Chapter 396: Soul Returns to the Heavenly Dao

"Young Master!"

"Young Master..."

After a brief moment of shock, Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu were the first to react, running over with bewildered steps.

The Yuan siblings, who had been treating Cao Jingsong's injuries, also rose instantly and hurried to crouch before Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi and Ji You.

At that moment, Ji You's eyes were closed, his expression devoid of any pain, as if he were merely asleep—peaceful and still.

Yet, what made their hearts tremble was that they, like the Little Appraisal Master, discovered there was not a single wisp of aura emanating from his body.

"Brother-in-law?"

"Brother-in-law, what's wrong with you?"

Yuan Yuanchen couldn't help but call out a few times, but receiving no response, he spoke with growing panic: "What happened? Why did Brother-in-law suddenly become like this?"

"It's alright, don't panic."

Yuan Caiwei was more rational than her brother; as she spoke, she lowered her palms, gathering a wisp of pill light in them to channel into Ji You's body.

Perhaps it was the backlash from breaking through a realm, or exhaustion after a great battle—in her eyes, neither seemed like an insurmountable problem.

After all, the Pill Sect's alchemy was renowned for its ability to bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh and bone; as the daughter of the Pill Sect, she had sufficient confidence.

When the others saw Yuan Caiwei channeling the pill light into Ji You, they remembered her identity and the miraculous nature of the Pill Sect, and their suspended hearts settled slightly.

That's right, with half of the alchemists here now, how could there be any problem?

Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi also tried her best to keep Ji You's posture in her arms steady, staring unblinkingly at Yuan Caiwei, waiting for her answer.

Yet, to everyone's surprise, the diagnosis they thought would be brief dragged on longer than they had expected.

What was even more concerning was that Yuan Caiwei's palms kept shifting, as if she were checking every corner of Ji You's body, yet her expression never once showed any sign of relief.

It was unknown how much time had passed when Yuan Caiwei suddenly withdrew her pill light, opened her eyes, and spoke in a trembling voice: "Brother, quickly, go invite Father..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yuanchen opened his mouth, his already fearful eyes growing even more terrified, and he immediately let go of Ji You's sleeve and sprinted toward the Dongshan.

Seeing this, the hearts of the crowd, which had just relaxed by half, tightened again, and even Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi couldn't help but narrow her eyes.

"What exactly is wrong?"

Yuan Caiwei clutched her sleeve, feeling unsettled: "There are no injuries in the Young Master's body, his meridians are intact, his pulse is beating strongly—he is completely unharmed..."

Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's eyelashes fluttered upon hearing this: "The body is unharmed, so does that mean there is something wrong with his soul?"

"I don't know."

"Why would you not know?"

Yuan Caiwei looked into Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's eyes and pursed her lips: "It must be that my skills are insufficient and I felt it wrong. Appraisal Master, you should wait for my father..."

Hearing this, Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi was slightly stunned.

Whether in alchemy or medicine, Yuan Caiwei had inherited the true teachings of the Pill Sect; the words "skills are insufficient" should never have applied to her.

She vaguely felt that Yuan Caiwei had discovered the problem but would rather believe she was wrong than speak it aloud—which meant the scoundrel's problem was likely even more serious than she had imagined.

Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi used her slender, jade-like fingers to gently brush aside Ji You's slightly messy hair, then looked at him and fell into silence.

He still had no aura, but this was wrong.

Under the Heavenly Dao, every living thing should have its own inherent aura; even a blade of grass or a tree had one—this situation should not exist.

"Father..."

Under the starry night sky, Yuan Yuanchen crossed mountains and ridges, hurrying to a temporarily constructed stone courtyard on the back slope of the West Mountain.

At this time, Patriarch Yuan Li was sitting in the courtyard, accompanied by Elder Danyangzi and Elder Elder Dan Xunzi.

They had known earlier that Ji You was going to break through a realm, and to ensure a stable supply of spiritual energy, they had even paused the work of restoring the Sages' Holy Land to guarantee the rate of leakage.

Likewise, they had seen the battle behind the dark clouds, worrying to the point of not sleeping all night.

As Yuan Yuanchen's voice came from the courtyard, the three turned their heads to look, and Patriarch Yuan Li's voice escaped his lips: "How is it in the east? How is Young Master Ji's breakthrough going?"

"Something happened..."

"?"

"It's Brother-in-law. He clearly succeeded in his breakthrough, but for some reason, he suddenly fell from the sky. No matter how we call him, he won't wake up. Sister seems very panicked and asked me to come and invite you over."

Patriarch Yuan Li exchanged a look with the two elders: "Has your sister examined Young Master Ji?"

