Homlan began speaking, "Cloning is not without danger. Every clone is a copy of a being in some way. Hao Gongming relies on her clones for many things and protects them against all kinds of daos, but she can't fully shield them against soul dao. That's because the soul is a necessary connection for loyalty, and without this connection, she needs to constantly spend reality points to maintain her clones' loyalty."

She continued, "Luck dao connection can be blocked, blood dao connection can be blocked, but soul dao connection can only be shielded, not blocked. I have supreme grandmaster in soul dao, and I can bypass this shield and invade her soul through her clones. The challenge is that she would immediately attack anything that targets her soul, and any kind of attack would be met with her resistance."

Homlan smiled and said, "But here, it's different! She can't attack us here. I can cast a spell on you, and because of your soul connection with her, any spell on you can be transferred to her. My spell will steal her soul power and then I transfer it to you. It will be pure soul power without any memories and attainment level. However, if all goes well, we can make your soul comparable to that of a 19th step being!"

Hao Gongming pondered the plan and asked, "What if she cuts off her soul connection?"

Homlan smiled and confidently replied, "It's useless against me. Unless she is a supreme grandmaster of soul dao, I can still connect your soul to hers. Even if she uses reality points to completely transform her soul, I can employ illusion dao to temporarily hold it off until we can extract a significant portion of her soul power."

Hao Gongming deepened her thoughts, realizing the implications. "The real body has collected a ton of reality points and holds an absolute advantage in the number of harem members. If things continue like this, I will eventually be killed by the real body."

She asked further, "After my soul becomes comparable to a 19th step being, can you merge with me and give me your attainment level?"

Homlan nodded and said, "Yes, because the quality of the soul that I steal and give to you will be of 19th step, we can merge.”

Hao Gongming sighed and made a decision, showing a serious expression. "Let's take this risk!"

…

In the real world, Hao Gongming examined her own luck and frowned. As a great grandmaster in luck dao, she could discern many clues from her luck, and the clues she found were not favorable.

"Is someone trying to attack me? Was that dwarf not enough of a deterrent?" She wondered where this new threat was originating from.

But suddenly, her expression changed. "My soul? There is nobody in soul dao supreme grandmaster, so who?"

She quickly located the source of the attack in the simulation world. "Troublesome," she murmured, and cast a soul protection spell.

A shield enveloped her, safeguarding her soul.

Her soul remained secure; it was a reality, regardless of who was attempting to invade it.

However, she sensed that all of her clones were being drained.

Gritting her teeth, she cast a mass soul protection spell to shield them all. Then, she turned her gaze towards the simulation, and her expression shifted once more. "It's that damn worm! She's alive!"

She realized that her shield was faltering, compromised by an illusion dao attack. Illusion and reality were two of the most powerful daos, but reality held greater breadth and strength in the real world. However, illusion, in certain ways, countered reality. The soul attack she faced contained an infusion of illusion dao, creating an illusionary aspect within her shield and opening a loophole in reality.

"But you are weak," she muttered. Pouring in additional reality points, she patched up all the holes in her shield.

However, moments later, the breaches reappeared. "Damn that clone!"

She observed that this attack also utilized reality points, combining illusion, reality, and soul daos. The blend of illusion and reality dao created a mysterious force.

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"But you are underestimating me if you think this can truly harm me!" she sneered.

While she lost some soul power, it would replenish in a few days. It was a minor setback compared to the revelation that Homlan was alive.

She pondered for a moment, then smiled. "You want my soul? What's your plan? I don't know, but no more soul for you!"

With determination, she cast the soul protection spell once again, infusing it with a substantial number of reality points. This time, the shield became incredibly solid, impervious even to the enigmatic forces of reality illusion.

Hao Gongming hadn't anticipated that her clone would master the use of reality points in just 50 years. And yet, her clone had achieved it.

She didn’t know that if it weren't for the protagonist's luck, her clone wouldn't have been able to.

After a while, the soul attack dissipated. "Now, let's inform everyone that she's alive and must be eliminated for us to advance to the 20th rank."

Hao Gongming didn't have good relationships with others, but when it came to reaching the 20th step, she believed they would cooperate.

...

