2 men walked through the ruined plains of Myris. A bald-headed man with a tattoo of a black serpent that ran along the right side of his face that wore a regal black robe and held an eerie flag that gave of a dark glow from which whispered screams escaped if you just listened closely. Besides him walked a 2 meters tall giant of a man. The tall man's skin was the color of dull iron and no hair could be found on his body only muscles that his skin struggled to contain, his bloated frame towered over any mortal man yet he subserviently followed the man with the flag.

The tattooed man warned, " Be on the lookout my sources say our prey can be found around these parts. You never know when he might pop out. " The large man answered in a docile manner, " Yes, Master! " The tattooed man grumbled under his breath. "Yes Master, yes Master! That's the only thing you can say, you dumb slab of iron. Were you to be any dumber, you'd probably serve better as a refined corpse rather than a living man, or as close as abominable things like you are to men. " The tattoed man spoke words laced with malice but the iron giant felt any anger he hid it well as he answered in the same monotonous voice. " Yes, master! " The tattoed man clicked his tongue in annoyance as he went on a cruel tirade that he must have already repeated for 1000 times on many other occasions. He also failed to notice a trace of a light blue mist that slowly gathered at the height of his ankles.

The tattooed man's voice only faltered when the light blue mist had surrounded him and reached all the way to his knees. Immediately he stopped and assigned the blame on his servant, " Do you see this? " He pointed at the mist. " It's a Heaven damned formation, and it's your heaven damned fault that I missed it. " The iron giant lowered his head in apology, " Yes master. " The bald man's face turned red as he wanted to berate his servant some more but he stopped as the light blue mist heaved upward and enclosed the pair in a dome. A voice suddenly blared from every direction, " If you wish to leave pay a toll. 20 spirit stones from each soul. "

As the bald man snarled in anger, outside of the mist, covered by an upside-down bow of a broken spirit ship stood Han Bei. While his spirit sense was connected to the formation he repeated in a monotonous voice, " If you wish to leave pay the toll. " Besides him was the old monk that looked at the pair in the formation as if they were fish stuck in a net. " Isn't this great, little corpse. You even managed to catch a necromancer and a mutant in a single go. 2 frogs in a jar that you can prod and tease at your own leisure " Han Bei rolled his eyes, " Yes, I'm shivering with excitement. " The old monk inclined his head in a curious way, " Well maybe your mood would improve if you increased the toll, c'mon ask for something precious. " Han Bei simply snorted. He already felt like a crook and a thief, simply getting his pockets fuller wouldn't make a difference

Inside the formation, the bald necromancer had regained his composure. " Bah, you think this flimsy formation can contain me? " He channeled qi into the eerie flag and it produced midnight black smoke that soon transformed into dozen black skulls. They flew around the bald necromancer in increasingly larger circles until they smashed into the mist walls of the formation. The formation held up but the mist started to thin out. The necromancer sneered, " this formation isn't all that sturdy, give it a good shake you useless piece of metal. "

The giant bellowed, " Yes master! " And the ground trembled as his heavy steps stomped the ground. The bald necromancer coldly judged, " I'll break this shitty formation in no time and make whoever is behind this farce pay. "

Han Bei curiously looked on, " Can he really break out that easily? " The old monk readily admitted, " Well, the formation that you built was rather simplistic. So.... yes. More than likely he can." Han Bei let out a defeated sigh. " Fine, he earned his freedom then. I wasn't that desperate for resources anyway. I just hope I won't need to set up that damn formation again. " He shivered when he thought about going through all of that tedium again, while the old monk quickly pointed out, "Oh, if he breaks out all the flags become unusable, and one is already ruined. " Han Bei immediately tensed." Wait, what? "

While one pair talked at leisure another struggled for freedom. The bald necromancer already celebrated. " We're almost out. A bit more and we'll make the deluded fool that thought to imprison me pay. " The iron giant agreed. " Yes, master! " But before they managed to escape they were interrupted by a scream of inhuman rage." AAAAAAARGH."

The pair vaguely saw something sail through the mist. A massive chunk of wood the size of a carriage passed through the formation. The bald necromancer attempted to dodge but he still screamed in pain as his legs were crushed and the broken bow of a spirit ship pinned his legs. With his concentration in shambles, the midnight dark skulls disappeared as well. The voice from before returned, now much more forceful than before, " Now listen here, If you wanna keep your dog lives you will give me everything you own. And if you even touch another formation flag I'm gonna drop a whole fucking spirit ship on your heads. "

While it was true that the formation used by Han Bei was simple, it still gave him enough of an advantage that the pair inside was in danger of losing their lives, since both of them also were only at the 1st realm. That was something that the necromancer knew. Yet even with his legs crushed he didn't want to admit defeat. He didn't get to make a decision as he was knocked out by his mutated servant. In a deep rumble of a voice, the iron giant declared, " Yes master! "

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The voice from before remained silent and further attacks came. The great mutant chose to see that as a sign. With surprising swiftness for his bulk, he searched his masters' body and quickly threw the eerie flag and a bag of holding to the side. He nervously waited as the mist thinned and the formation opened." Leave before I change my mind, " the voice ordered. Quickly the giant lifted the detached ship's bow and grabbed his master from underneath it. With the formation and other obstacles gone the giant saw the pale, gray-haired man who had trapped him. After a single shake of his large head, the giant departed and ran away as fast as he could.

