Shi Jian and his disciples first brought the disciples of Master Qian He back to Mount Mao to resolve some subsequent matters.
After all the necessary affairs were settled, they took Li Xuyan to the Nine Heavens Palace.
"Yin Yang Eye!"
"Come, come, little one, let your Ancestral Master have a look at your Yin Yang Eye."
The old Daoist in purple robes set aside the whisk in his hand and walked up to Li Xuyan, observing the Yin Yang Eye carefully.
"Not bad, it truly is the legendary Yin Yang Eye."
"You've taken a good disciple this time, your master is very pleased."
After the old Daoist in purple robes confirmed it was a Yin Yang Eye, his smile grew even brighter.
"Master, you've seen a Yin Yang Eye before?"
"Indeed, your master saw one over fifty years ago."
The old Daoist in purple robes said, then picked up his whisk, clearly not wanting to discuss matters concerning Yin Yang Eyes.
"By the way, what's this little fellow's name? I must hurry and record it in the lineage."
"Master, this child has no name. I have named him Li Xuyan."
Shi Jian began to explain Li Xuyan's background next to the old Daoist in purple robes.
"Li Xuyan, excellent, excellent. You leave Xuyan here at Mount Mao, and I, this humble Daoist, will personally teach him some Daoist arts."
Shi Jian's face was filled with shock upon hearing the old Daoist in purple robes offer to teach Li Xuyan Daoist arts.
Previously, the old Daoist in purple robes had always seemed reluctant to teach disciples, rarely imparting Daoist knowledge even to Mao Xiaofang.
Now, to proactively offer to teach a disciple, it left him momentarily stunned.
"Master, didn't you always refuse to teach disciples Daoist arts?"
"Why are you bringing it up yourself now?"
The old Daoist in purple robes glared at Shi Jian with slight annoyance, then left Purple Heaven Palace with Li Xuyan.
"Never mind, if Master teaches Li Xuyan Daoist arts, it saves me a lot of trouble."
Shi Jian walked out of Purple Heaven Palace and saw the disciples of Master Qian He milling about outside the palace, as if something was amiss.
"Nephew, do you still need something?"
"Senior Martial Uncle, Second Martial Uncle said to keep the Yin Yang Eight Trigram Mirror, he finds you too noisy."
"Perfect, it's good to have such a magical artifact for free."
Just as he was about to return the Yin Yang Eight Trigram Mirror he held, he received a pleasant surprise from Master Qian He's disciple.
The Yin Yang Eight Trigram Mirror could not only cast thunder spells but also be used by disciples for self-defense, truly a versatile artifact for both offense and defense.
"Excellent, excellent. Since Junior Martial Brother Qian He's great vengeance has been avenged, I too must attend to other matters."
"May blessings be upon you infinitely!"
After bidding farewell to the old Daoist in purple robes and Master Qian He's disciples, Shi Jian practiced the "Shrinking Earth into an Inch" technique at Mount Mao for a while.
With the experience accumulated by the old Daoist in purple robes over many years, coupled with his own innate talent.
He mastered "Shrinking Earth into an Inch" within a few days.
Furthermore, he improved upon the original technique, integrating it with thunder spells, making "Shrinking Earth into an Inch" even faster.
To be precise, it could be considered teleportation.
Having learned teleportation, Shi Jian immediately returned to the Haunted Academy.
After a day, he finally arrived at the Haunted Academy, resuming his life of idleness and relaxation.
"It's been so long since I left the Haunted Academy, I wonder how those two scoundrels are doing."
A streak of lightning flashed outside the Haunted Academy, and Shi Jian's figure appeared within the academy.
At this moment, Uncle Jiu was in the Haunted Academy, using a soul-summoning banner to call back the souls of several people.
"Wang Jingming, ... your three souls and seven spirits, quickly return, return to your old dwelling."
"A lone soul at the street corner, a lone soul by the bed, a lone soul in front of and behind the house, a lone soul."
