[Mirror Master: Lin Ze]
[Rank: Dou Qi](Current rank; can reflect two White Common Death Soldiers per day. They can be summoned by consuming Flesh Essence. Absolute Loyalty.)
[Flesh Essence: 1/100 units](Flesh Essence can summon Death Soldiers, strengthen Death Soldiers, and unlock functions.)
[Current Death Soldiers: White Common (6)]
[Functions: Control, Resonance, Proxy (Death Soldiers can briefly bear the Mirror Master's reflection and wield his power as proxies. Depending on the difference in strength between the Death Soldier and the Mirror Master, the Death Soldier will suffer varying degrees of backlash.)]
Lin Ze looked at the words on the Bronze Mirror and beamed with delight.
Today was the third day since he had obtained the Bronze Mirror.
Through the Magical Beast meat he had bought and the Flesh Essence A-Da had obtained from hunting in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Lin Ze had discovered that after summoning Death Soldiers for the third day, he could use the remaining Flesh Essence to unlock another function.
He hadn't expected the third function to be so powerful. It could briefly grant the Death Soldiers his strength.
Though he was only at Dou Disciple Rank 9 and still weak, he was considerably stronger than the Death Soldiers.
After all, the Death Soldiers were all ordinary people when summoned.
A-Er, who had been cultivating the longest, hadn't even reached Dou Disciple Stage 1!
If the Death Soldiers could briefly gain his strength, their power would soar!
However, the warning after the function's description made Lin Ze rein in his excitement.
Lin Ze got out of bed. He needed to test the Proxy Function so he wouldn't overuse it and end up killing a Death Soldier.
He could summon only a limited number of Death Soldiers each day. He couldn't let them die for nothing.
In Lin Ze's view, the most important thing about the Death Soldiers wasn't their ability to overwhelm an enemy with their numbers. It was their Absolute Loyalty.
If put to good use, their Absolute Loyalty could bring far more value than sacrificing one to kill a powerful enemy.
"A-Er."
"I'm here, Young Master."
A-Er immediately came out of his cultivation and answered.
Since Lin Ze wanted to keep the Death Soldiers' unusual nature hidden, he had forbidden them from calling him Master.
Usually, they either called him by name or addressed him as Young Master.
Lin Ze used the Proxy Function on A-Er.
To his surprise, his own strength hadn't dropped to zero.
He just had a vague feeling that he couldn't use his power.
If he tried to use it, the Proxy State would be broken.
Realizing this, Lin Ze breathed a sigh of relief.
This was probably what the description meant by "reflection." His power wasn't actually flowing into the Death Soldier.
This was much better than Lin Ze had expected.
If he really lent all his power to the Death Soldier, his own cultivation would fall to zero, leaving him far too vulnerable.
In this reflected state, even if he were attacked, Lin Ze could still use his power in an instant.
With that worry out of the way, Lin Ze looked at A-Er.
"A-Er, how do you feel?"
A-Er raised his fist. A layer of pale white Dou Qi gathered around it.
"I feel great, Young Master. I'm full of strength, but there's a heavy strain."
"Can you end the Proxy State yourself? If the strain gets too much, end it on your own."
Lin Ze asked.
A-Er nodded.
"I can, Young Master."
After testing it, they found that A-Er could bear the reflection for about ten minutes.
When it ended, A-Er was limp and drenched in sweat. He could barely move normally.
By his own estimate, he would need about a day to recover.
"It takes a whole day to recover from bearing the power for ten minutes?"
Even with a day's cooldown, the Proxy Function was undeniably powerful.
Take A-Da, who was hunting in the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. With ten minutes in the Proxy State, his chances of staying safe would improve considerably.
If he encountered danger, it was obvious which one would be more likely to escape: an ordinary person with no cultivation or someone at Dou Disciple Rank 9.
What surprised Lin Ze even more was that after the reflected state ended, the Dou Qi in his body hadn't been depleted at all.
That meant Lin Ze could keep switching which Death Soldier was in the Proxy State.
Only one Death Soldier could wield his power at a time.
But since it cost him no Dou Qi, there was plenty of room to make use of the ability.
Lin Ze then had A-Wu and A-Liu, the newly summoned Death Soldiers, try the Proxy State as well.
He discovered that the Death Soldiers could end the Proxy State early to avoid the backlash from bearing too much power.
The moment they entered the Proxy State, they suffered very little backlash.
Even if they maintained it for a full minute, they could recover with just over ten minutes of rest.
"So, by using the Proxy State briefly and repeatedly, they can greatly reduce the backlash from wielding this power!"
After a series of tests, Lin Ze was very pleased with the newly unlocked Proxy Function.
The Death Soldiers he summoned now had many more ways to be useful.
For instance, A-Da, who was hunting in the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range, could now try hunting some weaker Magical Beasts.
During this time, A-Da had been extremely cautious in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
He'd even had to avoid First Order Magical Beasts, so he could only deal with ordinary animals.
Now he could act as Lin Ze's proxy and wield the strength of Dou Disciple Rank 9, undoubtedly making him far more efficient at hunting.
"I probably can't learn everything about the Proxy Function in such a short time, but even what I've uncovered so far is already very useful!"
Lin Ze sat cross-legged on the bed and began checking on the other Death Soldiers.
A-Da went without saying. After Lin Ze gave him permission to use the Proxy Function on his own, he had started trying to hunt stronger prey.
But when Lin Ze learned what was happening in Qingshan Town through the Bronze Mirror, his eyes narrowed.
Lin Ze couldn't read the Death Soldiers' memories from before he took control of them. However, he could still learn what was happening in Qingshan Town from another Death Soldier's report.
The mercenary who had been keeping watch seemed unable to endure such a dull, tedious task. He had actually gone up and pounded on Lin Ze's front door.
When no one answered, the mercenary brazenly climbed over the wall and broke in.
Not seeing Lin Ze anywhere, the mercenary had hurriedly left in a panic. He had probably gone to report to Mu Li.
Some time had passed by now. Mu Li should have figured things out.
Sure enough, the Death Soldier nearby soon saw Mu Li hurrying over with several mercenaries.
Lin Ze had two Death Soldiers there, one in the open and one in hiding.
The one in hiding stayed out of sight.
The one in the open sat brazenly nearby, like an idle loafer with nothing to do.
When Mu Li and the others passed by, they glanced at him but paid him little attention, assuming he was just an ordinary man with no cultivation.
Through the Death Soldier's eyes, Lin Ze watched as Mu Li kicked open the wooden gate of the Small Courtyard and led his men inside.
Seeing this, Lin Ze's gaze turned cold.
"Are you really in such a hurry?"
Before you continue