Chapter 662: Meat Body Is Too Weak

"He crawled in himself?"

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, looking as if they had been struck from behind.

"Do you take me for a fool? With his soul separated from his body, he's like a corpse. How could he possibly crawl into the Purification Lake?" Princess Fei-er raised an eyebrow, her eyes wide. "If you're going to lie, at least come up with a believable reason!"

Master Zhang, they had just checked him, and found his heart and breathing had completely stopped. His body was stiff and cold, indistinguishable from a corpse. Even lifting him might be difficult, so how could he crawl away by himself? Ye Wentian, Master Hong, and the others shared the same thought and wanted to hear his explanation.

"I...it's true!" Seeing the expressions on everyone's faces, as if they were looking at a madman, Luo Xuan was on the verge of losing it.

The commotion from the Purification Lake had been too great just now, drawing everyone's attention, including his own. As he was watching to see what would happen with the water, he caught a glimpse of a dark figure. It was Zhang Xuan, lying on the ground like a corpse! The man had somehow found a surge of strength, propping himself up with his hands and rapidly crawling towards the pond. Even Luo Xuan had only seen a blur and couldn't make out any details.

"Don't panic. How did he crawl in just now? Did he wake up, or was he still in the same state?" Seeing his face contorted as if he could barely speak, Luo Qiqi couldn't help but ask.

"He... his eyes were still closed, and his body was stiff. He hadn't woken up at all, nor did he show any signs of life..." Luo Xuan thought for a moment before replying.

Although it was only a glance, as a Half-Step 5-Star Master Teacher, he still noticed some details. Apart from being able to move, the man was no different from before; it felt as if he were a puppet on strings, being pulled forward by something. Of course, he couldn't describe any more specific details, even if he wanted to.

"Stiff body, closed eyes... and he crawled into the Purification Lake himself?" Princess Fei-er furrowed her delicate brows. "Are you implying... he reanimated?"

"Cough, cough!" Ye Wentian nearly choked on his saliva. "Master Zhang's soul merely left his body; he's not dead. Therefore... there's no such thing as reanimation!"

"Then... what happened with him moving by himself?" Master Hong couldn't help but ask.

Among those present, only he and Luo Xuan knew Zhang Xuan's true identity. Although Bi Jianghai had also come from the Master Teacher Tournament, he hadn't been involved in the events of that night and wasn't aware. The personal disciple of an 8-Star Master Teacher not only had his soul leave his body but was now also suspected of reanimation... How was he supposed to explain this?

"I don't know either!" Ye Wentian shook his head. Even he had never heard of such a bizarre sight.

*Rumble!*

Just as everyone was puzzling over the situation, trying to figure out what could make a soul-separated individual crawl away, the ground shook violently once more. Everyone stumbled, nearly falling.

"Oh no, the earth vein's power is growing stronger! We can't hold it much longer! Everyone, help! Just inject your True Qi into the pond to maintain stability!" President Wu roared. Hearing the call, everyone immediately forgot about Zhang Xuan's "reanimation" and escape, turning their attention forward once more.

The pond water, sealed by the formation flags, surged again, as if ablaze, threatening to burst out at any moment. Previously, Elder Lu, Elder Han, and others had frantically poured out their True Qi to maintain the formation's stability, their faces pale, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.

"Good, quickly inject True Qi into the pond!" Hearing his words, Ye Wentian knew it was the most dangerous moment. Without hesitation, he stepped forward, extended his hand, and poured his potent True Qi into the pond water. *Rumble!* With more True Qi flowing into the pond, the previously unstable formation flags became slightly more steady.

Immediately after, Master Wei, Master Hong, Luo Qiqi, Princess Fei-er, and all the top three cultivators also took action. With countless streams of True Qi being infused, the continuously shaking formation began to stabilize. The violently churning water beneath also seemed to calm down. However, the roaring of the volcano below could still be heard, like a giant beast temporarily suppressed, yet destined to burst forth as time passed.

"President Wu, using brute force like this isn't a long-term solution!" Master Wei couldn't help but say.

With so many people working together, brute force and sheer True Qi volume could keep the formation running and suppress the earth veins and volcano below. However... once everyone's True Qi was exhausted, it was very likely to rebound! Moreover, the longer the earth veins gathered power, the stronger they would become. Like a spring, the more they were suppressed, the greater the rebound force would be, making it even harder to contain later!

"Indeed. You all continue to suppress it for now. Let me examine how this formation operates, so I can better integrate it with the ground, combine it with Mount Qingji and Dragon Scale River, and completely control the volcano below!" President Wu said.

Formations could change and exhibit different powers based on mountains, geography, and even the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. Although the elders he brought had reactivated the formation with the formation flags, the ground's topography had changed after the recent tremors. The formation needed to be adjusted appropriately to unleash its maximum power. If the formation could truly operate successfully and gather spiritual energy once more, it might be able to withstand the current situation and resolve the immediate crisis.

