After an unknown amount of time, Li Molin and Liuli finally broke through the fog and came outside.
Li Molin looked up at the sky and realized that it was noon, while it was still early morning when they went in.
The two humans and two demons found a place to land outside the mist and landed. A flash of light appeared on Ahua's body, and she transformed into the appearance of a little girl. She came to Liuli and opened her arms to hug her.
"Sister, don't be sad." Ahua's voice was soft as she gently patted Liuli's back and said softly, "If you're really sad, just cry it out. It'll make you feel better."
"Waaah..." Liuli closed her eyes, pouted, and finally burst into tears. She hugged Ahua tightly, sobbing, "Ahua...waaah...Ahua, little, little monk...waaah..."
Seeing Liuli's heartbroken and crying, Li Molin felt a pang of heartache, which deepened his hatred for Shi Chan.
"Young Master." Yu Ke called softly, handing the short staff in his hand to Li Molin. He said in a low voice, "This staff looks like the legendary 'Soul Summoning Staff' to me. Young Master, please take a look."
Li Molin withdrew his gaze from Liuli and took the short staff from Yu Ke's hand to examine it closely.
The short staff was about a foot long and as thick as a baby's arm. Its material was indistinguishable; it looked neither like wood, nor stone, nor jade. A circle of demonic faces was carved around the top of the staff. These faces were blue-faced, fanged, and extremely arrogant.
Li Molin slowly twirled the short staff, revealing a variety of expressions on the ghostly faces: some glared angrily, some smiled wickedly, some were filled with pain, and some were fierce. Each expression was unique, sending a chill down one's spine after looking at them all.
“That’s right.” Li Molin nodded in agreement. “This is undoubtedly a soul-summoning spell. If it weren’t, how could so many wandering spirits be attracted to surround it?”
The Soul Summoning Charm is a supreme treasure of the Demon Clan, on par with the Blood Fiend Trident. However, unlike the Blood Fiend Trident, the Soul Summoning Charm's attack power is not strong; it is only ranked among divine artifacts because of its extraordinary function. This function is that, at the moment of death, by casting a soul-summoning spell with the Soul Summoning Charm, one can forcibly retrieve the three souls and seven spirits of that being from the Nine Netherworlds, restoring them to their rightful place and bringing them back to life.
Such a function is, after all, going against the will of Heaven. Therefore, if one wants to cast the Soul Summoning Spell, the caster must have a cultivation level of at least the Demon Heart Realm. Moreover, after successfully casting the spell, the caster will lose half of their cultivation and essence. The price is considerable.
Cultivation level is secondary; it can be recovered through elixirs or diligent practice. However, vital essence is the origin of all life. The five internal organs, the eight extraordinary meridians, and the five senses all depend on vital essence for existence. Losing vital essence will inevitably cause great harm to the body. Moreover, lost vital essence is almost impossible to replenish.
Just as Li Molin was carefully observing the Soul Summoning Incantation, a burst of black light suddenly erupted from it, revealing small characters within the light. Li Molin knew that this was probably the incantation for using the Soul Summoning Incantation, and he quickly memorized it.
A moment later, the black light on the summoning device disappeared without a trace, and Li Molin memorized all the incantations.
He smiled faintly and said in a low voice, "A divine artifact is a divine artifact. Even if its attack power is not strong, it has many heaven-defying uses."
After muttering to himself, Li Molin turned to look at Liuli, who was still crying, and said in a deep voice, "Liuli, stop crying. I'll bring that monk over to you in a bit, and you can do whatever you want with him, okay?"
Liuli vaguely heard these words, her crying paused for a moment, but then it started again, still sobbing uncontrollably.
Ahua gently patted her back, her voice soft and soothing, repeatedly coaxing, "Sister, don't be sad... don't be sad..."
Li Molin shook his head, turned to face the black swamp, pointed the staff of the Soul Summoning Rod at the mist above the swamp, and softly chanted a spell. As soon as he finished speaking, the demonic energy and ghostly spirits above the swamp swarmed towards the Soul Summoning Rod, and were absorbed into its body like a whale sucking water.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, all the demonic energy and thousands of ghostly spirits above the swamp were completely absorbed by the summoning mechanism, leaving only a faint white smoke above the swamp. The eyes of the many people from both the righteous and demonic factions who had been fiercely fighting or blindly wandering above the swamp instantly returned to clear.
This unexpected turn of events caused both sides in the fierce battle to cease fighting. Immediately afterward, seeing the situation clearly, all the demons quickly flew towards Li Molin's direction. Soon, the remaining eighty or so demons gathered around Li Molin, while the righteous disciples above the swamp rallied with their fellow disciples. After a brief discussion, a group of over a hundred righteous disciples rushed over, still relentlessly determined to destroy the demonic treasure in Li Molin's possession.
Behind the righteous disciples, the four divine beasts, including Rui Ze, who had been separated by the mist, quickly regrouped when their vision cleared.
Long Mu spoke first: "It seems the demons have obtained the treasure. Should we still try to steal it?"
Rui Ze shook his head and chuckled, saying calmly, "What's the point of fighting over it? Can we even manage to take it all? Let's just watch the conflict between the righteous and demonic factions first. If they both suffer heavy losses, we might still have a chance."
As Yu Ke watched the large group of righteous disciples flying towards him menacingly, he whispered, "Young Master, should we retreat?"
Li Molin smiled coldly, staring at the group of righteous disciples, and said in a deep voice, "No need, today I will wipe out all these annoying flies!"
Yu Ke glanced at the summoning charm in Li Molin's hand and nodded in response, "Yes."
When the mist dissipated, Shi Chan remained silently floating in the air, while the numerous Buddhist artifacts summoned by the Chan Jingzhu in front of him remained stationary, rising and falling uncertainly.
Just as the righteous disciples charged towards the demons, the whooshing sounds brought Shi Chan back to his senses. After assessing the situation, he quickly recited an incantation, and the small Buddhist artifacts floating in the air all transformed into swastikas and returned to the Zen Purification Pearl. Shi Chan reached out and grabbed the Zen Purification Pearl, searched among the righteous disciples for a while, and spotted the disciples of Bodhi Temple. He flew to Shi Ning's side and silently flew forward.
Shi Ning turned to look at Shi Chan and sighed softly.
As Shi Chan listened to his soft sigh, he lowered his eyes gently, concealing the complex expression in them.
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