The Gate of Ghosts: A Failed Soul Summoning

Having devoted herself entirely to the soul- Soul Summoning Formation for over a year, this woman had become thoroughly familiar with it. In the time it takes to drink Half a Tea Interval of tea, she had arranged all the rare materials and the Soul Summoning Formation was complete.

As the Soul Summoning Formation was completed, the Yin Qi in the Heaven and Earth began to converge towards the formation. Although it was not yet dark, it already gave people a sinister feeling, with gusts of cold wind making people feel very uncomfortable.

Watching the woman set up the Soul Summoning Formation, Lu Yuling didn't say a word, just watched quietly. When the Soul Summoning Formation was completely set up, Lu Yuling's brows furrowed slightly.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with the Soul Summoning Formation I set up?" the woman asked, noticing Lu Yuling's slightly furrowed brows.

Shaking her head, Lu Yuling's face was full of confusion. She said, "You've got it all backwards. Your Soul Summoning Formation is perfectly set up, and you've made some minor changes to lower the requirements for the Soul Summoning Formation. With Soul Summoning Formation like that, you should have summoned the souls of the dead long ago. How come you haven't succeeded in a year?"

"Well, I don't know either," the woman said, puzzled after hearing Lu Yuling say that her Soul Summoning Formation was perfect. If the formation was flawless, why did the soul-summoning fail?

"Let me try," Lu Yuling said after a moment's hesitation, extending her hand to Zhuge Xiang. "Give me low-grade Spirit Stone, the more the better. I need to set up a Spirit Gathering Formation."

"The more the better? How many do you want?" He had over 20,000 low-grade Spirit Stone in his Bag Space; if he took them all out, they would pile up like a small mountain.

"How many do you have? I need multiples of 108. Do you have 1080?" Zhuge Xiang's words surprised Lu Yuling, who looked at him tentatively.

"A drop in the ocean..." Upon hearing Lu Yuling's words, Zhuge Xiang smiled calmly, waved his hand lightly, and the space in front of him slightly distorted. Then, 1,080 low-grade Spirit Stone appeared out of thin air and piled up on the ground. Lin Xiaolu, who was standing next to him, stared wide-eyed. More than a thousand low-grade Spirit Stone —this was the first time she had ever seen so many Spirit Stones.

Qin Qing looked at Zhuge Xiang with some surprise. Although he was Asura Sect Disciples, his wealth of over a thousand low-grade Spirit Stone was truly astonishing. However, Lin Xiaolu's mother, having experienced many trials and tribulations, did not react particularly to the over a thousand low-grade Spirit Stone.

Lu Yuling also looked at Zhuge Xiang with some surprise. More than a thousand Spirit Stone was no small amount. She really didn't know where he got them from, and from what he said, this was only a very small part of the total.

After receiving the 1,080 low-grade Spirit Stone from Zhuge Xiang, Lu Yuling began to get busy, setting up Spirit Gathering Formation within the Soul Summoning Formation.

When I first met Xiao Yue, the Spirit Gathering Formation was set up with only 108 Spirit Stone. This one, however, has 1,080 spirit stones, ten times the number of the original.

Formation are profound Profound Mysteries knowledge. It is even more difficult to integrate Formation another to form a hybrid Formation. Even Lu Yuling was busy for half an hour before she could barely finish setting it up as it got dark.

Zhuge Xiang and the others didn't understand Formation, so they could only watch helplessly. Lin Xiaolu's mother, however, had some knowledge of Formation. Watching Lu Yuling's movements, she stared wide-eyed until Lu Yuling finished. Only then did she speak, saying to Lu Yuling with admiration, "A Spirit Gathering Formation embedded within Soul Summoning Formation —such Formation ability, displayed in a young person like you, truly makes one admire your age."

"It's just a Formation of two Formation, and it took an hour. That's nothing. The real grand formations are made up of hundreds or even thousands of Formation combined together. That's what's truly spectacular." Shaking her head, Lu Yuling didn't feel proud of the woman's praise. As she spoke, Lu Yuling's gaze fell on Xiao Yue, and her meaning was self-evident.

Xiao Yue, perched on Zhuge Xiang's shoulder, had been waiting. At Lu Yuling's signal, it leaped from Zhuge Xiang's shoulder to the core of the formation, roaring to the sky. Its body grew larger in the wind, transforming in a moment into its true form the size of a calf. Its Divine Sense surged forth, mobilizing the energy of the Spirit Gathering Formation...

"Fairy?" The woman's expression changed slightly as she looked at Xiao Yue's transformation.

The ability to change form and activate grand formations was clearly a power possessed only by beings at the Fairy level. However, the woman then secretly shook her head. Something was wrong; Xiao Yue's aura didn't seem to reach the Fairy level. Could she be a demon Monster Beast with naturally powerful Divine Sense?

"Wow, this dog is amazing!" Lin Xiaolu exclaimed in surprise, her eyes wide as she watched Xiao Yue's transformation.

Qin Qing's eyes widened slightly as she looked at Xiao Yue in surprise. Xiao Yue had always been perched on Zhuge Xiang's shoulder, Qin Qing had only ever thought of it as an ordinary pet. She never expected it to be so strong. Judging from the Demonic Qi emanating from this large white dog, it had already reached the level of Five-Star Monster Beast.