"Alright!" Ye Wentian, Master Wei, and the others understood the situation. Without further words, they each opened their palms and frantically poured True Qi into the pond, maintaining the current state and preventing further changes. President Wu, meanwhile, held a compass and slowly moved along the formation, searching for the best way to maximize its power.

On the shore, chaos reigned.

In the pond, Zhang Xuan's soul let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the commotion in the pond had attracted everyone's attention; otherwise, getting his physical body back would have been much harder. Because his soul body was too large to fit into his physical body at once, he had to find a way to control parts of his physical body to make it move. He initially tried to control his legs, but that proved too difficult. After a long time, he only managed to move his arms, which was why he had no choice but to "crawl" over. Thus, the "reanimation" scene that Luo Xuan witnessed occurred.

"Never mind all that, I need to get my soul back into my body first!" Knowing that everyone outside must have been scared senseless, but realizing this wasn't the time to ponder it, he focused his mind, and his soul body shot straight towards his glabella. No matter how difficult, he had to get in, otherwise, his physical body would truly die.

*Sizzle! Sizzle!*

The enormous soul body tried to squeeze into his physical body, like trying to force an elephant through a small, man-height door, making his vision blur from the strain. "I can't get in..." He couldn't help but shake his head. A soul body nearly ten meters tall was attempting to force its way into a body only about 1.8 meters in height. If his soul wasn't an intangible substance, his bones would probably be crushed before he could get in. His soul was already twisted from the crowding, yet he hadn't even managed to get a small fraction of it inside.

"Wait, how did my clone succeed so easily?" He suddenly paused in surprise. His clone's soul was even larger than his, yet it entered its body effortlessly, without any hindrance. Why was he having so much trouble?

Puzzled, he released his clone and communicated with it, immediately feeling speechless. The clone's body was refined from a Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo, possessing extreme flexibility. Not to mention a ten-meter-tall soul, even a hundred-meter-tall one could easily enter it without any effort. As for him, he had only a mortal body... He glanced at his clone, feeling a pang of frustration that his original self was not even as good as his clone. But there was nothing he could do; being refined from a divine object, its starting point was simply too high, something he couldn't compare to.

"It seems after this, I need to quickly cultivate my physical body, otherwise, if my soul continues to grow, my body won't be able to bear it!" He rubbed his glabella again. After communicating with his clone, he finally understood: the main reason he couldn't get in was that his physical body wasn't strong enough! If it were like the Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo, it would be simple.

He had only cultivated his physical body twice, and at that time, he hadn't even reached the Transcendent Mortal realm. Compared to others, his body was already extremely strong, but to accommodate such an enormous soul, it was still insufficient.

"What kind of situation is this..." Zhang Xuan was utterly speechless. Seeing the abundant spiritual energy in the Purification Lake, he had happily absorbed too much, leading to his soul being unable to re-enter his body. Such a blunder... he was probably the only one in history to experience it.

"As things stand, I must find a way to cultivate my physical body..." Only with a stronger body could he accommodate such a massive soul, but without a soul, the body couldn't be driven. How then could he cultivate it? This was a classic paradox, giving him a headache.

*Rumble!*

As he was fretting, unsure of what to do, he felt the surrounding pond water shake violently. Looking down, he saw a massive current of heat boiling up from beneath, making the entire Purification Lake churn as if it were boiling.

"Is this geothermal heat? Could it be... there's a volcano underneath?" He frowned. His physical body was protected by soul energy, so even boiling water couldn't harm it. However, for the pond water to change so rapidly in the blink of an eye, there must be a massive volcano beneath. Only core-earth fire could be so intensely hot! He had seen it before when he collected the Crimson Flame Lotus Seed, and he knew how terrifying it was.

"Wait a minute, if I could draw the core-earth fire here and use the earth fire and pond water, a fusion of yin and yang... perhaps I could temper my physical body even without my soul in it!" Just as he was worrying about how to strengthen his body, something suddenly occurred to him, and his eyes lit up.

Throughout his journey, he had read countless books, many of which were about tempering and enhancing physical strength. Some methods used poisons, others pushed the body to its limits, and then there were those... that used core-earth fire and spiritual energy pools like this one.

Core-earth fire, a flame formed by the agitation of earth veins, carried the weight of the earth. A spiritual energy pool, created by the convergence of spiritual veins, possessed natural majesty. When these two fused, they were most suitable for tempering the physical body.

"However... the spiritual energy in the pond has been almost entirely absorbed by my clone and me..." Confirming that it was core-earth fire below and having found a method, Zhang Xuan felt a little relieved, but a new problem arose. The Purification Lake had accumulated spiritual energy for countless years, but he and his clone had absorbed it for four whole hours, almost exhausting it. Without spiritual energy, the pond water alone certainly couldn't withstand the core-earth fire. If he were to draw out the core-earth fire without solving this problem, it wouldn't be tempering his body; it would be barbecuing it! Staying in that earth fire for a moment, then adding some oil, salt, and cumin, and it would be ready to eat.