Xuefeng's plan was to visit an herb store in search for Fate Spirit Herbs on the pretext that he wants to buy Spirit Awakening liquid for Li Kun but that was not an option anymore. He decided to visit it alone after the mission so he can dodge unnecessary questions from Wuying.
After Manager Wu left with Li Kun, they also decided to return. Wuying was still sulking but after a few kisses and tickles from him, he somehow defused the bomb inside her. After they returned to their courtyard, Xuefeng wanted to prepare himself for the journey.
Wuying already took care of their transport and provisions so all he had to do was improve his Spirit Arts. His swordsmanship was already on a decent level.
'Ling, I thought of an idea, how to improve my clone. To cut the time of forming it, how about I hide the clone in the storage ring and then release it?' Xuefeng proposed his idea to Ling.
'It won't work. If you stop controlling the clone, it will just deteriorate after a while. Even if you copy the brain it still won't think like another person without the soul. But, if you put it inside my space, I can control it in your stead.' Ling answered after thinking for a bit.
'Wait, you can also control the clone? Right, how could I forget about it? You can act like a soul inside my clones and fight together with me. Wouldn't it be like creating a vessel for you?' Xuefeng slapped his forehead at that realisation.
'Well, I can control a bunch of your clones if you want, but I'm not going to enter one. My soul is linked to yours so I always have to be close to you. Even if I'm in this crystal, I'm still connected to you. I created quite a lot of my Golden Qi so we can try.' She proposed.
"Wuying, come to the training room for a second I want to test something," Xuefeng called out to Wuying before they separated.
"Okay." She agreed without questions.
"I will create a clone of myself and spar with you for a bit, what do you think?" He asked as they entered.
"Sure, I won't hold back then." Wuying wanted to release her stress from the dinner and his offer was best she could ask for.
"Okay then wait a sec." He focused on the job and in the next 3 minutes, he created a perfect clone of himself. He didn't practice this Spirit Art a lot, so the time to make one was still the same. He replicated his normal rank 5 sword and approached Wuying who was already ready.
"I'm ready, let's fight." The clone said before dashing towards her. He wanted to test his prowess over the clone when he was the one to control it first before he asks Ling.
Wuying parried the attack with ease, before launching her own with another dagger. He tried to dodge it but his reaction time was off and the blade cut him in half. He "died" just like that. He didn't replicate the pain receptors in his body so he didn't feel the pain this time.
"I could have practised this art more often. It's still different to fight like this than with your own body. If I tried to fight together with the clone it would be even harder to concentrate." He absorbed the leftovers of his Spirit Qi from the clone and commented.
"It's still good you managed to create such a perfect clone. It feels like I'm duelling with a normal person. You will have a lot of chances to practice it tomorrow. Did you try to control more clones? You can not only use them in the fight, but also for scouting. When we search for the Nightmare tomorrow we can use them." Wuying thought of an idea.
"Oh, You are right. I will try what is my limit. If it's just running it shouldn't be that hard." Xuefeng admitted.
He first created two clones and started running with them around the Training room. It didn't strain him that much if it was only running so he created another 3. After he added them he could finally feel his mind getting tired.
'Ling, how much more do you think you can control?' He asked Ling as five clones would definitely be nothing against the huge territory.
'Well let me check. I will control those clones and use them to create more clones. It will be faster this way.' Ling answered before sending her Qi through Xuefeng inside them. He touched each clone and felt a huge amount of Qi being transferred. It was much more than his dantian could even contain.
He actually still didn't understand what difference her Fate Qi and Golden Qi had. At first, he thought they were the same but now he didn't know anymore.
When Ling's Golden Qi entered into the clones, he cut the connection with his Qi to not disturb her. He then sat down on the ground and pretended to look focused. He didn't want to break his cover, so he feigned it was his doing.
"You…" Wuying was dumbfounded seeing the clone replicating itself at a rapid speed. Ling didn't need to waste 3 minutes to produce them and only used half of that. After 3 minutes there were already twenty Xuefeng bodies moving around the Training Room. Although it was quite spacious at this rate it would be packed in another session.
Wuying was already alarmed when she saw so many Xuefeng faces around her. If she was attacked with all of them, she could only run away. Even a master of her level would die of exhaustion after so many clones attacked her.
By the time she thought about this, there were already 80 clones that started leaving the room to replicate in the space outside.
Ling only stopped after 160, saying that's her limit for now. He was also stunned when he opened his eyes. He couldn't even see Wuying at this point as his vision was blocked by multiple copies of himself.
'Okay, I will return. I can actually create copies like that in my space when you need them. I don't think I need to store them for now. It would be a waste to focus on keeping them alive the whole time.' She advised.
'Okay…' He was speechless as she actually didn't understand what she just did. He will have to explain it to Wuying somehow.
As if the clones got a command, they all moved towards Xuefeng before turning into Gold Qi when they touched him. One by one they all turned back into Spirit Qi and disappeared into his body. Ling was much more efficient than him as she almost didn't lose any Qi she used.
'I have still a long way to go.' He thought, witnessing the possibilities of this art. He knew he could reach this level someday if he practised long enough.
After all the clones were gone he glanced at Wuying who was looking at him with a weird expression.
"I guess my limit is 160, but it would only work for scouting as they have little to none Spirit Qi inside them, so they can be destroyed in one hit. When it comes to fighting, there are too many commands to process." He explained seriously.
"Uff, you scared me for a second, but it's still unbelievable. If you could control this many copies in the future and attack someone, you would have a high chance of winning without risking anything." Wuying sighed in relief. With each new ability Xuefeng gets, he is distancing himself from her.
'I need to work harder or he will one day climb so high I won't be able to reach him.' Wuying thought, worried. Xuefeng was her biggest motivation.
"By the way, do you have a manual for your Escaping Spirit Art? I didn't see it in the Spirit Arts Tower." He asked for the art she used to transport him in shadows.
"I'm not giving it to you now. If you behave nicely during the mission, I can give it to you." She sulked when she heard him mention it. 'Does he want to fly even further away from me?!'
"What do you mean by "behave nicely"? Aren't I already nice though?" He approached her before hugging her into his arms.
"Not enough, you only bully me." She tried to push him away lightly, but he knew she was only pretending.
"Is this considered bullying?" He kissed her on the neck and asked playfully.
"Yes…" Seeing her still pretending, he leaned again but this time he savoured her cherry lips instead.
"Are we better now?" He asked after the short kiss.
"No! I want more!" Wuying cried unhappily. She wasn't satisfied with just one and asked for more. She always wanted to be spoiled by him, so she attacked when she spotted a chance.
Xuefeng picked her up in a Princess carry position and said "Remember it was you who wanted it." before leaving the Training Room and walking towards his own.