Chapter 645: The Flesh Is Too Weak

"Crawl in by himself?"

The crowd exchanged glances, each looking as if they had been struck from behind on the head.

"Do you take me for a fool? His soul has left his body; he's like a corpse. How could he possibly crawl into the Cleansing Pool?"

Princess Fei'er raised her delicate brows, her eyes glaring over.

If you're going to bluff, at least come up with a half-decent excuse!

This Master Zhang had just been examined—his heart and breathing had completely stopped, his body stiff and cold, no different from a corpse.

Even carrying him away would be difficult; how could he possibly crawl away on his own?

Ye Wentian, Master Hong, and the others shared the same thought, waiting for his explanation.

"I... it's true!"

Seeing everyone looking at him as if he were insane, Luo Xuan was about to lose his mind.

The commotion from the Cleansing Pool had been too loud just now; everyone's attention was drawn to it, including his own. As he was watching to see what would happen with the pool water, he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow.

It was this Zhang Xuan, who lay on the ground like a corpse!

This guy seemed to have summoned strength from somewhere. Bracing his hands on the ground, he quickly crawled toward the pool. Even he only saw a gray shadow, without making out anything specific.

"Don't rush. How did he crawl in just now? Did he wake up, or was he still in the same state as before?"

Seeing his contorted face, as if he could barely speak, Luo Qiqi couldn't help asking.

"He... his eyes were still closed, his body stiff. He hadn't woken up at all, and there was no sign of life..." Luo Xuan thought for a moment and said.

Even though it was just a glimpse, as a half-step five-star master, he could still make out some details.

Apart from being able to move, this guy was no different from before. It felt as if he were a marionette, pulled forward by something.

Of course, as for more specific details, even if he wanted to say them, he couldn't.

"Body stiff, eyes closed... crawling into the Purification Pool on his own?" Princess Feier frowned. "You mean... he's reanimated?"

"Cough, cough!"

Ye Wentian almost choked on his saliva. "Master Zhang is merely separated from his soul, not dead, so... there's no such thing as reanimation!"

"Then... what about him running off on his own?" Master Hong couldn't help asking.

Among those present, only he and Luo Xuan knew Zhang Xuan's identity. Although Bi Jianghai had also come from the Master Teacher Tournament, he hadn't participated in the events of that night and wasn't in the know.

A personal disciple of an eight-star master teacher, not only had his soul been separated from his body, but he was also suspected of reanimating... How was he supposed to explain this?

"I'm not sure either!" Ye Wentian shook his head.

Even he had never heard of such a bizarre scene.

Boom!

Just as everyone was puzzled, pondering what could make a soul-departed person crawl away, the ground shook violently again.

Everyone stumbled, nearly falling.

"Damn, the earth vein's power is growing stronger, we can't hold out much longer. Everyone help out, just inject your true qi into the pool to maintain stability!"

President Wu roared.

Hearing the shout, the crowd forgot about Zhang Xuan's 'resurrected corpse' escape and looked ahead again.

The pool water, sealed by the formation flags, was churning again, as if boiling, ready to burst out at any moment.

Elder Lu, Elder Han, and the others, in order to maintain the formation's stability, were madly expelling true qi, their faces pale, as if they might collapse at any moment.

"Alright, quickly inject true qi into the pool!"

Hearing this, Ye Wentian knew it was the most critical moment. Without time to think, he stepped forward, grabbed with his hand, and poured his abundant true qi into the pool.

Boom!

With the injection of true qi into the pool, the slightly shaking formation flags stabilized a bit.

Then Master Wei, Master Hong, Luo Qiqi, Princess Fei'er, and all the top three contestants joined in.

Under the infusion of countless streams of true qi, the unsteady formation began to stabilize, and the violently churning pool water seemed to calm down. However, the roar of the volcano below could still be heard, like a giant beast temporarily suppressed, but as time passed, it would still break through.

"President Wu, using brute force like this is not a long-term solution!" Master Wei couldn't help saying.

Now, with many people and great strength, relying on brute force and sheer quantity of true qi could maintain the formation and suppress the earth vein and volcano below. But once everyone's true qi was exhausted, it would likely rebound!

Moreover, the longer the earth vein accumulated, the stronger its gathered power would become, like a spring—the more you suppressed it, the greater the rebound, making it even harder to handle!

"Yes, you all hold it down for now. Let me see how this formation operates, so I can better integrate it with the ground, merge Mount Qingji and Dragon Scale River, and completely control the volcano below!"

President Wu said.

Formations can change according to mountains, rivers, geography, and even the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, displaying different powers.

Although the many elders he brought had restarted the formation using the flags, after the recent tremors, the ground's shape had changed. The formation had to be adjusted appropriately to maximize its power.

If the formation could be successfully activated and gather spiritual energy again, it might be able to withstand the current situation and resolve the crisis.

"Alright!"

