My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 97

Liyu really didn’t look so fine; no... scratch that. He didn’t look fine at all. In fact, he looked like he was only a single step away from death... no, he looked as if he was already dead. Lazy Rayden, after glancing at his vacant eyes for a while, rubbed the side of his head before speaking.

His usual lazy tone sounded unusually solemn and somber as he said, "Guys... I think we have killed him." The other two jolted slightly when they heard that. Could they really have killed their original with their own hands?

Before any more negative thoughts could form in their minds, however, the supposedly dead Liyu slowly turned his dark eyes toward the lazy clone. Seeing that, Lazy Rayden jumped as if he had just seen a corpse move; then... the corner of Liyu’s mouth slowly curled upward into a mad smile. It couldn’t form into a complete grin yet... after all... he really was in a tremendous amount of pain.

King Rayden and Dead Eye Rayden both heaved sighs of relief the moment they realized that they hadn’t actually killed him. All three clones collapsed onto their butts, letting out long sighs of relief. As they looked at Liyu, they couldn’t help but feel as though he was a complete monster.

He had battled all three of them by himself for over eight straight hours without any of them holding back. The destruction that had spread far and wide, leaving a massive section of the forest in ruins, was a testament to just how terrifying and earth-shattering the battle had truly been.

Yes... they had managed to win, but all three of them had suffered some rather painful injuries as well. Just like Dead Eye Rayden, several of his ribs had been broken, and if one looked at him closely, they would notice numerous crimson slash marks covering different parts of his body.

They had all been caused by Liyu tearing into him time and time again; he hadn’t gone easy on the guy. Actually... he hadn’t gone easy on any of them. Despite being the fastest among the clones, King Rayden had still suffered tremendously.

King Rayden also had numerous broken bones, and he was in considerable pain; although, compared to the pain that the original must have been enduring right now... his injuries seemed rather insignificant.

Unsurprisingly... Lazy Rayden was the one who had dealt the greatest amount of damage to the original while also suffering the least amount of damage himself. He only had a few broken bones, while his jaw, nose, arms, and legs had all been dislocated several times during the intense battle.

So yes... he had certainly received a decent beating at the hands of the original, but at the end of the day... the truth remained: the original was the one who looked closest to death.

All three of them were completely speechless. The fact that he was this powerful was simply unbelievable. Three against one was already unfair, and considering that those three opponents each possessed their own specialties, battle styles, and overwhelming combat prowess... it became even more unfair.

And yet... he had still managed to wound every single one of them. He had carved countless marks across their bodies while enduring three different relentless assaults at the same time; he had truly earned their respect.

"Stop grinning like a lunatic and tell us what we can do. You really don’t look any good." King Rayden finally spoke. He was as loyal as he had always been and didn’t bother filtering his words. Still, Liyu didn’t get mad at his kingly clone; after all, he could tell that the guy was genuinely worried about him dying.

Liyu grinned once more; he truly was in an extremely terrible condition. Perhaps... he had really pushed himself too far. If not for possessing the Primal Tyrant Physique... he honestly wasn’t sure whether he would still be alive.

And not only that... he had truly gone all out; he had used the Primal Tyrant Physique alongside every single skill in his arsenal. And yet... he still couldn’t win. Liyu let out a quiet sigh.

Of course, he wouldn’t have done something this reckless if he didn’t possess all the skills and abilities that had managed to carry him this far. After all, one had to know that every single one of his clones had already far surpassed the limits of the Qi Gathering Realm.

In fact... each of them was already as powerful as experts in the Qi Refining Realm. Facing all three of them together... now that was something that was truly capable of pushing him to his absolute limits... and it had done exactly that.

"Hey, since this is all over, and you can obviously survive... can I go sleep now? All that fighting made me sleepy." Lazy Rayden spoke while rubbing his tired eyes. Liyu looked at him; then he shifted his gaze toward King Rayden.

After that... he gave him a wink. King Rayden slowly raised an eyebrow. If he had to take a guess... then the original was definitely planning something... something that probably wasn’t good.

Liyu slowly closed his eyes; he was going to teach that lazy clone of his another lesson. Among all three of his reflections, he seemed to care the least about his own safety... a bad clone needed to be taught a lesson. With that thought, he activated... Mind Swap.

