Chapter 326: New Plan
After Xiang Yu sensed Liu Feng and Mei Ling enter the sect formation, he could finally relax.
He and Tianling remained locked in a tense standoff, their gazes never wavering from one another. Tianling watched him nervously, wondering if Xiang Yu would choose to destroy his body now that his friends were safely beyond her reach?
Xiang Yu also had the same thought of destroying this clone body. But after careful consideration, he decided to seize this opportunity to gather more intelligence on the demon.
"Happy now?" she asked, breaking the heavy silence between them.
Xiang Yu simply nodded.
She extended her hand toward him. Xiang Yu studied her for a moment before slowly raising his own hand to meet hers. The instant their fingers touched, everything around them shifted.
Without warning or any sensation of movement, Xiang Yu found himself standing in a dark, expansive cave. He blinked, disoriented by the sudden transition. Was this the power of a Mahayana realm cultivator? He hadn’t even perceived the moment they began moving, it was all instantaneous.
Gathering his composure, he carefully surveyed his new environment. He expanded his divine sense outward, looking for anything interesting and indeed there was, he detected a demon flower at the center of the cavern.
"So this is where the flower of the central continent is," Xiang Yu thought. Coming here had indeed been a nice decision.
"Like the view?" Tianling’s voice came from behind him.
He turned to face her, noting that she had changed her clothes now wearing light, revealing clothing.
"How exactly do you plan to take your so-called ’treasure’ from me?" Xiang Yu asked directly, with his void soul, there was no way such a simple trick would work on him.
Internally, he wondered about this "heavenly dao treasure" she claimed resided within him. If such power truly existed in his possession, he would certainly prefer to harness it himself. His suspicion was that the system itself might be the treasure she was talking about, maybe she had detected it through its connection to his soul partition.
Tianling moved closer and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her face mere inches from his. "You are the treasure," she whispered, her breath warm against his skin. "The only way to get it is, of course... through dual cultivation." She leaned in, lips parting as she moved to kiss him.
Instantly, Xiang Yu’s body disintegrated completely into nothingness, leaving Tianling embracing empty air. She remained frozen in that position for a moment before a knowing smile spread across her face.
"I see how it is now," she said softly, her smile growing wider. She finally understood why he had shown no fear at the prospect of destroying his body. It wasn’t his true body but merely a clone.
During the body’s disintegration, she had sensed the soul within that produced the void energy. It wasn’t even an adult soul, yet it had such power. This could only mean one thing: it was a soul clone inhabiting a clone body.
"Well played," she thought.
Dark energy gathered around her, coalescing into her previous tight, dark clothing.
She thought to herself that this made things even more interesting. If she could detect such an extraordinary power from merely a clone, how incomprehensibly valuable must the actual treasure be?
"I must have it," she thought, her face flushing with desire. If the treasure was as great as she suspected, it might prove even more valuable than the Heavenly Dao body.
Her expression hardened once more. First, she needed to find a way to breach the Heavenly grade barrier protecting the sect. She disappeared and reappeared atop a massive demon lotus.
She thought to herself that with the qi she had already gathered, she could enhance her realm to some degree, though it still wouldn’t provide sufficient power. Not to mention she needed a way to deal with those old monsters she could sense hiding in the central continent. If her plan was to succeed, she would need to speed things up a bit.
...
Xiang Yu, the World Core, and the Empress sat in a circle.
Li Yao perched on Xiang Yu’s lap, snuggling close to him with a content expression.
Xiang Yu thought to himself that this was really strange. She could even sense when a woman touched his clone. He wondered if this had something to do with the Heavenly Dao Treasure that Tianling had mentioned.
Since Li Yao could be considered someone blessed by the Heavenly Dao, then it made sense that she would have some sort of connection with something named the Heavenly Dao Treasure.
He wondered if this was why she seemed to think of him as something she owned. Maybe he was given to her by the Heavenly Dao. When he thought about it, everything he did seemed to benefit her somehow. If he assumed the Heavenly Dao Treasure was the system, then did that mean the system was helping him help her? But why didn’t the system just bind to her instead?
He let out a sigh. Maybe he was reading too much into it.
[So, what’s your plan?] the Empress asked.
"I’m thinking of changing up some things," Xiang Yu spoke.
"From what I’ve seen from her, there’s no way we can plant explosives on the flowers without her noticing and getting there instantly. She’s so fast I can’t keep up even with my future sight," Xiang Yu said.
[Hmm, indeed. Looks like my guess was right, she’s indeed in the Mahayana realm. Her speed should be around the speed of light,] the Empress spoke thoughtfully.
"She also said I have some sort of Heavenly Dao Treasure on me," Xiang Yu said.
[Heavenly Dao Treasure?] the Empress asked in surprise.
"That’s right," Xiang Yu confirmed.
The Empress nodded, glancing at Li Yao. "I see, so that’s how it is," she thought to herself.
"When I self-destructed, I’m sure she noticed that it’s a clone body," Xiang Yu explained. "She seemed obsessed with this treasure and Junior Sister, so she’s sure to come here," he continued.
"When she comes here, Junior Sister can use the power of the formation to confront her, and I can have my clones go to the locations of the flowers and destroy them. If I succeed, her power will become unstable since it’s mostly reliant on the treasure, and we can use this chance to finish her off," Xiang Yu said.
The Empress nodded. [Sounds good. What do you think?] she turned toward Li Yao, who wasn’t listening. Instead, Li Yao was burying her face in Xiang Yu’s clothing with a blissful expression.
Suddenly, Li Yao jumped up from her position, standing tall. "I’ll go prepare," she said with determination.
The Empress looked at her with a shocked expression, but then smiled. Well, at least she was motivated.
[That’s right, it would be even better if you can enter the Void Realm before the attack,] she spoke.
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