Chapter 1060: Jiang Yuan

"Heavenly Leaf King? Heavenly Leaf King should be a man, right?"

"That's right, I've heard that the ten kings are all men, never heard of a woman..."

Someone questioned.

The ten kings of the Alien Spirit Clan had always been men; how could the Heavenly Leaf King be a woman?

"Who says the Heavenly Leaf King can't be a woman?"

Jiang Yuan sneered: "The Heavenly Leaf King has always been secretive; only the name is known, and many have never seen him... Why can't it be a woman? Besides, even if it's a man, it's said he has reached the Out-of-Body stage. With such strength, it would be easy for his primordial spirit to seize a human body and blend in among us!"

"This..."

The crowd clenched their fists, looking at Luo Ruoxi again, each showing vigilance.

At the Out-of-Body stage, the primordial spirit can roam the world, with extraordinary power, and can also seize a person's body! And unlike a witch soul's possession, there is no decline; at most, the primordial spirit and body are not in harmony, preventing full strength from being exerted!

In other words... if the Heavenly Leaf King had truly taken over a body, no one would be able to detect it, not even Master Wu.

Carefully recalling Luo Ruoxi's actions, since arriving at the ruins, she hadn't said much, but every word was crucial and played a key role... A girl around twenty, no matter how vast her knowledge, could it surpass Master Wu or Master Mu?

Could it be that she had really been possessed, leading everyone into a trap all along?

"You... you'd better explain yourself!"

Wanting to say something, Master Wu paused, frowned, and looked coldly at the girl before him.

He had to admit, the other's analysis was not wrong; this one was indeed worthy of suspicion.

Although Luo Ruoxi had a good relationship with Master Mu and was introduced by him, even he couldn't see through her specific strength or cultivation level, which had always seemed strange.

Facing everyone's doubts, Luo Ruoxi did not explain but shook her head, looking around: "Do you all think so?"

"This... you, you're not really disguised as an Alien Spirit clansman, are you?"

His face turning pale, Feng Xun stepped back repeatedly.

He had actually fallen for an Alien Spirit clansman, and one that was most likely male... Just thinking about it made his hair stand on end and he wanted to vomit.

Seeing his reaction, the disappointment in Luo Ruoxi's eyes grew deeper. This guy professed to like her, yet at this moment, he was full of suspicion.

Shaking her head, just as she was about to speak, she saw a figure approach.

"Enough!"

Zhang Xuan waved his hand and glanced at the girl: "I believe she is not an Alien Spirit clansman, nor has she been possessed by any being!"

"You believe?" Luo Ruoxi looked over.

"Mm!" Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan's eyes showed firmness: "Don't worry, no matter what others say, I will stand by your side!"

He had interacted with this girl the most; she was quiet and indifferent along the way, not caring about anything. If she were really the Heavenly Leaf King with such formidable strength, everyone would have been killed long ago; there was no need to disguise and go through so much trouble.

Seeing his gaze, clear and unwavering, filled with deep trust, Luo Ruoxi felt a warmth in her heart and said: "He's right. It was after I left that the Alien Spirit clansmen appeared. I was the one who told you to look for traces of the Alien Spirit clansmen, and then we fell into the trap... I can't refute any of this. Why do you believe..."

"Does it need a reason?"

Staring into her eyes, Zhang Xuan smiled lightly: "No matter what you do, I believe you. Don't worry, you don't need to refute; I'll handle it for you!"

With that, he turned to face the crowd: "This Master Luo, I can vouch for with my life—she is definitely not the Heavenly Leaf King, nor an Alien Spirit clansman!"

"Vouch with your life? Master Zhang... you must think twice. Master Jiang's reasoning is not without merit..." Master Wu quickly interjected.

"Yes, Master Zhang, this Master Luo is indeed a bit strange..."

Others also looked over, each full of doubt.

As for Zhang Xuan, they not only believed in him but admired him. How could such an outstanding master teacher be unable to get past a beautiful woman?

"Everyone's lives were saved by Master Zhang, and it's under your leadership that we've come this far. If Master Zhang wants to protect her, I have nothing to say. But... if she really is the Heavenly Leaf King, not only will we all be wiped out, but more importantly, the purpose of this trip to find Zhang Yinqiu and the others will be completely ruined, and the reputation of the Master Teacher Hall could be severely damaged!"

Seeing Zhang Xuan step forward to defend her, Jiang Yuan frowned and said.

"How to decide? You don't need to teach me!"

Snorting, Zhang Xuan flicked his sleeve.

"You..."

Unexpected that the usually amiable Zhang Xuan would show no respect, Jiang Yuan clenched his fist.

"No need for 'you' and 'me'. Master Luo has no issues. The one with issues should be you, Jiang Yuan, the great war master?"