Soon, the eyes of Lazy Rayden changed from their usual groggy appearance into a pair of sharp, focused eyes. That transformation was quickly followed by the familiar curl of the lips. Liyu had taken over Lazy Rayden’s body.

Liyu.... or rather, Lazy Rayden, who was now inside Liyu’s original body... looked at him as though he had been utterly betrayed. Through his sore throat, he managed to force out a few words with great difficulty:

"There are three of us here... and yet I’m the one you chose to punish like this... why?" His tone still sounded unbelievably lazy; it was as if even standing at death’s door, his innate laziness refused to leave him. Liyu simply shook his head before replying: "

"Because you need to learn a few lessons, and I’ve decided to be the one to teach you those lessons." His tone remained calm and composed as he spoke: "It won’t take long. In the meantime... learn to change your ways."

Lazy Rayden wanted to protest...he wanted to say something... anything, really. But his battered body simply wouldn’t allow him to speak anymore. Eventually, he gave up; being someone’s subordinate really sucked.

Still... he really wanted to sleep. Was that truly too much to ask? He sighed inwardly before looking up at the sky, which was gradually beginning to grow dark.

Liyu sat down cross-legged and began using the Foundation Breathing Sutra. Due to the fact that the clones didn’t possess Devouring Debt or any title capable of boosting cultivation speed, they only had the one hundred times cultivation boost from the Primal Tyrant Physique.

That meant they could still cultivate at an astonishing speed, just not as quickly as Liyu’s original body. One thing that had to be understood was the fact that Liyu and all of his clones were deeply connected to one another at their very source.

Cultivating inside one of their bodies was practically the same as cultivating inside his original body since it would ultimately strengthen his true body as well. If one truly thought about the clones... then they would quickly realize that this was far more than just an ordinary cheat... it was a super cheat.

Liyu possessed one thousand Qi Beads, and yet... when his three clones were taken into account... he could practically be considered someone possessing four thousand Qi Beads.

They were connected to such an incredible degree that if one of them cultivated, the others would all benefit at exactly the same pace. So it didn’t matter whether it was Liyu cultivating... or one of his clones. As long as any one of them cultivated... it was practically the same as Liyu himself cultivating.

That principle remained true despite the fact that Lazy Rayden cultivated Natural Qi while Liyu himself cultivated Primal Qi. As Lazy Rayden cultivated, Primal Qi continuously flowed into Liyu’s main body, while ordinary Natural Qi was absorbed into Lazy Rayden’s body in return. At this speed, it would still take several hours before all one thousand of his Qi Beads were completely filled.

However... long before every Qi Bead was filled... his battered body would already have recovered and become almost brand new. That was yet another terrifyingly divine aspect of the Primal Tyrant Physique.

Liyu couldn’t help but wonder whether he would still be able to make it to the tournament as early as he had originally planned. That... he doubted. Still, he would definitely arrive before the tournament officially began.

If King Rayden and Dead Eye Rayden could cultivate as well, then the recovery speed would increase by another threefold. However, he would first have to teach both of them the Foundation Breathing Sutra, then he would have to wait for them to comprehend and master it, and he had absolutely no idea how long that would take. No... he couldn’t afford to waste that much time.

After all, the Foundation Breathing Sutra wasn’t merely a Bronze-Rank technique... it was an Obsidian-Rank sutra. It could very well take them several long hours before they successfully learned it. He simply couldn’t risk it.

With that thought, Liyu calmed his mind and focused completely on cultivation. Tomorrow... was a very important day. He needed to win that tournament. No... he would win that tournament.

------

Meanwhile... far away from the Beast Forest... far away from Burnold City... near the outskirts of Urai City... chaos had erupted inside a small hidden camp. The camp was mostly made up of small-time bandits, with the majority of them standing at the Mid and Peak Stages of the Body Refinement Realm.

There were also several Qi Gathering cultivators among them. As for their three leaders... every single one of them was a Qi Refining expert. Because they were far from weak, none of the nearby locals had ever dared provoke them.

