Whoosh…

As the black banner with its golden array patterns danced, the air atop the Eight Trigrams Platform grew noticeably colder.

No, not just noticeably—as Huaiqing wielded the Soul-Summoning Banner, dark clouds gathered above the Star-Observing Tower, blocking out the sunlight and roiling in layers.

Woooo…

The air currents whistling through the banner pole—made of Spirit-Calling Metal and riddled with holes—produced mournful, weeping howls.

Song Qing frowned, feeling his divine soul threatening to depart with those cries.

This cursed banner is trying to summon my soul too… Song Qing pulled wooden plugs from his robes and stuffed them in his ears, finally feeling some relief.

Spirit-Calling Metal, also known as “Spirit-Awakening Stone” or “Ghost-Summoning Stone,” would always draw spirits wherever it was present, making it an essential material for the Soul-Summoning Banner.

“Woooo…”

The wailing suddenly intensified. Throughout the capital and beyond, vengeful spirits awakened—some crawling from cold rivers, others rising from abandoned houses, and more drifting up from overgrown graves…

Yin winds howled as dark clouds thickened overhead, enveloping the entire Astronomical Bureau in an eerie, terrifying atmosphere.

The Bureau’s white-robed artificers had already received notice and descended to lower floors—no living person was permitted above the third floor.

“Wei Yuan, soul return!”

The golden array of symbols on the trembling Soul-Summoning Banner lit up, streaming with the banner’s currents toward the distance, like a twisted path of guidance.

…

Jing Mountain City.

Atop the towering altar, the statue of a young man wearing magnificent robes and a crown of thorns began to quiver slightly.

In the distant sky, yin winds carried glittering golden light, stretching from the horizon to form a path of scattered gold.

Above the shaman god statue’s head, a blue-robed figure slowly emerged, then sank back down, repeating this pattern.

Each time the blue-robed figure emerged, a clear light would shine from the statue’s brow, forcing the soul back inside.

“Wei Yuan, soul return!”

From the end of the golden path came that clear, resonant call.

The ethereal blue-robed figure emerged again, its illusory form trembling repeatedly as if straining to float upward, trying to break free from the statue.

Within the statue, streams of black qi surged against the blue-robed figure, as if lending their strength to aid his escape.

But all three forces were simultaneously suppressed by the sealing power in the statue’s brow.

After several attempts, both the black qi and the blue-robed figure grew weak, ceasing their efforts.

No matter how many times the call echoed from the end of the golden path, the blue-robed figure appeared no more.

…

“Wei Yuan, soul return!”

Huaiqing felt her arms growing ice-cold, a thin layer of frost forming on her hands where they gripped the banner pole.

The advantages of being a martial artist showed here—if Song Qing were wielding the Soul-Summoning Banner, his hands would have already frozen solid and shattered.

As for the artifact’s inherent poison, though Huaiqing felt mild discomfort, her Fourth-Rank martial artist’s constitution could withstand it for a short time, as long as she stopped within a quarter-hour.

The dark clouds above the Astronomical Bureau grew denser, the temperature dropping further. The Soul-Summoning Banner’s power affected the surroundings, gradually transforming the Bureau into a semblance of the “netherworld,” drawing spirits from throughout the capital.

Some spirits drifted above the Eight Trigrams Platform; others passed through walls and windows to infiltrate the Bureau; still others circled the Star-Observing Tower in their dance.

Inside the Bureau, artificers wielded various collecting artifacts, catching the dancing spirits like children chasing butterflies.

“Quick, gather them up! These are excellent materials for crafting artifacts and medicines!”

“It’s like a gift from heaven!”

“Be careful not to catch Wei Yuan’s soul!”

The white-robed artificers were both excited by the quantity of “materials” and sighing with emotion, noting how many people had died recently in and around the capital.

After death, souls would gather for seven days before completely dissipating within half a month, unable to persist in the mortal realm through their power.

This meant that the spirits drawn by the Soul-Summoning Banner were all new ghosts—those who had died within the past half month.

Another half-quarter hour passed… Song Qing glanced at the increasingly short incense stick, about to burn out, and his expression turned troubled:

“Why hasn’t Wei Yuan’s soul arrived yet?

“This doesn’t make sense. Could it be because he’s not familiar with Your Majesty, so he refuses to return?”

Huaiqing’s beautiful face had turned ashen, frost coating her eyelashes, anxiety slowly creeping into her brow as she snapped:

“Stop talking nonsense. Check what’s gone wrong.”

Song Qing fell silent and first inspected the array. Though he had no plans to advance as an array master, he had studied all the necessary arrays. With enough materials and an auspicious location, Song Qing could construct arrays of tremendous power.

He simply couldn’t generate arrays with a mere thought like true array masters.

“The soul-summoning array is fine, the banner is fine, the physical body and divine soul are fine…”

Song Qing finished speaking and raised his head to look at the Empress’s graceful silhouette.

“You mean to say that I am the problem?” Huaiqing’s eyebrow arched.

She swore that if Song Qing dared to provoke her at this moment, she would immediately sentence him to execution at the vegetable market.

