Volume 2 - Chapter 52: The Twin Li Hao and the Forbidden Dragon Pass Path - Part 1
Spring rain drizzled down endlessly.
The distant mountains and nearby forests beyond the pass were shrouded in a veil of rain, resembling silver threads.
The pitter-patter of raindrops struck the small courtyard's bamboo fences and splashed onto the gaps between the green stone slabs, bringing with them the earthy scent of freshly wetted soil.
In the kitchen, a pot of tea simmered, while in the courtyard, two people sat opposite each other.
One was Li Hao. The other... was also Li Hao.
That’s right.
At this very moment, the two figures seated at the tea table in the small courtyard, drinking tea and playing chess, were both Li Hao.
From appearance, they were indistinguishable.
However, the second Li Hao appeared somewhat sluggish, his gaze dull and wooden.
“As expected, this one’s mind isn’t sharp enough,” Li Hao remarked, placing a piece on the board to secure another victory, though he gained no experience from the match.
Even when playing chess in this manner, the panel regarded it as a game against himself, providing no experience.
However, Li Hao didn’t mind. He had already internalized the Chess Dao, and even without gaining experience, he found great enjoyment in playing.
The counterpart sitting before him, identical in appearance, was a clone created from a famous painting gifted by a renowned artist.
The painting was titled: Two-Faced Figure.
The artwork depicted a maiden in a flowing dress, standing sideways and gazing into the distance at the evening glow.
Seemingly simple, the painting contained countless intricate details. It seamlessly blended techniques of light and shadow, symmetry, and more, creating a masterpiece.
With just a few bold strokes, it vividly captured the motion of the skirt’s swaying folds. Each play of light and shadow on the fabric was natural and perfectly symmetrical, bordering on terrifying in its precision.
The faint crimson glow of the sunset in the painting seemed to burn with a fiery brilliance, as if the paper itself were alight.
Even with his Sixth Rank in the Painting Dao, Li Hao felt vastly inferior, unable to match such skill.
He speculated that reaching the panel’s requirements to replicate such a piece would necessitate the Ninth Rank of artistry.
Such a high level of mastery was rare in the mortal world. Even among the celebrated masterpieces passed down through millennia, very few reached this level.
Each one carried the weight of history and tradition, making them extraordinarily significant.
After being absorbed into the panel, the Two-Faced Figure vanished from the world, a loss that filled Li Hao with regret.
When embedded into his Body Dao, the painting imparted a highly peculiar attribute:
Two-Faced Figure: By using one’s own blood and flesh, construct a “Dark Side Body” possessing 30% of the original body’s capabilities.
- If the Dark Side Body is destroyed, the original body remains unharmed.
- The original and Dark Side bodies are unconnected, with no shared memories or vision.
- If the Dark Side Body is destroyed, this ability will reset. (Only one Dark Side Body can be constructed at a time.)
- The original body can issue commands to the Dark Side Body, which will act with basic cognitive abilities derived from the original.
...
When Li Hao previously absorbed other chess manuals, famous paintings, and musical scores, the attributes granted were typically augmentations to his existing traits. The Two-Faced Figure, however, directly bestowed a unique ability.
Or rather, even those augmentations were technically abilities.
For instance, the Lethal Attribute, which provided a 1% chance of causing fatal damage, was a strange yet potent ability.
The difference was that the Two-Faced Figure's ability was tangible.
This special attribute wasn’t particularly useful in combat—it merely provided Li Hao with an additional helper. However, the helper’s capabilities were only a third of his own.
After testing, Li Hao discovered that although the panel stated “one-third,” the combat strength of the Dark Side Body was far weaker in practice.
The diminished abilities meant the clone couldn’t activate the special states of Martial Dao Extreme Realms, such as Heavenly Avatar, Divine Strength, or Immortal Transformation.
The clone’s physical strength was limited to 300,000 jin.
Its internal energy was also merely mortal strength, lacking even Immortal Qi, with a total burst potential of less than 4 million jin.
For context, the Imperial Clan warriors could reach 2 million jin, while the soldiers of the Yuan Battalion boasted 500,000 jin.
The clone’s energy output was thus only double that of the Imperial Clan.
Fortunately, the Yin-Yang Dual Meridians were not sealed, allowing the activation of Dual Meridians Power, boosting strength to 8 million jin—equivalent to quadruple the Imperial Clan’s strength.
Abilities such as Astral Projection and Object Manipulation were similarly reduced, leaving them at about twice the capability of an Imperial Clan warrior.
Li Hao estimated that this Dark Side Body could subdue certain Undying Stage Demons, but would be instantly crushed by a Demon King.
