Chapter 657: He is stealing soul water!

At the City Lord's Mansion, beside the Soul Washing Pool, the City Lord of Xian Yuan City stood with his hands behind his back, silently gazing at the pool. His deep-set eyes seemed to penetrate layers of mist, peering into its depths.

The Butcher stood not far behind him. After bringing Lu Ye here and placing him in the Soul Pool, he hadn't left. Although Lu Ye's body hadn't completely dissipated when he brought him, the Butcher was still somewhat uneasy.

A Xian Yuan Guard was reporting on the situation across various battlefields in the city. The invading insectoids in the city had now been almost completely wiped out. This war, once again, concluded with Xian Yuan City's victory. It had been this way for thousands of years.

What Lu Ye didn't know was that the spiritual entities of Xian Yuan City were virtually immortal. They had left their spiritual imprints in the Soul Pool, so even if they died in battle outside, they could be resurrected through the pool's power. This was why the Butcher and others could revive after death. The Soul Pool, moreover, was the very foundation of Xian Yuan City.

The insectoids had only one way to conquer Xian Yuan City: to use overwhelming force to destroy Xian Yuan City's defenses, capture the City Lord's Mansion, and shatter the Soul Pool! Otherwise, no matter how numerous or powerful the insectoids were, they could never conquer Xian Yuan City. Historically, every insectoid invasion followed a strikingly similar pattern.

Initially, Xian Yuan City was always at a disadvantage due to the sheer number of insectoids, many of whom were powerful. However, while dead insectoids stayed dead, the cultivators of Xian Yuan City could continuously emerge from the Soul Pool and rejoin the battle. With this ebb and flow, the insectoid threat would gradually be neutralized, leading to Xian Yuan City's victory.

This war had lasted for about half a month. Lu Ye's arrival coincided with the most intense period of the conflict. Now, the war was nearing its end, and the massive rift in the sky had vanished at some unknown point.

The Xian Yuan Guard retreated after finishing his report.

Bored with waiting, the Butcher spoke up, asking, "City Lord, is this young man truly... the chosen one?" Although he had mumbled something similar earlier in front of Liu Datong, Yu Qing, and others, it was only because he had heard it from the City Lord.

The City Lord, still gazing into the Soul Pool, said, "When he came in last time, three of the Four Symbols had gathered. This time, all four are complete. Moreover, he seems to possess a powerful Spirit Weaver inheritance, allowing him to cast spiritual patterns at will. If he isn't the chosen one, I can hardly imagine how high the requirements for such a person would be." Here, he changed his tone: "However, he should only be one of the candidates."

"There are other chosen ones?" The Butcher frowned.

The City Lord replied, "You don't put all your eggs in one basket, especially for an entity of that kind. Over these thousands of years, there must have been many chosen ones... Living in Xian Yuan City for so long, we know nothing of the outside world, so we naturally don't know what became of those chosen ones. But judging from the current situation, none of them have ever truly succeeded."

The Butcher nodded. If someone truly had succeeded, they wouldn't need to stubbornly defend Xian Yuan City here; they would have gained complete freedom.

"But there will be a conclusion eventually. Time is running out," the City Lord sighed. He had said this before when he last saw Lu Ye, but it was merely a soliloquy, unheard by anyone.

The Butcher's expression grew solemn. "My Lord, how much time do you think we have left?"

"Who knows..." The City Lord slowly shook his head. "I suppose you've also felt it; the number of insectoids attacking the city has been increasing over the years, and correspondingly, the power of the Soul Pool has been decreasing annually. Perhaps in a few decades, the insectoid forces will become so formidable that we can no longer resist them, or perhaps in a few more years, the Soul Pool will dry up, and we will lose our immortality. No matter which scenario occurs, Xian Yuan City will fall, and then Kyushu will surely perish!"

The Butcher's brow was heavy with concern. As cultivators of Xian Yuan City, who had been guarding this place for thousands of years, those in the Divine Sea Realm understood far more secrets than their counterparts in Kyushu. The safety of Xian Yuan City was not merely about itself; it concerned the entirety of Kyushu. Perhaps the cultivators of Kyushu never knew that in such a place, numerous spiritual entities had been battling the insectoids for thousands of years, safeguarding Kyushu's well-being. Even if someone were to tell them now, it's likely no one would believe it, as such a truth seemed quite preposterous.

As for the City Lord's statement about the increasing number of insectoids, it undoubtedly meant that the insectoid nest could now absorb external energy. This was not a good sign. If the connection between the insectoid nest and the outside world strengthened to a certain degree, the already imperfect defenses would surely develop even larger vulnerabilities, leading to unthinkable consequences.

And the Soul Pool... Although the energy within the Soul Pool was immense, the spiritual entities of Xian Yuan City had been continuously dying and resurrecting over these thousands of years, also depleting the pool's power. One day, the Soul Pool's power would be exhausted, and at that time, the spiritual entities of Xian Yuan City would lose their immortal characteristics. All signs indicated that time was indeed running out. This world needed someone capable of turning the tide, but whether the chosen candidates could pass the final test was something no one knew. After thousands of years of waiting with no results, who could hope for a miracle? For a moment, the Butcher felt disheartened.

