Incubating a Clone

As an administrative planet directly governed by the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom, Qingyu Planet offered a much better living environment than Biyan Planet in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, where they had stayed before.

For starters, all five major human factions had senior members stationed on Qingyu Planet, so there was no chance of being unable to accommodate a five-star customer.

On top of that, all kinds of commercial activities were extremely well developed and convenient. Items unavailable in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire could be found easily on Qingyu Planet, which would make Luo Zhiyuan's cultivation much easier.

Take the energy needed to use the Time Chamber, for instance. Ordinary energy wouldn't do; it required Immortal Crystals.

Immortal Crystals couldn't be bought in the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, because only Immortal-level experts could condense them. One hundred units of Immortal Crystals were worth one Hunyuan (PS: I've never found a set price for Immortal Crystals in the original novel, so this is just my estimate. Please don't mind). They were generally kept as strategic reserves, and could only be found for sale on planets directly governed by high-level universe countries like this one.

Aboard an F5-class spaceship bound for Qingyu Planet, the cabin that was supposed to be Luo Zhiyuan's room was now empty. He was inside his World Ring, gazing at the sealed metal box before him with a hint of excitement.

The box contained a sealed, planetary-level Shadow Race juvenile. Ordinary planetary-level lifeforms lived for only a thousand years, but Special Lifeforms were different: their lifespans were infinite. And since the Light Beast God had used a time-based secret technique to seal it, there was no need to worry that the juvenile Shadow Race lifeform would die and decay after all this time.

But Luo Zhiyuan suddenly thought of a serious problem and asked anxiously, "Bulieni, once the Shadow Race lifeform is unsealed, will it wake up right away? If it does, will I be able to subdue it with my current strength? It is a Special Lifeform, after all."

"My strongest ability right now is the Illusionist's Soul Secret Technique, but the Shadow Race isn't vulnerable to Soul Secret Techniques. I'm afraid my Controller skills won't let me use the Lightning Shuttle well enough to subdue it. That would be a huge problem."

Bulieni replied in an even tone, "Why do you think I waited until you reached Stellar Level Six before waking you? Was it only because of Luo Feng's message and this mid-level auction? It wasn't that simple."

"Let me tell you: in terms of energy alone, Stellar Level One has ten times as much energy as Planetary Level Nine. Then, each time you rise by one level, your energy doubles. You're currently at Stellar Level Six, so you have 320 times as much energy as someone at Planetary Level Nine."

"Even if the Shadow Race lifeform has a Gene Level a hundred times higher than that of an ordinary human, you still have 3.2 times as much energy as it does. If you can't subdue it with that much energy, you don't deserve to have this clone!"

Bulieni's words made Luo Zhiyuan blush with embarrassment. Bulieni was right. He was already Stellar Level Six, and his goals were clear. How could he be afraid of a mere planetary-level Shadow Race lifeform?

My heart is boundless. Let me start by conquering this Shadow Race lifeform, then conquer everything!

Soon, after making his preparations for battle, Luo Zhiyuan undid the seal on the box. A fluctuation in the Law of Time rippled through the air, and the box came apart. A cloud of smoke drifted out, soon to reveal the Shadow Race lifeform inside.

Luo Zhiyuan's mind was intensely focused as he controlled the Lightning Shuttle to unleash its third form. The entire shuttle assembled into an elongated spear and hovered beside him, ready to attack at any moment.

When Luo Zhiyuan finally got a good look at the Shadow Race lifeform, he saw that the bottom of the box held nothing but a white-glowing triangular pyramid. He stared in bewilderment, unable to make sense of the situation.

Bulieni's laughter rang out from within Luo Zhiyuan's Consciousness Ocean. "Hahahaha! Luo, are you nervous?"

"Heh heh. Old Mystic used his willpower to suppress the planetary-level Shadow Race lifeform until its consciousness was almost completely gone. It's completely unconscious now, so there's no chance it'll wake up."

"I deliberately didn't tell you because I wanted to see you get nervous. Hahaha!"

"You see that triangular pyramid? That's the Shadow Race lifeform's Life Crystal Core, its true form. You can use your Innate Secret Technique to create a clone right now!"

Luo Zhiyuan breathed a sigh of relief. At last, there was no need to be nervous. He put away the Lightning Shuttle and took another careful look at the Shadow Race lifeform's true form.

It was a triangular pyramid with sides less than a meter long. Mysterious, bright-white markings flickered across each of its faces, and they were what continually emitted the white glow, brightening and dimming like a breathing creature.

Using an Innate Secret Technique required some of the target's body tissue. But the Shadow Race lifeform's true form was a triangular pyramid—where was he supposed to get any body tissue? Was he meant to cut off some crystal fragments?

