"Hmm?"
Yu Ci and the Shadow Ghost were both surprised. In the two years since he had been using the Soul Recovery Star-Fixing Spell, this was the first time such a thing had happened. In that instant, Yu Ci's consciousness, connected to the talisman, abruptly fell into a long tunnel, descending all the way without ever reaching the bottom.
He hurriedly steadied his mind, inwardly puzzled. Was this the unusual aspect of linking Heaven and the netherworld? This old man's corpse seemed like some sort of medium or passageway; it truly differed from the ordinary. And this was only the physical body—what sort of divine powers would the soul of a legendary spirit shaman possess?
Yet a conclusion could be drawn now: the old spirit shaman's soul definitely could not be summoned back. Whether it still existed or not, it had already exceeded the limits of Yu Ci's ability.
At this point, the Shadow Ghost said, "Take this corpse back for study..."
Yu Ci pretended not to hear. The Shadow Ghost's idea was straightforward but absurd. Never mind whether Three Families Market would agree; such a course of action was simply too excessive.
Still, apart from offering rotten ideas, the Shadow Ghost was quite capable in other respects. Especially in fields where Yu Ci was less adept, it had plenty of room to display its talents. It instructed him, "Spirit shamans are all masters of soul and mind arts. If you can't find the living soul, see whether there are any soul-housing artifacts or the like, and start with the traces of divine soul it left behind."
Prompted by this, Yu Ci circulated his awareness, turning it into a spiderweb-like sensory network as he carefully distinguished every object on the old man's body. Yet the old man was astonishingly clean.