The Skyleaf King harrumphed. “A clever man you are indeed. Within such a short period of time, you managed to clearly identify my weakness.”
Halfway through his words, however, Feng Xun suddenly struck the back of Jiang Yuan’s head out of excitement, and the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit jolted violently, nearly collapsing back to the ground.
“There is no way I could have missed it. Under normal circumstances, it should be impossible for you to execute the battle techniques of the original host, but you still managed to pull it off. That means that you have only exerted dominance over Combat Master Jiang’s soul temporarily instead of wiping it out entirely. From this, it can be deduced that your strength is currently severely limited,” said Zhang Xuan.
“I see. How could I have missed that?” Guild Leader Han’s eyes lit up as a thought came to his mind.
“What’s happening?” Wu shi asked in bewilderment.
“This involves a huge secret regarding how Leaving Aperture realm cultivators possess others. Under normal circumstances, the possessor should only be able to utilize battle techniques that they are skilled at, but previously, Combat Master Jiang managed to execute the Wind Treading Fingers. This goes to show that his soul is still around, just that it has only been suppressed for the time being.
“As powerful as a Leaving Aperture realm cultivator’s Primordial Spirit is, it is still extremely dangerous for him to attempt to control another soul in its own body. In its home ground, the opposing soul has a significant advantage against the Primordial Spirit. Even if it is unable to defeat the Primordial Spirit, it will still be able to keep it occupied, resulting in a significant decline in the latter’s fighting prowess!” Guild Leader Han explained.
As his real cultivation was slightly higher than Wu shi’s, he also had a greater understanding of the Leaving Aperture realm than the latter.
“Then… why would the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit be injured while attacking Combat Master Jiang’s body?” Wo Tianqiong asked with a frown.
The others also turned perplexed gazes toward Guild Leader Han.
Since the Skyleaf King was only possessing Jiang Yuan’s body, there should have been no connection between the two. Not to mention, even if it was the Skyleaf King’s own body there, such a sight still should not have occurred. After the Primordial Spirit left the body, the body should have been nothing more than a corpse, so killing it would not have affected the Primordial Spirit in any way.
This was just like how even though Zhang Xuan had melted the Jadeleaf King’s body down, the Jadeleaf King’s Primordial Spirit had remained unfazed by the matter, not injured or weakened in any manner.
“This…” Guild Leader Han frowned deeply in contemplation before eventually shaking his head. “I am not too sure about the matter either.”
Honestly, when he saw the Skyleaf King jolting as Jiang Yuan’s body was being struck, he was baffled as well.
“It’s simple!” Hearing their conversation, Zhang Xuan smiled. “The Skyleaf King definitely wields sufficient strength to kill Jiang Yuan’s soul before possessing him, but he didn’t choose to do so because it would have made it difficult for him to conceal the malicious aura of his Primordial Spirit and emulate Jiang Yuan’s aura. Otherworldly Demon Kings harness powerful killing intent in their bodies and souls, so if the Skyleaf King had truly possessed Combat Master Jiang, we would have noticed it swiftly.”
The crowd nodded.
The Zhenqi of Slaughter that the Otherworldly Demons cultivated granted even their souls deep killing intent, thus making their presence very noticeable.
“In order to avoid our notice, the Skyleaf King was unable to utilize any normal possession means. Thus, the only option he was left with was the ‘Coexistence of Souls’. This secret art would allow his Primordial Spirit to take control of Combat Master Jiang’s body while emanating only the latter’s aura, making it difficult for others to notice his presence. However, the problem with that was that if Combat Master Jiang’s soul were to be struck, he would suffer damage as well.”
Chuckling softly, Zhang Xuan raised his gaze to the figure in the sky and asked, “Am I right?”
“Not bad, but do you think that you can subdue me with just this? You are too naïve.”
The Skyleaf King was about to continue speaking when he suddenly felt a splitting pain, and its body jolted yet again, stifling his words.
Lowering his gaze, he saw Feng Xun striking the back of Jiang Yuan’s head relentlessly, as if trying to vent his frustration.
“You…” The Skyleaf King felt so furious that he was on the verge of erupting.
At that moment, Zhang Xuan spoke once more. “There’s just one last problem that I have been unable to make sense of. Just what is in our expedition team that would lead even the great Skyleaf King to willingly sever his Primordial Spirit and suffer a sharp decline in his cultivation just to infiltrate our group?”
