Chapter 648: Qingji Mountain

Everyone was baffled, and the Teacher Yang they so admired, as soon as he flew out of sight, went limp and fell from the sky with a whoosh.

Bang!

Then, with a pained groan, the imposing Teacher Yang's features slowly shifted into Zhang Xuan's.

Couldn't you lend a hand and just watched me fall from the sky?

Clutching his dizzy head from the fall, Zhang Xuan glared at the doppelganger beside him, furious enough to spit blood.

This Teacher Yang was, of course, his disguise, while that 'Zhang Xuan' was his doppelganger.

Just now, at the bottom of the Purification Pool, using everyone's true qi and the Earth Core Flame, he had successfully strengthened his physical body, finally allowing the nearly ten-meter-tall soul to squeeze inside.

No sooner had he finished than he realized the Purification Pool could no longer hold and was about to explode at any moment.

To save his life, he quickly had the Library check, and only then understood that he and his doppelganger had absorbed all the spiritual energy from the pool water, causing the three forces to lose balance and create such a commotion.

Knowing this, he felt deeply embarrassed.

They had kindly let him come to cultivate, and the moment he arrived, he caused the pool to explode...

It really wasn't considerate.

But to be honest, he hadn't meant to!

If anyone was to blame, it was... the doppelganger. If not for this fool, recklessly absorbing without restraint, how could the spiritual energy have been depleted and the balance broken?

But now, saying all this was useless. If he ran out to explain, he'd probably be slapped to death by the furious Ye Wentian.

With no other choice, he had 'Teacher Yang' appear again.

This 'great expert' personally showing up and resolving the crisis for them was also a way to make amends for destroying their Purification Pool.

To make things more convincing, he had the doppelganger disguise himself as Zhang Xuan, pretending to still be unconscious.

That way, it would be easy to explain when they returned—he could simply shift the blame, saying the teacher had saved him and he knew nothing else.

Surely, having seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn't pursue the matter further.

His flight relied on the Red Dust Heaven-Stepping Steps; when his true qi ran out, he would fall from the sky. The doppelganger was different—his dominant power was the soul, and as the Nine Heavens Lotus Embryo was a divine object, it could fly on its own.

Thus, the duo's act fooled even a five-star pinnacle master teacher like Wei Shi, who saw no flaw.

Just after flying here, his true qi was nearly depleted, and with both soul and body having just broken through, he hadn't adapted yet. His vision went black, and he fell straight down!

He had thought that the doppelganger beside him would at least lend a hand and let him land smoothly, but this fool remained indifferent, letting him crash to the ground...

It infuriated him to the point of bursting!

Though it wasn't very high, and given his current physical strength, the fall wasn't severe, but... as a doppelganger, not sharing the original's worries at all was too much of a letdown!

What kind of nonsense was this!

You need to remember, you're just a doppelganger. When the original is in trouble, you should step up proactively...

Just as he was about to give this guy a good ideological lesson and make him understand the hierarchy, he saw this fool slowly close his eyes... with a look that said, 'You're the one who's stupid, none of my business.'

...

Zhang Xuan was speechless.

I said you couldn't 'watch' me fall, so you close your eyes—how did I end up with such a fool like you?

Other people's doppelgangers are all fierce and formidable, rushing to the original's defense when injured. This one, on the contrary, lets the original fall half-dead... I'm speechless!

He's an absolute disaster.

Let's first see how much my strength has increased!

Too lazy to keep being angry with this guy, Zhang Xuan looked over.

Under the impact of the Earth Core Flame and the spiritual pool water, his physical body had made great progress. Every cell was hard and resilient, like steel.

Flipping his wrist, he punched out.

Boom!

A large tree more than ten meters away shook, and a fist-sized hole appeared in it, as if cut by a knife.

Is my physical body alone this strong?

His eyes lit up.

This punch used no soul power, no true qi—just a casual strike from his physical body to test its strength. Unexpectedly, the air pressure from the punch had blasted a hole through a tree more than ten meters away that three people could barely encircle!

Such concentrated attack power—even a Mortal Transformation Fifth Layer Spirit Union realm expert would find it hard to achieve!

Physical body alone... 2,000,000 cauldrons!

Clenching his fist, Zhang Xuan's eyes shone.

From this one strike, he had tested his physical strength, which, like his true qi, had reached a full 2,000,000 cauldrons.

That is, even without true qi or soul power, relying solely on muscles, he could smash an early-stage Spirit Union realm expert to pieces.

Terrifying!

What about soul power?

After examining his body, he focused his mind, activated his soul power, and extended his palm.

Boom!

A small hill dozens of meters away was blasted into dust.

Though still at the Spirit Union realm peak with 3,200,000 cauldrons of power, his stamina was much greater—practically inexhaustible...

His eyes lit up again.

Although the soul's size had grown from about 1.8 meters, matching his body, to nearly ten meters, the strength intensity hadn't increased—still 3,200,000 cauldrons.

But the endurance was different.

