Everyone's eyes scanned Zhao Manyan up and down. Just as he said, his face was ruddy and he looked energetic. There was no sign of anything unusual.

“Is it because I chased it away that Zhao Manyan is safe and sound?” Mo Fan rubbed his chin and muttered to himself.

"This possibility cannot be ruled out. Pack up and leave immediately." Ai Jiangtu gave the order decisively.

This place was filled with an unspeakable weirdness. He was never afraid of powerful monsters, but he felt uneasy about elusive opponents like Miyata and Narahara Sora.

These enemies were as invisible and traceless as ghosts, making them difficult to detect. He didn't even know where they were hiding, let alone how many of them were lurking in the dark. Once he accidentally fell into their trap, even he would find it difficult to escape.

For safety reasons, it is better to leave here quickly.

Everyone was busy packing their luggage, but they stopped temporarily because of the unusual movement here and rushed over quickly. As soon as Ai Jiangtu said that, they immediately returned and sped up their preparations to leave.

“I have to go check on Zhao Manyan. I’m a little worried about him.” Mo Fan said as he walked into the house.

As soon as he stepped into the house, he felt an inexplicable chill. He didn't know where this chill came from, and it made Mo Fan shiver involuntarily.

"Hiss, is it necessary to set the air conditioner so low in the broad daylight?"

Mo Fan complained in a low voice, found Zhao Manyan's residence, opened the wooden door, and was greeted by an even more biting chill.

"Zhao Manyan!"

Mo Fan immediately noticed something unusual. As a high-level fire magician, his physical fitness was comparable to that of a slave-level demon.

Even a temperature of five or six degrees was just an ordinary temperature for him, but at this moment, he actually felt the biting cold here!
Mo Fan called out to Zhao Manyan several times but got no response, so he quickly rushed into the house and found Zhao Manyan next to a wooden cabinet.

After carefully observing Zhao Manyan's condition, Mo Fan suddenly felt a chill all over his body!
Zhao Manyan's skin had always been fair, but it was a healthy white that was full of blood. It had never been as pale and bloodless as it was now, which made Mo Fan feel nervous.

He had clearly defeated Narahara Sora, so how could Zhao Manyan still encounter such an accident?

How could this be possible? Narahara Sora could have seduced Zhao Manyan's soul from such a long distance? This was simply unbelievable.

Soon, other companions in the training team also learned the news that Zhao Manyan was in danger. They gathered together without any prior arrangement, and everyone had an extremely grim look on their faces.

Ai Jiangtu looked serious and asked Nangong Ni, "How is Zhao Manyan doing?"

"He is still alive, but has fallen into a deep sleep. We cannot wake him up forcibly, otherwise it may cause greater mental harm to him." Nangong Ni responded.

"Healing magic doesn't work, right?" Mo Fan asked. Nangong Ni nodded silently.

"Is there any danger to life?" Mo Fan asked immediately.

"He is not in danger of death at the moment, but the chill in his body is very strange and his temperature continues to drop. I am worried that this may cause serious problems with his body functions," explained Nangong Ni.

Ai Jiangtu slowly turned his gaze to Xu Mu and asked, "Xu Mu, you have experienced the special experience of having your soul taken away before. Based on your experience, do you have any unique method to wake Zhao Manyan from his deep sleep without damaging his mental strength?"

Xu Mu shook his head. His answer was concise and direct:
"I don't have any special way to wake up Zhao Manyan, but based on my past experience, if we want to solve this problem, we just need to find Narahara Sora and beat him to death."

“That’s easy to say. Among so many of us, only you and Mo Fan can identify each other’s tracks. How are we going to find them? We can’t just rely on the two of you. It will take a long time to find them.” Someone raised a question.

"Everything in the world has its cause and effect. There must be a solution. Guan Yu, Li Kaifeng, your mission is to find the monks who have performed rituals here. They have lived here for a long time and must know the whole story."

"Jiang Yu, Mu Tingying, and Zu Jiming, the three of you quickly head to the city and collect all the information related to the temple, whether it's history, legends, nursery rhymes or any details, don't miss anything!" Ai Jiangtu ordered.