Uncle Jiu continuously waved the soul-summoning banner in his hand, repeating a single sentence.
Mao Xiaofang and Ah Wei, who were standing nearby, rushed over upon seeing Shi Jian's arrival.
"Master, you're finally back."
"Wait a moment, I've only been gone for a few days, what mischief have you gotten into now?"
"Why are you still summoning souls at the academy?"
Shi Jian was slightly confused, as soul summoning was generally used for the deceased.
A person has three souls and seven spirits. The three souls are said to be the Tiangguang, Shuangling, and Youqing.
The seven spirits are Shi, Shigou, Choufei, Feidu, Tunkui, Queyin, and Chuhui.
When a person dies, their three souls and seven spirits will leave their body.
However, the temporary separation of the three souls and seven spirits from the body does not cause harm.
If the three souls and seven spirits cannot return to the body within the stipulated time, a living person may very well turn into an "yin person."
The purpose of soul summoning is to find those who have temporarily lost their three souls and seven spirits.
"Master, it's difficult to explain this in a short while, you should go and see for yourself."
Mao Xiaofang and Ah Wei did not know where to begin, so they could only ask Shi Jian to witness the situation firsthand.
"Alright, if you can't explain, then shut your mouths. What kind of composure is this, being so flustered?"
After Shi Jian reprimanded the two, he walked to Uncle Jiu's side and waited quietly for the soul summoning to conclude.
However, Uncle Jiu chanted for tens of minutes, but no souls returned.
"Strange, why isn't the main soul returning?"
Seeing that the main souls of several people were not returning, Uncle Jiu gave up on the soul summoning.
In such a situation, it generally means that something has happened to the main soul, causing the soul-summoning ritual to be ineffective.
Shi Jian, seeing that the ritual had ended, went to check on his five junior disciples.
He first examined their three souls and seven spirits, finding that the five individuals only had two souls and seven spirits, lacking the main soul (Tiangguang).
He then noticed a dark purple mark appearing on the foreheads of all five.
"Senior Martial Brother, you must save these disciples of mine."
The five yellow-robed Daoists, seeing that even Uncle Jiu could not retrieve their souls, could only implore Shi Jian for help.
As the senior disciple of Mount Mao, having received the true teachings of the old Daoist in purple robes, he should have a way to find the main souls.
"Wushan Soul Grasping Technique, this is a serious problem."
Shi Jian, combining the current situation, deduced that the five had fallen victim to the Wushan Soul Grasping Technique.
"Wushan Soul Grasping Technique, wasn't that eradicated by the Dragon Gate Sect during the early Qing Dynasty?"
Uncle Jiu and the yellow-robed Daoists present all turned grim upon hearing that the five had been afflicted by the Wushan Soul Grasping Technique.
The insidious and malevolent nature of the Wushan Soul Grasping Technique was no less than that of the Miao Jiang Gu Poison.
Moreover, the Wushan Soul Grasping Technique targeted a person's three souls and seven spirits, causing the afflicted to be unable to reincarnate and their souls to endure all sorts of torment.
"Perhaps in that incident, some surviving members of the Soul Grasping sect managed to escape."
"Senior Martial Brother, do you have a way to retrieve the main souls?"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this word, the hearts of everyone present, which had been hanging in suspense, finally relaxed.
They were very afraid that Senior Martial Brother would say he had no solution.
If the Senior Martial Brother had no way to retrieve the main souls, they truly didn't know who else to turn to.
"Junior Martial Brother, you can summon back two souls and seven spirits, which indicates that the souls are not in the hands of the Soul Grasping sect."
"If I am not mistaken, since the main souls of the five junior disciples have not returned for a long time, they should have been taken to the Underworld by the soul emissaries."
The faces of Uncle Jiu and his companions, which had only just brightened, turned grim again.
The souls entering the Underworld meant they were thoroughly doomed.
Who would dare to snatch someone from before King Yama? Wasn't that asking for a shorter lifespan?