C12 Mechanical Clone

After settling his mind, Chu Xing took time to reflect on the day's misstep. His primary issue was losing his composure upon encountering a corpse. He sternly reminded himself to maintain absolute calm in the future.

Next, Chu Xing turned his attention to the day's loot. He started with Wang Meng's Storage Bag, which was nine square meters, identical to the one Gao Fei had taken, complete with a mountain emblem.

The bag contained seven spirit stones, three cultivation manuals, two swords, three medicinal herbs, an empty storage bag, and a luminous gem.

The swords were of Middle Rank Yellow Grade quality, and while Chu Xing was unfamiliar with the herbs, they were remarkably fresh. The storage space was designed to keep its contents unchanged, regardless of time.

The gem shone brightly, reminiscent of the one in the cave, prompting Chu Xing to berate himself for forgetting to take the cave's gem.

Among the manuals were a High Rank Yellow Grade Fire Cloud Saber Technique, a High Rank Yellow Grade Fire Cloud Technique, and a Basic Saber Technique.

Wang Meng had also possessed a High Rank Yellow Grade saber and a sword talisman—a golden piece of talisman paper adorned with a sword of Middle Rank Yellow Grade quality.

"Wang Meng was quite fortunate to have found a complete set of techniques. Such a shame..." Chu Xing mused with a tinge of regret.

He then examined Dong Jian's backpack, which aside from clothing and food, held another storage bag, a plain dagger, and an ordinary steel rod.

This storage bag, too, was nine square meters with the mountain emblem.

"Could they be from the same sect?" Chu Xing pondered. Inside, there were four Low Grade spirit stones, two cultivation manuals, and a sword.

The sword was Middle Rank Yellow Grade. Chu Xing scrutinized the manuals, finding a Basic Sword Technique and a Middle Rank Yellow Grade Heavenly Rainbow Sword Technique.

Chu Xing's interest piqued at the Basic Sword Technique. He had been practicing the Lingyun Sword Technique, but it felt too mechanical, lacking a genuine connection.

He carefully studied the Basic Sword Technique, noting that any sword technique, when deconstructed, consisted of thirteen fundamental moves: Chop, Thrust, Pick, Sweep, Collapse, Point, Cut, Block, Intercept, Entangle, Lift, Deflect, and Hang.

Chop, thrust, pick, sweep, slash, and jab are all offensive maneuvers, while twist, block, intercept, crumble, lift, deflect, and hang lean towards defense.

As the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. Mastering the sword doesn't come from mere imagination; it requires relentless practice of each move. Swordsmanship is a combination of techniques.

While Chu Xing was engrossed in studying the "Basic Sword Technique," a message from the black ball interrupted him: the Heart of Robotics transformation was complete. He immediately turned his attention to the core of the black ball.

Now, the Heart of Robotics was a silver metallic sphere, serenely floating in a cluster of blue light, emanating an air of mystery. The message from the black ball indicated that only one final step remained: activating it with spiritual energy.

Chu Xing directed his spiritual energy into the Heart of Robotics, drawn to a mysterious orb of light at its center.

In that instant, Chu Xing felt as if another version of himself was awakening from a long slumber. It was still him, yet he had been dormant, and upon awakening, he recalled certain memories.

He was still Chu Xing, but now he experienced the sensation of two bodies, two sets of eyes.

His mechanical double entered the tent and sat opposite his original form, creating an odd sensation. Both sets of eyes saw the same face, mirroring each other.

Once accustomed to this new reality, Chu Xing discovered that both his original self and the mechanical clone could act and think independently, functioning as one personality with dual thought processes, effectively multitasking.

The mechanical clone possessed a hazy memory, as if it had dreamt of events occurring around it: it couldn't recall when the slumber began, but at one point, three individuals had joined it in rest. Later, they departed and eventually returned to take it away, occasionally visiting its side.

The mechanical clone was getting to grips with its divine powers, and Chu Xing noted that it had abilities in Metal Mastery and Transformation.

Innately gifted with Metal Mastery, the mechanical clone could control any metal it touched. Chu Xing tested this by manipulating an iron rod, which easily morphed into various shapes. However, the magic treasure was only minimally affected, likely due to his insufficient strength.

Chu Xing had mastered the art of Transformation, allowing him to morph into various shapes. He could become a tiger, a lion, a rope, and ultimately, revert to his own form, albeit with a silver hue. He pondered the capabilities of his clone with great care.

Despite attempting to endow the magical treasure with intelligence as Elder Hsu had mentioned, Chu Xing found no success. Nevertheless, given Elder Hsu's claim that the other three metals had given rise to the Mechanical Empire, Chu Xing acknowledged his own power was insufficient.

He also realized that his clone's metallic physique was on par with a Low Rank Yellow Grade magic treasure, with the potential to enhance alongside his own growing strength. The extent of its other powers, however, would have to be uncovered over time.

Once the clone gained consciousness, it developed its own meridians, dantian, and spiritual sea, all of which could transform accordingly.

The clone was part of the Demon race, undergoing the same stages of cultivation as humans: Qi Training, Foundation, Demon Core, sentience, primordial spirit, spirit transformation, heavenly tribulation, Earth Demon, Demon Immortal, Demon King, Demon God, Demon Emperor.

