Chapter 67: Chapter 67: The Runic Clone 2

“Perfect.” The original pulled something from the system inventory—a spatial ring that appeared in that body’s hand. “This has 500 billion high-grade spirit stones, various treasures, emergency supplies. Should be enough for whatever you need to buy or trade for.”

The clone accepted the ring, sliding it onto his finger. The weight of that much wealth was staggering, but necessary. Soul treasures were expensive.

“One more thing,” he said through the original. “I’ll be watching everything through our shared consciousness, so I’ll experience everything you do in real-time. But once I enter Comprehension Space for soul tempering, I’ll need to focus completely on the technique. The soul connection stays active, but I won’t be able to respond or interact until I take breaks.”

“How long will the soul tempering take?” he asked through the clone’s mouth, though he already knew the answer.

The original’s expression turned grim. “Outside time? Probably weeks, maybe months. Inside the Comprehension Space at 1,000x time dilation? Decades of subjective experience. I need to push my soul from Peak Early Supernova all the way to Middle Black Hole realm to properly control this body. That’s not quick work, even with perfect technique.”

Decades. He processed that through both minds simultaneously. The original body would spend decades in isolation doing nothing but soul cultivation, while the clone body lived externally.

“I’ll find the treasures,” he said firmly through the clone. “Every day I search is dozens saved on cultivation time.”

“I know.” He smiled through the original’s face. “Now go. Celestia’s been waiting long enough.”

The clone body nodded and turned toward the exit point of the Infinite Qi Realm.

He paused, looking back at his other body still glowing with golden-silver light.

“Good luck with the soul tempering,” he said through the clone.

“Good luck with everything else,” he replied through the original.

Then he focused through the clone and activated the exit command.

Space rippled. Reality folded. The white void of the Infinite Qi Realm dissolved around the clone body.

The original body remained behind, preparing to enter the Comprehension Space.

And the clone stood in Suite 4701, back in normal reality, experiencing the familiar surroundings through different eyes while the original watched through their shared consciousness.

The suite was exactly as he’d left it—comfortable furniture, illusory windows showing cosmic vistas, formation arrays humming with gentle power. The cultivation pool in the meditation chamber still glowed with liquid spiritual energy.

He checked the ship’s time through the clone’s eyes: 23:47. Almost midnight. He’d entered the Infinite Qi Realm at around 18:30, so about five and a half hours had passed externally.

Five hours outside. Almost six years subjective in both the Infinite Qi Realm and Pocket Universe for Celestia.

First priority: retrieve Celestia and explain the situation.

He accessed the system interface through the clone body and opened the Pocket Universe retrieval function.

A notification appeared: Retrieve Celestia Stormwind from Pocket Universe? Current training duration: 5 hours 17 minutes external time (approximately 5.5 years subjective).

He selected [Confirm].

Space rippled in front of the clone. A portal opened, showing the Pocket Universe’s training grounds—mountains, forests, open sky. And standing in a clearing, apparently in the middle of technique practice, was Celestia.

She looked up as the portal opened, silver-blue eyes widening. Then she was moving, sprinting toward the portal at speeds that blurred the landscape.

She emerged into Suite 4701 in a rush, already talking: “Runar! Finally, I was starting to wonder if—”

She stopped mid-sentence, eyes narrowing as she looked at the clone body properly.

He felt the moment she realized through her perception. Her spiritual sense swept over him in an instant—and she sensed the difference immediately. The soul was unmistakably his, that familiar presence she’d known for sixteen years. But the body…

“This isn’t your real body,” Celestia said, not a question but a statement. Her eyes scanned the clone form. “The soul is you, but the body is different. Where’s is your real body?”

“Yeah, this is the Runic Clone body,” he admitted. “The real body ran into complications with the breakthrough. Still me though—same soul, just different body.”

Celestia’s expression immediately shifted to concern. “What kind of complications? Where’s your actual body?”

“It’s fine, not injured or in danger. But there’s an imbalance.” He gestured for her to sit, moving to the couch. “Let me explain everything.”

She sat, attention completely focused on him. Even knowing this was the clone body, she looked at him with the same care and concern as always. Because the soul was his, and that’s what mattered to her.

He explained everything: the successful breakthrough to Universal Genesis, the micro-universe dantian, the Rule-fused body built from golden-silver starlight, the incredible power achieved. And then the problem—soul strength insufficient to control it all, the accidental destruction from simple movements, the need to keep that body in the Infinite Qi Realm until the imbalance was fixed.