Song Qing furrowed his brow, pondering for a long while before saying:

“There are two possibilities. Either Wei Yuan’s soul has completely scattered to ash, or it’s under some kind of seal so that even a top-tier artifact like the Soul-Summoning Banner cannot call it.”

He showed the same rigor as when conducting alchemy experiments.

Huaiqing contemplated briefly, continuing to wave the banner as she looked back:

“What can be done?”

Song Qing replied:

“I was joking earlier about Xu Qi’an being more suitable for soul-summoning. Besides having Wei Yuan’s bloodline… well, that’s not quite accurate, but you understand.

“The main reason is actually that Xu Qi’an has sufficient fortune.”

Huaiqing frowned:

“Fortune?”

She didn’t understand—did soul-summoning require luck? If so trivial a thing, what was the point of the Soul-Summoning Banner?

Song Qing shrugged:

“I don’t understand either. This was what Zhao Shou specifically instructed when he brought Wei Yuan’s remnant soul to the Astronomical Bureau. He said that when the time came to recall Wei Yuan’s soul, let Xu Qi’an do it because his fortune was sufficient.”

Huaiqing thought for a moment, then asked:

“Does Xu Qi’an know about this?”

“Of course he does.” Song Qing gave a definitive answer.

“Then I can do it!”

Huaiqing spoke with absolute certainty.

Because this was the task Xu Qi’an had entrusted to her.

Taking a deep breath, in the depths of Huaiqing’s black pupils, a golden light arose, transforming into a dragon’s shadow that swam within her eyes.

In an instant, Huaiqing seemed to become a different person—majestic, powerful, the supreme mortal sovereign, causing Song Qing behind her to nearly fall to his knees in worship, unable to directly face the ruler’s dignity.

She had mobilized the dragon qi within her.

Before ascending the throne, she had used the Earth Book fragment as a bridge to absorb three main dragon qi and hundreds of scattered dragon qi.

This dragon qi had laid dormant in her body, impossible to mobilize.

Until she ascended the throne as Emperor, and fortune blessed her, did the dormant fortune finally submit to her, becoming something she could actively use?

“Wei Yuan, soul return!”

With eyes transformed into brilliant dragon pupils, Huaiqing gathered her fortune qi, her voice resonating across the heavens.

…

“Wei Yuan, soul return!”

At Jing Mountain City, from the end of that scattered gold path came a thunderous shout.

With the voice came two beams of brilliant golden light, shooting straight from the path’s end to strike the shaman god statue’s brow.

There, the seal formed of clear qi began to separate, slowly peeling away.

At the altar’s edge, Salun Agu’s voice emerged as he stepped before the statue, saying with a smile:

“That’s more like it! Fortunately, Great Feng still has someone with sufficient fortune.

“Wei Yuan, when you sealed the shaman god and it claimed your soul, that was karma’s cycle. You used your life force to repair the Confucian Saint’s seal, and today you erasing this seal is also karma’s cycle.

“Let this old one lend you some strength.”

He drew out his shepherd’s whip, which blazed with intense white light, crackling with electricity like a lightning whip.

“Crack!”

Salun Agu’s whip struck the blue-robed soul, its white light instantly merging with the spirit. The blue-robed soul burst with blinding white radiance, suddenly filled with power.

Simultaneously, the black qi within the statue surged violently, gradually pushing the blue-robed soul outward.

Meanwhile, under the golden light’s illumination, the clear light at the brow finally dissipated completely.

Boom!

The thorn-crowned statue shuddered violently, black qi gushing like a spring, propelling the blue-robed soul outward.

Crack! The Confucian Saint statue’s brow split again, identical to its state before Wei Yuan’s repair.

The moment the blue-robed soul broke free, the guiding path formed of yin winds extended to sweep him away, instantly contracting and vanishing at the horizon.

The black qi continued to surge upward, condensing in the high sky into a massive, blurry face, gazing down upon all of Jing Mountain City.

Salun Agu sighed in relief, both unburdened and somewhat disappointed.

Five months had passed from Wei Yuan sealing the shaman god to his resurrection.

Just these five months had cost the Shaman God Sect their best chance to swallow the Northern Borders and use it as a stepping stone to devour the Central Plains.

“Now the Nine Provinces seethe with activity—that false-skinned demon has returned, a near-Divine Warrior breaks free and reforms, and if Luo Yuheng succeeds in her tribulation, the Dao Sect gains another Terrestrial Immortal. The situation grows ever more complex.

“Such is Heaven’s will!”

Salun Agu shook his head regretfully.

As he spoke, that blurry face of black qi in the sky quickly collapsed, withdrawing entirely back into the shaman god statue.

The statue’s originally hollow eyes manifested two dark gleams, staring at the opposing Confucian Saint statue.

Careful observation would reveal that under this “gaze,” the crack in the Confucian Saint statue’s brow gradually spread and extended.

This process was extremely slow but inexorable.

…

“Time’s up!”

Song Qing said softly:

“Your Majesty, a quarter-hour has passed. Release the Soul-Summoning Banner—holding it longer will harm your dragon body.”

Huaiqing bit her silver teeth, ignoring Song Qing’s urging and continuing to wave the banner.

