"He crawled in himself?"
Everyone stared at one another in shock, as though someone had struck them in the back of their heads.
"Do you take me for a fool? His soul has left his body, and he's no different from a corpse. How could he possibly crawl into the Cleansing Lake? "
Princess Fei-er's eyebrows shot up as she glared at Luo Xuanqing.
Even if you want to bluff, you should at least find a better reason!
She had taken a closer look at Zhang Shi, and his heart and breathing had stopped. His body was stiff and cold, no different from a corpse.
Even if they were to carry him away, how could he possibly crawl out by himself?
Ye Wentian, Hong Shi, and the others shared the same thoughts as well. They wanted to hear Luo Xuanqing's explanation.
"I … I'm telling the truth!"
Seeing everyone looking at him as though he was a lunatic, Luo Xuan was on the verge of going insane.
The commotion in the Cleansing Lake was simply too huge, and everyone's eyes were focused on it. Luo Xuan was no exception. Just as he was about to see what would happen in the lake, he suddenly caught sight of a black silhouette.
It was the corpse-like Zhang Xuan lying on the ground!
That fellow seemed to have found some sort of strength out of nowhere, and he swiftly crawled toward the lake. Even Luo Xuan was only able to catch a glimpse of a gray silhouette.
"Calm down. How did he crawl in? Has he woken up, or is he still the same as before? "
Seeing Luo Xuan's distorted face, Luo Qiqi couldn't help but ask.
Luo Xuan pondered for a moment before replying, "H-his eyes are still closed, and his body is still stiff. There's no sign of life in him at all …"
Even though it was just a glance, as a half 5-star master teacher, he was still able to see through some details.
Other than being able to move, that fellow didn't seem any different from before. It felt as though he was a puppet being pulled by something.
But of course, he couldn't say any more details.
"His body is stiff, his eyes are closed … and he crawled into the Cleansing Lake?" Princess Fei-er frowned. "You mean … he came back to life?"
"Cough cough!"
Ye Wentian nearly choked on his saliva. "It's just that Zhang Shi's soul has left his body. He isn't dead yet, so … it's impossible for him to have come back to life!"
"Then … why did he run away on his own?" Hong Shi asked.
Of everyone present, the only ones who knew of Zhang Xuan's identity were him and Luo Xuan. Even though Bi Jianghai had won the Master Teacher Tournament as well, he hadn't participated in the matter that night, so he wasn't too sure about it.
Putting aside the fact that the direct disciple of an 8-star master teacher had his soul torn out of his body, it was even suspected that his corpse had come back to life. How was he supposed to explain this to the other party?
"I'm not too sure either!" Ye Wentian shook his head.
Even he had never heard of such a strange scene.
Rumble!
Just as everyone was wondering what kind of situation would cause a soul to leave its body and crawl away, the ground shook violently once more.
Everyone staggered and almost fell.
"This is bad! The power of the earth vein is getting stronger and stronger! I won't be able to hold on for much longer! Everyone, let's help out! We just need to infuse our zhenqi into the lake to stabilize it!"
President Wu roared.
Hearing the shout, the crowd no longer cared about Zhang Xuan, who had escaped as a 'zombie', and looked forward again.
The lake water, which had been sealed by the formation flags, started raging once more. It was as if it would burst forth at any moment.
In order to stabilize the formation, Elder Lu, Elder Han, and the others had poured their zhenqi frenziedly into the lake. Their faces were pale, and it seemed as if they would collapse at any moment.
"Alright, quickly infuse your zhenqi into the lake!"
Hearing President Wu's words, Ye Wentian knew that they were in a precarious situation. Without any hesitation, he stepped forward and infused his zhenqi into the lake water.
Hong long!
Infusing zhenqi into the lake water once more, the swaying formation flags finally stabilized a little.
Following which, Wei shi, Hong Shi, Luo Qiqi, Princess Fei-er, and the other top three candidates also made their moves.
Under the infusion of countless surges of zhenqi, the shaking formation began to stabilize. The violently shaking lake water also seemed to have calmed down. However, one could still hear the roars of the volcano below. It was as if a massive beast had been suppressed for a short period of time, but as time passed, it would break through the air once more.
"Guild Leader Wu, using brute force isn't a long-term solution!" Wei shi couldn't help but exclaim.
Right now, there was strength in numbers. With brute force and the quantity of zhenqi, they were able to maintain the circulation of the formation and suppress the earth vein and volcano below. However … once they ran out of zhenqi, there was a high chance that it would rebound!
Furthermore, as time passed, the earth vein would gather more and more energy. Just like a spring, the more one suppressed it, the greater the rebound would be. By then, it would be even more troublesome to deal with!
"Indeed. You all should suppress the earth vein for now. Let me see how this formation works and how it can better fuse with the ground, Dragon-scaled River, and the ground beneath!"
Guild Leader Wu said.
Formations could change according to the terrain, the sun, the moon, and the stars, thus displaying different prowess.
Even though the elders he had brought with him had managed to reactivate the formation through the formation flags … due to the previous tremor, the shape of the ground had changed. They had to adjust the formation in order to bring out its full might.
If they could get the formation to work and gather spiritual energy once more, they might be able to resolve the crisis before them.
