Chapter 644: Soul Leaving the Body

In an unfamiliar environment, Lu Ye held his saber, alert, but soon relaxed, as there was no danger around.

Unlike previous encounters when entering the Illusion Realm, there was no swirling mist around, nor any monsters suddenly appearing. He found himself in a room.

The doors and windows were closed. The room's furnishings were simple, consisting only of a table and a few chairs.

On the table sat a teapot and several teacups.

Lu Ye approached the table and examined it, finding a thick layer of dust, indicating it had been uninhabited for a long time.

This seemed to be a reception area, with a staircase leading upstairs nearby.

Lu Ye looked at the staircase, but didn't ascend immediately, instead wearing a thoughtful expression.

He was curious about where he was.

During his previous forays into the Illusion Realm, the environments were simple: an open area with mist swirling around, and enemies occasionally charging out.

However, after two Breath Fruit Cores merged and he pushed open the newly appeared second gate, he unexpectedly found himself in this strange place.

What puzzled him even more was his current state.

In fact, he had sensed it the moment he entered—some peculiar changes had occurred within him. He hadn't had time to investigate, but now, certain that there was no immediate danger, he began to examine his condition.

After silently perceiving for a moment, Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

Things seemed... complicated.

He discovered that his strength had inexplicably surged!

Originally, his cultivation was at the fifth level of the Cloud River Realm, but the power now contained within him far surpassed the fifth level of the Cloud River Realm. It was likely even stronger than the ninth-level Cloud River cultivators he had previously encountered.

In other words, he was now very likely equivalent to a True Lake Realm cultivator!

As for which level of the True Lake Realm... Lu Ye truly didn't know. He had only encountered a few True Lake Realm cultivators, and without a standard for comparison, it was genuinely difficult to assess his current strength.

When he stepped through that gate, Lu Ye had suddenly felt a surge of power within him. Now it seemed that was no illusion; he truly had become stronger.

But why was this happening? Could this environment simply enhance his strength for no reason? That seemed highly unreasonable.

What puzzled Lu Ye even more was that the power flowing within him wasn't just spiritual power; there was another kind of power that felt unfamiliar yet strangely familiar.

Was this... soul power?

As Lu Ye discerned the essence of this power, his brows involuntarily furrowed.

What was going on? As a fifth-level Cloud River cultivator... even if he was now equivalent to a True Lake Realm cultivator, he shouldn't be able to perceive soul power.

Soul power is something every cultivator possesses from birth. As a cultivator's strength grows, their soul power also increases accordingly. However, before reaching the Divine Sea Realm, cultivators only possess soul power passively, allowing them to passively resist some soul-targeting attacks with the strength of their soul. They cannot actively perceive it.

It's like a hidden treasure within a cultivator's body; cultivators without sufficient strength cannot unlock this treasure.

Only when one's cultivation reaches the Divine Sea Realm and divine sense is born, can one actively perceive the existence of their own soul power and then utilize it.

For instance, Lu Ye, despite his strong soul power, could sense many potential dangers. But strictly speaking, this perception was merely a passive ability, far inferior to the actively wielded divine sense.

Battles among Divine Sea Realm cultivators often involved clashes of divine sense. Sometimes, what appeared calm on the surface was, in reality, extremely perilous.

Lu Ye could now distinctly feel soul power flowing within him. It was precisely because of the presence of this soul power that his strength had dramatically increased.

His soul power already far surpassed cultivators of the same realm, reaching the standard of a True Lake Realm cultivator.

Was this the reason for his sudden surge in strength?

Lu Ye slowly realized. If this was the case, was he... a spirit body? Like Yiyi's existence.

Wasn't this soul projection?

But it was also different from normal soul projection. In normal soul projection, cultivators could only use soul power and were unable to activate spiritual power.

Yet he was currently in a state where spiritual power and soul power coexisted, which was very peculiar.

He suddenly recalled that when he entered this place, he had felt a sense of breaking free from restraints.

Now it seemed the restraints he had broken free from were his physical body.

His cultivation in soul power was much higher than that of his physical body, which was why, after his soul projected out, he felt a sense of liberation, and subsequently became stronger.

This Illusion Realm was completely different from the ones he had entered before.

Previous Illusion Realms were merely projections: whatever Lu Ye's state was in reality, that was how he would be projected, including everything he carried, his storage bag, and items in his spatial storage, all of which would be projected into the Illusion Realm without omission.

This current Illusion Realm, however, was not just a projection. On top of being a projection, it had also pulled his entire soul into it.

Lu Ye immediately had a bad feeling!

