Lu Yan had already mastered the Soul Banner for some time. From the performance of the Soul Banner, it was indeed exceptional among lower-grade magical artifacts, but far from reaching the status of the fabled "number one demonic magical artifact."
If the Soul Banner could only control wraiths, no matter how many thousands it gathered, they would still be trivial to the powerful abilities of Golden Core and Nascent Soul level cultivators.
Lu Yan understood that the most crucial reason was the absence of a Main Soul within the Soul Banner.
The Main Soul could only be refined from the spirit of powerful cultivators. Those mere Qi Cultivation level one workers from Spirit Talisman Village had spirits just slightly stronger than ordinary people, far from sufficient to refine a Main Soul.
If the wraiths in the Soul Banner are seen as soldiers, then the Main Soul is the general commanding these soldiers. The strength of a Soul Banner largely depends on the Main Soul.
The Main Soul can elevate the realm of wraiths, and if the Main Soul mastered Ghost Skills, it could also perform them using the wraiths' Ghost Qi.
Only when the Main Soul is strong enough can it effectively command the wraiths.
When the Main Soul reaches a certain level, it can even evolve a Ghostly Realm. With the Soul Banner's guidance, this can summon a ghostly realm of monsters, showcasing the true power of the Demonic Soul Banner.
However, reaching such a level requires at least a Thousand Souls Banner, comparable to a powerful magical treasure. The Soul Banner in Lu Yan's hands, a lower-grade artifact, was still far from that level.
A spirit comparable to the mid-stage Qi Cultivation is enough for Lu Yan at this stage to refine into a Main Soul.
After glancing at the ground full of wandering souls and the spirit of the Giant Zombie, Lu Yan commanded the five wraiths:
"You go guard the main entrance to prevent any zombies from intruding and interfering."
The five wraiths obeyed, guarding the entrance of the apartment building, while Lu Yan began preparing to refine the Main Soul.
He first took out the "Secret Record of Demonic Magical Artifacts," turned to the page on the Main Soul refining array, and then crushed a Spirit Stone to start drawing the array with its powder.
In truth, the best material for the Main Soul refining array is the fresh blood from the Main Soul's body. However, since the Giant Zombie's spirit left the body only to turn into white bones, leaving no blood, Lu Yan could only use Spirit Stone powder as a substitute.
The Main Soul refining array is not complex, as it merely assists in refining the Soul Banner, not even reaching the level of a first-order array.
If it were a first-order array, Lu Yan's knowledge and materials would be insufficient to construct it.
Once the array was drawn, Lu Yan placed the spirit of the Giant Zombie at the center of it, then set down dozens of ordinary zombie wandering souls at other points of the array.
The Giant Zombie spirit lacked the Heaven and Earth Soul, and with the soul power heavily damaged by the attack of the five wraiths, Lu Yan used ordinary zombie wandering souls as material to replenish its missing soul power.
Array set up, Lu Yan activated the array using the Soul Banner.
In the next moment, a dazzling spiritual light rose from the Spirit Stone powder, transforming numerous ordinary zombie wandering souls into a soul fire that rapidly converged at the center of the array.
The originally muddled Giant Zombie spirit, with its soul power replenished, suddenly awakened, emitting a soul-piercing howl from its mouth.
The Giant Zombie spirit tried to break free from the array, but under the confinement of the array's spiritual light, it, now merely a soul body, could not budge, left only to be enveloped by the spiritual light of the array.
The ghost mist from the Soul Banner spread again, engulfing the entire Soul Sacrifice Array, while simple patterns sketched a menacing, gigantic ghost on the banner surface.
The array's light dispersed, indicating the complete refinement of the Main Soul.
After finishing all this, Lu Yan swung the Soul Banner, summoning a giant ghost, three meters tall, before him.
This gigantic ghost with a fierce blue face and sharp fangs had a robust build akin to the Dharma Guardian General in a temple, presenting a stark contrast to the wraiths.
The ghost, towering over Lu Yan, gazed down with a ferocious gleam in its eyes, reaching out its right hand toward him.
Lu Yan's expression remained indifferent, without the slightest movement, as the Soul Banner in his hand spontaneously fluttered, large swathes of ghost mist transforming into dark flames, spreading over the ghost's soul body.
In an instant, the ghost's arm was swallowed by dark flames, and a howl of pain came from the mouth of the gigantic ghost.
"Ahhhh!!!"
However, the dark flames did not desist then, continuing to extend over the ghost's soul body, consuming its body and legs rapidly.
With over half its soul body incinerated by the dark flames, the intense pain of soul burning proved unbearable for the ghost to endure.
Struggling, it laid its incomplete body on the ground, desperately kowtowing its only intact head before Lu Yan, pleading for mercy.
Once the flames consumed the body entirely, leaving only a dreadful head, they finally extinguished.
Lu Yan stood before the sole remaining head of the ghost, holding the Soul Banner. The ghost's gruesome, ugly face immediately displayed a humble smile, willingly lowering its soul body's defenses to Lu Yan.
Raising his right hand slightly, Lu Yan imprinted a flame mark on the ghost's head with a bit of ghost mist transformed into flames.
"You have no more chances."
Lu Yan's tone was indifferent, delivering the final judgment.
Subsequently, the ghost mist gathered beneath the ghost's head, forming its body.
But compared to just after the refinement, the ghost's soul body was now significantly smaller, barely over two meters tall, and even the previously solid soul body had become much hazier, its aura now unstable.
Evidently, the ghost, having lost the majority of its soul body, had suffered severe damage.
The ghost, however, displayed no dissatisfaction with the result, instead showing a fawning demeanor, eagerly following behind Lu Yan like a sycophant.
Glancing at the ghost's robust figure, Lu Yan said coldly:
"From today onward, your name will be Warrior!"
Bestowing it a name marked Lu Yan's success in taming this mid-stage Qi Cultivation Main Soul.
Normally, a Soul Banner allows high control over refined ghosts, but the Main Soul is an exception.
All Main Souls in Soul Banners are refined from the spirits of powerful cultivators; to enable the Main Soul's growth potential, its spiritual wisdom is retained during refinement.
This retention means a Main Soul, if too powerful, could potentially turn on the Soul Banner's master.
Throughout history, many demonic cultivators have been slain by their Main Soul in turn, crafted instead into Main Souls themselves.
Lu Yan, at the mere Qi Cultivation level one, faced inherent risks in refining a mid-stage Qi Cultivation Giant Zombie spirit, relying only on the Soul Banner for suppression.
For this, Lu Yan did not hesitate to allow the ghost mist to consume Warrior's soul body, instilling it with abject fear before subduing it.
After such a chastening, Warrior's soul body was bound to diminish, dropping from the approximate fifth level of Qi Cultivation to barely reach the fourth level.
Yet, Lu Yan felt no regret. In his view, a slightly weaker yet completely controllable Main Soul held far greater value than a strong, unstable element.
Moreover, during the taming of Warrior, Lu Yan discovered an interesting aspect.
The Extraordinary Zombie, despite its mighty spirit, had spiritual wisdom significantly below that of human cultivators.
A human cultivator refined into a Main Soul would likely feign submission, awaiting an opportune moment to counterattack, especially concerning demonic cultivators.
The Extraordinary Zombie, however, whether hostile or respectful, showed its disposition openly, eliminating concerns of backstabbing.
Plus, the Extraordinary Zombie, having no exposure to worldly matters nor knowledge of cultivation, could be sufficiently intimidated into subjugation simply by having its soul devoured by the Soul Banner.
This characteristic of mindlessness proved suitable for refining a Soul Banner Main Soul.