Although Ling You had suffered from his old injuries for years, and the Dou Qi in his body had constantly been draining away, his strength had long since fallen to less than a tenth of what it once was.
But he was, after all, an Eighth-grade Alchemist. Even among the Ling Clan, his soul strength was considered exceptional.
Having cast aside his body, which had become more of a burden than anything else, Ling You pressed the hands of his somewhat translucent soul form against the soul barrier Ling Huan Tian had erected.
Crack!
A faint snapping sound rang out from the blood-red soul barrier, and cracks began spreading across it at astonishing speed.
"Brat, how dare you!"
Ling Huan Tian's indistinct face changed slightly.
He hadn't expected this junior, who was clearly gravely injured, to still be capable of unleashing such powerful soul strength.
Nor had he expected his opponent to abandon his body and contend with him in soul form.
"Hmph!"
Ling You snorted coldly, pouring a steady stream of soul strength from his palms into the blood-red soul barrier.
"I'll give you a hand!"
Ling Yang formed a seal with both hands, then sent a surge of Dou Qi crashing into the soul barrier Ling Huan Tian had erected.
Ling Huan Tian had once been a Dou Saint, but now he was merely a soul form lodged within the Bloodline Power.
After a thousand years, even his soul form had grown incomplete as his strength slowly drained away.
Ling You was an Eighth-grade Alchemist, while Ling Yang was one of the strongest Dou Venerates.
With the two of them working together, Ling Huan Tian couldn't be sure of victory.
"Damn it, I celebrated too soon!"
Ling Huan Tian cursed inwardly. Sealed away for so long, he hadn't been able to resist his yearning for freedom, and had revealed himself too early.
He hadn't expected that a Descendant Citizen with only a first-grade bloodline would have two Dou Venerate protectors by his side.
As he watched more and more cracks appear in the soul barrier he had laid down, his eyes shifted to Ling Xi inside the cauldron.
"Heh, I'm done playing with you!"
Ling Huan Tian gave a cold snort. The Bloodline Power in the cauldron suddenly boiled, and strands of strange, blood-red liquid poured through Ling Xi's pores and into his body.
As this strange blood-red energy flowed into him, the pallor quickly faded from Ling Xi's face, and his emaciated body began to fill out.
"I'll take this brat's body."
Without the slightest hesitation, Ling Huan Tian's indistinct, blood-red soul form turned into a stream of crimson energy and shot straight into the space between Ling Xi's brows.
With Ling Huan Tian's soul strength no longer sustaining it, the soul barrier around the cauldron shattered at once.
"This..."
Ling You stared at the blood-red clan marking that had appeared between Ling Xi's brows, his expression shifting.
"A soul battle?"
Ling Yang hesitated briefly as well.
A soul battle was a contest that could only be waged once one's soul strength reached a certain level.
But such battles were extremely dangerous. One misstep could inflict irreparable damage on the soul.
Even the victor would suffer weakened soul strength for a time.
So even those with powerful souls wouldn't dare to engage in a soul battle lightly.
While the two were still stunned, the liquid energy Ling Jade had melted earlier rapidly enveloped Ling Xi inside the cauldron.
He looked just like a giant, milky-white cocoon.
"Oh no, he's trying to..."
Ling Yang's expression changed drastically. Before he could even finish saying "run," the milky-white energy surrounding Ling Xi blazed with light.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. Ling Yang and Ling You couldn't react in time.
The next moment, the cocoon of energy surrounding Ling Xi vanished from the cauldron before their eyes.
In the cave, Ling Yang and Ling You exchanged grim looks.
"Damn it!"
After a long moment, Ling Yang finally cursed under his breath.
"Ling Huan Tian was hunted by the clan back then, then vanished without a trace. I never imagined he'd sealed his soul inside his bloodline using the Spirit Jade method."
"If he takes over Ling Xi's body, who knows what kind of chaos he'll cause!"
Ling Yang paced back and forth through the cave, unable to hide his anxiety.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Seeing Ling You remain silent, Ling Yang finally stopped pacing.
"What is there to say?"
"Should I say that a monster from the Dou Saint level is about to take over the disciple I worked so hard to train?"
Ling You stamped his foot, making the entire cave tremble violently.
"I'll go to the Pill Tower, and you go to the clan. Whatever happens, we have to find Ling Xi first."
Ling You exhaled, his face dark as thunder.
"Ling Xi's soul strength has already reached the Late Spirit Realm, and his soul is protected by Heavenly Flames. If he really enters a soul battle, he might not necessarily lose."
Though he said this, Ling You knew he was only trying to reassure himself.
The soul form left behind by a Dou Saint was far beyond anything Ling Xi, a Nine-Star Dou Grandmaster, could match.
The gap between them was despairingly vast.
"Should we... report this to the clan?"
Ling Yang's expression shifted as he asked uncertainly.
Secretly using the Blood Exchange Method on a clan member was a grave crime in any Ancient Race.
Even someone of Ling Yang's standing couldn't help feeling uneasy.
"Then don't go to the clan. Come with me to the Pill Tower."
Ling You understood Ling Yang's concerns. If this came to light, the clan would immediately arrest and severely punish them both.
He wasn't afraid of that himself, but he didn't want Ling Yang dragged into it.
"The Pill Tower has great influence across the continent. I'll have them help me search for Ling Xi."
At this, Ling You suddenly paused. He fell silent for a moment before continuing.
"If Ling Xi really has been... been taken over by Ling Huan Tian, then we'll report it to the clan."
"We have no choice."
Ling Yang pressed his lips together and gave a bitter smile.
Inside a strange spatial passage, everything was eerily quiet.
Silver spatial turbulence swirled through every corner of the passage.
A milky-white cocoon about the size of an ordinary person floated motionlessly in the space. Only when it occasionally brushed against the spatial turbulence did it begin to move.
The spatial turbulence, which even ordinary Dou Zong experts avoided, couldn't harm the milky-white cocoon in the slightest.
"This junior is cultivating the Ling Clan's Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art?"
Inside Ling Xi's mind, Ling Huan Tian looked at the incredibly stable space, which was surrounded by wisps of Spiritual Qi, and couldn't help but marvel.
"Although this junior's bloodline is only first-grade, there were few a thousand years ago who could cultivate the Myriad Spirits Returning to Origin Art to this level."
After glancing around, Ling Huan Tian's gaze fell on the young man sitting cross-legged in the center of the mindscape.
Before you continue