Luo Zhiyuan controlled the Lightning Shuttle again and slashed at one of the pyramid's edges. He left behind a crack that slowly healed, but no fragments fell away. This left him stumped.

"Bulieni, the Shadow Race lifeform's true form is a triangular pyramid. My Innate Secret Technique requires some of the target's body tissue, but I can't get any fragments from it. What should I do? If I break the pyramid, won't that kill the Shadow Race lifeform?"

"Are you an idiot? Just use its entire Life Crystal Core as the target."

Would that work? Luo Zhiyuan didn't know. He could only give it a try.

So he wrapped the entire pyramid in Spiritual Force and activated his Innate Secret Technique, External Incarnation, choosing to create a permanent clone. The pyramid promptly dissolved, and an independent pocket of space appeared in his Soul Space.

A white cocoon of light formed inside the pocket and began to flicker steadily, as if breathing. From his Consciousness Ocean, Luo Zhiyuan sensed a message: the clone's gestation required an energy supply.

It was a surprise that gestating a clone required extra energy. Luo Zhiyuan remembered that the original novel never mentioned Luo Feng's Golden Horned Behemoth needing an energy supply to gestate its clones.

It seemed his clone was different from the Golden Horned Behemoth's. Fortunately, he had a ready supply of energy: the Secret Realm Spirit Marrow could provide more than enough.

After telling Bulieni that the clone was gestating but needed an energy supply, Luo Zhiyuan walked straight into the lake of Secret Realm Spirit Marrow and immersed himself in it once more.

Soon, Luo Zhiyuan noticed a difference from the previous time, when his body had evolved.

Although the Secret Realm Spirit Marrow still gave off its fragrance, his soul didn't feel the same distinct intoxication as before, and he didn't lose consciousness.

An energy channel appeared inside his Soul Space, and the energy from the Secret Realm Spirit Marrow flowed through it directly into the white cocoon.

After only a few dozen breaths, the cocoon disappeared. A white triangular pyramid appeared inside his Soul Space, and a message came from deep within his soul: the clone's gestation was complete!

Luo Zhiyuan then kept the white pyramid absorbing energy in his Soul Space for a while longer. When the energy channel disappeared, the pyramid's energy level had reached Stellar Level Six.

Before he even emerged from the Secret Realm Spirit Marrow, another message came to him: the Life Imprint had been fully received!

Luo Zhiyuan paused, then understood what the message meant. The Shadow Race was an Energy Lifeform without a soul, so Soul Fusion was impossible.

However, the Shadow Race passed down its memories through Life Imprints. During the gestation of his clone, the External Incarnation secret technique had dissolved the Shadow Race lifeform's true body, allowing him to receive its entire Life Imprint.

He simply hadn't absorbed it yet, and could choose when to receive the memories. After leaving the Secret Realm Spirit Marrow's seal, Luo Zhiyuan explained the situation to Bulieni and began receiving the Shadow Race lifeform's memories.

A vast stream of memories passed through Luo Zhiyuan's Consciousness Ocean. It took a full day for him to receive them all, and by then he had learned the details about the Shadow Race.

The Shadow Race was an Energy Lifeform, immune to soul-based attacks. Since they had no souls, they couldn't use Spiritual Force. They were close-combat Martial Artists, and their Life Gene Level was a hundred times that of an ordinary human. Their life core was an energy core—the triangular pyramid—and as long as they had enough energy, they could transform into any shape no taller than one kilometer.

They possessed two Innate Secret Techniques: Shadow Transformation and Shadow Control.

Shadow Transformation allowed them to hide inside a shadow cast by light, concealing their form and aura. Shadow Control allowed them to affect someone's body by controlling their shadow, preventing both the body and Spiritual Force from moving. However, it could only be used through physical contact or contact with the target's shadow.

The inheritance included many other special Combat Secret Techniques, all designed to work with the Shadow Race's unique abilities. They were extremely powerful.

But the Shadow Race lifeform had only been a planetary-level juvenile. It had cultivation techniques but no cultivation experience. If Luo Zhiyuan wanted to use them, he would have to study and practice them bit by bit on his own.

After fully organizing the Shadow Race's memories, Luo Zhiyuan had a thought, and the Shadow Race energy core appeared beside him from within his Soul Space. A flash of alternating light and darkness followed, and it transformed into Luo Zhiyuan's likeness.

Luo Zhiyuan and his Shadow Race clone looked each other over. A strange sensation came over him, different from what he felt with an incarnation. A temporary incarnation could be dispelled with a single thought.