Not only that, but they had hidden their traces exceptionally well from the great clans. For a very long time... they had remained safe. Unfortunately... their luck finally ran out today. A lone cultivator from the Shi Clan had discovered their hidden camp, and now... he had walked inside alone.

His expression remained calm... detached... almost emotionless. The bandits, numbering well over two hundred men, immediately surrounded him. Their intention was simple: capture him alive if possible, and if he proved too troublesome... kill him.

However... what happened next made every single one of them feel as though hell itself had descended upon the earth. Because that lone young man... showed them exactly what hell looked like. The battle began, and ended... within only a few short minutes.

When everything finally fell silent... the entire camp had become nothing more than a graveyard. A lone figure collapsed onto the ground as blood oozed endlessly from his mangled arm. He desperately begged for his life:

"Please, my lord... please show mercy. I have a family. My wife just gave birth. Please... I don’t want to die. Let me see my family one last time, then I can die. Please..." He begged and begged. Yet the cold, detached gaze of the young warrior standing before him never changed.

Blood had dyed the young man’s white robes crimson, but they were minute compared to the carnage he had unleashed. The young warrior wasn’t even injured; he hadn’t even suffered a single scratch. The three leaders of the camp had all died before they even realized they should have fled the moment they saw him.

"Please..." The man spoke once more, hoping that at the very least his final wish would be granted before he died. If he could just see his family from afar... that alone would be enough. However, when he looked up, he realized that the young warrior wasn’t even looking at him anymore; instead, he calmly scanned the surroundings.

After a while, a beautiful yet strangely compelling voice left his lips as he asked: "Tell me... is this all of you here?" The man hurriedly nodded: "Yes... we all gather like this once every month, and today was this month’s gathering."

The young warrior slowly turned his detached gaze back toward him. The man’s soul trembled; he hurriedly bowed once more: "Please, my lord... just let me see my family one last time, then you can take my life."

"No."

That... was the final word he heard.

Something sharp and incredibly painful struck him; then... his vision slowly began to darken. As his consciousness faded away, he couldn’t help but let out a bitter chuckle. What had he expected? That young warrior was none other than the Devil of the Shi Clan.

Did he truly expect someone like him to show mercy? He really was delusional. The man’s severed head rolled across the ground, yet the young warrior didn’t even spare it another glance. Instead, he calmly wiped the blood from his sword before sheathing it and stepping outside the camp.

A figure was already waiting for him there: an elderly man around thirty years of age who had already reached the First Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm. And yet... when the young warrior saw him, there wasn’t the slightest trace of respect in his eyes.

He simply asked: "Why are you here?" The elderly man bowed slightly as a sign of respect toward the heir of the Shi Clan before speaking: "My lord asked me to inform you that you should head back for one final training session with the rest of the candidates.

The tournament is already here. You need to perfect everything." Hearing those words finally caused a slight change to appear within Shi Tian’s aloof gaze: it was disgust. Pure disgust.

"Why should I train with those weaklings?" He spoke coldly as he walked right past the elderly man, who instinctively tried to stop him. However... his next words caused the man to freeze in place: "If I’m forced to duel those weaklings, my hand might slip. I won’t be able to guarantee that they’ll survive.

So... do you still want me to train with them?" The elderly man’s expression immediately changed; he understood perfectly what Shi Tian meant. He was practically saying that if he sparred with the remaining four candidates... he would kill every single one of them.

The elderly man sighed before slowly shaking his head. "Good." Shi Tian continued walking: "Clear this area. Dispose of every corpse belonging to these bandits. Burn them alongside all of their belongings. This place needs to be completely sanitized."

The elderly man nodded. However... Shi Tian wasn’t finished: "And one more thing. The bandits have been here for so long, yet the Shi Clan had no idea they even existed. The reason is simple: someone was hiding them. I want you to find every single person who helped them remain hidden. After you’ve found them... cultivator or not... adult or child... native or outsider... put every single one of them to death."

The elderly man froze. He wanted to protest; after all... the ordinary people must have been forced to keep quiet... otherwise, they would have been killed. Being weak and defenseless mortals, they had absolutely no way to resist the bandits.

Yet according to the young master’s command... even they were to be executed. The elderly... the women... even the children... none of them were excluded. Wasn’t this going too far?

