Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Malevolent Doppelgänger

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Li Hao’s Wicked Avatar Runs Amok

Lin Xueyou was delighted when Li Hao agreed, and quickly began to cover her tracks, saying to Lu Yao, “Honestly, supervising your Brother Li Hao was just an excuse. I mainly wanted to see the world with you, Sister Lu Yao. That’s the truth.”

Lu Yao’s eyes, bright as peach blossoms, blinked as she looked at Lin Xueyou. “All right then, Sister Xueyou. We’ll go together and keep each other company.”

Zhen Ba, considerably older than the rest, saw through the ruse and couldn’t help but admire Li Hao’s charm.

From the moment Lin Xueyou first saw Li Hao make his high-profile entrance on the little qilin, she had felt he was extraordinary. Later, in the illusion, her body had been touched by this mischievous boy, leaving a shadow in her heart that she couldn’t erase. Witnessing everything that had happened since, being astonished time and again, Li Hao’s figure became one she could never forget.

Even she found it inexplicable—everything was so unbelievable.

Lin Xueyou then leaned close, whispering in Lu Yao’s ear. Lu Yao’s eyes widened, her mouth dropped open in disbelief as she stared at Li Hao, who felt utterly confused under such scrutiny.

Lin Xueyou told Lu Yao, “Sister Yao, your Brother Li Hao is a monster. That formidable avatar you saw just now? He actually has eight more like it that he hasn’t summoned yet.”

This revelation struck Lu Yao like a bolt from the blue, leaving her feeling that everything was beyond comprehension. No wonder her face showed such shock.

Afterward, Lu Yao pulled Li Hao aside and asked cautiously, “Brother Li Hao, do you really have nine avatars?”

Li Hao scratched his head awkwardly, replying, “Yes, the other eight are off on assignments. I haven’t called them back yet.”

This confirmed Lin Xueyou’s words, stunning Lu Yao even more. Seeing her exaggerated expression, Li Hao reached out to gently pat her hair. “Sister Yao, don’t be so surprised. My peculiarity may be related to an injury I suffered as a child.”

Hearing this, Lu Yao thought to herself, “Only something that strange could explain it.”

She gradually relaxed, but then, as if remembering something she’d missed, asked, “Brother Li Hao, that weapon you just used was so impressive. Where did you get it?”

Li Hao replied, “Oh, that was left to me by my grandfather. It was sealed within my spiritual sea and only became summonable after I broke through to the Wandering Realm.”

Lu Yao nodded. “I see, so that’s how it is.”

Li Hao and Lu Yao then returned to Lin Xueyou and Zhen Ba. Li Hao introduced them, “Brother Zhen Ba, this is the little princess of this star domain, Lu Yao.”

Pointing to Lu Yao, he made the introduction. Only then did Zhen Ba realize he had just saved a princess, and he politely greeted her, “Zhen Ba greets Princess Lu Yao.”

Lu Yao replied, “No need for such formality, Young Master Zhen Ba. You may call me Lu Yao. I am deeply grateful for your rescue. If you ever need my help, just say the word. I will spare no effort and fulfill any request without hesitation.”

Then Li Hao pointed to Lin Xueyou. “This is Lin Xueyou, little princess of the Palace of Literary Sages.”

Zhen Ba was taken aback; he hadn’t expected the two girls by this young lord’s side to both be princesses of noble birth.

His surprise stemmed from never having faced his own heritage, always considering himself a commoner.

Still, he responded politely, “Zhen Ba greets Princess Xueyou.”

Lin Xueyou replied, “We get along so well, you can just call me Lin Xueyou. Calling me ‘princess’ in front of Sister Lu Yao makes me terribly ill at ease.”

Zhen Ba was struck by how approachable the two princesses were, feeling genuine respect.

Sensing the lingering awkwardness among them, Li Hao broke the ice. “All right, now that we all know each other, from now on we’re friends who share adversity. Brother Zhen Ba, don’t be so formal. Let’s go find Sister Xuemei and the others.”

“Agreed,” the three replied, and set off once more in search of their friends.

On the boundless plain, a boy in red moved wherever he spotted young ladies.

This boy in red was none other than Li Hao’s wicked avatar, his avatar of desire—a being whose every longing was amplified.

On the plain, he spotted a beautiful woman, around twenty-five or twenty-six, and hurried over, wearing a fawning smile. “Hello, miss, may I ask you something?”

The woman asked, “What do you wish to know?”

The avatar of desire replied, “Miss, your beloved is very worried about you.”

“Sir, please don’t talk nonsense. I have no beloved.”

Unabashed, the avatar pressed on, “Miss, I find you puzzling.”

She asked, “Why is that?”

He said, “Why are you so beautiful?”

Giggling like silver bells, the lovely woman answered, “Sir, you are quite amusing.”

With a straight face, the avatar spouted nonsense. “It’s over! It’s over!”

The woman was puzzled. “Sir, what do you mean?”

He said, “Miss, your smile is so dazzling it’s beyond compare. I am utterly bewitched by you.”

She chuckled, teasing, “Little brother, stop toying with your elder sister here. Run off and play elsewhere.”

As he was leaving, the red-clad avatar tossed back, “Miss, how about being my confidante?”

The woman, though a stranger, was thoroughly entertained and flattered, walking some distance before looking back and murmuring, “Such a handsome boy. But men this charming are all heartbreakers—never reliable.”

