Chapter 296: Baiting
When the Myriad Immortal Sect announced this selection competition earlier, Song Jiulai had already been interested.
She was interested in the Myriad Immortal Sect for only one reason: its powerful foundation.
They could even learn a unique cultivation method by sneaking into a shuitan.
Why couldn’t she, as a Sect Master, do the same!
This was a super major sect.
Her only worry now was that she had too many secrets. If a major sect like this happened to discover something that revealed her issues, it wouldn’t be good.
Moreover, most of the magic treasures she possessed were already exposed.
The Tai Xuan Sect was still looking for her.
But the Myriad Immortal Sect selection competition was less than a month and a half away, and she was currently in the Longshuang Great Marsh. Song Jiulai was also unsure if she could reach the late Foundation Establishment Stage within this timeframe.
She definitely wouldn’t be able to disguise herself as a true Qi Condensation stage cultivator during the selection competition; everything would be exposed once a fight started.
The System suddenly said, “Actually, there’s another method for you to enter the Myriad Immortal Sect. You have an advantage that other players and cultivators don’t.”
Song Jiulai paused, “What method?”
“Clone,” the System uttered a method she hadn’t thought of herself. “Players can attach themselves to puppets; you can too. You can separate a part of your consciousness and attach it to a puppet. I’ll give it a Spiritual Root. Reaching the late Qi Condensation Stage within a month and a half won’t be difficult for you. However, the drawback is that this puppet will share your cultivation. If you want to reach the Golden Core Stage or even the Nascent Soul Stage in the future, the spiritual energy and cultivation you’ll need will be several times, or even dozens of times, that of others.”
“You already need more spiritual energy than others. With an additional clone, others face single difficulty, while you’ll face six times the difficulty.”
“Furthermore, if the puppet is severely injured, it will also cause severe damage to your main body, and in serious cases, it will greatly hinder your main body. I didn’t mention this before because you didn’t need it yet.”
Song Jiulai was immediately tempted.
Although this clone required more cultivation than usual, having a clone would allow Song Jiulai to better disguise herself.
Her main body would be in the Longshuang Great Marsh, and the clone would be elsewhere.
How good would that be.
Moreover, the cultivation techniques the clone could practice could also be different.
She knew that clones of cultivators on the Yunzhou Continent were not like this.
Puppets could substitute for other cultivators, but they couldn’t disguise themselves as cultivators with Spiritual Roots.
After all, players relied on this to evade the identification of other cultivators.
Unless they used wicked methods like body seizure.
She thought of a key point: “Theoretically, can I have many clones?”
System: “Yes, but I don’t recommend it at this stage. The more consciousness you split off, the more your Spiritual Sense will drastically decrease. Although this method can train your Sea of Consciousness limit, it will also consume time. Don’t you want to be in the early Golden Core Stage when other players are in the late Golden Core Stage and can reach Nascent Soul? Although your combined strength can allow you to fight above your level, the main quest requires your level to be as high as possible.”
“…”
That was true.
Clones sounded great, but if too many of them dragged down the main body, it wouldn’t be worth it.
After all, fundamentally, one was still stuck within the same level, even if they were stronger.
Many cultivation techniques and magic treasures required a further increase in level to be used.
But it was indeed possible to cultivate one at this stage.
To infiltrate the Myriad Immortal Sect selection competition in over a month.
During this time, players had also gathered some information about this selection competition.
The Myriad Immortal Sect’s selection this time was exceptionally detailed, not only dividing by major levels but also by early, mid, and late stages for matches.
This time, Spiritual Root talent wouldn’t be considered; it would purely depend on whether you could win matches within a cultivation stage.
In other words, it wasn’t just cultivation, but also comprehension, because some people could cheat within this level.
Like how Song Jiulai fought above her level from early to mid-stage back then—although it was with the System’s shameless cheating.
But she had an advantage: in the early stage, she used large fireballs much better than others. As long as she showed better comprehension of cultivation techniques than others, she could be noticed by the Myriad Immortal Sect.
Because the requirements were relaxed, the number of participants in this competition was strictly limited.
Only one person per level.
If you weren’t the strongest, they wouldn’t accept you.
Of course, if you had a Gold Spiritual Root, there could be room for negotiation.
Therefore, Song Jiulai’s best option now was to create an early-stage clone, cultivate some ordinary cultivation technique incantations besides the System’s innate Soul Cultivation Technique, and purely enter the Myriad Immortal Sect.
This way, although the Spiritual Root would be ordinary, the reason would be easily found and wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
As for whether she could win.
Don’t be ridiculous. If she, after diligently cultivating during this period, couldn’t defeat a mere early Qi Condensation cultivator with an early-stage clone,
she might as well jump off a building and start over.
System: “There’s still plenty of time. Create the clone and cultivate diligently. Even if you enter the mid-stage, it won’t be a problem.”
“Forget it,” Song Jiulai was extremely cautious. “After all, you can’t openly cheat in the selection competition, and I can’t take extra medicine. What if I fail in the mid-stage? But against early-stage cultivators, I have absolute confidence!”
It was like being able to fight kindergarten children and absolutely refusing to fight elementary school students.
Elementary school students nowadays were well-nourished; some who were 1.3 meters tall could be 1.8 meters tall, increasing the chance of failure.
Her words were profound, leaving the System speechless for a moment.
After a long pause, the System sighed, “You truly live up to being able to be a mother to those players.”
Being so cowardly was unheard of.
Song Jiulai pinched her chin. “With the Myriad Immortal Sect relaxing their conditions so much, I have a feeling they are using this selection for something.”
System: “And you’re still going.”
“If it were my main body, I would definitely hesitate. But with a clone, it doesn’t matter.” Song Jiulai knew that opportunities should be seized when they arise. “A super major sect like the Myriad Immortal Sect, even a junior disciple can gain information that other sects cannot. I must go. If there’s a problem, I can afford to lose a clone.”
As for her main body, she would continue to lie low in the Longshuang Great Marsh.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion outside.
“Be sensible and hand over the Spirit Material you’re holding!”
It was the shouting of several cultivators.
Song Jiulai sensed that their auras were not strong. She released her Spiritual Sense to probe outside the cave mansion and discovered several Qi Condensation stage cultivators chasing a female cultivator.
The female cultivator looked panicked, clutching a Tier 3 Spirit Material called White Scale Wood, which had Dragon Breath Spirit attached to it.
It was a material needed for artifact refining, and quite rare.
But with Dragon Breath Spirit, it was even more valuable.
Song Jiulai watched from inside the cave with the System as this group of cultivators chased the female cultivator away.
The System suddenly said, “Why didn’t she put it in her Mustard Seed Bag? She clearly had one on her.”
And she even took it out to flaunt it.
Song Jiulai said meaningfully, “This woman is setting a trap.”
And she even sensed her cave mansion?
Or did she see me pass by earlier?
Realizing this, and after they had run far away, Song Jiulai, who understood that this place was not safe for long, decisively summoned her gourd and fled.
About a few minutes later, the female cultivator returned.
Seeing that the cultivator’s aura was no longer present at the original spot.
Her expression immediately turned grim.
She didn’t even snatch the Tier 3 White Scale Wood?
Was this the virtue a cultivator should have!
My dears, I had some family matters these past two days. The update for the 11th will be combined with the 12th, and I’ll try to post it during the day. I’ll also try to return to normal.
