KaiserBlak
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Chapter 564: Past Reflection
🕑 Added 2025-02-12 19:18:08 +0000 UTCBa Shifang glanced at Donghai Longzi beside him and at the replica standing in front of Tianyi. Try as he might, he couldn’t find any physical faults in the replica. It was the same with his own replica.
‘Did Tianyi upgrade his illusion skills or something?’ Ba Shifang thought. He quickly shot down that idea. Although he couldn’t guarantee that he could ascertain a hundred percent of Tianyi’s thoughts, he could guarantee about eighty to ninety percent.
Compared to honing his illusionary skills, Tianyi should prefer to focus on other aspects.
‘A transformation skill, then?’ Ba Shifang thought. He shot down that idea, too. It was feasible with Tianyi’s power. His mastery of various laws could allow him to emulate his target’s aura and power, but that didn’t align with Tianyi’s testing of his mastery of the Law of Spacetime. And it wasn’t that practical. Such a transformation would only work if the user was familiar with the transformed subject, such as Tianyi with Ba Shifang and Donghai Longzi.
Unless he pulled information about the subject from the past and used that, but Ba Shifang doubted that his former Main Body had the talent for espionage. Even Donghai Longzi only grabbed crucial information because the Dragon Clan valued him. And even then, the information was specific. His greatest role was to allow Tianyi to sneak in and kill San Jiuling to harm the Black Tortoise.
“Spacetime, spacetime, wait, time!”
Ba Shifang stared at the two replicas. They stood in place, and even though their chest heaved as if breathing, the light of wisdom in their eyes was stagnant. Not like they were dead, just that their states were frozen, akin to someone pressing the pause button on them.
“Did you make copies from the past?” Ba Shifang asked.
Tianyi snapped his fingers. “Bingo! It’s a bit more complicated than that, but you’re close.”
Because this was only a spar, Tianyi didn’t attack and had allowed Ba Shifang to theorize the principle behind his technique. He didn’t know the full mechanics behind Tianyi’s new technique, but he knew it was going to be troublesome to fight them.
“It’s not so troublesome,” Donghai Longzi said. “Main Body should only be able to copy us in our strongest state in the past. We just have to grow stronger than we were in the past.”
“Do you think this is a cliche novel or something? It’s not like we can just become stronger just because we want to. And look at Tianyi’s smug grin. There’s no way it’s that simple,” Ba Shifang said.
“We’ll know once we fight.” Donghai Longzi didn’t waste another word and shot toward his copy.
“That hotheaded fool,” Ba Shifang shouted, but he also followed behind. He didn’t have a choice because he saw the light in the eyes of the two copies beginning to stir, as if they were activating.
“How dare you take on my form!” Copy Donghai Longzi said. He glanced at Tianyi. “Main Body, don’t interfere. I want to get rid of this imposter myself!”
In complete contrast, Copy Ba Shifang turned toward Tianyi. “How about you deal with them?”
Tianyi shook his head. “No.”
Copy Ba Shifang sighed, not bothering to ask even why, and followed behind Copy Donghai Longzi. He wanted to team up with his counterpart to deal with the real East Sea Dragon King. It was an action the copied dragon did not appreciate. “He’s mine. You deal with your doppelgänger!”
“Don’t you understand the situation?!” Copy Ba Shifang shouted in anger. He huffed and changed trajectory, knowing he wouldn’t be able to change Copy Donghai Longzi’s mind.
Five lights, each of a different color, radiated off his body, and soon, the Copy Ba Shifang turned into the Five Element Planetary Titan. He wasn’t the only one, as the original Ba Shifang had completed the transformation a second earlier.
The two Five Element Planetary Titans formed a sword of five elements and slashed out. The impact caused both to halt in their steps. Be it technique, power, and speed, all was equal. Rather than fighting an imposter, it felt closer to fighting a reflection.
It was not just the power and techniques Ba Shifang displayed during the Human-Divine Beast War, but even the improvement he made in the peace that came afterward that were reflected in his copy. It sent a chill down Ba Shifang’s spine.
With this technique, wouldn’t Tianyi simply be the worst enemy for all those he could copy? Even if the technique had a high consumption rate, it was nothing for Tianyi. If Tianyi could create unlimited copies, it would be one of the strongest techniques in the world. It was already heaven-defying as it was.
‘No, there must be a weakness besides the consumption,’ Ba Shifang thought. He narrowed his eyes and shouted, “I never expected a copy like you to replicate my power to this extent.”
“Replicate?” Copy Ba Shifang repeated, followed by a snort. “I never expected a puppet created by the Law of Time would be so powerful. So what if you are powerful and replicated my power? You still can’t compare to the Nine Heavens Emperor. You should just obediently die under my hands instead of being ravaged by that monster.”
‘Puppet? Law of Time? Is that the setting Tianyi chose and gave to them? But why would he create such a background?’ Ba Shifang thought. Not just that, his copy didn’t seem to realize he was a fake either.
While Ba Shifang fought with his copy amidst his doubts, the two dragons were having the time of their lives.
Unlike Ba Shifang and his copy, Donghai Longzi and his copy didn’t go all out in the beginning. Instead, they started off by testing each other before gradually escalating the scale of their conflict. From pure physical techniques to imbuing the Law of Destruction in each strike. The two had long released their Destruction Domains. Neither of their domains could overpower the other, so the two continued to use their bodies to clash again and again.
“What a joy! I always thought my greatest opponent would be the Main Body, but I didn’t expect it to be myself!’ Donghai Longzi shouted. Ferocity gleamed in his eyes as he increased the frequency of his attacks.
Copy Donghai Longzi also laughed. “You might be happy, but I’m not. My greatest opponent is still the Main Body. To me, you are just someone who I have already surpassed.”
