In the center of the depression, Gu Xuan sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut, his breathing long and steady.
The surrounding dead silence was broken by the faint sound of flowing water emanating from within his body.
Deep within his Spirit Sea, the ancient palace named Demon Suppression Hall lay like a dormant giant beast. Before the hall, the Black Water Pool was churning at an unprecedented speed. At the center of the vortex, two Spook Ghosts that had just been sucked in were slowly being torn apart and decomposed by an invisible force.
Threads of the most Yin and cold primal energy separated from the pool water, following his mysterious connection with the Demon Suppression Hall, quietly seeping into the meridians of his limbs and bones, mending the internal injuries caused by forcibly activating the pseudo-hall domain earlier.
The injuries were healing, but what surged even more fiercely were the shattered memories of the two Spook Ghosts.
They were like smashed mirror fragments, transforming into countless broken scenes that flashed wildly through his mind.
Mountains of corpses and seas of blood, piles of severed limbs stacked like hills.
A massive, imposing city gate collapsed under immense force, kicking up dust that filled the sky.
In the wind, a large banner bearing the character "Xu," soaked in black blood and torn at one corner, let out its final mournful cry.
"Xu..."
Gu Xuan suddenly opened his eyes. Deep within those pitch-black pupils, a faint, ghostly light flashed and vanished.
He instantly understood!
These vengeful spirits, these Spook Ghosts he had lured, had belonged to the same army called the Xu Zi Ying in their previous lives!
They were not ordinary wandering ghosts, but fierce soldiers who died on the battlefield, their Soul Essence imprinted with an overwhelming Resolve of never-dying in a hundred battles!
This Resolve was both the source of their lingering existence after death and the most terrifying poison.
If allowed to continuously gather under the attraction of similar auras, they would eventually evolve into a "Tide of Resentment" capable of devouring the Soul Essence of all living beings!
And the pseudo-hall domain he had set up, intended for screening and trapping, had inadvertently become a massive signal amplifier, a breeding ground that catalyzed their awakening and assembly!
He spread his palm open. Lying there was a Copper Token remnant from the detonation, scorched black all over with warped edges. But when he looked closely, he could see that within it, a few wisps of Yin-cold airflow, thinner than a strand of hair, were still stubbornly moving.
"Anchor Point..." Gu Xuan murmured.
This thing was not just the core of the formation; it was the very bond connecting all the vengeful spirits of the Xu Zi Ying.
It was like a magnet, and those vengeful spirits were the iron filings scattered across the wilderness.
A plan, audacious to the point of madness, instantly took shape in his mind.
He hesitated no longer. His fingertips, sharp as knives, lightly sliced open the palm of his other hand, and bright red blood beads quickly welled up.
He placed his bleeding palm over the scorched Copper Token, murmuring in a voice barely audible, "It wasn't you looking for me... it was me, inviting you here."
The moment his voice fell, the blood beads seemed to gain life, frantically seeping into the lines of the Copper Token.
The once-dead remnant of the Copper Token buzzed, emitting a faint but distinct resonance!
A hundred paces away, a skeleton half-buried in the mud seemed to be yanked up by an invisible thread. The skull, now nothing but bone, suddenly lifted its head, its empty eye sockets fixed firmly on the direction of the depression!
Gu Xuan rose swiftly, quickly pulling out the four Fu Wen stakes he had previously set up one by one.
However, he did not destroy the formation. Instead, he sliced his fingertip again, using his own vital blood as ink, and rapidly redrew and connected the three broken Fu Wen traces caused by the explosion.
But he didn't repair them; instead, he cleverly altered the direction of the Fu Wen, forming a "funnel-shaped" guiding structure, wide on the outside and narrow on the inside, allowing entry but no exit.
He knew very well that a complete formation would emit a dangerous aura, enough to scare away those strange entities that, while lacking intelligence, possessed instinct.
Only this half-open, half-closed, seemingly broken situation could make them misjudge the situation, believing it to be a heaven-sent opportunity, thus rushing to flood into this cage tailor-made for them.
Having done all this, his figure flickered, and he vanished into the night like a phantom, silently retreating to a half-collapsed Underground Cellar ten miles away.
He hid behind a pile of rotten wooden beams, suppressing his entire aura, waiting like the most patient hunter for the prey to walk into the trap.
At the third quarter past midnight, Yin and Yang alternated, and all was silent.
Deep within the withered forest, a cold wind suddenly rose, making the leaves rustle like countless vengeful spirits whispering.
More than ten skeletons of various shapes slowly emerged from different directions.
Their movements were far more coordinated than the one he encountered last night; they were no longer shuffling stiffly. The black mist swirling in their eyes had almost connected into a thin veil, and between them, a low, guttural sound, as if from friction in the throat, was transmitting information.
