mistakenly took me for a newly captured cultivator's soul and attempted to devour me again, which is why..." Dongfang Shu pinched his plump cheeks, looking even more handsome as he smiled, "Later, when the Soul-Devouring Pennant discovered our existence, it started targeting us, attempting to devour our souls. Of course, because Little Zhizhou is exceptional, it never succeeded."
"Don't flatter me!" Ye Zhizhou was annoyed by all the poking and prodding, so he simply pulled Dongfang Shu's hand under him and sat on it, glaring as he continued to ask, "So, why do the numbers of soul flags vary in each world? If he had placed all the soul flags in one small world at once, I wouldn't have been able to complete the mission."
Dongfang Shu suppressed his laughter and explained as seriously as possible, "The evil spirit used the unique traits of the Soul-Devouring Pennant to send the souls of cultivators and the protagonist souls formed by the formation flags into reincarnation, entering different small worlds. But this kind of reincarnation itself isn't recognized by the heavens. A few times is fine, but if there are too many, the heavens will eventually notice and expel them, and that evil spirit isn't that foolish."
"Are you implying that I'm foolish?" Ye Zhizhou blushed and, after a few forceful sits on Dongfang Shu's hand, continued, "So, are the small worlds also divided into upper and lower levels? Do they each have different capacities for accommodating extraordinary reincarnations? Also, if the soul flags successfully captured the souls of various cultivators, would it have an impact on the small worlds?"
"It would." Dongfang Shu stared at his little pouting face, his fingers itching to touch him again. "Cultivators going through tribulation are the beings closest to immortality. The small worlds to which the Soul-Devouring Pennant sent them were mostly lower-level worlds with no strong powers. Their presence alone was a form of harm to the small worlds. Add to that the influence of the Soul-Devouring Pennant, and if a cultivator's soul was successfully taken in the end, the small world would inevitably become unbalanced, leading to turmoil and, in severe cases, direct collapse."
"But in some small worlds, the Heavenly Dao had clearly already recognized their presence. Why didn't it just expel them..."
"You've forgotten how they entered the small worlds, have you? Once reincarnation is successful, they are original inhabitants until they die, bound by the rules of the Heavenly Dao. No one can touch them."
This was also a loophole in the Heavenly Dao. If it couldn't detect irregular reincarnation, it couldn't prevent foreign souls from entering. And once these foreign souls successfully reincarnated and became original inhabitants, the Heavenly Dao couldn't directly expel them.
After some thought, Ye Zhizhou asked again, "So, how did the protagonist actually capture the souls of the cultivators? The plot information only says that they got together..."
"Little Zhizhou, if I were in danger, would you be willing to sacrifice your soul for me?"
"Of course... not!"
Dongfang Shu chuckled and pulled his hand out to pinch his pouting face. "Hmm, I wouldn't either."
Ye Zhizhou blushed and gritted his teeth, wanting to bite him.
"The Soul-Devouring Pennant is a demonic artifact that can use illusion to bewitch people and capture their souls. The protagonists in each world are projections of its abilities. Even if those cultivators didn't love the protagonist, under the long-term influence of the soul flags, they would eventually be bewitched. Once they died and were no longer original inhabitants, removed from the protection of the Heavenly Dao, the Soul-Devouring Pennant could directly devour their souls." Dongfang Shu explained in detail and looked towards the clear blue sky. "The Soul-Devouring Pennant is indeed in a hurry. Unlike other small worlds, the Cultivation Realm has a stronger awareness of the Heavenly Dao. If it were to take the souls of cultivators about to ascend here, it would inevitably be detected by the Heavenly Dao, leading to divine retribution. The fake protagonist is its way of disguising itself. We need to distinguish them as soon as possible."
When it came to this, Ye Zhizhou also became serious. He looked at his sleeping senior brother, stroked his chin, and said, grinning mischievously, "Maybe... I have a way to find the real protagonist of this world. Since it's a counterattack, the real protagonist of this world is likely the evil spirit reborn. To exhaust my power for reincarnation, the Soul-Devouring Pennant must have done the same. The current protagonist must be quite young and definitely a demonic cultivator. The Soul-Devouring Pennant should be his lifebound artifact."
Dongfang Shu nodded. "I think so too."
"One more thing." Ye Zhizhou's eyes lit up, and he started to smirk. "The Soul-Devouring Pennant has a total of eighty-one formation flags. That's a big clue. Come on, let's count how many flags we pulled out in the previous worlds. Since it's a counterattack, the remaining flags that haven't been pulled out must all be on the real protagonist, definitely more than three! And there should be more than just Senior Brother as the fake protagonist. With the quirks of those soul flags, the total number of real and fake soul flags in this world must add up to eighty-one. It's just simple addition and subtraction, I'm the best at math!"