Chapter 590: Brothers, Are My Clones Real or Fake?

On the hill, Jiang He frowned in thought for a long while.

However…

He did not come up with anything.

“Sigh… I may be a Saint now, but how long has it only been since I start cultivating? I don’t even know about plenty of stuff that are common knowledge in cultivation, but perhaps there may be something else important involved?”

“Whatever!”

“I can’t be neglectful when it comes to my personal cultivation. It would be better to ask my senior brother.”

Hence, Jiang He returned to the Throne of Seven Holies seven days after leaving it.

The Primeval Lord of Heaven had yet to leave. After finishing his chess game with the Lord of Morality and Nothingness, they proceeded to have tea and a chat, but were taken aback to find Jiang He returning. “Brother Jiang He… have you not entered seclusion?”

Jiang He had left in a rush, saying that he would try leaving his existential mark in the Rive of Time—and having done that before, both of them knew how complicated it was.

There were even some who could not achieve it even after a thousand years.

“That’s done.”

Jiang He appeared upset and asked, “Brothers, is it really difficult to leave your existential marks in the River of Time?”

“Well, it can’t really be considered so.”

The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness smiled, stroking his beard. “Any Saint could do it if their mastery over Temporal Dao reaches a certain proficiency, and it would at most be troublesome and takes up a lot of time.”

Troublesome?

Takes up a lot of time?

The corner of Jiang He’s lips twitched…

Could it be…

That he had made false existential marks?

After all, Jiang He was actually doubtful that he had made 129,600 of those in seven days.

Seeing his expression, the True Lord of Morality and Nothingness asked, “Jiang He, are there problems with the existential mark you left?”

“Probably not.”

Jiang he mumbled. “Maybe I made a false existential mark.”

“…”

“…”

The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness and the Primeval Lord of Heaven traded looks and murmured uncertainly, “How did you make… false existential marks?”

“I have no idea!”

Jiang He laughed bitterly, “After I left and found myself some hill to cultivate in seclusion, I ended up finding the process of making existential marks easy. In seven days, I made 129,600… but that has to be false ones, since like you’ve said, it’s very difficult.”

There was silence in the Throne of Seven Holies then.

It was after a long while that the Primeval Lord of Heaven shook his head and said, “Impossible. I myself needed 800 years to materialize a past form and over 1,300 years for a future form.”

“Then, after endless ages, I was only able to imprint my existential marks in twelve timelines.”

Meanwhile, the True Lord of Morality and Nothingness was thoughtful.

He was actually familiar with the number 129,600… since he had the same number of existential marks.

It was also his belief that it was the maximum marks possible, since that was what he achieved even with his mastery over Temporal Dao.

“Hold on… the Celestial Will should have reacted if he really achieved that!”

The Celestial Will had noticed when the True Lord of Morality and Nothingness had done it before. It was also why the Celestial Will constantly kept an eye on him as if he was a burglar.

Still, he refuted the outrageous thought since he had become Saint much longer than Jiang He had, not to mention that he had gotten a good measure of Jiang He’s grasp of Temporal Dao after their journey in the River of Time.

As various thoughts crossed the True Lord of Morality and Nothingness’s mind, the Primeval Lord of Heaven was having a good talk with Jiang He.

Using the false existential marks as the basis of their theorizing, they both agreed that he could not have made 129,600 existential marks in seven days.

The Primeval Lord of Heaven used himself as example while also compiling the experiences other Saints had in cultivation, and verified that those existential marks were fake.

Jiang He realized with a start and nodded, sighing. “Thanks for your guidance… like I said, is leaving existential marks really that easy?”

“There’s an easy way to identify if they are really, actually.”

The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness smiled then. “Just link up to your existential marks and see if you could manifest clones.”

“That’s right.” The Primeval Lord of Heaven nodded in agreement.

Hence, Jiang He tried to link up to his existential marks.

He felt the world in his body being triggered by an energy from the past, and in the next instant, that energy assumed form through the existential mark into another him.

Jiang He continued to connect himself to the existential marks, and soon the second, third, and fourth clones appeared.

Since his existential marks were all placed in the world in his body, the clones were inside as well.

Still, Jiang He felt numbed as one clone after another appeared.

Even so, neither The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness nor the Primeval Lord of Heaven could notice anything from the world in his body. They merely saw Jiang He remaining still with a numbed expression, and thought that Jiang He could not accept the reality that he could not leave an existential mark.

Hence, the Primeval Lord of Heaven consoled him, “Actually, you’ve already done very well, Brother Jiang He. There is no one other than you who has gained such power in just over a dozen years of cultivation in the Realms Proper. Indeed, none compares to you.”

Jiang He remained still, and did not even hear what the Primeval Lord of Heaven was saying…

All his attention was focused upon the world in his body.

Right now, in the endless river of stars within the world in his body, a multitude of figures hovered.

All of them were Jiang He, resembling him in appearance and possessing overwhelming auras, having all reached Saint-tier… though they do vary in strength.

For example, there was a gap between his past and future forms, albeit a small one… since Jiang He was only able to tread over a small distance in the River of Time. Despite his hoard of existential marks, they were simply imprinted over different timelines.

After a long while, he came to his senses and turned his attention away from the world in his body.

Musing for a few seconds, he then asked, “Brothers, are there limits to the clones manifested? For example, how many clones could I manifest at the same time?”

Before the True Lord of Morality and Nothingness or the Primeval Lord of Heaven could answer, however, Jiang He said, “What if I manifest all 129,600 clones at once? Can they fight alongside me at the same time?”

“That’s impossible.”

The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness said. “Saints rely on their existential marks to manifest clones using energy from the past and the future. The strength of cultivators is Dao… and that entity would never allow you to borrow that much energy at once.”

“You’ve fought Saints yourself. Have you seen Lord Swelling Sky or the Nine-Headed Insectoid Saint fight with their clones?”

“You would never manifest your past or future forms unless your present form dies. I was just telling you to test it out with that method, not so that you conjure those clones, but just so that you could feel that energy.”

Jiang He thought about it and decided that it made sense.

The Nine-Headed Insectoid Saint certainly did not conjure its clones despite Jiang He handing it a beatdown.

After he destroyed and killed Lord Swelling Sky, the God Saint revived through a past form.

“Then, Senior Brother…”

“My clones are from my godly technique: One Breath, Three Mystic Forms. Those are neither past nor future forms.”

“Well…”

Jiang He was hesitant.

The True Lord of Morality and Nothingness spoke the truth, but did that also mean all the numerous clones he had in the world in his body… were false?

Jiang He mused to himself for a long while… and with a thought…

Splash!

In a split second, innumerable figures appeared and utterly congested the Throne of Seven Holies.

Jiang He pointed at the many clones and said, “Brothers, I had too short a cultivation career to know about most common knowledge involved… since both of you are learned, could you help me check if these clones are real or fake?”