Ye Wentian, Master Wei, and the others understood the situation and said no more. They opened their palms and frantically channeled true qi into the pool to maintain the status quo and prevent further changes.

President Wu, holding a compass, slowly rotated along the formation, seeking a way to maximize its power.

……

On the shore, chaos reigned.

In the pool, Zhang Xuan's soul body breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the pool's eruption had drawn everyone's attention; otherwise, retrieving his physical body would not have been so easy.

Because his soul body was too large to squeeze in all at once, he had to find a way to control parts of the body to make it walk over on its own. He had tried to control the thigh, but the leg was too difficult; after much effort, he only managed to move the arm, so he had no choice but to crawl over "himself."

Thus... the scene of a "corpse rising" appeared in Luo Xuan's eyes.

"Never mind that, I must get the soul into the body first!"

Knowing that everyone outside must be terrified, but this was not the time to dwell on it, he focused his mind, and the soul body shot straight toward the brow.

No matter how hard it was to get in, he had to; otherwise, the physical body would truly die.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

The massive soul body burrowed into the physical body, like stuffing an elephant through a small door one person high, squeezing until darkness loomed before his eyes.

"Can't squeeze in..."

He couldn't help shaking his head.

Forcing a soul body nearly ten meters tall into a body about 1.8 meters—if the soul body weren't formless and intangible, even crushing the bones wouldn't get it in.

The soul was twisted from the squeezing, yet not even half had entered.

"By the way, why did the clone succeed so easily?"

He suddenly froze.

The clone's soul was even larger than his, yet it entered its body with ease, without any hindrance. Why was his own so troublesome?

Whoosh!

Puzzled, he released the clone, communicated with it, and was left speechless.

The clone's body was refined from the Nine Heavens Lotus Fetus, possessing great flexibility. Even a soul body a hundred meters tall could easily slip in without any effort.

As for him, he was but a mortal body...

Glancing at the clone, he felt frustrated that he, the original, was inferior to his own clone.

But there was no help for it; the divine material's starting point was too high. In this alone, he could not compare.

"It seems I must urgently train the physical body after getting out; otherwise, as the soul continues to cultivate, the body won't be able to bear it!"

He rubbed his brow again.

After communicating with the clone, he understood: the main reason he couldn't squeeze in was that his physical body was not strong enough!

If it were like the Nine Heavens Lotus Fetus, it would be very simple.

He had only trained his physical body twice, and back then he hadn't even reached the Mortal Transformation realm. Compared to others, it was extremely strong, but to accommodate such a vast soul, it was still insufficient.

"What a mess..."

Zhang Xuan was utterly speechless.

Seeing the rich spiritual energy in the Purification Pool, he had been too delighted and absorbed too much, causing his soul to be unable to enter. Such an absurd blunder... he was probably the only one in history.

"For now, I must find a way to train the physical body..."

Only by strengthening the body could it accommodate such a huge soul. But without a soul, the body couldn't be driven—how could he train?

This was a chicken-and-egg problem, giving him a headache.

Rumble!

Just as he was worrying and at a loss, he felt the pool water shake violently. Looking down, he saw a massive surge of heat boiling up from below, the entire Purification Pool seething like a cauldron.

"Is this geothermal heat? Could... there be a volcanic vent below?"

He frowned.

His physical body was protected by soul power, so even boiling water couldn't harm it. But for the pool water to turn like this in an instant, there must be a huge volcano below.

Only the Earth's Core Fire could be so scorching!

He had seen such fire before when gathering the Crimson Flame Lotus Seeds and knew how terrifying it was.

"By the way, if I could channel the Earth's Core Fire here, using the earth fire and the pool water together, yin and yang merging... perhaps I could temper the physical body even without the soul!"

Just as he was worrying about how to strengthen the body, a thought struck him, and his eyes lit up.

Throughout his journey, he had read countless books, many of which discussed methods for tempering and enhancing physical strength.

Some used poisons, some used extremes, and some... used this kind of Earth's Core Fire and spiritual energy pool.

The Earth's Core Fire, formed by the agitation of earth veins, carried the heaviness of the earth; the spiritual energy pool, formed by the convergence of spirit veins, bore the majesty of nature. Their fusion was most suitable for tempering the physical body.

"But... the spiritual energy in the pool has been mostly absorbed by me and the clone..."

Confirming that there was Earth's Core Fire below and knowing the method, Zhang Xuan felt somewhat relieved, but a new problem arose.

This Purification Pool had accumulated spiritual energy for who knows how many years, and he and the clone had absorbed it for a full four hours, nearly depleting it... Without spiritual energy, the pool water alone could not withstand the Earth's Core Fire.

If he didn't solve this problem and just channeled the Earth's Core Fire, it wouldn't be tempering the body—it would be roasting it!

If he stayed in the earth fire for a while, added a bit of oil, salt, and cumin, he could be served up directly.