Martial Saint with Passives

After a moment of daze, he discovered a massive, man-high ancient mirror within his Sea of Consciousness, identical to the Illusionary Truth Ancient Mirror.

At the same time, the text before his eyes refreshed.

[Soldier Resolution successful! Acquired Soldier Soul: Illusionary Truth Ancient Mirror (Spirit Grade)]

[Activated Soldier Soul Ultimate Technique: Void Illusion Technique!]

[Void Illusion Technique: This is an Ancient Divine Ability from a Daoist Sect that can split the Primordial Spirit to refine an External Incarnation. You can consume a portion of your Primordial Essence Blood and Divine Soul to condense an ”Illusory True Clone” possessing ten percent of your main body’s strength. This Clone is mentally linked to you and can be controlled with perfect precision, as if it were your own limb. If the Clone is destroyed, it will cause minor damage to your Divine Soul, which can be healed with a few days of rest. Should your main body unfortunately perish, as long as the Clone survives, your Divine Soul can re-form upon the Clone and be reborn through it! However, this method defies the heavens and comes at a great cost; after rebirth, your Cultivation Realm will plummet!]

After reading the skill description, Jiang Che was utterly dumbfounded!

His heart pounded in his chest like a war drum!

’An External Incarnation?!’

’I can be resurrected even after dying?!’

’This Ability...’

’It’s too powerful!’

Jiang Che’s excitement grew.

’In that case, as long as I hide the Clone in an absolutely safe place beforehand...’

’Doesn’t that mean I’m practically immortal?!’

’And... I can also just send my Clone out on adventures! That way, even if the Clone dies, my main body will only suffer a minor injury. It’s no big deal!’

’Also, I can use the Clone to disguise myself as someone else and do things that are inconvenient for me to do myself!’

Jiang Che’s mind raced with possibilities, but then a thought struck him, and he froze.

’Wait a minute... If Xie Songnian had this Divine Artifact, why was he in such a pathetic state?’

’Not only was he easily killed by me, but I ended up with this incredible prize...’

’Could it be...’

’That until the day he died, he never knew the true use of this mirror?’

’Or perhaps, he knew how to use it, but he... simply didn’t have the ability or meet the conditions to activate it?’

The more Jiang Che thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

Not everyone possessed his freakish Soldier Resolution Ability.

Besides, the skill description clearly stated it was an ”Ancient Divine Ability of a Daoist Sect.”

It was only normal that he couldn’t figure it out!

...

Afterward, Jiang Che began to test this Clone Skill.

He took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness. Following the Dharma Gate of the Void Illusion Technique, he began to attempt to split his Divine Soul and Primordial Essence Blood.

”Condense!”

Following his low cry, Jiang Che felt his body suddenly empty out, as if something vitally important had been forcibly ripped from within him!

Immediately after, in the empty space before him, a faintly glowing energy mass woven from Primordial Essence Blood and Divine Soul slowly materialized.

The ball of energy constantly twisted and transformed, rapidly condensing into bones, meridians, and flesh at a speed visible to the naked eye...

In just a few breaths, a ”Jiang Che” who looked identical to him—not even a sliver of difference in his eyes or aura—appeared before him!

At the same time, Jiang Che felt a second perspective appear in his mind!

One was the normal vision of his main body.

The other was the vision of his other self, standing opposite him!

The sensation was incredibly wondrous, yet also incredibly strange.

’So this is... a Clone?’

With a thought, Jiang Che tried to control both bodies simultaneously.

His main body on the left slowly raised its left hand.

The Clone on the right slowly raised its right hand.

’It’s a little... awkward.’

Processing the different sensory information from two bodies at once felt awkward to Jiang Che, and his movements became somewhat slow and stiff.

However, thanks to his previous experience controlling the crow and Xiaohei simultaneously, coupled with his powerful Divine Soul that was already far beyond that of an ordinary person...

...he gradually got the hang of it.

Then, Jiang Che began to test the Clone’s strength.

With a flicker of his thoughts, he controlled the Clone to slowly execute a set of the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Technique’s Fist Technique within the quiet room.

’As expected, its total True Qi is only about ten percent of my main body’s...’

’Its overall strength... is probably equivalent to an ordinary Half-step True Master Realm cultivator.’

Jiang Che carefully assessed the feeling, evaluating it in his mind.

This level of strength wasn’t particularly strong, but it wasn’t weak either.

It was more than enough to deal with an average expert at the Peak of the Refining Organ Realm.

However, although its strength was only ten percent...

...the aura the Clone exuded was identical to his main body’s.

If not deliberately concealed, it radiated the aura of his full, one hundred percent strength, just like his main body!

’That makes sense... If its aura was only ten percent of my main body’s, then anyone would be able to tell something was wrong...’

This detail left Jiang Che very satisfied.

’Right, I wonder if the Clone can use my Talent Skills?’

With a thought, he issued another command.

’Transform, Black Armor Form!’

BOOM—

The Clone opposite him suddenly began to swell!

Sinister Black Armor instantly covered its entire body!

Although its transformed physique was a size smaller than the main body, only about two and a half meters tall...

...its terrifying, wild, and savage aura was not diminished in the slightest!

’It... it really works!’ Jiang Che was ecstatic!

He could clearly feel that after transforming into the Black Armor, the Clone’s overall strength had soared once again!

’This level of power... is already enough to approach, or even match, an ordinary expert at the First Layer of the True Master Realm!’

He then tried activating [Shadow Escape].

The Clone’s figure instantly vanished into thin air as well!

’Not bad... Not bad at all!’

Jiang Che was extremely satisfied with this result!

Possessing the Black Armor Form and the [Shadow Escape] Ability meant that this Clone of his not only had considerable combat power, but also extremely strong survival and stealth capabilities!

Then, another thought suddenly popped into his head.

He had the Clone cancel its Black Armor Form, returning it to its normal appearance.

Then, he had it swagger out of the Chief Courtyard.

He wanted to test whether this Clone could... pass for the real thing!

He first directed the Clone to the Martial Arts Arena of Yunhai Courtyard.

”Chief Senior Brother!”

”Greetings, Chief Jiang!”

The disciples who were training saw ”him” and immediately stopped to bow respectfully. No one noticed anything amiss.

He then had the Clone chat casually with his First Senior Brother, Xiao Mingqian, for a bit. The other party didn’t have the slightest suspicion either.

He even went to Yanluo Courtyard and met with Liu Qing, Su Wan, and the others. Likewise, no one could see through his disguise!

He tried it on almost everyone.

Whether it was close relatives like Jiang Ling, or the Dean and Elders whose Realms were far higher than his.

None of them discovered any abnormality!

’Excellent!’

Jiang Che was incredibly satisfied with this outcome.

After testing everything, he called the Clone back to the Chief Courtyard and had it enter the quiet room and sit cross-legged.

Then, he commanded it to activate [Shadow Escape], completely concealing its entire aura.

For now, he had nothing special that needed doing by the Clone.

He would just have it hide here for the time being, serving as a...

...perfectly safe ”respawn point”!

...