Her elegant figure slowly disappeared from view.

Li Hao, seeing his unruly avatar embarrassing him before Lin Xueyou and now harassing innocent women, wondered how best to deal with him.

As he pondered, an idea flashed in his mind. He sent a thread of thought into his spiritual sea, summoned the Primal Chaos Yin-Yang Pearl, and activated the Primal Chaos Yin-Yang Array with his soul. Focusing the array’s power on the avatar of desire, he channeled a sliver of the world’s laws into the array.

At that moment, the red-clad boy was asking another woman why she was so pretty when a thunderball struck him in the head within his spiritual sea. The avatar was left dizzy and cross-eyed. The woman he’d been flirting with burst into laughter. “Sir, your pick-up lines are truly unique.”

The boy, fuming, could only roll his eyes.

Soon after, he saw a plain-looking youth bantering happily with a lovely girl. The avatar strode over, grabbed the boy by the collar, and threatened, “This young master warns you: stay away from my fiancée.”

The youth protested, “Brother, you must be mistaken!”

The avatar glanced at the startled girl and retorted, “You’re the one who’s mistaken. If you don’t leave, I’ll castrate you.”

Frightened out of his wits, the youth pleaded for mercy.

Once he’d sent the boy running, the avatar turned to the girl. “Miss, you see? He wasn’t sincere. You should keep your distance from him.”

The girl gave him a cold look, which confused him, and then she too walked away.

Five or six minutes later, a group of five or six youths surrounded him. Without warning, they gave the wicked avatar a thorough beating—these were the friends the earlier victim had called over.

Elsewhere, Li Hao, watching through the senses of his avatar, saw things turning ugly and, with a sly smile, sealed off the avatar’s power. Thus, the avatar took a beating, ending up with a swollen face.

Li Hao’s avatars still displayed emotional bias due to an imbalance in their souls. Only upon his next major breakthrough would he be able to use the Primal Chaos Yin-Yang Array to refine and balance all the souls within his avatars, allowing them to feel and behave like normal people.

Meanwhile, Kuihu and his two companions emerged from the forest onto the endless plain.

Kuihu remarked, “Strange, we’ve searched so long and haven’t seen a trace of the young lord or anyone else.”

Normally, Qin Zhen would have joked, “Isn’t that obvious? If you saw a figure, you’d see a person too, right?” But today, none of them were in the mood for humor—they were too focused on finding their friends.

Li Zhan said, “This world within a world is simply enormous.”

Qin Zhen nodded. “You’re right.”

As he spoke, Qin Zhen uttered a surprised, “Eh?”

Kuihu asked, “What is it?”

Li Zhan was equally puzzled.

Qin Zhen’s gaze flicked to the right-front. All three turned to look and saw, at the far edge of their vision, someone apparently being bullied.

Qin Zhen asked, “Brother Kui, should we go check it out?”

Kuihu decided, “Let’s go, but keep our eyes open.”

The three hurried toward the commotion.

As they drew near, a sinister voice said, “Didn’t he just threaten to cut off my manhood? Brothers, should we do the same to him?”

Laughter erupted. “Great idea! But who gets the honor?”

As they debated, their malicious expressions were even more twisted than the avatar’s.

Kuihu and his friends, hearing such bizarre talk, were curious and squeezed through the crowd.

They were shocked by what they saw—it was none other than Young Lord Li Hao.

Li Hao’s red-clad avatar, after harassing the girls and being punished by his real self, was full of resentment. Spotting a mismatched couple, he vented his frustration on the boy. This pointless provocation had landed him in trouble, and now he was being ganged up on. Li Hao, watching through the avatar, was about to lift the seal when Kuihu and his friends appeared, so he waited to see if they could handle things.

Without a word, Kuihu and his companions launched a sneak attack, knocking down three of the youths with a flurry of blows. The sudden assault left the rest dumbfounded.

Now, after recent changes, both Kuihu and Li Zhan had reached the peak of the initial Wandering Realm, just a step from the mid stage. Qin Zhen was slightly behind, having just broken through.

The trio, the youngest prodigies of the Battle Palace, showed no mercy. With their abilities, defeating less martial cultivators of a higher level was child’s play.

A sudden assault felled three; the remaining three lasted less than three rounds before being utterly routed.

“Young lord, are you all right?” Kuihu asked the wicked avatar.

“I’m fine,” the avatar replied.

Li Zhan inquired, “Young lord, what should we do with them?”

With a wicked grin, the avatar said, “Didn’t you hear them just now? They wanted to cut off my manhood. How about you do the same to theirs?”

Qin Zhen asked curiously, “Young lord, are you talking about…?” He glanced meaningfully downward, causing Kuihu and Li Zhan to burst out laughing.

There was something distinctly off about the avatar’s grin.

The six on the ground, hearing their fate debated, broke into a cold sweat and fled, scrambling away. Kuihu wanted to chase them, but the avatar held him back.

Perplexed, they asked, “Didn’t you just say you wanted to…?”

Qin Zhen mimed a cutting gesture.

The avatar chuckled and shook his head. “You’d really do it? I was just scaring them.”

“Oh!” the trio exclaimed, finding Li Hao’s behavior especially odd today, and none of them could make sense of it.