In the icy stone chamber, only the low, husky breathing of the Grand Shaman could be heard. The Ghost King and Gui Li stood before this frail old man, their eyes fixed intently on his aged face; at this moment, the Grand Shaman's remaining life was the only hope for these two people.

  The Grand Wizard caught his breath, lifted his head and smiled at the two of them. The Ghost King and Ghost Severe felt slightly relieved. After a moment's thought, the Grand Wizard said to the Ghost King: "Please find some blood for me, 'Soul Summoning' ghostly technique, fresh blood is best."

  The demon king's face twitched, and he nodded: "This is easy to handle." Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly thought of something and stopped in his tracks, turning to ask the great shaman: "Master, this blood... do you need beast blood or human blood?"

  The great witch hesitated for a moment, took another look at the ghost king, but still said: "Beast blood is also possible, but if it's about effectiveness, human blood is best."

  The King of Ghosts nodded, walked to the door, opened the stone gate, and saw Qing Long and You Ji standing outside. Mr. Gui, dressed in black, was also standing a little further away. As soon as they saw the King of Ghosts suddenly come out, Qing Long and You Ji both had a slightly surprised look on their faces, but the King of Ghosts didn't look at them much, and directly said to Mr. Gui:

  "Bring me a basin of fresh human blood."

  The Azure Dragon and the Elusive Maiden were both stunned, but the Ghostly Gentleman simply nodded his head and turned to leave. The Ghost King also turned back around, leaving only the increasingly somber-faced Azure Dragon and the Elusive Maiden standing in their original positions.

  In the icy stone chamber, the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat strange. Gui Li silently stared at Bi Yao who was lying there, and after a long while, he turned his body to look at the great witch doctor who was closing his eyes to meditate, then his gaze fell on the Ghost King's body.

  The Demon King, however, seemed to feel nothing at all, his expression calm and composed, his eyes fixed on Bi Yao, occasionally glancing over at Gui Li, but only for a brief moment before moving on, without any hesitation.

  On the stone gate, two sudden sounds rang out, and then slowly opened. Mr. Ghost brought in a copper basin and placed it in front of the great witch doctor, then nodded to the ghost king.

  The King of Ghosts nodded slightly, and Mr. Gui also didn't say much, silently backing out.

  Deep red blood, gently swaying in the copper basin, a strong bloody smell, filled this stone chamber.

  The ghost's eyes twitched slightly at the corners, and he cast a deep glance at the Ghost King. The Ghost King slowly said to the Great Shaman, "Master, what you wanted is here."

  The grand wizard opened his eyes, gazing at the basin of fresh blood in front of him. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a soft sigh and said, "Alright, let's begin."

  ※※※

  Propping up his weak body, the great wizard slowly got up, but before he could straighten his body, it had already begun to sway. Gui Li rushed forward and supported him from the side.

  The grand wizard looked at him with a bitter smile and didn't delay any further.

  The frail old man slowly reached into his bosom, fumbled for a moment, and when he brought out his hand, it was holding an oddly-shaped red pen. The pen's body was roughly the thickness of a thumb and about as long as a person's palm. Its tip was shaped like a dog's head, and its surface, which seemed to be made of some unknown material, was etched with all sorts of strange symbols. At the very front of the pen, a tuft of fine hair was evenly embedded, its original color now indistinguishable, leaving only a faint reddish tint. It didn't take much imagination to guess that this pen had been stained with blood in the past.

  Hold your pen and take a deep breath!

  The great wizard, with the ghost's support, lowered his body, dipped this red pen in the blood for a moment, and lifted it up.

  Fresh blood dripped silently from the fine hairs at the tip of the pen, dropping into the copper basin, creating small ripples on the surface of the blood that spread outwards.

  With a brush, the great witch slowly walked to the side of the ice stone platform where Bi Yao was lying under the support of Gui Li, and from the junction of the stone platform and the ground, she slowly drew the first stroke.

  Vibrant colors, on the originally flat ground, gradually extended. The old man's slightly trembling hands drew stroke after stroke of blood seals. The surroundings were silent and still, but somehow, the atmosphere seemed to be gradually tensing up.

  The King of Ghosts looked on for a while, then silently walked to the side of the copper basin, picked it up and took a few steps before placing it beside the Grand Shaman. The Grand Shaman, who was drawing talismans, lifted his head to glance at him, nodded silently, and then continued with his work.

  More and more blood strokes, with Bi Yao's icy stone platform as the center, gradually appeared around her, a mysterious and bloody aura array had already begun to take shape.

