Zi Linling's recovery took a full day, as she broke through.
Yes, under the immense pressure of the Ghost Emperor, she, who was already on the verge of breaking through, directly shattered her bottleneck and entered the mid-stage of the God King realm.
Chu Hezou and the other ten Ghost Messengers were once again shocked. In just one day, they had nearly exhausted a lifetime's worth of astonishment.
Mid-stage God King realm at the age of twenty was something that had never occurred in the entire history of Azure Star.
Du Lao and Shen Liuxing, who had already finished healing, wore calm, or rather, numb expressions.
They were already accustomed to Zi Linling's monstrous breakthrough methods.
Zi Linling was determined to open the Netherworld Channel and quickly find Jing Yulan.
Therefore, after her breakthrough, under the guidance of the Ghost Gate, she unsparingly channeled the laws of reincarnation and death into the Ghost Gate.
The Ghost Gate flew out of Zi Linling's embrace, spinning continuously in the air and rapidly expanding.
In the blink of an eye, the Ghost Gate transformed into a gloomy gatehouse, standing tall on the land.
Instantly, the heavens and earth trembled, and a pillar of dark, swirling energy pierced through the sky and earth, as if to penetrate the entire Azure Star.
Chu Hezou: "It actually has such immense power! Is this the true Ghost Gate?"
Shi Liuxiang: "This aura is so terrifying! I can almost feel the presence of death!"
Qiao Mu: "That's not right. Why do I feel a sense of life?"
Qing Kun: "Wow! I saw my childhood, I saw my parents who passed away many years ago."
Fan Siren: "What is that light spot in the middle of the black energy pillar?"
Zhao Ci: "What light spot? Why can't I see it?"
He Miao: "Yes! I only see ghosts lurking inside, some with long tongues, some headless, some..."
Sun Er'er: "Enough! Stop talking! It's too creepy!"
Sai Wei: "What a fresh aura! Is this the initial form of life?"
The ten Ghost Messengers marveled, lamenting the magnificent scene.
Du Lao was also greatly amazed.
Not only because the scene before him was grand enough, but also because he discovered that the branches of the Jianmu Divine Tree, the blood-veined Ling Shan bone, the Ancestral Dragon essence blood, and the Kui Niu tendon, which had always been unable to fuse perfectly within his body, were rapidly integrating. With the aid of the Rebirth Flower, his physical body became even more powerful.
"No! I'm about to break through!"
Shen Liuxing shouted and sat down cross-legged, focusing on his breakthrough.
Previously, resisting the Ghost Emperor's pressure with all his might had caused him great hardship and severe injuries, but it had also pushed his cultivation to the verge of the mid-stage God King realm.
Now, under the pull of the aura from the divine artifact, the Ghost Gate, or more accurately, the black energy pillar, the barrier within him shattered.
Zi Linling's soul power was continuously drawn by the Ghost Gate.
The rapid rate of extraction startled the Azure Star Soul, which had been slumbering in Zi Linling's sea of consciousness.
Sensing the aura of the Netherworld Channel, the Azure Star Soul was greatly alarmed and quickly threw out the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
The moment the Six Paths of Reincarnation emerged, it sensed the aura of the Ghost Gate.
It rapidly enlarged and flew directly into the center of the Ghost Gate.
The two divine artifacts, like long-lost old friends, rejoiced and cheered.
After circling and chasing each other for a moment, the Six Paths of Reincarnation lifted the Ghost Gate and, along the black energy pillar, shot straight into the heavens.
Wherever the Six Paths of Reincarnation and the Ghost Gate passed, the black energy pillar quickly turned transparent.
The dark energy surrounding the energy pillar was all absorbed into the Ghost Gate and then into the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Once the energy pillar above the ground became entirely transparent, the Ghost Gate and the Six Paths of Reincarnation quickly flew back to the ground.
However, upon touching the ground, they did not stop but instead plunged underground.
Zi Linling could feel them continuously descending, as if trying to drill through the earth.
Soon, Zi Linling's soul power was depleted by ninety percent, and her vision began to darken.
"Not good!"
Zi Linling muttered to herself and quickly took out a bottle of Soul Nourishing Pills, gulping them down.
However, the speed at which she absorbed the medicinal power could not match the speed at which her soul power was being extracted.
Zi Linling pondered in her heart: "What's going on? Didn't the Ghost Gate say that my current soul power would be enough to open the Netherworld Channel?"
"Don't doubt it. Your soul power is indeed sufficient to support the Ghost Gate's consumption, but the Six Paths of Reincarnation also requires your soul power to sustain it, which is why your soul power is depleting so quickly."
The voice of the Azure Star Soul suddenly echoed in Zi Linling's mind.
Zi Linling quickly asked, "Senior Star Soul, what exactly is happening?"
The Azure Star Soul explained, "The Ghost Gate can only open the Netherworld Channel, but it cannot resolve the soul spirits accumulated over the past hundred thousand years from the three continents. However, the Six Paths of Reincarnation can send these soul spirits to the Netherworld for reincarnation. The accumulation of a hundred thousand years has resulted in a terrifying number of soul spirits, hence the extremely rapid consumption of your soul power when activating the Six Paths of Reincarnation."
Zi Linling swallowed another bottle of Soul Nourishing Pills and asked, "Senior Star Soul, what should I do now?"
The Azure Star Soul thought for a moment and said, "The only way for now is to transfer the soul power of everyone here into your body. Perhaps that will be enough to support the consumption of the Ghost Gate and the Six Paths of Reincarnation."
"Alright!"
Zi Linling nodded and said to Du Lao and the ten Ghost Messengers, "Quickly transfer your soul power to me!"
Du Lao did not hesitate and directly transferred his soul power.
The ten Ghost Messengers were stunned for a moment, then quickly mobilized their soul power, transferring it to Du Lao, who then transferred it to Zi Linling.
However, soon the soul power of the ten Ghost Messengers was completely depleted, and they fell unconscious one by one, leaving only Du Lao struggling to hold on.
The reason Du Lao could endure longer than the others was because his soul had been nourished by the 'Human Emperor's Medicinal Codex' in the past.
But even so, Du Lao was on the verge of collapsing.
Just as Du Lao was about to fall, Shen Liuxing completed his breakthrough. Without a second thought, he directly transferred his soul power to Du Lao, who then channeled it to Zi Linling.
A moment later, Shen Liuxing's face also turned deathly pale.
"Oh no! Child, I miscalculated the number of soul spirits accumulated by the three continents over the past decade. I fear your soul power may no longer be sufficient to open the Netherworld Channel," the Azure Star Soul exclaimed in alarm.
Zi Linling anxiously asked, "Senior, what should we do? Must I give up halfway?"
"At this point, even if you wanted to give up halfway, it's impossible. The operation of the Ghost Gate and the Six Paths of Reincarnation has reached a critical juncture and cannot be stopped," the Azure Star Soul said worriedly.