In the Illusion Realm, his greatest advantage was his fearlessness of death, as there was little loss even if he died. Originally, when his soul power wasn't strong enough, dying once would cause him pain for half a day. But ever since he had obtained numerous Soul Cleansing Waters to refine his soul and strengthen his soul power, dying in the Illusion Realm was no longer a big deal for him. It was just a sensation akin to a needle prick in his head, something he could endure and quickly move past.

However, if he was currently in a state similar to soul projection, and he died, Lu Ye couldn't say what the outcome would be for him.

Instant death? Or severe damage to his soul?

It seemed he needed to be extremely careful from now on. He absolutely could not die easily here, otherwise, no one knew what dire consequences might ensue.

As for how to leave this place... Lu Ye currently had no clue. He could only explore slowly.

He checked himself again. His Panshan Saber and weapon sheath were both at his waist. Items in his storage bag and the spatial storage on the back of his hand could also be retrieved and stored freely.

Just as he had thought, his current self upon entering this place was in a soul-projected state based on a projection. Thus, all the items he had could be used at any time.

In this state, his only advantage was a significant increase in strength.

He wasn't in a hurry to push the door open and leave. Not knowing his surroundings yet, at the very least, this room was safe.

Previously, when entering the Illusion Realm, he only needed to stand there, and an endless stream of monsters would charge out from the mist, allowing him to hone his saber techniques and combat skills. Though monotonous and dull, it was straightforward.

This time, the situation was much more complex, so he needed to gather as many clues as possible to ascertain his current location and any potential dangers.

He stepped towards the nearby staircase. As he trod on the steps, the wooden floorboards creaked loudly, sounding incredibly harsh in the silent environment.

Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a flicker of doubt.

Was this truly the Illusion Realm? He had always believed the Illusion Realm was a mere illusion, and everything he saw within it was fake. Therefore, even dying there didn't entail much loss.

But this time, in the Illusion Realm he had entered, everything around him felt incredibly real, giving him no sense of falsehood whatsoever.

The dozen or so steps were quickly ascended.

Lu Ye cautiously peered his head towards the second floor, and then suddenly froze.

In that instant, he met countless pairs of grayish-green eyes. All of them were compound eyes, and Lu Ye could almost see the reflection of his own startled expression in them.

The second floor of what he had considered a safe room was surprisingly hiding over a dozen insectoids!

And they were the kind of praying mantis-like insectoids he was extremely familiar with!

These mantises, and other types of insectoids, he had killed countless times during his previous Illusion Realm training.

How were there insectoids here too?

Before he could ponder further, the mantis insectoids lurking on the second floor had already flapped their wings and flew towards the staircase entrance. The first insectoid to charge raised its scythe-like blade high.

A flash of dazzling saber light swept past, and the insectoid was immediately cut in half. Emerald green insect blood splattered, and a pungent odor filled the air.

Lu Ye stood at the staircase entrance, his Panshan Saber already drawn from its sheath.

After dispatching the first insectoid, Lu Ye felt a slight sense of relief. The strength of these mantis insectoids wasn't too formidable; they were still within the Cloud River Realm. With his current strength, which was equivalent to the True Lake Realm, killing them was naturally effortless.

Furthermore, his previous training in the Illusion Realm had made him intimately familiar with these insectoids' weaknesses.

Saber light flashed fiercely. Lu Ye guarded the staircase entrance without retreating a single step. Every mantis insectoid that charged forward was killed, and in just a moment, they were all wiped out.

Specks of light drifted from the corpses of the dead insectoids. Unlike the crimson light from killing cultivators of the Ten-Thousand Devil Ridge, these lights were golden.

Killing insectoids also grants merit points?

As Lu Ye was surprised, he became increasingly certain that this was not some illusory scene.

Because he had killed so many insectoids in the Illusion Realm before, but had never gained any merit points. Receiving merit points now meant that the insectoids he killed were real.

But why did killing insectoids also grant merit points?

Curious about how many merit points he could get from killing these insectoids, Lu Ye checked his battlefield imprint.

His battlefield imprint showed over 140,000 merit points. Lu Ye hadn't meticulously recorded his previous exact merit point count, so he couldn't immediately discern the standard for gaining merit points by killing insectoids.

Just as he was about to record the current merit point number to compare later, he suddenly noticed a perplexing change.

The battlefield imprint recorded his information. In the Battle Merits section, the number displayed was: 576 points!

This number was clearly incorrect, because in Lu Ye's memory, his battle merits were only a mere 56 points, and they hadn't changed for a long time.

After all, for a Cloud River Realm cultivator like him, opportunities to gain battle merits were few. To date, there had been only one such instance!

That was during the time in the Myriad Beast Domain secret realm.