I Can Copy the Talents of All Creatures

Chapter 244: Chapter 178: Defeat (2)

Having just repelled the Yu Fei on her left, Li Jueyin had no time to recover her breath. She scrambled back, whirling her spear around to raise the shaft in a desperate block.

BANG!

Another Yu Fei materialized from the void to her right. This time, Li Jueyin was knocked to the ground. After two consecutive surprise attacks, she had managed to block Yu Fei’s sword, but her nerves were stretched too taut. She couldn’t catch her breath.

A sense of dread washed over Li Jueyin as she fell. She immediately used her spear as a support to leap back to her feet, executing a "parting shot" maneuver that plunged her spear into the chest of the Yu Fei that had ambushed her. Tan Zhiyu didn’t intervene. A new sense of dread washed over Li Jueyin. Her spear felt like it had stabbed empty air, meeting no resistance at all!

The Yu Fei before her dissolved into light and vanished.

’A fake? How is that possible? It just attacked me!’

She had put all her strength into that thrust. Now, with her energy spent, an unavoidable stiffness seized her body.

Frustrated again and again, Li Jueyin felt as if she’d fallen into a bizarre trap, being led around by the nose. She didn’t have time to think before a sudden chill ran down the back of her neck.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of yet another Yu Fei that had appeared behind her. It was wreathed in a dozen strands of crimson Sword Qi, and the three-foot aura on its longsword was so solid it looked tangible. It came for her without a sound, like a specter of death.

Li Jueyin had no time to react. On pure instinct, she hurled her spear with all her might, hoping only to slow him down for a split second. Yu Fei’s advance was indeed impeded, pausing for a fraction of a moment, but the bizarre crimson Sword Qi swarmed around the spear like a school of fish and continued their lethal assault. Their killing intent was palpable; she could feel their razor-sharp edges.

’My Iron Body Skill can’t possibly block this. This strange Sword Qi will riddle me like a hornet’s nest.’

Li Jueyin bit her lip so hard a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Forcibly erupting her physical power, she shuffled her feet and threw herself backward.

The forced exertion of power had already injured her internally.

’Damn it!’ At that moment, she wanted to curse out loud. ’How can such a shameless ability even exist?’ Li Jueyin’s eyes were bloodshot. Without her spear, the rest of this fight was going to be incredibly difficult!

Li Jueyin had only taken a few steps back when the crimson Sword Qi abruptly halted and vanished into thin air. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. If that Sword Qi had kept coming, she thought, she would have been defeated right then and there.

But her relief was short-lived. A sudden, icy coldness bloomed beside her cheek, and she heard the faint hum of a sword from the air.

SHING!

Li Jueyin froze, not daring to move. Tan Zhiyu had appeared by her side at some point, seemingly ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.

A longsword, its cold light glinting, was resting against her neck.

Only then did she realize that in the blur of action, she had unknowingly retreated right back to where the original Yu Fei had been standing with his eyes closed.

’Could it be... the first Yu Fei was the real one? But how is that possible? If he never moved, then what were all those other Yu Feis that kept appearing?’

’Illusions? Phantoms?’

Li Jueyin was lost in a daze.

’No, that’s not right. The impact of my spear clashing with his sword felt completely real. And that crimson Sword Qi... only the main body could have produced that.’

’What in the world is going on?’

She was so bewildered that she forgot she was still in danger.

Yu Fei, however, paid her no mind. He was frantically marking Li Jueyin, confirming the copy. He repeated the process three times until, finally, he saw a flash of silver light.

’Finally broke even!’

The experts’ eyes widened as they watched the scene on the platform. The two Yu Fei figures that had appeared out of nowhere sheathed their swords, took a step back, and vanished into thin air as if they had never been there. It was like waking from a strange dream.

"Yu Fei wins!"

Unlike her previous flat tone, Tan Zhiyu’s voice was at least three octaves higher. In her shock, she even forgot to keep her voice low and maintain her serious demeanor.

The real Yu Fei sheathed his longsword. Only then did Li Jueyin turn her head, her wide eyes filled with utter confusion.

"How did you do that?"

In that moment, she even forgot to retrieve her spear. Yu Fei’s bizarre technique had completely shattered her understanding of martial arts.

The spectator stands erupted in a roar. Cries of amazement and curiosity echoed through the hall. The students couldn’t help but put themselves in Li Jueyin’s shoes, only to realize they would have been utterly helpless. Forget the fourth Yu Fei—most of them would have been finished by the very first assassination from the void.

