Chapter 79: Doppelganger
Damn! Lady Fox actually knows the art of duplication!
“Second Young Master, we’re surrounded!” Qi Yu’s brows knitted tightly as he saw nine identical nine-tailed fox demons.
He caught a glimpse of his junior brothers’ vacant gazes, and a wave of helplessness welled up within him. If all nine nine-tailed foxes attacked at once, he feared he’d be powerless to protect his companions…
“Yes, I’ve noticed…” Jiang Yan’s mind raced. Nine nine-tailed foxes meant there were eighty-one tails, each as agile as a spirit serpent.
And with Lady Fox’s cunning, fighting her head-on was clearly a dead end!
There’s a saying: opportunity favors the prepared. Well, luckily for him, he’d always enjoyed tinkering with mechanical arts.
With lightning speed, Jiang Yan pulled nine exquisite wooden figures from his storage pouch. Their outer shells had been specially treated to resist both water and fire.
He had crafted these nine wooden figures himself, following the mechanical arts manual his master gave him. To activate them, he needed to infuse them with wood-element spiritual energy, stirring their inner mechanisms to life.
Jiang Yan channeled his wood-element energy into the figures and issued his command: “Go, take down those despicable fox demons!”
Instantly, the nine wooden figures sprang to life. Their hands morphed into sharp blades, and like wolves and tigers, they launched fierce attacks in all directions at the fox demons.
“Heh heh heh, how amusing. Are these your little toys?” The nine fox demons laughed mockingly in unison as the wooden figures charged at them.
Their nine tails swept through the air, engaging the wooden figures in a wild melee.
What should have been a quick and decisive battle instead became a display of extraordinary agility. The wooden figures deftly dodged each tail’s strike with ease.
Qi Yu watched in amazement. “Second Young Master, you made these wooden figures yourself?”
“Indeed. I crafted them using mechanical arts.”
Jiang Yan was very pleased with their performance—these would be his new bodyguards, the kind that never needed to be paid.
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the little dragon. Black Flower was still desperately trying to rouse the miniature dragon, even slapping it from time to time.
Was this a case of love and hate intertwined? Black Flower actually had the heart to strike the “father” it recognized?
Still, the little dragon was remarkably unreliable, sleeping so soundly through all this… Just look at those bubbles of snot.
Lady Fox was clearly enraged now. Her doppelgangers’ tails lashed out in concert, swiftly ensnaring the wooden figures.
No matter how tightly the tails constricted, the wooden figures remained unfazed. Their hands struggled free and drove their blades mercilessly into the foxes’ tails.
The fox demons shrieked in pain, releasing the wooden figures only to send them flying with a flick of their tails.
“Second Young Master, we must quickly identify Lady Fox’s true form,” Qi Yu urged.
“Yes. Stay alert. The moment we spot her real body, we strike with everything we have.”
Jiang Yan gripped his Flame Sword tightly, his gaze fixed on the fierce battle between the wooden figures and Lady Fox, poised to attack at any instant.
Little White held his miniature sword, ready to assist Jiang Yan at a moment’s notice.
The wooden figures were clearly reaching their limit; sweat began to bead on Jiang Yan’s brow.
Damn it, he had to identify Lady Fox’s true body—and fast.
“Lady Fox, is it because you fear you’re no match for us that you’ve created so many doppelgangers?” Jiang Yan taunted, watching each fox demon’s reaction closely.
“Hahaha, what a joke! Aren’t you afraid of biting your own tongue, boy?” The nine fox demons all jeered together. But Jiang Yan, ever vigilant, caught a subtle slip—the fox demon in the center spoke a fraction of a second before the others.
“Now!” Jiang Yan muttered. His Flame Sword streaked through the night like a meteor, tracing a searing arc straight toward Lady Fox’s true form.
To further confound her, Jiang Yan unleashed his newest technique—Water Mirror Duplication! He summoned all his water-element power, and his figure split across the water’s surface into countless identical reflections, each as illusory as the moon in water, as elusive as a flower in a mirror.
A dozen identical Jiang Yans rushed Lady Fox’s true body.
Her pupils contracted in shock. “Impossible! How can you also know the art of duplication?” There was disbelief in her voice as she faced the onslaught; for a moment, she could not distinguish reality from illusion.
Her tails thrashed wildly through the air, desperate to capture Jiang Yan’s real body.
But Jiang Yan’s speed was uncanny, his evasions ghostly and unpredictable. Each time, his true form slipped away, leaving her attacks grasping at shadows.
Lady Fox hastily cast a protective barrier around herself.
Jiang Yan’s sword struck the barrier—and was repelled.
Lady Fox laughed triumphantly. “Hahahaha! You see? My barrier isn’t something you can break!”
But her laughter froze. For Jiang Yan wasn’t thrown back by the barrier; instead, he split into two, two sword-lights slashing simultaneously at her true body from either side of the shield.
“What… Twin Sword Duplication?” Lady Fox’s face turned ashen as realization dawned: Jiang Yan’s Water Mirror Duplication was no ordinary technique. Fused with sword intent, each reflection unleashed a real attack, leaving her utterly defenseless.
With a heavy thud, Lady Fox crashed to the ground, gasping for breath, her former arrogance gone.
Qi Yu, Little White, and the wooden figures were still busy fending off Lady Fox’s doppelgangers. But as her true form collapsed, the clones vanished like mist.
Seeing Lady Fox fall, Qi Yu finally exhaled, deeply impressed by Jiang Yan’s strength. He truly was formidable! Both in the Core Formation stage, yet Jiang Yan could unleash such innovative techniques—he was undeniably a genius among geniuses!
“Why… why weren’t you ensnared by my… charm magic?” Lady Fox lay on the ground, her tone laced with unwillingness and confusion.