Chapter 89: Seizing the Body, Avatar (Second Update)

He sighed. Since the best choice was unavailable, he would have to settle for a more ordinary clone.

Leaving the virtual universe, Jiang Chen summoned a Black Abyss Clan slave.

After obtaining the wealth within the inner world, not only Luo Feng but Jiang Chen also replenished his own stock of slaves.

From stellar rank to universe rank, he had all levels among them.

However, considering the difficulty and risk of soul takeover, Jiang Chen decided to choose a Black Abyss Clan spiritual readier at the first stellar rank.

With such a vast gap in strength, a first stellar rank being had no chance of resisting him.

"Master."

The Black Abyss Clan member, whom Jiang Chen had named Number Ten, bowed respectfully.

He was the leader among Jiang Chen's Black Abyss Clan slaves, a universe ninth rank spiritual readier.

The Black Abyss Clan could reach planetary rank upon adulthood. Though not of the fourth bloodline tier, they could still be counted among the fifth.

Moreover, the entire race had already been reduced to slavery; even if Jiang Chen took over one of them, there would be no risk of retaliation.

"I need a first stellar rank spiritual readier to give up his life for me, to be taken over by me and refined into a clone."

As soon as Jiang Chen spoke, Number Ten's pupils contracted sharply.

Jiang Chen glanced at him and continued, "Among my Black Abyss Clan slaves, there are over a thousand first stellar rank spiritual readiers. Go and choose one who is willing to sacrifice himself. Whoever agrees, I will satisfy one reasonable request. Remember: it must be voluntary. No coercion."

Jiang Chen was selfish, but he was not a pure villain.

Whenever it was within his power, he was still willing to show some kindness to those around him.

As for his subordinates, he would not treat them as though, because they could not resist his orders, he could demand anything at all. Instead, he would use a proper system of rewards and punishments to encourage their initiative.

"Takeover?"

Number Ten's eyes widened. He did not understand what a clone was, but he knew very well what takeover meant.

The clansman Jiang Chen had set his sights on would undoubtedly die, with even his soul left no more.

Still, he could not defy Jiang Chen's command.

After a moment's hesitation, Number Ten asked, "Master, are there any other requirements? The request you mentioned, is there a specific limit to it?"

Jiang Chen thought for a moment, then said, "Within the value of one trillion universal coins, anything that can be done with that amount, I will agree to."

Money was not omnipotent.

But in the universe, there were not many things money could not accomplish.

One trillion universal coins, one chaos unit, was already an unimaginable figure for the vast majority of beings.

Even Number Ten was astonished by Jiang Chen's generosity.

Still, he quickly composed himself and went to contact the other slaves.

A short while later, Number Ten brought a Black Abyss Clan slave before Jiang Chen.

Pointing to the somewhat thin slave beside him, Number Ten introduced him: "Master, this is Kedenison. He is willing to offer his life for you."

Kedenison looked somewhat frightened, but still forced himself to steady his voice. "Master, I am willing to offer my life to you..."

Jiang Chen nodded and looked at him. "Kedenison, what is your wish?"

Jiang Chen would provide the benefit and satisfy the slave's wish, while the slave would willingly offer his life and become Jiang Chen's clone.

To Jiang Chen, this was a transaction.

Since it was a transaction, he had no intention of breaking his word.

"Master, I heard that you are willing to spend one trillion universal coins?" Kedenison asked cautiously.

Jiang Chen nodded. "You may state your request directly."

"I hope that Master can provide a place of refuge for my people, so that the Black Abyss Clan will no longer suffer the persecution of slave traders." Kedenison's eyes held both fear and hope, his expression extremely complicated.

"That can be done."

Jiang Chen considered it, then said, "I can buy a batch of life planets, and also a batch of Black Abyss Clan slaves, free them from slavery, and let them live and multiply on the life planets under my name. If any among the Black Abyss Clan produce geniuses or grow into strong beings, and they are willing to rescue other Black Abyss Clan slaves, I will not interfere."

He had no intention of rescuing the entire Black Abyss Clan.