Han Bei's eyes remained on the large mutant until he became nothing but a grey spot on the horizon. Only then he deemed that it was safe to check on the loot that he got, but before he could even open the new bag of holding the old monk made sure to ruin his mood further. In a loud, obnoxious voice, the old thing declared. " Huh, turns out all the flags are fine. Who would have thought? " Han Bei's expression darkened and he asked, " Do you always have to be like that?" The old monk answered with wide and innocent eyes, " Like what? " Han Bei shook his head in defeat. " Never mind. I'm not doing this." His eyebrow twitched as he heard the old monk victoriously giggling in the background.

The bald necromancers bags of holding didn't have much in it, but it had a bigger capacity than his old one, so at least that was something. Inside he found some food supplies, a pair of scrolls, around 100 spirit stones, and a few talismans, " No cultivation manual, " Han Bei noted in a disappointed manner, but there was something inside that drew his eye.

He pulled out a yellowed but firm piece of paper and his face turned ugly as he read it, " Corpse! Wanted dead or alive by the skeleton manor, bounty 800 spirit stones. " Above the text, an artistic rendition of his own face stared back at him. He crumpled the paper and put it back inside the bag of holding as if simply by having the poster in his hands he would summon cutthroats after his head. " It seems your wish came true, little corpse, " The old monk commented. " They really did increase your bounty. " Han Bei barked back, " Not now. " He pointed his finger at the old man, " None of that, be silent. " The old monk shrugged and tried to look offended, But Han Bei didn't feel like playing along.

Quickly, he gathered his belongings and left, while he looked over his shoulder and expected for assailants to emerge out of the shadows at any moment. The old monk silently traveled beside him until he departed at a certain point. Han Bei doubted he had to worry about the old thing.

Unconcerned Han Bei continued on his own. He made many detours on the way back to the ravine and made sure that if any choose to follow they would cross paths with some rather unsavory and unwholesome things. Either due to diligence or simple luck he safely reached his gloomy home. Enclosed by the dark twin walls and surrounded by the specters of the dead Han Bei finally felt secure enough to check on his loot once he entered his cave abode. He had great expectations of the dark flag in particular.

Its handle was 1,5 meters long, dark blue in color, and made from wood Han Bei had never seen before, even to his dulled senses it was extremely cold to the touch when he looked closer from the top to bottom of the shaft was engraved with small markings that depicted many forms of death doled out by cold-eyed serpents. At the upper part of the staff fluttered a dark piece of cloth, even without wind it fluttered and rippled pushed to life by the souls that suffered within. In particularly silent moments Han Bei heard echoes of souls long-lost to damnation.

It was a sound that might have unnerved him in the past but not anymore. This mournful song was one he heard on several occasions echoed inside his own skull when he cultivated and now that he heard this song from some other source it brought him only excitement.

Han Bei felt a chill pass him when he remembered the duo that he managed to scare away. they were noticeably more skilled and more prepared than the wolf hunters that tried to claim his head previously. It was the prepared part that disturbed him. His last known location should be up north, Han Bei specificity chose another place that would be several days if not weeks away from his last known location. " Were they just lucky or did they actually know where to find me? " Truly a disturbing thought, but even if it was true there was a but a single thing he could do. Get Stronger!

He closed his eyes and allowed his spirit sense to wash over the treasure in his hands and he felt the hostile mark left upon it by its previous master. " Not for long," Han Bei thought as violent, dark green qi passed through his body and entered the ghost flag. A violent will thrashed inside the dark treasure and resisted all attempts of refinement but removed so far from its master it proved to be nothing but a temporary setback.

With an adequate amount of spirit stones, he scrubbed the dark flag free of any spiritual marks left behind by the bald necromancer and used spirit sense to leave a mark of his own. The 1st rank spirit treasure was truly his but again he felt a shred of regret. " A shame I didn't get a cultivation manual for the flag as well." Han Bei chided himself for the thought moments later, " I got this treasure through dishonorable means and I even have the gall to complain. " Still, it was not like he was in a position where he could throw away resources anymore. To him, formations were a nightmare to set up and he felt dirty just by using them, but he has gained a valuable skill. That, he couldn't deny.

Han Bei held the ghost flag in his hands and while for now, he didn't have a particular use for the treasure, the tasty ghosts sealed inside were another thing entirely. He channeled qi into the black flag as it started to produce black smoke. Only this time it didn't form into anything. Instead, Han Bei opened his mouth and breathed in the power of the damned. This time there was no need to refine any will leftover by the specters. So quickly enough his cultivation soared, and after the better part of the day, he broke through. While not as grandiose as when reaching a new major realm, his strength still steadily increased as he reached the middle heaven of the 1st realm.