Based on his clones performance, Grid found being a magician quite easy and fun.

What he found the most enjoyable was attacking an enemy from outside their attack range. Only when the demon cultivator managed to attack from within the Multiple Weakening Barriers did Grid realize that a magician had huge advantages over cultivators.

The demon cultivator had attacks that took the form of flowers which bloomed and delivered damage from within shields when striking a target. He was a specialist when it came to killing cultivators. Therefore, he was a great inspiration to Grid.

Grid thought that it would be surprisingly easy dealing with a cultivators shield even without the Falling Moon Sword or Annihilation energy.

He was right.

Grids Frozen Tempest inflicted serious negative status effects such as chill, slow, and freeze on Du Baeryong. The chill had penetrated through the shield. The cultivators shield worked similarly to Multiple Weakening Barriers, meaning that it could absorb or repel external shocks. The shield did not adapt to the frozen storm raging outside of it, because Frozen Tempest easily broke into Du Baeryongs shield.

Inside the frosted shield, Du Baeryong froze slightly. This made him sluggish and unable to withstand the pressure from the increased gravity that followed. By the time he managed to fight back against Grids clones attacks, his movements had become significantly slower, so the clone could easily use Weapon Break against him.

Therefore, Grid couldnt sympathize with Zibals sentiments.

Relying on pure strength...? You have no idea how many fights Ive gone through in a short period of time.

I am just using clever strategies.

At least, the clone was like that. Wasnt he Brahams true successor? In fact, most of the clones titles were related to Braham. He could cast multiple spells at the same time, cast a spell without having the need to say it out loud, reduce the casting speed of his spells, his magic attack power would significantly increase with each successful spell cast, and so on.

Not only did the clone possess a high amount of passive skills, which could change a magicians life if they had merely one of them in their arsenal, but the clone had hidden potential that could impress even the God of magic and wisdom. Combining this with Grids combat experience, the result was the clone tactically beating up Du Baeryong.

Yes, he was rather strong for a magician, but that wouldnt really affect the outcome of the fight. This battle had been won from the start because of Grids clones cunning strategies.

Zibal stared blankly at Grids clone, who strongly denied what Zibal had just said. People tended to be obsessed with what they were lacking. Zibal vaguely understood Grids point of view. He nodded and said, I see. Im sorry.

Gray light flashed and they heard a familiar voice. It was Du Baeryongs voice, even though he had been crushed to death by Meteor. As expected from a Super Galaxy Treasure. I never dreamed that my incarnation would be defeated by the incarnation of a qi refining cultivator. Theres a possibility that you arent an ordinary cultivator, but one of those Warriors... Still, youre an excellent fighter, no matter what.

The light dimmed out, revealing Du Baeryong.

This guy...!

The immortals strength was comparable to an old dragons. Grids clone had used all those powerful spells on a mere clone? Zibal paled at the thought.

New enemies showed up. There were fifty-three cultivators in total, their realms ranging from nascent soul to great ascension. The sect that Du Baeryong had belonged to when he was a cultivator was offering their support.

I would like to say that I dont need my sects help, but... Unfortunately, you arent an opponent that I can easily deal with given my current condition.

Its an honor to help you.

I will fight until my dying breath.

The fifty-three cultivators who obeyed Du Baeryong were like soldiers. This was unexpected, given that cultivators were obsessed with survival.

Grids clone was somewhat surprised.

Youre going to risk your lives to fight? I didnt expect a cultivator to ever say that. Whats in it for you?

Lifespan, Du Baeryong answered on behalf of the cultivators. I swore that I would make the bodies of those who fight and die for me into my spare incarnations. A preliminary incarnation can live quite freely until their master grants them consciousness. Whats more, they would become preliminary incarnations of a true immortal. They can live for an extra hundreds of thousands of years.

......? Grids clone didnt know what to say. He tilted his head.

Du Baeryong added, I wont lose anything if these guys become my preliminary incarnations. In any case, Im going to make you my incarnation.

...Sooo, what youre saying is that they have the potential to become your incarnations while also enjoying various benefits?

Correct.

I dont understand. Wont they all just die?

A spear of magic fell from the sky. It was Disintegrate.

One of the void refining cultivators, who was standing behind Du Baeryong, didnt have time to move out of the way in time and got killed by the spear. The dwarf who escaped from his dead body entered Du Baeryongs sleeve.

Grid pointed at the dwarf and asked, If you make him your incarnation and dont give him a consciousness, will he be free to live as your preliminary incarnation in the future? He will even live as long as you?

