"We must send Lady Ji Yue's Soul Spirit back into her Soul Sea immediately!"
Huang Shang declared in a heavy tone.
Ye Yunfei stirred his will, and a vast tide of Soul Power energy surged out, gently cradling Ji Yue's soul before sending it back into her Soul Sea at the greatest possible speed.
What surprised Ye Yunfei, however, was that Ji Yue's soul and her Soul Body were unable to fuse. Instead, they merely lay superimposed in a disjointed manner.
"Lady Ji Yue's soul is in a perilous state," Huang Shang frowned. "The damage is too severe. It could extinguish at any moment."
"Indeed, the damage is extensive," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"I'll use the Soul Lamp to stabilize her soul first, to prevent it from extinguishing. Then we can slowly figure out a way to restore her health," Huang Shang said, pointing a finger. The ghostly green Soul Lamp flew into Ji Yue's Soul Sea and hovered at its center.
This Soul Lamp was a Ghost Path treasure refined by Huang Shang using his ghost cultivation arts, possessing a miraculous soul-stabilizing effect. Although Ye Yunfei had once acquired ghost cultivation techniques in his previous life, he had never practiced them and thus lacked such treasures. So in this situation, it was Huang Shang who played the crucial role.
"Let's go," Ye Yunfei said after glancing around the battlefield and thinking for a moment.
At that time, the Eight Sky-Soaring Nether Monkeys and the Blood Clan Clone were fiercely battling the forces of Tianyou Tomb and the Corpse World. With the help of the large-scale Earth Formation and many perilous and deadly places littering the battlefield, although vastly outnumbered, the Monkeys and the Clone were barely managing to hold their ground.
Moreover, the forces of Tianyou Tomb and the Corpse World had seen Ye Yunfei kill five Origin Creation Realm experts. Their morale had plummeted, and they dared not actively charge towards Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei gave a beckoning gesture. The Eight Sky-Soaring Nether Monkeys and the Blood Clan Clone rushed over and entered the Phantom Palace Tower.
Ye Yunfei's body had been severed by the five Origin Creation Realm experts. While he wasn't in mortal danger, his injuries were still quite severe. More importantly, Ji Yue's current condition was critical. For Ye Yunfei, the most urgent matter was to find a way to treat her.
Standing atop a Earth Dragon's head, Ye Yunfei directly sank into the ground and sped away in an instant.
Half an hour later.
Inside the Phantom Palace Tower.
"Su Fei, thank you for saving me," Elder Hu said gratefully as he stood before Ye Yunfei.
Since Elder Hu's soul had returned to his Soul Sea in time and fused with his Soul Body, he was now essentially unharmed, aside from some residual weakness in his Soul Body.
Aside from Elder Hu, over a hundred personnel from Ziwei Sect were also standing before Ye Yunfei, including two elders, over twenty deacons, and a group of core disciples.
All of these were the hostages seized by Tianyou Tomb, stored within the three-story treasured pagoda that Ye Yunfei had retrieved.
"Su Fei, we have caused you trouble," another elder stepped forward and said apologetically.
"No, in truth, it is I who has implicated all of you," Ye Yunfei replied.
Ye Yunfei understood that Tianyou Tomb was targeting him. Strictly speaking, he was indeed the one who had dragged these members of Ziwei Sect into this mess.
Two days later, Ye Yunfei returned to the Ziwei Sect headquarters.
The safe return of over a hundred hostages brought a wave of relief and excitement to the entire Ziwei Sect.
But Ye Yunfei was in no mood for celebration.
Because Ji Yue's condition remained dire.
Inside Ji Yue's cultivation cave abode, Ye Yunfei, Huang Shang, and Ji Yan were present, watching Ji Yue lying on the bed with concerned expressions.
"Lady Ji Yue's Soul Spirit is dissipating bit by bit," Huang Shang said to Ye Yunfei after checking Ji Yue's Soul Body again. "Given time, her consciousness will completely vanish. By then, even if her physical body and Soul Body remain alive, she will be nothing more than a walking corpse with no independent consciousness. She will no longer be Lady Ji Yue."
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Ye Yunfei could also sense that Ji Yue's soul was growing increasingly frail.
"In the doctrines of our Ghost Path, humans possess three ethereal spirits and seven mundane souls. These are essentially the consciousness-like things contained within the Soul Body – intentions, thoughts, memories, and emotions.
'Spirit dissipated and soul scattered' refers precisely to these consciousness elements being utterly destroyed.
If a person loses these consciousness elements, they are said to have 'lost their soul.'
Strictly speaking, Lady Ji Yue hasn't truly 'lost her soul,' because her soul has been recovered. However, her soul suffered heavy trauma and is in an extremely weakened state, teetering on the edge of annihilation.
If we want to save her, we must find a way to strengthen her soul, restoring it to its former state."
"Correct," Ye Yunfei nodded again.
With Ye Yunfei's knowledge and insight, Huang Shang's explanations were immediately clear to him.
"The most pressing issue now is that Lady Ji Yue's soul continues to grow weaker by the moment. We must stop this, otherwise once her soul vanishes completely, even heaven-defying methods won't be able to save her.
I think... you could try the body tempering technique you cultivate. Continuously transmit life energy to her. Perhaps that can prevent her soul from continuously dissipating," Huang Shang suggested.
"Yes!"
Worried, Ye Yunfei's thoughts had been in disarray. But hearing Huang Shang's words, he instantly reacted. He had already extended his palm and placed it on Ji Yue's delicate shoulder, circulating the Greenwood Emperor Body. He began transmitting the life energy of the Greenwood Emperor Body into her.
Indeed, Ye Yunfei discovered with pleasant surprise that Ji Yue's soul began to stop dissipating and even started to strengthen a little.
The life energy cultivated through the Greenwood Emperor Body was useful not just for the physical body, but also for the Soul Body, and even the soul itself!
A moment later.
Ji Yue suddenly let out a faint moan, her eyes fluttering open as she awoke. Her beautiful eyes took in the sight of Ye Yunfei and the other two.
"Su Fei, Sister Ji Yan! You're both here!"
Overjoyed, Ji Yue struggled to sit up.
"Yes, Ji Yue. You are still very weak. Just lie down. Don't get up," Ji Yan said, elated to see Ji Yue awake, and immediately reached out to gently press her back down.
"Am I alright now?
I remember being badly injured.
These past few days, I've been constantly in a daze... always feeling like I was going to die," Ji Yue said in a weak voice.
"Senior Sister Ji Yue, rest assured. You will not die," Ye Yunfei said with a gentle smile.
At this point, Ye Yunfei had already stopped transmitting the energy of the Greenwood Emperor Body.
"Ji Yue, don't dwell on such thoughts. You're going to be fine," Ji Yan also comforted her.
However, right at that moment.
Ye Yunfei's expression changed drastically.
Because Ji Yue's soul had once again begun to grow weaker. The life energy Ye Yunfei had just transmitted to her could only sustain her for a short period.
"Lady Ji Yue's soul is too severely damaged," Huang Shang, who had also noticed this, let out a soft sigh and transmitted his voice to Ye Yunfei. "It's like a bottomless sieve, incapable of holding any energy. The energy you give her leaks out after a while.
You will have to transmit energy to her at regular intervals to maintain her soul and prevent it from vanishing."
"No matter what, I will heal Senior Sister Ji Yue," Ye Yunfei stated firmly. "She suffered this severe trauma because she instinctively moved to shield me from that attack."
Ye Yunfei decided then and there. Even if it meant having to transmit life energy to Ji Yue forever, he would absolutely not allow her soul to vanish!