Chapter 1081: Is Him

"You are indeed clever. In such a short time, you've discovered my flaw..." The Primordial Spirit scoffed, just about to continue speaking, when he saw Feng Xun below happily punching Jiang Yuan in the back of the head. His body swayed, nearly falling from the air.

"It's not hard to discover," Zhang Xuan said. "When a Primordial Spirit takes over a body, it shouldn't be able to use the martial arts of the original body. Yet you did. This indicates... Jiang Yuan's soul was only temporarily suppressed, not dead. From this, it's not difficult to deduce that your power is limited."

"So that's it! Why didn't I think of that..." President Han's eyes lit up as if he had realized something.

"What exactly happened?" Master Wu couldn't help but look over.

"This involves a great secret of the Out-of-Body realm," President Han explained. "When an Out-of-Body expert takes over a body, they can normally only use their own proficient martial arts. However, Battle Master Jiang just used the 'Stacked Wind Hand', which means his soul is still present. The other party merely used a special method to control him... Although the Primordial Spirit is powerful, controlling someone else's body is like a dragon crossing a river to fight a local snake. Even if the local snake is weaker, it will still keep the dragon entangled and significantly reduce its strength!" His true cultivation was higher than Master Wu's, giving him more knowledge about the Out-of-Body realm.

"Then... why would King Tianye's Primordial Spirit be injured when Jiang Yuan's physical body was attacked?" Wu Tianqiong asked.

The others also looked over, confused. Since it was a body seizure, it should have nothing to do with Jiang Yuan's body. Furthermore, even if it were King Tianye himself, after his Primordial Spirit left his body, the physical body would be like that of a dead person, and killing it wouldn't affect the Primordial Spirit. This situation was simply too strange.

"This... I'm not entirely sure myself..." President Han shook his head, his brows furrowed. He also couldn't figure out why this was happening.

"It's quite simple!" Hearing their conversation, Zhang Xuan lightly smiled. "When a Primordial Spirit takes over a body, it can directly crush a person's soul to death. However, doing so makes it very difficult to hide one's own soul aura, making it easily detectable by those who are familiar. Especially for an Otherworldly Demon King like King Tianye, whose malevolent aura is immense, a true body seizure would absolutely not escape our notice."

Everyone nodded. Otherworldly Demons cultivated murderous true qi, and their souls carried a murderous scent, making them easily detectable if they truly took over a body.

"To prevent us from discovering him, a normal body seizure couldn't be used, nor could completely suppressing Jiang Yuan's soul. Instead, he could only use a secret art of soul coexistence. This secret art can hide the Primordial Spirit and project Jiang Yuan's aura, making it undetectable even by master teachers... However, its flaw is that if Jiang Yuan's soul is attacked, the Primordial Spirit will also be harmed!"

With a slight smile, Zhang Xuan continued to look up. "King Tianye, am I correct?"

"You're right, but do you think this is enough to deal with me? You're too naive..." King Tianye's Primordial Spirit in the sky was about to continue speaking when he felt another sharp pain in his head. He swayed twice, his words catching in his throat.

Looking down, he saw Feng Xun below relentlessly pounding Jiang Yuan's head, seemingly venting his frustration from being beaten earlier.

"You..." Fury nearly made him explode. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Zhang Xuan's voice continue from below. "I've figured out this matter, but there's still one thing I don't understand... What do we, this group of people, possess that would be worth King Tianye, a dignified king, to infiltrate by sacrificing cultivation and splitting his Primordial Spirit?"

"Splitting his Primordial Spirit?" Everyone was stunned.

"This Primordial Spirit is not King Tianye himself, but a fragmented part of him..." Zhang Xuan chuckled. "How could the dignified first king of the Qingtian lineage possess only this level of strength?"

He had personally witnessed Jade Leaf King's battles after his Primordial Spirit left his body; their power was boundless and unstoppable. How could King Tianye, who ranked higher and was stronger, merge his entire Primordial Spirit with Jiang Yuan? Doing so would be tantamount to placing his life in someone else's hands. Therefore, based solely on these two points, it could be deduced that this Primordial Spirit was not King Tianye at all, but merely a remnant soul or a wisp of his consciousness.

"A mere fragment is this strong?" Everyone was startled.

Even a small part, entangled with Jiang Yuan, had almost wiped them out... This King Tianye was terrifying.

"You are indeed very clever. In that case, I, as a distinguished person, will speak plainly: hand over the item, and I can spare you all..." Seeing that the young man below could even deduce this, King Tianye was a bit surprised. He then sneered, and just as he was about to utter a few threats, he swayed again, dropping seven or eight meters from the air. He couldn't help but turn to glare at Feng Xun, who was still tirelessly pounding below, gritting his teeth: "Stop it now!"

"Huh?" Startled by the loud scolding, Feng Xun paused. Just as he was about to continue, Zhang Xuan shook his head. "Alright, don't be in a hurry to act. Let's get some things clear first!"

"Okay!" Feng Xun nodded, clearly reluctant.

Seeing him stop, King Tianye finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhang Xuan again. "Enough talk! The map is in your hands, isn't it? Hand it over!"

"Map?" Zhang Xuan was taken aback. "Didn't you steal that thing?"