Yuan Yuanchen nodded: "She has. It was only after she examined him that she asked me to come."

Hearing this, the expressions of Patriarch Yuan Li and Xun Yang became even more solemn than when they heard Ji You had fallen.

Because they knew perfectly well Yuan Caiwei's talent in alchemy; when they saw Yuan Yuanchen not working hard, Patriarch Yuan Li had even thought many times about passing the position of personal successor directly to his daughter.

In the Qingyun World, which relied on bloodline inheritance to establish families, being able to make the older generation have such thoughts was enough to show Yuan Caiwei's ability.

Yet, after his daughter had examined him, she insisted on having Yuan Yuanchen invite him—the problem was not just ordinarily serious.

The three rose and left the courtyard, following Yuan Yuanchen across the mountains, hurrying toward the Dongshan.

In fact, when Yuan Yuanchen left, the members of the Xian Sects and noble families standing in the mountain hollow could not suppress their curiosity and couldn't help but crowd around.

But they could not get too close before being forced to stop by Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's cold, frost-like gaze, leaving the scene in deep silence until Patriarch Yuan Li's figure appeared, which made things slightly better.

"Father..."

Yuan Caiwei rose immediately upon seeing her father, calling out softly with a fearful and uneasy expression.

Patriarch Yuan Li saw his daughter's expression at a glance and instantly knew his judgment upon arriving must have been correct.

Without a word, the three lifted their robes and sat cross-legged beside Ji You, pill light roaring down from their hands, gathering at his dantian.

They did not know that Ji You's physical breakthrough was a sublimation achieved through reshaping his body, so their first thought, like everyone else's, was whether he had suffered backlash or internal injuries during the battle.

Yet, after an examination, they discovered Ji You's entire body was intact, without even the slightest injury.

The night slowly passed, the rich black gradually beginning to transform into deep blue.

At that time, the pill light surged slowly, traveling along his meridians in all directions, traversing Ji You's entire body.

The approach the three took was the same as Yuan Caiwei's just now: when no obvious injury could be found, they began a general survey of every corner, from bottom to top.

Before long, the hands of all three, holding the pill light, trembled suddenly, and their eyes gradually locked together.

How could this be?!

After a moment of terror, Patriarch Yuan Li suddenly reached out, sending another stream of pill light straight into the opponent's spirit platform, only to see that pill light disappear without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

Seeing this, Yuan Caiwei's face turned even paler.

Because she could understand the reason for her father's action and knew that what her father saw was the same as what she saw; tears instantly flowed from her eyes.

Seeing Yuan Caiwei's loss of control, the arms Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi used to embrace Ji You trembled.

"It is not an illness, nor is there an injury, but the problem lies in the fact that there is nothing at all." Patriarch Yuan Li raised his head tremblingly after a long silence.

Nothing at all—what exactly was missing?

Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi looked up at him, waiting for him to give the answer.

"Master Inspector, he has returned his soul to the Heavenly Dao..."

Boom—

As the words fell, the cultivators across the mountains and plains all let out gasps of disbelief.

Ding Yao and Zhuo Wanqiu revealed expressions of utter disbelief, their lips instantly turning pale.

Whenever a cultivator died in Qingyun, it was referred to as the soul returning to the Heavenly Dao, but in reality, no one knew where a person's soul went after death.

The reason it was said this way was because the first thing to disappear when a life ended was the soul, and returning to the Heavenly Dao was merely a beautiful wish.

"Impossible, he was clearly fine earlier." Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's face was cold as frost; she simply did not accept the answer Patriarch Yuan Li gave.

Patriarch Yuan Li closed his eyes gently: "I just stimulated his spirit platform with pill light and found no feedback, which means his soul is no longer there."

"He lost his aura when he completed his breakthrough; could it be related to his cultivation technique? Have other Body Refinement practitioners ever had the same situation?"

"Body Refinement practitioners in Qingyun history could never reach the realm Young Master Ji reached; this is also the reason why Body Refinement techniques were gradually abandoned. There is no reference, but if it is truly as the Little Appraisal Master said, it is possible, but it is meaningless to look for the cause now."

As the words fell, Kuangcheng Yan Shuyi's eyes narrowed suddenly, becoming incomparably cold.

Patriarch Yuan Li felt an extremely unstable, sharp sword Qi from her, knowing that she was filled with killing intent because of his answer.

Gone is gone; whether it was caused by the technique or something else, the important thing is that it is gone.

This was not like an illness or injury where one could prescribe medicine after finding the cause and the lesion. ===== CHAPTER 397 =====