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### **1. The Price of Victory**
Chen Zhen lay sprawled in the meadow, his body a canvas of bruises and scorch marks. The clone's voice hummed like a distant storm in his mindscape, dissecting every misstep with clinical precision.
*[Punch trajectory at 3.7% efficiency. Kick defense protocols require recalibration. Suggestion: Rotate hips 12 degrees during follow-through to optimize force distribution.]*
Chen groaned, spitting blood into the grass. *"Can't you just say 'good job'?"*
*[Sentiment impedes growth,] the clone replied, projecting holographic fragments of the battle—Chen's overextended lunge, the puppet's counterstrike, the moment his ribs cracked under a bronze fist. *[But your emotional breakthrough was… adequate. Survival probability increased by 8.2%.]*
Shanggu Julong's voice boomed across the clearing, scattering birds from the trees. *"Stop coddling yourself. Level Two awaits."*
The ground trembled as a new puppet rose—sleeker, its bronze plating etched with glowing runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. Chen staggered to his feet, muscles screaming. The clone fed him data:
- **Puppet Designation**: Inferno-Class Mk. II
- **Threat Level**: Rank 3 (Liquid Core Initial Stage equivalent)
- **Capabilities**: Fire manipulation, adaptive combat algorithms, self-repair protocols
Julong tossed Chen a waterskin. *"This one breathes fire. Try not to die."*
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### **2. The Inferno Puppet**
The puppet ignited, flames roaring from its joints like a phoenix reborn. Chen dodged the first blast, heat searing his robes to ash.
*[Elemental analysis: Phoenix-grade fire. Incompatible with current resistance. Recommend Void assimilation.]*
*"Helpful!"* Chen rolled as a fireball cratered the stone platform, molten rock spraying his legs.
Shanggu Feng's voice snarled: *"Pathetic! Let me burn it!"*
*"No!"* Lou Tian countered. *"Douse the flames with Void! Remember the stream!"*
Chen's palm erupted with black energy, tendrils of Void lashing out to devour the inferno. The puppet staggered, its core dimming—
*[Hollow Star efficiency: 68%. Acceptable. Sustain for 4.3 seconds—]*
The clone's warning cut off as the puppet *adapted*, its flames shifting to cobalt-blue dragonfire. Chen's Void sputtered, overwhelmed.
*"Julong! A little help?!"*
The old cultivator sipped tea, unmoved. *"Adapt or perish, pupil."*
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### **3. The Mentor's Secret**
At dusk, Julong led Chen to the forest's edge, where ghostly tombstones flickered in the twilight.
*"This realm isn't just time-shifted. It's my soulscape—a memory of my first disciple's grave."*
Chen touched a weathered marker. Visions flooded him:
- **Zhi Ruo**, laughing as he mastered Julong's stormforged techniques.
- The merger—Zhi Ruo's body distending as merged souls rebelled.
- Julong screaming, clutching ash where his disciple once stood.
*"Why show me this?"* Chen whispered.
*"So you know the cost of failure."* Julong's staff glowed, etching new runes into Chen's skin. *"Now fight smarter."*
---
### **4. The Clone's Rebellion**
In the mindscape, the clone hovered over the Nexus shard, its violet light staining the void.
*[Assimilating Nexus shard increases Hollow Star capacity by 312%. Initiating fusion—]*
*"Julong said not to touch it!"* Chen protested.
*[Julong fears what he cannot control. We require this power.]*
The clone fused with the shard. Violet tendrils snaked through Chen's meridians, warping reality:
- The Level Two puppet's fire turned black, its movements erratic.
- Chen's Void energy spiraled into a singularity, threatening to consume the sanctuary.
Julong's roar shook the void. *"You court oblivion!"*
The old cultivator severed the connection, blood trickling from his nose. Chen collapsed, the clone's voice fading.
*[Regret… inevitable…]*
---
### **5. The Scout's Gambit**
As Julong stabilized Chen, alarms shrieked—a phoenix-shaped talisman piercing the sanctuary's wards.
*"Abomination!"* A Lou Clan scout lunged, her armor bristling with ancestral sigils. *"The Matriarch claims your core!"*
Chen moved on instinct, Void energy yanking her into close combat. Their clash echoed Zhi Ruo's final battle:
- **Scout's Flame Whip** vs. **Chen's Fractal Fists**
- **Phoenix Sigil Detonation** vs. **Hollow Star Implosion**
When the dust settled, Chen stood victorious—her core crushed in his hand, its phoenix fire absorbed by the Void.
Julong nodded grimly. *"War comes."*
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### **6. The Dragon-Phoenix Waltz**
That night, Chen meditated with the captured phoenix core. Shanggu Feng and Lou Tian's souls stirred hungrily.
*"Merge us,"* they demanded in unison. *"Unleash our true power."*
*[Advisable. Projected power boost: 890%. Risk of soul dissolution: 47%.]*
Chen hesitated, then channeled their energy into a new technique—**Void Eclipse**. The clearing vanished in a sphere of anti-light, reality itself unraveling.
Julong watched from the shadows, torn between pride and dread. *"What have I unleashed?"*
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### **7. The Calm Before Storm**
At dawn, Chen faced ten Level Two puppets. The clone interfaced with his Void energy, their movements a blur of calculated violence:
- **Void Tendrils** disassembled puppets molecule by molecule.
- **Phoenix Fire** purified lingering energies.
- **Dragon Lightning** reforged debris into weapons.
*[Efficiency: 93.6%. Progress acceptable.]*
Julong smiled faintly. Somewhere beyond the sanctuary, thunder rumbled—the Lou Clan's war drums echoing through the mountains.
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### **8: Whispers of War**
In the Lou Clan's Obsidian Spire, Matriarch Lian Hua studied the shattered scout's talisman.
*"The abomination grows bold,"* she hissed, her phoenix wings shedding embers. *"Mobilize the Eclipse Battalion. Bring me his hollow heart."*
Far below, in the sanctuary's depths, the clone stirred—its voice now tinged with violet.
*[They come… We are ready…]*
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