Chapter 642: Zhang Xuan Dead?

"Not as big as Lu Chong's yet. Still a long way off!"

Recalling Lu Chong's soul, which was like a small mountain, Zhang Xuan shook his head.

Five or six meters was enormous for an ordinary sorcerer, but compared to Lu Chong back then, it was still far off.

"Keep absorbing!"

Raising his brows, he continued to absorb frantically.

As he accelerated, the clone not far away also began to speed up.

After another two hours, the spiritual energy in the entire Huaqing Pool visibly diminished, no longer as fierce and turbulent as before.

"The spiritual energy is weakening. I'm just a bit short of ten meters..."

Seeing the spiritual energy weaken, as if it might be absorbed clean at any moment, Zhang Xuan sped up.

His soul was now just a little short of ten meters. Once he broke through this threshold, he would surely be much stronger, not far from Lu Chong even if not equal.

After all, his soul was condensed from the Heavenly Dao功法, far surpassing the other in both spiritual energy requirements and purity.

Boom!

As he was absorbing, he saw the clone beside him tremble slightly and break through the ten-meter threshold.

It had absorbed even faster than the main body.

Wondering why, with the same soul split in two, it was faster than himself, he looked down and was speechless.

He saw that the clone's body, formed from the Nine Heavens Lotus Fetus, was also absorbing continuously.

The lotus fetus was a divine object, unafraid of the pool's violence. Even if its size was small and absorption slower than the soul, many drops made a flood, making the clone much faster than the main body.

After reaching ten meters, the clone's soul was noticeably stronger, giving a fierce pressure, and its absorption speed increased.

"I need to speed up too!"

Knowing time waited for no one, Zhang Xuan dared not hesitate and devoured even more frantically.

But no matter how he cultivated, he felt his speed was much slower than before. Looking up, he saw a huge vortex forming around the clone, and the spiritual energy around him was mostly devoured by that guy. No wonder his progress was unremarkable.

Ten meters and not reaching ten meters was a huge watershed. The other's absorption speed was at least three times faster than his current self.

Seeing that the clone was absorbing faster and faster, about to drain all the spiritual energy from the Huaqing Pool, Zhang Xuan grew angrier and angrier, slapped it on the head, and said, "What's the rush? Leave some for me!"

What the heck!

Get this straight—you're my clone!

Acting all high and mighty, punching the main body senseless is one thing, but snatching spiritual energy too!

How shameless!

I'm an upright mentor—how did I end up with such a shameless clone!

"I..." Slapped, the clone stopped, looking wronged.

Zhang Xuan told it to return to the physical body and put it back into the storage ring, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"Heh, without competition, the main body should be able to break through the ten-meter threshold too!"

Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan's soul suddenly opened all its acupoints.

Before, the clone had been competing with him; now that it was gone, he could show his fastest absorption.

"Begin!"

With a low shout, the acupoints absorbed frantically.

Boom!

Just as the spiritual energy entered the soul and transformed into power, he heard a violent rumble. The Huaqing Pool beneath him shook violently and suddenly exploded.

Splash!

Pool water flowed everywhere, like a river bursting its banks.

"What's happening?"

Stopping absorption, he quickly looked around and saw all the cultivators startled, their eyes wide open.

Each was utterly confused, not knowing what had happened.

"Damn, once the pool water drains, my huge body will surely be discovered. I need to get back quickly!"

His soul hidden in the pool water, surrounded by spiritual energy, was hard to detect. But once the water was gone, covering his tracks would be impossible. He had to return to his physical body now.

Besides, with his soul here, the physical body was just an empty shell. Everyone else had opened their eyes, and if he alone kept his eyes closed 'cultivating,' even a fool would see something was wrong.

...

Outside the Huaqing Pool.

Emperor Ye Wentian and Hall Master Wei Jiang stood not far away, watching the huge pool before them.

"The Huaqing Pool, east of Qingji Mountain and west of Longlin River, gathers the qi of mountains and rivers and condenses the power of earth veins. Cultivating here for three days will surely elevate one's soul by a level and make it tougher."

Stroking his beard, Ye Wentian smiled.

The national treasure of the Huanyu Empire was not merely for tempering the soul; more importantly, the spiritual energy tempered by earth veins could make the soul tougher, greatly aiding future cultivation.

Especially for entering the eighth level of Mortal Transformation, the Void Step realm, it was extremely beneficial.

Void Step: stepping through the void, using the void as a ladder, the soul can borrow natural forces to suspend the physical body in the air for a short time.

If the soul is not strong, let alone suspension, one might not even break through to Unity.

The spiritual energy in the Huaqing Pool's eye, though already calmer, was full of resilience after being agitated by the pool water. Absorbing such energy could make the soul stronger, far better than absorbing pure spirit stones.

That was why this pool was so famous.

