Chapter 672: Replica

Jie Ming rubbed his temples.

The Strange that had looked like an old man earlier had now been compressed into a gray crystal the size of a fingernail, lying quietly within a sealing rune in his palm.

Its ability was quite troublesome: “Forgetfulness.”

Any creature that approached it would unconsciously begin to lose memories.

While it might not be swift at killing, its lethality against wizards was considerable.

Making a wizard forget their own knowledge was far more painful than simply taking their life.

The moment Jie Ming drew near, he had sensed the power eroding at him.

Then his body forging method activated.

Enduring the Strange’s power, Jie Ming walked step by step toward it.

The Strange’s appearance was that of a gaunt old man, back hunched, skin rough like tree bark, and eyes a turbid gray-white. It raised its head to look at Jie Ming, a flicker of confusion flashing in its cloudy eyes… probably wondering why this person had not yet collapsed.

Jie Ming did not give it any more time to think.

His right hand pressed directly onto the wrinkled face, fingers tightening as he exerted force through his knuckles.

The old man’s head was gripped in his palm like an egg. Its body thrashed violently, its skinny arms flailing in the air as its nails scraped against Jie Ming’s forearm with piercing metallic sounds.

Jie Ming simply lifted the Strange off the ground with pure physical strength, then… smashed it down!!

Boom!

The ground shattered.

The old man’s body twitched a few times amid the broken stones before Jie Ming affixed a sealing rune to its forehead.

Gray light flashed, and the Strange’s three-inch-tall hunched figure contracted into a fingernail-sized crystal, resting quietly at the center of the rune.

Jie Ming stored the seal away and patted off nonexistent dust from his hands.

Since entering the Hollow City, he had already encountered more than a dozen Stranges.

The harvest could be called bountiful. The vast majority were Disaster Grade, and several were even Catastrophe Grade!

He raised his head and looked around.

The figures of the other wizards were no longer visible.

After dealing with the umbrella-holder, the accompanying sixth-ring wizards had dispersed according to the directions indicated by their respective fate threads.

Each person had taken a different path, and Jie Ming had chosen the one that felt the “heaviest” to him.

Jie Ming looked at the small orb in his hand that sealed the Forgetfulness Strange, a hint of puzzlement on his face.

Along the way, his gains were indeed not small.

But compared to what the fate thread had indicated, they fell far short.

To be honest, judging by the importance of the fate thread he perceived, continuing down this path should have led him to the most significant harvest he could obtain in this plane.

Yet Jie Ming truly could not imagine what could possibly qualify as the greatest harvest in this plane.

Following the guidance of the fate thread, he walked forward a distance and finally reached his destination: an amusement park. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

The iron fence gate was tilted, with a sign above it reading “Children’s Park” in peeling paint.

Inside, facilities like carousels and roller coasters were visible, all operating as if people were riding them.

Everything that should spin spun, everything that should sway swayed, and every light that should shine was on.

Yet there was no life on any of the facilities. While other parts of the Hollow City at least used projections for disguise, this place did not even bother with pretense.

Jie Ming pushed open the tilted iron gate and walked inside.

The colorful wooden horses suddenly turned their heads in unison, staring at him with their painted eyes.

Jie Ming ignored them and continued forward.

Following the fate thread’s guidance, he passed through a narrow path lined with game stalls and reached the depths of the amusement park.

There stood a circular building with a sign at the entrance: Magic Mirror Palace.

“A mirror maze, huh.”

Jie Ming stood at the entrance, lost in thought as he considered what type of Strange should be inside.

Without a doubt, since it was a mirror maze, it definitely had something to do with mirrors.

The exact form it would take, however, was uncertain.

Jie Ming pushed the door open without hesitation and walked in.

Mirror surfaces spread out on both sides. His figure was reflected, duplicated, stretched, compressed, and distorted across countless mirrors…

Due to the mirrors’ own distortions, every reflection of him looked somewhat different from the real one.

Jie Ming advanced step by step along the corridor, warily sensing the changes around him.

To his surprise, no expected enemy appeared.

It was not until he reached the center of the maze that he saw the mirror.

Truthfully, amid the plain mirrors surrounding it, the sudden appearance of one with an ornate frame was far too conspicuous, causing even Jie Ming to turn his head toward it.

But the instant he looked at this mirror, Jie Ming knew he had been caught.

Because in that mirror, his reflection was not looking at him.

Jie Ming stopped.

The “him” in the mirror was lowering its head, as if looking at its own hand.

Then that “him” raised its head and looked at him through the mirror surface.

The moment their gazes met, the person in the mirror seemed to become more active.

The mirror surface rippled like water, and that “him” stepped out from within the mirror.

Jie Ming did not attack first. Instead, he stood there with some curiosity as the All-Purpose Eye and Fate Subsystem operated simultaneously, scanning the existence before him from the inside out.