With Xiao Yue's Divine Sense as control, the Spirit Gathering Formation, composed of 1,080 low-grade Spirit Stone, rapidly absorbed the primordial Vital Energy between Heaven and Earth and earth. This Vital Energy was then integrated into the Soul Summoning Formation, maximizing its power.

A Yin Qi, visible to the naked eye, filled the entire formation. The primordial Vital Energy and Yin Qi converged, transforming into a misty haze. Occasionally, one could see menacing, vengeful Vengeful Spirits flashing within the formation, creating an indescribably eerie and sinister atmosphere.

"Mother, I'm scared..." Looking at the eerie wind rising and the wailing of Vengeful Spirits, Lin Xiaolu shrank closer to her mother in fear.

"Xiaolu, don't be afraid," the woman said, gently patting her daughter's shoulder. However, her attention was clearly not on her daughter; her eyes were fixed on the Soul Summoning Formation. The vital Vital Energy generated by the Spirit Gathering Formation served as the energy source for operating the Soul Summoning Formation. The power displayed by this Soul Summoning Formation was unprecedented. Whether or not her deceased husband's soul could be summoned depended on today.

Time passed second by second, and the power of the Soul Summoning Formation grew stronger and stronger. Waves of Yin Qi almost materialized, turning into black smoke that permeated the entire Soul Summoning Formation. After about half an hour, the violently surging Yin Qi became so dense that not even a single strand could be added. Reaching saturation, it suddenly contracted violently. The incredibly dense Yin Qi condensed together and abruptly transformed into a huge, black, iron gate Phantom Image, towering within the Soul Summoning Formation.

The Phantom Image of the black gate, about ten feet tall, exuded a profound and heavy feeling. On it were lifelike ghost faces, and above the gate were three huge oracle bone characters: Gate of Ghosts!

Squeak...

As the black gate slowly opened, one could see countless souls rushing out of it one after another.

However, although the Gate of Ghosts had been opened, there seemed to be an invisible membrane of light blocking all the souls at the entrance. No matter how much they screamed and howled, they could not break through. The sight of so many Vengeful Spirits was enough to make one's scalp tingle. Even Qin Qing shrank back into Zhuge Xiang's arms.

"Quick! Take out one of your husband's personal belongings, use it as a medium," Lu Yuling shouted urgently to the woman, seeing that the Gate of Ghosts had already opened.

"Using something intimate as a medium?" Upon hearing Lu Yuling's words, the woman panicked for a moment.

After a moment of panic, her eyes suddenly lit up. She pulled a faded silk handkerchief from her bosom and threw it towards the Soul Summoning Formation. This handkerchief was something her husband had given her when they first met. It wasn't a Treasure Artifact, nor was it anything of immense value, but it was full of sentimental significance.

The silk scarf flew up, swirling before the Gate of Ghosts, once, twice, three times...

In the Gate of Ghosts, the souls screamed at the silk scarf, seemingly aware that it could save them from Gate of Ghosts. But alas, the scarf had no connection to them whatsoever...

It circled around and around until the very end, turning eighty-one times, but still no soul was seen being led out. After the eighty-one turns, the silk scarf flew back into the woman's hand. At the same time, the Phantom Image of the Gate of Ghosts slammed shut, then exploded, turning back into dense Yin Qi that slowly dissipated into the air.

Within the grand formation, Xiao Yue opened its eyes, breathing slightly heavily. Clearly, activating this large-scale Spirit Gathering Formation was a very strenuous task for it.

"What happened? Why is the Gate of Ghosts closed?" The woman was still waiting for her husband's ghost to appear, but after waiting for so long, nothing happened, and the operation of the great formation stopped. Her face changed drastically, and she asked Lu Yuling in a hurry.

"Right, wasn't that formation working perfectly fine? Why did it suddenly shut down?" Zhuge Xiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

Lu Yuling frowned, her eyes filled with confusion. She shook her head and said to the woman, "The medium will only circle eighty-one times at most before the Gate of Ghosts. If it hasn't summoned the soul after eighty-one circles, there's only one conclusion: the soul that needs to be summoned is not in the Underworld."

"Not in the Underworld? Then where is he?" Upon hearing Lu Yuling's words, the woman asked urgently. How could her husband's soul not be in the Underworld?

"There are only two possibilities in this situation," Lu Yuling said, frowning, also feeling that the matter was somewhat tricky.

"First, there's your husband's soul. It might have been scattered and reduced to ashes by someone else. However, even Void Realm Great Expert wouldn't easily destroy a person's soul. Without deep-seated hatred, it's impossible to do something like destroying a soul, as it would be against the natural order and directly affect the strength of the Heavenly Tribulation. Your husband shouldn't have angered a powerful Void Realm Great Expert."

"What about the second possibility?" Void Realm Great Expert, willing to endure an even stronger Heavenly Tribulation to destroy her husband's soul? This woman didn't believe it, especially since she and her husband had never offended Void Realm powerhouse.

"The second possibility is that your husband's soul has already been reincarnated. However, this possibility is not high. Heavenly Laws, after a soul dies, it must undergo a nine-year trial in the Underworld Judgment for good and evil. Your husband has only been dead for a year, so it's impossible for him to have been reincarnated so soon..."

Shaking her head, Lu Yuling said, "This second possibility is obviously wrong too." (To be continued...)