"Xu Mu, Mo Fan, Jiang Shaoxu, Nan Jue, and me, the five of us will work together to find that Nara Yuankong. No matter what kind of existence he is, there will always be a way to deal with him. It is impossible that there is no way to crack him."

"As for the others, they will stay behind to ensure Zhao Manyan's safety."

“Let’s go to the back mountain. I have a feeling that the mountain behind this temple hides some little-known secrets.” Mo Fan suggested.

……

Everyone then went their separate ways according to the plan.

Xu Mu, Mo Fan, Jiang Shaoxu, Ai Jiangtu and Nan Jue walked straight into the area behind the mountain.

In the back mountain, an old road that has been abandoned for a long time comes into view. From the traces, it can be seen that this road was frequently traveled in the past...

The forest on the back mountain is dense and deep. Walking along the deserted path, there are ancient stone lanterns standing on both sides.

By clearing away the thick soil and weeds covering the ground, traces of marble paving can be vaguely seen, proving that this place once had a glorious history.

“By the way, I have two questions,” Nan Jue said. “If Gong Tian and Nara Yuankong really have the ability to seduce souls, and they act in secret, why don’t they just attack us directly? Why do they have to get the name from Mo Fan? Is this name so important?”

"Perhaps, this is a necessary condition for some kind of ritual." Xu Mu put forward his own guess.

"I can't figure this out either." Mo Fan responded, "When I first talked to Nara Hara Sora, I thought he was an upright monk with his principles and bottom line. I didn't expect him to be so cruel."

“Then why can only you and Xu Mu see each other, but we can’t see them?” Nan Jue continued to inquire.

“I’m even less clear about this question.” Mo Fan answered casually, “Perhaps only those with exceptional talents can see them. People like you have average talents and rely entirely on external forces for your cultivation, so naturally you can’t see them.”

“Uh…” Nan Jue looked at Mo Fan speechlessly.

……

The path in the back mountain was much longer than they had expected. The stone lanterns along the way had been swallowed up by lush weeds, as if time had stopped here.

Some lush branches stretched out wantonly, covering the road. The natural barrier seemed to silently warn pedestrians: It is not advisable to set foot here.

It was obvious that this natural environment was not friendly to outsiders. Faced with obstacles, the group used their own magic to ruthlessly clear away weeds and branches, even though this was a holy place that was regarded as a pure place.

The path gradually spiraled up the mountain, and finally, they came to a high platform at the edge of the valley.

Here, they were surprised to find an old brick building, hidden under the dense tree canopy and tightly covered by weeds and bushes. If it were not for the vague path leading the way, this building forgotten by time might never have been discovered by them.

After some magical cleaning, the dilapidated building finally revealed its full appearance.

This is a small open temple with a simple structure consisting of only three stone steps, a terrace and the main hall itself.

In the main room, a dusty object lay quietly, attracting a lot of attention.

As Xu Mu cast space magic, a gust of wind swept past, blowing away the dust covering the object, and its true appearance was revealed.

It was an unusually smooth wooden fish. What made it different was that wooden fish were usually smooth and flawless and were used to make sounds by striking, but the curved cover of this wooden fish was covered with well-arranged patterns.

These lines are interwoven in a regular manner, and strange characters are engraved in the small grids formed. These characters do not look like modern island languages, but are similar to older magical characters, and are full of mystery.

Mo Fan blurted out in surprise: "Why is this wooden fish here?"

He reached out to touch it, but he never expected that this seemingly ordinary wooden fish would release a dazzling yellow lightning, which quickly spread to his fingertips like a thin thread, causing him to instinctively pull his hand back.

"Is it a ban?" Jiang Shaoxu looked at the wooden fish in amazement. It lay there alone, like an abandoned object. Her face was full of confusion and puzzlement.

Nan Jue said, “It seems to be a magic tool. How strange! Why would a magic tool be left here so casually?”

Nan Jue had unique insights into the field of magic tools. She slowly walked to the wooden fish and began to study it carefully.

Nan Jue's palm gently hovered above the wooden fish, maintaining a subtle distance and not letting her skin touch it.