  The red pen of the great wizard, apparently also a strange object in the southern witchcraft, the fresh blood sucked by this red pen was drawn on the ground by the great wizard. The fresh blood surprisingly condensed and did not dry, with a bright color, and at the corners and bends, there was not even a single thread of blood splashing out, as if painted, firmly enclosing these fresh blood within.

  As the Grand Wizard's panting grew louder and more intense, the blood-colored patterns on the ground also became increasingly complex. These eerie patterns seemed to resemble domesticated beasts, flying birds, and some were completely unrecognizable as they emerged one after another, with not a single one being identical.

  There is only one thing in common, that is, these patterns are all connected together, from the copper basin to the fresh blood drawn on the ground with a red pen, more and more, but the color of the fresh blood that falls to the ground seems even more vibrant than the fresh blood that was just scooped into the copper basin.

  The bloody smell in the air grew thicker, and inside the stone chamber, at this moment, apart from the Grand Wizard's gasping sounds, there was not a single other noise.

  The blood-painted pattern of the law array, starting from the stone platform on Bi Yao's left shoulder, was carefully painted by the great witch doctor. Gui Li was supporting him on one side, watching with his own eyes as this piece of fresh red color emerged from nothingness, gradually gathering into a five-foot radius oval ring. At this moment, except for a small area near the stone platform on Bi Yao's head, Bi Yao's surroundings had become a sea of blood.

  The King of Ghosts once again lifted the copper basin and placed it on the stone platform above the ground, then slowly walked to one side. This strange formation was almost complete.

  Innumerable, large and small, strange patterns linked together, flashing with a bloody glow, at first glance, it seems like a river of blood vessels crisscrossing each other, the bright red blood flowing freely as if in the bloodstream.

  Flowing from one place to another, reversing at the end and returning, like a gentle tide, endless.

  ※※※

  The deep red intertwined, on the ground under his feet gradually merged, the great wizard's hand unknowingly from what time began, as if already trembling unable to hold that red pen.

  The ghostly figure supporting the old man's body felt even more acutely the pain emanating from that frail frame, and he couldn't even begin to understand what had allowed this body to persevere until now.

  The heavy panting had turned hoarse by now, the great wizard's forehead was wet with a patch of sweat, but there was no more sweat to flow.

  He slowly stretched out his hand, dipped in the blood-filled red pen and drew the final stroke. The last completed pattern was connected to the first blood drawing he had drawn earlier.

  "Pffft!"

  A low voice, the red pen fell weakly to one side, the weight of Gui Li's arm suddenly became heavy, and the body of the great witch softened.

  Gui's heart skipped a beat, and his mind involuntarily buzzed with a "hum" sound. He felt an instant of needle-like fear piercing through his bones. He held his breath, increased the force on his hand to support the great witch doctor, looked down, and saw that the great witch doctor was extremely pale, but his mouth was slightly open, still gasping for air, apparently due to excessive exhaustion.

  The ghost finally put his heart back, and at the same time, he suddenly realized that just a moment ago, the back of his forehead was also wet.

  At the same time, a sighing sound came from the Ghost King, apparently he was also startled. At this moment, these two men who looked down on the world were both shocked and frightened by the slight movement of this dying old man.

  The great wizard gasped for a long time, his spirit barely recovering. He nodded at Gui Li, indicating that he should let him sit down. Gui Li's heart was racing as he looked at the great wizard's appearance, fearing that this old man would die if he wasn't careful. But at this moment, no matter how worried he was, there was nothing he could do. He had to follow the great wizard's orders and support him as he sat down on the top of the Bi Yao stone platform.

  The great wizard took a deep breath and looked forward, in front of him was a completely connected blood magic array, the bloody channels that covered the ground trapped countless blood. And those fresh blood, as if affected by an invisible force, on the flat ground, almost simultaneously began to flow towards the same direction, with no signs of separation like blood vessels.

  From this end flowing to that end, then from the connected channel flowing back, forming a complete cycle of circulation, endless and continuous.

  Standing behind the Grand Wizard, Gui Li and Gui Wang exchanged a glance with each other. Both of them were great masters in the cultivation of the True Way, and at this moment, there was a hint of astonishment in their eyes.

  The great wizard paused for a moment, stretched out his withered palm, picked up the red pen that had fallen beside him, and held it upside down in front of him. The red fine hair on the tip of the pen pointed downwards, and there were still residual blood drops on the pen, condensing into beads, struggling and flowing on the fine hair for a moment before silently falling off and merging into the bloody river in front of him.

  The great wizard's eyes did not blink, and his originally rough and heavy breathing suddenly also became quiet. In the stone room, it was suddenly calm!

  His eyebrows slowly rose, and the originally dull eyes also slowly lit up with a glow. The blood in the magic array in front of him seemed to have been stimulated by something, and its flowing speed suddenly accelerated.

