“His soul has left his body?”
Princess Fei-er, Luo Qiqi, and the others were stunned.
Such an issue was also known as ‘missing soul’, and it was one of the most feared things of a cultivator. If one’s soul fails to return back to its body, the body would turn into an empty shell and die.
However, for one’s soul to leave its body, it must be sufficiently strong first. One must be at least Consonant Spirit realm pinnacle or even Cosmos Bridge realm to achieve that. How could such a situation occur on a Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator?
Ye Wentian spoke grimly. “There are many causes for a soul leaving the body. For example, one’s soul could be attracted by some kind of unique formation or fail to suppress one’s inner demons… Zhang shi might have used a secret art beyond his means to cultivate his soul, resulting in such a situation… If we don’t quickly return his soul to his body, he might really die soon!”
While soul oracles were the most adept at it, they weren’t the only ones capable of drawing their souls out of their bodies. There were some formidable formations or secret arts that could achieve the same effect as well.
“Is there a cure for it?” Luo Qiqi asked anxiously.
This young man was her apothecary teacher, and she couldn’t watch as the other party died because of this.
“There’s indeed a cure. However, it’s extremely troublesome, and there isn’t any time for it now…”
Turning to look at the Cleansing Lake, which was being drained at an astounding rate, Ye Wentian frowned.
The steps to summoning one’s soul were extremely complex and troublesome. Without several hours or even days of effort, it would be difficult for him to succeed. However, given that they were just moments away from the water in the Cleansing Lake running dry, and a volcano eruption was imminent, time simply wasn’t on their side.
“Then what should we do?”
“Pull him up first!”
Knowing that this wasn’t the place to speak, Ye Wentian picked Zhang Xuan’s body up and leaped to shore.
“…” Watching as his physical body was being carried away, Zhang Xuan’s massive soul was on the verge of tears.
Are you all trying to save me or kill me?
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan decided against following his body.
‘While it would have been difficult for my soul to enter like that, with sufficient time, I could still have succeeded. However, you actually allowed Ye Wentian to take my body away… If my soul were to try to enter my body now, Ye Wentian might just try to dissipate my soul, thinking that I’m just a specter…
‘I can only wait for a chance to snatch my body back…’
While a soul formed via Heaven’s Path Soul Art didn’t carry a heavy yin aura, thus making it hard for one to sense it, there was still a good chance that he would be noticed if he were to run right up to the other party’s face.
This was especially so given that Ye Wentian was a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan pinnacle expert. If he tried to creep up on the other party, he might just be killed before he could even identify himself.
Besides, even if he were to report his identity to the latter, he had to win the latter’s trust first.
A Clarifying Turbidity realm cultivator possessing a ten-meter large soul that could leave its body and cultivate individually… How was he supposed to explain all of that?
Thus, the best course of action he could do now was to remain hidden.
As long as he could find a suitable opportunity to dive back into his physical body, everything would be solved. At the very most, he could just blame it on his anxiety to accomplish greater heights that resulted in his erring.
…
While Zhang Xuan’s soul was still camping in the water, waiting for a suitable moment to strike, Ye Wentian had already carried his body over to the courtyard where they were previously.
Seeing that the other party was completely motionless, Hong shi, Luo shi, and the others immediately rushed up anxiously and asked, “How is Zhang shi?”
“Most probably, his soul has left his body!” Ye Wentian said with a grim voice.
“His soul has left his body?” Hong shi’s face paled as his body shook in agitation. “How could that be?”
Zhang shi’s teacher was an incredibly powerful existence that could possibly be an 8-star master teacher. To actually cause his student to lose his soul… If he were to learn of it, not only Huanyu Empire, perhaps even the entire Hongyuan Empire would be a goner!
“If I’m not mistaken, it could be due to the sudden agitation of the Cleansing Lake in the midst of his cultivation that caused his soul to be jolted away, thus leaving behind this empty shell,” Ye Wentian said.
This was the only explanation he could think of.
Otherwise, how could others be fine while he was in such a state?
It must be due to the abrupt change in the lake that jolted his soul out of his body!
If his soul was still intact after the impact, it would still be possible to find him. However, if his soul were to have dissipated, it would be extremely difficult to save him.
“This…” With a pale face, Hong shi was just about to ask if Zhang shi could be healed when the ground suddenly shook. A searing aura suddenly burst forth from the center of the lake.
“This is bad; the volcano is about to erupt!”
Ye Wentian face immediately warped in shock. He quickly placed Zhang Xuan’s ‘corpse’ down on a stone table and turned his sight over.
The situation at the Cleansing Lake also caught the attention of others.
At this moment, the lake water was bubbling violently. Searing heatwaves flowed into the surroundings, and the ground shook non-stop. It was as if a massive savage beast was rampaging beneath the ground, threatening to leap out at any moment to slaughter them all.
“What’s going on?”
Feeling the shaking intensify, everyone frowned.
“I think it’s about to reach its limit…”
Clenching his fists tightly, Ye Wentian’s face was turning paler by the moment.
He thought that even though the formation was breached, given how many years that the Cleansing Lake had been maintained for, it should be able to suppress the volcano for another few more hours. Who knew that everything would unfold so quickly!
If everything were to go down at this rate, in less than ten minutes, the rampaging energy contained in the volcano and the earth vein would come gushing out!
“Ye Qian, quickly take Sixth Princess and the others away!”
Ye Wentian turned around and quickly instructed.
As the emperor, he couldn’t leave the scene. However, nothing bad must happen onto the Sixth Princess and the others.
