Chapter 34: Emperor Hao’s Clones

The six of them fell from the ceiling, gathering items from each cave along the way. The caves above contained refining materials—first, those of the Human Immortal level, then those of the Earth Immortal level, and even a few contained materials of the Heavenly Immortal level. Naturally, all these materials ended up in the six people’s space rings.

Further down were various magical artifacts crafted by Emperor Hao—of the Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal levels—each stored separately. The six of them collected all of these artifacts as well.

Now filled with ecstasy, the six arrived at another cave. Upon seeing magical artifacts in each cave, instead of entering one by one, they all went into one cave together to share its treasures. Unaware of any danger, they entered the cave together.

Inside, there were puppet magical artifacts in various forms—humanoid, beast-like, and plant-shaped—each in considerable numbers. “Wow, these are all puppet magical artifacts! There are even five of the Heavenly Soul Immortal level!” exclaimed the elderly man who followed the Dao path as soon as they entered.

The six didn’t rush to collect the puppet artifacts. Instead, their eyes were fixed on those five humanoid ones. Five Heavenly Soul Immortal level puppet artifacts were equivalent to having an extra Heavenly Soul Immortal bodyguard—someone who could even save their lives in danger. Naturally, all six were very eager for these artifacts.

“Elder Fei, what should we do? There are only five Heavenly Soul Immortal level puppet artifacts here. We six can’t each get one,” said the meticulous-minded man.

The leading elder pondered for a moment before saying, “How about this? Whoever doesn’t want that humanoid puppet artifact can have all the others here.”

The value of one Heavenly Soul Immortal level humanoid puppet artifact was equivalent to the combined value of those of the Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Soul level.

The six fell silent for a while. “I give up that Heavenly Soul Immortal level humanoid puppet artifact,” said the calm-looking man among them.

The other five immediately rejoiced at hearing this. “Good, let’s collect the artifacts then,” said the leading elder promptly.

Whoosh! The six immediately took action, each going to collect the puppet artifacts they desired.

Just as the old man and the other four arrived at the five puppet magic artifacts, the puppet in the middle of them moved. Its two eyes emitted flames, and it even spoke up.
“I’ve waited for two hundred thousand years; now I’ve finally waited for you all,” came the puppet’s fierce voice.
Clearly, this puppet possessed its own soul and could move independently.
“You…”
Not only the five people nearby but also the powerful warrior busy collecting the other puppet artifacts were startled by this sudden voice.
As the six were shocked, the puppet that had spoken waved its hands, and soon a gate appeared at the entrance of the cave, sealing it off and preventing the six from escaping.
“Who are you? What do you want?” the old man at the head shouted, trembling in the face of this Tianhen Xian-class puppet.
It was inevitable to be afraid—after all, the six were only at the level of three-star or four-star Tianpo Xians, and together they were no match for this Tianhen Xian puppet.
With the gate in place, the puppet’s expression relaxed slightly, revealing its emotions vividly.
“Who am I? Haha, I am Emperor Hao! You didn’t expect this, did you? I, Emperor Hao, am still alive.” The puppet, which was actually Emperor Hao’s clone, laughed maniacally.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the six were too shocked to speak, their breaths even stopping.
“That’s impossible! Emperor Hao is dead! The leader of the Huangxu Alliance told us whole Firecloud Alliance that Emperor Hao died in the Ruins of the Divine Realm. How could you be Emperor Hao?” the old man shouted in disbelief.
The other five watched the puppet nervously.
“Hmph! I died, yes, my true self did die—betrayed and killed by that wretch Huangxu. But my clone survived. I’ve been hiding in this treasure cave, waiting for someone to enter so I could take over their body and be reborn,” the puppet shouted angrily.
After hearing this, the six gathered together, watching the Emperor Hao puppet clone warily.
Taking over another’s body meant using the Soul Flower to replace and seize their physical form. Naturally, the Soul Flower of the person whose body was taken would vanish completely—something that terrified all six of them.

“Hao Di, we were appointed by the leader of the Huang Xu Alliance. The leader is now on his way here with powerful Immortal Celestials. If you try to possess us, it won’t happen in an instant. By the time the leader arrives, you won’t be able to escape. Moreover, all six of us are at the level of Heavenly Soul Immortals. Even if you manage to possess us, you won’t have time to leave. The leader and the other senior Heavenly Soul Immortals will surely capture you,” said the elderly man at the head, calm but firm.

This was indeed true. Even if Hao Di’s avatar succeeded in possession, with its soul at the level of a higher-tier Heavenly Soul Immortal, its physical body would still be at the level of a Heavenly Soul Immortal. Thus, the strength it could exert would also be at that level, making it no match for the current Huang Xu and the other powerful Heavenly Soul Immortals.

