V4C54: Duplicate

‘Jian Hongchao… That is certainly an interesting name to select,’ Wei Yi, who had arrived at the scene a moment prior and now looked down from another rooftop, thought as she looked upon her seeming copy.

Due to the absence of mental cultivation in the duplicate, she was able to stand so close without being detected, although she was aware that this was likely not going to allow her to remain undetected for too long. She was intending to enter the moment that she was sure of the best course of action in regards to Jian Hongchao, and she would arrive at that conclusion as soon as she saw the way in which that woman was able to fight.

If she was sloppy and unexperienced, she didn’t think that involving herself would even be necessary, although it would leave a better impression with Luo Na, depending on her character.

However, in the situation that this strange woman was far more able than she appeared on first glance, which should be the case since she is only in the fourth realm while going up against someone in the sixth with an army of those in the fifth realm, a combination that wasn’t exactly guaranteeing success. Since she was directed here by another, likely Luo Yunzhen or one of his subordinates, it meant that someone expected her to be capable of winning this battle, and if that was on her own strength, then she wouldn’t be too unlike Wei Yi in that regard as well.

Then, the woman’s name would almost certainly be one that she wasn’t born with, since there was no such family in Yi City, and she could also be presenting a false identity to the world. At that point, she would also be likely to originate from a district that then allowed her to suffer greatly, and it would be wise to question whether or not the heavens were running out of ideas.

‘I don’t that this is the case, however. It seems that her life has been somewhat different than mine, judging by her eyes. They are distinct… although I cannot understand just what kind of experiences she had through them alone,’ Wei Yi thought while she looked over to the side of the talisman master.

Luo Na stood alone, and while there were a number of people that were clearly in her favour, most of them didn’t attempt to enter the scene. So far as the Ascendant was able to determine, they thought that if Luo Na wasn’t able to defeat her foes, they wouldn’t be of much use either, but if she could, they would also have no ability to participate. As such, the only one interested in participating was Wei Yi herself, and she would only do so after a little while, the moment that she confirmed the situation.

“Fine then, come at me. I shall see what you’re made of,” the talisman master said.

Jian Hongchao nodded respectfully and, after a brief pause in which she seemed frozen in her state, she suddenly attacked.

In an instant, her skin seemed to transform to silver, her eyes gained a soft moon-like shine, and all of her planar energy exploded out of her body, as if her meridians were merely a suggestion and her body was the true vessel for all of her energy. The only place unaffected was the dantian and the core around it, with a small gap being left between it and the rampaging energy.

Despite the appearance of this, Jian Hongchao didn’t seem to be negatively affected in the slightest.

‘That’s a confirmation that she has a Yin Ascendant physique, or something of the sort. All of these are physique abilities, with the first being Silver Form, the yin variant of Golden Form. The second is Soothing Moon, variant of Bright Star, and the third is a variant of Immortal Mortal, which is… Mortal Deity, I think? Instead of widening and strengthening the meridians, it instead weakens them in such a way that energy can be released freely, allowing it to rampage all throughout the body in exchange for great strength,’ Wei Yi quickly identified the physique abilities at play, then focused on the fight itself.

The mysterious inverse replica moved quickly, but so did the talisman master, needing only to throw out the talisman in her hand to make use of her abilities. With a single casual throw, that talisman somehow multiplied into four, and all four flew at Jian Hongchao from different directions.

Each one had a different set of symbols on them, and once they were half-way to Luo Na’s foe, they were ignited, and an attacking light emerged from them. Two swords, one spear and one hammer flew out of the talisman paper, all formed from dense and solid planar energy of the element of fire, causing them to brightly illuminate the streets in the afternoon sun.

In the same amount of time that it took Jian Hongchao to take a single step, the four weapons all fell upon her silver skin, striking it with an immense force.

The moment that the flames touched her silver skin, a portion of them were suddenly blasted back towards the talismans, causing them to burn through the rest of the talisman paper ten times more quickly than they would have otherwise lasted. This was the effect of the Silver Form, allowing for the repulsion of attacks at the ones that used them, although it was negated by the fact that these were merely talismans. It was possible to destroy them, but to target the one that threw them would only be possible if they were actively bound to the cultivator with their lifeforce or energy.