"Indeed!" Wei Shi nodded. "Beneath the Huaqing Pool is actually a huge volcano. It gathers heaven and earth spiritual energy and tempers it through the volcano, giving the energy a different quality. After absorption, it not only strengthens the soul but also imbues it with yang fire attributes, making it unafraid of dark forces!"

"Hmm!" Ye Wentian smiled lightly. "Look how violently the spiritual energy boils, like water at a rolling boil. Only through repeated tempering can true gold be obtained. Without such refinement, how can quality improve... Huh? What's going on?"

Just as he was marveling at the Huaqing Pool's power, he suddenly froze, his voice trembling.

Hearing the change in tone, Wei Shi quickly looked and was also stunned.

The pool water, which had been boiling, now seemed as if a ladle of cold water had been poured into it, returning to calm, without a ripple.

"Maybe... after boiling for so long, it wants to calm down?" Swallowing, Wei Shi couldn't help saying.

Having lived over a hundred years, he had experienced the Huaqing Pool's opening many times, even cultivated in it himself... According to past experience, the pool water, impacted by spiritual energy and geothermal fire, should always be boiling. Why had it suddenly become as still as well water?

"Impossible!" Ye Wentian's face turned pale. "The pool is surrounded by formations set by our ancestors. Once it stabilizes, it means the spiritual energy is insufficient. Under the counter-effect, the formations will collapse at any moment..."

Boom!

Before he finished, the ground shook, and a huge crack appeared in the Huaqing Pool, with water gushing out wildly.

"It really collapsed..."

Wei Shi's vision went dark.

This was the national treasure of the Huanyu Empire. Once it collapsed, the empire's high-level experts would sharply decrease, and the entire empire would be in panic!

How could this happen?

It was just a normal opening—cultivators cultivating in the pool's eye. How could the spiritual energy decrease so much, destabilizing the formation and causing a direct collapse?

"I'll go get the Sixth Princess and the others out. Once the pool water dries up... if we can't suppress the volcano below, it's over! Wei Shi, hurry and invite President Wu of the Formation Masters Guild and the others to help repair the formation!"

Seeing the pool water gushing like a burst dam, Emperor Ye Wentian quickly shouted.

This Huaqing Pool was controlled by a huge formation, maintaining a relative balance with Qingji Mountain, Longlin River, and the earth veins. Now that it couldn't bear the strain and broke, the earth veins would shift, easily triggering a volcanic eruption.

If it erupted, not only he, but everyone present would likely be annihilated.

The volcano's heat was such that unless one could fly, escape was impossible. Swallowed by it, even a half-saint couldn't survive!

Heaven's might was invincible. Before true nature, only by becoming a true saint could one barely survive; everything else was nothing.

If the volcano erupted, it wouldn't matter if he encountered danger, but if something happened to the Sixth Princess and the others... it was foreseeable that the entire Huanyu Empire would perish!

He had thought inviting the princess to cultivate here would curry favor and elevate the empire's status. He never dreamed that the always stable Huaqing Pool would suddenly explode!

What a mess!

Why did the Huaqing Pool explode just like that?

If he knew that if this Teacher Zhang had come earlier, the pool would have exploded long ago, he would surely be speechless with frustration.

"Alright! I'll go get help!"

Knowing the gravity of the situation, Wei Shi let out a long cry. A flying beast immediately flew over. He jumped onto its back and rushed toward the imperial capital.

The formation must be restored immediately to control the situation. Otherwise, under the impact of the earth veins, the volcano would erupt, leveling hundreds of kilometers and countless lives would face death!

"Hmm!"

Seeing him leave, Emperor Ye Wentian dared not hesitate and quickly rushed toward the pool eye where the Sixth Princess was.

...

At this moment, Princess Fei'er had woken from cultivation and was staring at the young man before her with Luo Qiqi, exchanging glances.

With such a commotion, the entire Huaqing Pool was about to explode, yet this Teacher Zhang was still cultivating with his eyes closed... How could he be so calm?

If he were truly cultivating, that would be one thing... but the Clear Spirit Incense floating before him was still the same length as before. That meant that after four hours, this guy hadn't absorbed a bit of spiritual energy!

Without absorbing spiritual energy, what was he cultivating?

"Teacher Zhang..."

Unable to bear it any longer, Luo Qiqi couldn't help calling out.

There was no response from the other side.

"The Huaqing Pool suddenly had an accident, and I can't catch up to you. Even if you win..."

Princess Fei'er snorted.

He had already consumed over five sticks, while she had not dared to stop for four hours and had used less than one stick. She was far behind, so she had definitely lost the bet.

I've already lost, so stop pretending. Get up now!

After she spoke, the other party still had his eyes closed, unmoving.

"What's wrong with him?"

Even they could tell something was off.

"Let me check!"

Anxious, Luo Qiqi leaped into Zhang Xuan's pool eye, pulled at him, and found no response. She couldn't help touching his nose and then his body, and was startled.

The young man's body was stiff, and his breathing had stopped.

"He... he... is dead!"

Her lips trembling, Luo Qiqi's face turned pale.