My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 87

The Tournament of the Three Great Clans was rapidly approaching, and every single member of the clans was making preparations for the upcoming grand event.

Inside the Shi Clan compound’s main training ground, a red-haired young man stood face-to-face with a towering pillar made from white marble; the pillar had been enhanced and infused with spiritual energy, making it far sturdier and more durable than any ordinary pillar.

This massive stone pillar could withstand the strike of a powerful Qi Refining expert and still only develop a few cracks running across its smooth surface.

Because of its rarity, it was mostly used by powerful and influential clans, and it also served as one of the primary tools used to gauge the strength of their younger generation. The red-haired youth stared at the pillar for a long moment before slowly closing his eyes.

When he opened them once more, his irises had turned crimson, burning with an intense scarlet glow. He slowly drew his fist back, red veins bulging across the muscles of his arm, and muttered "Flame Punch" calmly... almost too calmly... before throwing the punch.

His fist landed quietly, yet what followed was anything but quiet: BOOM! A blazing explosion erupted from his fist, and a deafening blast echoed throughout the training grounds as the enormous pillar trembled violently.

Spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across its surface; moments later, chunks of marble began breaking apart piece by piece as the terrifying shockwave that had slammed into it proved too much for the reinforced pillar to withstand. Seeing the red-haired youth’s performance, the surrounding Shi Clan disciples couldn’t help but marvel at his astonishing strength.

Standing at one side of the massive training ground was an elderly man with a gray mustache.

He appeared to be in his late fifties, and although old in age, his face carried little sign of frailty; instead, he looked more like a vigorous middle-aged man. In his hand was a tablet upon which he carefully recorded the performances of the clan’s candidates over the past several years.

The Shi Clan had truly improved; they had successfully nurtured many talented youths, all of whom had already stepped into the Qi Refining Realm. No, not only that; out of the five candidates who had passed the initial selection, they were subjected to even more rigorous testing using various rare training tools so they could be properly graded.

After all, those grades would directly affect the battle strategy the Shi Clan intended to use during the tournament that was now only days away.

The old man wasn’t merely testing raw attack power; he was evaluating many different aspects... combat arts, martial techniques, movement skills, reaction speed, battle instincts, mobility, endurance, and countless other factors.

The red-haired youth was soon brought over for another trial; this time, he had to pass through a vast field filled with every kind of hidden trap and deadly danger while being completely blindfolded.

Even without his sight, he performed remarkably well. He then proceeded to the following tests, continuing to display extraordinary talent. One could honestly say that Shi Yuan was an exceptionally gifted young man with tremendous potential; many would be left speechless after witnessing his performance.

Yet, the old man recording everything merely shook his head, almost as though he were disappointed. No, he was indeed disappointed. Written on the tablet were the names of the Shi Clan’s five greatest young geniuses; beside each name was an overall score based on every test they had undergone.

Shi Yuan... the red-haired youth... was only ranked fourth, with a score of 170. The disciple ranked fifth had scored 122; the disciple ranked third had scored 280; the disciple ranked second had earned 370.

Judging from the difficulty of the trials and the scores they had achieved, anyone could tell that these five were geniuses among geniuses. Yet the old man remained unimpressed; the reason was because of the name sitting at the very top of the tablet. Comparing the other geniuses to him almost felt disrespectful; he was a greater genius than the other four combined.

The old man genuinely believed that the Shi Clan wouldn’t even need all five of its top geniuses; just sending the person ranked first alone might very well be enough for them to seize victory.

Someone hearing such thoughts would surely believe the old man was exaggerating, but that thought would immediately disappear the moment they saw the score written beside the name at the very top: Shi Tian ... 990.

Not only was the Shi Clan preparing rigorously for the upcoming tournament, but the other great clans were doing exactly the same.

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Inside the Guan Clan’s training ground, a bare-chested young man stood calmly in the middle of the vast arena as several other disciples prepared their strongest combat techniques. There were twenty of them in total; their fists, swords, sabers, and other weapons were all coated with intensely refined qi.

The most terrifying thing, however, was the fact that every one of those twenty disciples was at the Late Stage of the Qi Refining Realm, with one of them even standing at the Ninth Stage, only a single step away from the Peak Qi Refining Realm.

And yet, all twenty of them were preparing to attack a single person.

What made the already ridiculous scene even more unbelievable was that the young man didn’t appear ready to fight at all; instead, he merely looked at them calmly, almost as though he intended to stand there and let every single attack land on him.

As insane as it sounded, that was exactly what was about to happen. Because this young man was none other than Iron Behemoth, the youngest genius of the Guan Clan to have mastered Iron Skin, an Earth Grade, Obsidian Rank defensive technique.

"I am ready whenever you all are," his voice remained as calm as ever. The newer disciples, who had never witnessed him fight before, hesitated for a moment; but seeing the complete confidence on the faces of the senior disciples around them, they eventually convinced themselves.

Surely, they weren’t going to accidentally kill him... right? Well, even the seniors seemed to believe so. With that thought, they charged forward together. "Attack!" With loud battle cries, all twenty disciples rushed toward him simultaneously.

The young man maintained the same calm expression as he watched them approach; then, a faint smile appeared on his face. He activated Iron Skin. His body slowly began turning a metallic shade of black; the dark color rapidly spread across every inch of his skin.

Only then did the combined attacks finally arrive. Without showing even the slightest mercy, all twenty disciples bombarded him from every direction. Powerful combat arts, sword techniques, fist arts, palm strikes, and kicks... every attack landed directly on his body.

He wasn’t even wearing armor. Surely, he would be torn apart by the overwhelming barrage of qi. Surely, he would be buried beneath the terrifying shockwaves. At least, that was what logic dictated. Yet the scene before them completely defied common sense.