Still, with only a greater physique ability being applied through something that didn’t appear to be a True Yin Ascendant physique, there was only so much damage that could be mitigated in this way. The rest struck right through the silver, breaching the woman’s skin and flesh, tearing into both viciously.

Before it could pass too far into her, a strange blinding energy emerged from within her, stopping just beneath the skin and shining out only where there was a tear in Jian Hongchao’s skin. As soon as Wei Yi realised that this was the Beaming Transience physique ability, one that hid a significant amount of detail from the observation of anyone that attempted to peer behind the veil, she put in her utmost to pierce the veil of the ability and see just what the woman was attempting to hide with her actions.

Indeed, even had she been making use of a perfect Yin-Yang Ascendant physique at a high rank to manifest the Beaming Transience ability, a sixth realm energy could easily overcome one at the first realm, thus allowing Wei Yi to peer at a crimson energy rising beneath the veil, coming into contact with the invading flames. It didn’t directly block them, but instead merely mixed with the planar energy, causing the intensity of the fire to decrease and the overall power of it to fall from the upper sixth realm to the lower boundary.

Then, a second after, a secondary tide of far greater strength collided with the fire, putting it out in one immense wave.

‘Bloodline of some kind, not the same one that I am making use of, then her planar energy that appears to be a blood-type variant of some kind of water cultivation method. Both differ significantly from my own abilities, but that is still rather odd. I know of only a few groups that have any idea how bloodlines work to begin with, so this person was either really lucky, or she has come into contact with them.’

The key point was that the combination of techniques, the odd appearance, and the odd manifestation of an Ascendant physique that Wei Yi had never heard of before all meant that this was either someone with an extraordinary life, or someone that was backed by an unordinary force. Either way, such a person wouldn’t be here trying to kill themselves against a far greater foe unless they were acting in favour of some greater plan, and if that was the case, this plan would be one that she needed to interrupt so that the Greats did not earn more power than they already had. That might not be the faction responsible – in fact, it almost certainly was a different group – but seeing as Jian Hongchao was aiding the Great Family aligned faction, the success of one would benefit the other.

For that reason, before either Luo Na or Jian Hongchao had a chance to clash with one another properly, Wei Yi leapt onto the street between them and blasted a wave of Absolute Force at the strange replica of herself without any hesitation.

That wave of energy struck her silver skin, but rather than being reflected, it shattered it entirely, forcing Jian Hongchao back by a dozen steps. Curiously enough, her bloodline was able to dull the attack slightly, and then her planar energy was able to flood out and mix with her strong body and overall keep her alive with minor injury.

“You… Who are you supposed to be?” Luo Na asked, noticing their resemblance.

“Wei Yi, leader of the Ascendant’s Arbiters. I would like to assist your cause. Do you mind?” she said quickly, glancing back and answering a question in advance, “No, I don’t know her at all.”

“You can do that. I will take care of the rest of them as I was the one they targeted!” the talisman master exclaimed, pulling out a series of talismans from her pockets and quickly activating one of them to place flame beneath her feet and accelerate her significantly. She hastened towards the group that had gathered behind Jian Hongchao, passing by that strange figure before she could even react to her accelerated movement.

The red-haired woman tried to turn and stop Luo Na, but she was quickly met with an incredible wave of force from Wei Yi once more. It was simple and unfocused, but the sheer power contained within that fifth realm energy was extreme, going far beyond anything that Jian Hongchao herself was able to manifest. She had no choice but to confront the attack directly.

Activating a yin variant of the Concentrated Humanity physique, the Displaced Sanity ability, a surge of cold energy burst out of her body, a chaotic vortex swallowing her figure right away and colliding with the incoming surge of cosmic light. The vortex of the Displaced Sanity physique was also able to extract the oddity of humanity from the dantian and, in regular circumstances, transformed it into a vortex of energy within which chaotic variants of the anchor, core and further structures would reside. It was a powerful manifestation of energy, able to send many other forms of energy into discord from the chaotic rotation of the vortex alone, but against the Absolute Force of Wei Yi’s Absolute Dao, it was met with a mighty foe.

Colliding with the black and white vortex, the cosmic light tore into it and attempted to shred it apart, and it was not entirely unsuccessful.