“Sever his Primordial Spirit?”
Everyone was stunned.
“This Primordial Spirit isn’t the Skyleaf King himself but a portion that he severed. Otherwise, how could the number one King of the Qingtian Lineage only wield such strength?” Zhang Xuan said.
He had seen the Half-Leaving Aperture realm Jadeleaf King drawing his Primordial Spirit out to battle against the Stoneleaf King, and the strength that he had wielded was truly spectacular. There were very few who would have been able to stand in his way.
Considering that the Skyleaf King was a full-fledged Leaving Aperture realm expert, how could he only wield that little strength?
Furthermore, there was no way a person as cautious as the Skyleaf King would fuse his entire Primordial Spirit with Jiang Yuan.
If he were to do so, wouldn’t that be equivalent to entrusting his life to Jiang Yuan?
Thus, from these two points, he could deduce that the Primordial Spirit within Jiang Yuan’s body was not the Skyleaf King himself but just a portion that he had severed.
“Just a severed portion of his Primordial Spirit already wields so much strength?”
The crowd was horrified.
With just this small portion of his Primordial Spirit, he had managed to grasp control of Jiang Yuan and nearly decimate their entire expedition team. Wasn’t the Skyleaf King a little too frightening?
Seeing how the young man below was able to even guess this, the Skyleaf King was slightly surprised. A moment later, he sneered coldly and said, “You are indeed a smart person. Since that’s the case, I shan’t beat around the bush either. Hand the item over, and I will spare your lives…”
He was just about to add a few more threats when his Primordial Spirit jolted yet again and plummeted eight meters from the sky. He turned his gaze toward Feng Xun, who was still busy hammering Jiang Yuan, and roared with clenched jaws, “What the heck are you doing? Stop it!”
“Ah?” Hearing the loud bellow, Feng Xun was stunned for a moment. However, after realizing that the one speaking was the Skyleaf King, he went to turn back around to continue when he saw Zhang Xuan shaking his head at him.
“Alright, you can stop for the time being. There are a few questions that I need to ask him.”
“Alright!” Feng Xun nodded as he gazed as Jiang Yuan’s body reluctantly.
With Feng Xun finally halting his disruptive behavior, the Skyleaf King heaved a sigh of relief. Turning his gaze back to Zhang Xuan, he said, “Alright, let’s cut the crap. Hand over the map in your possession!”
“Map?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback. “Didn’t you snatch it from the Poison Hall?”
The Skyleaf King clearly had the strength to kill all of them, so the fact that he was willing to sever his Primordial Spirit just to infiltrate their ranks was bewildering in itself. At this moment, hearing him suddenly speak about a map, Zhang Xuan could not help but feel even more perplexed.
He had indeed heard that there was a map of the ancient domain, but wasn’t it snatched away by the Skyleaf King back at the Poison Hall?
After going through all the effort to infiltrate the Poison Hall, he had ended up obtaining nothing at all. That had left him feeling quite disappointed for some time.
“The portion that I have obtained only consists of the introduction of the ancient domain, and it’s written in the language of the ancient gods at that. There is no way that I can read that.” The Skyleaf King harrumphed coldly. “Without a doubt, the real map was taken away by Wu Yangzi two thousand years ago. It must be in one of your hands!”
“It was taken away by Wu Yangzi?” Zhang Xuan was stunned for a brief moment before a thought abruptly came into his mind. Lifting his gaze to face the Skyleaf King once more, he said, “Elder Wu Yangzi was kidnapped by your Otherworldly Demonic Tribe, imprisoned till the day of his death. If he really had the map in his possession, it would have long fallen into your hands. Feng Xun, since that fellow is playing games with us, pummel him to his death!”
“Sure thing!” Feng Xun excitedly nodded before sending fist after fist into Jiang Yuan’s body once more.
Pilipala!
Under the barrage of fists, the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit jolted ceaselessly. Overwhelmed with rage, the Skyleaf King narrowed his eyes furiously and roared, “I will remember this! Zhang Xuan, is it? You’d better pray that you don’t meet me in the future, or else I will tear you to pieces!”
After saying those words, the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit dashed toward the sky before vanishing from everyone’s view, as if it had never been there in the first place.
Upon seeing the Skyleaf King escaping, Wu shi and the others hurriedly prepared themselves to give chase, only to see Zhang Xuan waving his hand to stop them.
