Chapter 641: Frenzied Absorption
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
"Cheating?"
Zhang Xuan scratched his head.
In a sense, what he did could really be considered as cheating.
While the others were using their physical bodies as a bridge to nourish their soul, he was plunging his soul straight into the Lake Eye and absorbing the spiritual energy directly.
This was just like how a retailer"s profit margin would be cut should there be an intermediary between them and the manufacturer.
But to be fair, he didn"t make use of any artifact or weapon; it was all done through his own ability. Thus, it couldn"t really be called cheating in the strictest sense.
"Indeed, cheating. If that"s not the case, how could you absorb spiritual energy so quickly?"
Princess Fei-er widened her eyes.
"This…" Zhang Xuan had no idea how he should reply to that.
The matter regarding soul oracles mustn"t be made known or things could prove to become troublesome.
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan replied, "If I had cheated, surely you should know how I did it. If even a princess from Hongyuan Empire couldn"t find a way to cheat, how could I have possibly done so? If you don"t believe me, why don"t we swap Lake Eyes?"
"Your Lake Eye is nearly empty already, who would want to switch with you?" Princess Fei-er rolled her eyes.
Dream on! You have nearly finished absorbing your Lake Eye already. If I were to swap with you, what am I supposed to absorb?
"Teacher, I"ll swap with you…"
On the other hand, Luo Qiqi offered her own Lake Eye to Zhang Xuan.
She was the strongest among the group who came from the Master Teacher Academy, having reached Cosmos Bridge realm pinnacle.
Given her cultivation, the effects of the Cleansing Lake on her were already terribly limited.
As such, she was willing to trade it for a chance to see how the other party managed to absorb the spiritual energy from the Lake Eye so quickly.
"This…"
After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan nodded.
His soul cultivation had only advanced by a small bit before his Lake Eye started to run low on spiritual energy. He couldn"t possibly just wait idly for everyone to be done!
Leaving his Lake Eye, Zhang Xuan stepped Luo Qiqi"s, and Luo Qiqi stepped into his.
"Alright, you can start cultivating now. If you can cultivate as fast as before, I"ll believe that you didn"t cheat!"
Princess Fei-er harrumphed.
This time, she stared at Zhang Xuan"s Lake Eye without even blinking. She wanted to make sure the other party didn"t put anything into the lake to cheat.
"Un!"
Shaking his head, Zhang Xuan"s body jolted slightly as his soul was drawn out from his physical body.
Even a 6-star soul oracle was unable to see his soul, needless to say, they couldn"t see it either.
Hong long long!
As he started to cultivate, the Spirit Cleansing Incense floating on the Lake Eye began burning down swiftly. In less than five minutes, the three incense sticks were on the verge of burning out once more.
Zhang Xuan returned his soul back to his body helplessly.
He had thought that things would improve if he changed to another Lake Eye, but he didn"t expect the results to be the same.
The lake dried out once more before his soul managed to get much spiritual energy in…
The spiritual energy inside was simply too little, how was he supposed to cultivate like that?
One should remember that for his soul to improve, he had sucked the entire seed water of the Yin-Yang Lake dry back then.
Frustrated, Zhang Xuan raised his head to look at the lady before him.
"You saw everything just now, did I cheat?"
"This…" Princess Fei-er fidgeted awkwardly, and her face reddened. "No!"
She had cast doubt on the other party"s integrity, and yet the other party used his impressive capability to prove her wrong… What do you expect me to say?
She felt so stifled inside that she could spew blood at any moment.
If only she knew that this fellow absorbed spiritual energy so swiftly, she would have never competed with him.
Wasn"t this just looking for a face slap?
It seemed like there was no point continuing this wager, she was already destined to lose…
"Alright, you should hurry up and cultivate."
Seeing that the lady was on the verge of tears, Zhang Xuan felt awkward. He waved his hands and said, "There"s no need to get anxious now, there"s a chance that you might still win…"
He did promise Xing Yuan to allow the other party to win. He couldn"t possibly allow the other party to give up as soon as the bet began!
