But only three seconds later—
"I understand. I understand now."
Su Zhan, who had completely figured out what was going on, revealed a look of sudden realization.
A clone could only do one thing at a time.
Either it appeared to do all kinds of dirty work for Su Zhan—working tirelessly day and night, fearless even in the face of danger—or it sat cross-legged in the shadows to help Su Zhan cultivate, providing him with continuous progress no matter if he was eating, sleeping, or even going to the toilet.
Both functions were extremely valuable to Su Zhan, but he could only choose one!
To verify his theory, Su Zhan dove back into his consciousness. With a single thought, he drew out the black mist of perception from one of the cross-legged shadows.
"Come out."
Opening his eyes, Su Zhan waved his hand casually, and a single clone emerged.
Normally, that small action would summon more than a dozen clones at once… Now, only one appeared—enough proof that his guess was correct.
"Huh~ So it's not that the new function is weak… I'm just too greedy!" Su Zhan admitted with a wry smile. "I want twenty-two times the cultivation efficiency, and I also want to mine and transport resources in bulk. How could things be so perfect?"
This time, instead of complaining about the "limitations" of the new function, Su Zhan began reflecting on himself.
After all, the new feature was already generous enough—letting a clone directly replace his real body to cultivate, and even allowing multiple clones to train in perfect harmony. A magical tool that made him stronger while lying down—how could he possibly be dissatisfied?
With that in mind, it was only natural that it came with a cooldown period. Even if the cooldown were longer, he would have no complaints.
"The next thing to consider is resource allocation."
After quickly adjusting, Su Zhan began to plan. "For now, putting everything into cultivation is the best option."
Having tasted the benefits of increasing his cultivation realm, he was eager to advance as quickly as possible. The stronger his realm, the higher his mining efficiency—and more importantly, the stronger his ability to protect himself.
"Although my clones can't absorb spirit stones like I can, which makes their cultivation efficiency less than one-fifth of mine… with twenty-two clones working together, the overall effect should reach around four times my original speed. That means, in just seven days, I can officially reach the third level!"
"Fast is an advantage—but it also has drawbacks… especially in a mine."
Seven days, third level.
In the outside world, that might not be shocking. Talented geniuses could do it easily, and powerful sects could even use special means to push someone from the first level of the Mortal Realm to the ninth in a single day.
But this was inside a mine.
Here, where everyone struggled daily just to mine and hand in their quota, a breakthrough from the second to the third level in seven days would certainly draw attention.
"And for seven whole days, I won't earn a single spirit stone. With twenty-two clones, I should be making at least 1,320 low-grade spirit stones per day. Seven days means nearly 10,000 low-grade spirit stones lost… That's hard to swallow."
"But as the saying goes, you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a goat. If it means improving my realm, what's a few spirit stones?"
Without hesitation, Su Zhan chose full-force cultivation!
What if it drew suspicion?
What if it cost him spirit stones?
Once his realm improved, none of those would matter.
"Besides," Su Zhan's eyes gleamed, "this will finally give me time to practice a technique."
That was another reason he favored cultivation over mining.
There were many ways to improve strength—if increasing one's realm was the most direct, then mastering a technique was the second.
Just like the choice between cultivation and mining, practicing a technique also required focus—both couldn't be done at once.
Previously, Su Zhan had been too busy breaking through to care about techniques. But now, with clones handling cultivation, he could finally dedicate himself to skill training.
"Clone Fourteen, keep mining and make noise."
"Clone Thirteen, avoid the guy outside, head to Wind Stone Town, exchange these mixed-grade spirit stones, then go to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion"
Twenty clones for cultivation was enough. Two could handle other tasks—
One would mine for a bit of income and make enough noise to reassure those watching outside. Whether they noticed the change from a bustling crowd to a single clanging pickaxe didn't matter—only total silence would be suspicious.
The other would head to town as usual to exchange spirit stones, buy good food, and purchase spiritual tools or techniques. Myriad Treasures Pavilion was a massive chain that sold almost everything imaginable—spiritual tools, techniques, elixirs, rare treasures, even ores.
"Yes, Master."
The two clones obeyed instantly.
With no life aura, not even a second-level Mortal Realm expert could detect a clone unless they saw it directly.
Sure enough, while the blue-clad spy outside briefly wandered off, Clone Thirteen slipped away from the mine and made to Wind Stone Town.
After exchanging 2,000 impure spirit stones for 200 low-grade spirit stones with practiced ease, Clone Thirteen—tightly wrapped to conceal his form—stepped into the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.
"This customer… You need…?"
The receptionist, herself at the first or second Mortal Realm, faltered for a moment. She had noticed—this figure had no life aura.
Under Su Zhan's orders, Clone Thirteen raised a hand to interrupt her, signaling that he needed no introduction, then headed straight to the second floor where the techniques were sold.
No life aura… Is it a puppet? Or an external incarnation? the receptionist wondered. Clearly, Clone Thirteen was tied to someone powerful.
Moments later—
"The technique is acquired."
"The weapon is acquired as well."
Through his clone space, Su Zhan retrieved both items.
The first was an entry-level sword technique costing 100 low-grade spirit stones—Blood Shadow Sword.
The second was a low-grade spiritual weapon—a long sword.
Su Zhan had always favored long swords. They were flexible, able to attack and defend, elegant yet deadly, and most importantly, comfortable in his hands.
He had tried elegant sabers, wide-bladed greatswords, and even spears, but none felt as natural as a longsword. Once he made the switch, he knew—it was the weapon for him.