However, Li Hao had no intention of using the clone for combat. Instead, it served as a chess companion or a messenger, tasks it handled well enough.
Moreover, constructing the Dark Side Body required minimal effort—it was condensed from one of Li Hao’s fingers.
His original body’s severed finger regenerated within minutes.
As for the clone, its recovery speed was significantly reduced. Li Hao tested this with Li Hongzhuang, finding its recovery rate was only twice hers.
Still, these drawbacks were secondary. What exasperated Li Hao the most was the clone’s dreadful chess skills. It performed at only a third of his own level in this area as well.
In chess, a technical disparity of two-thirds was painfully obvious, making the game utterly unenjoyable. Winning offered no satisfaction.
The only consolation was that the clone could run errands and occasionally sweep out demons beyond the pass.
Sadly, the clone’s actions did not yield experience points for the panel. Otherwise, doubling his experience gains would have been truly delightful.
...
In addition to the attribute gained from the painting, a chess manual gifted by the Young Chess Sage also granted a unique attribute.
The chess manual was titled: Qian Kun Diagram Manual.
Qian Kun, meaning Heaven and Earth, described a chessboard with 19 horizontal lines and 19 vertical lines, forming a grid requiring 361 pieces to fill.
Li Hao embedded this chess manual into his Royal Dao, gaining another peculiar attribute.
Qian Kun Diagram Manual:
- Select any object as a marker and imbue it with 50% of your power.
- If the marker is destroyed, the stored power erupts in a devastating release.
- Maximum markers: 180.
...
These 180 markers corresponded to the total number of pieces Li Hao could simultaneously place, whether black or white.
Through experimentation, Li Hao infused his power into a military banner, embedding one of his sword techniques within it.
When the banner was destroyed, the stored sword energy and power exploded indiscriminately, devastating the surrounding area.
This function was somewhat akin to the formations constructed by the Star Official, but Li Hao’s method was simpler and more individualized.
Under the Conceal Light and Cultivate Darkness Attribute, replenishing the 50% of power consumed to create a marker required half a day.
In other words, Li Hao could create two infused military banners per day.
He wasn’t in a rush, so he made one banner each day while recovering his strength.
By now, his courtyard housed 16 marked military banners.
When the rain ceased, Li Hao planned to send his Dark Side Body beyond the pass, carrying the marked banners. At every mountain previously occupied by Three Immortals Stage Demons, he would plant a banner.
The banners would stand as a warning: his territory was forbidden to demons.
He intended for his banners to declare dominion, making every site they stood upon a place where demons dared not tread.
...
In the courtyard, Ren Qianqian had initially been startled upon seeing the Dark Side Body. After learning it was a product of Li Hao’s techniques, she quickly regained her composure.
This type of peculiar ability wasn’t entirely unheard of.
Li Hao had read many ancient texts in the Tingyu Pavilion, which mentioned cultivation methods used by certain Three Immortals Stage practitioners to create clones. However, the quality of such clones varied widely.
Some Four Pillar Stage cultivators were even known to forge mortal bodies specifically to house their original mortal heart, while their true bodies refined their Dao Heart to ascend to the next realm.
This was one technique for advancing to the Dao Heart Realm, though it wasn’t widely encouraged due to its flaws.
If the mortal heart were shattered, the Dao Heart would also be affected, like a bowl with a gaping crack.
Families like the Li Clan, and the Four Pillar Stage cultivators Li Hao knew, typically pursued perfection by shedding their mortal heart to refine their Dao Heart, maintaining only a single true body without crafting mortal clones.
Among demons, however, the cultivation of Split Soul to Unite Dao techniques was highly favored.
For example, the Three-Faced Serpent Demon Li Hao had encountered earlier would have been able to ascend to the Dao Heart Realm by fusing its three heads into a single one.
The Ten Thousand Caverns Ghost Maiden, on the other hand, took a more extreme approach. She shattered her mortal heart, fusing countless ghostly fragments into a single Demonic Dao Seed, creating her Dao Heart.
This process was fraught with peril, as the practitioner could easily lose themselves, transforming into wandering spirits or lowly monsters. Achieving success required extraordinary luck and meticulous planning.
Every Four Pillar Stage Demon King had experienced a harrowing journey before attaining their power.
Once crowned as kings upon reaching the Four Pillar Stage, they rarely faced mortal threats unless they sought their own demise.
For those at the Reverse Fate Realm, death became nearly impossible.
Previously, Li Hao had wielded enough strength to slay several Demon Kings, but in the end, only the Dao Heart Realm Ten Thousand Caverns Ghost Maiden was left behind. The rest of the Demon Kings managed to escape.