She closed her eyes and explored the wooden fish with her mind wholeheartedly, and noticed that the yellow lightning threads wrapped around it gradually converged and turned into a gentle presence.

“This should be a shield-shaped magic tool, but its function is far more than simple defense. It also contains a deeper power.” Nan Jue pondered.

Ai Jiangtu asked, "Could this wooden fish be related to the soul-stealing incident that Zhao Manyan encountered?"

Nan Jue frowned slightly, his expression focused: "I'm not sure, but give me some time, I may be able to decipher the ancient text on it. This object is very old, and I have only seen similar things in Hangzhou."

At this time, Xu Mu's voice calmly interrupted: "This is a totem vessel."

"Totem vessel?" Four pairs of eyes focused on Xu Mu.

"A vessel similar to your totem vessel?" Mo Fan asked in confusion.

Xu Mu responded with a slight nod.

"Is that a vessel from the Totem Beast Era?" Jiang Shaoxu's voice revealed irrepressible excitement.

Xu Mu nodded again to confirm her guess.

“Since you have the totem vessel, you should be able to remove this restriction, right?” Nan Jue asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't. Although I have a totem vessel, my understanding and mastery of such things as prohibitions is far from enough." Xu Mu shook his head regretfully.

Nan Jue sighed softly, "Well, it seems that the task of breaking this restriction will fall on me."

“This restriction is not simple. Are you sure you can solve it?” Jiang Shaoxu was knowledgeable. She looked at Nanyu with a hint of worry in her tone.

Ai Jiangtu had no doubts about Nanjue's abilities. He looked at Nanjue's focused expression and said confidently, "Arrays, prohibitions, and ancient spells are all her strengths. I think there are few problems that she cannot solve."

Prohibition is essentially a kind of magic that restricts others from contacting, approaching and weakening their power. Similar to a magic circle, it requires the help of specific items to achieve its goal.

The wooden fish, as the perfect carrier of the ban, may contain a tiny but powerful magic array. Once someone touches it, it will release a powerful force for defense.

More importantly, if the restrictions on the magic tool are not removed, the magic tool will not be able to perform its functions normally.

There seemed to be no way forward, and further exploration was useless. Since Nan Jue had already expressed her opinion, everyone could only wait on the side.

Time passed by minute by minute, and Nan Jue finally snorted softly. It was obvious that she was concentrating on breaking the restriction. She frowned from time to time, obviously encountering a difficult problem.

Jiang Shaoxu was getting a little anxious waiting, and just as he was about to ask, Nan Jue suddenly stopped observing the wooden fish.

"What's the result?" Mo Fan asked impatiently.

"I speculate that the girl Miyata and the monk Narahara Sora that you and Xu Mu met are most likely a kind of existence called 'weapon demon spirit'." Nan Jue spoke slowly.

“Weapon Demon Spirit? What the hell is this?” Mo Fan was confused. This was the first time he heard this term, and curiosity drove him to open his eyes wide.

“This is a creature that dates back to ancient times. The birth of a weapon spirit requires many years of sedimentation... I believe you all know that the magic tools and magic weapons we use in daily life are divided into ordinary level, spiritual level, and soul level... Spirit level magic weapons are said to have spirituality, and soul level means that the tool already has its own soul.” Nan Jue explained.

"Soul-level artifacts not only have their own characteristics, but also have independent souls. When such artifacts have gone through a long period of time, and the souls contained within them are nourished under unique conditions, they may be able to cultivate themselves and transform into demon spirits... Demon spirits are similar to elemental spirits, except that they are born from powerful vessels, absorbing the essence of the artifacts and transforming into spiritual beings!"

When the concentration of a certain element in a certain area reaches its peak, forming an element-dense area, all elemental forces gather together, which may not only breed extremely powerful elemental spirit seeds, but also give birth to elemental elves.

Places rich in elements will breed elemental spirits. Similarly, certain objects may attract demonic spirits because of their inherent souls, thus giving these demonic spirits a unique and real life form.

"It is extremely rare for a weapon spirit to appear, and usually only the owner of the weapon can see its true appearance..." Nan Jue continued. (End of this chapter)