Chapter 688: Resurrecting Heavenly Yin

Qin Mu took a deep breath, suppressing the tremor in his heart.

Gathering the soul for Lady Tianyin could not be achieved with just the Spirit Guiding Art. The Spirit Guiding Art is a divine ability that draws souls from Youdu, allowing the deceased to return to their physical bodies. However, Lady Tianyin had been devoured by carrion devils until only her skin remained; her soul had likely been completely consumed and integrated into the Tianyin Realm, becoming part of countless black sands. To reassemble her soul, he would need to modify the Spirit Guiding Art!

Qin Mu was "enlightened" by the Founding Emperor, realizing he could use a modified Spirit Guiding Art to gather Lady Tianyin's soul. If Lady Tianyin's soul returned, it would block the Underworld's control over the darkness of the Great Ruins. Furthermore, Lady Tianyin surely knew many unknown secrets, which might help Qin Mu unravel many mysteries of the Great Ruins. As a born divine being, her immense assistance could also alleviate some of Yankang's pressure. Of course, all of this depended on whether his modified Spirit Guiding Art would work and successfully reassemble Lady Tianyin's soul. If the soul-gathering failed, he would certainly not escape Lady Tianyin's pursuit and would face certain death.

Footsteps grew heavier, and Lady Tianyin's colossal figure became faintly visible through the dim air. She had rushed here following Qin Mu's voice, but since a carrion devil, not the true Lady Tianyin, occupied the skin, she lacked vast divine powers. Thus, she couldn't see anything in the gloom and could only rely on sound for localization.

Qin Mu focused intently. Behind him, the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation suddenly appeared, and a scroll in his hand gradually brightened from dimness to clarity. Standing atop the spire, he opened the ancient scroll and began chanting the Youdu script written on it. His voice, speaking the Youdu language, was measured, rhythmic, obscure, and profound.

Behind him, the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation suddenly inverted. What was once the lintel was now the threshold, and vice versa. The gate, originally opening outwards, now opened inwards. The Gate of Heaven's Affirmation, as its name implies, is a portal connecting heaven and earth. Heaven refers to Xuandu, and earth refers to Youdu. Above the lintel of this gate is the domain of Xuandu, and below the threshold is the domain of Youdu.

Previously, Qin Mu had not considered what lay between heaven and earth. Now, he understood clearly: it was the Human Realm, but there was also a place known as the Yin of Heaven. By inverting the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation, he flipped heaven and earth, causing the Yin of Heaven to move from below heaven to above it. Of course, this change did not mean he literally flipped the Tianyin Realm above Xuandu. Rather, he altered the structural composition of the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation divine ability. Altering a divine ability's structure changes its function from before; this time, he completely inverted it.

The scroll in his hand was not a tool for casting the divine ability, but rather a guide to ensure he pronounced every word correctly, essentially a Youdu language dictionary. As the cadence of his voice grew more pronounced, with high notes becoming more fervent and low notes deepening into a resonant hum, the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation ceased to emanate chilling winds and instead began to glow with light.

Meanwhile, Lady Tianyin finally pinpointed his location and began walking towards him, her form becoming increasingly distinct. As the black mist before her dissipated, she appeared in front of the tall pagoda.

Without hesitation, the Founding Emperor immediately opened the Book of Life and Death, whose light instantly shone upon Lady Tianyin's face! Lady Tianyin's features contorted as she let out a shrill roar, black smoke billowing from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. She raised a hand to cover her face, and her fingers instantly wriggled like worms, shriveling at a rapid pace. She raised her other hand, reaching for the Founding Emperor atop the pagoda. However, this hand also lost its power under the light of the Book of Life and Death, becoming a light, deflated husk by the time it reached the spire, harmless to Qin Mu and the Founding Emperor.

Qin Mu remained unfazed, continuing his Youdu chanting. The light within the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation grew stronger, pouring out in increasing abundance. Incredibly bright light shone from the portal, accompanied by a colossal, earth-shattering sound as it projected outwards. That sound astonishingly overlapped with Qin Mu's voice, as if it were a single sound, but magnified countless times by the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation, reverberating through heaven and earth!

With a hum, the light from the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation shone upon Lady Tianyin. Her screams grew even more piercing and deafening, almost drowning out Qin Mu's chanting and the Youdu language emanating from the gate. Suddenly, she shifted, evading the light of the Book of Life and Death, and her hand swiftly recovered. This naturally born divine being astonishingly grasped the pagoda's base with a huge hand, lifting the immeasurably tall structure!

The Founding Emperor hastily moved the Book of Life and Death, its light again illuminating her face. Her countenance spewed billowing black smoke, and her features visibly shriveled, transforming her into a faceless woman. Qin Mu's Gate of Heaven's Affirmation also moved with her, its light never leaving her face. The light from the portal intensified, and the high notes of the voices emanating from it grew louder, while the low notes deepened, causing ears to hum and chests to resonate. Her body was illuminated. Darkness surged wildly towards her, pouring into her, while simultaneously, the darkness within her fiercely erupted from her facial orifices!

Lady Tianyin struggled, roared, and swung the tall pagoda as if it were a small toy. Such terrifying power was truly astounding, befitting a naturally born divine being! Qin Mu stood steadfastly on the pagoda's spire. No matter how she swung the structure, he remained unmoving, continuing to flip the scroll and chant. The Founding Emperor also did his utmost to stabilize himself, keeping the Book of Life and Death shining on Lady Tianyin's face to expel more black sand. At the same time, the incoming black sands formed a rolling torrent of darkness, thick as dragons, surging frantically into Lady Tianyin's body.

