Chapter 54: Spirit Clone

Her pupils seemed to have turned abyssal black as she stared toward Neolan’s photograph once more. ’To meet Neolan... and live with him forever, I need to get stronger.’ She thought for a moment before shifting her attention toward her wristwatch and tapping through several options on its interface.

After closing the holographic screen, a small object suddenly materialized in her hand, and when she looked down, she saw that it was the doll modeled after Neolan in his current form. She stared at the small figure for several seconds with those same abyssal black pupils before slowly bringing it closer to her chest.

"Neolan..." She whispered his name as she held the doll tightly against herself before clenching her teeth and speaking with determination, "I will find you and come to you. Just wait."

With that, she finally stood up and wiped the remaining tears from her cheeks, forcing herself to regain her composure. She turned toward the door and placed the small doll inside her personal subspace, storing it safely before opening the door.

Natasha was still waiting outside, and Alice immediately spoke to her without wasting any time.

"Natasha, I will be going to clear two Rifts, B-rank ones. If anyone asks, tell them I will be coming back only after I clear them..." She paused after speaking and turned her head toward the left side of the corridor, glancing at the far left with the corner of her eye.

Her expression remained calm, but she clearly understood that someone might already have heard what she had said. "Although there is no need to tell them because I think some already heard this." She stepped forward immediately afterward, her goal already clear in her mind as she knew she needed to go through Evolutions as soon as possible.

The restriction placed upon her was no longer something that could simply make her remain idle, because she intended to become strong enough to meet Neolan again.

...

Back in the Cultivation World, Neolan could be seen sitting on the same platform where he had been sitting only minutes earlier. Although he had planned to investigate the Sect Master, there was something else he needed to do first, and that was drinking the Elixir of Perfect Harmony.

The Elixir was still inside his inventory, and after everything that had happened, he had finally found the time to consume it. He looked at the small vial for a moment before asking the System a question that had been bothering him.

"Now it’s time to dig in, but before that, System... will there be some kind of immense pain after I drink this Elixir?" He was already accustomed to the idea that gaining something powerful usually came with some kind of pain or difficulty.

[The Elixir of Perfect Harmony is made from the Essence of a Universe, there will be no pain.]

Neolan arched an eyebrow when he heard the System’s response because the answer reminded him of something written in the Elixir’s description. ’Hmm, Essence of a Universe... you mean it is something like the Soul Essence?’

His Ultimate Comprehension immediately began analyzing the connection between the two terms, but before he could reach any conclusion, he realized that the System had given him no further information. It remained completely silent, almost as though it deliberately did not want to reveal anything more about the Essence of a Universe. ’Tch, forget it...’

The small vial appeared in his hand, and without wasting any more time, Neolan opened the cork and looked at the strange-colored liquid inside once again. He had already seen the Elixir before, but the unusual color still caught his attention for a moment before he finally decided to stop thinking about it.

He raised the vial to his mouth and gulped down the entirety of the Elixir in one go. The liquid disappeared into his body without leaving anything behind, and Neolan lowered his hand immediately afterward.

Gulp... Gulp... Gulp...

The vial slipped from his hand the very next moment as his heart suddenly began beating violently.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

His heartbeat sounded almost like a drum inside his chest, but after several powerful beats, it suddenly returned to normal. At the exact moment his heartbeat stabilized, Neolan felt a strange heat press down around his Dantian as both his Astrine Energy and Spiritual Qi suddenly began rotating around each other.

The warmth wasn’t painful in the slightest, instead, it spread comfortably through his Dantian and abdomen. Neolan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he realized that the two energies, which had previously remained separate within his body, were now moving together without any rejection or conflict.

His Astrine Energy circulated around his abdomen while his Spiritual Qi was stored and circulated through his Dantian, yet both energies now existed in perfect harmony despite occupying the same general region of his body.

Instead of fighting against each other or interfering with their respective circulation paths, the two energies began rotating around one another in a stable and rhythmic manner. Neolan carefully observed the changes taking place inside his body and quickly realized that there wasn’t even the slightest sign of instability.

The warmth continued spreading through his body as the two completely different energies maintained their own properties while moving together. ’It’s done already??’

Just as he questioned it internally, the familiar System Window appeared once again.

[Congratulations! Host’s energies have been perfectly harmonized!]

[If Host discovers different types of energies in the future, they will also harmonize automatically!]

’Damn, that’s a complete cheat once again.’ Neolan shook his head with a helpless expression before standing up from the platform. He had already accomplished quite a lot within a very short period of time, and now it was finally time for him to begin taking action even though his current strength was still limited.

’Hmm, that clone Technique Master taught me will come in handy now.’ He closed his eyes for a moment and focused slightly deeper into his memories, deliberately allowing his Ultimate Comprehension to process the memories faster.

As soon as he did so, the exact method required to execute the Technique surfaced within his mind. The memories of his Master teaching him the Technique became clear, and every movement and Spiritual Qi circulation method required to perform it was instantly understood.

There was no need for him to practice the Technique beforehand as Ultimate Comprehension had already allowed him to understand every part of it. The System immediately recognized the Technique he had comprehended and displayed another message before him.

[Host has learnt a Heaven Grade Technique - Spirit Clone!]

Qing opened his eyes and looked at the System message with a smile before finally getting to work. ’This kind of reminds me of the past. I used to prank Master a lot, hehe.’ He closed his eyes again and released a massive amount of Spiritual Qi from his body, allowing it to gather beside him.

The Spiritual Qi slowly separated from his body and began taking shape, but creating the physical form of the clone was only the first part of the Technique. The truly difficult part came afterward, when he needed to share a small portion of his consciousness with the clone.

The process was even more difficult for Qing because he possessed a Sea of Consciousness, meaning that he needed to separate and share a small fraction of it without weakening the original. He estimated that he needed to share only around one percent of his total consciousness, but even that tiny portion required precise control.

Sweat slowly ran down his temples as he clenched his teeth and carefully maintained the connection, making sure that the consciousness remained fully intact within his real body while a portion of it was shared with the clone.

It wasn’t a matter of breaking apart his Sea of Consciousness, but rather sharing a tiny fraction of its awareness while keeping the entirety of its foundation within himself. Qing continued maintaining the process without rushing because even a slight mistake could cause the Technique to fail.

After a whole five minutes, he finally succeeded in executing the Technique. The Spiritual Qi surrounding the incomplete figure immediately stabilized and completely transformed into Qing’s appearance. From his head to his feet, everything was identical, including his clothing and even the unique Spiritual Qi signature he released.

The original Qing and the clone opened their eyes at almost the same time before turning toward each other. The clone spoke first with a calm expression, "I know. I will be taking my leave then. Meet you when I bring some good info."

Qing smiled as the familiar feeling of his past began resurfacing in his mind. "Alright, have a good ’trip.’ I will visit this Pagoda in the meantime." The clone nodded before taking a step forward, but before his foot could even touch the platform, his figure suddenly vanished as he activated Void Steps.

Qing watched the spot where the clone had disappeared and quickly realized the difference in their current situations. ’The amount of Spiritual Power the clone has, he can maintain Void Steps for longer than I could on Earth.’ Shaking his head, Qing turned around and walked toward the door of his room, leaving the clone to begin his own task while he prepared to visit the Trial Pagoda.