The First Clone

"Snap."

A soft sound, like a ripe fruit falling from its stem. The final point of connection broke apart. The fleshy ball behind Li Dui, larger than his own body, rolled to the side.

He let out a long breath. Finally, it was over. Li Dui felt like he had been a monster for an entire month.

The fleshy ball slowly writhed, as if a curled-up human body inside was stretching out.

In less than ten minutes, it had become a flat, lying-down human shape, though still covered in a layer of skin.

Gradually, the outer layer of skin seemed to be absorbed. It grew thinner and thinner, then split apart and slowly vanished.

Before him stood a naked Li Dui.

Unable to wait, he followed the method in the secret manual, splitting off a sliver of soul and sending it into the clone's mind.

The clone's eyes snapped open. With a shua, it rose to its feet, locking eyes with the original.

"Hahaha." Li Dui laughed heartily. This feeling was quite wonderful.

He controlled the clone to make various movements. He felt no sluggishness. Of course—it was made from his own body, his own soul.

That sliver of soul power merely activated the clone, allowing him to control it regardless of distance. Everything it did used only the clone's own strength.

He found clothes and dressed the clone. From his spoils, he picked the best set of combat gear and handed it over.

Looking left and right, everything was perfect.

Except... that Space Law Mark on its forehead seemed like trouble.

In the Xueluo World, it didn't matter. But the problem was, if I went back to the Battle Axe Secret Realm with this mark on my head, wouldn't it stir up a storm?

Every powerhouse Li Dui had ever seen who gained Law recognition bore a mark.

But the clone didn't have one just now—it only appeared after activation. A flash of insight struck Li Dui.

What's the mark for? Proof of gaining Origin recognition. What's the use of Origin recognition? The biggest benefit is being able to enter the corresponding Law Ocean anytime to comprehend Laws.

So what if I just don't go? I'll cut off that connection.

Li Dui was excited. Without a second word, he began to try. If he could pull this off, it might also solve another problem for him.

Half a day later, Li Dui succeeded.

But he realized something. As long as you found the right method, cutting the connection wasn't hard. The hard part was keeping it cut. This thing was automatic. If you weren't careful, if your mind wandered and you didn't suppress it, it would reconnect on its own.

Quite annoying.

No wonder none of those people hid their marks. To stay hidden, you'd have to sever your Law comprehension and keep a constant mental tension. How exhausting would that be? And they had no need to hide.

Hidden, revealed, hidden, revealed. Li Dui played with it back and forth.

Good, it really could be hidden. Li Dui grinned from ear to ear. The Earth Origin Law he had suppressed for years—he could finally continue comprehending it. Before, he was afraid that gaining Law recognition and bearing a mark would draw too much attention.

Ah, wait. That's not right. Now, even if I just have an Earth Element Mark, I'm not really that afraid. This thought flashed through Li Dui's mind.

He ordered the spaceship into the clouds. First, he placed the clone inside, then came out himself to continue comprehending the Earth Origin Law.

The eighth cloud layer. Li Dui didn't descend further; he moved laterally. This clone was equivalent to a three-times gene-level version of himself. This level of physical strength was what he was most accustomed to.

He felt the spatial fluctuations around him. From one point to another, each of his movements seemed to have no process at all—eerily strange.

Because his perception of spatial fluctuations was extremely broad, his current movement speed was quite fast. After moving at full speed for a while, he estimated his speed had reached about half the speed of light.

And this was in a place where even an E9-Grade Spaceship couldn't fly very fast. If he were in ordinary space, who knew how fast he could go?

After having his fill of fun, Li Dui continued descending. From now on, the original body would stay in the spaceship. This clone would become a machine for earning points. At the very least, he needed to gather the resources to upgrade Xi to World Lord. Right now, a mere Domain Lord Ninth Stage Xi was of little real use to the original.

Inside the spaceship, Li Dui split his focus—half his mind on comprehending the Law of Earth, half controlling the clone. This feeling was really quite similar to controlling himself in the Virtual Universe.

He set the spaceship's flight direction and speed, letting it roughly follow the clone's path. He decided to have the spaceship descend less often from now on. The clone—he wouldn't pick it up anymore; it could fly on its own.

The clone was equivalent to the original from a month ago. Control was completely seamless, almost no different from the original.

Except for the lack of a Hula Hoop.

Except for the different gene multiplier.

Except that it required the original's consciousness to operate.

Except that the original could destroy that sliver of soul with a single thought.

In every other aspect, Li Dui himself could find no difference between the clone and the original.

A "Li Dui" like this—killing a few City Lords was naturally as easy as picking up a stone.

The original and the clone each doing their own thing—this feeling was just too satisfying. No, even if it meant sacrificing some comprehension time, he had to recover from the damage of creating the first clone as quickly as possible. Then raise his genes to 100 times. Use the fastest speed to create the other four clones as well.

Unfortunately, the upper limit Xueluo Crystals could raise was 100 times.

Treasures suitable for Universe Rank that could boost genes beyond 100 times—those probably wouldn't be easy to find. Li Dui racked his brains but couldn't recall anything like that mentioned in the original story.

But Luo Feng had the Nine Tribulations Manual, so he had no need for such things. Naturally, he wouldn't collect information. Li Dui would slowly search; maybe he'd get some leads.

Everything proceeded according to plan.

Since the last time Li Dui logged out of the Virtual Universe, he hadn't participated in the qualification battles again.

In the first round, he had 1,302 wins and 475 losses. Ranked 269th.

Originally, according to Li Dui's earlier plan, he would fight his way up and enter the War Axe Secret Realm.

But with a series of events happening, how could he still have the heart to brawl with a bunch of little rookies? He simply forfeited the competition. By default, he ended up with a record of total losses, ranking 3000th overall.

His companions weren't too regretful on his behalf. As long as he could maintain his status, the ranking wasn't really that important. After all, Li Dui's strength was evident; in the next qualification battle, he would naturally rise to a reasonable rank.

Hong, in his first qualification battle, ranked after 700th. He participated in the quota battle alongside 300 preparatory members. Ultimately, he ranked 255th out of 600 people, securing his spot as a core member.

As for Thor, he didn't even make it to the quota battle.

On this day.

In the hall on the first level of the Heavenly Eclipse Palace.

On a large screen, Li Dui's E9-Grade Spaceship came to a halt in the void outside the Xueluo World.

The Domain Lord with double horns, who was in charge of this region, only paid slight attention to the spaceship.

This Li Dui had been flying slowly in his ship for two or three months now, and no one knew what he was up to.

Suddenly, an immensely profound aura of the laws completely enveloped the ship, which was no more than two hundred meters in size.

The Double-Horned Domain Lord instantly blurted out: "Holy shit!"

He widened his eyes and carefully discerned it. No mistake—that aura, those yellow secret patterns, that radiance.

Others, startled by the sound, turned to look. Following his gaze, they saw the scene on the large screen. They, too, exchanged incredulous glances, utterly baffled.