A Clone, A Clone!

"Teacher, what is that horn in your hand?" In the blink of an eye, several months had passed. Whenever Lu Qingshan supervised Ling Yu's cultivation each day, he would fiddle with the horn in his hand. Ling Yu finally could not resist asking. "Oh, quite a fine collector's item. I bought it at the Qianwu Auction half a year ago. Why, do you like it?" Ling Yu's face flushed. "Teacher, Ling Yu isn't eyeing your collectible. It's just that whenever you hold that object, it seems as though my cultivation of the Time Law proceeds much more smoothly..." "Hmm?" Lu Qingshan looked at her in surprise, his tone tinged with disbelief. "How could that be? If this thing were intact, it would indeed benefit the cultivation of the Time Law, but by now it shouldn't have any effect." "It might just be Ling Yu's imagination." Ling Yu stared at the dark brown horn, lost in thought. There was something she had not said aloud: every time Lu Qingshan took this horn out of his World Ring, she felt a throb in her heart, as if she desperately yearned to possess it. But she could not say that... If Teacher thought she was making up excuses just because she fancied his collectible, the misunderstanding would be tremendous. Ling Yu had held back for months, only carefully speaking up after realizing Teacher truly seemed to treat it as nothing more than a trinket to fiddle with in his hand. "Your imagination?" Lu Qingshan shook his head. "Having cultivated to your current level, you left the realm of ordinary mortals long ago. There is no such thing as an illusion here. Perhaps there really is some connection between you and this object." "Still..." Lu Qingshan appeared slightly conflicted. "Though this treasure holds only collector's value, it is extraordinarily rare and immensely valuable... I paid a hefty price to buy it, so I can't give it to you for nothing. How about this? Since it accelerates your comprehension of the Time Law, I'll lend it to you for a while. After you participate in the Genius Battle, you can either return it to me or buy it from me." "Teacher... no..." Before Ling Yu could finish speaking, the grayish-brown horn came flying toward her. Ling Yu hurriedly caught it. When she gripped the horn in her hand, the words she had intended to say seemed stuck in her throat, impossible to voice. Never before had she felt her comprehension of the Time Origin Law be so clear. Compared to usual, it had improved by more than tenfold. Heavens, what on earth was this?! Why would a seemingly ordinary horn have such a miraculous effect? "Te... Teacher... this really works for me..." More than just worked. To her, this was practically a supreme treasure... "Could there really be something about this horn that I don't understand?" Lu Qingshan examined it closely for a moment, then shook his head. "Never mind... since it's effective, keep it and study it for now." Lu Qingshan waved his hand, glanced up at the sky, and said, "It's getting late today. I'll head back first. We'll continue training tomorrow..." "Yes, Teacher." Under Ling Yu's gaze, Lu Qingshan flew away from the estate. After Lu Qingshan left, Ling Yu seemed to notice something amiss. Her brow furrowed slightly, and a moment later, as if her soul had been drained, she crouched on the ground, her chest heaving as she panted. She seemed to sense a voice calling to her from within the horn. "Who on earth are you? Why are you inside the horn..." Ling Yu's face was filled with terror. Had Lu Qingshan been here, she certainly would have asked her teacher for help. But now... only she and a few servants remained in the estate. "Who am I? Heh heh, I am merely a wisp of consciousness on the verge of fading away." A voice came from the horn. "Junior, do not worry. I will not harm you, nor do I have the ability to harm you..." "The reason I awakened is that latent within your body lies a trace of the One-Horned Ghost King's bloodline, which is why you were able to sense the extraordinary nature of this horn." "If you are willing, I can help you awaken that trace of bloodline. The One-Horned Ghost King is a darling of time. Once the bloodline is awakened, the speed at which you comprehend the Time Law will increase by tenfold, even a hundredfold." Listening to this alluring voice, Ling Yu's eyes carried a hint of vigilance. "Who are you, and why do you want to help me?" "Who am I? I am the owner of the horn in your hand. But I am already dead. As for why I want to help you, perhaps I simply do not wish for the bloodline of the One-Horned Ghost King to disappear from this universe forever." "Encountering you before I sink into eternal oblivion... perhaps this is the arrangement of the Primal Universe's will..." "Junior! Make your choice quickly. What little remaining power I have is scarce indeed. If you drag this out any longer, even if I want to help, I will be powerless..." "I... I am willing..." Faced with such an entity, controlling one's destiny was not merely a matter of being willing or unwilling. The reason Ling Yu chose to agree was simply that the feeling of her bloodline and soul being connected to it inspired a bit more trust. And, of course, there was that unrealistic fantasy... If she truly possessed that special bloodline and could increase her speed in comprehending the Time Law, perhaps Teacher would be proud of her. "Good. Go find a secluded place to activate the bloodline. Furthermore, after this, you had better not take this horn out again... otherwise, even your teacher might not be able to resist seizing it by force." "This was Teacher's collectible to begin with. I will return it to him afterward," Ling Yu said with a touch of displeasure. "Heh heh, I was referring to the other teacher... Never mind. My remaining power is only enough to help you complete one bloodline evolution. What do other matters have to do with me..." ... ... On Wind Thunder Mountain. Inside the villa's cultivation chamber, Lu Qingshan stared at the giant egg shimmering with pale cyan light inside his World Ring, his mood beyond anything words like "excited" could describe. After gifting the horn to his disciple Ling Yu, Lu Qingshan had heard the prompt of his cheat. [You gifted your disciple Ling Yu the horn of the One-Horned Ghost King, triggering a thousandfold return. You obtained the One-Horned Ghost King clone...] Lu Qingshan could clearly feel the terrifying creature inside the cyan giant egg, connected to his consciousness and currently incubating. The One-Horned Ghost King! A special lifeform from the distant Prison Race territory, with a gene level of 50—five times that of the Golden Horned Beast of the ten peak races. It was naturally a darling of the Time Origin Law. It was born with secret engravings of the Time Law and would reach the pinnacle of the World Master level upon maturity. All of this was information he had learned from the auction. If he wanted to know more, he could only wait until the One-Horned Ghost King clone finished incubating, and then see whether an inherited memory existed within. When Luo Feng possessed the Golden Horned Beast, he obtained all of the Golden Horned Beast's inherited secret techniques. However, Lu Qingshan's situation was not considered a possession, nor did he know what great power the cheat had used to grant him this clone, so he could not be certain whether it possessed inherited memories. "It will probably take about three years..." Lu Qingshan made a rough estimate. A 50-times gene level was not considered exceptionally high among special lifeforms; three years of incubation time was sufficient. Next, he would wait slowly for the clone to finish incubating. In addition, he needed to observe the changes in Ling Yu! Early the next morning, Lu Qingshan arrived at Ling Yu's estate. Today, however, Ling Yu did not come to the training field. Instead, she had left a message for the housekeeper to pass along. "Her Highness Ling Yu gave instructions yesterday that she might enter secluded cultivation for a few days. Lord Lu may return in a few days..."