My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 168

Without any sort of hesitation anymore, Elder Ting pressed the cotton right against Liyu’s forehead, though he really didn’t want to do this because, after all, if the kid really tested to be a Beastman, then he would have to die, and killing off a talent like him would definitely haunt Elder Ting, who valued kids with extreme potential the most.

To him, a talent like Liyu was something that was incredibly difficult to come across, someone who could potentially grow into an existence that would stand at the very peak of the cultivation world.

Still, since the entire world was watching, he couldn’t try to outplay them, and he couldn’t bend the rules just because he personally wanted the kid to survive. And seeing the calm, composed gaze of the kid, Elder Ting found himself wanting to believe in him.

Maybe... maybe they were all just overthinking things, maybe the kid wasn’t a Beastman at all, and perhaps there really was some other explanation for all of this. And so, with those thoughts in his mind, Elder Ting waited for the test to reveal its result.

The others waited as well. Guan Ju and Shi Gubing were waiting for the wool to turn red, desperately hoping for that result so they could finally get rid of this bastard who went by the name Liyu, while their eyes remained fixed on the piece of Heavenly Discernment Wool pressed against Liyu’s forehead.

Meanwhile, Li San was hoping and praying that it would turn red instead of black, but just in case it turned black... he was already prepared to enter battle mode, having no intention of allowing anyone to kill Liyu without a fight. Everyone waited.

The entire arena itself seemed to be waiting. It was as if even the atmosphere had become frozen, with countless pairs of eyes staring at the small piece of white wool on Liyu’s forehead. No one spoke.

No one moved. Everyone wanted to know the answer. Was Liyu truly a Beastman? Or had they all simply been mistaken?

It took a while. A few seconds passed, and then... the white wool finally started to change color.

Everyone’s eyes widened as they stared at the wool, watching the strange transformation taking place right before their eyes. The white slowly faded. A new color began to emerge.

And then, right before everyone’s eyes... it changed to red. Red! Li San let out a deep sigh of relief the moment he saw it, more than relieved as it was almost as if, in that very moment, the enormous burden that had been weighing down on his shoulders for so long suddenly vanished. He was safe. Liyu was safe.

Meanwhile, the other two clan lords, who had been waiting desperately for the chance to kill Liyu, stared at the red wool with disbelief and shock, wanting the kid dead badly... more than badly.

They had already convinced themselves that Liyu was a Beastman, and the only thing standing between them and his death was the result of this test. Yet now... the wool had turned red. Red!

"Isn’t the kid supposed to be a Beastman?"

"Isn’t his blood supposed to turn black instead of red?"

"Something is wrong."

"Something must be wrong."

The two clan lords said in unison, their eyes locked onto the red wool sitting right atop Liyu’s head as if the little piece of wool had personally betrayed them. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Something must have gone wrong. The kid was a Beastman. There was no doubt about it!

"Retry it."

Shi Gubing immediately said, his gaze fixed on Elder Ting. The elder frowned, clearly getting annoyed at these two antiques. The result was already right there in front of them, yet they still refused to accept it.

Still, Elder Ting didn’t have the time to waste arguing with them, and he simply reached out and took another Heavenly Discernment Wool from his storage, pressing it against Liyu’s forehead once again.

Everyone’s attention immediately returned to the wool. This time... it changed once more. The white color slowly faded away. And once again, red replaced it. Red. The exact same result.

Shi Gubing felt even more disturbed. He wanted to say something. Anything. He wanted to prove that the kid surely couldn’t be human, feeling that there had to be something wrong and an explanation.

But as he looked toward Liyu, his words suddenly died in his throat. His gaze met Liyu’s. Those bestial, slit-like eyes were staring directly at him, with barely concealed malice within them. The moment Shi Gubing saw those eyes, something deep within him suddenly flinched.

Greatly. A strange fear instantly crawled across his skin, causing the hairs on his body to stand. His heart tightened. His body trembled. And before he even realized what he was doing, he instinctively took a step backward.

