The takeover of a body was something that was possible to do by basically any Nascent soul cultivator. Though there were conditions for it too. A nascent soul could forcefully take over a body temporarily, but unless it found a compatible body, it wouldn't be able to stay for long.
This could be mitigated by several treasures or by simply being stronger.
For example, the take-over attempt of a Dao Shell realm cultivator would be more powerful than that of a Nascent soul cultivator, and that of a Dao Treading realm cultivator would be even more powerful.
Thus, Jiao Fang managing to survive even now was no less than a miracle.
"Then… how are you still alive?" Lin Mu asked.
"A little luck, and a little willpower." Jiao Fang replied with a slight smile.
"Hmm… it's not just that simple though, is it?" Lin Mu said.
"You could say that." Jiao Fang spoke with a smile.
Lin Mu narrowed his eyes and closed them for a moment before opening them again. This time though, his eyes had a different look to them.
Jiao Fang who saw Lin Mu staring at him, felt like all his secrets were being revealed. Lin Mu's eyes looked past his body and easily searched the depths without even needing the use of spirit sense.
And in the depths of Jiao Fang's Dantian, Lin Mu saw a Nascent soul. If one looked at this Nascent soul with their spirit sense, they would find it to be normal and looking like Jiao Fang.
But with Lin Mu's enchained spatial perception, he could tell that it was all merely an illusion. Hidden within that Nascent soul was the true nascent soul!
And this nascent soul didn't just looks like Jiao Fang… but another man as well. The two faces kept on changing from time to time, making it look like they were fighting with each other.
'Two fused Nascent souls?' Lin Mu thought to himself.
Xukong who had been silently observing everything, couldn't help but speak up after seeing this.
"A forced Soul fusion? He actually ended up in this state." Xukong spoke.
"Forced Soul Fusion? What's that senior?" Lin Mu questioned.
"As you know that Nascent souls can be used to take over other bodies. But there are also ways to prevent that. While some treasures and tools simply repel that, there are a few tools that come with another feature.
These tools would trigger the owner's Nascent soul to detonate if it was forcefully token over!" Xukong answered. "Instead of letting one's body be taken over by someone else and dying, this was a means of mutual destruction."
"What?!" Lin Mu was stunned.
"It is a vengeful way of ending oneself, but is also considered more dignified than letting ones' body be taken over by someone else. It is surprisingly something that the orthodox sects approve of." Xukong added.
"How is this related to the forced soul fusion though senior?" Lin Mu asked.
"Forced Soul fusion is one of the extremely rare outcomes of a failed takeover. This mostly happens when the one taking over is stronger than the living cultivator. But then the living cultivator would detonate their Nascent soul, trying to kill both in the process.
But the Nascent soul trying to takeover manages to survive the detonation… at least partially. Then to preserve itself, it would fuse with whatever is left of the original owner's Nascent soul.
Usually this would end up in the stronger cultivator managing to take over the body, but the remnants of the previous owner would change the soul. They would get their memories switched or erased. Their personalities might change and they could even turn insane." Xukong explained.
Hearing all this, Lin Mu could now understand what must have happened with Jiao Fang. With all that he had found through Yulong's inheritances, Lin Mu reckoned there was either some treasure or spirit tool that could allow his Nascent soul to detonate during a forceful takeover.
"Then Jiao Fang is actually that Yulong?" Lin Mu asked doubtfully.
"In his case though… it seems like the rate of fusion is in the favor of Jiao Fang. I don't know if he was simply lucky, or if Yulong's soul had become too weak, but the soul of Jiao Fang managed to retain most of its part.
From what I can tell, the true soul of Yulong that was sealed with the Nascent soul has forty to fifty percent control over Jiao Fang's Nascent soul. But at the same time, Jiao Fang's True Soul is completely intact and is still in his body.
So in all this, Jiao Fang could have been said to have benefited." Xukong replied.
"Hmm… so this turned out to be his fortunate encounter, huh…" Lin Mu muttered in his mind.
While Lin Mu and Xukong had this conversation in their shared mind space, not even a minute had passed by. During this entire time, Lin Mu had been staring at Jiao Fang, making him more and more nervous.
"Senior?" Jiao Fang couldn't take it anymore and spoke up.
"Are you Jiao Fang or are you Yulong? Which soul is under control now?" Lin Mu questioned plainly.
Hearing this, Jiao Fang's pupil constricted. 'He knows?!'
~gulp~
Jiao Fang gulped down forcefully and didn't speak for a few seconds. But Lin Mu simply kept on staring deep into his eyes, making him feel more nervous than ever in his life.
"Of course I am, Jiao Fang! All that is left of Yulong are the memories and his cultivation base." Jiao Fang answered.
"Hmm… but your Nascent soul says other wise. The two souls are fighting…" Lin Mu replied.
"That… that's just the Nascent soul. I have full control over the body and the cultivation base. And the current sate of my Nascent soul is only temporary. The stronger I get the weaker Yulong's Nascent soul will become.
There will come a time when I'll be able to purge out his remnant consciousness from my Nascent soul entirely!" Jiao Fang explained.