Zhang Xuan looked over.

"A problem? What problem could I have?" Jiang Yuan shook his head.

He hadn't said a word the whole way, nor had he given any wrong directions—what problem could there be?

Hearing Zhang Xuan's words, the people around were also full of confusion.

"We've entered so many courtyards, each with formations, traps, and barriers... As soon as we enter, they're triggered, causing all kinds of crises. I'm sure everyone has deeply felt this along the way..."

Without answering his question, Zhang Xuan looked around and said.

"Mm!" The crowd nodded.

Ever since entering this heavenly palace, they had experienced many dangers, each time escaping death by a hair's breadth, and even when companions were killed, they couldn't retrieve their bodies.

"Every previous courtyard had danger... but have you noticed that we've been in this courtyard for so long without any formation appearing? Aside from Redleaf King saying a few words about leaving, there's not even anything special..."

Zhang Xuan looked at the crowd: "Don't you find it strange?"

"This..." The crowd fell silent.

As he said, all previous courtyards were extremely dangerous; one misstep and you'd die in them. But in this courtyard, they had already been here for over twenty minutes without any change—it was indeed puzzling.

"Perhaps Redleaf King didn't activate the formation? His aim is to make us kill each other..." a war master said.

"Indeed, it's to make us kill each other... but he didn't not activate the formation!" Zhang Xuan said.

President Han was startled: "You mean... we are still inside some formation?"

As the president of the Formation Masters Guild and a七星 peak formation master, if a formation were truly activated, he would certainly know.

"Exactly!" Zhang Xuan nodded, his expression grave: "In fact, this courtyard not only has a formation, but it's also not inactive! To tell you the truth, not only is there one, but we are also under attack!"

"This..." Everyone exchanged glances, each feeling utterly bewildered.

Even if they didn't have President Han's formation abilities, as master teachers and war masters, they still had observational skills. The surroundings were quiet, with no fluctuations in spiritual energy—how could there be a formation?

Ignoring the crowd's confusion, Zhang Xuan turned to look at Shen Pingchao not far away: "Dean Shen, what is the usual temperament of this Elder Gan from your Luoqing Academy?"

The Elder Gan he referred to was the old man who had earlier erupted in rage and wanted to kill the war master.

"Elder Gan is a true master teacher, amiable and kind, with a high reputation among the students..."

Not knowing why he suddenly asked this, Shen Pingchao thought for a moment before answering carefully.

Elder Gan usually couldn't bear to scold even mischievous students; he was known as the academy's old good guy and was his close friend... It was precisely for this reason that he didn't hesitate to fall out with Feng Xun.

"An amiable teacher suddenly clamoring to kill people... don't you find it strange?" As if knowing he would answer this way, Zhang Xuan smiled.

"This..." Everyone was taken aback.

"Do you mean... this courtyard has some special formation that interferes with our thoughts and ideas, making us more irritable?"

Recalling something, President Han's face darkened, and he couldn't help saying.

"Exactly. Redleaf King suddenly appeared and deliberately spoke divisive words to plant a flaw in our minds, then quietly activated the formation, affecting our thoughts... Haven't you noticed that in just twenty minutes, we've all become somewhat irritable?"

Zhang Xuan nodded.

The crowd was speechless.

Indeed.

Before, no matter which courtyard, they would treat it with caution, but now the thought that occupied their minds most was how to kill others or themselves... to make up the fifteen spots!

Clearly, their thinking had entered a误区, becoming less rational, which led to several conflicts and even the threat of battle at any moment.

After hearing this explanation, Feng Xun and Shen Pingchao exchanged glances, each breaking out in cold sweat.

Just now, they had felt that way; if not for Wu Shi and others stopping them, they would surely have fought to the death.

"Everyone has fallen under the spell, including even War Master Feng Xun..."

Saying this, Zhang Xuan turned his head and looked at Jiang Yuan not far away: "I'm just curious—how did our great War Master Jiang manage to avoid it, and even analyze rationally that Master Luo had a problem and think she was Tianye King?"

"That's right, weren't you affected by the formation?"

Everyone looked over in unison.

"I..."

His eyebrows twitching, Jiang Yuan then sneered and shook his head: "Master Zhang doesn't need to change the subject! I wasn't affected, but it seems you and Master Luo weren't affected either! Everyone's strength, opportunities, and temperament differ—just because I wasn't affected doesn't make me particularly special or strange!"

"You're right, not being affected doesn't mean it's special..."

Raising his eyelids, Zhang Xuan looked over and smiled lightly: "But you and Feng Xun are both chiliarchs, with similar status in the War Master Hall, even slightly higher, yet along the way, you've hardly said anything... as if you didn't exist. Even when your own subordinate was attacked, you were unmoved. Isn't that... a bit too calm and composed?"