My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 156

Ding! Momentum has been activated. Your base speed has been tripled. Finally, Liyu had decided to use one of his skills, which could be said to be one of the aces he had on hand. Liyu’s gaze sharpened.

Then, at the very next moment, a whoosh sound was heard, followed by a deafening BANG! Guan Haoran was flung outward, smashing into the massive pillar once again with even greater force than before.

The crowd and audience watching were stunned for a moment as they blinked at the sudden change. After all, just a moment ago, the two had seemed equal in terms of strength, speed, and combat ability.

But now, all heads turned toward the massive pillar, which now had even more spiderweb-like cracks spreading across its surface. Their eyes then shifted to the base of the pillar where Guan Haoran was slumped.

He seemed to have fainted... Their thoughts paused. Because at that very same moment, Guan Haoran slowly began to rise from the ground. Steadily. Surely. He was back on his feet.

And the scene everyone witnessed caused their mouths to fall wide open. A thin line of crimson slowly slid down Guan Haoran’s jaw. It looked like blood. No... It wasn’t that it looked like blood. It was blood. Yet the crowd found it hard to believe.

After all, Guan Haoran had seemed invincible. Attacks that would have crippled countless warriors and sent an even greater number to their graves had landed on him over and over again without respite, and he had simply stood there calmly, taking every single one of them.

That image... That scene from earlier... It had already engraved itself deep within everyone’s minds. And now they found it difficult to believe that the same Guan Haoran, who had stood with his arms crossed while taking every attack without even twitching...

The same Guan Haoran who had seemed to nullify all of Liyu’s attacks with nothing but a calm and composed expression... Was now bleeding from what appeared to be a single punch from Liyu. Just... One punch.

The crowd was too stunned. Too startled to even think. Much less cheer, murmur, or make the usual wild speculations they always did. Instead, their mouths remained tightly shut as they stared at the scene before them with anticipation.

Even if they didn’t understand what had just happened, they still wanted to witness for themselves how this battle was going to unfold.

Meanwhile, Guan Haoran looked at the blood he had wiped from the corner of his jaw. Not with hatred. Not with anger. Not even with solemnity. If anything... He seemed excited.

His eyes glinted as a smile slowly spread across his face. Some might question why the hell he was smiling. Well... Guan Haoran was the only one who knew the answer. Seeing himself get hurt to the point that blood had actually been drawn from him had almost never happened before.

Not after he had learned Iron Skin and undergone his Qi mutation. Nothing had ever been able to hurt him. Nothing... Unless he allowed it. Of course, there were exceptions. If someone stood at a realm far above his own, then they could naturally hurt him with ease.

Taking Elder Ting for example... The old man would probably only need to wave his hand, and Haoran wouldn’t even know how he died. But that was because the gap between their realms was simply too vast. Too enormous. Comparing them was beyond foolish.

So yes... Apart from someone whose cultivation far surpassed his own, he had never been hurt by anyone within the same realm as him. Not to mention someone from a lower realm.

Even Xueyi’s poison had only managed to affect and hurt him because he had willingly volunteered as the test subject and hadn’t tried to resist it or activate his Iron Skin. That was a massive difference.

No one would understand how it felt to fight opponent after opponent whom you believed would be worthy... Only for them to fail to even make you bleed. While they themselves were already crushed.

That feeling... The loneliness that came from being too strong... It had plagued Guan Haoran for a very long time. So he had only one wish. That someday... Soon... At any time at all... He would finally find a worthy opponent.

Someone capable of hurting him. Someone who wouldn’t get knocked unconscious the very moment he decided to become serious. And now... After so long... Guan Haoran lifted his head and looked toward Liyu with a calm, warm smile on his face.

"After so long..."

"I have finally found you."

He said those words with a small...

Genuine... Happy smile.

Liyu’s eyes twitched as he looked at the bastard, Guan Haoran. What was the guy smiling about? He was certain that he had held back in his attack earlier.

With Momentum active, he had a threefold boost to his speed... or rather, he was supposed to have a threefold boost to his speed. But one had to remember that Primal Qi was also active.

And Primal Qi doubled the effect of all his skills. A genuinely insane boost, in Liyu’s opinion. Now he was moving with a sixfold boost to his already ridiculous speed, which had itself already been amplified fourfold.

With that sixfold boost stacked on top of everything else, his speed had completely shot through the roof. It was far beyond what anyone in the Qi Refining Realm could even dare imagine.

In fact, he was certain that his speed right now had already surpassed what many Early Foundation Realm cultivators could achieve. Maybe... It had even reached the level of a Mid Foundation Realm cultivator. Perhaps even the Late Foundation Realm.

That only confirmed one thing. Liyu’s speed was completely off the charts right now. And with that terrifying speed, the force behind every single punch he threw had also increased tremendously.

So when he struck Guan Haoran earlier, he had expected the guy’s jaw to crack... or at least suffer some serious damage. Yet all he had managed to get from Guan Haoran... Was a little blood.

It caused Liyu’s evaluation of the guy’s freakish nature and ridiculously high defense to rise by another massive margin. *He is a freak.* Liyu repeated those words silently in his mind. He wasn’t startled though.

After all, he still believed that he was the one in control here. Since one punch was enough to send Guan Haoran flying that far and make him bleed... Then what about ten punches? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? And even more after that?