For example, an ordinary person using full strength could lift a 200-jin weight, but only once; the second time would require a long rest.

Previously, being able to burst out 3,200,000 cauldrons referred to the limit—that is, the maximum attack power was that much; normal attacks couldn't reach that level with every punch.

Now, with the soul body ten meters long, every strike carried 3,200,000 cauldrons, like a perpetual motion machine, never tiring!

This was extremely terrifying. Every punch at 3,200,000 cauldrons, though not overwhelmingly powerful, if sustained, could even beat an early-stage Mortal Transformation Sixth Layer Bridge Heaven realm expert to death.

Physical body 2,000,000 cauldrons, true qi 2,000,000 cauldrons, soul power 3,200,000 cauldrons—over 7,000,000 cauldrons in total, enough to fight even a Mortal Transformation Sixth Layer Bridge Heaven realm peak expert!

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Xuan felt his body burning with battle intent, like an invincible vajra.

Being only at the Turbid Clarity realm peak yet possessing power that even a Bridge Heaven realm peak expert couldn't match—anyone would feel such pride. (Bridge Heaven realm peak has 6,400,000 cauldrons of force.)

Come on, let's exchange a punch!

Smiling lightly, Zhang Xuan looked at the doppelganger not far away.

Last time, because his physical body was weak, he was sent flying by the doppelganger's punch and nearly spat blood. Now, with breakthroughs in spirit, energy, and soul power, it wouldn't be so easy for the other to defeat him!

Maybe he could even injure him, teach him a lesson, and make this fool understand the hierarchy!

Mm! The doppelganger turned around and extended a fist.

Raising his brows, Zhang Xuan converged his body, soul, and qi into one, instantly reaching the peak of his power.

At this moment, he felt he could kill even an early-stage Mortal Transformation Seventh Layer expert with one punch!

Boom!

The two fists collided.

You...

With a cry of pain, the doppelganger stood still, while Zhang Xuan flew straight backward, his back snapping over a dozen trees in a row, flying several hundred meters before stopping, spitting blood profusely.

Damn it!

Do you have to be so ruthless?

He had thought that with such a big improvement this time, teaching the other a lesson would be easy. Never in his dreams did he expect the gap to seem even wider...

He had used all his strength to hit the other, but the other wasn't even scratched, while he was nearly dead...

This is too much! Who is the doppelganger here, and who is the original?

Struggling to his feet, Zhang Xuan looked utterly resentful.

Your physical body isn't strong enough yet to fully unleash the soul's power.

Just as he was feeling annoyed, he saw the doppelganger walk over, hands behind his back, face bearing an unassailable dignity: 'If you want to surpass me, you need more training. Of course, if you acknowledge me as your teacher, I can teach you...'

Get lost...

His vision darkening, Zhang Xuan kicked the guy flying and put him into the ring.

A doppelganger, actually putting on airs to be the original's teacher—unbelievable!

If you're so capable, why don't you fly to the sky?

Though this guy is infuriating, what he said is true!

Putting the guy away, Zhang Xuan frowned again.

The doppelganger was another self. Though sometimes he spoke unreliably and acted unpredictably, what he just said about the physical body not being strong enough to fully unleash soul power was indeed true.

With the help of the Earth Core Flame and the spiritual pool water, the physical body had made great progress, but the tempering time was too short—it only allowed the massive soul to squeeze inside.

To fully adapt and unleash its power was still clearly insufficient.

When the soul doesn't match the body, control over power becomes less precise...

If the soul is too strong and the body too weak, even if they merge, it's hard to master power as before in a short time.

It's like an adult occupying an infant's body—it's easy to have a situation where the will is there but the strength falls short, or even fail to fully control one's own strength.

He was in that situation now. Though his body could accommodate such a huge soul, it was still relatively weak in comparison, and his control over the body wasn't as fine as before.

A similar situation had occurred when he first cultivated the Heavenly Dao Golden Body at Master Lu Chen's place.

Back then, he clearly felt he hadn't used force, but in reality, he had used a lot.

This time, it was somewhat irregular—sometimes he felt he used a lot of force but actually used little, and sometimes he felt he used little but actually used a lot.

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

Rubbing his forehead.

The hasty tempering of his body earlier was clearly not enough. He must find a way to increase his physical strength as soon as possible; otherwise, with power fluctuating between strong and weak, others might think he's crazy.

Maybe I should go back and ask Emperor Ye Wentian to find a physical cultivation technique to condense the third level of the Heavenly Dao Golden Body. Once successful, my physical strength will surely increase dramatically!

As long as he had enough physical cultivation methods, the Library could form the Heavenly Dao Golden Body, and he could cultivate and improve.

Where is this?

Understanding this, he stopped thinking and noticed his surroundings. He couldn't help but freeze.

This is... Qingji Mountain?

Earlier, to avoid being seen leaving by Ye Wentian and the others, he had flown at top speed, not knowing how far he had gone. He hadn't expected to be so far from the Feathered Fantasy Imperial Capital, deep in Qingji Mountain.