“So I created this clone body,” he finished. “Same soul as always, but this body is calibrated to my pre-breakthrough specs—Satellite Orbit Stage 3,333, properly balanced. I can operate normally with this while my real body spends subjective decades in the Comprehension Space doing soul tempering.”

Celestia was quiet for a long moment, processing all of that.

“How long?” she finally asked. “How long until your real body is balanced?”

“Weeks to months externally. Decades subjectively in the Comprehension Space. And that’s assuming I find soul treasures to accelerate the process. Without treasures, could take even longer.”

“So you’re here to search for treasures.” She was connecting the dots quickly, as always.

“Among other things. Attend the combat assessment tomorrow. Go to academy functions. Basically live life externally while the real body fixes the problem.” He met her eyes. “And explain to you what’s happening, since you deserve to know.”

Celestia reached out and took his hand, her touch cold—a side effect of her ice affinity. “Thank you for telling me. Same soul means you’re still you, regardless of which body you’re using.”

He felt warmth at her words. “I’m glad you understand. And I’m going to help you find those soul treasures as fast as possible.”

“We’re going to find them together,” he corrected. “The real body is watching through our shared soul connection right now, experiencing everything I do. When this is over and I switch back to using the Rule-fused body, I’ll remember all of this.”

“Even better.” Celestia’s expression turned determined. “Then let’s start planning. Tomorrow is the combat assessment—you need to perform well but not too well.

“The pirates tomorrow will mostly be Satellite Orbit to Planetary Core, with maybe a few Stellar Ignition leaders. You’ll crush them effortlessly.”

“We’ll crush them,” he corrected. “What about you? How much did you progress in the Pocket Universe?”

Celestia’s expression turned satisfied. “I reached Stage 612. Void Empress Ascension technique is performing beautifully. My five Laws are all still at perfect 100% mastery, and I’ve deepened my understanding of their fusion applications. And I have also mastered 10 more laws to 100% and can fuse the 15 laws together.”

He did the math. Stage 612 from Stage 451 in five and a half years of subjective training. Incredible progress.

“Your combat power?”

“I can fight normal Peak Supernova cultivators now,” she said calmly.

He felt pride surge through both the clone body and the original watching through their connection. “You’ve gotten ridiculously strong.”

“Had to keep up with you somehow.” She smiled, then turned serious again. “So what’s the actual plan? Combat assessment tomorrow, then what?”

“Then we search. The Absolute Infinity has to have soul treasures in its medical facilities or emergency stores—a ship this size with this many cultivators must keep stock for soul injuries. After we dock at Earth-Prime, Prime Origin Academy definitely has soul treasures in its treasure vault, accessible through contribution points or achievement rankings.”

“We can also trade with other students,” Celestia added. “Rich kids from powerful families often have rare treasures they don’t need. And there’s probably a black market if we’re desperate.”

“Exactly.” He stood, pulling her up with him. “But first, we should rest. The combat assessment is in…” he checked the time, “about nine hours. Ship-time 09:00.”

Celestia nodded. “Let’s sleep then. We have a long day tomorrow.”

They moved to the bedroom, changing into comfortable sleeping clothes. The massive bed easily fit both of them, just as it always had.

As they settled in—Celestia curling against his side, his arm around her shoulders, exactly as they’d done for sixteen years in the Pocket Universe—he felt content despite the unusual circumstances.

Different body, same soul. Same person. Same relationship.

Through the soul connection, he felt the original body entering the Comprehension Space in the Infinite Qi Realm, beginning the long process of soul tempering that would consume decades of subjective time.

But here, now, with Celestia beside him, everything felt right.

“What are you thinking about?” Celestia asked quietly.

“That I’m grateful you understand the situation,” he said honestly. “And that we’re going to fix this together.”

“Of course we are,” she said matter-of-factly. “We always do.”

They lay in comfortable silence for a while.

“Get some sleep,” Celestia murmured, already drowsing. “Tomorrow we show some pirates why attacking a ship full of Prime Origin candidates was the worst mistake of their lives.”

He closed his eyes, matching his breathing to hers, and let consciousness drift into rest.

Tomorrow would be interesting.

End of Chapter 67

Current Status:

Clone: Successfully created and deployed, operating in Suite 4701

Original: Entered Comprehension Space to begin soul tempering (will experience decades subjectively) Celestia: Retrieved from Pocket Universe, Stage 612, fully briefed on situation

Combat Assessment: Scheduled for 09:00 ship-time (9 hours away)

Mission: Search for soul treasures to accelerate original’s soul growth

Next Chapter: Soul Tempering Preparation

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