  The hand holding the red pen slowly descended, soon touching the ground just three inches in front of the outermost river of blood. The fine red hairs touched the ground without bending, and the entire ground suddenly seemed to turn into soft water, allowing the red pen to insert silently into the ground.

  The atmosphere in the stone room gradually became eerie, accompanied by the increasingly fast blood-colored river, slowly emitting a faint howling sound. The faint bloody aura followed that red pen deep into the ground, gradually rising from this magic array, and soon merged with the faint white gas emitted by the icy stone platform, surrounding Bi Yao's body within it.

  The eyes of Gui Wang and Gui Lie blinked unblinkingly, staring tightly at the scene.

  The Grand Wizard relaxed his grip on the red pen, and a low, chanting voice began to echo in the stone chamber. The Grand Wizard's dry, cracked lips emitted a faint but frequent series of strange tones, as if his hands were following an unknown melody, slowly extending into mid-air, fingers curled like claws, waving gently.

  The howling sound in the stone room grew louder and louder. On the ground, the blood river in that formation was now turbulent, with waves surging one after another, and wave after wave of ghostly energy came from this bloody river.

  Suddenly, the great wizard spat out a sharp whistle from his mouth, and his five fingers turned into claws as he reached down, making a "plop" sound as he plunged into the river of blood.

  Almost at the same time, the Demon King and Ji Yan were stunned, that instant feeling as if the stone chamber around them no longer existed. The four stone walls, the upper and lower stone slabs on the ground, suddenly became empty and desolate, as if they were in a vast and boundless space, with not a single thing to rely on.

  Only the sound of wailing ghosts was heard, and they suddenly appeared from all directions, a brilliant red light bursting out of the crimson blood array, shooting into the sky. In the flickering red light, countless dark spirits were frightened and lost, as if being sucked in by an invisible force, unable to control their own bodies, running wildly everywhere, but no matter what, they could not escape that red glow.

  At this moment, the stone chamber returned to its original appearance, and Gui Li and Gui Wang immediately woke up. The two were shocked in their hearts, knowing that at that instant, the "Soul Summoning" formation had treated the surrounding stone walls and mountain belly as nothing, using the mysterious witchcraft of Nanjiang to forcibly penetrate the nine-yin ghost realm, capturing countless yin spirits and ghosts, and imprisoning them within this formation.

  This Soul-Calling Formation is so miraculous, it naturally consumes a lot of vital energy. Looking through the red light, the face of the Great Shaman has already become as bad as it can get, to the point where if someone said he was a dead man right now, there might be people who would believe it.

  The two demon kings' heartbeats accelerated involuntarily, secretly praying that the great witch doctor would go down, and their eyes were fixed on the magic array.

  In the arena, countless yin spirits and ghosts howled and jumped in the red light, including ordinary ghosts and strange mountain demons and giant beasts. After a moment, these ghostly creatures, who had been bounced back one by one by the red light, seemed to have realized that they could not escape, and turned their heads to roar and whistle at the great witch sitting at the front of the magic array.

  The great wizard didn't look at the angry ghosts much, his eyes slowly lifted up and gazed at the stone platform between the red lights, where Bi Yao's hand held the Huanyin bell. His arms suddenly swung, his left hand still claw-like, but his right hand had changed, with the ring finger and little finger curled in three parts, the middle finger and index finger like a sword, and the thumb pointing to the sky, it was exactly the witchcraft technique, pointing at the empty space.

  The cicadas sing in harmony!

  "Ding!......"

  Clear and crisp bell sound, like the deep valley oriole, clear morning and ringing, that harmonious bell actually left Bi Yao's hand, slowly rising to mid-air. Faint golden light, once again emitted from the bell body.

  Almost at the same time as the great wizard pointed to the golden bell, countless ghosts and spirits in the soul-calling blood array were driven by an invisible force, although they were angry and unwilling, but all of them rushed towards the golden bell that rose into the air like a tide.

  In an instant, the eerie atmosphere intensified, and Ling's body violently trembled as malevolent spirits surged from all directions, repeatedly colliding with her. Countless ghostly entities swarmed in, tearing at her flesh and savagely crashing into her, creating a chaotic scene. Meanwhile, beneath this turmoil, the crimson sea within the blood-colored magic array grew increasingly vibrant, its scarlet glow radiating an otherworldly aura as the blood howled and churned, almost boiling over!

  It seemed as if it couldn't withstand the eerie and sinister aura, the soft golden light of the Huahuan Bell gradually dimmed and was submerged among countless ghosts. After a brief moment, a sharp sound rang out, and on top of the Huahuan Bell, a faint wisp of smoke slowly emerged, appearing and disappearing, as if broken and then continued, floating above the bell, but it seemed that the latter half was still inside the bell.

