Chapter 661: Crawled Inside

"Spirit leaving the body?"

Princess Fei'er, Luo Qiqi, and the others were all stunned. A spirit leaving the body, also known as "soul loss," is the most taboo thing for cultivators. If the spirit cannot return, the body becomes an empty shell, leading directly to death. However, for a spirit to leave the body, the soul itself must be strong enough, at least reaching the peak of the Spirit Unification Realm, or even the Heavenly Bridge Realm. How could someone at the Impurity Cleansing Realm exhibit such symptoms?

"A spirit leaving the body can be caused by various factors: errors during soul cultivation, being drawn by special formations, or failing to suppress inner demons," Ye Wentian explained with a grave expression. "It's possible that Zhang Shi's cultivation wasn't sufficient, and he forcibly used some secret art to cultivate his soul, which led to this situation. If we don't quickly help his spirit return, I fear he will truly die soon!" He added that Witch Soul Masters aren't the only ones who can achieve spirit separation; powerful formations and illusionary techniques can also captivate and draw out a person's soul, making them unable to escape.

"Is there a way to save him?" Luo Qiqi asked with a hint of urgency. This was her gracious Pill Master teacher; it would be terrible if he died from his spirit leaving his body.

"There is, but it's very complicated, and we might not have enough time..." Ye Wentian said, turning to look at the continuously flowing Cleansing Pool, his brows furrowed. Helping someone whose spirit has left their body to regain consciousness is an extremely complex and time-consuming process, impossible to complete in less than several, or even a dozen, hours. With the pool water draining rapidly, the volcano could erupt at any moment, clearly leaving no time.

"What should we do then?"

"Let's get ashore first!" Knowing this wasn't the place to talk, Ye Wentian waved his hand, carried Zhang Xuan, and leaped onto the bank.

"Hey, hey..." Zhang Xuan's massive spirit body in the pool watched his physical body being carried away, feeling like crying but having no tears. *Are you trying to save me or kill me?* If they had left his body here, even if it were difficult for his spirit to enter, it would eventually succeed over time. But if they just carried him away, and he were to chase them, he might be mistaken for a malevolent spirit by Ye Wentian and dispersed before he even got close...

"No, I must wait for an opportunity to reclaim my body..." After a moment's hesitation, the spirit body ultimately did not follow. Although the witch soul formed by the Heaven's Path cultivation technique lacked malevolent aura, making it difficult to detect, it would still be easily seen through if it appeared directly before someone. Especially before Ye Wentian, whose cultivation had reached the peak of Mortal Transcending Realm 8-dan, making him like a scorching sun. Rushing over recklessly, Zhang Xuan feared he would be instantly struck down before even identifying himself. Furthermore, even if he did reveal his identity, would they believe him? How could he explain someone at the Impurity Cleansing Realm having a nearly ten-meter-tall spirit body that spontaneously left his physical form to cultivate? Therefore, the current plan was to prevent anyone from discovering his massive spirit body. As long as he found a suitable moment to re-enter his physical body, the situation would be perfectly resolved, requiring minimal explanation—at most, he could claim he cultivated too quickly, acting rashly, and made a mistake.

While Zhang Xuan's spirit body lay hidden in the pool, waiting for its chance, Ye Wentian had already carried his physical body back to the previous courtyard.

"What happened to Zhang Shi?" Master Hong, Luo Xuan, and the others rushed forward anxiously upon seeing him rigid and unmoving.

"His spirit seems to have left his body!" Ye Wentian whispered.

"Spirit leaving the body?" Master Hong's face paled, and his body swayed. "How could this happen?" This was Zhang Shi, whose teacher was an exceptionally powerful existence, possibly an 8-star master. If his teacher found out about this spirit separation, it wouldn't just be the Mirage Feather Empire; the entire Hongyuan Empire might be doomed!

"If I'm not mistaken, when he was cultivating just now, the Cleansing Pool suddenly became turbulent, shaking his soul apart and turning his physical body into an empty shell," Ye Wentian explained. This was the only plausible explanation now. Otherwise, why were others fine while he was in such a state? He must have been affected by the changes in the pool water, which agitated his soul. In such a situation, if the soul was still intact, it would be relatively easy to find. But if it had dispersed, saving him would likely be very difficult.

"This..." Master Hong's face went pale. Just as he was about to ask about treatment, he felt the ground shake, and a scorching aura billowed upward from the center of the pool.

"Oh no, it's about to erupt!" Ye Wentian's expression changed. He no longer paid attention to Zhang Xuan, quickly placing his "corpse" on a stone table before rushing to look at the pool. The sudden change in the Cleansing Pool also caught everyone else's attention; all eyes turned towards it. The pool water was now boiling once more, continuously emitting steam. Scorching currents flowed everywhere, and the ground trembled incessantly, as if a colossal beast was confined beneath the entire courtyard, ready to leap out at any moment and slaughter them all.

"What's happening?" Everyone frowned as the ground trembled more and more violently.

"It won't hold much longer..." Ye Wentian clenched his fists, his face growing paler. He had thought that even with the damaged formation, the Cleansing Pool's accumulated power would be able to suppress it for several hours. He never expected it to escalate so quickly! At this rate, it would only be a matter of minutes before it could no longer suppress the underground ley lines and the volcano, and its ferocious power would burst forth.

