Peerless Elegance

The back mountain of Yelan Castle was silent.

In the lush, verdant forest, Milia was moving rapidly, her figure drifting and elusive, impossible to pin down.

Surrounding her body, eight or nine phantoms flickered simultaneously. In the past, these phantoms would have been nothing more than afterimages created by her sheer speed.

But this time, after hearing the profound principles of the Shadow Clone Technique, a spark of inspiration suddenly burst forth in Milia's heart.

I had a vague feeling about this before, and now I finally know what I need to do!

Since my own form can merge into the wind, if I let the afterimages I leave behind also linger within the wind, wouldn't that create even more realistic "phantom bodies"... A brilliant light flickered in Milia's bright silver eyes.

Like a sprite of the wind, she slipped into the invisible and colorless breeze, changing her position at every single moment.

With her Wind Movement Technique fully unleashed, her speed was now so fast that it was impossible for anyone to track her movements.

Given the astonishing speed Milia was displaying, even Luo Ya would likely be unable to react in time if he were to face her.

Sometimes, extreme speed is enough to compensate for all shortcomings.

"Whoosh—"

The rustling sound of the wind in the forest never ceased for a moment. Milia moved her body frantically and tirelessly, like a ghost.

"Merge into the wind, let the afterimages linger in the wind..." While changing her position at an ultra-high frequency, she began to comprehend this brand-new profound mystery at an astonishing speed.

"Afterimage, linger, phantom body..."

At some point, Luo Ya and Beiya, who had followed her, discovered Milia's current location.

"Let's not go over yet. Milia is currently in an extremely special state of cultivation; I expect her progress this time will be significant." Hearing Luo Ya's firm voice, the elf lady Beiya did not doubt him at all.

Milia's current state did indeed resemble an "epiphany," a state she had experienced herself, though she had never moved around like Milia was doing now.

"It's different, it's different!"

As time passed, Luo Ya soon discovered that the shadows Milia created were becoming more realistic. They were no longer the obviously virtual "phantoms" from before, but were similar to Harvey, whom he had fought back then—the "phantoms" were imbued with a vivid vitality.

What happens when a "phantom" gains vitality? The answer is the formation of a clone.

Although such a clone cannot be used directly for offense, it possesses a strong deceptive effect; at the very least, experts of the same level would find it difficult to distinguish the real from the fake.

"This is... a clone! The Laws of Wind have this move too?" The silver-haired elf lady beside him also looked on with wide eyes.

"That's right, this is a clone." Luo Ya was now certain that the profound mystery of the Laws Milia was comprehending was none other than the "Clone Technique" among the nine profound mysteries of the Laws of Wind.

"To be inspired by the Shadow Clone Technique of the Laws of Darkness and grasp a brand-new profound mystery in one go—Milia's talent and aptitude are truly extraordinary." Watching this scene, Luo Ya could not help but marvel in his heart.

As far as he knew, Milia had not been in the Saint Realm for much longer than he had.

"She's stopped." An epiphany ultimately has its limits, so the two soon noticed that Milia's figure suddenly came to a halt, and before her, only one increasingly realistic "clone" remained.

Although there was only one "clone" now, its deceptive effect for combat was clearly incomparable to the "afterimages" from before.

"Hm? No, her cultivation isn't over yet!" Just as Luo Ya was about to step forward to congratulate Milia, he keenly sensed that Milia's "special state" did not seem to have ended.

"Could it be that she has insights in other areas?" Luo Ya's heart skipped a beat, and a bold guess formed in his mind.

"Fortunately, Miss Beiya isn't a careless person, otherwise she would have almost interrupted Milia's epiphany just now." Glancing at the quiet elf lady beside him, Luo Ya breathed a sigh of relief.

He had experienced that mysterious and profound state known as an "epiphany" himself, so he naturally understood how rare such an opportunity was.

If someone were to interrupt him in such a state, he would likely be so frustrated he'd want to vomit blood!

Shadow Clone Technique, swapping positions between body and shadow... Can my Wind Laws' Clone Technique also manage to swap positions with a "shadow"? Just as Luo Ya had guessed, shortly after grasping the "Clone Technique" profound mystery, a new and bold idea emerged in Milia's heart.

According to conventional wisdom, each branch of the Laws has its own independent characteristics; for instance, wind is "light and elegant," while earth is "heavy and solid." Therefore, the principles of the Shadow Clone Technique applicable to the Laws of Darkness might not necessarily be correct for the Laws of Wind.

But after this thought flashed through her mind, Milia resolutely decided to give it a try.

Her intuition told her that the Laws of Wind could also achieve a "Shadow Clone Technique."

And so, under the astonished gazes of her two friends not far away, Milia boldly made the following attempt.

This was an extremely risky move, yet Milia did not hesitate in the slightest.

"Whoosh—"

Just then, a light breeze blew through the forest, causing the azure cloak behind the blonde girl to flutter.

And at a spot no more than ten meters in front of her, under a lush, verdant tree, another "Milia" was maintaining the exact same posture as her.

"Whoosh—"

In an instant, Milia's body vanished. The original body standing in place dissipated like a bubble, while the other "Milia" under the tree became even more realistic and agile.

"This..." The usually unflappable elf lady Beiya was shocked by the technique Milia had just displayed.

"The Laws of Wind can actually reach this level..." In an instant, it was as if Beiya had discovered a new world of profound laws; a brand-new door seemed to be waiting for her to push it open.

It really works! After successfully confirming her idea, Milia's mood was incredibly joyful.

Under the complex gazes of Luo Ya and the others, Milia's figure once again created a "clone" in the distance, and then, as her figure flashed, her main body vanished from its original spot, replacing the position where the clone had been.

She split off a clone, and her original body vanished.

The original body and the clone overlapped, and the clone dissipated.

Repeating this process, Milia moved through space as if she were teleporting, flickering and shifting until she appeared beneath a large tree a hundred meters away in an instant.

"I shall call this move the 'Wind Shadow Clone Technique'!" Milia felt an indescribable excitement in her heart, and she instinctively broke into a joyful smile.

At this moment, Milia's golden hair, styled in a bun, shone even more brilliantly under the sunlight. With a faint smile on her lips, she was draped in an aura of mystery and nobility, much like a spirit of the wind.

For a moment, Luo Ya's gaze could not help but linger on this scene, unable to look away for a long time.

This pause was both a result of being intoxicated by the girl's stunning beauty and being filled with admiration for the extraordinary talent she had just displayed.

If his guess was correct, Milia had just fused the profound mysteries of the 'Wind Movement Technique' and the 'Clone Technique' from the Laws of Wind.

Although the degree of fusion was certainly low at the moment—likely only around one percent—which meant her brilliant performance still had plenty of room for improvement.

But there was no denying that fusing profound mysteries was something even Luo Ya had yet to achieve...