Chapter 12
The jade slip Qin Shuang had given Liu Meng was very unusual.
Its unusual quality lay in the fact that only “one person” could learn its contents.
But Liu Meng was not just one person, because she was one of Liu Ming’s clones!
So naturally, she could have her main body summon another clone and send that clone to cultivate this secret art!
The clones and the main body shared a consciousness. Once a clone learned the art, it meant the main body—and even all the other clones—would learn it as well.
Liu Ming had gradually realized that the clones he summoned each had their own souls. Yet no matter what, they were all controlled by the same consciousness. It seemed that beyond their souls, something even deeper controlled his different clones.
If this secret art really was flawed, and even attacked the cultivator’s spiritual soul, then the only price he would pay was a clone he could summon again at any time.
And if the secret art was genuine, so much the better! They would verify its authenticity at minimal cost, and afterward Liu Meng could cultivate it with complete confidence!
A new day had already dawned, and Liu Ming had long since been able to summon another clone. He simply hadn’t had the chance while traveling.
But now—
it was time for a clone to take the stage!
“Summon a clone!”
[Summoning clone]
[Clone appearance randomly generated]
[Please select items to assign to the clone]
“Assign nothing.”
[Please name the clone]
“Liu Si.”
At his command, the air before Liu Ming rippled. A young man of average appearance and build appeared out of thin air in the hall.
A new clone, “Liu Si,” had been born.
As an extension of the main body’s consciousness, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He walked straight to the stone table, picked up the mysterious, ancient jade slip, and pressed it against his forehead.
Hum—!
The instant he touched the jade slip, an unimaginably vast torrent of information, mixed with countless profound golden runes, burst from it and crashed into his mind!
“The Mysterious Female as furnace, the spirit soul as guide; slay the Three Corpses, and manifest the true form of the Dao...”
Countless abstruse formulas and unfathomable insights were forcibly imprinted deep in his soul, like a sudden, overwhelming revelation.
His body jolted violently. A strange expression, both pained and enlightened, appeared on his face, and he quickly sat cross-legged, doing his utmost to absorb the enormous flood of information.
At the same time, the luster on the surface of the jade-green slip visibly dimmed. Fine cracks began spreading across it.
Qin Shuang hadn’t lied. Once a person learned the secret art, the jade slip really would disappear!
Time passed, second by second.
At last, Liu Si’s body stopped trembling. His tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open!
And at the very moment he mastered the secret art...
“Crack—”
With one final, crisp snap, the ancient jade slip that held the supreme secret art turned into a handful of dull, pale powder and sifted down from the stone table.
But Liu Si’s eyes held no joy at having mastered a powerful art, nor any enlightenment at having unraveled its mysteries—only emptiness and confusion.
The next instant, a soul condensed to its purest essence and radiating a pristine light suddenly emerged from the crown of his head!
That soul was Liu Si!
As if pulled by some strange force, it instantly became a streak of light, pierced through the stone walls of the cave abode, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
His body, meanwhile, collapsed limply to the ground like a puppet with all its strings cut, every trace of life instantly gone.
“Qin Shuang!”
Liu Meng abruptly turned and looked into the darkness beyond the cave abode.
At that moment, how could she not know—
She really had been fooled!
This was an incredibly vicious evil art, one specifically designed to strip other people of their souls!
Those who cultivated this secret art did indeed escape Su Meier’s control and become “free”—but they had taken their freedom a little too far, casting off their bodies and leaving them behind!
Fortunately, she had been cautious enough not to cultivate it herself, using a clone to die in her place instead. Otherwise... she would be the one dead now!
Qin Shuang deserved to die!
Just as Liu Meng’s thoughts raced and she marked Qin Shuang as her greatest enemy, the “Sound Transmission Moon Token” in her arms suddenly lit up again.
Qin Shuang’s cool voice rang out from within the token on its own, but this time there was a subtle hint of approval in her tone.
“Well done, Liu Meng. You haven’t disappointed me after all.”
The inexplicable praise left Liu Meng momentarily stunned. Before she could ask anything, Qin Shuang’s voice continued.
“It seems you understand now. Here, never trust anyone’s words—not even mine, though I went out of my way to offer you friendship as an ‘ally.’”
“Remember, if you want to survive, you can miss out on countless opportunities. But choose wrong just once, and you’ll be doomed beyond redemption, with no hope of transcendence.”
“You’ve passed my test. From now on, I recognize you as a true ally.”
After hearing this, Liu Meng fell silent.
This Qin Shuang... Her schemes ran far deeper, and her methods were far more ruthless, than Liu Meng had ever imagined!
What she had offered was a trap in plain sight. Anyone with a weak will, or anyone eager for a shortcut, would surely have died. Only someone like Liu Meng, who could resist temptation and stand firm, could pass this test of life and death and earn her true recognition!
But so what?
She had made Liu Meng face death just to test her. Liu Meng had no intention of letting her get away with that—
“Also, to show my sincerity in formally entering an alliance with you,” Qin Shuang’s voice rang out again, “I’ve already sent a maid to deliver ten ‘Three Talents Coins.’ They’re the hard currency used for trade within my sect. You should see her soon.”
As soon as her voice faded, faint footsteps came from outside the cave abode.
A maid wearing a white mask appeared silently at the entrance. She held a small black cloth pouch in both hands and stood respectfully before the open stone door, bowing with her head lowered. She didn’t dare take even one step into the cave abode.
Liu Meng waved her hand, and the pouch flew into the cave and straight toward her. The maid looked as if a great burden had been lifted from her, then turned and hurried away without saying a word.
She opened the pouch and saw ten peculiar coins, each about the size of her thumb, lying inside.
The coins were the color of ancient bronze. One side bore abstract runes symbolizing the Three Talents, while the other was stamped with the image of a mountain gate. A faint energy fluctuation emanated from them.
“Three hundred li west of your cave abode is a place called the Three Talents Market.” Qin Shuang’s voice rang out at just the right moment, answering her unspoken question. “Many of our fellow disciples gather there. You can use the Three Talents Coins to buy whatever you need: pills, magical artifacts, talismans, or even cultivation arts.”
“This time, you don’t need to worry that I’m deceiving you. You don’t even need to bring the Three Talents Coins with you. Just go into the market and pick what you want. They’ll deliver it to the entrance of your cave abode, and you can pay when it arrives.”