Free Web NovelChapter 1975: Chapter 1972: Strong Alliance
"What’s this powder?" Xiao Manxuan asked in surprise.
Zhang Lingyu finished sprinkling the powder, put away the bottle, and then spoke to explain: "This is powder made from grinding animal bones and rune paper."
"What kind of animal bones are so magical?" Now Lin Tian was curious as well.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand. This kind of animal, when alive, lived deep in the mountains. They had a peculiar habit of seeking out ancient tombs or graves and dying by the side of a tomb just before their death."
"When the animal’s body decomposes, dries out, and eventually weathered, the remaining bones are ground into powder, which contains unique Yin energy. Using this Yin energy to activate Qiong Gou Jade is the best way."
Zhang Lingyu’s tone was very flat, as if tombs, corpses, and bones were everyday things. Normally, a typical girl would avoid mentioning such terrifying things.
Xiao Manxuan listened with great interest, not scared at all, while Lin Tian was speechless; perhaps they’ve even seen Ghost Messengers, and nothing seems to frighten them anymore.
After speaking, Zhang Lingyu took out four small flags and gave one to each of Lin Tian’s group of three and said: "You three stand at the four cardinal directions holding the flag, Lin Tian at the east, Xuanxuan at the south, Xu Feibai at the west..."
"And the north? Yourself?" Xiao Manxuan looked around and saw there weren’t enough people.
"Of course not me." Zhang Lingyu smiled slightly, then looked towards the rooftop entrance: "Since you’re here, how about lending a hand?"
Lin Tian did not turn around, but he already knew who had arrived—a woman in a black dress walked out, it was Wu Xiuluo, whom they’d seen earlier.
Wu Xiuluo glanced at the pattern on the ground and the flags in their hands, a trace of astonishment flickering in her eyes: "You want to use the school’s earth energy to initiate a summoning ritual?"
"You understand, lend a hand, will you? Guard the north side." Zhang Lingyu extended a flag in invitation.
Without hesitation, Wu Xiuluo accepted the flag and stood at the northern position; Lin Tian and the other three also took their positions, with Zhang Lingyu in the center.
She took out a black rune paper, placed it at the center of the glowing pattern, then pressed the Qiong Gou Jade onto the rune paper.
"When I perform the spell, don’t move until the entire spell is finished, Xuanxuan, can you do that?" Zhang Lingyu turned seriously towards Xiao Manxuan.
She only asked Xiao Manxuan because she was considered the ’weakest’ here, though relative; if her unique energy exploded, no one on site might be her match, including Lin Tian.
Xiao Manxuan firmly nodded: "I can do it."
After receiving her answer, Zhang Lingyu looked up at the sky, seeming to wait for something; a few minutes later, her hands suddenly began to form seals quickly, so much so that Lin Tian found it dizzying to watch.
As she performed hand seals, Lin Tian felt the surrounding Moonlight Energy undergoing a peculiar transformation, as if attracted by some force, continuously gathering into the pattern.
Zhang Lingyu whispered incantations and finally shouted, "Open..."
The powder on the ground seemed to absorb something and suddenly lit up brightly; the pattern appeared faintly within the brightness like a projection.
The light projection of the pattern rose higher and higher, and when it reached shoulder height, four rays shot out toward the flags at the east, south, west, and north.
"Don’t move, or the effort will be in vain." Zhang Lingyu warned.
It was no problem for Lin Tian, standing still the whole night was easy for him, but Xiao Manxuan seemed a bit tense; her little face was full of seriousness as she kept her hands firmly holding the flag, unmoving, which made Lin Tian feel a bit distressed.
The light continued to shine on the flags, with symbols vaguely emerging on their surfaces—four flags, four different symbols. As time passed minute by minute, the symbols gradually became clear.
Zhang Lingyu’s expression turned serious, too; she kept her eyes on the symbols on the flags, waiting for them to become visible before pulling out a small compass.
She made a few marks on the compass, chanting words again before suddenly four rays shot from the flags, converging onto the compass. At the center of the compass, a rune appeared, composed of the four symbols from the flags.
This lasted longer, all five people maintained their positions without moving; Lin Tian wondered if someone barged in now, would it disrupt the summoning ritual?
As he had this thought, a bug flew over the group’s heads, suddenly seemed to hit something and stopped mid-air—a semi-transparent dome appeared, covering most of the rooftop and including the entrance and exit.
A Barrier! Lin Tian immediately recognized the thing; Zhang Lingyu had unknowingly set a defensive barrier, truly preventing even a bug from flying in.
After an unknown duration, the powder’s glow flickered suddenly and then dimmed; after several breaths, it disappeared completely, leaving only fine powder on the ground.
After the glow vanished, the light and shadows faded; the symbols on the flag disappeared, but the rune at the compass center remained.
Lin Tian and the others looked at Zhang Lingyu, while Zhang Lingyu looked at the compass; seeing the rune hadn’t disappeared, she breathed a sigh of relief, her expression relaxing.
"You can move now." Zhang Lingyu said in a light tone.
"Whew..." Xiao Manxuan breathed a long sigh, moving her arms to relieve the aches from maintaining the same posture too long.
"Judging by your expression, it seems you’ve succeeded?" Lin Tian asked.
Zhang Lingyu nodded: "It’s a success."
"Where’s the Yin Jade?" Xu Feibai couldn’t help but ask.
"I don’t know." Zhang Lingyu replied unexpectedly, with a seemingly irresponsible manner.
"What? Did we do all that in vain? Didn’t you say it was a success?" Xiao Manxuan said, very disappointed.
Toward the little girl, Zhang Lingyu was much more patient and explained: "I have just successfully captured a trace of Yin Jade’s aura; it’s trapped within the compass. We’ll have to find it through the compass; its exact location is still unknown."
"Yin Jade?" Wu Xiuluo voice was filled with wonder before she frowned slightly: "So your ultimate goal was to open a Netherworld gateway!"
"We’re not fooling the Ksitigarbha Envoy." Zhang Lingyu said calmly.
Wu Xiuluo looked at Zhang Lingyu and remarked: "Zhang Family disciple, your talent is truly outstanding."
Seeing the two of them praising each other, a flash of inspiration crossed Lin Tian’s mind; he couldn’t help but ask: "Senior Sister Xiuluo, you are an incarnation of the Ksitigarbha Envoy and more familiar with the Netherworld than us. Is there any possibility you could open a Netherworld gateway?"
After he asked, Xiao Manxuan and the others understood his meaning; if Wu Xiuluo could open the gateway, there’d be no need to go to great lengths searching for the Yin Jade. They all looked expectantly at Wu Xiuluo.