When the vortex had merely appeared out of the body of Jian Hongchao, it was easily three and a half metres in diameter, but after a single wave of energy was done with ravaging it, the vortex had shrunk to half a metre, and much of the woman’s body was exposed right away.

“Jian Hongchao, was it? Why don’t we-” Wei Yi began, but was instantly stunned into silence.

Right before her eyes, the figure of the red-haired woman warped into naught, disappearing from the street entirely. It was as if someone had taken a brush and painted over Jian Hongchao, putting back the world where she had previously been. The houses that could be seen behind her were now fully visible, and the vortex disappeared at the same time, leaving only a little natural physique energy out in the air for Wei Yi to claim as her own.

This reminded her a little too much of the time that she had been forced to chase after a certain irritating archer in the Kong Holy Grounds, and annoyed her just as much. She might have overlooked some method to interfere, but the power of the Conqueror’s Eye wasn’t enough to seal space, meaning that such methods could still work, so long as a suitable one was used.

“Yin equivalent of World’s Echo, Past’s Call. Allows for near instant transportation to a place where the cultivator had previously been and formed a strong memory at,” Wei Yi muttered the description of the physique ability that had likely permitted it, sighing.

She had a vast range of spiritual perception, but she was unable to observe the presence of the strange woman within it. That meant that her strong memory, if that wasn’t just some superstition about the physique ability, was formed more than six or seven hundred metres away, if the buildings, walls and obstacles were to be accounted for. With the size of the spread out district, not to mention the wide shape of the territory, that wasn’t unexpected, but it was unfortunate as she was looking forward to learning a little more about that woman.

No, she wasn’t attracted to a feebler version of herself, since, amongst other and far more significant things, Jian Hongchao lacked the kind of looks that appealed to her.

Instead, Wei Yi was curious to meet either someone that might have lived through some rather similar things to her, or, alternatively, would have given her the opportunity to learn a little more about a faction that appeared to have some interesting methods at their disposal. Just collecting that many physique abilities in a short span of time would have taken some significant effort and ability, so learning as much as possible about them would have been incredibly beneficial.

Since she wasn’t able to do anything about this for the moment, the Ascendant turned to Luo Na, who, at this point, had dealt with a few of her foes and was finishing off the rest with a few more scorching talismans.

There was a clear variety to the talismans that she had utilised, displaying a clear mastery of them and of the techniques that were essentially embedded with each talisman. She did not look particularly old, nor was her lifeforce aged, so Wei Yi quickly concluded that Luo Na had a great degree of talent in the field, as well as sufficient experience to have developed it to the sixth realm and six stars in terms of her great arts, so she was clearly being favoured for a good reason. That reason also appeared to allow her to circumvent the typical preference for a male leader of a district, a Patriarch, although Matriarchs weren’t entirely unheard of in Yi City.

“Luo Na, that woman is not someone from the Luo District, is she?” Wei Yi inquired once the dust settled and the talisman master returned to her earlier place.

“I have seen her before, but she has not come from here. I would have hoped that her relative would be more aware of her situation. Wei Yi, was it?” Luo Na said, storing her talismans back in her pockets, “Did you want to talk with me?”

“Yes, I did, but I think that something needs to be resolved first. Relative?”

“Isn’t she?”

“I do not recall having any relative – not a close one, anyway – by the name of Jian Hongchao, nor one using those kinds of techniques, for that matter,” Wei Yi stated, “As for distant relatives, most of us have some kind of relation with all of the families, so that’s hardly an accurate indicator of the relationships that one might have with another. Besides, the Shi and Bao families might both have vibrant red hair and grey eyes.”

“While that is true, you forget the blood connection between you. You and that woman are clearly very close in terms of lineage.”

“We are what now? Close? I find that rather hard to believe considering my particular parentage,” the Ascendant nearly rolled her eyes at this, since she knew rather well how rare it must have been for members of the Great Families to ever have children with a common person. Her parents only had her, and to claim that there just happened to be another was nonsensical.

And yet, despite the obvious intent displayed by her, Luo Na said, “You may be unaware, but the talisman masters of the Luo family specialise in making use of their very lives for their creations. That gives us a certain understanding over blood. With it, I can tell that she was very close to you in terms of blood. I don’t know your exact relation, but you may very well be half-sisters, if not closer. Do you wish to hide your relationship with her?”