Donghai Longzi looked at his copy with confusion. What did it mean by that? Soon, his unasked question was answered. One of the two domains, both of which showed flashes of red, black, yellow, green, and white changed. The red, black, yellow, green, and white disappeared. That didn’t mean the domain weakened. Rather, it strengthened.
The Destruction Domain gained a golden hue and streams of silver swirled around it.
“Law of Spacetime?!” Donghai Longzi shouted in surprise. He was still focused on fusing the Law of Five Phases with his Law of Destruction. Where did he have the time to split his attention and focus on fusing the Law of Spacetime?
Regardless of Donghai Longzi’s shock, the Five Phases Destruction Domain weakened under the power of the Spacetime Destruction Domain.
Individually, the laws of the five elements could not compare to the Law of Space or the Law of Time, but their superior law, the Law of Five Phases, was equal to the Law of Spacetime. So, the only reason why Donghai Longzi’s Five Phases Destruction Domain was weaker than the copy’s Spacetime Destruction Domain was because his fusion of the Law of Five Phases with the Law of Destruction was weaker than the copy’s fusion of the Law of Spacetime into the Law of Destruction.
This realization only made Donghai Longzi feel more ridiculous. Why did his copy have more progress than him in the fusion of laws? His copy didn’t have equal power, he had greater power than the original!
For a moment, he suspected that it was Tianyi pretending to be a copy as some sort of joke. Still, Donghai Longzi didn’t question it for long. His blood boiled. How long has it been since he was at a disadvantage? Even against Ye Chen and Meng Tingfeng, he held the upper hand. This was a battle he dreamed of!
Compared to Donghai Longzi, Ba Shifang had more doubts. Unlike Donghai Longzi, because he became a Seamless Immortal by merging the five elemental laws into the Law of Five Phases, he only had to continue fusing the five laws to advance. The day he completely mastered the Law of Five Phases would be the moment he became a divinity.
His copy didn’t display his prowess by fusing the Law of Five Phases with the Law of Spacetime, but his fusion of the five elemental laws was superior. For a moment, Ba Shifang questioned whether he was the copy. Although his memories seemed perfect, it didn’t mean that it couldn’t be tampered with.
“Are you confused?” Copy Ba Shifang asked. Then he laughed. “It’s no wonder. You’re just a fake. How can you be superior to the original? Just give up and fall!”
Ba Shifang really had such a thought. The moment he showed a lapse in his mind, the Copy Five Element Planetary Titan seized it. However, Ba Shifang quickly regained his fighting spirit and fought back. Even if he really was a fake, then he must make himself the original!
The two continued to fight it out. Thankfully for Ba Shifang and Donghai Longzi, it seemed Tianyi didn’t give their copies unlimited qi. Otherwise, it was a sure defeat, but even then, they were only delaying the inevitable. It was Tianyi that ended the fight because it hadn’t ended after several hours. And it was likely it could have continued for days as long as the original or copy didn’t make a major mistake.
“What? What’s happening?!” Copy Ba Shifang shouted. He could feel his body weakening. His control over the Five Element Planetary Titan also weakened, causing it to crumble and disintegrate to energy. “What did you do!”
Ba Shifang didn’t answer. He looked at his copy’s fearful expression with a complicated gaze.
In complete contrast to Copy Ba Shifang’s panic, Copy Donghai Longzi curled it up with acceptance. “Give it up. You should have already thought of it. We are the fakes, not them.”
“Fakes? How could we be fakes? We are stronger than them and our memories don’t show any incongruities!” Copy Ba Shifang shouted, like a man trying to deny reality. “What about you?! Why aren’t you reacting? Did you already know?!”
Copy Donghai Longzi closed his eyes. “I didn’t, but I felt that something was off. I only confirmed it now.”
“Damn bea—”
Copy Ba Shifang never got to finish his words as the disintegration rate sped up and he disappeared. Copy Donghai Longzi sighed and waited for his end. Five minutes later, he also completely disappeared, forever gone.
“Don’t make another copy of me,” Ba Shifang said. Although it was a copy, it felt like he was seeing his own possible future. Not only was Tianyi’s technique troublesome to fight against, it also caused psychological damage.
“I would rather you make a few more for me to fight,” Donghai Longzi said, his eyes shining. “After fighting myself, I realized many of my shortcomings and I have a lot of insights for improvements.”
Ba Shifang floated away from the battle maniac. His robes and hair were roughed up, but he didn’t care. “What is that technique called, and what are the principles?”
“I call it Past Reflection,” Tianyi said with a smile. “Honestly, I didn’t expect it to work out so well.”
He waved his hand, and the three of them returned to the palace on Ninth Heaven. “As the name suggests, the basis of the technique is your past. By using the Law of Spacetime, I will collect your past, and that is the foundation of those copies.”
“But that’s not right,” Ba Shifang said. “Those copies were superior to us. You can’t do that by just collecting our past.”
Tianyi chuckled. “So I simulated their future. Of course, only I can do this. With the computational power of an entire universe, I created a false reality for them to live in. In this false reality, I can alter the trajectories so that they won’t be confused and go crazy when I materialize them.”
“Wait, you can’t control them?” Ba Shifang asked.
“I can bring them and take them back, but I really have no control of their actions otherwise,” Tianyi said with a shrug of his shoulders. “In order to maintain them, I link the simulated future to the past, creating a pseudo time loop in the copies. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that they escape my control as long as they can find something to anchor their existence.”
Ba Shifang’s lips twitch. This was a big red flag if he had ever seen one.
“Just kidding. I made a failsafe in case they escaped my control. As long as they leave a certain range, the time loop sustaining them will automatically self-destruct.”
Ba Shifang kept staring, eyes full of suspicion.
