Wu Jian never imagined he would one day face himself. What stood before him looked just like him. It was like staring into a mirror. Well… it wore a mask so he couldn’t see its face. Maybe it didn’t look like him under that mask? No, if the Echoforge Essence replicated a person down to the last detail, then his face would be under that mask. He would need to proceed cautiously to avoid knocking the mask off.

[Swords of Space Rondo]

Wu Jian channeled his chi and created several dozen spatial swords. Each one glimmered darkly within the light. They were pure black, as though revealing the vast expanse of space beyond this world. He launched them at his replica and watched as they were met with the exact same attack.

Miniature explosions went off one after another, not your typical detonations, but crackling explosions that tore through space to create rifts. Each time their spatial swords struck each other, the space around them shattered like fragments. It would restore itself each time. However, the detonations were beginning to cause cracks on the walls, floor, and ceiling.

We can’t keep this up.

He didn’t want to risk destroying this area’s structural integrity, so Wu Jian decided to get in close, making liberal use of Teleportation to appear behind his replica. Sadly, the replica knew exactly what he was going to do. This thing had recreated Wu Jian down to the very last detail. It knew everything about him, his past, his present, and it knew what actions he would take.

Of course, the opposite was true as well.

[Nihility]

Wu Jian phased his body out of this space and watched as a hand passed through him. It didn’t come from in front of him. His replica had plunged its hand into a fold in space. There was another fold behind Wu Jian, and the hand had emerged from that in an attempt to impale him through the back.

He ducked low and deactivated Nihility, then attempted to sweep his replica’s legs out from underneath it, but the creature used Nihility to avoid that. A sword soon appeared in its grasp. Of course, if this thing was an exact replica, it would also have a replica of Pale Moon. It raised the weapon above its head, spatial distortions swirling around it, then brought it down.

The air screamed. Wu Jian planted a hand firmly on the ground, dug his fingers into the floor, and twisted his body, using his legs as a fulcrum to swing himself around. He kicked the sword as it came down. The loud clang of steel clashing against his boot echoed around the hall as the sword veered off course and struck the ground, biting into it.

Wu Jian stood, summoning Pale Moon from his storage ring as he swung his hand upward in a slash that would have bisected his opponent from left shoulder to right hip. It passed through the replica as it used Nihility.

“Tch!”

I’m finally beginning to realize why my enemies hate me so much.

He understood logically that he was a troublesome foe to deal with. The Dao of Space granted him a wide and varied range of abilities that could be used in both long-range and close-range, offense and defense. Some of his abilities were so crazy that he would have considered them overpowered. Nihility? The ability to phase out of existence entirely to avoid attacks? You couldn’t get more overpowered than that.

It was this very ability that allowed him to fight people stronger than himself. Of course, he had other trump cards like Body of the Celestial White Tiger, but even without that, he had been fighting cultivators an entire realm above him.

Now that he was facing himself like this, he understood that his abilities were annoying.

Extremely annoying.

Wu Jian realized that using the Dao of Space was not going to work against someone else who was just as good at using the Dao of Space. His replica appeared to reach the same conclusion. They closed the distance and began swinging Pale Moon. Light flared briefly as sparks flew between them. They had the same physical strength, and they were able to swing Pale Moon with complete ease.

With a grunt, Wu Jian spun on the balls of his feet and released a horizontal swing that would have cut his opponent in half. It was blocked. His replica raised the sword and pressed one hand against the flat end, intercepting the attack. All that his swing resulted in was his foe skidding along the ground.

[Space Lock]

Chi swirled around his replica and tried to latch onto Wu Jian. It felt like someone had created a box that surrounded him, then constricted it. Wu Jian tore through it with a spatial blade as his replica spun around, raise his sword high, and used momentum to swing it down faster and more powerfully than it could with just its strength alone.

[Nihility]

The sword passed through him.

Wu Jian stepped on the Pale Moon replica and manipulated space to lock it in place, then raised his own weapon and thrust it forward. It passed through his opponent, but he had expected that. He tried to interrupt his replica’s use of Nilihity by interfering with its control over the Dao of Space, but it leapt back before he could. Wu Jian blinked when his foot landed on the ground. The sword he’d been standing on was gone.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He used Nihility on the sword too. Well, I already knew you could do that.

Nihility worked on anything that he was touching. He could even use it on other people so long as they were in physical contact with him. It was one of the benefits to his ability.

[Heaven Cleaving Slash]

His replica quickly swung its sword several times, and each time it did, a crescent blade of space tore through the area. This was one of his variations for Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Stroke. It used the same principles as the original technique, but he did not gather as much chi and released the attack much faster. This resulted in a less powerful but quicker attack. Of course, infusing it with the Dao of Space could increase its cutting power.

[Heaven Cleaving Slash]

Wu Jian met his replica’s attacks with an equal number of attacks. He used just enough chi to cancel out his enemy’s attacks. He had considered teleporting, but then realized it would only result in the same thing that happened last time.