“You’re misreading the situation here, Luo Na. I first saw her today, and there is much more reason to assume that she has something to do with the Yi family from the south than anything else. Even if there was some kind of interaction between us that I am unaware of, I hardly think that is what we should be focusing on,” Wei Yi said as she got closer to the talisman master, “I have an interest in assisting you in your faction’s bid for power in the district, which I would presume to be significant enough to separate her from me.”

“What if you two have decided to have a friendly competition in this regard?”

This time, Wei Yi did roll her eyes, as this was just too much. It was quite clear that the woman had decided to not make things easy for her, so even if she was able to provide her exact familial history, she might still insist that the strange copy of her was somehow related.

For that reason, trying to argue about it wouldn’t yield any significant outcomes, prompting her to change her focus to the more significant matter than her supposed sister. There might be something of interest about that inverse duplicate, but that is something that she would discover on her own once the figure was captured, and not something that she would be hearing from the talisman master without much reasonable evidence.

“I, as the leader of the Ascendant’s Arbiters, would like to prevent the Great Families from having a stronger grip on the district-”

“Will you repeat that every single time you talk to someone?” Luo Na interrupted her.

“Yes, I will. Some people may be unaware of my identity, and so I find that it is best to clarify it a few times. Doesn’t really hurt anyone if it is unnecessary but might help someone quite a lot if they weren’t aware,” she confirmed, since that was the entire point of her current open attitude. If the world didn’t know about her after she effectively got control over several districts, there would be a problem.

The talisman master shrugged but didn’t continue the topic and instead headed to her place of work without another word. Seeing as she wasn’t intending to simply let the conversation cease, Wei Yi followed her inside, noticing the presence of a few particles of ash flying out of the windows.

‘The illusory talismans that I had been told about, I’m assuming. Interesting. I’ll need to pay attention if there are as many different talismans burning as it looks like,’ Wei Yi was able to count the number of places from which the talisman ash was flying, and also perceive a large amount of flames within the building, although her spiritual perception struggled to get too far into the building due to the combination of general protective measures and the large number of influences upon her mental energy that were occurring within the building.

From outside, this was still reasonable, but the moment that she entered, it seemed as if the entire world warped around her. The walls twisted and turned, the ceiling seemed to soar into the air, and the floor splintered into many pieces.

If not for the distinct sensation of a solid floor beneath her, Wei Yi would have assumed that she had just been thrown into some other world and left to fall from the sky. Once she flooded her eyes with spiritual will and also funnelled a great deal of killing will into the Third Eye, she was able to see the vague image of the true room, but it was extremely vague.

She paused for a moment to stabilise her attention of reality, then looked up at Luo Na.

“Is this the consequence of your fondness of illusory talismans?” she asked, noticing that there wasn’t only a large number of active talismans, but also quite a few that continued to enact their influence upon the world due to the power of the talismans not being dispersed.

“Of course. You look experienced. Can you guess why I would want to constantly surround myself with these kinds of things?”

“It is difficult for people to perceive anything inside, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. It allows me to do whatever I like so long as I remain inside. Anything that people see might be true, might be false, and none will ever be the wiser… Save for a few particular individuals,” Luo Na smiled, sitting down on a chair at the back end of the room, “It does also make some confused about what is and is not illusion. For example, have you seen my eyes, for instance? They’re a nice shade of green, no?”

“I would… you’re asking me for a reason, aren’t you? If you are also able to perceive me despite all of the illusory talismans around here, then I would guess that you have one of the rare abilities that allow you to see through illusions. Physique or some unique technique?”

“You’re a knowledgeable one. Care to guess?”

“No, you can reveal that yourself. You seem to be having plenty of fun with this, so I won’t ruin your amusement.”

