The exhaustion of a night of frantic activity settled heavily on Zhou Huan and the others. Everyone at Fushou Hall who could lend a hand was busy preparing for the decisive battle against the Green Tara slated for the following evening. Zhou Huan was confident that his Nine Palaces Celestial Gate Formation would surely subdue the Green Tara. Hong Kun had been severely injured the night before.

Perhaps due to excessive blood loss, he kept his eyes closed after lying down, while Zhou Huan remained occupied with preparations. Yang Xiaoling was assisting in caring for Wang Xiaohe. Shi Bingyuan managed to snatch a brief period of sleep. Upon waking, he immediately threw himself into setting up the Nine Palaces Celestial Gate Formation.

In truth, this formation was arranged across ten cardinal points. At the very center of the entire array was a pit that had been dug out, referred to as the Lower Position. Directly above this pit, four wooden pillars supported a large square frame, empty in the middle—this was known as the Upper Position. The remaining eight sectors corresponded to True North, True South, True East, True West, Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, and Southeast.

Each direction was assigned a specific deity, drawn from the heavenly soldiers and generals of the Celestial Palace. The reason Zhou Huan designed the formation this way stemmed from a previous occasion when they had successfully summoned celestial aid; even though only heavenly soldiers had appeared then, the power displayed had been considerable. Each directional point in the Celestial Gate Formation required a dedicated altar, inscribed with a unique talisman corresponding to the deity to be summoned. One would affix the appropriate talisman to the designated altar and present suitable offerings.

When Zhou Huan and his team entered the formation, each person was assigned a position, primarily focusing on the four major directions, with one person seated at each to maintain the array. This time, Fushou Hall faced an enemy unprecedented in their experience—a spirit they had only encountered described in Buddhist scriptures. The pressure this placed on Zhou Huan and the others was immense, particularly for Shi Bingyuan. As the eldest member of Fushou Hall, despite calling Zhou Huan 'Master,' he felt a constant obligation to contribute more than anyone else, otherwise, he would feel deeply uneasy.

It was another busy day. Xiaohe remained quiet throughout, sleeping peacefully all day. Dongzi, meanwhile, was so absorbed in drawing talismans that he forgot to eat until the sky began to darken. Only then did hunger pangs strike, prompting him to rush to the kitchen, grab whatever food he could find, and once satisfied, return immediately to continue meticulously drawing the talismans Zhou Huan had assigned him.

When Zhou Huan opened his eyes, the sun was no longer visible in the sky. For some inexplicable reason, his mind kept replaying the scene of him looking into a mirror at Lao Jun’s place before his return. Images from that mirror churned violently in his mind, and involuntarily, scenes he desperately wished to avoid surfaced: He Shen, He Shen’s chief steward, flashes of swords clashing, and images of his own blood. Zhou Huan gasped, sucking in a sharp breath.

How could he be experiencing such hallucinations? He couldn't believe it; he absolutely couldn't, because in those visions, Zhou Huan’s peril was even greater than in reality. Thus, the moment he awoke, without even eating, he flew downstairs to assist Shi Bingyuan with the Celestial Gate Formation. The master and disciple swiftly inscribed the talismans at every position, placed the corresponding offerings, and then gathered every single magical artifact in Fushou Hall that could be used for ghost-catching, positioning one at each directional altar.

The atmosphere of the setting immediately took on a sacred quality. Zhou Huan looked up at the sky, waiting for the full moon to ascend, for the Green Tara to appear, and for the people of Fushou Hall to commence their work. After finishing his tasks, Shi Bingyuan urged Zhou Huan to go rest, saying he would complete the remaining arrangements himself. However, Zhou Huan firmly refused.

After all, Shi Bingyuan was older, and although Zhou Huan was his master, he couldn't allow the elder to handle all the remaining labor, especially the taxing work scheduled for the night. If one of them collapsed from exhaustion, the entire night’s array would be jeopardized. While caring for Xiaohe, Yang Xiaoling somehow managed to procure some aged wild ginseng and brewed a soup for Hong Kun. Thankfully, Hong Kun actually managed to sit up by evening, appearing quite energetic—a truly positive sign.

“Master, we are now fully prepared, just waiting for the Green Tara to unleash her fury tonight!” Shi Bingyuan carefully placed the last item onto the empty frame positioned at the Upper Position. With that, the Nine Palaces Celestial Gate Formation was successfully completed. Zhou Huan, hands clasped behind his back, inspected the entire formation from beginning to end. Once he confirmed everything was flawless, he turned and led Shi Bingyuan upstairs.

Their first stop was to check on Hong Kun. Only after assuring himself that Hong Kun was fine did Zhou Huan relax. Subsequently, Zhou Huan considered asking Dongzi to prepare a meal, but seeing him still busy, he decided not to disturb him. Instead, Zhou Huan proactively went to the kitchen and began cooking with a flurry of activity.