They bypassed several obvious traps Gu Xuan had deliberately left, avoiding the faint Yang energy emanating from those spots.
Only toward that "damaged" depression did they move, like an ant colony smelling honey, their target clear, steadily closing in.
They seemed to be following an unseen force, a summons originating from their bloodline, from the depths of their Soul Essence.
The moment the first skeleton's foot stepped onto the edge of the Fu Wen formation, a faint, ghostly blue light suddenly ignited on the Fu Wen drawn with Gu Xuan's blood on the ground.
However, the expected panic did not occur.
Not only did the skeleton not retreat, but it also opened its mouth, revealing a set of stark white teeth, as if it were smiling.
Immediately after, it performed an action that made even Gu Xuan, observing from the shadows, feel his scalp tingle—it slowly knelt down, adopting a posture of worship toward the center of the depression.
Gu Xuan's gaze sharpened instantly.
Something was wrong!
This went beyond simple instinctive attraction; this was a nascent form of... an ancient ritual!
They were worshipping!
They were worshipping that Anchor Point, or rather, what the Anchor Point represented!
His mind raced as he tried to forcibly activate the Demon Suppression Hall in his Spirit Sea to capture all these strange entities in one sweep.
However, a violent jolt came from his Spirit Sea. The Black Water Pool was churning too violently; the new energy gained from absorbing the two Spook Ghosts had not been fully digested. Forcing activation would not only fail but might also cause damage to his Soul Essence!
At least half a day more was needed!
But the skeletons before him, after the first one knelt, the others followed suit. The low whimpering sounds became increasingly synchronized, as if chanting some ancient prayer.
At this critical juncture, Gu Xuan abandoned the safer plan and chose the most perilous strategy!
He took out the last intact Copper Token from his robes and, without hesitation, slammed it fiercely into the Tanzhong acupoint on his chest!
"Reverse Flow!"
He shouted, using the residual suction force of the Demon Suppression Hall, which was still digesting energy, to forcibly reverse it!
No longer absorbing, but simulating!
Disguising his aura as a massive energy source on the verge of collapse, one that could be devoured by its own kind!
Instantly, visible wisps of black energy leaked from his pores, making his entire body appear like a powerful Spook Ghost on the verge of Soul Dispersal, exuding a fatal temptation.
In the distance, in the depression, all the kneeling skeletons stopped their chanting as if their necks had been grabbed.
They all turned their heads in unison, their empty eye sockets locking onto the direction of the Underground Cellar ten miles away!
"Roar—!"
A unified roar, filled with unprecedented greed and savagery, shot toward the sky.
The next second, more than ten skeletons rushed toward the Underground Cellar like a bursting tide!
In the Underground Cellar, a cold arc curved on Gu Xuan's lips.
Just as the horde reached the entrance of the Underground Cellar, he violently pulled out the Copper Token embedded in his chest and retreated backward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
"Boom!"
The horde charged into the empty Underground Cellar. Discovering the "target" had vanished, the anger of being deceived made them completely frenzied, and they began smashing the surrounding earthen walls wildly.
Now was the time!
The three Terracotta Plates soaked in blood, which Gu Xuan had buried at the exit of the Underground Cellar, were detonated by his vital energy the moment the horde squeezed in!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
With three muffled sounds, countless sharp pieces of terracotta exploded like a torrential rain, accurately embedding themselves in the vital joints of the leading skeletons, such as their knees and ankles.
Taking advantage of the chaos among the horde, Gu Xuan leaped out of the shadows, his hands moving like illusions, forming an ancient hand seal.
"Suppress!"
He uttered the true words, activating the Demon Suppression Hall, which had just stabilized slightly, locking onto the chaos from afar!
An irresistible, terrifying suction force appeared out of thin air. Inside the Underground Cellar, seven skeletons whose movements were hindered became illusory and distorted at a speed visible to the naked eye before they could even scream, finally turning into seven plumes of black smoke, forcibly dragged into Gu Xuan's brow and vanishing.
Inside the Spirit Sea, the Black Water Pool surged violently, the water level nearly reaching the brim.
And deep at the bottom of the churning pool, the phantom image of an ancient, closed stone door flickered in and out of sight.
However, within the residual formation of the initial depression, there was one skeleton that had not moved an inch from beginning to end.
It did not follow the main group to pursue Gu Xuan, nor did it participate in that bizarre worship.
At this moment, it slowly raised the hand that was nothing but bone, and with its sharp fingernails, it painstakingly carved a crooked character in the damp soil, stroke by stroke.
After finishing this, the black mist in the skeleton's eyes completely dissipated, turning into a pile of true dry bones scattered on the ground.
In the distance, Gu Xuan, having successfully captured seven Spook Ghosts, felt a surge in his Soul Essence, and his consciousness began to sink deeper into the increasingly tangible Demon Suppression Hall Deep Within.