Those eyes... why did those eyes feel so familiar? Why did merely looking at them cause such a powerful sense of fear to rise from the deepest part of his soul?

It was because of a specific nightmare. A memory that had been buried for years suddenly came rushing back into his mind.

Several years ago...

"Chase him down!"

"Don’t let him get away!"

A younger version of Shi Gubing shouted as he charged forward, following closely behind his superiors who were leading the group.

He and the four hundred or so people moved through the forest at lightning speed, their figures blurred as they crossed through the dense trees, their movements incredibly fast as they pursued their target.

All of them were dressed in dark outfits, with the symbol of a red dragon embroidered prominently across their clothes... The Red Dragon Sect. One of the most influential sects in the Gray Region.

And this time, the Red Dragon Sect had dispatched more than one hundred and fifty of its top experts for this mission, with more than 200 cultivators at the Bronze Core Realm, around 200 cultivators at the Silver Core Realm, and the remaining fifty all being top-tier elders of the sect, each one possessing cultivation at the Golden Core Realm.

This was an absolutely terrifying lineup. And at the very front of this elite force was none other than the Sect Leader himself, who stood at the pinnacle of the Golden Core Realm and was personally leading and commanding this elite force.

Just what kind of threat could possibly require the mobilization of a sect as powerful as the Red Dragon Sect? That was the question that naturally came to mind, because the level of power possessed by these 500 people together was more than enough to send chills through the minds of any faction, whether good or bad.

Yet all of these powerful cultivators had been gathered for a single mission. A mission involving a single person.

Shi Gubing looked at the enormous number of people participating in the mission and couldn’t help but shake his head, wondering if this wasn’t an overkill since all of them combined possessed enough power to shake an entire kingdom, and yet all of this was because of a single person.

Shi Gubing couldn’t make sense of it. Not at all. In his opinion, sending only ten Bronze Core cultivators should have been more than enough to deal with whoever they were hunting.

Why mobilize such an overwhelming force? Why send hundreds of Silver Core cultivators? Why send fifty Golden Core elders? And why would the Sect Leader himself personally lead them? What kind of person were they actually hunting?

Unable to make sense of what was happening anymore, Shi Gubing moved closer to one of his fellow sect members, a man who could be considered one of his close friends, and he lowered his voice to ask the question that had been bothering him ever since the mission began.

"Hey Gao , don’t you think that this is an overkill?"

He gestured toward the elite troops heading through the forest.

"All of them are going after a single man."

The other man glanced at him. He had an average build and an ordinary appearance, but unlike Shi Gubing, who had only recently stepped into the Bronze Core Realm, this man was already at the peak of the middle stage, making his cultivation far, far more powerful than Shi Gubing’s.

The man remained quiet for a while. Then he shrugged.

"Sincerely, I myself don’t understand it."

Shi Gubing raised an eyebrow. The man continued.

"Although, I heard that the one we’re hunting down is a Beastman."

"A Beastman?"

Shi Gubing’s ears instantly perked up, and his expression changed slightly. Finding a Beastman in the continent of Lykana was a fool’s errand, even more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack, because after all, one of the laws of Lykana made it more than clear that all Beastmen must be killed on sight if they were spotted anywhere within the continent.

And since it was an Imperial Law, no one dared to go against it... not even the powerful sects, not even the ancient clans, not even the ordinary kingdoms, and no one at all, because it was more than common knowledge that the Imperials were not to be messed with.

Not at all. They were an existence that stood above countless factions, and going against their laws was practically the same as courting death.

That was why everyone listened, and why Beastmen had been greatly and widely hunted throughout the continent, and also why almost none of them could be found within the continent of Lykana anymore.

And even if some Beastmen still existed somewhere within the continent, they must have been hiding deep within the darkness, never daring to expose themselves because they had no choice, which was the fate of every Beastman living in Lykana.

Shi Gubing understood what a Beastman was, yet that still didn’t make anything clearer, and if anything, it made him even more confused. Why would the Red Dragon Sect send its entire major combat force after a single Beastman? Wasn’t that an overkill?