"A chance…"
Luo Qiqi rolled her eyes.
Who do you think you are fooling?
You finished nearly three Spirit Cleansing Incense in five minutes whereas both of our incense have barely burned through the tip. How could Fei-er win like that?
Surely you could put more sincerity into your consolation!
"Teacher is right, we should hurry up and cultivate! Let"s not waste this opportunity…"
Even though Luo Qiqi felt frenzied by Zhang Xuan"s words, she still spoke up to advise her good friend.
"Un!"
Princess Fei-er nodded before closing her eyes to cultivate.
While she knew that her odds of victory were nearly zero, cultivating here was highly beneficial to the soul, and this was an opportunity not to be wasted.
Seeing that her good friend was still in the mood to cultivate, Luo Qiqi heaved a sigh of relief. She shot Zhang laos.h.i.+ a glance before shutting her eyes.
While the spiritual energy in the Lake Eye was nearly depleted, given her rate of cultivation, it was still sufficient to last her half a day.
Watching as the duo continued cultivating, Zhang Xuan rubbed his glabella.
If he were to continue using his soul to absorb, this Spirit Cleansing Incense would surely burn out in less than one minute.
It was a hard-to-come-by opportunity to enter the Cleansing Lake; was he going to walk out of here without gaining anything?
After all he had done, he felt like he had made a huge loss!
But there was nothing else he could do at the moment.
There was no point intentionally slowing his cultivation by absorbing it via his body.
"What should I do?"
Frustrated, Zhang Xuan was just considering if he should finish absorbing the spiritual energy in the Lake Eye and leave when a thought suddenly struck him, and his eyes lit up.
"Right! How did I forget about the Library of Heaven"s Path?"
He had been too busy cultivating that he forgot about it.
Placing his finger into the lake, he willed.
"Flaws!"
Following which, his head jolted, and a book appeared before him.
"Master Teacher Continent, Huanyu Empire Cleansing Lake"s Lake Eye. It possesses spiritual energy capable of nouris.h.i.+ng one"s soul and raising one"s soul cultivation. Flaws: No.1, there is too little spiritual energy inside as compared to the water in the lake. If one were to absorb it directly via one"s soul, it"ll dry up very swiftly. No.2…"
Various flaws were listed in the book.
"Too little spiritual energy as compared to the water in the lake? That"s right! The spiritual energy from the Lake Eye originates from the lake, so if I can absorb the spiritual energy straight from the lake, I won"t need to worry about it the spiritual energy drying up anymore!"
Upon seeing the first flaw, Zhang Xuan"s eyes lit up as he turned his gaze to the lake beside him.
The furious surges of energy intersecting one another within the Cleansing Lake induced fear in those that set their eyes on it, leaving them daring not to approach.
In comparison, the Lake Eye was visibly much calmer. The spiritual energy here seemed much more inviting as compared to the raging ones on the other side.
Similar to how a pit dug on a beach would be filled in soon by the waves of the sea, the Lake Eyes were formed by the spiritual energy from the lake permeating into these depressions. Naturally, the concentration of spiritual energy it contained was as good as a drop within an ocean.
If Zhang Xuan wanted to absorb more spiritual energy, the ma.s.sive Cleansing Lake was his best bet.
"Just that… given how the Cleansing Lake was able to even melt a Spirit intermediate-tier weapon in an instant, it"s impossible for me to withstand it as well!"
While Zhang Xuan knew there was plenty of spiritual energy inside the lake, he didn"t dare move recklessly, especially with the previous sight still fresh in his mind.
That lake actually melted even a Spirit intermediate-tier weapon! Even though Zhang Xuan was confident in the resilience of his body, he knew he couldn"t compare up to a weapon of that tier.
After a long moment of contemplation, just as Zhang Xuan was about to give up, he suddenly slapped his forehead, and his eyes gleamed in excitement. "Hmm? Why am I so foolish?