"Ye Qian, quickly take the Sixth Princess and the others away!" he urgently commanded, turning his head. As the emperor, he naturally couldn't leave, but the Sixth Princess and her companions absolutely must not be harmed!

"Understood!" Ye Qian, also aware of the gravity of the situation, rushed to Princess Fei'er. "Sixth Princess, Senior Brother Xing Yuan, the Cleansing Pool won't hold much longer and is about to burst. This place is extremely dangerous. I'll take you away..."

"Alright!" Xing Yuan nodded, about to call Princess Fei'er to leave, when he saw her frown and look at him. "That guy's spirit has left his body. Is his soul still in the Cleansing Pool?"

"Uh..." Ye Qian was startled. "It should be!"

"Then what do we do? If we don't find his soul and return it to his body quickly, he will really die..." Princess Fei'er said.

"Don't worry about that; we'll send people to look for it. Senior Sister, it's best if you leave quickly..." Ye Qian hurriedly replied.

"Okay!" Princess Fei'er responded, then looked at her friend. "Let's go first!" She had wanted to save Zhang Xuan because she didn't want to remain his maid forever. Now that his soul had left his body, there was nothing she could do. Staying here would be useless; it was better to leave.

"You go ahead. Teacher Zhang has been very kind to me. He's currently unconscious and seemingly near death. If I just leave like this, I'd be betraying his teaching grace!" Luo Qiqi shook her head. Teacher Zhang had once guided her in pill refinement, greatly enhancing her alchemy skills, and she had even bowed to him as her teacher! Now, seeing him unconscious, as if dead, she simply couldn't bring herself to leave him.

"If you're not leaving, then I'm not either. I also want to see what exactly is happening with this Cleansing Pool..." Seeing her friend's refusal, Princess Fei'er also nodded.

"Ah?" Hearing their decision to stay, Ye Qian nearly went mad. Just as he wondered how to persuade them, a gust of wind whistled through the air, and a giant flying spiritual beast appeared. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Immediately after, several figures leaped down from the sky.

"It's Master Wei and President Wu of the Formation Master Guild!" Ye Qian's eyes lit up as he recognized them. He knew some secrets about the Cleansing Pool. The current situation clearly indicated an imbalance in the pool water, leading to the formation's collapse. President Wu, as the head of the Formation Master Guild and a five-star peak formation master, might have a way to stop it, to prop up the falling edifice, and turn the tide of impending disaster.

"How did it turn into this?" Landing on the ground, President Wu frowned upon seeing the water spilling everywhere and the ground shaking incessantly, threatening to collapse at any moment. The Mirage Feather Empire's royal family invited him annually to reinforce the formation, so he was intimately familiar with it. Logically, cultivating in the eye of the pool shouldn't cause such a collapse. How could it have... simply disintegrated?

"I'm not entirely sure of the exact reason, but now is not the time to discuss that. President Wu, quickly see if there's any way to repair the formation and prevent the volcano below from erupting!" Ye Wentian urged. Further discussion was useless now. They had to act quickly to see if there was any way to salvage the situation, otherwise, no one present would survive.

"Understood!" Knowing the gravity of the situation and that this was no time for idle talk, President Wu nodded and turned his attention to the pool before him.

"Elder Lu, go guard the Kan position. Elder Han, go to the Gen position..." After observing for a moment, he turned and gave instructions. The elders who had dismounted from the spiritual beast with him nodded in assent, then moved in unison to their designated positions. With a forceful press of their palms, formation flags were swiftly inserted into the ground. Rumble! As the formation flags appeared, the wildly surging pool water seemed to be contained, halting its flow. However, it was as if they had suppressed a rampaging dragon; the ground trembled even more violently, seemingly ready to break free from its shackles and erupt once more at any moment.

"That's not right..." President Wu's eyebrows shot up.

"What's wrong?" Emperor Ye Wentian asked, stepping closer.

"The Cleansing Pool is located at the intersection of Qingji Mountain, Dragon Scale River, and the ley lines, where spiritual energy is abundant. The formation previously set up here relied on this profound spiritual energy to suppress the violent forces generated by the convergence of these three areas... But now, there's no spiritual energy at all?" President Wu's face was filled with surprise.

"No spiritual energy?" Ye Wentian froze, then carefully sensed the surroundings. Indeed, he also detected that something was amiss. The spiritual energy here was so potent that even a Mortal Transcending Realm 8-dan cultivator could easily be crushed by it. How could it just vanish?

"Yes..." President Wu nodded, about to continue speaking, when he suddenly heard someone scream behind him.

Hearing the sound, Ye Wentian turned around without further questions. He then saw Luo Qiqi and the Sixth Princess looking perplexedly at the acclaimed Master Luo Xuan.

"Where's Teacher Zhang?" In front of them, Teacher Zhang's "corpse," which had been resting on a stone table, had disappeared without a trace.

"He, he..." At their inquiry, Luo Xuan's lips trembled uncontrollably, her eyes wide with a tearful expression. She pointed towards the nearby pool. "He was lying there, and when I wasn't looking, he... he climbed back in by himself..."