“Alright!”
Ye Qian also understood the severity of the incident, and he rushed forward to Princess Fei-er. “Sixth Princess and Senior Xing Yuan, the Cleansing Lake isn’t going to hold on for much longer, and an eruption is imminent. This area is dangerous, so allow me to bring you to a safer location…”
“Alright!”
Xing Yuan nodded, and he quickly turned around to beckon Princess Fei-er to leave as well. However, the latter simply looked at Ye Qian with a frown and said, “Since this fellow’s soul isn’t in his body, does that mean that his soul is currently in the Cleansing Lake?”
“This…” Ye Qian was taken aback. “That should be the case.”
“Then what should we do? If we don’t find his soul and deliver it back to his body, he really will die…” Princess Fei-er said anxiously.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have my men look for it. Senior, you should hurry up and make use of the little time we have left to leave…” Ye Qian reassured.
“Un!” Nodding her head, Princess Fei-er turned to her good friend and said, “Let’s go first!”
The reason why she wanted to save Zhang Xuan was because she couldn’t bear the shame of being the other party’s maid for her entire life. Since the other party’s soul had escaped from his body, there was nothing else she could do. Even if she were to remain here, she would be completely useless. Thus, she decided to simply leave.
Luo Qiqi shook her head.
“You go first. I’m indebted to Zhang laoshi, and given that his life and death is uncertain at the moment, I really cannot leave at this moment!”
Zhang shi had once taught her pill forging, thus inducing huge growth in her pill forging skills… and above all, she had already acknowledged the other party as her teacher!
How could she leave on her own now that the other party was in a coma? She couldn’t bring herself to do so!
“Since you aren’t leaving, I’ll stay here too. I’m also interested to see what is happening to the Cleansing Lake…”
Seeing her good friend refusing to leave, Princess Fei-er decided to remain here as well.
“Ah?”
Hearing that the duo had decided to remain here, Ye Qian nearly went insane on the spot. Just as he was wracking his brains to find a way to persuade the two obstinate ladies, a gust of wind suddenly howled above them, and a massive aerial spirit beast appeared before the crowd.
Hu hu hu!
A few figures leaped down from the sky.
Taking a closer look at the men falling from the sky, Ye Qian’s eyes lit up.
“It’s Wei shi, and Guild Leader Wu from the Formation Master Guild!”
He knew about the secret of the Cleansing Lake as well, and this situation was clearly due to the energies in the lake being in imbalanced, resulting in the collapse of the formation. As a 5-star pinnacle formation master, Guild Leader Wu might be able to find a way to reverse the situation.
“How did this happen?”
Reaching the ground, Guild Leader Wu looked around him and saw the lake water flowing into the surroundings, and the ground trembling violently, as though it would collapse under them at any moment. He frowned.
The Huanyu Empire royal family would invite him over each year to reinforce the formation, so he knew a great deal about the formation as well. If it was just cultivating in the Lake Eye, it should be impossible for such a situation to occur… then why was everything crumbling now?
“I don’t know the exact reason, but now isn’t the time to be talking about this. Guild Leader Wu, hurry up and see if there’s a way to salvage the formation so as to stop the volcano below from erupting!” Ye Wentian instructed anxiously.
Nothing would change even if they were to point fingers now.
The urgent matter at hand was to see if there was a way to salvage the situation. Otherwise, none of them here would survive this ordeal.
“Un!”
Knowing the severity of the matter, Guild Leader Wu nodded. He turned his sight over to the lake.
“Elder Lu, you will take the kan position. Elder Han, you will take the gen position…”
After assessing the situation, he quickly issued orders to the other elders who came with him.
The few elders nodded and quickly got into their respective positions. Then, they each took out a formation flag and stabbed it deeply into the ground.
Hong long!
As soon as all of the formation flags got in place, the spilling lake water was suddenly held in place, as though it was being sealed by something.
However, it was as if sealing a rampaging dragon. The ground tremored more and more violently, like it would tear past whatever that was restraining it to burst forth.
“This isn’t right…” Guild Leader Wu frowned.
Emperor Ye Wentian walked up to the group and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Located precisely at the intersection of the Verdant Mountain, Dragon-scaled River, and the earth vein, the Cleansing Lake should be rich in spiritual energy. The formation set up here tapped into the concentrated pool of spiritual energy here to suppress the violent energies from the three sides at this intersection… How come there’s no spiritual energy here now?”
Guild Leader Wu was astonished.
“No spiritual energy here?”
Ye Wentian froze. He closed his eyes and tried perceiving the surroundings carefully, and he realized that something was indeed amiss.
Just a few hours ago, the spiritual energy here was so powerful that even a Transcendent Mortal 8-dan expert would be slaughtered easily if he were to enter the lake. How could it disappear so abruptly?
“Indeed…”
Guild Leader Wu nodded. He was just about to speak when someone behind him shrieked.
Hearing the voice, Ye Wentian quickly turned around to see what was going on.
He immediately saw Luo Qiqi and the Sixth Princess staring doubtfully at the master teacher known as Luo Xuan.
“Where’s Zhang laoshi?”
On the stone table right before them, Zhang shi’s ‘corpse’ had disappeared without a trace.
“H-he…”
Hearing the other party’s questions, Luo Xian’s mouth quivered uncontrollably. His eyes were widened, and he looked as though he was about to cry at any moment. He pointed at the lake not too far away and said, “He was still lying there a moment back, and in the moment that my attention was somewhere else, he… crawled back into the lake…”
