Chapter 641: Frenzied Absorption

"Cheating?"

Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

If it was about cheating, he had indeed done it. Others were concentrating their minds to absorb, using the bridge of the physical body to nourish the soul.

But he directly took out his soul and actively absorbed.

It was like selling goods: the merchant and the buyer both benefit, but with an intermediary, it's not necessarily so.

But strictly speaking, it was all cultivation, without using any treasures or weapons, so it wasn't cheating.

"Oh really? If it's not cheating, how can you absorb so fast?"

Princess Fei'er's eyes widened.

"Well..." Zhang Xuan didn't know how to respond.

He definitely couldn't mention the matter of the Soul Shaman, or there would be plenty of trouble.

Hesitating for a moment, he said, "If it's cheating, there must be some method. You, a princess of the Hongyuan Empire, can't do it, so how could I? If you don't believe me, how about we swap pool eyes?"

"Yours is almost all absorbed, who would swap with you!" Princess Fei'er rolled her eyes.

You're thinking of a good deal; yours is almost gone, if I go over, what's left to absorb!

"Teacher, I'll swap with you..."

Princess Fei'er disagreed, but Luo Qiqi on the side spoke up.

She was the strongest among the few geniuses from the Master Teacher Academy, having reached the peak of the Bridge Heaven realm.

With this level of strength, to be honest, the effect of the Huaqing Pool was not very significant anymore.

Using a not-so-significant opportunity to see how the other party absorbed wasn't a loss.

"This..."

Startled for a moment, Zhang Xuan nodded.

His pool had no spiritual energy left, and his soul had only improved a little; he couldn't just stay here waiting, could he!

He stepped out of his own pool eye and entered Luo Qiqi's; they exchanged.

"Alright, start cultivating now. If you can still absorb this fast, then I'll believe you're not cheating!"

Princess Fei'er snorted.

This time, as Zhang Xuan entered the pool eye, she watched without blinking. He hadn't put anything in, so there was definitely no way to cheat.

"Hmm!"

Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan didn't say much. His soul gently trembled, left his physical body, and entered a state of intersection with it.

At such a close distance, even a six-star master teacher couldn't see anything, let alone them.

Rumble!

As the soul began to cultivate, the Qing Shen incense floating in the pool eye burned like fire again. In less than five minutes, nearly three sticks were about to burn out.

The soul returned to the physical body, and Zhang Xuan was full of helplessness.

He thought changing pool eyes would be better, but the result was about the same.

The soul had barely absorbed anything, and the pool was already dry...

With so little spiritual energy stored here, how could he cultivate?

Remember, back then, when his soul improved, it had drained the entire mother water of the Yin-Yang Pool.

"Did you see clearly just now? Did I cheat?"

Feeling frustrated, he looked up at the girl not far away.

"This..." A look of embarrassment crossed her face, and Princess Fei'er's pretty face flushed red: "No!"

She suspected him of cheating, but he showed her with real ability... he absorbed that fast, what could she do about it?

Her face flushed red, and she felt so frustrated she could vomit blood.

If she had known he absorbed so fast, why would she have compared with him?

Wasn't this asking for trouble?

It seemed that continuing this bet was meaningless; she was bound to lose anyway...

"Alright, hurry up and cultivate!"

Seeing the girl about to cry, Zhang Xuan felt embarrassed and waved his hand: "Don't worry, you might still win..."

He had promised Xing Yuan to let her win; he couldn't just crush her confidence, could he!

"Might..."

Luo Qiqi on the side rolled her eyes.

You're fooling ghosts, aren't you!

You cultivated for five minutes and consumed nearly three sticks of Qing Shen incense. The two of us combined haven't made a move, how can the Sixth Princess win?

That consolation was too insincere!

"Teacher is right, hurry up and cultivate! Otherwise, we'll waste this opportunity..."

Though frustrated, Luo Qiqi still spoke up.

"Hmm!"

Princess Fei'er nodded and closed her eyes to cultivate.

Although she knew the chance of winning was almost zero, cultivating here was still beneficial for the soul, so she couldn't waste it.

Seeing her friend could still cultivate despite the blow, Luo Qiqi breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at Teacher Zhang, and also closed her eyes.

Although the spiritual energy here was mostly absorbed, at her speed, she could still absorb for half a day without issue.

Seeing the two continue cultivating, Zhang Xuan rubbed his forehead.

Using the soul to absorb was too fast; the last stick of Qing Shen incense would probably be consumed in less than a minute.

If that happened, wouldn't this trip to the Huaqing Pool be almost ineffective before leaving?

That would be too much of a loss!

But continuing to cultivate with the physical body was unnecessary.

After all, since he could use the soul, there was no need to take the long way around and go through so much trouble.

"What to do?"

Feeling frustrated, he was about to wait for the last bit of Qing Shen incense to burn out and leave, when suddenly his eyes lit up.

"Right, how did I forget the library!"

He had been so focused on how to cultivate that he forgot about this thing.

He dipped his fingers into the pool water and focused his mind.

"Flaws!"

