Lu Chen circled the two formations, his right hand brushing over the eight massive doors. "This really is sothing miraculous. It's like an enlarged version of the Heavenly Spirit-Gathering Disk, designed to make the most of the gathered spirit qi."
"Every part of the layout carries the essence of Lord Second's spells," Wind Dragon said, leaning against the Xun door, where he felt an inexplicable sense of peace. "It seems the things recorded in the manuals were true. Lord Second really did send people out to spread the Heavenly Spirit-Gathering Disk cultivation thod."[1]
"Which room shall we check first? Let think," Wind Dragon moved away from the Xun door, carefully studying the other seven. "We should start with the Qian and Kun rooms. Knowing Lord Second's habits, those rooms were likely used to store information.
"Alright, then we'll go to those two rooms first. We can check the rest one by one afterward."
Lu Chen glanced back at his avatars. "Hm?"
He had sensed sothing strange just now. Their faces were no longer blank but had curved into faint smiles. One smiled kindly, while the other's expression had twisted into a strange, unsettling grin.
Lu Chen nudged Wind Dragon lightly and whispered, "Did you notice that? They were smiling at just now, but when I looked again, they were expressionless."
"Smiling?" Wind Dragon looked them over. "Isn't that normal? They're independent avatars. Of course they'd smile at you."
"Is it really?" Lu Chen shook his head, feeling uneasy. "It just feels strange. Was it like this when the Green Emperor split his avatars?"
"I... wouldn't know. I was born after Lord Green Emperor created Lord Sixth, so I don't know what ca before. But it should be normal."
Wind Dragon settled atop the first avatar, gazing down at Lu Chen. "Anyway, since you've learnt this technique, as long as you don't die, they won't either. Even if sothing goes wrong, you can dissolve them and recreate them through your Divine Psyche Incarnation."
"Alright... but I still hope they'll be fine," Lu Chen sighed, setting Wind Dragon back on his head as he walked toward the Qian door. "Since they're independent lives, it's hard to say if I could ever create the sa avatar again."
Wind Dragon cast another glance at the two avatars before settling in place. "Fine. I'll ask Fla Demon and the others about this. They've followed the Beast King longer than I have."
As Lu Chen and Wind Dragon stepped through the Qian door, the avatars exchanged a knowing smile and followed them inside.
A voice ca through from where the avatars had stood. "They've awakened consciousness already? Isn't that a little fast? Did you tamper with them?"
Two figures slowly erged. They were the green-robed Daoist and the black-robed general who had been following Lu Chen all along.
The green-robed Daoist said, "I've rely infused them with a trace of thought. From here on, how they change is up to them. But shouldn't you already expect this to happen?"
The black-robed general sneered. "If anything, I still wish it could be faster. Do you want him to sit and watch Wan'er die in six months?"
"You... I don't want that either! I've been thinking of ways to make Lu Chen stronger," the Daoist snapped, irritation flashing in his eyes. "But will the boss agree with what you're doing?"
Anger surged in the general's voice, "The boss? Does he even deserve the title? We agreed to face the World Tree together, yet he went alone."
"Calm down, Third. The boss only wants to give us a chance to survive," The Daoist pressed a hand to the general's forehead. "Forget it. A faster awakening won't harm him. When the feedback reaches the boss, he won't be at a disadvantage."
"Hmph... let’s go," the general snorted and strode through the Qian door. "I know what I’m doing. I won’t harm him. After all, when it cos to battle, I, the Evil Self, am the strongest among us."
"Evil Self... was calling you the right choice, or a mistake?" the Daoist murmured to himself, a trace of lancholy flickering in his gaze as he watched the black-robed general leave. "Sigh... good and evil are two sides of the sa coin. They'll erge eventually. There's no need to force growth."
He glanced toward Nantian Wan'er. "As long as she survives the next six months, that alone will be the greatest gain."
With that, he vanished into the Qian door.
***
Nantian Wan'er was tending to Jun Laoye when she suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned, but no one was there.
"Wan'er... what are you looking at?" The first avatar noticed her unease. "Are you searching for the Original? He just went into the Qian door. Do you want to call him back?"
"Uh... no," Wan'er answered, startled by the sudden question. "Our minds are linked. If I need to, I can call him directly. Wait, you can talk now?"
"Yes. They've read many books, and all that knowledge has synchronized with ," the avatar turned to Lu Chen and spoke in a dull, stiff tone. "Among the three of us, I hold the greatest portion of his essence. I also grasp things the fastest, so basic communication has already beco second nature to ."
Hearing this, Nantian Wan'er felt a deeper shock. "Does that an you've already beco an independent being, able to act on your own?"
As Nantian Xiu's granddaughter and the Nantian Sect's legitimate young princess, she had witnessed countless strange cultivation phenona, including the rging of her Heavenly Pool with Lu Chen's, as well as the discovery of the small world. Miraculous as those were, there had been precedents in cultivation legends. She could still take them as unusual steps along the path.
But this, Lu Chen manifesting an avatar with true independent consciousness, was beyond anything she could understand.
The first avatar explained, "Wan'er, think of it this way. The three of us are independent beings, but the Original still holds authority over us."
As he spoke, his tone grew steadier, even more composed than Lu Chen himself. A casual observer might easily mistake him for the original.
He rose to his feet, surveying the surroundings. "To be precise, we are Spirit Bodies split from the Original. As long as he lives, even if we are destroyed, we can be reborn.
"Alright, Wan'er, I'll take a look around. This place is complex, and the Original hasn't explored it fully."
With his hands clasped behind his back, he began to wander the area.
Watching him leave, Nantian Wan'er felt increasingly unsettled. The avatar embodied all of Lu Chen's finest qualities—his calm, his depth, and the reassuring presence he carried. Yet that very perfection felt unreal, so much so that even with her eyes closed, she could tell he was not truly Lu Chen.
"You feel... unreal," she said softly, rising to her feet as she gazed at his back. "Also... do you have a na?"
"Unreal?" The avatar glanced at his hand and chuckled. "If I were too real, wouldn't I be the original instead? As for a na, that must wait until the Original returns. I will only be considered a true, independent life once I have been granted a na."
Nantian Wan'er stared at him, even more bewildered. "Uh..."
Watching him, she felt as if she had returned to those two hundred years in the Beast King's illusion realm, as though the Lu Chen there had stepped out before her eyes.
"You're not wrong," the avatar said, suddenly turning around with a gentle laugh. "I'm different from the one in that illusion realm, but I owe much of my rapid growth to those two hundred years."
"You... How do you know what I'm thinking?" Nantian Wan'er recoiled in fear and fell to the ground. "You're not Lu-gege. How can you see my thoughts?"
"Wan'er, don't be afraid. If you focus your Divine Psyche Incarnation like when you enter the Original's mind, you'll see you can perceive our thoughts too," the avatar said, quickly helping her up. "Aside from our bodies and independent minds, everything else is shared. We can all borrow from each other the Heavenly Pool and even the things in our minds through the Divine Psyche Incarnation."
Nantian Wan'er steadied herself, glanced at Jun Laoye and Nantian Yijian, still unconscious, then looked back at him. "Uh..."
Seeing her puzzled, the avatar added, "Still confused? Put it this way. If the Original wants to use our bodies as his own, then with a single thought we instantly beco him. The sa applies when we want to use the other avatars."
He tossed a crumpled manual into her hands. "If you still don't understand, this book records the 'Reverse Execution of the Three Corpses.' It's not precisely the sa, but the principle is similar. It should make things clearer for you."
1. Xun represents Wind within the Wood Elent. ☜
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