But this was a permanent clone. It wouldn't disappear unless it was destroyed. Moreover, the two bodies shared one soul, and the soul's main consciousness could move freely between them.

He plucked out a strand of hair and used the Innate Secret Technique, External Incarnation, again—but this time, he created a temporary incarnation.

In an instant, a third Luo Zhiyuan appeared. The three of them studied one another, comparing their bodies and occasionally moving their hands and feet.

Luo Zhiyuan could clearly feel the differences between the three bodies. His main body was the one he knew best, and the one that held the greatest portion of his soul and consciousness.

Only a portion of his consciousness resided in the Shadow Race clone and the incarnation. But with his current Mental Power Amplitude of 55, he could control all three bodies perfectly without any trouble.

Of course, the incarnation had only one-tenth the energy of his main body.

After comparing the incarnation and the clone, Luo Zhiyuan dispelled the incarnation. He then controlled his Shadow Race clone, repeatedly changing its appearance and size as he familiarized himself with how to operate it.

He first tried changing its shape several times. With the energy reserves of a Stellar Level Six Shadow Race clone, he could only grow as tall as 100 meters without reducing its capabilities. Any taller, and its defense and control would suffer.

He released a large amount of energy from the Life Crystal Core and tried transforming into a one-kilometer-tall body. The body felt like an inflated balloon, as though someone could pop it with a single poke.

He tried moving it a little. Forget moving freely; even walking was extremely difficult. It seemed that a larger body required more energy. Simply making the body bigger would otherwise be useless.

Luo Zhiyuan also compared how the Law of Light felt to his Earthling Main Body and his Shadow Race clone. His main body had only comprehended the Fourth-Level Domain, but when he used the Shadow Race clone, his understanding of the Law of Light kept improving, and he reached the Ninth-Level Domain with ease.

The Shadow Race clone could even sense its connection to the Law of Light with great clarity. Every movement naturally followed the rhythm of the law. The Shadow Race really was a darling of the Law of Light.

After getting used to the body, Luo Zhiyuan had a thought, and the Shadow Race clone used its Innate Secret Technique, Shadow Transformation.

The Shadow Race clone suddenly became a faint blur of light and shadow. Its three-dimensional human form collapsed in an instant, turning into a shadow that disappeared into his main body's shadow.

It was an extraordinary sensation. Whether he looked with his naked eye or scanned with Spiritual Force, he couldn't detect another lifeform there. Even Bulieni failed to pick it up with his scans.

Yet Luo Zhiyuan could clearly sense in his own consciousness that both his main body and his Shadow Race clone still existed. The clone had simply merged with his main body's shadow.

Through the feedback from the Shadow Race clone's consciousness, he felt as if he were in a dark, empty space. He could still sense everything in the outside world, and a strange fluctuation surrounded him.

Frowning as he considered it, Luo Zhiyuan asked Bulieni uncertainly, "My Shadow Race clone seems to sense waves of spatial fluctuations. What's going on? Is it the Law of Space?"

Bulieni exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? You're right. I detected fluctuations in the Law of Space near your shadow. Could the Shadow Race sense the Law of Space as well as being a darling of the Law of Light?"

Controlling the Shadow Race clone, Luo Zhiyuan tried to feel it more carefully. Fluctuations, space—was it something like that?

"Huh? Why did the spatial fluctuations disappear? Luo, what did you do?"

"Um, I tried to control the fluctuations so they wouldn't have too great an effect, and to conceal them. I really can control them. It seems the Shadow Race can sense, and even control, the Law of Space. Bulieni, this is a huge windfall!"

Luo Zhiyuan then tried using his main body to sense the spatial fluctuations. Before, it would have been absolutely impossible, but with the experience the Shadow Race had provided, he now felt faint traces of the fluctuations in the Law of Space. They were extremely weak, but he really could sense them.

Luo Zhiyuan asked hopefully, "Bulieni, did I just sense the Law of Space too? Have I crossed the threshold?"

Bulieni said dismissively, "Don't get ahead of yourself, Luo!"

"You've only sensed a little of it at the most basic level. You haven't even begun to comprehend it. Still, this has opened the door to the Law of Space for you. From now on, you can use the Shadow Race clone's insights to advance your main body's Law Comprehension and make comprehending the laws much easier."

Well, it was better than never finding the way in. Luo Zhiyuan had always thought he would have to enter the Primal Universe before he could sense the Law of Space. Now he had powerful motivation to achieve the goal he had kept hidden in his heart.

PS: Brothers, I need some comfort! My collection count has barely risen—it's only ten higher than yesterday...

I'll keep writing. Please support me, everyone. My thanks!