274: soul

Xu Sanyan was in no rush to leave. He first took out Spirit Stones to recover his mana, then used his mana to restore his Physical Body.

The edge of the Mist Sea was not dangerous for him, so staying here for a while was of no consequence.

The sky gradually darkened. Xu Sanyan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air; the breath shot out like an arrow, dispersing the mist ahead.

"Ha..."

"Crack~"

As he stretched his Physical Body slightly, his muscles and bones cracked in unison, sounding like a string of firecrackers, and a sense of ease flooded his entire body.

Xu Sanyan silently sensed his condition. After the blessing, his Physical Body had improved significantly. This was not only reflected in his strength and speed, but even his body's durability had increased manifold.

Furthermore, his senses seemed sharper. Even though he was in the Mist Sea at night, it did not hinder him from clearly seeing the woman standing on the shore.

The woman was looking at him as well.

The moment their eyes met, Xu Sanyan's heart skipped a beat. He recognized this woman.

Not only did he recognize her, but he had even touched her.

"Zuoqiu Zhen?" Xu Sanyan said in a low voice.

This trip to the Secret Realm had been a heavy loss for the Zuoqiu Clan. Four of the Huai Lake Seven Heroes had died, leaving only the second sister Zuoqiu Chen, the sixth sister Zuoqiu Zhen, and the seventh sister Zuoqiu Yi.

Among them, Zuoqiu Zhen had also run into trouble, and he didn't know what her situation was at this moment.

Zuoqiu Zhen's face was expressionless; the liveliness and agility she once possessed were gone. Her dead-fish eyes stared fixedly at Xu Sanyan, and she was holding a head in her hand.

Xu Sanyan glanced at it. He seemed to have seen this head somewhere before; it looked like one of the Zuoqiu Clan's Elders.

He saw her wave her hand, and the head rolled into the sea with a gurgle, gradually sinking below the surface.

Xu Sanyan had known for a long time that Zuoqiu Zhen was acting strangely. Looking at it now, she must have been exposed by the Zuoqiu Clan and could no longer infiltrate them, forcing her to fight back and escape.

But he didn't know why she had come looking for him.

Also, how did she accurately know his location?

Xu Sanyan frowned and thought for a moment before taking an item out of his Storage Pouch.

It was an old, large flag. This item was the very same flag that had been stuck in the stone platform in the Secret Realm's main hall, and it was also the key to trapping Xiang Tan.

He thought it over and decided that this was the only thing he couldn't fathom; perhaps this object was what had exposed his location.

The moment Zuoqiu Zhen saw the large flag, he could clearly feel her heave a sigh of relief, and her figure moved, drifting toward the Mist Sea.

"Give it to me." Zuoqiu Zhen reached out to demand it, her gaze sweeping over the secret realm fruit in his other hand before finally landing on the large flag.

"What is this?"

Xu Sanyan gripped the flagpole and examined it carefully. He didn't recognize this object, but he felt it should be a treasure, which was why he had kept it.

"It is useless to you." Zuoqiu Zhen stopped drifting ten paces in front of Xu Sanyan.

"Tsk... aren't you afraid of me?"

There was an inexplicable look in Xu Sanyan's eyes. Given Zuoqiu Zhen's cultivation, even ten of her wouldn't be enough to kill him, yet she didn't seem to have the slightest fear at this moment.

A breeze blew over the Mist Sea, rustling their robes. Xu Sanyan's sharp eyes noticed a small patch of bloodstains on the hem of her garment, though he didn't know if it was hers or someone else's.

Zuoqiu Zhen did not speak, but her gaze swept toward the spot where she had just thrown the head; the meaning was self-evident.

The Zuoqiu Clan Elder was also at the Soul Refinement Realm. The fact that she could kill him proved that she possessed methods capable of threatening those in the Soul Refinement Realm.

Xu Sanyan shook his head and smiled, unconcerned. He could see that Zuoqiu Zhen was merely at the early stage of the Mystic Path Realm, and her cultivation was still unstable; she must have just broken through recently. With such cultivation, he could crush her with a single finger.

