The Spiritual Stone that Yun Jiuge threw out dropped onto the ground silently. The Nine Serenities Yin Formation instantly activated. A light black fog rose and covered Aunt Gaga and the other human-beast hybrids.
Advisor Jun's eyes widened as he tried to clearly see the situation inside. But it was a sea of darkness.
“Miss Yun, what's going on?” Advisor Jun turned to ask Yun Jiuge but saw that her face was somber. A faint golden light shone in her eyes as she looked at the human-beast hybrids inside without blinking.
“Calm your mind and take a look. The black fog is their souls' current state. They can only awaken the golden light by breaking free,” Yun Jiuge reminded Advisor Jun without even turning.
“Yes.” Advisor Jun settled his mind to look closely, only to find that the black fog was swaying wildly, as if someone wanted to break through the shackles to come out.
Yun Jiuge saw more clearly than Advisor Jun that these ten human-beast hybrids were struggling hard in the Illusion.
Unfortunately, the strength of the Illusion was too strong, and soon two female human-snake hybrids fainted due to the lack of physical strength. Then, they were automatically ejected out of the Illusion.
This was a protective mechanism set by Yun Jiuge, lest they be trapped and killed inside.
Gradually, more and more human-beast hybrids were ejected out of the Illusion, leaving behind only two Cattle Clan youths and Aunt Gaga.
“It seems that physical strength and vitality are also important conditions for the Awakening,” Yun Jiuge muttered to herself.
Aunt Gaga was the strongest out of the ten human-beast hybrids. The Cattle Clan youths were the youngest.
After a few minutes, the two Cattle Clan youths were also ejected. In the end, only Aunt Gaga was left. It appeared to be just a matter of time.
“Miss Yun, let me go in and try!” exclaimed Advisor Jun, who felt that Yun Jiuge was wasting time. What could possibly come out of a test on a group of elderly, weak women and children?
“There's no hurry. I'm going to adjust the Illusion again,” said Yun Jiuge, who calculated the time. The fastest to be ejected was the four middle-aged female human-snake hybrids, followed by the Horse and Cattle Clan members.
The Horse and Cattle Clans were notorious for their strong endurance. The fact that they were not able to endure till the end showed that the Illusion's physical demands were too great.
It seemed like she needed to find Yin s.h.i.+li to adjust the Formation's physical requirement and increase the mental torment so that it would be easier to yield results.
“What?” At this time, Advisor Jun suddenly gave a sound of surprise and said to Yun Jiuge whose head was lowered in deep contemplation, “Miss Yun, take a look at Aunt Gaga. Something seems to be wrong!”
Yun Jiuge looked up and saw that all the black fog from the Nine Serenities Yin Formation was concentrated on Aunt Gaga.
Aunt Gaga's stooped body was motionless, but she was not ejected from the Illusion. It was strange indeed.
Yun Jiuge thought about it and then issued a stream of Cognitive into Aunt Gaga's Illusion.
The inside of Aunt Gaga's Cognitive was a wilderness with dry rivers and dead plants. The human-snake hybrid clan's corpses littered all over the field. Every one of them was skin and bones with faces full of despair. They looked like they had starved to death.
The whole world was filled with a sad and desperate atmosphere. It was so oppressive that it made one unable to breathe.
Yun Jiuge looked around for Aunt Gaga's figure, and finally found her on the land which the human-snake hybrid clan specially used in growing Gaga Gra.s.s.
She only saw her thin ashen thin snake tail on the ground. Her body was hunched over, and her arms folded together. That posture seemed to show that she was guarding something.
Yun Jiuge floated over to take a look and saw Aunt Gaga protecting a number of white snake eggs in her arms. A thin layer of dried Gaga Gra.s.s lay on top.
Striking black and white colors clashed yet contained an indescribable vitality.
Aunt Gaga's old face was already thin till it was shapeless. Her deeply sunken eyes looked turbid. But she attentively watched the snake eggs with a firm look in her eyes as if she were convinced that these eggs would definitely survive.
Yun Jiuge stared intently at the snake eggs and Gaga Gra.s.s in Aunt Gaga's arms. A Spiritual Light suddenly arose in her mind and then she reached her hands out a little.
The Nine Serenities Yin Formation turned and the black fog changed into a white fog. The white snake eggs in Aunt Gaga's arms shook and gave off a soft sound of sh.e.l.ls breaking.
A small human-snake hybrid, only the length of an index finger, tried hard to emerge from the sh.e.l.l. His moist little head was covered with a piece of white eggsh.e.l.l. His clear yellow vertical pupil slits looked at Aunt Gaga.
Aunt Gaga's old face revealed a kind smile. Her body turned into the golden light and fell to the ground. The trees and gra.s.s sprung back to life and spring water gushed forth. Vitality emerged prominently…
Yun Jiuge's Cognitive withdrew. She hurriedly stood up and rushed into the Formation.
Advisor Jun also rushed in and nervously asked Yun Jiuge, “What's the matter? What happened? Why did Aunt Gaga just give off a golden light and fall down?”
Yun Jiuge ignored Advisor Jun's questions. She took out the Lightning Fire Needle quickly to administer acupuncture on Aunt Gaga to clear up the coalesced golden light in her tail.
The golden light glided like a stream of water. The gray color in Aunt Gaga's brain suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke and dissipated.
“Aunt Gaga has succeeded, hasn't she?” Advisor Jun looked fervently at Yun Jiuge and asked. Since Aunt Gaga had succeeded, then all the more it should not be a problem for him.
“We can't be sure yet at the moment. Send Aunt Gaga to the house above to rest first. Let's wait until she wakes up to see what happens,” said Yun Jiuge, who seemed to have a faint grasp of the mystery of awakening the golden light. But there were still some things which required proof.
“Miss Yun, let me try. I'll definitely succeed,” said Advisor Jun, who was so anxious that he could not wait to immediately emit the golden light.
“I've my own arrangements about this. You just need to follow my instructions now.” Yun Jiuge could understand Advisor Jun's frame of mind. However, haste would ruin everything. If Advisor Jun's awakening of the golden light was also out of control like A'ze, then it would not make any sense.
“I was being rude and impetuous,” replied Advisor Jun, who did not want to leave Yun Jiuge with a bad impression. He suppressed his anxiety and escorted Aunt Gaga away.
After Advisor Jun left, Yun Jiuge let Xiao Hua and Da'er out, and then awakened them.
“Miss Yun?” Xiao Hua looked at the dark ground and somewhat could not tell where he was.
He shook his head hard and opened his mouth to ask, “Have my clan people moved here?”
“How about my people?” Da'er asked hoa.r.s.ely before he even opened his eyes.
“I've already dispatched the Eagle Clan members to pick them up. They should arrive in two days' time. I've let you out to ask you about a matter. What thoughts did you have in your minds before you were converted into puppets by the Devil Stones and your consciousness were sealed?” Yun Jiuge asked.
“Thoughts?” Xiao Hua stared blankly and said with a bitter smile, “I thought that if I were to die, what would happen to my clan people? I still had not given away my clan leader's token.”
“What about you?” Yun Jiuge looked at Da'er.
“I just wanted to go back alive and take them far away from the Divine Envoy,” Da'er said.
“Just as I expected.” The words of Da'er and Xiao Hua confirmed the conjecture she had in her mind. It was their protective strength that awakened them.
“Miss Yun, you've let us out. Perhaps you've found a solution to the Demon Qi?” Xiao Hua asked with antic.i.p.ation.