Chapter 665: Qingzhi Mountain

Everyone was puzzled, and then Yang Shi, whom they greatly admired, had just flown out of sight when his body went limp with a "whoosh" and he plummeted from the sky.

Immediately followed by a pained groan, the extraordinary Yang Shi's appearance slowly changed, becoming Zhang Xuan's.

"Couldn't you give me a hand instead of just watching me fall from the sky?"

Clasping his head, which felt a bit dizzy from the fall, Zhang Xuan looked at the clone beside him, so angry he nearly spat blood.

This Yang Shi was, of course, Zhang Xuan in disguise, and the "Zhang Xuan" they saw was his clone.

A moment ago, at the bottom of the Cleansing Pool, he had successfully strengthened his physical body considerably using the True Qi from the crowd and the Earth's Core Fire, finally allowing his nearly ten-meter-tall soul to enter it.

Just as he completed all this, he realized the Cleansing Pool could no longer hold up and was on the verge of exploding at any moment.

To save his life, he immediately had the Library investigate, only then understanding that he and his clone had completely absorbed the spiritual energy in the pool water, causing the three forces to lose balance and create such a huge disturbance.

Knowing this, he was immediately filled with embarrassment.

They had kindly allowed him to come and cultivate, yet as soon as he arrived, he caused the pool water to explode...

That was indeed not very considerate.

But honestly, he really didn't do it on purpose!

If he had to blame someone... he'd blame the clone. If it weren't for that fool, recklessly absorbing with all its might, how could it have led to the depletion of spiritual energy and the disruption of balance?

However, there was no point in saying any of this now; if he were to run out and explain, the enraged Emperor Ye Wentian would probably slap him to death.

Unable to do anything else, he had "Yang Shi" reappear.

This "mighty expert" personally appearing and helping the other party resolve the hidden danger could be considered compensation for damaging their Cleansing Pool.

To make things more realistic, he even had his clone disguise itself as him, feigning unconsciousness.

This way, it would be easy to explain upon returning; he could completely clear himself by simply saying his teacher saved him and that he knew nothing else.

Since everyone had witnessed it themselves, they likely wouldn't pursue the matter further.

His flight relied on the Red Dust Heaven-Treading Steps, and he would fall from the sky if his True Qi ran out. His clone was different; its primary power was its shamanic soul, and with the Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo being a divine object, it could fly on its own.

Therefore, when the two partnered, even a peak five-star master teacher like Teacher Wei couldn't spot any flaws.

As soon as he flew here, his True Qi was almost depleted. Moreover, his soul and body had just undergone breakthroughs and hadn't fully adapted, so his vision went black, and he plummeted!

He had thought that the clone beside him would at least lend a hand to help him land safely, but that fool remained utterly indifferent, letting him crash to the ground...

It nearly made his lungs burst with anger!

Although the fall wasn't from a great height, and given his current physical strength, he wasn't seriously injured, as a clone, to not share any of the main body's worries was just too much!

What the heck!

"You need to remember, you're just a clone. When the main body is in trouble, you should actively step forward..."

Just as he was about to give this guy a proper lecture to make him understand priorities, he saw the fool slowly close its eyes, with an expression that screamed, "You're stupid, it's got nothing to do with me."

Zhang Xuan was exasperated.

"I said you couldn't 'just watch' me fall, so you closed your eyes? How did I end up with such a fool of a clone?"

Other people's clones are incredibly fierce, rushing forward immediately to protect their main body when they see them injured. This guy, however, just let his main body fall half-dead... it's truly baffling!

It was simply a completely useless clone.

"First, let's see how much my strength has increased!"

Too lazy to continue being angry at this guy, Zhang Xuan looked over.

Under the impact of the Earth's Core Fire and the spiritual pool water, his physical body had made immense progress. Every cell was now hard and flexible, like steel.

With a flick of his wrist, he delivered a punch.

Boom!

A large tree over ten meters away swayed, and a fist-sized hole appeared in it, as if cut by a blade.

"My physical body alone is this strong?"

His eyes lit up.

For this punch, he didn't use soul power or True Qi; he just casually threw it, wanting to see how much power it had. He hadn't expected that the air pressure from the punch would create a hole in a large tree over ten meters away, a tree so big that three people couldn't encircle it!

Such concentrated offensive power would probably be difficult for even a Harmonization Realm (5th-tier Mortal-Transcendence) expert to achieve!

"My physical body alone... 2 million ding!"

His fist clenched, and Zhang Xuan's eyes gleamed.

With that last strike, he had already tested his strength; it had surprisingly reached 2 million ding, just like his True Qi.

In other words, even without using True Qi or soul power, relying solely on his muscles, he could still forcefully overwhelm an initial-stage Harmonization Realm expert.

Terrifying!

"What about soul power?"

After checking his physical body, with a thought, he activated his soul power and extended his palm forward.

Boom!

A small hill tens of meters away exploded into dust.

"Although it's still at the peak of the Harmonization Realm, with 3.2 million ding of power, its endurance is much greater. It can be said to be endless..."

His eyes lit up again.

It's like an ordinary person can lift a 200-jin object with all their might, but lifting it once is their limit, and they would need a long rest to do it a second time.