[Teleportation]

Besides, his enemy had already used it.

[Nihility]

Wu Jian didn’t turn around as a hand suddenly emerged from his chest. It went through him like he was a ghost.

Spinning on the balls of his feet, Wu Jian’s foot nearly connected with the face of his opponent. His replica had leaned back to avoid being kicked. It removed its hand from his chest and backed away to gain some distance, then released more Heaven Cleaving Slashes at him. Wu Jian charged up chi into his weapon and released his own attack.

[Heavenly Crescent Slash]

What erupted from his blade was not a small attack but a large one that engulfed all of his replica’s techniques. It was simply a more powerful variation of the Heaven Cleaving Slash, but it was not as powerful as Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Stroke. The attack continued on, until it was cut in half when his replica swung its sword in an upward slash.

We’re just going in circles.

Neither one of them had the upper hand. They were both evenly matched. There was no way for either one of them to win. Victory between them would hinge on luck. Whoever slipped up first would lose.

Wu Jian grinned.

This is… exciting…

Wu Jian was not like Hou Jingshu, who literally got horny when she fought against strong opponents, but he did enjoy pushing his boundaries. Fighting against cultivators with greater strength than himself was one of his favorite pastimes. It allowed him to see where his limits lie, then push himself beyond them, breaking the boundaries of his own limitations to increase his strength.

Battling himself was different. They were evenly matched. But this was also fun because nobody had ever been able to fight against him like this. His replica was the first one who had a counter for all of his moves. Sure, stronger opponents could defeat him, but they could not counter Wu Jian like this replica could. The only person he had ever fought who could counter his abilities was Wu Meiying.

As the battle between him and his replica continued unabated, Wu Jian noticed that the battles happening around him had shifted.

He had been using Spatial Awareness to keep abreast of the entire battlefield. After all, it would suck if he was suddenly caught unaware, or if he let a stray attack slip by and hit one of his allies.

Up to now, the fighting had been done by Tang Tiantian and her group. Master Yun Chi and Lili Ling had not been doing any of the fighting. That was normal. Alchemists weren’t really combatants. However, Master Yun Chi had finally decided to get involved. Perhaps he had grown impatient, or maybe he deemed this the best way to win. He had popped a single pill into his mouth. Then his hands became lit with a flame so powerful Wu Jian could feel the heat from where he stood.

Then he went on the attack.

It was obvious that Yun Chi was not a fighter. He had no talent for it. However, he was powerful. He swung his hand and released a whip of flames that coiled around the Tang Tiantian replica.

“Attack it now!”

Tang Tiantian didn’t need to be told twice. She slammed the butt of her bo staff into the ground. Somehow or other, the staff ignited with energy as though the act had been a spark that lit it ablaze. Then she spun the staff around, gracefully like an acrobat, before thrusting it forward. She was too far away for the staff to hit, but then it extended. It went from a mere three chih to ten chih, slamming into the replica’s head, which burst apart like an overripe fruit.

No blood erupted from the now headless body, which was kinda creepy. These replicas looked just like them down to the last detail. However, it appeared that, since they were made from chi instead of flesh and bone, they did not have any blood. As the now headless body swayed back and forth within Master Yun Chi’s flaming whip, its body slowly disintegrated until nothing was left.

With Tang Tiantian’s replica taken care of, the young woman was free to assist her comrades, which she did quickly and efficiently, moving to each one and helping them take down their foe while Wu Jian fought against his own replica.

Of course, his replica must have been doing the same thing and realized the tide was turning against it. It tried to attack Tang Tiantian, teleporting behind her, but Wu Jian had known it would do that and teleported alongside it, intercepting the attack meant for his companion.

“Give me just a bit more time! I’ll help take care of your replica soon!”

“Don’t mind me! Just do what you need to!”

Wu Jian’s battle continued as the other replicas were dispatched, and then his replica found itself pinned between him and Tang Tiantian. The others had also tried to get involved, but Wu Jian told them to stay put. Having too many people fight against him was a bad idea. It would actually hinder their ability to deal with this thing.

The replica tried to use Teleport, just as he knew it would, and Wu Jian disrupted its ability by locking it in space. The space lock only lasted for a second. A second was all Tang Tiantian needed. Her staff extended as she thrust it forward, and it slammed into the replica’s head with an audible cracking sound. Sadly, that did not make its head explode, but it did stagger.

“Move away, Tiantian!!”

Wu Jian’s shout was a prelude to his attack. He raised his sword high, gathered his chi, and unleashed it when he swung down.

[Cleaving the Heavens in a Single Strike]

A powerful eruption of invisible energy rippled forward. Nothing happened at first, but then the ground before him split apart, the ceiling as well, and cracks appeared along the walls. His opponent had been hit dead on. It hadn’t had time to even use Nihility. Wu Jian’s technique split the replica down the middle. As its body separated into two halves, it slowly disappeared into tiny particles that evaporated soon after.

The battle was over.

For now.