Even if she had some special methods, they might not be useful in the face of such a huge gap in cultivation.

"Do you know, not all Soul Refinement Realm cultivators are the same. Just because you could kill him doesn't mean you can kill me."

"What do you want?"

Zuoqiu Zhen's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly. Unless absolutely necessary, she did not want to cause more trouble; right now, she just wanted to get her hands on the Soul-Fixing Flag as quickly as possible.

The setup she had made in the Secret Realm earlier had been destroyed, and now she felt her Soul becoming increasingly unstable; she had to set it up again as soon as possible.

Xu Sanyan toyed with the large flag in his hands, scrutinized her up and down for a moment, and said,

"I want to know what your situation is, who you really are, and how you invaded Zuoqiu Zhen's consciousness? Could it be Possession?"

He remembered that when he first left the Qi Country, he had encountered a strange woman. She had suffered a failed Possession attempt by an Elder from Shangyin Mountain, turning her into a half-human, half-corpse creature.

At that time, she had said that Possession was not tolerated by the Heavenly Dao and had absolutely no chance of success. But looking at it now, it very much seemed like Zuoqiu Zhen had been subjected to Possession.

Zuoqiu Zhen lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "It is not Possession, but a replacement."

"Replacement?"

"Yes."

Zuoqiu Zhen nodded. "Since the Soul-Fixing Flag is in your hands, you must have seen some things."

Xu Sanyan frowned. In truth, he hadn't seen anything. By the time he arrived at that hall, Lin Fan and Huan Xier had already finished, and he had only seen that complex Formation.

Zuoqiu Zhen did not hide anything either; things had come to this, so there was no need to hide it anymore. She said,

"People have Three Ethereal Souls and Seven Corporeal Spirits. Among the Three Ethereal Souls are the Soul, the Sense Soul, and the Life Soul. The Soul governs wisdom, the Sense Soul governs perception, and the Life Soul governs life. I removed her Soul and used a secret technique to replace her Soul, taking control of her consciousness while suppressing her Sense Soul and Life Soul."

Xu Sanyan raised an eyebrow. That works too?

He remembered that Xiang Tan had previously said there was a young girl's phantom beneath that stone platform; that phantom must have been Zuoqiu Zhen's Soul.

But what difference did this have from Possession? Wasn't it still living another life?

Zuoqiu Zhen seemed to guess his thoughts and explained, "This is not Possession. Strictly speaking, it can be called a forced occupation, which requires constant suppression of the rejection reaction of the Divine Soul."

Xu Sanyan understood somewhat and nodded silently. He didn't actually have much interest in these things; he wanted to know who was occupying Zuoqiu Zhen's Physical Body, so he asked,

"Are you perhaps one of the Saints from the Yaotian Holy Sect?"

A look of hesitation appeared on Zuoqiu Zhen's face, and she nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Tsk..."

Xu Sanyan twisted his lips. Saints really do have tenacious vitality.

First that old man, then the woman under the crabapple tree, then this person, and also that Grand Elder of the Yaotian Holy Sect.

It was just that that Grand Elder was at the Immortal stage.

Zuoqiu Zhen reached out. "I've finished explaining. Can you return the item to me now?"

Xu Sanyan shook the flag. "What is this?"

Zuoqiu Zhen frowned, suppressing the restlessness in her heart. "The Soul-Fixing Flag. It is useless to you."

Xu Sanyan looked at her impatient face and grinned, his gaze sweeping over her with extreme aggression. He stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, his expression full of lewdness.

"There is one more thing..."

Zuoqiu Zhen's eyes turned cold. She instantly understood his meaning, and her brows knitted tightly together.

She was truly not in a position to act right now; otherwise, she would have taken it by force long ago and wouldn't have wasted so many words on him.

It was just that ever since the setup had gone wrong, the rejection reaction of her Divine Soul had become increasingly severe, and she was currently using all her strength just to barely suppress it.

After considering for a moment, Zuoqiu Zhen lowered her eyes, reached out, and pulled at the sash around her waist. Her pale green robe slipped down with the wind, revealing a glimpse of her fragrant shoulder.