Thats right. I can also make him look the same as when he was alive. He could even increase his cultivation realm. It means he will become the embodiment of me, but his independence is guaranteed. Someday, if I need a new incarnation or if my main body dies and I need a replacement, I will deprive him of his freedom and make his body my own. But you... Why are you asking me something so obvious? You dont seem to have basic knowledge that a cultivator should possess. Dont tell me that you didnt even use spiritual energy as the material for your incarnation?

Really strange If what youre saying is true, isnt it better for a cultivator to just die and become the incarnation of an immortal?

Thats true, unless they have the ambition to become an immortal someday. However, its almost impossible for a cultivator to become the incarnation of an immortal. Just as I am obsessed with you now, immortals naturally want to have powerful incarnations. If they made incarnations from just about any cultivator, that would be a fruitless endeavor because the cultivators realm would be too low. I wouldnt have done them this favor if they werent cultivators from the sect I used to belong to.

Um... You cant create an unlimited amount of preliminary incarnations, right?

I can hold and maintain seventy spare incarnations. This is a lot, and I can only do that because of a technique that I learned. Most immortals, except for me, only have around five spare incarnations.

Out of the seventy preliminary incarnations, you can only inject consciousness into one at a time?

Yes, except for that one incarnation, the rest of the preliminary incarnations arent that impressive.

Is the technique you learned related to the puppet technique?

Its a higher form of that. Puppetry is simply a technique that creates puppets, while the technique I learned allows me to multiply myself. Of course, puppeteers wont admit that.

Suddenly, Grids clone had doubts. Why did this person answer all his questions without hesitation? Was it to buy himself time? That was probably the case. Grids clone urgently cast an offensive spell.

You are too late.

Flash!

Another gray light flickered. It was a second Du Baeryong who looked exactly like the first one. The energy emanating from him was on par with the incarnation that had just been crushed to death by Meteor. One of the preliminary incarnations had obtained Du Baeryongs consciousness and arrived as reinforcement.

I admit that you are a formidable enemy. I will fight with all my strength.

The two Du Baeryongs smiled and swung their flaming swords. The remaining fifty-two cultivators also dispersed in all directions and joined the battle.

Zibal sighed and asked, Still fighting using your brilliant strategies?

......

Grids clone couldnt say anything to deny that. He had an immortal, its clone, and fifty-two cultivators to deal with. Seeing the two Du Baeryongs get closer and closer, Grids clone had no choice but to use his trump card.

Memorize.

An Absolute could split seconds into tens of units. He pulled out all the spells he had stored using Memorize to block Du Baeryongs attack and fight back. He also used Hourglass, the ultimate acceleration spell, to reduce the cooldown of his spells while casting various ice spells. Barriers of ice erupted across the battlefield, the ground froze, and a cruel chill enveloped the area.

Grids clones intentions were clear. He wanted to make the temperature drop as much as possible until Frozen Tempests cooldown refreshed, and to increase this particular spells power.

Du Baeryong could tell that much. Do you really think that I will fall for the same trick twice?

He created a flaming mountain when his clone swung the sword once. The flaming swords brandished by both the immortal and his clone naturally melted all the ice around him. The air was no longer cold as ice. The climate became milder before eventually heating up.

Time to die now.

Waves of roaring fire poured toward Grids clone. The immense, ferocious flood of flames resembled Red Phoenix. The heat made it difficult for Zibals group to breathe. They felt as if their brains were melting as they got affected by various debuffs.

This was even worse for Grids clone, who was the target of the flames. After exchanging looks, Zibal and Katz pushed Mir and Jessica back and rushed at the clones side.

Mass Teleport.

Grids clone was one step ahead and teleported all his allies from the battlefield before casting Poison Smog. This was Brahams favorite spell when researching explosive spells. The poisonous mist contained various hazardous substances and a small amount of flammable gasses. And given that those immense flames were heading his way

As expected, there was a huge explosion.

Grids clone hadnt expected for the explosion to be so massive. His body, which was made of Greed, twisted and folded strangely, and he was badly damaged.

Its ruined...

His vision flashed red. He was in a pitiful state, and he could no longer move. Grids clone had no concept of survival since he could not be destroyed completely. Instead, he became stiff every time he suffered great damage. Given how badly damaged he was now, he would be unable to move until he received repairs.

In other words, he was completely defenseless. The clones anxiety skyrocketed at the thought of Du Baeryong capturing him. However

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have...]

The same system message appeared more than fifty times. Only then did Grids clone come to his senses. He looked around and saw there was no one left on the battlefield but himself. He hadnt killed just the fifty-two cultivators, but Du Baeryong as well.

After all, who could survive an explosion that damaged even Grids clone so badly? That explosion had the capacity to even destroy the Tomb of the Gods. Du Baeryongs flames were indeed incredibly powerful.

A cunning smile appeared on Grids face. In any case, I won.