"My physical body might not be able to enter the lake, but my soul can!"
If others were to separate their souls from their bodies, death would be inevitable. However, Zhang Xuan was an exception. Having inherited the several dozen millennia heritage of the soul oracles, he could easily separate his soul from his body and have it enter the Cleansing Lake independently.
The searing energy contained within the Cleansing Lake which melted the Spirit intermediate-tier weapon previously would prove to be fatal to the souls of other soul oracles—they would be reduced to nothing in an instant. But having cultivated Heaven"s Path Soul Art, the concept of the Five Soul Declines didn"t apply to Zhang Xuan. Thus, his soul would be completely unfazed by the searing energy!
Furthermore, given the intangible nature of a soul, the violent energies rampaging in the Cleansing Lake that would have torn apart nearly anything easily wouldn"t pose a threat to his soul.
"I should give it a try!"
Having thought things true, Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged to maintain a meditation position. Then, he drew his soul out of his body.
His soul flew through the air all the way to the boundary between land and the lake. After a moment of hesitation, he finally stuck his hand in.
Hu!
His hand plunged into the water.
"I"m completely fine…"
After confirming that his soul didn"t suffer the slightest damage or discomfort, Zhang Xuan"s eyes gleamed in excitement. He immediately plunged his entire soul into the lake.
Tzzzzzzzzzzz!
The raging currents of the Cleansing Lake that could melt even a Spirit intermediate-tier weapon was completely ineffective against him.
"Absorb!"
Moving to the center of the lake, Zhang Xuan sat cross-legged and began to drive the Heaven"s Path Soul Art.
Hong long long!
Spiritual energy immediately gushed into his soul through various acupoints, raising his cultivation swiftly.
Zhang Xuan moaned in pleasure.
"What concentrated spiritual energy…"
Indeed, when one door closes, another opens.
He initially thought that the Cleansing Lake would be ineffective on him considering how swiftly the Spirit Cleansing Incense burned down, but to his delight, his soul was actually able to absorb spiritual energy straight from the Cleansing Lake.
The quant.i.ty of spiritual energy in the Lake Eye couldn"t even start comparing to this. There was no need for Zhang Xuan to hold back at all!
"Right, I should have clone out to absorb some as well!" Zhang Xuan thought.
His clone also had to raise its soul cultivation. Since this was a valuable opportunity, it would be best to have him cultivate here as well.
With a thought, Zhang Xuan"s consciousness connected with the ring, and in the next instant, his clone appeared in the Lake Eye.
To prevent anyone from realizing that there were two Zhang Xuans, he swiftly instructed his clone to sneak here. Fortunately, under the cover of the veil of spiritual energy, the two ladies didn"t notice anything at all.
"Given that clone is crafted of Nine Hearts Lotus, it shouldn"t fear the water of this lake."
Considering that the material used to craft his clone was a G.o.d artifact, it was impossible that the water of the Cleansing Lake could possibly faze it.
But to be safe, he had his clone put his hand in first, and as expected, nothing happened.
"Come over here!"
Zhang Xuan had his clone move over to where his soul was, and the two sat side by side one another.
"Let"s start cultivating!"
The clone drew out his soul, and the two souls began to absorb the spiritual energy from the lake.
Hong long long!
Hualala!
It was as though two gigantic vortices had appeared in the center of the Cleansing Lake. Spiritual energy flooded in at an insane rate.
Geji! Geji! Geji!
As though consuming an immensely nutritious pill, the two souls grew non-stop. From a size equivalent to their physical body, they grew larger and taller.
Two meters, three meters, four meters…
Back then, after consuming the spiritual energy from the seed water of the Yin-Yang Lake, Zhang Xuan"s soul grew to three meters large. However, this was even more exaggerated.
Under the huge influx of spiritual energy, after four hours, the two souls had grown to a size of five to six meters.
It could be said that they were no different from giants at this point.