"Alright!"
Ye Wentian, Wei shi, and the others also understood the situation as well, so they quickly opened their palms and infused their zhenqi frenziedly into the lake to maintain the current situation.
As for Guild Leader Wu, he held the compass in his hand and slowly rotated it along the formation, trying to find a way to maximize the power of the formation.
…
It was a mess on the shore.
In the pond, Zhang Xuan's soul body heaved a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the commotion in the pool had attracted everyone's attention. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy to retrieve the body.
Due to the sheer size of his soul, Zhang Xuan was unable to squeeze his way into his body for the time being. Thus, he had no choice but to find a way to control his physical body so that he could walk over on his own. Initially, he wanted to control his thighs, but it was simply too difficult for him to do so with his legs. After a long while, he was finally able to move his arms, and that was the only way he had no choice but to crawl over on his own.
And so … the scene of Luo Xuan's corpse coming back to life appeared.
"Forget it, let's get my soul into my body first!"
He knew that the people outside must have been scared out of their wits, but this wasn't the time to be thinking about it. With a thought, his Primordial Spirit dashed straight toward his glabella.
No matter how difficult it was to enter, he had to do so. Otherwise, his physical body would really die.
Tzzzzzzz!
The massive Primordial Spirit tried to dig its way into his physical body, and it felt as if an elephant was squeezed through a human-sized door.
"I can't squeeze in …"
Zhang Xuan shook his head.
If not for the fact that his soul was incorporeal, he wouldn't have been able to force his way in even if his bones were crushed.
Yet, not even a small portion of his soul was able to squeeze in.
"Right, why did my clone succeed so easily?"
Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
His clone's soul was even larger than his, so it was extremely easy for it to enter his physical body. Why did he have to go through so much trouble?
Hu!
Perplexed, Zhang Xuan released his clone and communicated with it, only to fall speechless.
His clone's body was forged using the Nine Hearts Lotus, so it was extremely flexible. Putting aside a ten-meter-tall soul body, even a hundred-meter-tall soul body would be able to squeeze into it effortlessly.
On the other hand, his mortal body …
Glancing at his clone, Zhang Xuan felt that his main body was even worse than his clone, and he felt stifled.
However, there was nothing he could do about it. The starting point of forging a God artifact was simply too high. Just this aspect alone made it impossible for him to match up to it.
"It seems like I have to make good use of my time to cultivate my physical body. Otherwise, my soul won't be able to withstand it!"
Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella.
After communicating with his clone, he finally understood that the main reason why he was unable to squeeze in was because his physical body wasn't strong enough!
If he could be as strong as the Nine Hearts Lotus, things would be much simpler.
He had only cultivated his physical body twice, and back then, he hadn't even reached Transcendent Mortal realm yet. Even though his physical body was already extremely strong compared to others, it was still a little lacking for him to accommodate such a massive soul.
"What in the world is this …"
Zhang Xuan was speechless.
Seeing the concentrated spiritual energy in the Cleansing Lake, he ended up absorbing it too quickly, resulting in his soul being unable to squeeze in. He was probably the only person in history to have made such a mistake.
"I have to find a way to cultivate my physical body …"
Only by strengthening his physical body would he be able to accommodate such a massive soul. However, without a soul, how could he cultivate his physical body?
This was the relationship between a spear and a shield.
Hong long!
Just as Zhang Xuan was fretting over the matter, he suddenly felt the water in the surroundings shaking intensely. Lowering his head, he saw a huge surge of heat surging up from the bottom, as if the entire Cleansing Lake was on fire.
"This is geothermal energy? Could it be that … there's a volcano below? "
Zhang Xuan frowned.
His physical body was protected by his soul energy, so even boiling water wouldn't be able to harm him. However, for the water to turn into such a state in the blink of an eye, it was likely that there was a massive volcano below.
After all, only the earth flame could produce such heat!
Back then, when he collected the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed, he had seen it before, so he knew how fearsome it was.
"Right, if I can draw the earth flame over and make use of the earth flame and the lake water to fuse together … I might be able to temper my physical body without using my soul!"
Just as Zhang Xuan was fretting over how he could strengthen his physical body, a thought suddenly came to his mind, and his eyes lit up.
Along the way, he had read countless books, and most of them were regarding tempering one's physical body.
Some used poison, some used extreme methods, and some … used earth flame and spiritual energy lake.
Earth flame was a flame formed from the agitation of earth veins, and it carried the weight of the earth. On the other hand, a spiritual energy lake was formed from the intersection of spirit veins, and it carried the majesty of nature. Fusing the two together was the most suitable method to temper one's physical body.
"However … my clone and I have already absorbed most of the spiritual energy in the lake water …"
After confirming that it was earth flame, Zhang Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. However, a new problem arose.
The spiritual energy in the Cleansing Lake had been gathered for many years, and after being absorbed by him and his clone for eight hours, the spiritual energy was nearly depleted … Without spiritual energy, it was impossible for the lake water to withstand the heat of the earth flame.
If he didn't resolve this problem and drew the earth flame out, he wouldn't be tempering his physical body but making a barbecue instead!
As long as he stayed in the earth flame for a moment and sprinkled some oil, salt, and cumin over it, he would be ready to eat.
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