More than Five Hundred elite warriors going against a single Beastman... no matter how he looked at it, it was clearly an overkill.

The other man noticed Shi Gubing’s expression and quickly realized what the young man was thinking, shaking his head before continuing.

"This Beastman we’re speaking of is far from being a normal Beastman."

Shi Gubing’s expression became serious.

"He’s not normal?"

The other man nodded.

"I heard that he escaped from the Imperial Army."

Shi Gubing’s eyes widened slightly. Escaped from the Imperial Army? That alone sounded terrifying. The man continued speaking.

"And he has the largest bounty on his head right now."

Shi Gubing froze.

"The largest bounty?"

"Yes."

The other man nodded.

"It is even said that anyone who manages to capture him will receive an Imperial reward."

Shi Gubing’s entire body froze, and his jaws dropped open in shock. An Imperial reward?

His mind went blank for a moment, as he had never imagined that the person they were hunting could actually be important enough for the Imperials to offer a reward for his capture.

"An Imperial reward?"

Shi Gubing finally managed to speak.

"Isn’t that too much?"

The bounty surely had to be ridiculous, with how many bounties had been placed throughout the entire continent, and yet this Beastman they were going after had the largest bounty on his head... yeah, Shi Gubing could understand why he was considered such a threat.

He had to be supremely powerful for the Imperials to be willing to give anyone who managed to kill him an Imperial reward, and that was perhaps the greatest honor and reward in the entire continent... an Imperial reward.

Something that countless cultivators could only dream of receiving, and yet the Red Dragon Sect was going to obtain it. No wonder.

Shi Gubing’s gaze shone as he thought about it, and now he finally understood why the entirety of the Red Dragon Sect’s elite echelon had been mobilized for this mission.

If the Red Dragon Sect truly managed to obtain the Imperial reward, then it was clear that they would be able to rise faster and higher than ever before.

The Sect Master, as well as the other elders who were already at the peak of the Golden Core Realm, would undoubtedly receive the resources and assistance they needed to push into the Soul Stage and become Soul cultivators.

And once that happened... there was no doubt that their sect would soar into the sky, and they would no longer be limited to their current position, but could rise to an entirely different level. No wonder the Sect Leader was so serious about getting the Beastman’s head.

With such an enormous reward waiting for them, there was simply no reason for him to hold back.

Shi Gubing remained silent for a while, thinking about everything he had just heard, yet another question soon surfaced in his mind, causing him to turn toward his fellow disciple.

"This Beastman in question..."

Shi Gubing hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"How strong is he?"

The other man looked at him.

"He has to at least be at the Nascent Soul Stage, right?"

After all, if he wasn’t, then it would still make no sense why the entire major combat force of the Red Dragon Sect was being mobilized just to hunt down a single person. There had to be a reason. A terrifying reason. But the reply that Shi Gubing heard made him freeze completely.

"No."

The other man shook his head.

"That is wrong."

Shi Gubing’s expression changed.

"He is confirmed to have not stepped into the Soul Stage."

"Not at all."

"Based on the confirmed information we have, I believe that he is still at the Golden Core Realm."

Shi Gubing’s eyes widened.

"Golden Core?"

His voice nearly rose into a shout.

"WHAT?"

Golden Core? A Golden Core cultivator? The entire Red Dragon Sect had mobilized more than four hundred of its strongest experts, including forty-nine Golden Core elders and even the Sect Leader himself... all to hunt down a single Golden Core cultivator?

Shi Gubing couldn’t understand it, because it made absolutely no sense.

Several minutes passed. The group finally arrived at their destination. Right in the middle of the enormous forest, a man dressed in rugged dark clothing sat atop a large boulder as if he were simply cultivating.

His dark hair gleamed like raven gems under the faint light filtering through the trees. His posture was calm. Relaxed. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of tension in his body. And yet... the aura radiating from him was anything but relaxed. It was sharp. Bestial and Suffocating.

It was an aura that made the surrounding atmosphere feel heavy, as though an invisible beast had opened its eyes deep within the forest.