This race had been reduced to slavery as a whole, generation after generation breeding, then being sold by slave traders. Their numbers were simply too vast.

Across the human territories, in the thousand and eight universe nations, almost every universe nation had large numbers of Black Abyss Clan slaves, so many that they were impossible to count.

However, buying a batch of life planets, then purchasing a batch of Black Abyss Clan slaves, freeing them, and allowing them to settle and reproduce there, was something Jiang Chen could still do.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen said, "Let Number Ten handle this. I will allocate him one trillion universal coins in cash. As for how much is spent on buying life planets and how much is used to rescue Black Abyss Clan slaves, I will not interfere."

"Thank you, Master."

Kedenison said repeatedly, "I also have a daughter on Demia Planet, and she is almost of age. Once she reaches adulthood, the planet's lord will have her seized and implanted with a biochip..."

"If your daughter and family are still alive, I will also find a way to save them," Jiang Chen interrupted directly. "But if they are already dead, or if I cannot trace their whereabouts, then there is nothing I can do."

Kedenison understood this as well and hurriedly said, "Thank you for your mercy, Master! I am already more than satisfied that you are willing to investigate. I would not dare ask for more!"

"Go. You have one day to say farewell to your friends. After one day, come back here. Number Ten, I will give you an account number. You will be fully responsible for everything that follows. Remember, you may free your people, but you must buy them at the normal price. Do not use any other means. If you offend some powerful being, I will not continue sheltering your people."

Jiang Chen waved a hand, signaling the two to withdraw.

"Yes, Master!"

The two bowed and then took their leave.

A few minutes later, a spaceship departed from Earth, carrying Number Ten toward the universe.

One day later, Kedenison returned to Jiang Chen's residence.

"Master."

After a day of adjustment, the fear on Kedenison's face had vanished. In its place there was a trace of happiness, as well as regret.

"You seem to be in good spirits?" Jiang Chen asked with some curiosity.

Kedenison nodded. "Thank you, Master. Sa... Number Ten has already found my daughter and brought her away from Demia Planet. In the future, my daughter will no longer be like me, a slave in someone else's hands."

There was still some regret in his voice.

His daughter had gained freedom, and that was a good thing.

But regrettably, he would not be there to watch her grow up.

Still, in exchange for his daughter and the freedom of more of his clansmen, Kedenison was willing to pay with his life.

"I have fulfilled my promise to you. Now it is your turn to keep yours," Jiang Chen said.

Fear surfaced again in Kedenison's eyes.

Though he had prepared himself mentally, the terror of death was not so easily suppressed.

However, Kedenison had no intention of going back on his word. His voice trembling slightly, he asked, "Master, what should I do?"

"Just don't resist. Leave the rest to me."

As Jiang Chen spoke, his spiritual force had already seeped into Kedenison's soul.

Jiang Chen's spiritual force had already surpassed the stellar realm. He was only one qualitative transformation away from breaking into the universe rank.

Suppressing a first stellar rank spiritual readier was effortless.

In an instant, Kedenison's consciousness sank into an illusion, losing itself and weakening little by little.

Illusion was not strictly necessary for soul takeover; it merely caused Kedenison's soul to fall into depletion and reduced the chance of mishaps.

A scanning device was aimed at Kedenison, displaying the values of his mental force and soul.

As the value representing soul vitality kept dropping, once it reached a certain threshold, Jiang Chen swiftly activated the power of Three Souls Turning to Spirit.

A tearing pain that split the soul nearly forced Jiang Chen to cry out.

He endured the agony by force, swiftly splitting off a fragment of his soul, which, driven by his immense spiritual force, surged into the depths of Kedenison's consciousness.

"Damn it, the skill description never said anything about splitting the soul. This hurts way too much!"

The thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind as he quickly controlled the soul fragment, initiated the takeover, and tried to replace Kedenison's soul.

With his life threatened, Kedenison's soul instinctively began to resist, trying to expel the foreign intruder from his consciousness.

This was not Kedenison's conscious will; his awareness had already sunk into illusion and could not break free.

