After molding and kneading, Gu Shi Yi extracted a clump of clay. With a pinch and a roll of her ten fingers, she crafted a small clay figure. In her lonely younger years, it was common for her to play by herself, scooping up yellow clay and shaping it into clay figures with water. This clay figure, she expertly shaped with a nose and eyes, incredibly lifelike. Gu Shi Yi placed it on the altar before picking up the little mirror from the table. The face inside the mirror watched her anxiously,
"Shiyi, are you... are you sure about this!"
Dressed in a Taoist robe, with a Taoist crown atop her head, Gu Shi Yi's expression was solemn. Bathed in the moonlight, her face took on an aura of majesty and dignity,
"Yanyan, you needn't say more. This calamity of yours is also because of my reckless meddling. If not for me, you wouldn't have ended up in such a state. Today, I must think of a way to rescue you!"
With that, she wiped the mirror with her hand, smearing fresh blood from her index finger across its surface, then turned the mirror upward to face the Greater Yin. Suddenly, a gale arose out of nowhere in the once cloudless, silvery-white sky. Dark clouds that seemed to come from nowhere enveloped the sky completely. The Taoist temple that was previously visible in great detail was now shrouded in utter darkness within the blink of an eye. If not for the wavering candlelight on the altar, which illuminated a three-foot radius, the courtyard would be pitch black, where one could not even see their own hand!
Gu Shi Yi wasn't panicked in the slightest. She held the mirror in both hands, facing the sky, uttering words under her breath. When she reached the end of a passage, she brought her fingers together as if holding a sword, pointing at the mirror. Suddenly, an echo of thunder could be faintly heard from the heavens above, as if divine beings were appearing, splitting the boundless darkness. A crack suddenly appeared in the sky, from which a stream of moonlight cascaded down, striking the bronze mirror in Gu Shi Yi's hands,
"Ah..."
A sharp, miserable scream resounded in Gu Shi Yi's ears. The person in the mirror seemed to be in immense pain, her face contorting as she shook violently. Gu Shi Yi continued reciting the magical incantation, murmuring for the time it takes half an incense stick to burn. Then a pale, shriveled hand slowly extended from the mirror...
Seeing this, Gu Shi Yi did not react with shock but delight. She continued chanting the incantation and reached towards the hand in the mirror. Amidst the blinding white light, as their hands touched, Gu Shi Yi shuddered, feeling an icy chill spreading up from the palm through her arm, causing her fingers to lose sensation instantly. She knew that if she did not pull the person from the mirror before her entire body stiffened, both she and Yanyan would be in trouble,
With gritted teeth and a loud shout,
"Come out!"
She gathered her cultivation technique, straining forcefully. The arm of the person in the mirror was slowly pulled out by her. Gu Shi Yi was overjoyed and pulled with even more effort. Yet, it was as if a mighty force within the mirror tugged back. Initially, she managed to make progress, but the force grew increasingly heavy, and when the person in the mirror was pulled halfway out, there was a sudden increase in pulling force from the mirror, as if it intended to suck them both in...
Gu Shi Yi realized that her mana was insufficient to control this treasured artifact of the Taoist Sect and break the barrier between worlds. Luckily, she was prepared. She turned around, grabbed the Peach Wood Sword from the table, and forcefully slashed her left forearm. Although the sword seemed blunt like wood, her flesh split open at its touch, and blood gushed forth, spraying onto the bronze mirror, instantly illuminating it with a blood-red light...
"Hum..."
The mirror vibrated, and the person inside was forcibly pulled out further, now only her knees remained within. But moving just one foot more seemed as difficult as ascending to heaven. Gu Shi Yi clenched her jaw, her eyes bulging, her neck veins throbbing. Yet the person in the mirror did not budge. The person inside struggled fiercely, desperately trying to escape the shackles of the feet. Yet the laws of the universe would not easily be broken regardless of their struggles, and the person in the mirror seemed to be sinking,
"Shiyi..."
The person in the mirror cried out. On her pale face, two trails of blood tears emerged. She screamed in agony at her,
"Shiyi, let it be. Don't harm yourself. Let go!"
Gu Shi Yi glared, biting her lip so hard that it bled, her gaze fierce as she said,
"No, we've come this far. To let go now would be to waste all our efforts. Today, I will risk it... all... out... !"
As she spoke, she suddenly slapped her own abdomen. A ball of bluish mist rose from within her, climbing from her belly to her chest and out through her throat,
"Ah..."
She opened her mouth and expelled a ball of blue light onto the mirror. The mirror trembled, emitting a strange shrill cry. The person inside, like a newborn leaving the womb, flicked her legs like a fish, transformed into an ethereal shadow, and shot out into the air half-escaped. Quick as a flash, Gu Shi Yi spun, drawing the shadow towards the clay figure on the altar,