Instead of finding a heavily injured young man... or perhaps nothing more than a corpse left behind after being completely obliterated... what they saw instead made every single disciple suck in a sharp breath.

Standing there, entirely unharmed, without even the tiniest scratch on his body, was the same young man.

He hadn’t moved even a single step from where he had originally stood; a faint smile still rested on his face. He even looked pleased as he gazed at the group that had just attacked him with everything they had. The disciples could only gulp as they stared at the unbelievable scene before them.

None of them could even blink; they all knew that Senior Brother Haoran was an extraordinary genius. After all, he was the most talented genius the Guan Clan had produced in many years. His mastery over Iron Skin had long since surpassed everyone else in his generation.

But still, wasn’t this gap simply too enormous? If they hadn’t known any better, they would have believed Haoran was already a Foundation Realm expert instead of merely being in the Qi Refining Realm like themselves.

Yet there was no doubt about it; every one of them knew his cultivation realm. He was indeed only a Qi Refining cultivator; and yet, they weren’t even worthy of being compared to him. No, comparing themselves to him almost felt like an insult toward him, so they didn’t even bother.

Among the disciples, a young girl with short purple hair walked onto the training ground with a small, adorable pout on her face. "It’s not fair." She stopped in front of Haoran, her cheeks puffed up slightly; her anger looked completely childish, and anyone could tell she wasn’t truly upset.

"You could have at least let my attack leave a scratch on your skin. If the Clan Leader sees this, he’ll think I’ve been slacking off again." She continued pouting, looking both harmless and incredibly cute.

Anyone seeing her appearance would naturally assume she was weak... a harmless little girl... yet anyone who reached that conclusion couldn’t have been more mistaken. Because the truth was, she was anything but weak.

No, she was one of the strongest geniuses below the Foundation Realm. While Haoran specialized in possessing an almost unbreakable defense, her specialty lay in overwhelming offensive power.

If she had truly unleashed one of her Top Five Deadly Arts, techniques that every cultivator below the Foundation Realm feared... then using any one of those five arts that she had not only mastered but perfected into her own deadly weapons... she was more than capable of leaving a scratch on Haoran’s body.

One had to know, judging by the terrifying destructive power behind those techniques, any one of them was more than capable of instantly killing most cultivators at the Late Stage of the Qi Refining Realm, just like herself.

Haoran looked at the girl’s face; she genuinely seemed to want to leave a scratch on him. Well, she was not really normal; no matter how cute she looked, she craved battle, damage, and bloodshed over and over again.

Haoran sighed and spoke, his tone deeper than someone of his age: "You should keep that urge for battle in check... after all, the tournament is almost here, and you’ll finally be able to cross blades with the Battle Princess." Hearing his words made Xueyi’s eyes brighten, as if she had just heard that she would be receiving the greatest birthday gift imaginable.

"That is even more of a reason why you should battle with me," she said with an even cuter smile on her face. "The Battle Princess is said to be extremely powerful, you know... and if I don’t perfect my skills, I might not be able to win against her."

Haoran rubbed his forehead, thinking of a way to turn down her request, but he couldn’t; her innocent expression was simply too convincing. The thing about her fearing the Battle Princess was something Haoran found utterly ridiculous.

After all, everyone knew that the Battle Princess, alongside the others who had been chosen to participate, were all still in the Qi Gathering Realm. He believed that if Yuexin, who was currently only at the peak of Qi Gathering, was as talented as everyone claimed, then at most she would manage to break into the Qi Refining Realm before the tournament.

Even then, Haoran still couldn’t see any way for the Li Clan, with only Qi Gathering cultivators, to defeat the Guan Clan, where all of them were already in the middle and late stages of Qi Refining, while he himself had already reached the peak of the Qi Refining Realm.

So, in truth, there was simply no way for them to win. He was even more certain that Xueyi would easily defeat Yuexin in battle. After all, the fiercest comparison had always been: who was stronger, the Battle Princess of the Li Clan or the Beast Slayer of the Guan Clan?

Maybe if the two were at the same cultivation stage, it would have been an intense battle; but with how things currently stood, Haoran simply saw no way for Li Yuexin to even stand a chance against Guan Xueyi.

After repeated begging, Haoran finally decided to spar with her. Xueyi grinned brightly as she brought out her two small swords, each radiating powerful spiritual pressure, proving that they were Spirit Weapons and not low-grade ones either.

Seeing that the two top disciples wanted to fight, the rest of the disciples quickly made space for them. After all, the Iron Behemoth and the Beast Slayer were about to spar; they would be more than fools to get caught in the middle of their battle.

"Come and attack me with everything you’ve got," Haoran said calmly. Xueyi smiled as she unsheathed her twin daggers and charged forward. The very next moment, what could be heard and felt were violent waves of refined qi exploding outward, making everyone around them feel suffocated.

Every member of the Three Great Clans was preparing in earnest, training in the best way they possibly could for the upcoming tournament that could one day determine the fate of their entire clan; they were all cultivating and polishing their combat abilities to the very best of their capabilities.

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Meanwhile, back in the Li Clan cultivation grounds, inside the Clan Lord’s special cultivation chamber, Liyu could be seen with his eyes unceasingly twitching. The reason was the system screen floating right before his face: "Qi Beads Formed: 500... Qi Clusters Formed: 0..."

Liyu was utterly irritated as he forced his question out through gritted teeth: "Hey, Sys... tell me this is some sort of punishment. Why the hell aren’t 500 qi beads enough to reach the First Stage of Qi Gathering?"

Are you kidding me right now?