Homlan smiled and said, "Success."

Hao Gongming, who was meditating, asked, "What do you mean? I don't feel anything."

Homlan explained, " the soul is already in my hands, and it's approximately 1/1000th of a soul at the 19th step!"

Hao Gongming questioned, "And that is considered success?"

Homlan replied confidently, "Of course. After all, in comparison to her, we are not even dust particles. If it weren't for my supreme grandmaster level in soul and illusion Dao, combined with your reality points and the fact that she cannot attack us, we would have had no chance at all."

Hao Gongming inquired further, "What do we do now?"

Homlan explained, "I have to purify this soul for a while before giving it to you for absorption. Once you absorb it, you can merge your soul with mine and gain the attainment. However, I will have to remove my memories and only merge with you at the attainment level. I'm certain that absolutely nobody else in the world can accomplish this. I can only do it because of my supreme grandmaster level in soul Dao and the countless years I've spent calculating this spell."

With that, Homlan began the process of purifying the soul.

Hao Gongming patiently waited for 30 years, as this matter was of utmost importance and top priority. She didn't leave at all, fully committed to the task.

Then, with closed eyes, Hao Gongming heard Homlan declare, "It's finished! Now this soul is devoid of everything, including its attainment level. You can now absorb it easily, with no risk."

Hao Gongming checked the enslavement mark and then asked, "Why remove the attainment level? Couldn't you have kept it?"

Homlan responded, "Of course not. Even doing it to my own soul would border on bending the rules of the real world. Doing it to someone else's soul is beyond the capabilities of a supreme grandmaster."

Homlan handed over the soul piece, resembling a transparent orb the size of a ping-pong ball, to Hao Gongming. "Don't underestimate it. Even 1/1000 of a soul from a 19th step is countless times stronger than souls at the 18th step," Homlan explained.

Hao Gongming swallowed the orb without hesitation, and immediately felt a sensation akin to being drunk. After a few seconds, she fainted.

One hundred years later...

Hao Gongming opened her eyes and felt that the world was different. Her senses were significantly heightened, and she could perceive the real world even from her current location.

Although her actual realm remained at the 6th step, her soul power had reached the 19th step, albeit a very weak 19th step.

Homlan said, "Now, I have to erase my memory."

Curious, Hao Gongming asked, "Why?"

Homlan replied, "Because my trillions of years of memories would completely dominate yours."

Hao Gongming inquired further, "What is the difference between memory and attainment level?"

Homlan explained, "Attainment level is a way of thinking about Dao that can be gained through experience in the world. Normally, memory and attainment level are inseparable, but I can separate them, giving you the way of thinking about Dao and thus attainment, but not the memories themselves, so you won't become me."

Being the ancestor of the worm race with trillions of years of life experience, any merging of their souls would mean Homlan's memories would completely overshadow Hao Gongming's.

Just as Homlan had wanted to remove her own memories, Hao Gongming interrupted and said, "Wait."

She took out numerous notebooks and instructed, "Write down anything in your memory that could possibly be useful to me. Everything you know about the laws of the real world and its history, etc."

Homlan frowned and replied, "That will take a while!"

"Just do it. I can wait," Hao Gongming insisted.

And so, Homlan began her lengthy writing endeavor.

Three thousand years later...

Hao Gongming grew bored after the first hundred years, but she never left Homlan alone.

She renewed her enslavement skill many times during these last 3000 years and expended a significant number of reality points just to record Homla's memories and create a comprehensive database.

She truly believed it was worth the investment.

This matter was far too important. Instead, she ordered Kang to bring some good boys from her harem.

Now, after thousands of years, in the core of the giant worm corpse where Homlan had been hiding, a miniature harem had been established.

Just as Hao Gongming was enjoying a party with the boys recently trained by Kang, who were custom-built to match her preferences, Homlan entered and announced, "It's finished! I have written down all my memories!"

The collection amounted to trillions of books, each thousands of pages long. Thanks to her fast writing skills, it had only taken 3,000 years.

Hao Gongming dismissed the boys and took the final batch of books from Homlan. With determination, she said, "Are you ready to become a part of me?"

Homlan nodded and replied, "Of course, Master. Let's begin."