Chapter 1821 913: The Person in the Mist (Part 3)

Outside the Red Rope, four Soul Summoning Banners stood—each banner made of white cloth, inscribed with black characters like "Soul Return" and "Spirit Reappear", with a copper bell hanging from the top of each pole, chiming crisply without any wind.

Sha Lifei and Kuai Dayou guarded the sides of the temple's entrance, while Long Yan'er sat under the eaves of the side hall, eyes vigilant.

This was the "Seven Star Soul-Attracting Array" set up by everyone.

Using the Five Dao General Temple's accumulated Incense Fire Wish Power as the foundation, with Soul Summoning Banners as waymarks and Lotus Lamps as the Life Fire. Whenever Li Yan faced danger within the Yin Ruins, Wang Daoxuan could activate the Array to forcefully guide his soul back to his body.

It should have been foolproof.

But at the fourth watch of midnight, an unexpected change occurred.

First, a wind arose within the temple.

The wind was peculiar, not blowing the banners, not swaying the copper bells, but swooping directly towards the Lotus Lamps on the magic platform.

The flames of the seven lamps simultaneously flickered, nearly extinguishing; fortunately, Wang Daoxuan reacted swiftly, flicking out seven Yellow Talismans from his sleeve onto the lamp holders, the talisman paper self-igniting into seven clusters of Yang Fire protecting the lamp wicks.

Then came a crisp "crack".

The Five Dao General's Divine Statue placed at the center of the platform suddenly developed a fissure without any warning.

The fissure spread from the top of the head to the chest, and then the statue completely shattered.

Wang Daoxuan's face turned pale.

Before he could act, the statue exploded with a "bang", breaking into more than a dozen clay fragments.

As the fragments scattered, the seven Lotus Lamps on the platform shook violently, flickering uncertainly.

"Not good!"

Wang Daoxuan suddenly stood up, his apricot yellow Taoist robe flapping without wind.

"Daoist, what's wrong?" Sha Lifei sprang to the front of the platform.

Wang Daoxuan did not reply, bending down to check the Lotus Lamps.

Though the lamps were shaking fiercely, they ultimately did not extinguish.

After staring at the flame for three breaths, he straightened up, his voice dry:

"The Five Dao General's avatar... is destroyed."

The temple plunged into sudden silence.

Sha Lifei became immediately anxious, hurriedly asking, "What about Brother Yan?"

"The lamps have not extinguished, the soul is unharmed."

Wang Daoxuan gazed at the Lotus Lamps, helplessly saying, "But the statue was the summon beacon. With the beacon destroyed, we can no longer actively summon the soul. Now... he must rely on himself to find a way out of the Yin Ruins, only then can we sense his location here and assist him in returning to his body."

Before his words finished, Wang Daoxuan suddenly staggered.

As if pushed by an invisible hand, he stumbled half a step back, then his eyes closed tightly, and he fell straight backwards. Sha Lifei, with quick reflexes, caught him, yet saw Wang Daoxuan with his eyes tightly shut, complexion pale as paper, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

This state persisted for about ten breaths.

After ten breaths, Wang Daoxuan abruptly opened his eyes, his pupils retaining remnants of undispersed fright.

He pushed away Sha Lifei's hand, "The Five Dao General... has visited in a dream."

"What did he say?" Kuai Dayou eagerly asked.

"There are big troubles over there."

Wang Daoxuan looked at everyone, "Brother Yan should be alright, but the mission... is likely to fail. The General asks us to be prepared to take him to meet the true self immediately upon his return."

The temple fell silent once again.

After a long time, Sha Lifei suddenly grinned, "Failing is failing. If those Mystical Sect people have the ability, let them find it themselves. If they can't, it means the Crown Prince isn't destined for it."

He looked at the others, "As long as Brother Yan returns alive, everything else be damned!"

...

Unknown to the developments in the temple, Li Yan had already stepped into the core region of the Yin Ruins.

This area was starkly different from the outskirts—it was no longer a shattered battlefield, beacons, and dried wells, but a chaotic and perpetually shifting "scenario".

He saw mountains.

Not mountains of the real world, but towering heights made purely of shadows stacked together, resembling mountain shapes in dark silhouettes.

The mountain contours undulated in the gloom, ridge lines sharp as if chiseled by knives, the peak hidden in even deeper darkness, seemingly leading to some unknown height.

He saw trees next.

Those trees' forms defied conventional understanding.

The trunks were robust like city walls, root systems exposed, each root coiling like a dragon.

The canopy extended in all directions, branches and leaves not green, but nearly transparent, glimmering crystalline substances. They rooted in the void, their canopy supporting some invisible "sky", truly bearing the mythological idea of "supporting the heavens".

"The Four Divine Woods..."

Li Yan had this thought flash across his mind.

He slowed his steps, focusing intently.

Yet the more he looked, the more bizarre it seemed.

The silhouettes of those mountains, the giant trees, appeared close at hand, yet remained out of reach.

For every ten steps he took forward, the scenario would retreat ten steps, forever keeping an unbridgeable distance...