This was an especially small mystic realm – it was more of a mystic room. There was only a huge stage in the room, and there was a strange ancient array on the stage. Even Yi Qing, the dragon heir, had never seen it before. As soon as they landed, there was a red flash of light. The quiet stage lit up with many arrays of different sizes. Lonemoon felt his heart jump and he felt uneasy right down to his primordial spirit. He felt as if something was trying to break out of his body.
"Father Niu!" Shen Ying picked him off the ground. Yi Qing also felt something weird. The moment he touched the ground, he flew into the air again.
"How are you feeling?"
Lonemoon gasped for air, trying to regulate his immortal Qi. Finally, after much effort, he managed to suppress the feeling of his primordial spirit jumping out of his body. "That array down there can capture souls." Even immortal souls are no exception!
All of them started and retreated a little. The array on the stage was fully activated by now. The entire stage had become red. Out of nowhere, they heard ear-piercing wails. Inside the array, many ghostly figures suddenly appeared, and they looked like they were in extreme pain. They struggled and cried out from inside the array, doing their best to fight the red light that was trapping them. Every time they tried, their souls would grow fainter. Yet, they did not seem to notice this. They continued to struggle.
"What… What is all of this?" It was obvious that the group was shocked into silence. They could say that it was travelling souls inside the array, but it was obvious that those souls were even weaker than travelling souls. Even their shadows were faint.
"Immortal soul… My immortal soul!" Mother Feng, who had been staring blankly, suddenly shouted. She became agitated and began to act maniacally again. She turned around and flew toward the array.
"Mother Feng!" Zhu Ming exclaimed, blocking her with Yin Qi.
Yet, she wanted to go over extremely badly. She began to attack Zhu Ming. "My immortal soul… Return it to me! Return it to me!"
"What"s the matter?" Lonemoon looked down at the array and the crazed Mother Feng. Zhu Ming had clearly sealed her divine perception and five senses. Why was she still behaving this way? Could it be the array?
"Do you feel…" Shen Ying suddenly spoke, pointing to the ghostly figures in the array, "that all the ghostly souls down there look the same?"
"What do you mean, the same?" Lonemoon looked closer into the array and specifically at the figures inside it. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Holy s.h.i.+t!" They did look exactly the same – their bodies and their faces. How did this array find two or three people that looked the same?
"How could it be?" Yi Qing was obviously confused. "Although some people do look alike, there aren"t two people who look exactly the same. Unless…" He paused mid-sentence and sucked in a deep breath.
The two of them exchanged glances and exclaimed at the same time, "The Soul-Splitting Array!"
This was an array that could split one"s soul. Those people who look exactly the same must be parts of the same soul.
"Mas…" Yi Qing was just about to call out to Shen Ying, but she had already jumped down. She stepped hard on the side of the stage. There was a loud crash and the corner of the stage caved in.
The Soul-Splitting Array became dimmer almost immediately. The hundreds of ghosts inside of it floated out. The split souls began to gather together so that the number of souls halved. There was no more wailing. Perhaps because they were seriously injured, several souls did not seem to have any consciousness left. Instead, they floated around aimlessly.
The few people floating in mid-air finally landed on the ground again.
"These souls are missing some parts. Only the power of reincarnation would be able to complete their souls once again," Zhu Ming sighed as he watched the ghosts around him. "I"m afraid that they will only be able to be r.e.t.a.r.ds for a few lifetimes."
"Shortie is not among these souls." Yi Qing heaved a sigh of relief after he finished scanning all of the souls. "It seems like the person who captured Shortie only planned to bring Shortie"s soul here to be split after extracting it from her body somewhere else." The only thing was that they could not figure out why exactly that person wanted to collect primary souls.
Lonemoon frowned and glanced at Mother Feng, who was still crazed despite being held back by Zhu Ming.
This array had clearly been around for a long time. From the looks of it, Mother Feng"s primary soul was taken away by this very array. That was probably the reason why she became agitated upon seeing it. But why was this little mystic realm containing the array hidden in her abode? And why did she have the token that opened it?
When they entered the mystic realm, apart from the divine Yi Qing, Zhu Ming"s and Lonemoon"s primordial spirit nearly got caught in the array. That proved that even ghost immortals could not control the array. This array was not set up by Mother Feng.
"What"s that?" Shen Ying asked as she pointed to the center of the array.
They paused and turned. There was a transparent ball standing in the center of the array. It seemed to be trapping something inside of it.
"It looks like shards of remnant souls. Zhu Ming leaned closer for a better look. Then, he conjured a seal, causing the remnant souls to float out from inside the ball. They condensed into a little figure. The figure sat down and hugged her knees immediately. She looked not more than two years old and was slightly familiar.
"Shortie," Shen Ying suddenly called.
Lonemoon and Yi Qing"s chests tightened. "This is Shortie"s remnant soul? Are you sure?"
"Yes." Shen Ying nodded. This was the same ghost she saw when she was sleepwalking the last time.
"That"s not right." Lonemoon frowned and continued, "Even if Shortie"s soul has been split, it should look like an adult. This remnant soul is clearly still a child. Unless…"
His voice trailed off as he exchanged a meaningful glance with Yi Qing. The both of them had the exact same thought at the same time. "This remnant soul already left her body before she reincarnated!"
Yi Qing"s expression fell as he recalled something. He immediately began looking around. A moment later, he pointed to the array beside him and said, "Master, quick, look! There"s a Realm-Attracting Array here. Shortie must have been lured here by this remnant soul. That was how she got pulled into the Divine Underworld all the way from the Invincible Heavenly Palace."
But the realm gates that were opened by the Realm-Attracting Array were not stable. That was probably why it did not manage to transport Shortie into this mystic realm directly.
"We have to find her quickly," Lonemoon muttered anxiously, his expression darkening. It looked like the person who kidnapped Shortie was not willing to settle for just any soul. He clearly plotted to get Shortie"s soul specifically.
"My friends…" Zhu Ming suddenly spoke. "You have found the remnant soul of the person you"re looking for. This part of the soul is connected to the others. Why not make use of this connection and employ geomancy to check her location."
The few of them stared blankly back at him. That"s right! They almost forgot that they could employ that technique.
Although the remnant soul was not exactly a big part of a person"s soul, and faded with time, it was still connected to the rest of one"s soul. The remnant soul would be able to sense what the rest of the soul is experiencing. If they employed geomancy, they would be able to locate Shortie.