Hassan of the Hundred Personas was one of the many Old Men of the Mountain, the nineteenth leader of the Order of Assassins to inherit the name Hassan-i-Sabbah.
She was an all-purpose assassin who could freely switch between many talents and bodies of knowledge in any situation, using whatever ability was needed to complete the mission.
At times, she was a strategist. At times, she understood foreign languages. At times, she possessed knowledge of poisons. At times, she was a trap-making craftsman.
Legends said that she could sometimes display monstrous strength and speed that her original body should never have possessed, use forgotten martial arts, disguise herself skillfully as men and women of any age, and speak and behave with such refinement that no one could believe it was only acting. Even her personality changed according to time and circumstance, and in the end, not even her closest followers could see her true face.
Because of her colorful skills, rich knowledge, and strange, impossible-to-predict mentality, she was given the awe-filled title Hundred Personas. In truth, she was a person who suffered from what the modern age would call dissociative identity disorder.
Unlike the other Hassans across history, she had not modified her own flesh. In a sense, there had been no need. Her body was ordinary, but she could freely change the mind controlling that body according to the situation.
Inside her body lived a group of independent souls. She used the knowledge and abilities of those residents within herself to deceive enemies, break through protective nets, and kill targets by methods no one could anticipate.
After she became a Servant, she was especially free of the limitations of the flesh. The personalities she split off according to the situation could each gain a body. Because the total amount of spiritual energy still belonged to only one person, each individual body's parameters were too low to compare with other Heroic Spirits when operating separately.
But every individual benefited from the Assassin class's innate skill. In terms of intelligence-gathering operations alone, a group that could act independently like this could be called unmatched under heaven.
The moment Wu Ling let the shadow of Hassan of the Hundred Personas possess him, a skull mask appeared on his face. His skin darkened, changing from pale and tender to a healthy wheat tone. Most importantly, his shadow began expanding until it covered the shadows of the surrounding plants.
As Wu Ling's shadow expanded and boiled, pairs of hands reached out from it.
The scene looked like the gates of hell had been opened and countless resentful ghosts were crawling up from the underworld.
The display was grand, but Ghost, who stood beside Wu Ling, felt no threat from it. He only watched the scene with curiosity.
When the boiling stopped, those hands suddenly pushed against the ground, and dozens of black shadows leaped out of Wu Ling's shadow.
"I am Zayd, the foundation."
"I am Macul, the swift."
"I am Gozul, the monstrous arm."
"I am Troy, the schemer."
"..."
Every time a black shadow jumped out, it announced its code name. Through the information transmitted to him, Wu Ling also learned each clone's ability.
When all the shadows had emerged, the grass, trees, and stones around Wu Ling and Ghost were covered with black-clad figures wearing skull masks. They bowed toward Wu Ling at the same time, then shouted in unison.
"We, the eighty-eight, are the fragments of Hundred Personas, Heroic Spirits of our Master. Awaiting orders!"
Wu Ling was fairly satisfied with these eighty-eight clones.
After adjustment, the combined physical quality of the eighty-eight clones equaled Wu Ling's own body. In other words, if he summoned only one clone, that clone would have the same physical quality as Wu Ling, and this would not affect Wu Ling's own strength.
However, Wu Ling cared least about combat-type clones like Swift or Monstrous Arm. He had never placed much hope in their combat strength. What truly interested him were the support abilities ranked above B in fields such as poison-making, tactics, concealment, and deception.
And what Wu Ling cared about most was, of course, the accelerated-cultivation ability he had been thinking about for so long.
These eighty-eight clones could not do that. They were still Hassan of the Hundred Personas's clones. If Wu Ling wanted clones that could help him cultivate, he needed to create clones that belonged to himself.
Wu Ling waved a hand and ended the summons. The eighty-eight clones became eighty-eight black shadows and returned to Wu Ling's own shadow.
Seeing Wu Ling withdraw the black-clad figures, Ghost walked over and tapped the mask on his face.
"This Spirit Skill is certainly mysterious. After you use it, I can barely detect your spirit power.
"Your presence also becomes extremely small. If you under Vitrification are a calm tree, then the current you is an unremarkable insect. As long as you do not appear directly in front of someone, you will not draw attention at all.
"In this state, unless the other person is above level ninety-five or is a Titled Sage with detection abilities, they basically cannot discover you.
"Not bad. Truly not bad. You are looking more and more like me."
Seeing Wu Ling remain silent, Ghost remembered why Wu Ling had chosen this skill.
"How is it? Can it help with cultivation? If not, do not lose heart. An ability that can erase your presence is already precious."
Wu Ling imitated Ichigo and pushed the mask up onto his forehead. In a slightly excited voice, he said, "Grandpa Ghost, I am fine. This Spirit Skill has indeed achieved my goal. But just as I need to transform sword skills into my own, only my own clones can help me cultivate."
"Then how can you create your own clones? This is not sword technique. You cannot learn it just by training."
Wu Ling looked troubled. It was not that he did not want to explain. It was just that explaining minds, splitting, and all the rest would be too troublesome.
"Grandpa Ghost, I do not know how to describe it. I just feel that I can do it."
Ghost did not doubt Wu Ling's answer. Martial Souls could produce all kinds of possibilities. He could not deny something's existence simply because he did not understand it.
"All right. Then do you need any help, Wu Ling? Or do you need anything to create your clones?"
Wu Ling shook his head. "No. Just give me time. Half an... no, one hour should be enough."
"Good. Then we will take this chance to return to the Pope's Palace. Once you create the clones, show the Pope immediately."
Wu Ling agreed to Ghost's suggestion without hesitation. Creating the clones only required him to confirm them and let the download finish. Aside from the beginning, it did not require much attention.
And so, after eating a little and resting briefly, Wu Ling followed Ghost back toward Spirit City.
Travel time always passed quickly. By afternoon, Wu Ling had returned to Spirit Hall. As soon as he arrived, Ghost led him to meet the Pope again.
"Teacher, I am back."
"Welcome home. Tell me what happened this time."
After that, Wu Ling began describing his experience. He also summoned those clones again for Bibi Dong to examine.
"Not bad. Even I cannot sense your presence or the presence of those clones. What about your own clones?"
"They are already complete, Teacher. I gave them the code names Wu Ling, Hot-Blooded, and Wu Ling, the Calm."