He wanted to say something... anything that might persuade the young master to reconsider. However... the moment he met one of Shi Tian’s icy gray eyes... his entire body tingled. "I wasn’t asking. What I said... is a command.

You will carry it out within the next two days. Do you understand?" Shi Tian asked in his usual detached tone. The elderly man stood there in a daze for several seconds before finally snapping back to reality. He nodded frantically:

"Y-Yes, Young Master." His heart pounded violently inside his chest as only a single thought echoed repeatedly within his mind: the young master of the Shi Clan... might truly be a devil, just as his title suggested. He was one terrifying individual.

The elderly man quietly shook his head; despite being a First Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator himself... he was absolutely certain that Shi Tian possessed more than enough strength to kill him.

And if he ever did something the young master found even slightly annoying... Shi Tian wouldn’t hesitate for a single moment. The way his mind worked... the way he viewed life... made him an anomaly that very few people could even begin to understand.

Still... the elderly man couldn’t help but feel deep pity for anyone unfortunate enough to face Shi Tian during tomorrow’s tournament.

------

Meanwhile, at one of the biggest taverns in the entirety of the Night Region... the Red Star Tavern.... a place reserved only for those with exceptional backgrounds, influence, and status.... two figures sat leisurely drinking tea inside one of its special VIP rooms.

One of them wore brown robes with white linings. His dark hair was neatly maintained, looking smooth and well kept. His gray eyes were calm, while his neatly trimmed beard made him appear like a man in his twenties despite being far older than that.

He was none other than Shi Gubing, the Clan Lord of the Shi Clan. Sitting opposite him was a large, sturdy man dressed in thick, rugged clothing. His long hair was messy and unkempt, while his thick beard gave him the appearance of a seasoned warrior.

A long scar stretched across his forehead, further proving the countless battles he had experienced. He was none other than Guan Ju, the Clan Lord of the Guan Clan. "The Li Clan will surely lose." Shi Gubing spoke with a faint smile as he calmly sipped his tea:

"Almost all of their candidates are only at the Qi Gathering Realm, with only Yuexin having broken through to the First Stage of Qi Refining." Guan Ju froze for a brief moment before asking in disbelief:

"That can’t be true." The Shi Clan Lord simply smiled: "My sources never lie. If they reported it... then it is true." Hearing that, Guan Ju couldn’t help but burst into laughter, a broad grin spreading across his face:

"I can’t believe I’ve been worrying for nothing. If that’s truly all the Li Clan has to offer... then they’re as good as defeated." He paused for a moment before turning toward Shi Gubing once more: "I heard a rumor that the failure heir of the Li Clan has returned and will be among those representing the clan during the tournament."

Shi Gubing nodded: "That isn’t a rumor. It is the truth. And according to my sources... he is no longer a failure. He has already reached the Peak of the Body Refinement Realm and possesses combat strength comparable to a late-stage or even Peak Qi Gathering cultivator."

Guan Ju’s eyebrows rose slightly; he was genuinely surprised. That was indeed rather impressive... if it was true. Still... the outcome remained exactly the same: the Li Clan would lose. No... the Li Clan had already lost.

Nothing could change their defeat... nothing. Shi Gubing slowly placed his teacup down before speaking again: "Remember... making sure the Li Clan loses tomorrow’s tournament is only the first step." Guan Ju nodded as a wicked grin slowly spread across his face:

"I know. We’ll crush the entire clan a few years after that. Isn’t that right?" Shi Gubing nodded; a small smile rested upon his lips as his gray eyes shone with a chilling light:

"Tomorrow... will lay the foundation for the downfall of the Li Clan. And in the near future... the Li Clan will be completely wiped out. And only then... will we finally be free from living under their rule." The two men nodded to each other before continuing their discussion.

Most of what they talked about revolved around ensuring that the Li Clan’s humiliation during tomorrow’s tournament would be as deep and unforgettable as possible.

Everything had already been prepared: the warriors... the schemers... the trainers... the candidates... the elders... even the clan lords... every single one of them was ready. Soon... the night quietly passed.

The first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the entire Night Region. Finally... the day everyone throughout the Night Region had been waiting for had arrived.

The day of the Selection Tournament between the Three Great Clans... had finally come.