Mu Jinyu got straight to the point, asking directly without any probing: does the Heavenly Palace possess a Soul Snatching Secret Technique, and then asking about a resolution method.
He knew that since the old man admitted that the Heavenly Palace contains many Forbidden Secret Techniques lost to the outside world, it surely has a Soul Snatching Secret Technique as well.
After all, the Soul Snatching Secret Technique has not entirely been lost to the outside world; even Huaxia has it.
"A solution to the aftereffects of the Soul Snatching Secret Technique?"
The old man, upon hearing Mu Jinyu's words, had a flash of surprise in his cloudy eyes and said, "You actually know about the Soul Snatching Secret Technique..."
After speaking, the old man fell into contemplation, and after thinking for a while, he spoke, "The aftereffects of the Soul Snatching seem to be due to the incompatibility between the body and the soul, rendering one unable to continue cultivation?"
"If it's such a resolution method you're seeking, I seem to recall there being a method that allows the Soul Snatcher to perfectly match the body they've seized..."
After speaking, the old man raised his head and cast a peculiar glance at Mu Jinyu.
Wondering if Mu Jinyu might be occupying a body taken by soul snatching?
If so, his domineering performance wouldn't be so impressive; it would be attributed to the original owner of the body!
In that case, he wouldn't want to accept Mu Jinyu into the Heavenly Palace.
But that couldn't be right; if he was occupying a body taken by soul snatching, then he wouldn't have been able to receive an infusion of Earth Pulse Dragon Qi at the Hidden Dragon Conference and advance from the Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer of the Fanxu Realm!
Mu Jinyu frowned upon hearing the old man's words.
This resolution method was merely the most helpless choice; he didn't want Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan's bodies to permanently swap unless necessary!
The optimal solution he wanted was, of course, for Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan to perfectly switch their souls back to their original bodies!
And at the same time, it wouldn't damage their cultivation talent! Or reduce their life spans!
The Technique of Soul Seizing would severely reduce the lifespan of the body seized.
Suppose Wen Rou could originally live to be a hundred years old; after soul seizing and swapping bodies with Jian Ruyan, the body she obtained might only allow her to live to be fifty or sixty!
At that time, Jian Ruyan's body would decay.
This was one of the reasons Mu Jinyu was so eager to rush to the Kunlun Ruins, to find a solution to the aftereffects of soul snatching.
Thus, Mu Jinyu frowned and hesitated, recounting Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan's situation to the old man.
"Is there such a manipulation?"
The old man, upon hearing Mu Jinyu's story, learned that Jian Ruyan had instinctively soul-snatched the friend at her side upon near death. Then Mu Jinyu acquired divine medicine to heal her severely injured body, subsequently having the friend soul-snatched Jian Ruyan's body, allowing both to survive by swapping bodies, and was immediately taken aback.
Such manipulation was unexpected, and the old man stayed stunned for a while before furrowing his brows as well.
"You mean you wish to find a method for them to swap back their bodies without any soul snatching influence, not shortening their lifespan due to soul snatching again?"
The old man asked in a slightly helpless tone.
"Is there...?" Mu Jinyu asked with a sheepish smile.
"I'm not sure either; you wait here first while I check some records to see if such an incident has happened before and if there was any resolution..."
The old man sighed helplessly, then got up and instructed Mu Jinyu before his body surged with a gray glow and swooshed out of the room.
Mu Jinyu watched, his eyes narrowing.
This is a genuine Teleportation Technique.
Not to be confused with his high-speed movement creating an illusion of teleportation.
Mu Jinyu, using the masterful "Fleeting Light Shadow," could mimic teleportation with his form, but here, if he wanted to teleport to another place, he would have to break the room, creating a human-shaped hole.
Because that was not true teleportation but an illusion created by high speed.
But the old man's step out of the room without damaging it at all proved it to be true teleportation!
It made Mu Jinyu envious of the numerous secret techniques in the Heavenly Palace!
In the tedious wait, Mu Jinyu glanced several times at the old cluttered cabinet nearby, wondering what was inside, but in the end, forced himself to restrain his curiosity.
Even though the old man wasn't there, it was still wrong to mess with someone else's things, no matter if he might later have irreconcilable conflicts with him over Xiang Mantang!
Finally, after waiting for half a day.
A flash of faint light swept by.
The old man returned to the room once again.
The old man returned, looking at Mu Jinyu with satisfaction, and then said, "It turns out there are quite a few eccentrics like your friend in the world; indeed, several such incidents have happened before, and great minds have devised solutions!"
"Really?" Mu Jinyu couldn't help but stand up excitedly when he heard the news.
The old man suddenly sighed, "Although there are solutions, they're not perfect. First, after swapping back, it would still be like the initial soul seizing, leading to another reduction in lifespan. You are now eighteen; your friends are presumably around twenty; the initial soul seizing would have reduced your friend's lifespan to fifty-six! After swapping back, they would likely only live to thirty or forty..."
"What?!"
Mu Jinyu was stunned by the old man's words.
The old man continued, "Moreover, that's just one drawback; the second is that another soul seizing won't be as effortless in terms of cost as the first, allowing the soul to exit the body and possess another with ease!"
"Because after soul seizing, the soul becomes tainted within the other's body, gradually assimilating, making it difficult to budge again, requiring many extremely rare Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to stir the soul once more, allowing another soul exit."
"And since you wish for mutual body swap, the cost would be greater—requiring two sets of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures."
"The person who devised this Soul Snatching Resolution Technique preserved his friend's body, thus only using one set of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, yet it took him over ten years to gather them all!"
"So..."
The old man said, raising his head to look at Mu Jinyu, "Do you still want to use this Soul Snatching Resolution Technique?"
Mu Jinyu frowned deeply, feeling quite disheartened.
If Wen Rou and Jian Ruyan swapped back to their bodies and both could only live another twenty years or so, they might as well stay as they are, at least living to fifty or sixty!
Yet, the painstakingly found resolution method was to be dismissed, leaving Mu Jinyu very unwilling.
The old man sighed and persuaded, "You probably have no ideas left, do you? Perhaps you should ask for something you need more, like the 'Green Emperor Wood Emperor Scripture.'
"No!"
Mu Jinyu snapped out of it, abruptly raising his head to look at the old man, "Didn't you mention the earliest Soul Snatching Resolution Technique, the one where the soul adapts to the body seized, allowing them to cultivate again?"
"Are you sure you insist on this secret technique?" The old man inquired in a somber voice seeing Mu Jinyu's determination.
"Yes." Mu Jinyu nodded.
"Fine." Seeing this, the old man waved his hand, and two jade slips floated before Mu Jinyu.
"This is..."
Mu Jinyu was taken aback.
Could it be that the solution to the aftereffects of soul snatching has both upper and lower volumes?
The old man explained, "Given the obscurity of this secret technique, I'll provide both solutions; you can decide which to choose."