This guy, despite having the power to kill everyone, had infiltrated by sacrificing his Primordial Spirit, which was already strange. Now, suddenly mentioning a map, Zhang Xuan was even more confused. This ancient ruin did have a map, but hadn't it been stolen by this guy back in the Poison Hall? Zhang Xuan had gone to great lengths to infiltrate it, yet gained nothing, and had been depressed about it for a long time.

"What I obtained was merely an introduction to the ruin, written entirely in ancient divine script, completely unreadable... The true map was taken by Senior Wu Yangzi two thousand years ago, and it must be hidden among you!" King Tianye scoffed.

"Taken by Senior Wu Yangzi?" Zhang Xuan paused, as if realizing something, then looked up. "Senior Wu was captured by you Otherworldly Demons and his body eventually turned to dust. Even if there were any treasures, you would have obtained them long ago. Feng Xun, this guy is definitely not telling the truth. Keep hitting him until he's dead..."

"Alright!" Feng Xun nodded excitedly and charged back to Jiang Yuan, his fists swinging relentlessly, striking him fiercely.

*Crack! Pop!* As fists met flesh, King Tianye's Primordial Spirit in the air swayed uncontrollably, on the verge of exploding with rage, his eyes splitting with fury. "You're ruthless! Zhang Xuan, isn't it? I'll let you go today, but don't let me encounter you again, or I'll tear you to shreds!"

After roaring, King Tianye's Primordial Spirit shot straight upwards with a *whoosh!* and vanished from their sight as if he had never appeared.

Seeing him escape, Master Wu and the others were about to pursue him when Zhang Xuan waved his hand. "No need to chase. Although he forcefully escaped and suffered great damage to his vital energy, he's still not someone we can contend with. Besides, we're still inside the formation, surrounded by danger. If we were led into a trap, it wouldn't be worth it..."

This guy knew that staying here would certainly lead to his death, so he broke free from Jiang Yuan's body at the cost of vital energy and swiftly escaped. His decisive action alone showed that pursuing him would only result in losses.

"Master Zhang, how did you discover that Jiang Yuan might be King Tianye in disguise? Simply based on him not speaking... that shouldn't be enough to tell, right?" Knowing that Zhang Xuan's words made sense, Master Wu and the others stopped their pursuit. President Han looked over, full of curiosity. Although Master Zhang had just explained clearly that Jiang Yuan hadn't spoken or taken initiative the whole way, he still felt it couldn't be that simple.

"It's simple," Zhang Xuan nodded. "Only we knew about my killing King Shiye, yet King Hongye knew and exposed me. This means... there must be an insider among us who leaked the information! Combined with the fact that he was unaffected by the formation and constantly incited discord... it's easy to understand!"

As President Han had guessed, relying solely on the two points mentioned earlier, it would naturally be impossible to conclude that Jiang Yuan had been taken over by King Tianye. However, combining it with King Hongye's words made it easy to confirm.

"I see..." Everyone nodded, looking at Zhang Xuan again with admiration. They hadn't noticed such details, yet he had deduced so much from them. This ability was truly impressive.

"What do we do now?" Master Wu asked. Although the threat of King Tianye was resolved, they were still trapped within the formation.

"Now..." Zhang Xuan hesitated, about to speak, then suddenly frowned and coughed. "Ahem, Feng Xun, that's enough. You don't need to hit him anymore. King Tianye has already escaped, so hitting him is pointless..."

Everyone looked over in unison and realized that Feng Xun was still diligently, relentlessly pounding Jiang Yuan's head with his fists. His attacks were well-measured, causing pain without being fatal.

"Escaped? I thought... a part of him was still here to help cleanse Battle Master Jiang..." Feng Xun scratched his head awkwardly as he finally realized.

"Since he escaped, he must have severed the part of his Primordial Spirit that was fused with Jiang Yuan..." Zhang Xuan shook his head, took two steps forward, and felt Jiang Yuan's wrist. He then took out a jade box, and with nimble fingers, dozens of silver needles landed on Jiang Yuan's head. Regardless, Jiang Yuan was merely a victim, and it would naturally be best if he could be revived.

Driven by Zhang Xuan's true qi, the silver needles rotated continuously. A moment later, the corpse-like Jiang Yuan seemed to awaken and slowly opened his eyes.

*Boom!* At the same moment, an aura surged from his body, and he instantly broke through the peak of Saint 3-dan, reaching Saint 4-dan Primordial Spirit realm!

"The part of King Tianye's Primordial Spirit that was fused with him couldn't escape and was successfully refined by him. By a stroke of luck, he broke through his cultivation realm. It can be considered a blessing in disguise..." Zhang Xuan smiled faintly.

King Tianye was an Out-of-Body realm expert at Saint 5-dan. Even a trace of his remaining Primordial Spirit was incredibly powerful. It was expected that Jiang Yuan's cultivation would greatly increase after inadvertently absorbing it.

"Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much? Who hit me..." Not yet noticing his breakthrough, Jiang Yuan woke up, rubbing the back of his head with a bewildered expression.

"He did!" Everyone simultaneously pointed at Feng Xun.

"..." Feng Xun.