Chapter 19: Temporal Copy

Yan Xiu carefully picked up the black stone from under Yang Kai's head, his fingers running over its rough yet strangely smooth surface. His brows furrowed.

"Is it just a stone?" He murmured, turning it over in his hand. No markings, no engravings, nothing to indicate it was anything special. Yet, something about it gnawed at him—a strange intuition that told him this was no ordinary object.

He channeled a sliver of his Qi into it. Nothing. He tried again, focusing harder. Still nothing. He even tried knocking it against the floor, but aside from being slightly tougher than normal, it remained just a rock.

His grip tightened. He refused to believe that was all there was to it.

"Life Simulator," Yan Xiu called out in his mind, his eyes narrowing. "Simulate myself inspecting this black stone more and more."

[You have 48.1 Years of Life Simulation Time…]

[Simulation Initiating…]

[Simulating Life: Yan Xiu]

[Cultivation: 1st Initial Element Stage]

[Status: Ordinary Disciple of High Heaven Pavilion]

[Martial Skills: Stone Armor Art, Flowing Sword Art, Bursting Qi Strike, Earth Splitting Palm, Serpent Fang Thrust, Soaring Sparrow Steps, Triple Wave Fist… and more]

[Secret Art: Flowing Tide Technique]

[Special Physique: Purified Body]

"Sigh…" Yan Xiu exhaled.

"Why do I keep forgetting to check what this Purified Body actually is?" He muttered. "I hope I don't forget about it after this simulation."

With that, the simulation commenced.

[Yan Xiu inspected the black stone for more than an hour, trying everything—infusing Qi, smashing it, even biting it—but nothing worked. Frustrated, he sighed and moved to place it back under Yang Kai's head. Just as he does, it slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.]

[Instead of bouncing, the stone opened—like a book splitting down the middle.]

[Yan Xiu immediately rushed to examine it. Flipping through the strange stone book, he found most of its pages blank. But as he turned another page, golden words began to appear.]

["Blood is cited, the golden body descends, not a miracle, but a golden immortal, proud golden body, rules the fence, indomitable spirit, will it descend!"]

[Yan Xiu's eyes narrowed at the poetic inscription. The mention of blood caught his attention.]

[Trusting his instincts, he bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the page.]

[Instantly, the book erupted with blinding golden light. A tremendous, ancient aura surged out, filling the hut with an oppressive force. From the book, a skeleton made of pure gold emerged, its hollow eye sockets gleaming with a mysterious radiance.]

[The aura beared down on Yan Xiu, strong—but not stronger than Xia Ning Chang's. He grit his teeth and endured.]

[An instant later, the golden skeleton dispersed, transforming into a stream of golden energy that rushed into Yan Xiu's body.]

[His entire skeleton began to break down, the old bones crumbling into nothingness. But at the same time, something new took their place—something far stronger.]

[A powerful will surged within him—an invading consciousness.]

["Is this… the 'Golden Immortal' trying to take over my body?" Yan Xiu realized.]

[The foreign will attempted to crush his mind, to replace him, to make his body its own. But Yan Xiu only smirked.]

["Sorry for you, 'Golden Immortal,'" his willpower surged like an unbreakable tide. "But you've chosen the wrong target!"]

[With an unyielding spirit, Yan Xiu resisted the invasion, repelling the golden will and reclaiming his mind.]

[Simulation Ended.]

[Life Simulation Time remaining: 48 years]

Yan Xiu's smirk widened. Yeah! I knew it wasn't just a simple rock! He thought, excitement surging through his veins.

"I should hurry and open it then—" He was about to pry the black book open when something stopped him. A nagging thought surfaced in his mind, his excitement quickly replaced by hesitation.

"Fuck... should I really do this?" He muttered, staring at the book.

His grip tightened. "This is Yang Kai's opportunity… I'm sure that in the simulation, he became that strong because of this book."

Hesitation gnawed at him. Was he really about to snatch away something that could change Yang Kai's fate?

For a brief moment, he debated, but then—his smirk returned.

"Right!" He clenched his fist. "I should try that!"

Taking a deep breath, Yan Xiu called out to his Life Simulator again.

"Life Simulator… create me a Temporal Copy of this black book!"

A Temporal Copy.

A Temporal Copy was a copy of something that had appeared in one of Yan Xiu's simulations, then brought to him in reality. A hypothesis he had built as he brought Yang Kai to his hut.

After his little experiment with the martial skills from the sect's library, he had become certain that he could create copies of things that had appeared in the simulation, even if they weren't official rewards. However, up until now, he was sure of this ability only working for things he had created himself—like the handwritten copies of martial skill manuals.

So a new thought had struck him.

Why shouldn't it work with things I haven't created myself as well? I mean, it's not like the Life Simulator gives me things I created myself as rewards, does it? Well, except the Flowing Sword Art, that is.

If that logic held, then why wouldn't it work with this book?

It was time to test his theory.

[Creating a Temporal Copy...]

[...]

[...]

[The Laws of Time needed for creating a Temporal Copy of this object exceed your current understanding of Time Dao. More Temporal Energy will be needed.]

"Laws of Time?" Yan Xiu muttered. "Time Dao?"

The words sent a strange ripple through his mind. It wasn't just recognition—it was a deep, buried familiarity, as if they were concepts he had once grasped but somehow forgotten. A phantom sensation tugged at his soul, urging him to remember, but before he could dwell on it, the Life Simulator continued.

[Creating a Temporal Copy of this object requires 45 Life Simulation Years. Would you like to proceed anyway?]

Yan Xiu sucked in a sharp breath. "Forty-five years?"

That was nearly everything he had left. His Life Simulation Time was at 48 years—spending this much would leave him with only three years. He had been careful, ensuring he always had enough to run multiple simulations, but this...

"This just proves how valuable this thing is," he murmured, his eyes flashing.

A normal item wouldn't cost nearly this much. This meant the black book contained something truly extraordinary—something even the Life Simulator deemed highly valuable.

His hesitation vanished. He grinned. "Fuck it! Yes, proceed!"

To be continued...

***

***

How was this chapter? Liked it?

Also, I'm thinking that I am making Yan Xiu too overpowered. Like those kind of things are nothing compared to what his original body can do (remember that this Yan Xiu is just a Temporal Clone), but still. What do you think?

Be sure to check out my original novel Hyperborea!