“Don’t bother. Even when significantly weakened, he is not an opponent whom we can deal with easily. Furthermore, we are still in the formation, and danger lurks all around us. We can’t discount the possibility that he might intentionally lead us into a trap.”
Knowing that he would die if the situation continued, the Skyleaf King had forcefully undone the Coexistence of Souls despite the great damage he would sustain from doing so and fled swiftly. While the Skyleaf King would be significantly weakened from this course of action, he would still be a difficult opponent to deal with. It would be unsafe for them to face the other party now that they did not have Jiang Yuan’s body to keep the other party in check.
Knowing that what Zhang Xuan said was true, Wu shi and the others gave up on pursuing the Skyleaf King as well.
“Principal Zhang, how did you notice that Combat Master Jiang had been possessed by the Skyleaf King? It shouldn’t be possible to tell that much by his silence, right?” Guild Leader Han asked curiously.
While Zhang Xuan had reasoned the matter out with Jiang Yuan’s silence, he could not help but feel that there was something deeper to it.
“It’s simple. It should only be known among our expedition that I have killed the Stoneleaf King, but somehow, the Scarletleaf King was aware as well. The fact that he was able to pinpoint me even though my cultivation is only at Nascent Saint was very suspicious in itself. This hinted at the possibility that there was a spy among us who leaked the news to him. Furthermore, the fact that he was unfazed by the formation and his attempt to sow discord among the group at this moment… All of this speaks for itself!” Zhang Xuan replied.
Just as Guild Leader Han had guessed previously, the two points alone were not sufficient to deduce that Jiang Yuan had been possessed by the Skyleaf King. However, if they were to consider what the Scarletleaf King had said previously as well… it would all fit perfectly together.
“I see…”
The crowd turned toward Zhang Xuan with looks of admiration.
They did not even notice such minute details, and yet, the young man had actually been able to deduce so much from them. His capability was truly worthy of respect.
“What do we do now?” Wu shi asked.
While they had resolved the threat from the Skyleaf King, they still had not succeeded in escaping from the formation yet.
“For the time being…” After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Xuan was just about to speak when something caught his eye. “Cough cough. Feng Xun, that’s enough. You don’t have to hit him anymore. The Skyleaf King has already escaped, so there’s no point in you beating Combat Master Jiang now.”
Everyone quickly turned their gazes, and it was only at this moment that they noticed that Feng Xun was still attacking Jiang Yuan’s head relentlessly, sending punches fully packed with power one after another.
His attacks were very precisely controlled to maximize pain without inducing lethality.
Feng Xun recovered from his trance, and he scratched his head awkwardly. “He has already escaped? I thought that… there was still a portion of the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit lingering within Combat Master Jiang, so I was trying to help expel it from his body.”
“Since he chose to escape, he must have thoroughly severed the connection between him and Combat Master Jiang’s soul beforehand.” Zhang Xuan shook his head and said.
After which, he walked up to Jiang Yuan and placed his hand on the latter’s wrist. A moment later, he whipped out a jade box, and in one smooth motion, he placed dozens of needles into the latter’s head.
No matter what, Jiang Yuan was only a victim of this matter. It would be for the best if he could be saved.
Under the control of Zhang Xuan’s zhenqi, the needles revolved on the spot. A moment later, Jiang Yuan slowly opened his eyes.
Boom!
At the same time, his aura abruptly surged. In an instant, he had actually made the breakthrough from Saint 3-dan pinnacle to Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm!
“A portion of the Skyleaf King’s Primordial Spirit was fused with Combat Master Jiang’s soul, and it ended up serving as nourishment for Combat Master Jiang after the Skyleaf King severed the connection between the both of them. That eventually served as an impetus for Combat Master Jiang’s breakthrough. In a sense, this matter can be considered a blessing in disguise,” Zhang Xuan explained.
The Skyleaf King was a Saint 5-dan Leaving Aperture realm expert, so even a small portion of his Primordial Spirit harnessed a massive amount of energy. Given how Jiang Yuan had managed to devour it, it was within expectations that he would enjoy a surge in his cultivation.
“Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much? Who was the one that beat me?” Having just woke up from his coma, Jiang Yuan fondled the back of his head, and he scanned his surroundings in confusion.
“Him!”
Everyone pointed their finger toward Feng Xun.
“…” Feng Xun
