C1782 The Person Who Unsealed the Charm
The Voodoo Charm, a greenish-gray apparition, hovered in the sky within the Dragon Slaying Stage, magnified a thousandfold.
It resembled a writhing sea of ghostly spirits!
As the deity presiding over this realm, Yu Yuan instantly recognized that the Voodoo Charm had been crafted from Ji Ningshuang's Soul Power the moment it took shape.
Seventy-two intricate and arcane Spirit Magic arrays were intricately woven together to form the Voodoo Charm.
These arrays included various Spirit Magic techniques, such as those that allowed the Lunar Spirit to devour the dominant soul and heaven soul, laws that facilitated the transformation into a Voodoo Shade, sinister spells capable of erasing memories and spiritual wisdom, and slave seals that compelled the hunting of living creatures.
Remarkably, a single Voodoo Charm contained seventy-two sophisticated Soul Nexuses, interlinked in such a way that they could amplify each other's power.
This was the enchanting aspect of the Voodoo Charm.
Among these, Yu Yuan recognized nearly forty peculiar Soul Nexuses, which he had previously mastered through insights gained from Youyu.
Yet, there were over thirty additional Soul Nexuses that seemed to be recent integrations from the Root of the Lunar Meridian.
This new Voodoo Charm, with its expanded repertoire of arcane and Mind Magic, was consequently more formidable.
Even Xuanli, a leader from ancient times, was at a loss due to his unfamiliarity with the underlying Spirit Magic arrays.
"You..."
Yu Yuan's eyes betrayed his astonishment as he watched Ji Ningshuang effortlessly sketch the Voodoo Charm into existence.
"So this is the Voodoo Charm? Despite its chilling and sinister aura, it possesses a bizarre, otherworldly charm," Yu Lili remarked, her voice tinged with awe.
The Voodoo Charm, now a thousand times its original size, transformed its ghostly shapes into exquisite greenish-gray blossoms.
Counting the blooms, she found seventy-two distinct grayish-white buds that, set against the pale sky, resembled a mystical floral expanse, indeed radiating an unconventional beauty.
"I may not grasp the intricacies of the Soul Nexus, nor the mechanics of the Spirit Magic, but I've simply brought it to life through my drawing."
"It's merely a replication."
Ji Ningshuang didn't see her feat as anything extraordinary. Amidst the astonished looks from Yu Yuan and the others, she spoke calmly, "Whether this replica of the Voodoo Charm will function as intended can only be determined once we take it out of the Dragon Slaying Stage."
The crowd was increasingly astounded.
She had merely used the sword light to obliterate the Voodoo Charm within their Mindscape, then re-inscribed it with her own Soul Power. Wasn't that dazzling enough?
"Truly worthy of being the Sword Sect's highest cultivator, truly worthy of wielding the Stardust Blade!"
A Solar Spirit cultivator from the Abyssal Dawn sighed deeply, filled with genuine admiration for Ji Ningshuang.
"Whoa!"
Outside the valley, Xuanli, the current leader of the Bloodbrawlers, let out a startled cry.
His face was etched with horror as he stared at the Dragon Slaying Stage suspended midair, where a complex greenish-gray spell slowly emerged.
The Voodoo Charm materialized on the surface of the stage!
"Voodoo Charm!"
Xuanli was utterly convinced that this intricate greenish-gray spell was the new Voodoo Charm that had thrown the Everlands into turmoil, leaving everyone on edge and fearful.
This Voodoo Charm was even more mysterious than the one he had studied before, with an even greater number of arcane Soul Nexuses intertwined within it.
It had to be the work of Taiyin!
Xuanli naturally assumed that it was Yu Yuan who had unraveled the intricacies of the new Voodoo Charm within the Dragon Slaying Stage, evolving it to seek a solution to its enigma.
With the Voodoo Shade crisis erupting and Youyu not present in the Everlands, Xuanli's thoughts immediately turned to Yu Yuan.
After all, Yu Yuan was the Taiyin God-King!