After dinner, movement stirred in Xiaohe’s room—it was her voice, sounding utterly haggard and barely audible. Zhou Huan hurried into Xiaohe’s room. He saw her looking at him with hazy eyes. Xiaohe then tightly clutched Zhou Huan with both hands.

In that moment, she seemed far clearer than in the previous few days. Pouting her lips, she whispered with her faint breath, “Brother Huan, I’m sorry. I feel like… I’m fading away!” Hearing this, Zhou Huan immediately covered Xiaohe’s mouth. “Don’t talk nonsense!

You’re doing just fine. Once we capture that Green Tara tonight, you’ll recover quickly.” Tears glistened in Xiaohe’s eyes. She gazed at Zhou Huan with deep affection, saying no more, but pressed her head tightly against Zhou Huan’s chest. She didn't want to be parted again.

Gradually, the sky darkened, deepening into night. As the bright moon illuminated the sky, the illumination lamps at every point of the Celestial Gate Formation were lit. Hong Kun felt significantly better after eating. Shi Bingyuan and Tian Xiong had also taken their respective positions.

Only Zhou Huan remained in the room, tightly holding Xiaohe, coaxing her to sleep soundly so he could descend and attend to his duties. Xiaohe proved cooperative; she fell asleep shortly after, letting out soft snores in her bed. Fortunately, that night, Xiaohe was spared the torment she endured the previous two nights. Zhou Huan glanced at the busy Dongzi, then swiftly ran downstairs, returning to his assigned spot to meditate.

He formed the hand seal for summoning the gods with his hands and slowly began chanting the incantation to call the deities. In the cloudless expanse above, under the moon’s glow, nine streams of radiance illuminated the entire night sky. As these beams neared the array, the quiet night seemed as bright as day. When the final, tenth golden beam descended, the assembled deities of all ten directions were fully present.

As the deities took up their respective battle stances, a smoke, black with a greenish tinge, slowly began to rise. This time, the black miasma surged forth with even greater ferocity. The brilliant light that had just appeared was now being obscured by the rolling plumes of smoke. Yang Xiaoling watched secretly from a corner, her face pale in the moonlight, etched with panic.

Her hands covered her mouth as she stared in shock at the wisp of black smoke that slowly coalesced into a massive figure—this was the Green Tara. She was no longer the small form seen previously; this incarnation was the size of four or five ordinary people put together. As this giant, spectral entity hovered above Fushou Hall, Zhou Huan remained inwardly calm; the profound secrets of the formation were self-evident within the operation. “It seems you’ve made quite the spectacle, managing to summon ten celestial guardians.” The Green Tara’s voice was remarkably relaxed, showing no reverence for the heavenly gods or Zhou Huan’s formation.

She yawned leisurely in mid-air before slowly descending. Zhou Huan slowly opened his eyes, gazing calmly at the Green Tara suspended above. “Truthfully, I didn’t wish to push things to this extreme tonight, but there was no other way. That’s why I sought the aid of these ten celestial beings.

I hope to capture you and send you to the underworld.” The Green Tara threw back her head in a peal of laughter. She violently flicked the cloak patterned with infant faces toward the array. Instantly, black smoke erupted within the formation, accompanied by a scent reminiscent of burning sawdust. Before Zhou Huan could react or say anything, the ten celestial guardians exerted their power, quickly dissipating the cloud of black smoke.

Following this, the ten gods rose to their feet, poised for the battle to commence. Zhou Huan continued to rapidly shift his hand seals and chant incantations. He then pulled on his Celestial Silkworm Gloves, tensed his legs, and launched a horizontal punch toward the Green Tara. Seeing the Green Tara parry his blow, Zhou Huan immediately flew back to his seated position.

This was the true marvel of the Nine Palaces Celestial Gate Formation—whether attacking or maintaining position, all movements were executed within the span of a single breath. The Green Tara attempted to breach the formation and disrupt the array, but she found the protective divine shield of the ten gods made it difficult for her solitary form. She circled in mid-air for a long time, and when they next observed the old specter, her white hair was wildly disheveled, and her eyes glowed with a sickly green light. Her two long fangs grew longer and longer until they resembled sharp blades.

Suddenly, her cloak wrapped around the specter’s body, instantly transforming into a suit of armor—a jade-gold cuirass that shone with an unearthly luster in the night. Zhou Huan and the others had never witnessed anything like this. Even the ten gods descending from the heavens could not identify what this form represented; no such description existed even in the scriptures. It seemed the Old Green Tara’s technique, much like Zhou Huan’s Nine Palaces Celestial Gate Formation, was something entirely new, prepared for a decisive showdown tonight to determine victory or mutual destruction.

While Zhou Huan and his team were still analyzing this bizarre accouterment of the Old Ghost Tara, they saw that a newborn infant had suddenly materialized in the Green Tara’s hand. The infant’s color was identical to the Old Green Tara’s, but its face was white, save for a patch of black-green on its forehead. The infant’s mouth parted, revealing a tongue forked like that of a venomous snake.