"That boy is awake!" the City Lord suddenly exclaimed.

"He's not seriously hurt, is he?" the Butcher quickly asked.

"His spiritual power was severely depleted; what serious harm could there be? Sure enough, that boy is up to no good again!" The City Lord suddenly felt a strong urge to scold him.

The Butcher looked dismayed. "He's stealing Soul Water?" Soul Washing Water, throughout all of Kyushu, could only be generated in the Soul Pool. When Lu Ye had previously given him half a bottle, the Butcher already knew it came from the Soul Pool.

"Hmph!" The City Lord snorted coldly, turning to face the Butcher. "What do you suggest we do? He's not originally from Xian Yuan City and, by rights, shouldn't enter the Soul Pool. Last time, to help you escape, I already made an exception for him. This time, it was you who said he was assigned to your team, which is why I let him recuperate in the Soul Pool. Now he's doing something so shameless again! Tell me, should I just slap him dead, or should I slap him dead again and again?"

The Butcher chuckled awkwardly. "He did help us complete our team's mission, and after we were all wiped out, he fought alone until he was completely exhausted. There's nothing wrong with him being an auxiliary member."

When the Butcher brought Lu Ye back earlier, the City Lord was truly surprised because he hadn't expected Lu Ye to enter Xian Yuan City at such a time. He then learned from the Butcher how Lu Ye had entered Xian Yuan City. This was also why the City Lord concluded that Lu Ye was a chosen one. If he weren't a chosen one, how could he possibly have entered Xian Yuan City in that manner, and at such a coincidental moment — precisely when the insectoids were attacking the city! Had he come in at any other time, the entire Xian Yuan City would have been utterly silent, with all spiritual entities dormant in the Soul Pool, and Lu Ye wouldn't have gained any benefits. But precisely because his timing was so opportune, even though he fought to exhaustion, he also gained considerable advantages.

However, as the City Lord stated, Lu Ye was not a cultivator of Xian Yuan City and, by rights, should not have been allowed into the Soul Pool. It was the Butcher who decided to include him in his squad as an auxiliary member, which led the City Lord to make an exception, allowing him to enter the Soul Pool to recuperate his spirit. But the Butcher never imagined that Lu Ye, upon waking up, would immediately resort to petty theft, which made him feel somewhat embarrassed.

He stammered, then said, "If My Lord truly wants to kill him, then kill him!"

The City Lord snorted. "Do you think I won't?"

The Butcher chuckled. "Since My Lord believes he is a chosen one, why not give him a chance? Perhaps he truly can go all the way. Doesn't Blind Man often talk about karma? If we plant a seed today, perhaps we can reap a reward tomorrow." He was certain the City Lord wouldn't truly kill Lu Ye, and perhaps the City Lord himself had similar thoughts. Otherwise, he would have intervened immediately upon realizing Lu Ye was stealing Soul Water, instead of wasting words here with him. Even before becoming a spiritual entity, although he was a butcher in the city, he was also a clever individual. How could he not see through the City Lord's intentions?

"Besides," he added, "he's just one person. Even if he steals some Soul Water, it won't significantly deplete the Soul Pool's foundation. It shouldn't be a big deal... right?"

The City Lord stared at the Soul Washing Pool, his eye twitching. "If you knew his methods, you wouldn't say that!" An ordinary cultivator entering the Soul Pool, even if they had a way to condense Soul Water, would gain only a limited amount. But what was that boy doing down there? He actually conjured a giant funnel, into which endless soul mist poured, rapidly condensing into Soul Water. He even saw Lu Ye creating a waterskin, placing it beneath the massive funnel, clearly intending to fill it completely!

"That's outrageous!" Even a grand cultivator of the Divine Sea Realm like the City Lord, who had lived for thousands of years, couldn't help but feel a little flustered at this moment. "If he really kept this up, the Soul Pool's foundation would surely be significantly depleted. The Soul Pool was already not expected to last many more years; once its foundation was reduced, the time it could sustain itself would only shorten!"

The Butcher thought for a moment and said, "Still, we can't let him get Soul Water for free. He must have earned a lot of battle merits from killing insectoids this time, My Lord. You could let him use those merits to obtain an equivalent amount of Soul Water."

The City Lord was hesitating whether to stop Lu Ye. Hearing the Butcher's suggestion, he nodded. "Good idea!" Then, still a bit uneasy, he asked, "How many battle merits did he earn this time?"

"That's unclear, but he should have at least tens of thousands." Lu Ye had killed so many insectoids throughout the period, so tens of thousands of battle merits seemed plausible. But what the Butcher didn't know was that Lu Ye's current battle merits were far more than tens of thousands—they were over 300,000!