"Senior Brother, once the soul reaches the Underworld, won't it have to enter the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn?"
"Are we disciples beyond saving then?"
"It is still early for souls to enter the Underworld. If we perform a ritual now to open a passage between the Yin and Yang realms, we can still bring back the souls of the five."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Jiu approached the altar, preparing to perform a ritual to enter the Underworld.
For a living person to enter the Underworld, their own soul must enter.
They cannot bring their physical body into the Underworld, and there is a time limit.
Otherwise, the soul will remain in the Underworld forever.
In that case, instead of saving someone, they might lose another, much like the Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather.
Therefore, someone had to volunteer to enter the Underworld within the stipulated time to retrieve the souls of the five.
"Master, Uncle Master, this heavy burden must fall upon me, Ah Wei!"
At this moment, Ah Wei volunteered, wishing to enter the Underworld to bring back the souls of the five.
However, Shi Jian, standing nearby, was displeased. He glared fiercely at Ah Wei, wishing he could kick the fellow away.
"Go play in the mud somewhere. If we fail to save them later, we'll lose you too."
Helpless, Ah Wei retreated to Mao Xiaofang's side, no longer daring to speak.
"Ahem, I'll go."
"I've been to the Underworld quite a few times."
Shi Jian walked to the altar, intending to perform the ritual himself to visit the Underworld.
The previous owner of this body had visited the Underworld multiple times while traveling the land to save people.
This task was perfectly suited for him.
"You all go prepare a piece of yellow cloth."
Shi Jian instructed a few of them and prepared to retrieve the Grand Purity whisk from Mao Xiaofang to perform the ritual.
"Senior Brother, do we only need a piece of yellow cloth, nothing else?"
"Then what else do you think I would need?"
Seeing this, the yellow-robed Taoists did not dare to question Shi Jian further and quickly ordered the disciples nearby to find a piece of yellow cloth.
"Xiaofang, bring the Grand Purity whisk."
Mao Xiaofang, hearing Shi Jian's call, quickly handed over the whisk in his hand.
After Shi Jian received the whisk, a few minutes later, the disciples of the yellow-robed Taoists also found a piece of yellow cloth.
They fixed the yellow cloth in front of the altar and then retreated to the side.
"Senior Martial Uncle, the items are ready, you can begin the ritual."
Shi Jian waved his hand, signaling his grand-nephews to step aside.
Then, using the Grand Purity whisk in his hand, he wrote the two characters "勅令" (Chì Lìng - Decree) on the yellow cloth and shouted: "Heaven be mindful, Earth be mindful, Maoshan Taoist magic opens the Yin path, seek Yin spirits before the Gate of Hell, Great Emperor Laojun, hurry as the law commands."
After reciting the incantation, he sprinkled glutinous rice water on the yellow cloth.
The next moment, the two characters "勅令" on the yellow cloth began to spin, forming a portal to the Underworld.
Everyone's gaze turned to the yellow cloth, and then they looked at each other.
They hadn't noticed that a flash of lightning had occurred before the altar, and Shi Jian had directly teleported into the portal.
"Where did Senior Brother go?"
"Wasn't he just in front of the altar? How did he disappear in the blink of an eye?"
When everyone turned to look at the altar, Shi Jian was nowhere to be seen.
"Could Senior Brother have gone into the Underworld to save people?"
The yellow-robed Taoist walked to the altar, observed it closely for a while, and then turned to look at the yellow cloth.
"Impossible, didn't the Sect Leader say that only souls can enter the Underworld?"
"How did Senior Brother enter the Underworld with his physical body?"
The yellow-robed Taoists and Uncle Jiu present looked as if they had seen a ghost, their faces filled with disbelief as they stared at the yellow cloth before them.
For them to enter the Underworld, they first needed to prepare the necessary magical artifacts and perform a complex ritual.
It was not as simple as Shi Jian, who casually found a piece of yellow cloth, recited a few incantations, and entered the Yin realm with his physical body.
"Did the Ancestor secretly hide some spells and not teach them to our Master?"
The other yellow-robed Taoists nodded in agreement, "I think it's highly likely."
On the other side, Shi Jian, having arrived before the Gate of Hell, found dozens of ghost kings chained and guarding the Yin spirits entering the gate.
In the center of the Gate of Hell stood three Yin officials, two of whom held mourning sticks.
The other sat in the middle of the Gate of Hell, registering the souls entering the Underworld.
"Name?"
"Sir, your subordinate is Wang Ergou."
"Cause of death?"
"Uh, bitten to death by a fierce dog!"
"You may proceed. Next!"
The soul, after being questioned by the ghost official, entered the Gate of Hell and headed towards the Underworld.
"Name?"
"My humble Taoist name is Wang Jingming."
The ghost official, upon hearing that the person before him was a Taoist, inquired, "Which sect do you belong to?"
"Shangqing Sect."
"Cause of death?"
"Killed by someone."
As soon as Shi Jian heard Wang Ming's name, he hurried to the Gate of Hell.
The dozens of ghost kings surrounding the area opened their eyes as they saw a living person approaching the Gate of Hell.
"The Gate of Hell only accepts souls. Living beings, return quickly."
Seeing Shi Jian continue towards the Gate of Hell, the ghost kings quickly moved to block him.
The souls before the Gate of Hell, seeing the ghost kings act, hid to the side in fear.
The ghost officials, however, remained calm, not intending to intervene.
"You court death! We kindly advised you, but you refuse to listen. Then you shall remain here forever."
Seeing the ghost kings charging at him, Shi Jian calmly imbued the Grand Purity whisk with the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder and lashed out at the ghost kings before him.
"This is bad, it's lightning magic!!!"
The foremost ghost king, struck by the Grand Purity whisk, fell to the ground, howling in pain.
The ghost kings at the rear, seeing the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder, hastily halted their advance and fled towards the three ghost officials.
"Sir, that person knows lightning magic, we cannot defeat him."
The ghost officials' expressions gradually froze as they stared intently at Shi Jian in the distance.
The Purple Cloud Divine Thunder was the bane of ghostly beings, and the ghost officials dared not be careless.
"Senior Martial Uncle, we are here!"
Wang Jingming and the other four souls among the deceased saw Shi Jian and rushed over.
However, they were spotted by the ghost officials, who used their mourning sticks to collect them.
"How dare you snatch souls from before the Gate of Hell! Considering you are a Taoist, we can spare your life."
"If you leave now, we can pretend this never happened."
"I only want the souls of those five. After I retrieve them, I will return to the mortal realm immediately."
"You refuse to take the wine offered, so you must drink the wine of punishment!"
Seeing that Shi Jian refused to leave, the three ghost officials had no choice but to brandish their mourning sticks and engage him in battle.
However, the mourning sticks only had an effect on souls and were ineffective against living beings.
In a short while, the three ghost officials were swept away by the Grand Purity whisk.
Seizing this opportunity, Shi Jian snatched the mourning sticks from the ghost officials and released the souls of Wang Ming and the other four.
"How audacious! You dare to strike the ghost officials!"
"We have been ghost officials for so long, and we have never seen such a rampant Taoist as you. It is simply lawless."