  The Grandmaster's complexion suddenly became slightly rosier, and his energy was better than before. Even the arm he swung seemed to have more strength.

  He saw a hint of joy flash across his old face, and he let out a loud shout:

  "Hah!"

  Soul leaving the body

  Jiǔ Hún Guī Lái.

  English Translation: Nine Souls Return.

  The Yellow Springs and Nine Serenities

  "Summoning of the Soul!"

  The four sentences of the Taoist magic formula that the great wizard drank were full of momentum, and with a burst of energy, they scattered in all directions. In an instant, the entire stone chamber was filled with red light. The ghost king and ghost fierce only felt another loud noise around them, and the feeling of being in a desolate, gloomy, and eerie place like the underworld reappeared. What's different is that at this moment, there were countless wailing ghosts and spirits flying around.

  "Boom!"

  It was as if time had not stopped for a moment, like lightning flashing across the sky unstoppable. The two of them had not yet come back to their senses when the scene around them changed again into a stone chamber. In that red demonic curtain, countless ghosts and monsters were flying about, and amidst the gentle smoke surrounding the Huahuan Bell, countless ghosts and monsters surrounded it, slowly revealing layer upon layer of gentle smoke.

  One, two, three...... eight, nine!

  Three souls and seven spirits, is the soul!

  Ghostly fierce whole body trembles, hands in fingernails deeply embedded in the flesh, actually with fresh blood flowing down, but he completely unaware. In that red light screen, those wisps of smoke...

  He turned his head and looked at the great wizard.

  Just for a moment!

  Just a moment would be fine!

  He couldn't help but roar in his heart!

  The Grandmaster's face was flushed with a wave of red, which suddenly receded like the tide. The deeply wrinkled corners of his eyes began to twitch.

  That pair of withered hands waving in the air began to tremble again. Only his voice was still so loud:

  "Three souls and seven spirits,"

  Congregating spirits as gods.

  Unite spirits and search for souls

  They are one!

  As his voice faded away, the nine wisps of smoke that had appeared in mid-air one after another flew out from the group of ghosts and spirits, slowly approaching the Huawan Bell, gradually merging with the wisp of smoke on the bell into one.

  Faintly visible, a human figure gradually appears.

  At this moment, it's not just Gui Lie, even Gui Wang can't help but tremble with excitement, his face filled with thrill.

  The Grand Wizard's face had become bloodless at some point, and his hands were shaking even more violently. In the red glow of the blood light, he opened his mouth and shouted loudly:

  "The soul has been formed,"

  The spirits return home.

  The spirit enters...

  A "body" word stuck in his throat, just as it was about to come out, the great wizard's voice suddenly became hoarse, and all that came out was a faint, low "hiss".

  The King of Ghosts and Gui Lie's faces changed drastically at the same time. The Soul Summoning Array shook violently, suddenly bursting out with a loud roar, red light scattered everywhere, countless ghostly objects rose into the air, pouring into the stone wall underground, disappearing in an instant. However, the King of Ghosts and Gui Lie didn't care about that, through the chaotic images, they stared straight at the Great Shaman.

  The old man's hands were suspended in mid-air, but his head slowly bowed down.

  Guilian and Guiwang rushed to the side of the Grand Wizard like lightning, supporting his body, but the Grand Wizard's head still slowly and irresistibly fell downwards. Yet, in his mouth, he seemed to be struggling to say something.

  The Demon King and the Ghostly General desperately approached the Great Witch, but in that already indistinct voice, they could only vaguely hear a few disjointed words:

  "Hmm...Jiuyou...Hmm...Zhīyīn...Hmm...Non...This..."

  The sound gradually subsided into silence, and the old man's head finally fell on his chest, never to rise again.

  The chill of the bone, as if in a deep and dark underworld ice prison, two wooden men, looking at all this in disbelief.

  The scattered red sparks gradually disappeared, the turbulent blood river calmed down, and the powerless blood stains could no longer hold back the fresh blood, which flowed freely all over the ground.

  The light smoke on the honeysuckle bell was sucked back like a whale taking in water, disappearing into the honeysuckle bell. A faint golden glow rose again, making the honeysuckle bell stand out even more dazzlingly.

  A gentle sway, accompanied by a crisp ringing sound, the Huanyin bell slowly fell back onto the icy stone pedestal, into Biyao's hands, quiet as before.

  Deathly silence pervades the icy stone chamber, lingering for a long time without dispersing, and there is no longer even a hint of sound...