Spirit Arrest and Dispatch, Spirit Devouring to Strengthen the Soul! Lord of the Dark Dimension!

Beneath the Heavenly Screen.

Huo Yuhao gently knocked on the wooden door and entered the Sacred Hall's side courtyard. At the end of the stone steps, Electrolux's spectral soul was absorbed in a tome, starlike magical light flowing around his thin fingertips.

"Elder Yi, everything is ready now. We can perform the Revival Ceremony for you, Ice Empress, Brother Sky Dream, and the others, and give you new bodies."

Electrolux looked up, set down the tome in his hands, and smiled warmly. "Yuhao, you're here. Sit down first."

Huo Yuhao sat across from him. His gaze swept over the tome Electrolux had put down, and he looked a little surprised. "Astral Projection and Soul Origin Analysis—you've made such quick progress, Elder Yi."

"I can't compare with you, Yuhao." Electrolux shook his head. "I'd already studied the soul in my previous life."

"Although the mages of my original world and those of the Sacred Hall aren't the same, some of their principles overlap, so it was easier for me to get started."

"But you, Yuhao, mastered the basics and reached a high level in only a year. Even Venerable Gu Yi says you have a Grandmaster Aura. You truly put this old man to shame..."

At that, a hint of pride appeared on Electrolux's face. "Still, I haven't wasted the past year. By combining my old methods with the Sacred Hall's Soul Spells, I created two secret arts. You can learn them sometime, Yuhao."

"Oh? What are they?" Huo Yuhao asked with interest.

"The two secret arts are Spirit Arrest and Dispatch, and Spirit Devour and Soul Strengthen." Elder Yi ran a hand along the spine of the tome as he explained:

"In my previous life, I commanded countless dead and unleashed the Undead Calamity. Spirit Arrest and Dispatch is a secret art I created by combining that experience with the Sacred Hall's soul magic. It lets you detain and control spirits to the greatest possible extent."

"As for Spirit Devour and Soul Strengthen, I created it because I'm only a Remnant Soul. Even with Life Gold and a Treasure Land like the Sacred Hall to nourish my soul, fully recovering would be incredibly difficult."

"So I studied the matter and developed this art: it devours and plunders the power of other spirits to strengthen my own soul and speed up my recovery."

After a pause, Electrolux added, "I tried both secret arts on those invading creatures from the Outer Dimension when I had the chance. They were quite effective."

"However, the Spirit Devouring Method uses other spirits as resources to make up for your own deficiencies, and it carries certain risks. Using it too much won't do you any good, so be careful once you've learned it, Yuhao."

Huo Yuhao nodded solemnly. "I understand, Elder Yi."

"By the way, Elder Yi, I've prepared all the materials and made the preliminary arrangements for the Resurrection Ritual. We can give you, Brother Sky Dream, and the others new bodies now!"

Electrolux patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder. He paused for several seconds before speaking slowly. "Thanks for all your effort, Yuhao."

Huo Yuhao smiled. "It's nothing. I joined the Sacred Hall and ruined Brother Sky Dream's plan to become a god. Even though no one's said anything, I should make it up to everyone somehow."

Electrolux sighed and said no more. The two went together to fetch Tian Meng, Ice Empress, and the other Soul Spirits living on the outskirts of the Sacred Hall, preparing to begin the Resurrection Ritual.

The scene shifted to a shadowy hall.

Kaecilius stood in the center of the hall, his face dark and brooding. A dozen followers clad in Black Robes stood with him in a ring. On the Small Altar in their midst lay two pages torn from a ritual book.

"Master Kaecilius, are you sure we'll succeed?" a pale-faced man suddenly asked.

Kaecilius didn't look at him. He kept his eyes on the pages atop the altar and said coolly, "I'm absolutely certain."

"What if our ritual fails? Are you really that confident?" The man sounded as if he were deliberately picking a fight, challenging him again.

This time, Kaecilius finally glanced at him before replying slowly, "We will succeed. The ritual cannot fail."

"Why? What if you deciphered the ritual incorrectly?" the man asked again.

"If the ritual were wrong, He would ignore us. We'd all die of natural causes, one by one..."

Kaecilius's eyes were dark as he said indifferently, "But we aren't the ones knocking on the door. He is! He's waiting for people like us to appear and open the door for Him!"

With that, Kaecilius didn't hesitate. He formed a complicated Hand Seal, crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and began chanting. "Dormammu, sovereign of the Dark Dimension, eternal and undying, I offer my devotion..."

As he spoke the name that clearly called to Him, the muscles in Kaecilius's face twitched. A sizzling sound came from his brow, and a Strange Seal, dark red in color, appeared there!

Kaecilius's followers also closed their eyes, moved their arms to form Hand Seals, and recited the prayer. "Dormammu, sovereign of the Dark Dimension, eternal and undying..."

One by one, the sounds of sizzling flesh filled the hall, like hot irons searing skin, mingled with the followers' stifled groans. Before long, the mark of the Dark Dimension appeared on nearly every forehead.

Only the man who had challenged Kaecilius at the start was left without one. He had closed his eyes and chanted along with the others, but after they stopped, he recited the prayer several more times and reached up to touch his forehead.

There was nothing there.

The man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Kaecilius, who was staring at him expressionlessly. His voice trembled. "Master, I'm starting to regret this... Can I leave?"

"I was wrong just now." As he spoke, Kaecilius walked toward the man and crossed his hands, then slowly drew them apart. A long spear that seemed to be made of mist appeared in his hands.

"You won't die of natural causes!" As the words fell, Kaecilius suddenly swung the Dimensional Spear.

A misty wound appeared on the man's body. Then he slowly split in half down the middle and fell to the floor.

After executing the wavering member, Kaecilius turned to glance at his followers. He tossed aside the Dimensional Spear, spread his arms, and swept them toward the whole hall.

The next moment, the hall, still in the real world, began to expand and shift with a rumble!

The entire hall roared like a primordial beast! Pillars twisted into corkscrews, floor tiles surged like waves, and the stone walls flipped and reassembled.

The techniques that the Sacred Hall's Guardian Mages could previously use only in the Illusion Space were now being unleashed in the real world by Kaecilius, empowered by the Dark Dimension Power!

Kaecilius slowly clenched his fists. He gazed at the hall's ceiling, walls, and floor, which shifted like a kaleidoscope, and smiled dangerously. "Next, we'll open the door that lets My Lord enter this world..."