“Old Fei is right, Hao Di. You only have one option now: leave the treasure immediately. Before the leader arrives, leave this galaxy and find someone else to possess,” said the man who had remained calm throughout.

Undoubtedly, these two were trying to bluff, using Huang Xu’s strength to intimidate Hao Di’s avatar into not wasting time attempting to possess them.

“Haha… How could I not understand your intentions? Even if Huang Xu comes, will he be able to find the entrance to my treasure? Let me tell you—this Hao Cun Star has already been fully transformed by me. After you seven entered, I changed the entrance. No matter how hard Huang Xu tries, he won’t be able to discover the uniqueness of Hao Cun Star. He’ll get lost among the various planets and never find the entrance to the treasure,” Hao Di’s avatar laughed maniacally.

Upon hearing this, the six people’s faces turned pale. It turned out that Hao Di’s avatar had already made plans. It now had enough time to possess them and gradually improve its cultivation level until it reached the level of a higher-tier Heavenly Soul Immortal, after which it could find a way to escape.

“Hmph! Just because you want to possess us doesn’t mean you can. The six of us aren’t easy to bully,” said the elderly man at the head, his body trembling with anger as he saw his threats failing.

The six stood in a line, watching Hao Di’s avatar warily.

“Hmph. If I decide to possess you, I’ll succeed,” Hao Di’s avatar sneered coldly.

Suddenly, all the puppet magic artifacts in the cave came to life. Those puppet artifacts in human, beast, and plant forms, seemingly already filled with immortal energy, suddenly took off and began spinning at high speed.

In an instant, the entire array of puppet magic artifacts seemed to form a formation, and the cave was filled with countless illusions. Those puppet magic artifacts lost their physical forms, replaced by streams of light in five colors—gold, green, blue, red, and yellow—constantly changing direction and interweaving with each other, instantly turning the entire cave into a world of dazzling colors.

“My Five-Color Soul-Dissipating Formation—just you five guys, if you can hold on for a day, I promise I won’t try to possess you anymore,” the voice of Emperor Hao’s avatar rang out with arrogance.

Sure enough, as they were inside the formation made of puppet magic artifacts, the six people immediately felt uncomfortable. First, their eyes grew heavy; every ray of light that entered their vision seemed to weigh as much as a planet, pulling their eyelids downward. Soon, they closed their eyes. Shortly after, they felt their Soul Flowers growing fatigued, and their bodies losing all vitality. They had no desire to move at all and only wanted to fall into sleep.

The Five-Color Soul-Dissipating Formation was designed to disperse the Soul Flower, severing the connection between a cultivator’s Soul Flower and their physical body. The six people who had claimed to be strong enough to fight just moments ago fell asleep immediately under the first wave of the formation’s attack, completely unaware of what was happening outside.

Emperor Hao’s avatar, in the form of a puppet, knew that the six people were now in a daze and burst into wild laughter. “Possession! Possession! After waiting 200,000 years, it’s finally succeeded,” Emperor Hao’s avatar said excitedly.

Immediately afterward, he stopped the formation, and the puppet magic artifacts in human, beast, and plant forms fell back to the ground, standing quietly. Emperor Hao’s avatar approached the most thoughtful of the six men and nodded in satisfaction. “This body is good—four-star Heavenly Soul Immortal level. After possessing it, I’ll immediately capture Qu Yi and retrieve all the divine artifacts that once belonged to me,” he said, his eyes gleaming.

Of course, Emperor Hao’s avatar was also aware of where Qu Yi had gone after entering the treasure. His plan now was to possess the body first, then use the formations set up inside his treasure to trap Qu Yi, preventing him from escaping using the Boundless Stars. Then, he could easily kill Qu Yi and take the divine artifacts.

Suddenly, a red Soul Flower appeared above the puppet’s head—also three layers deep—with each layer’s outline extremely defined, indicating that Emperor Hao’s Soul Flower had reached the level of a higher-tier Heavenly Soul Immortal.

As soon as the Emperor Hao’s Soul Flower appeared, it immediately entered the mind of that meticulous man and then proceeded to his soul space, where it attacked his Soul Flower. Once the Emperor Hao’s Soul Flower destroyed that man’s Soul Flower, it could control his body, thus achieving possession. Suddenly, a deep crack appeared in the entrance that had been sealed by the barrier, and soon it turned into a hole through which Qu Yi’s body entered. In Qu Yi’s hand, the extremely sharp Divine Formula card emitted a purple glow—clearly, he had used it to break through the barrier. “Emperor Hao, no matter how many plans you made, you still didn’t expect that I could activate this Divine Formula card. You’ve already made it clear that you want to kill me to reclaim the divine artifact. Then you can’t blame me. Since you want to kill me, I certainly won’t spare you. However, I will still fulfill the promise I made to you back at the Haotian Immortal Mansion.” As soon as he appeared, Qu Yi said this with a smile.