The Red Dragon Sect quickly surrounded the entire area. Not a single direction was left open. The man at the center had nowhere to escape.

Their Sect Leader, an extraordinarily powerful man, stepped forward and landed close to where their target was sitting. His expression was calm and commanding. He looked at the Beastman sitting on the boulder and spoke.

"In accordance with the honor and authority of the Imperials, I have come to take your head."

His voice carried clearly throughout the forest.

"You can do this the easy way."

"Submit, and your death will be quick."

"If you choose to resist or struggle..."

His eyes became cold.

"Your death will be imminent and painful."

"So choose wisely."

As he spoke, one of his hands rested at his side, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword, ready to attack at the slightest movement. Yet even as he stared at the Beastman, the Sect Leader couldn’t help but sense a strange feeling of danger coming from him.

The man was simply sitting there. Calmly. Quietly. As if his life wasn’t being threatened in the slightest, and as if the more than one hundred and fifty powerful cultivators surrounding him weren’t even worth acknowledging.

The Sect Leader waited. One minute passed. Yet the Beastman still didn’t reply. He didn’t move. He didn’t even raise his head. It was almost as if he hadn’t sensed them, and as if he hadn’t heard a single word. The Sect Leader’s expression gradually became colder.

"Your time is running out."

"Submit and die peacefully..."

"Or resist and die painfully."

Once again, there was no response. Not even a sound. The Beastman remained sitting on the boulder as though everyone surrounding him was nothing more than air.

"You brat!"

An elder with a notoriously high temper finally couldn’t hold himself back.

"Arrogant fool!"

His eyes burned with anger.

"You don’t even know when to give up!"

The elder took a step forward.

"Choose now or face your doom immediately!"

The Sect Lord spoke once more, his hand twitching slightly as he prepared to launch his attack. And finally... a voice escaped from the man sitting on the boulder, coming only a few seconds later.

"Leave..."

The forest seemed to become even quieter.

"Or die."

Just three simple words. And yet... they made the hair on the Sect Lord’s body tingle. For a brief moment, an instinctive chill ran through him, though it only lasted for an instant because the very next second... fury erupted within him.

He was a powerful and respectable Sect Master. A strong cultivator. Someone whom no one dared to look down upon... not especially a condemned race like the Beastmen, and certainly not a criminal whose fate had already been sealed by the Imperials.

Yet this Beastman had just looked down upon him, giving him an order to leave or die.

The Sect Leader’s anger bubbled over.

"Very well!"

He attacked. The moment he moved, he held nothing back, and one of his killing moves was unleashed instantly.

"Spatial Cleave!"

The very space around him twisted violently, and then... it was sliced open. Space itself seemed to split apart under the terrifying force of the Sect Leader’s attack.

The attack moved incredibly fast... super fast... and its destructive power was equally terrifying. This wasn’t an attack meant merely to kill an opponent; it was meant to completely erase them, so that nothing would remain.

The spatial slash tore through the air and shot directly toward the Beastman’s head. It was already upon him. Yet at the very last moment... the Beastman finally moved. His right hand casually rose and caught the incoming spatial slash.

The Sect Leader’s gaze twitched. His entire body froze. He was completely stunned. Beyond stunned. His lips slowly pressed into a thin line as a single question echoed repeatedly through his mind: What the hell?

The Beastman casually pulled the sword sideways, dragging it away from its original trajectory as effortlessly as someone pulling on a simple twig, and then he spoke with a voice that was deep, rumbling, and ancient, sounding almost as if an existence that had lived for countless years had suddenly spoken through his mouth.

"I gave you two options."

"Leave..."

"Or die."

His grip tightened slightly around the spatial attack.

"And you chose to throw your life away."

The Beastman slowly raised his head.

"You humans..."

His voice carried an indescribable weight.

"You are truly beyond foolish."

And after saying that... his eyes, which had remained closed all this while, finally opened. Two glowing red slit eyes stared out from beneath his dark hair.

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