He was the one who had once used the Dragon Slaying Stage to crush the Bloodbrawlers' spirit, preventing them from ever again rising to produce a new legendary supreme ruler!
Even if this ruler had not fully awakened, Xuanli believed that aside from Youyu, only Yu Yuan could decipher the Voodoo Charm!
That's why he had tirelessly sought out Yu Yuan, tracking him down all the way from the Moonfall Sanctuary to the Serpent Spine Mountains!
However...
As the Voodoo Charm surfaced on the white stage, bursting forth as if piercing through the wall, and Ji Ningshuang appeared alongside it, Xuanli was taken aback.
The Soul Power that had forged this elaborate Voodoo Charm carried a distinct chill, and it seemed to twinkle with tiny, shimmering starlight.
"Ji, Ji Ningshuang!"
Xuanli was astounded. He had never imagined that the Sword Sect's Stardust Blade could replicate an entirely new Voodoo Charm!
With a whoosh, Yu Yuan materialized beside Ji Ningshuang. They stood side by side on the Dragon Slaying Stage, which gradually expanded beneath them.
Su Yan, Yu Lili, and others afflicted by the Voodoo Charm, who had not been transformed into malevolent shadowmancers, emerged one by one from the Dragon Slaying Stage, which was close to the ground.
Once back in the real world, these individuals were concerned about potential threats lurking in their minds. However, all of them were unharmed, with no anomalies detected.
This indicated that Ji Ningshuang had effectively neutralized the Voodoo Charm within their Lunar Spirit, providing a permanent fix without leaving any residual risks.
At that moment, the Voodoo Charm, created from a complex combination of seventy-two Soul Nexuses, began to expand, forming a soul sea in the real world.
"Release the seal on Skyreach Peak!"
Yu Yuan commanded, and the Skyreach Peak was once again exposed to daylight. The dense fog was swept away as if by the divine hand of Zu Ann.
The moon's cool light pierced through the wall, showering down upon them.
Along with it came the intense scrutiny from the moon above.
The cultivators of the Unbound and Solar Spirit realms from the major sects, who had established their branches on the moon within the Star River, anxiously and eagerly refocused their attention on the valley entrance.
They, too, observed the intricate and enigmatic Voodoo Charm.
Simultaneously, the shadowmancers active within the Abyssal Dawn, Sundering Isles, and the Bloodbrawlers' domain once again converged their attention on the airborne Voodoo Charm.
Unlike before, when their gaze was drawn to the Wraithbanner, this time it was the Voodoo Charm that captivated them.
Thousands of Voodoo Shades across the lands fixed their gaze on the Voodoo Charm at Skyreach Peak. As they concentrated their Soul Power, their lingering malevolent thoughts and negative intentions began to coalesce like tributaries of a stream.
They were all converging towards this immense Voodoo Charm!
To Yu Yuan, it felt as though the River Styx and branches of the Lunar Meridian were simultaneously reactivating, channeling all available forces towards this singular Voodoo Charm.
"It's the latent power of this Voodoo Charm."
Ji Ningshuang's icy gaze suddenly held a hint of surprise as she addressed Yu Yuan and Xuanli, "I sense that there's been a shift in the Voodoo Charm's hidden configuration."
Yu Yuan and Xuanli also clearly observed the change.
Seventy-two Soul Nexuses transformed into seventy-two ashen flowers. Their pattern shifted from enigmatic runes to resemble inward-spiraling ponds and deep pools.
The spell was absorbing the Soul Power of thousands of Voodoo Shades and their negative, malevolent thoughts, drawing in the Soul Spirits oppressed by the Lunar Meridian to converge here.
"Soul Swap!"
Yu Yuan's spirit was jolted, but he quickly sneered, "It's indeed cunning! It must have foreseen that the Soul-Capturing entity would depart to perfect its divinity beyond our world, hence this strategy."
"Soul Swap!" Xuanli exclaimed in a low voice.
With just those words, he grasped the Root of the Lunar Meridian's scheme.