"What was that? Why were there so many Yu Feis? What kind of Cultivation Technique is that? It’s too broken..."

"That needs a nerf, or what’s the point? Miss Yin’s spear skills are so strong, but she got taken out by a cheap trick before she could even use them..."

"Yeah, seriously... It’s totally messing with the balance. And don’t forget, that guy is still only at the third realm. I think we should poach Jiang Nianwei for our class..."

"Mr. Yu is a certified badass, no explanation needed! Hmph..."

...

Aside from the members of the Yulin Army who were on his side, students from the other two classes were all railing against Yu Fei. They were all smart enough to see the implications. With a performance like this, he would be unstoppable in future inter-class competitions. If he decided to hide and play it safe, he could pick everyone off with cheap shots given enough time.

Zhang Xunyi muttered to himself, "Illusionary Sword Intent? No! It can’t be. I must have seen it wrong... Haha... No, it’s definitely not that!"

Beneath his bronze mask, his thick eyebrows were knotted together, twitching uncontrollably.

The experts sighed. That damn Yu Fei was being inhumanly good again.

Jiang Nianwei slammed a fist onto the thigh of the person beside her. This time, she didn’t hold back. Liu Ze let out a pained cry and collapsed.

Jiang Nianwei shot to her feet, planted a foot on the railing before her, and raised her right hand high. Her voice, crisp yet resonant, echoed throughout the entire arena.

"Yulin Army’s Divine Might!"

Jarred from their stupor, the rest of the Yulin Class excitedly jumped to their feet and shouted in response:

"Is Unstoppable!"

Jiang Nianwei roared again, "Crushing all rivals!"

The class followed with a frenzied cry, "Yu Fei is invincible!"

Liu Ze shakily rubbed his thigh as he struggled to his feet. Hunched over, he raised his other hand and cried out pitifully, "Yu Fei is invinciiiible~"

He was a beat too slow, completely missing the Yulin Army’s rhythm. His voice was the only one that rang out, lonely and forlorn.

Jiang Nianwei was instantly displeased. "Hey, you. What’s your problem? You can’t even handle a simple thing like cheering? What good are you?"

"Big sis~" Liu Ze whined pitifully, tears welling up in his eyes like a child’s.

Seeing his pathetic state, Jiang Nianwei waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, fine, just pay attention next time. Go buy Mr. Yu a drink to restore his Qi Blood. Get the deluxe version!"

Liu Ze nodded tearfully. "Okay!"

He limped away, and as he passed Qin Hao, he landed a solid punch on him.

"You bastard!"

Tang Lihui stood before the ancient mirror, utterly perplexed. "Is that the Thousand Demon Illusion Body? Or the Formless True Shape? Or... no, neither of those are right!"

Through the ancient mirror, the details were hazy. He was confident that if he were there in person, he could trace any technique Yu Fei used back to its source. But relying on video feeds captured by modern technology, he could only see the play of light and shadow. The crucial details were lost.

Ye Shuping grabbed a scripture and smacked Tang Lihui on the head with it, knocking his Carefree Crown askew. How a holographic projection could manifest physical force was anyone’s guess.

"Idiot! Stop guessing. That’s the *Void Wind Shadow Sword*!"

Tang Lihui whipped his head around. "Master, that’s even more impossible! How could a low-level Swordsmanship like the *Void Wind Shadow Sword* create such realistic phantoms? And not just that—the swords wielded by each of Yu Fei’s forms were real! A low-level Cultivation Technique shouldn’t be able to replicate weapons!"

Ye Shuping scoffed. "Do you think all the geniuses in the world are idiots like you? You’ve practiced for sixty years and still haven’t become a Martial Saint, yet you have the nerve to call yourself a great educator of the Yu Kingdom? You? Worthy? Every single one of my disciples became a Martial Saint—all except for you, you idiot! I’m so ashamed I can’t even show my face in public. I have to hide here on the Shenhan campus all day. Hmph!"

Tang Lihui scratched his head in frustration. "Master, weren’t we talking about my junior brother? How did this get back to me again? Besides, the only reason I’m staying here at the school is because I was worried you’d get lonely!"

"Me? Lonely? I am a Martial Saint! I’ll still be alive long after you’ve died of old age! Do I look like I need your company? Let me tell you, if you don’t reach the Martial Saint realm within a hundred years, you never will. You’d best remember that."

Tang Lihui didn’t argue. He just muttered, "I’m working on it, I’m working on it. I’ll definitely become a Martial Saint in a few days... Master, please, just explain it to me. How can the *Void Wind Shadow Sword* produce an effect like that?"