This was soul summoning!

Qin Mu's improved Spirit Guiding Art was summoning Lady Tianyin's soul. Within all the black sands of the entire Tianyin Realm, any fragment of Lady Tianyin's soul, even the tiniest particle, would be drawn by his divine ability and fly towards her body. Furthermore, his divine ability could extend to the Great Ruins and to every heaven connected to the Tianyin Realm!

The Spirit Guiding Art was originally a Youdu spell. However, because divine arts practitioners in Yankang had little research into the Youdu language, they gradually substituted it with demonic language as the art spread. Even so, the Spirit Guiding Art could allow the power of the divine ability to reach Youdu directly, snatching the souls of the deceased from Lord Earth. This illustrates the miraculous nature of this divine ability.

Only after Qin Mu mastered the Youdu language did this divine ability fully revert to its original form. Qin Mu's first spectacular use of this art was in the ominous land of the Primordial Heaven, where he single-handedly awakened thousands of fallen gods and devils! On that occasion, he had snatched the souls and primordial spirits of gods and devils from Lord Earth, which is why the Yin Messengers had furiously arrived. And today, Qin Mu, employing the improved Spirit Guiding Art, effortlessly drew microscopic soul particles of Lady Tianyin from the various heavens connected to the Tianyin Realm and from the Great Ruins.

He intended to do more than just that. Besides summoning all of Lady Tianyin's soul particles, he also aimed to reconstruct her soul and revive this naturally born divine being who had been dead for untold millennia!

Even within the Qin-character continent seal deep in his third eye, his obscure and profound voice faintly echoed, causing the Heavenly Duke's avatar, Red Emperor's Consciousness, and the large infant Qin Fengqing to listen intently, lost in thought.

"My naughty little brother speaks quite well," the infant said, sitting on the ground and pulling his thumb from his mouth. "Once caught, tear off its head and eat it."

The Heavenly Duke's avatar's expression grew solemn. He murmured, "He's starting to take advantage of me."

Red Emperor's Consciousness, however, found Qin Mu's Youdu language unfathomably profound and difficult to understand. He asked, "How is he taking advantage of you?"

The Heavenly Duke's avatar sighed, "He inverted the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation, stealing my light to reconstruct someone else's soul."

Red Emperor's Consciousness was startled and blurted out, "He dares to steal your power? Has this boy gone rogue?"

The Heavenly Duke's avatar replied, "What wouldn't he dare? He even dared to imprison you and me here; stealing a bit of my power is nothing to him. Fortunately, he's not taking much. He must have inverted the Gate of Heaven's Affirmation to borrow my light to illuminate the Tianyin Realm, all for the purpose of resurrecting Lady Tianyin."

Red Emperor's Consciousness's expression grew serious. He asked in a deep voice, "Lady Tianyin is dead?"

"She died before you did," the Heavenly Duke's avatar said calmly. "Back then, I sensed her death, but I couldn't see the Tianyin Realm, so I could only lament. As I moved, the Tianyin Realm also moved, perpetually hidden in my shadow. Thus, I couldn't save her."

Red Emperor's Consciousness's eyes flickered. "Lady Tianyin died before me? So she must have died during the Dragon Han era. If she had died during the Red Emperor era, I certainly wouldn't have been unaware. During the Dragon Han era, there were three heavens in opposition. May I ask, Heavenly Duke, which of the Dragon Han heavenly courts caused Lady Tianyin's death?"

The Heavenly Duke's avatar cast a fleeting glance at him and said calmly, "You are already dead; there's no need to inquire about so many matters. However, the Qin clan's young man has piqued my curiosity. This boy has created a divine ability that can reassemble the souls of those whose spirits have scattered. If he truly succeeds, it will likely be the beginning of profound changes in the world... How can there be such a clever and eccentric person in the world?"

Red Emperor's Consciousness sighed, "He is not merely clever and eccentric; he thinks of what others dare not, or have never conceived. He can conceive of what others cannot, and he dares to imagine what others fear to. Others see rules and theorems; his mind is free of such constraints. That is why he can create divine abilities that astound even you, Heavenly Duke."

The Heavenly Duke's avatar chuckled, "Although he has many ideas, it's still hard to say whether he will succeed."

Just then, Qin Mu's voice, echoing into the Qin-character continent, suddenly became heavy and clipped, almost bursting forth syllable by syllable. The Heavenly Duke's avatar's expression grew solemn once more. He murmured, "If he succeeds, the Grand Dao rules between heaven and earth will change accordingly. Red Emperor, do you sense a subtle shift in the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth?"

At that moment, above the Qin-character continent, the Great Buddha, who had been meditating in deep slumber, suddenly awoke. He opened his eyes and exclaimed in surprise, "A subtle change in the Grand Dao? Who is this... Huh? Brother Heavenly Duke, and Red Emperor, when did you arrive here?"

"Old Buddha, don't come down, don't come down!" Red Emperor's Consciousness quickly waved his hand, stopping the Great Buddha who was about to descend from the sky. He warned, "If you come down, you won't be able to escape either. You'll end up just like us, getting brutally beaten by the big-headed monstrous infant!"