Luo Na smiled, “Your answer is the very source of my interest, however. Come, you have to have some theory of what allows me to stand here unaffected by everything. Consider all of the things that you can and cannot perceive properly, and-”

“Since you insist, I will not hold back. I am unable to see much of the truth, but my sense of touch is unaffected. The moment that I gained some control over my gaze, I was able to properly understand that I was, in fact, not falling, but standing on the ground. That means that the illusion is focused on sight, and that anyone who lacks ordinary sight would be less affected. You had mentioned your eyes, as well as illusions on the outside of the building, so I have to presume that you have something like the Milky Eye greater physique, which blinds you to more ordinary light but permits you to view certain entities like spirits or ghosts, and is said to allow you to view energy at certain ranks,” Wei Yi said, pausing for a little while, “Am I close enough?”

Although the talisman master didn’t reply immediately, there was a smile on her face, one that lingered all the way until she spoke.

“You even made sure to give yourself an out there… It’s a shame you aren’t a man. I would have appreciated your company beyond mere acquaintance,” Luo Na said, “You were indeed close enough, Wei Yi. I do not have the Milky Eye physique itself, but a mixed amalgamation of physiques with the same effect. The other one prevents me from properly manifesting energy on my own.”

“Hence the talisman usage instead of combat techniques… Also, I wouldn’t object to learning about you in more detail.”

“No, I am sure that you would not. Still, the Searing Inferno may be a detriment to some, but to me, it is an opportunity to replicate the full prowess of my realm without having access to planar techniques. However, you did not come here to listen to me talk. Instead, you wish to oppose the Great Families.”

“Of course. Do you think that you can deal with the rest of the other faction?”

“So long as no random threats appear. That strange woman aside, there may be a number of other forces that appear to attempt to deal with us. If you can deal with all of them, then I will be able to attain leadership from that old thing in the Ancestral Hall. I will side with you, and when there is a reasonable chance for us to combat the Great Families, I could bring the forces of the district to battle,” Luo Na said, “And you don’t even need to worry about me betraying you with such a phrase. As long as the average soldier of the Luo District can participate in battle without being guaranteed to die, I will allow the district to heed a call to battle from our ally.”

“How kind of you… The fact that the matter of betrayal even needs to be mentioned is a little sad, no?” Wei Yi pointed, out, earning a nod from the talisman master, “I do not know exactly how things will go in the future, but I expect that there won’t be that many more clashes between us and the Greats. If each one claims a dozen or two lives of the Greats, only a few more will be needed to get rid of their third and second generations. At that point, no soldier would be enough with their first generation.”

“I will never send anyone to combat those kinds of foes. Even if the legendary eighth realm is achieved, then-”

“Ninth realm might be sufficient, and even the eighth realm could be enough to contend with those bastards, but the question is whether this realm is currently feasible. The seventh realm is a peak for the Greats, and for all of the Patriarchs, and I am not sure whether this is merely by chance or due to something more complex than the quantity of energy,” Wei Yi disagreed, “I also don’t know whether they will be able to reach the eighth realm once that condition is met for the rest of us.”

“Well, either way, while I may be of some use, everyone else will take far too long to reach a capable strength. To throw them at a foe would simply be a waste, regardless of what you think about the people of the district.”

“Hm… Not necessarily. There is a possibility of elevating everyone in the world to the fifth realm and beyond, to grant everyone the ability to practise multiple types of cultivation at the same time, to provoke powerful bloodlines and physiques within every single person. I don’t know if this can be done prior to conquering the Great Families, but I guarantee that it can be done.”

“… If so, I, as Matriarch, might not be opposed to truly being allied with you. That being said, I still won’t sleep with you.”

“That wasn’t really a necessity, but that’s disappointing nonetheless. So… let’s get going?”

“Indeed. If the position of Patriarch is to be taken, then we must act quickly before any of our potential allies are claimed by benefits or explanations that work without our participation. I will vouch for anything you do but avoid killing anyone. The people matter.”

“I wouldn’t even attempt to argue… Although I would like you to take a look at this first. Does it look familiar in any way?” Wei Yi asked, bringing out the round object from the tomb.

Luo Na raised her eyebrow while she looked at the item, eventually shaking her head, “Don’t know what it is, nor where you got it from, but I don’t see any use for it. Any energy that might have been there is now absent, and it looks to be extremely old… Actually, did you take this from some kind of burial ground? It is covered in dust, to the point that I can notice it.”

“It may be something of note to the red-haired woman, Jian Hongchao. I’ll keep it for now.”