But instincts from the depths of the soul were not controlled by consciousness.

Fortunately, under the ravaging of the illusion, Kedenison's soul had already weakened to the extreme.

Add to that the enormous gap in strength, and even this instinctive resistance could not stir a ripple. It was swiftly suppressed by Jiang Chen.

A moment later, Kedenison opened his eyes.

His soul had completely vanished, replaced by one of Jiang Chen's soul fragments.

"The split soul fragment is probably about one quarter of a complete soul. But after the takeover is complete, both my main body and clone can recover quickly, growing into complete, independent souls..."

Jiang Chen felt the changes after the takeover.

The consciousness of main body and clone was interconnected, but the souls controlling the bodies were independent of each other.

Of course, only after both souls of the main body and clone had fully recovered could the process of forming the clone truly be considered complete.

"The main body's recovery is faster. It should take only a few days. The clone's soul fragment is much more damaged; to recover into a complete soul, it will take at least several months. If I use some treasures that nourish the soul, it could be faster, but it would still take time..."

After carefully sensing the changes in the two bodies' souls for a while, Jiang Chen quickly made his judgment.

"I should buy some treasures that repair the soul."

Treasures that restore the soul were not rare in the universe.

Although soul-type treasures were usually precious, treasures effective only at the stellar rank were not outrageously expensive.

Just as he was about to continue examining the clone's capabilities, Jiang Chen suddenly seemed to sense something and could not help frowning.

"Why do I feel that if this clone dies, the slot it occupies will be freed, and I can take over a new clone again? And there are no restrictions on race or anything else?"

As he sensed the information emerging in his mind, Jiang Chen could not help feeling puzzled.

After taking over Kedenison, the clone quota for Three Souls Turning to Spirit became one out of three, meaning he could still take over two more clones.

But Jiang Chen had a feeling that if Kedenison's clone died, the occupied slot would be released.

It was not like the Golden-Horned Beast, where once a certain race's clone had been chosen, even if that clone died, the same race could only be re-bred for a new clone, with no possibility of changing it.

However, the clone creation of Three Souls Turning to Spirit had to go through a process of takeover.

If he took over some unique life form in the universe and refined it into a clone, then after that clone fell, and there was no second life of the same kind, he would never again be able to obtain a clone of that race.

In that respect, the Golden-Horned Beast, and perhaps other clone talents in the universe, actually had some advantage.

Of course, the ability to freely replace clone slots was good news for Jiang Chen.

He could fully fill all three clone slots first, and later, when a better opportunity came to obtain a stronger clone, he could simply replace one.

The information that emerged directly from the depths of his consciousness through the Three Souls Turning to Spirit talent seemed to carry some mysterious power, causing Jiang Chen to trust it completely by instinct, without the slightest doubt.

If Jiang Chen had noticed this, he would have discovered that this trait was shared by the innate secret techniques of many powerful beings.

The previous talents he had obtained had not reached the level of an innate secret technique.

But the Three Souls Turning to Spirit talent, in a certain sense, was in no way inferior to, and in some respects even surpassed, the innate secret techniques unique to many races.

After briefly trying out the clone's abilities, Jiang Chen discovered that although the clone and the main body shared consciousness, there were still certain differences.

The greatest difference was that the clone slots could be freely replaced, whereas the main body could not.

As for the so-called immortality of the clone and deathlessness of the main body, Jiang Chen had not yet determined how that would manifest.

But at the very least, it was certain that the race of the main body could not be changed as freely as that of the clone.

Another major difference was that Jiang Chen's greatest cheat, the system, could only be activated by the main body.

The clone could not activate the system, nor could it enter the system library.

"That takes the dilemma away, then..."

Jiang Chen could not help but reveal a helpless smile.

Originally, he had been somewhat torn over whether, after obtaining a clone, he should have the clone produce the Space Furnace to make money, or enter the system library to accelerate the pace of mastering knowledge.

Since the clone could not use the system, there was naturally no need to hesitate over the choice any longer.

End of Chapter.