Previously, being able to unleash 3.2 million ding also referred to the limit, meaning that was his maximum attack power. His usual attacks couldn't consistently reach that level with every punch.

But now, his soul body was ten meters long, and every strike had 3.2 million ding of power, like a tireless perpetual motion machine!

This was truly terrifying. Every punch delivering 3.2 million ding, while not overwhelmingly powerful individually, if sustained, could probably beat even an initial-stage Bridge Heaven Realm expert to death.

"Physical body 2 million ding, True Qi 2 million ding, soul power 3.2 million ding, adding up to over 7 million ding! I can even fight against a peak Bridge Heaven Realm (6th-tier Mortal-Transcendence) expert!"

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan felt a blazing fighting spirit in his body, like an invincible vajra.

Just at the peak of the Turbid-Clear Realm, he possessed power that even a peak Bridge Heaven Realm expert couldn't match (a peak Bridge Heaven Realm expert possesses 6.4 million ding of immense strength). Anyone would probably have such a thought.

"Come on, let's exchange a punch!"

With a light smile, Zhang Xuan looked at the clone not far away.

Last time, because his physical body was insufficient, he was sent flying by the clone's punch and nearly spat blood. Now, his essence, qi, spirit, and soul power had all made new breakthroughs, so it probably wouldn't be so easy for the other party to defeat him anymore!

Perhaps he could even injure it, give it a lesson, and make that fool understand priorities!

"Hmm!" The clone turned its head and extended a fist.

With raised eyebrows, Zhang Xuan's body, soul, and qi—all three forces—converged. In an instant, his entire body's power reached its absolute peak.

At this moment, he felt that even if an initial-stage Mortal-Transcendence 7th-tier expert were here, he could kill them with one punch!

The two fists collided.

"You..."

With a miserable cry, the clone stood still while Zhang Xuan flew straight backward. His back consecutively broke through over a dozen large trees, flying several hundred meters, only then did he stop, spitting mouthfuls of blood.

What the hell!

Does it have to be this ruthless?

He had thought that with such great progress this time, teaching the clone a lesson would be easy. He never dreamed that the gap seemed to have widened even further...

He had used all his strength to hit the clone, yet the clone wasn't even scratched, while he nearly died...

This is ridiculous! Are you the clone, or am I?

Struggling to stand up, Zhang Xuan had a resentful expression.

"Your physical body isn't strong enough to fully unleash the entire power of your soul!"

Just as he was feeling annoyed, he saw the clone walk over, its hands clasped behind its back, and an unchallengeable aura of authority on its face. "If you want to surpass me," it said, "you still need to train much more. Of course, if you become my disciple, I can teach you..."

"Get lost..."

His vision went black with anger; Zhang Xuan kicked it away and put the guy back into his ring.

A clone, actually trying to act cool and become its main body's teacher—unbelievable!

If you're so capable, why don't you just go to heaven?

"Although this guy is annoying, what it said isn't wrong!"

After putting the clone away, Zhang Xuan's eyebrows furrowed again.

The clone was another version of himself. Although it sometimes spoke unreliably and acted unconventionally, what it had just said about his physical body not being strong enough to fully unleash his soul power was indeed true.

With the help of the Earth's Core Fire and the spiritual pool water, his physical body had made great progress, but the refining time was too short; it had only allowed his massive soul to enter it.

To fully adapt and unleash its power was clearly still not enough.

"When the soul doesn't match the physical body," he mused, "the control over strength isn't as precise..."

If the soul is too strong and the physical body insufficient, even if the two combine, it's difficult to control the power as precisely as before in the short term.

This is like an adult occupying an infant's body, where the mind is willing but the flesh is weak, and they might even fail to fully control their own strength.

This was exactly his current situation: although his physical body could accommodate such a massive soul, it was still relatively weak, and his control over his body wasn't as precise as before.

Back then, at Master Lu Chen's home, when he first cultivated the Heaven's Path Golden Body, a similar situation had occurred.

At that time, he clearly felt like he wasn't using much force, but he was actually exerting a lot of strength.

This time, it was somewhat irregular; sometimes he felt he was using a lot of force, but it was actually little, while other times he felt it was little, but it was actually a lot.

"It seems... I still need to continue increasing my physical strength!"

He rubbed his temples.

The hasty tempering he did earlier was clearly not enough; he had to quickly find a way to increase his physical strength again. Otherwise, with his strength fluctuating between strong and weak, people might mistake him for being mentally unstable.

"No, I'll go back and ask Emperor Ye Wentian to find cultivation techniques for physical bodies, to condense the third stage of the Heaven's Path Golden Body. As long as I succeed in condensing it, my physical strength will definitely greatly increase!"

As long as he had enough physical body cultivation methods, the Library could form the Heaven's Path Golden Body, and he could fully cultivate and make progress.

"Where is this?"

Understanding all this, he stopped thinking further. Only then did he notice his surroundings; he took a look and couldn't help but be stunned.

"This is... Qingji Mountain?"

Before, to avoid being seen leaving by Emperor Ye Wentian and the others, he had flown rapidly, unaware of how far he had gone. He hadn't expected that he had already left the Illusion Feather Imperial City far behind and reached the depths of Qingji Mountain.