Even hybrid monsters have their day

"No matter what happens later, don't make a move, understand?" Jin Mo instructed. He could tell that several people here were not simple, especially the Ninth Sister, and behind her was the extremely mysterious Zhang Tianshi. Before figuring out their background, it was best not to act rashly, especially since there were only two of them at the moment. They could discuss anything after the others arrived in two days.

Geng Miaowan nodded; she naturally knew her own limitations.

"What about Peng Yuxian?" Xiaobai asked.

Geng Miaowan glanced at the white figure standing not far away and pursed her lips. "If he wants to come, let him come. We don't plan to do anything anyway. Besides, judging from the Sand Crawler Demon incident, this person is definitely not a simple person. Although we don't know his background, he's not a bad person. Keeping him around might be helpful if something happens."

"Would he be willing to help?" Looking at Peng Yuxian's self-centered appearance, Xiaobai really couldn't believe Geng Miaowan's words.

"Uh..." Actually, Geng Miaowan herself didn't think he would help. She said somewhat dejectedly, "Forget it, let's not talk about him. But you, you have to be careful later, you know? Whether this matter succeeds or not depends entirely on you."

"You can rest assured about that. Don't you know who I am?"

"Keep showing off." She lightly patted its head. "By the way, how exactly will you regain your abilities?"

She felt that it was no better than the cats and dogs on the street. But she couldn't say that out loud, or the proud little guy would definitely go berserk.

"This is a bit complicated to explain. I'll tell you when I have time." Little White remembered what its older brother, Huangfu Aoran, had told it last time. Repairing it probably wouldn't be easy. "Alright, it's about time. I need to go prepare."

Geng Miaowan nodded and instructed, "Be careful in everything. If things don't go well, come back and we can make other plans."

"Stop nagging." Little White jumped down from her arms and walked away without looking back.

Gu Yuxian watched Xiaobai's departing figure thoughtfully.

Geng Miaowan squeezed to the very front, where she could see the entire altar clearly.

The altar was a large platform with a huge five-pointed star painted on it. Each point was covered with characters she couldn't understand, and at the top of each of the five points were five bowls of red liquid.

In the very center of the five-pointed star was a red flower, its vibrant red almost dripping with blood. The flower looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen it before.

The time arrived quickly. Although yesterday's events were unpleasant, nothing could dampen the people's anticipation for the Rain Festival. The Rain Festival finally began amidst everyone's eager waiting.

People nearby were discussing how this year's altar seemed somewhat different from previous years, but since it was Geng Miaowan's first time seeing the Rain Festival Ceremony, she naturally didn't know what was different.

The festival bells rang, and Ninth Sister led a girl with a veiled face gracefully toward the altar. Judging from her eyes and facial features, this girl was Jin Lingshan from the previous night. Her eyes were radiant with spring, and her complexion was rosy; she looked even more beautiful and captivating than the night before.

How is this going?

Geng Miaowan was puzzled. She clearly saw the zombie drink her blood last night, but she didn't seem to be acting any differently now. She composed herself and continued watching.

Jin Lingshan arrived at the center of the altar and sat cross-legged on the flower. Ninth Sister nodded to Zhang Tianshi, who was not far away, and stepped back. Zhang Tianshi slowly walked onto the altar.

At this moment, the surrounding people spontaneously shouted, "Believe in my heavens, and the weather will be favorable; believe in my heavens, and you will attain immortality. The world will be at peace, people will be kind, the harvests will be plentiful, and the nation will be tranquil."

Zhang Tianshi held a sword in one hand and made hand seals with the other, walking around the altar with a specific gait while chanting incantations.

As he moved, wisps of red mist appeared at the five corners of the altar, and the red liquid in the bowl slowly flowed out, following the patterns drawn around it all the way to the center.

Gradually, Geng Miaowan sensed a powerful energy fluctuation appearing within the altar, along with a strong, pungent smell of blood emanating from the energy center. The smell was quite strange; it wasn't something she inhaled through her nose, but rather seemed to seep into her body through her skin and pores.

Upon smelling that scent, Geng Miaowan felt a jolt in her heart, her mind instantly becoming hazy. The spiritual energy within her body suddenly surged restlessly, spontaneously erupting from her dantian and rushing to her chest. She felt a tightness in her chest, and a metallic sweetness welled up in her throat.

The sudden stitch caused Geng Miaowan's legs to buckle, and she nearly collapsed, but fortunately, a hand beside her caught her in time. At the same time, a cool sensation flowed into her body from where the hand touched her, calming her spiritual energy and guiding it back to her dantian.

Geng Miaowan looked up and saw Peng Yuxian standing next to her without her noticing. She suddenly remembered her special constitution and tried to push him away, but he only glanced at her and calmly withdrew his hand.

"Ah...you..." she gasped softly. His spiritual power hadn't been absorbed by her! What was going on? Could it be that the Myriad Spirit Body wasn't as mysterious as the legends made it out to be?

Thinking back to how Jiao Lingfeng remained calm and indifferent when he learned she was a Wanlingti (a type of spirit body), Geng Miaowan suddenly felt as if she had been deceived by the Sand Crawler Demon.

Peng Yuxian lightly touched her lips with his finger to stop her from making a sound, then took her hand and left the front of the altar.

Beside the altar, Ninth Sister, Aunt Ying, and others looked around with serious expressions, their gazes sweeping across everyone's faces as if searching for something.

Peng Yuxian did not release Geng Miaowan until they were several blocks away from the altar.

Because everyone had gone to watch the Rain Festival, the streets were unusually deserted. At this moment, only she and Peng Yuxian were on the entire street. Geng Miaowan knew that her earlier loss of control over her spiritual power was suspicious, and seeing that no one was around, she asked, "What... happened just now?"

As for why she asked him, it was because she had a gut feeling that he would know.

Peng Yuxian glanced at her and said calmly, "You were affected by that formation just now, which is why the spiritual power in your body went out of control."

"Ah, there are such powerful formations?" For Geng Miaowan, who was still a complete novice in cultivation, formations were definitely something high-level and sophisticated. She not only didn't understand them, but she had never even seen one before.

"This formation is called the Five-Pointed Star Spirit Devouring Formation, specifically designed to deal with cultivators. Once activated, it causes the spiritual energy within the cultivator's body to go berserk, eventually leading to the bursting of meridians and the expulsion of spiritual energy from the body, resulting in death. The most evil aspect of this formation is that at the moment of death, not only is the spiritual energy absorbed into the formation, but the soul is also absorbed, preventing reincarnation for eternity. Furthermore, the spiritual energy and soul absorbed by the formation will be absorbed by the one who set it up."