Amid the “whooshing” sounds, the last heat dispersed from Song Qing’s incense, its ash falling away.

Song Qing shook his head and sighed.

Moments later, Huaiqing’s body swayed, the Soul-Summoning Banner slipping from her hands to crash upon the ground.

It wasn’t that she wanted to give up—she had simply reached her limit, unable to maintain her grip on the banner.

Her fair, beautiful face was covered with dark blue blood vessels, her red lips had turned purple-black, and her arms were encased in thick ice.

Top-tier artifacts like the Soul-Summoning Banner, with every main material involving the Transcendent Realm, were difficult for someone of her Fourth Rank to wield for long periods.

The dark clouds overhead completely dispersed, the yin winds ceasing.

The spirits circling the Star-Observing Tower gradually departed.

“Your Majesty, expel the poison.”

Song Qing took a porcelain bottle from his robes and casually tossed it over.

Without the slightest notion of presenting it with both hands.

Researchers just weren’t “clever” enough.

So Huaiqing didn’t catch it, instead staggering to Wei Yuan’s side, silently gazing at his handsome face, deep disappointment in her eyes.

At that moment, Song Qing saw a hint of desolation in the Empress’s bearing.

He vaguely recalled that when Huaiqing was still a princess, she had seemingly studied chess under Wei Yuan for several years, if he remembered correctly.

Suddenly, the soul-summoning array beneath Huaiqing’s feet lit up, and scattered golden light surged from the horizon, rolling in layers toward the towering Star-Observing Tower.

The golden light came swiftly, reaching the Eight Trigrams Platform within moments, entering the great blue-robed body within the array under the “escort” of yin winds.

Huaiqing had retreated outside the array, her beautiful eyes fixed unblinkingly on that blue robe.

Shortly after, those eyelashes trembled, and the eyes slowly opened.

He gazed silently at the sky for three seconds, slowly sat up, looked around, and finally fixed his gaze on Huaiqing.

His temples were streaked with gray, his eyes containing the vicissitudes washed out by time, and he smiled gently:

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty!”

Huaiqing’s eyes reddened, tears silently sliding down her cheeks:

“Lord Wei…”

…

Outside the capital, a black-robed figure galloped through the city gates, racing along the packed earth road.

…

Yong Province.

Xu Pingfeng sensed something and used his teleportation technique to create distance, avoiding the Old Warrior’s blade qi.

Then, turning to gaze northward, though it was daylight, a brilliant star hung in the northern sky.

“Wei Yuan…”

As a Second-Rank artificer, reading star omens was within his domain of ability.

Xu Pingfeng slowly clenched his fist, veins bulging on his forehead.

Wei Yuan’s resurrection wasn’t frightening—what could a frail body accomplish?

But if Luo Yuheng successfully passed her tribulation, then Great Feng would not only have the confidence to contend with Yun Province in Transcendent power, but on the battlefield, no matter how highly Xu Pingfeng regarded Qi Guangbo, he couldn’t be confident the general could match Wei Yuan.

“I must go to the Northern Borders, even if only in avatar form…”

Xu Pingfeng glanced down at the Old Warrior, rubbing his temples in frustration.

Grinding down a Second-Rank warrior was no quick task.

This stubborn rock in the latrine.

…

Southern Borders.

In the primeval forest outside the Extreme Abyss, Heavenly Insect Grandmother peered through dense layers of branches toward the north.

“Wei Yuan has resurrected.”

Heavenly Insect Grandmother squinted, a slight smile crossing her wrinkled face:

“None of you need worry about your efforts being wasted.”

Dragon Chart and the other Insect Tribe leaders first rejoiced at these words, then frowned.

The alluring and charming Luan Yu furrowed her delicate brows:

“Can he recover his former cultivation?”

Heavenly Insect Grandmother shook her head.

Dragon Chart immediately looked disappointed:

“Then what use is it? We still have to see if Xu Qi’an can survive his tribulation battle.”

Yu Shi said:

“If Great Feng falls, not only will we lose everything, we might even face retribution.”

He thought that Xu Qi’an still hadn’t given him that ancient corpse.

Heavenly Insect Grandmother merely smiled at the leaders’ pessimism.

…

Star-Observing Tower, Eight Trigrams Platform.

Wei Yuan sat behind what was originally the Observatory Master’s desk, holding a cup of hot tea. He sipped it and shook his head:

“No tea with Flower God seeds?”

Huaiqing, sitting opposite him, had now contained all her emotions, imperceptibly quirking her lip:

“Lord Wei can ask Xu Qi’an for some.”

Song Qing had been sent from the Eight Trigrams Platform—though he was quite willing, as trivial matters like Wei Yuan’s resurrection weren’t enough to make him set aside his alchemy experiments.

Wei Yuan set down his teacup and said:

“Xu Qi’an’s absence means Great Feng has reached a precarious situation. Which old creature sealed the Observatory Master?”

Huaiqing, who had never revealed half a piece of intelligence to him before, looked at the gray-templed man and sighed:

“Lord Wei, did you calculate your resurrection before setting out for battle?

“Great Feng is indeed in a precarious situation now. I wish to seek your counsel.”