Chapter 94: Country Bumpkin

"Ah!" The sudden voice from the horned alien corpse startled Ye Xin, causing her to scream and step back quickly, taking refuge beside Lin Qian, who still had his eyes closed.

The fact that the corpse suddenly spoke also surprised Nan Xin. He hastily retreated into the midst of the undead army, only relaxing once he was safely among them.

Once surrounded by the undead, Nan Xin glanced at the horned alien corpse with suspicion. "You haven't stirred for countless years, yet now you wake up."

"If not for the damage to your soul, which allowed me to sustain the array without fully focusing on it, I wouldn't have been able to split my attention." The horned alien turned his head to glance at Lin Qian, who was slowly opening his eyes. "It seems this young man from our human race is quite remarkable, making you so desperate."

Nan Xin's purple flames flickered within his hollow eye sockets as he cast a hateful look at Lin Qian. "This brat is just too sinister."

Lin Qian, who had just woken up, happened to hear the alien corpse speak and looked surprised. The corpse on the platform was not dead and had awakened. And from the tone of the conversation, it seemed that the being was also a human, like himself.

Recalling Nan Xin's soul form, Lin Qian began to piece things together.

"Xiao Qian!" At that moment, Ye Xin rushed over to him, placing her hands on his face as she anxiously checked him over. "Are you alright?"

"Of course, I'm fine. The idea of taking over my body was laughable, to begin with." Seeing her worried expression, Lin Qian quickly reassured her, withdrawing the golden light that had been protecting her back into his forehead.

Earlier, when Nan Xin fled his spiritual sea, Lin Qian had sent out a wisp of his soul power to envelop Ye Xin, worried that Nan Xin might seek revenge on her. Though Nan Xin's soul had been weakened by Lin Qian, Ye Xin lacked the vast imperial fortune that Lin Qian enjoyed, making her vulnerable.

"I'm glad you're okay." Once Ye Xin confirmed that Lin Qian was unharmed, she breathed a sigh of relief, patting her chest in reassurance.

"Hehe, Xin'er, I have a little gift for you," Lin Qian said with a mischievous smile, lightly tapping his forehead with his finger.

As his fingertip touched his forehead, a pure, luminous white essence began to emerge, trailing from his brow along his finger.

"The pure soul essence?" Nan Xin gasped in disbelief as he watched, his purple flames flaring violently. "You actually refined my soul essence!"

At that moment, Nan Xin felt as if his very being was being torn apart. The soul essence was the core of any being's soul. While soul power could be replenished with rest, damage to the soul essence required an A-grade pill or higher to heal. And in his current state, with the restrictions of the array and without access to such rare pills, Nan Xin was powerless.

Now, seeing his purified soul essence being turned into a gift for Lin Qian's woman, Nan Xin was seething with rage and pain.

"Hahaha! Nan Xin, you tried to steal but ended up losing everything. How satisfying!" The alien body on the platform laughed heartily, clearly amused by Nan Xin's misfortune.

Ye Xin looked confusedly between the alien on the platform and Nan Xin among the undead, rubbing her temples. "What... is going on here?"

"Based on my guess, this Nan Xin is actually the alien, and for some reason, his soul ended up in this human body. As for the alien's body, it seems to be inhabited by a human soul," Lin Qian explained, pointing first at the alien corpse on the platform and then at Nan Xin.

Ye Xin thought for a moment and nodded. "So, they switched bodies?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Lin Qian admitted, shrugging.

"You're half right, young man. This body Nan Xin is using now is indeed mine," the alien on the platform said. "In fact, I sealed his soul within my own body while my soul anchored the array to suppress him."

Lin Qian and Ye Xin were shocked by this revelation. They hadn't expected that this human elder would go to such lengths to deal with the alien, sacrificing so much to ensure that the legacy of his sect, the Dangyuan Sect, could survive.

"Dare I ask your name, Senior?" Lin Qian asked, showing respect for the human elder's sacrifice.

"I am Zhang Jun Cheng, the sect master of the Dangyuan Sect. Unfortunately, this alien was incredibly powerful. Our battle left us both grievously wounded, but I was at a disadvantage. In desperation, I used this method to seal him, hoping to buy time for my sect's legacy to escape."

Zhang Jun Cheng glanced at the undead surrounding Nan Xin, his expression a mix of sorrow and anger. "But even so, my disciples were still turned into these wretched undead."

The sect master of the Dangyuan Sect!

Lin Qian and Ye Xin were both taken aback. They hadn't expected that this elder, who looked like an alien but had a human soul, was actually the sect master of the ancient Dangyuan Sect.

"Senior, might the array have been damaged? How else could his soul have escaped and attempted to possess others?" Lin Qian asked, eyeing the enraged Nan Xin.

Zhang Jun Cheng sighed, looking at Nan Xin with a bitter smile. "It's because he's stronger than me. However, if his soul leaves his body for more than ten feet or an hour, it will dissipate."

After Zhang Jun Cheng explained, Ye Xin's eyes began to droop as sleepiness overtook her. "Xiao Qian, I feel so sleepy..."

"This young friend gifted you purified soul essence, which is now integrating with your soul and causing a transformation. You may sleep for a while," Zhang Jun Cheng, who had seen much in his long life, explained with a smile.

Understanding this, Ye Xin finally relaxed, allowing herself to fall into Lin Qian's arms as sleep claimed her.

"Human boy, I will tear you to pieces!" Nan Xin roared furiously.

Ye Xin had gained a significant benefit from Nan Xin's soul essence, which had been refined by Lin Qian to be pure and free of any connection to Nan Xin, turning it into a tonic for her soul. This made Nan Xin's fury burn even hotter.

"Even if you managed to fend off my attempt to possess you, you'll still die here, surrounded by my undead army!" Nan Xin snarled, spreading his arms wide in a show of dominance.

Lin Qian glanced at Nan Xin and sneered. "You call this ragtag bunch an army? Please, you're just a country bumpkin!"