The spell, triggered by Jiang Xingwen, that had incited a Voodoo Shade surge among the various sects and gathering places of cultivators in the Everlands, was a Soul Swap site deliberately prepared by the Lunar Meridian for itself!
Its will and soul mark, confined deep within the Land of Terror by Soul-Capturing, were supposed to be inescapable.
Initially, upon Youyu's return from the extraterrestrial realm, he would have been able to resume its suppression and assimilation.
The emergence of the Voodoo Shade, its maturation and fermentation, would eventually lead to the creation of a colossal spell capable of amassing the power of all Voodoo Shades and countless ghosts and spirits across the world!
And in the midst of this convergence and dissolution, it would seize the moment to transfer its will and soul mark.
From the Land of Terror, it moved to this vast and enigmatic Voodoo Charm, achieving its liberation.
"I've accelerated this step. Originally, originally..."
Ji Ningshuang murmured to herself, then, through the immense Voodoo Charm linked to her spirit, she looked towards the Bloodbrawlers' direction and commanded, "Head to Xuanli's domain!"
"Mine?" Xuanli was taken aback.
"Indeed!"
Yu Yuan was unconcerned with his reaction. At Ji Ningshuang's behest, the Dragon Slaying Stage shimmered with multicolored ripples, ensnaring the Voodoo Charm and executing an instantaneous teleportation.
He teleported to the new Poison Cult adjacent to the Rainbow Ocean!
"He."
Ji Ningshuang soared from the Dragon Slaying Stage, pointing to a disheveled cultivator from the Unbound Realm with eyes like jade. "His connection to the Voodoo Charm's magnetic field is the most intense, yet he hasn't glanced at the Voodoo Charm that came into being because of me. Typically, it would be either him or another Unbound Realm cultivator who would produce such a Voodoo Charm from their minds."
"The Lunar Meridian likely didn't anticipate that I could craft such a Voodoo Charm, accelerating their plans that were meant to be delayed."
While speaking, Ji Ningshuang presented the "Stardust Blade."
A dazzling Star River, composed of countless tiny sword lights, enveloped the troublesome Unbound Realm cultivator, giving Xuanli a headache.
Tiny sword crystals penetrated his forehead, pulverizing his Mindscape and extinguishing an even more esoteric Voodoo Charm.
As the Unbound Realm cultivator, transformed into a Voodoo Shade, met his demise, the Voodoo Charm that Ji Ningshuang had inscribed on him suddenly expanded with numerous additional Soul Nexuses.
From seventy-two to ninety-six!
The Voodoo Charm appeared to have undergone a sublime transformation and mutation!
In that moment, Ji Ningshuang sensed all the Voodoo Charm bearers throughout the entire Everlands!
"Ah! Ah! Ah!"
In the Serpent Spine Mountains, Jiang Xingwen, confined within the Crucible of Evil, was suddenly gripped by a sense of impending doom. She frantically clawed at her hair and desperately slammed against the cauldron's walls.
"Master, this woman has lost her mind."
Perched atop the cauldron, Yu Yiyi, her dress billowing, dangled her legs and watched Jiang Xingwen with a detached gaze.
"No need to keep her confined. Let her out, let her see the failure of her Voodoo Charm for herself."
Yu Yuan's voice reached across the distance.
Thus, Jiang Xingwen was released from the Crucible of Evil. She stood in the plaza, closely watched by Xuan Ge and Gao Qin, and let out a desolate wail toward the Land of Terror.
"It was her all along."
Hovering above the Bloodbrawlers, Ji Ningshuang, having slain the Unbound Realm cultivator, was certain that Jiang Xingwen was the one chosen by the Lunar Meridian as she emerged from the Crucible of Evil.
"Originally, after her transformation into a Voodoo Shade, she would have been consumed by the Voodoo Charm, her entire soul absorbed to form the spell that hovers above us."
"The Lunar Meridian had initially intended to utilize her in completing the Soul Swap."