Height, physique, appearance, clothing—these obvious external traits needed no further mention. This replica that emerged from the mirror was identical to him, except that its various decorations were in mirrored states.

However, the replica’s expression was not Jie Ming’s usual calm. Instead, it displayed an undisguised, even blatant hatred. Its mouth corners drooped downward, brows tightly locked, eyes narrowed into slits, with dark golden light flickering in its pupils…

That was the All-Purpose Eye, and the aggressive glow it only showed when fully activated.

“Huh? It can even replicate my abilities?” Jie Ming said.

The replica did not answer. The moment it stepped out of the mirror, its body moved.

It raised its hand, and a dark golden beam thinner than a strand of hair shot from its fingertip straight toward Jie Ming’s brow.

Jie Ming tilted his head slightly.

The white beam brushed past his temple and struck the mirror behind him.

The mirror surface vaporized instantly upon contact. The beam continued through the vaporized mirror, pierced the outer wall of the maze, passed through the Ferris wheel in the amusement park, and vanished into the dark purple sky.

Jie Ming’s All-Purpose Eye captured the energy parameters of the beam and quickly analyzed what the attack was.

It was Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light.

Correct in both structure and principle, but its power was less than one-thousandth of his full output.

“Interesting… It can even replicate modified spells?” Jie Ming’s interest was piqued.

The replica still showed no intention of answering any questions. Seeing the sneak attack fail, it swung its fist without hesitation.

The fist carried a dark golden luster as it smashed toward Jie Ming’s face.

Jie Ming did not dodge. He raised his right hand, fingers spread, and directly caught the punch.

The instant palm and fist collided, a visible shockwave exploded in the air. Stone slabs on the ground shattered, and dense cracks spiderwebbed across the mirrors on both sides.

If not for the dual protection of the Hollow City and the mirror Strange’s power, the aftershock of this single punch alone would have been enough to send the entire city flying.

Jie Ming’s footing remained completely steady, while the replica’s arm trembled slightly from the recoil.

The All-Purpose Eye captured even more data during this clash.

Body forging method—present, and at high completion.

Modified spells, physical resistance, spiritual qi… from the recent contact, this replica even possessed a true body dharma form.

But… its base values were far too low.

The replica’s physical strength and energy intensity were roughly at the level Jie Ming had been at during his third stage. Other abilities had similarly scaled down in proportion.

Jie Ming released the replica’s fist and took a step back.

The replica did not pursue. It stood in place, chest heaving violently, its eyes filled with hatred fixed rigidly on Jie Ming.

“You hate me?” Jie Ming looked at its reaction with some curiosity. “What’s the reason? Is this hatred born from your own thoughts, or was it forcibly imposed by this Strange? Since you replicated my abilities, you must have also replicated my knowledge. So, did you completely replicate my personality, or is the hatred caused by being its complete opposite?”

The replica’s lips moved slightly without producing any sound, yet an emotional look appeared on its face.

Seeing this, Jie Ming understood.

From those two rounds of questions, he had already confirmed the replica’s nature.

This Strange… or rather, the ability of this mirror maze, was simple: it had created another him.

But calling it simple would be inaccurate, because this Strange had perfectly replicated his memories, knowledge, skills, and even ways of thinking without alteration.

Everything Jie Ming knew, the replica knew.

Body forging method, Internal Circulation, Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light, Return to Ruins Armor… even dharma form true body.

Creating replicas was not difficult for wizards either. Wizards had various methods to produce copies of enemies, but those replicas always came with all kinds of limitations.

Even Jie Ming’s commonly used training method—time afterimages—was considered relatively “faithful” among replica creation techniques. It could replicate the target’s spiritual power and physical strength, as well as some lower-level knowledge.

However, it could not replicate knowledge above the sixth ring.

Because such knowledge was deeply bound to laws, and things at the law level could not be copied through simple time reversal.

Jie Ming’s immortal cultivation knowledge involved high-level principles and essence. Time afterimages could replicate the energy within his body but could not replicate his essential understanding of the concept of “Spiritual Qi.”

Therefore, time afterimages could only ever use downgraded versions of spells and could not employ core skills that required high-level knowledge as support.

Time afterimages could gain resistance from the body forging method but could never learn the method itself.

This replica, however, was different.

It had perfectly replicated all of Jie Ming’s knowledge. It knew the complete theory behind Trigram Fire Annihilation Divine Light, the construction of every energy circuit in the Return to Ruins Armor, and the core structural principles of the dharma form true body. The depth of its knowledge was identical to Jie Ming’s own.

The only difference was power intensity.

In terms of difficulty to handle, the replica before him was actually inferior to one created by time afterimages.

But… in terms of “value,” this replica was far more precious!