For the Demon race, cultivating the Demon Core was essential, necessitating the awakening of sentience and ultimately facing the heavenly tribulation to ascend as a Demon Immortal.

Chu Xing lacked a metal attribute technique, but his clone was capable of practicing the Profound Heaven and Earth Technique. Yet, a technique attuned to the metal attribute would better suit the clone.

While cultivating inside the black ball, the clone could absorb Spiritual Qi at an accelerated rate, though the black ball absorbed more than half of it.

Regarding the emergence of a second clone, the black ball's core remained unresponsive. Chu Xing resolved to revisit this endeavor once he reached the Foundation Stage.

Half a month flew by without Chu Xing stumbling upon any further ruins. His days were spent treasure hunting, his nights dedicated to cultivation. He remained at the Qi Training First Layer, but his mental strength had expanded significantly.

Lately, Chu Xing devoted considerable effort to mastering the Basic Sword Technique, diligently repeating its foundational moves daily.

The mechanical clone began its cultivation journey within the black ball, progressing more swiftly than Chu Xing himself. It wouldn't be long before it advanced to the Qi Training Second Layer. With no ruins in sight, the clone set out to continue the search.

Chu Xing handed his clone a Storage Ring, a broken sword, three Spirit Stones, a Sword Talisman Treasure, and an iron rod. The clone manipulated its body to secure the ring within its palm, adorning its hands with several iron rings to serve as makeshift weapons.

Transforming with ease, the mechanical clone adopted the guise of a stranger, donning a hat, mask, gloves, a hoodie, trousers, and shoes, and even camouflaged any exposed skin with a layer of thin mud.

"You wouldn't even guess he's not human if you weren't paying attention," Chu Xing remarked with a smile. "Too bad he can't talk."

Lately, the entire world had been caught up in a treasure-hunting craze, with all the foreign-discovered ruins somehow tied to Eastern cultivation practices, casting a shadow of doubt over everything.

There were theories suggesting that these foreigners had evolved from Easterners, but such claims defied scientific explanation. A veil of mystery shrouded the globe.

As the resurgence of spiritual energy persisted, animals grew rapidly, particularly the larger species, which displayed a marked increase in intelligence and unleashed their wild instincts.

On the savannah, packs of wild beasts began targeting humans, with entire villages falling prey to their attacks. Thankfully, firearms retained their effectiveness, though the future looked grim.

The oceans harbored their own terrors, with large fish attacking passing vessels, often resulting in sunken ships and lost lives.

To safeguard their whaling fleet, the Red Sun Country dispatched a convoy of over a dozen large fishing vessels. Tragically, not only did they succumb to the depths, but they were also pursued to the harbor by whales, leaving the entire port in ruins.

Skirmishes between naval ships and sea creatures had become a troubling norm, with the ocean nearing the status of a no-go zone for humanity.

On this particular day, Chu Xing was catching up on the news when a cry for help rang out. Someone was sprinting in his direction.

"Wang Feiqiang!" Chu Xing exclaimed, surprised to encounter him in such a place.

Recognizing Chu Xing, Wang Feiqiang dashed over and took refuge behind him, panting, "Chu Xing, help me. They're after my possessions."

Then, Chu Xing came face to face with two more acquaintances, Wang Liang and Lee Zhi.

"Step aside, back off!" Wang Liang demanded, brandishing his sword at Chu Xing.

"Chu Xing, stay out of this," warned Lee Zhi.

"What's the problem?" Chu Xing inquired of Wang Feiqiang.

"My crew and I stumbled upon some ruins. Right after we emerged, we ran into them, and they demanded we surrender the treasure," Gao Fei gasped before continuing, "We refused, and that's when he pulled a gun and wounded a few of us. I managed to escape while they were busy collecting our stuff." He gestured towards Wang Liang as he spoke.

Chu Xing stared at Wang Liang, astonished to see he was armed.

Wang Liang, growing impatient, had a storage bag slung around his waist. He drew his gun and aimed it at Chu Xing, demanding, "Hand over whatever you've got."

Chu Xing, far from the greenhorn fresh out of school, focused his mental energy on Wang Liang's trigger finger and mocked, "A wealthy man stooping to robbery?"

"You don't get it, do you? How else does one get rich if not by taking? I've had it in for you for a while now," Wang Liang retorted, his finger itching to pull the trigger.

As Wang Liang brandished his gun, Chu Xing had already stealthily extended his sword's tip, which now hovered behind Wang Liang.

Sensing Wang Liang was about to fire, the sword's tip darted forward, slicing across his hand. Chu Xing had no intention of testing whether he could dodge a bullet.

"Ah!" Wang Liang cried out in pain as the sword's tip carved a deep gash in his wrist before his finger could even squeeze the trigger, causing the gun to clatter to the ground.

Lee Zhi, still clueless about what had just transpired, felt the sword's tip at his throat. "Drop the sword and empty your pockets," Chu Xing commanded, his gaze fixed on Lee Zhi.

"Okay, okay!" Lee Zhi stammered, his wits scattered by fear.

Chu Xing strode over and collected the discarded sword, then, after a quick pat-down, he retrieved only a cellphone from Lee Zhi.

"Typical flunky," Chu Xing mused as he crouched down to claim Wang Liang's storage ring.