"Miss, there's another visitor."
The door was gently knocked. Shen Cuiyu finished the last stroke of the talisman paper and gracefully walked out of the room. There she saw Pei Yu standing with his hands behind his back under the corridor not far away, seemingly waiting for her on purpose.
Shen Cuiyu was slightly stunned. She looked around but saw no one else. Hesitantly, she asked, "My lord prince, are you here to see me?"
Since the incident at the Qin Mansion, they hadn't seen each other for several days. Shen Cuiyu had been enjoying her carefree days and had almost forgotten about this person who was supposed to be her destined one.
Hearing her voice, Pei Yu turned his head. The sunlight cast a faint shadow on his well - defined side face. He didn't answer immediately. His gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he slowly said, "Miss Shen, the second daughter of the Shen family," his voice was steady but naturally carried a certain penetrating power, "I need you to do something for me."
Shen Cuiyu slightly raised her eyebrows. She originally thought that Pei Yu's words about having something to ask for help that day were just a form of politeness, but unexpectedly, he really came in person.
"Your lordship, please feel free to speak."
The young man's tall and straight figure was stretched long by the sunlight. When he spoke, his tone showed little emotion, but every word was clear:
"I want you to call back a soul for me."
"Call back a soul?" Shen Cuiyu was slightly stunned. Then she hid the surprise in her eyes and asked, "Whose soul? Do you have the deceased's birth date?"
"I don't know the birth date," Pei Yu's voice was very soft, as if he was afraid of disturbing something, making it hard to tell his emotions, "If she were still alive, she would be forty this year."
Then he took out an object carefully wrapped in plain white soft satin from his bosom. Unwrapping it layer by layer, inside was a half - broken jade pendant. The jade was warm and smooth, with a luster that had been accumulated over the years.
"This is the only thing. Maybe it was what she wore during her lifetime."
Shen Cuiyu took the jade pendant. It felt slightly cold in her hand. She pondered for a moment and then said seriously:
"My lord prince, I can give it a try, but I need to make it clear in advance. Without the birth date, trying to call back a soul just by an ancient object is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The hope is slim. Even if I succeed, the soul I call back may not be the one you want to see. It may be other wandering souls that have once been contaminated with the aura of this object."
"It doesn't matter." Pei Yu was silent for a moment. His voice was deep, "Anyway, we'll only know after trying."
Shen Cuiyu glanced at him and said no more.
She found a quiet corner. Using the broken jade pendant as a guide, she pinched a magic formula with her fingertips, closed her eyes slightly, and the spiritual power around her flowed like a gentle stream, trying to sense the wisp of soul associated with it.
However, after a moment, Shen Cuiyu's delicate eyebrows slightly frowned.
Something was wrong!
In a normal soul - calling process, even if it failed, one could still feel the aura of the wandering soul that had once lingered in the world.
But this time, following the weak guidance of the jade pendant, she found that there was nothing ahead. Her spiritual sense seemed to have plunged into a fog, and all she could feel was endless nothingness.
Shen Cuiyu suddenly opened her eyes, and a look of surprise and disbelief flashed across her eyes.
"Failed to call back the soul?" Pei Yu immediately stepped forward and stared intently at her expression, "Could it be that the soul has already entered the cycle of reincarnation?"
Shen Cuiyu shook her head, looking solemn, "That soul... seems to have been scattered."
".....What?"
Shen Cuiyu looked up and met Pei Yu's suddenly cold gaze, "It seems that it was forcibly shattered by an extremely domineering and poisonous method, causing the three souls and seven spirits to disperse and unable to gather. Even the remaining consciousness has almost been annihilated..."
"What method?" Pei Yu's voice showed no emotion, but it was chillingly cold.
Shen Cuiyu slightly shrank her fingertips, as if sensing the remaining subtle traces, "Judging from the remaining traces, it seems to be... the Seven - Star Soul - Nailing Technique." Her voice was filled with fear, "This technique is extremely vicious. With seven specially made magic nails, it locks the seven vital acupoints of the soul, causing it to shatter and disperse. Ordinary celestial masters can't even sense it, let alone call back the soul."
She looked at Pei Yu, with a hint of regret in her tone, "My lord, this soul can't be gathered by ordinary soul - calling techniques. Either we need to find a formation master who specializes in this field and use special magic tools to forcibly pull and gather it; or we need to find a great power with extraordinary cultivation and in - depth study of the soul way. Maybe there's some hope."
Hearing this, Pei Yu stood there, silent for a long time.
The shadow under the corridor covered him, making it hard to see his expression. One could only feel the almost tangible coldness and stillness.
So that was it.
So the reason he couldn't find the soul anywhere wasn't that their fate had ended, but that someone had used such a vicious method and didn't even want to leave him a shred of hope!
After a while, Pei Yu slowly raised his eyes. All the surging emotions in his eyes had been suppressed, but the corner of his lips still curled up in his usual, nonchalant arc, but there was no warmth in it.
He leaned forward slightly, narrowing the distance between them. He lowered his voice a bit, with a lazy but unmistakable warning, "Miss Shen, what was said today comes out of your mouth and goes into my ears..."
"Your lordship, please rest assured," Shen Cuiyu immediately interrupted, "The celestial masters have rules. The matter of calling back souls should not be spread to others. I know my limits."
Pei Yu gave her a deep look, said no more, and turned to leave.
As his robe sleeves fluttered, a cool breeze rose. His back was still tall and unruly, but it seemed to have stepped into a deeper fog.
Shen Cuiyu watched Pei Yu's tall figure and knew that he would never give up because of this. And the clue of the Seven - Star Soul - Nailing Technique had already pointed to a more distant and dangerous realm...
.........
In September, the sky was high and the air was crisp. The first ray of morning light shone on the bluestone slabs outside the Shen Mansion. The usually quiet mansion was extremely lively at this moment.
A rather heavy letter was handed to Shen Cuiyu. She stared at the few golden - glowing characters on the envelope. Finally, a crack appeared on her face that rarely showed emotions.
"This... This is...?!"
"It's the admission letter from the Myriad Phenomena Academy," Shen Canghai replied calmly. He only told her to "pack your luggage quickly and set off in three days," then led a group of servants in a grand manner towards the Imperial Observatory, leaving Shen Cuiyu stunned in the wind!
It all started a few months ago. The Imperial Observatory issued an official notice to the world - after seven years, the Myriad Phenomena Academy was finally recruiting students again!
As soon as this news came out, it was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, shocking all the metaphysics disciples in the Great Xia Dynasty!
Among all the metaphysics sects in the world, who didn't admire this highest - level metaphysics academy established by the imperial court?!
The name "Myriad Phenomena" in the academy's name implied embracing all methods and bringing about a new start. Rooted in the five metaphysics arts of mountain, medicine, fortune - telling, physiognomy, and divination, the academy not only taught orthodox Taoist magic, talismans, formations, fortune - telling, and divination but also tolerated and studied some relatively rare and strange skills such as witchcraft and gu - arts. It could be said to have gathered the strengths of all schools.
The metaphysics practitioners admired the Myriad Phenomena Academy not only because of its strong teaching staff but also because all the disciples who had graduated from the academy had now become the top talents in various fields of metaphysics in the Great Xia Dynasty!
Therefore, the resources and the status of the Myriad Phenomena Academy in the metaphysics world were far beyond those of other academies. Its high threshold was even more daunting!
The last time the Myriad Phenomena Academy recruited students was seven years ago. Thousands of metaphysics disciples from all over the place flocked there like carp crossing the river. In the end, only a hundred of them managed to step through that door.