Immediately, his mind shook, and a book appeared before him.

"In the Master Teacher Continent, the pool eye of the Huaqing Pool in the Huanyu Empire contains spiritual energy that can nourish the soul, enhancing soul power. Flaw one: the spiritual energy contained is too little; absorbing with the soul easily depletes it, far less than the rich spiritual energy in the pool water! Flaw two..."

The book recorded dozens of flaws, big and small.

"Rich spiritual energy in the pool water? Right, the spiritual energy in the pool eye seeps from the pool water. If I could directly absorb from the pool water, wouldn't I have as much as I want?"

After reading the first flaw, his eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but look at the pool not far away.

The Huaqing Pool, with surging energy and intermingling forces, looked awe-inspiring and daunting to approach.

In comparison, the pool eye was calm, though it had spiritual energy, it was far inferior to that over there.

It was like digging a pit on a sandy beach by the river; soon a puddle forms.

The pool eye was actually formed by the seepage of spiritual energy from the pool, so naturally the amount was minimal.

To absorb more spiritual power, this huge Huaqing Pool was the best choice.

"But... the Huaqing Pool can melt even a mid-grade spirit weapon in an instant; if I enter, I definitely won't be able to withstand it."

Although he knew there was plenty of spiritual energy inside, the scene from earlier still lingered in his mind, making him hesitate to act rashly.

This thing could easily melt even mid-grade spirit weapons; he thought his physical body was strong, but compared to weapons of that level, it was still far behind.

"Hmm? How can I be so stupid!"

After worrying for a while and finding no solution, he suddenly slapped his forehead and smiled bitterly: "If the physical body can't enter, I can stay here and just let the soul go in!"

For others, leaving the soul from the body meant certain death, but he was different. Having inherited the soul shaman legacy from tens of thousands of years ago, his soul could leave the body; he could simply let his soul enter!

Other soul shamans' souls, upon entering the pool, would definitely be unable to withstand the yang fire power that could melt weapons and would be torn to shreds. But he was different... The soul refined by the Heavenly Dao Soul Shaman Art had no soul power decay; even if it entered, it wouldn't be affected at all!

And even if the pool's energy was fierce, the soul was formless and could reassemble even if torn apart; no big deal!

"Let's try!"

Without any hesitation, Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged, keeping his physical body in a cultivating posture. With a thought, his soul left his body again.

The soul flew through the air, reached the boundary between the pool eye and the pool water, hesitated for a moment, and extended its hand.

Whoosh!

The hand plunged into the pool water.

"Indeed, no problem..."

Seeing that the soul body was unharmed and felt no discomfort, Zhang Xuan's eyes lit up. He stepped forward, and his entire soul entered the pool.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

The Huaqing Pool seemed to boil, the water churning endlessly. The power that could easily melt even mid-grade spirit weapons had no effect on him.

"Absorb!"

He walked a few steps to the center of the pool, sat cross-legged in the water, and immediately activated the Heavenly Dao Soul Shaman Art.

Rumble!

Fierce and violent power immediately surged into his soul through its acupoints, causing his soul body to grow wildly.

"Such rich spiritual energy..."

He let out a comfortable moan, almost laughing out loud.

Truly, when the mountains are heavy and the rivers twist, and there seems to be no way, another village appears in the dark with willows and flowers bright.

He thought that with the rapid burning of the Qing Shen incense, this Huaqing Pool would be useless to him, but he never dreamed that his soul could directly enter the pool water and absorb freely.

The spiritual energy in the pool was hundreds, thousands of times more than in the pool eye; he could absorb without restraint, without scruples!

"Right, let the clone come out and absorb too!"

With a thought.

The clone also needed to increase soul power; such a good opportunity, let him join in.

With a thought, he communicated with the storage ring, and the next moment, the clone appeared in the pool eye.

To prevent others from discovering that there were two Zhang Xuans, he deliberately made the clone appear in the pool water, where the spiritual energy concealed it, making it invisible.

"The clone is formed from the Nine Heavens Lotus Fetus; it should not fear these pool waters."

The clone's material, known as a divine object, was naturally much stronger than a mid-grade spirit weapon; perhaps it wouldn't fear the pool water.

Guessing in his heart, he let the clone touch the pool water, and as expected, there was no change.

"Go over."

He controlled the clone to swim from the bottom to the middle of the pool, soon sitting side by side with the soul.

"Let's begin!"

The clone's soul also appeared, and the two souls began to absorb simultaneously.

Rumble!

Splash!

In the middle of the Huaqing Pool, two huge whirlpools seemed to form, with countless spiritual energy rushing in straight.

Creak! Creak! Creak!

The two souls, like taking a tonic pill, grew continuously, both becoming tall and large from about the size of a physical body.

Two meters, three meters, four meters...

After absorbing the power of the Yin-Yang Pool's mother water earlier, his soul had grown to over three meters tall, and now it was even more exaggerated.

The two souls of the original and the clone continuously absorbed power. After two hours, they had reached five or six meters in size.

It could be said that they were no different from giants.