Liyu wasn’t worried. To him, this battle was already a foregone conclusion. Guan Haoran wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

Guan Haoran stepped back onto the stage, the smile still resting on his face as he spoke, his tone carrying a clear hint of excitement beneath it. "Tell me... what combat art is that?"

Liyu raised an eyebrow. "And why should I tell you?"

Guan Haoran smiled and shook his head. "You don’t really have to tell me if you don’t want to. But I can tell that it is amazing. Truly amazing. To be able to boost your speed by such a ridiculous margin... It has to be at least an Earth Grade Obsidian Rank technique."

He continued while placing a hand on his chin. "...Or maybe..." He paused. "Maybe it is even a Sky Grade technique."

The moment those words left his mouth, his eyes lit up. "Yes. It has to be Sky Grade. Probably around the Bronze Grade."

He nodded repeatedly, as though he had just solved an incredibly difficult puzzle.

Liyu’s eyes twitched. This guy really liked talking and making wild speculations while they were in the middle of a battle. Wasn’t that a little too stupid?

A little too silly? He shook his head. The guy sure was weird. But he wasn’t about to underestimate him. That would be an incredibly foolish thing to do after everything he had already witnessed from this freak.

Guan Haoran continued rambling for a while before finally looking back at Liyu. "The one who created that technique has to be a truly great Architect. I adore someone like him."

He said while lowering his head slightly in reverence.

Everyone knew just how difficult it was to create cultivation techniques, breathing sutras, combat arts, manuals, and all kinds of cultivation methods.

It required tremendous effort... Experience... Talent... And intelligence. That was why Architects... those capable of creating and designing cultivation techniques, combat arts, manuals, and countless other cultivation arts... were revered and respected throughout the world.

Hearing Guan Haoran praise the creator so sincerely, Liyu merely shrugged. "Well... That Architect is me."

Guan Haoran stopped halfway through his bow before slowly raising his head to stare blankly at Liyu. Seeing that the guy clearly didn’t believe him, Liyu shrugged again before speaking.

"Actually... It is me. Well... indirectly me. After all, it was created by one of my reflections, and my reflection can basically be considered another version of myself. So... Do you understand now?"

Guan Haoran continued staring at him as though he had just heard the greatest rubbish of the century come out of Liyu’s mouth.

Liyu shrugged. He had said the truth. Whether he was believed or not didn’t matter. He doubted they would be able to believe him despite the fact that he was telling the truth.

After all, Momentum was a skill he received from King Rayden, and that was Liyu’s reflection. His very first reflection even.

Guan Haoran nodded his head somberly, not because he believed him. Who in the world would believe the shameless, unbelievable lie coming from Liyu’s mouth?

If someone wanted to lie, they should at least say something believable. Creating a Sky Grade skill? Guan Haoran felt like coughing. Not even the Guan Clan Head could do something like that.

And the way Liyu spoke about the technique being created by one of his reflections sounded so weird. Didn’t every human only have one reflection? Why did he say it as if he had multiple of them? He shook his head once more. *Such a big-mouthed weirdo.*

Guan Haoran finally wiped the blood completely from his mouth and stared at Liyu with a calm and composed gaze, as if he were not the same guy from before.

"A Sky Grade technique that is actively boosting your speed like that... surely you would perhaps only be able to use it two to four more times before you run out of qi. No matter how exceptional you are, your qi is still very limited, being at the Qi Gathering Realm."

"So let me guess... you won’t be using it again. Any other tricks you have up your sleeve? If there is nothing left, I would like to get back into our next round of battle." Guan Haoran said as he took a battle stance.

His gaze shone as he prepared to make a move, but he suddenly stopped because of one thing. Liyu was smiling. And that smile was far from a good smile.

In fact, it could be described as a creepy, wicked villain’s smile. His eyes narrowed as he wondered. *What is that psycho planning now?*

He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly feeling nervous looking at Liyu, who was smiling at him like a lunatic. "What is it?" Guan Haoran asked, his voice sounding slightly on edge.

Liyu didn’t stop smiling as he looked at him. "You are wrong... damn wrong."

Guan Haoran frowned. "Wrong about what?"

"Everything." Liyu said, and then he closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his gaze had become that of a completely expressionless lunatic. The hairs on Guan Haoran’s neck suddenly stood on end as he sensed danger. He tried to move away... But he was too slow.

A massive force slammed into his chest, making him fold in half before he was sent flying high into the air with terrifying force. A figure flashed upward the very next second. Liyu was already there, waiting for him in the sky.

"You are wrong about me only being able to use it two or three more times."

Another brutal force slammed into Guan Haoran’s back, making him feel as if his spine wanted to snap inward from the overwhelming impact. He was rocketed downward with immense force.

"And overall, you are wrong to be comparing my qi reserves to others. I am different. You should have learned that by now... shouldn’t you?"

A spinning kick met Guan Haoran as he was rocketing downward, sending him flying sideways with tremendous force. Still in midair, while deep pain rattled through his entire body, he suddenly came to an abrupt stop.

A powerful hand had gripped his face. Liyu’s mouth moved close to his ear as he whispered, "Your beating is just starting."

With that, Liyu slammed him downward. What followed... was a massive BOOM.