Overgeared (WN KR)
chapter-1990

A God Incarnation referred to a representative of a god or another aspect that a god could take. It had a different meaning in the cultivation world. A cultivator defied the natural order, so they denied the gods.

For the cultivators, an incarnation was ultimately a part of themselves. Therefore, they called it an out-of-body incarnation, because it referred to a cultivator placing their consciousness into another body.

Simply put, it was an alter ego of the cultivator and, ultimately, a substitute. To use modern terms, an out-of-body incarnation was a cultivator’s life insurance. Everyone wanted one, to the point that they would not hesitate to steal it from others.

And this out-of-body incarnation had ascended to Super Galaxy Treasure level, so of course every cultivator coveted it.

“What are you made of? I’ve never seen such a perfect incarnation until you.”

The method for making an out-of-body incarnation didn't defy the laws of the world. First of all, a corpse was needed. That corpse would be altered until it reached the desired shape and appearance before being injected with blood and spiritual energy so it can spring to life. The material used was the flesh of a person.

However, the incarnation in front of them, modeled after a black-haired man, didn’t seem like it had been created in this manner. There was no rotten stench emanating from his breath. His skin was flawless, and it looked just like normal human skin, but there were no pores or hairs on it.

Du Baeryong’s grin became wider and wider.

“It’s worth going to a lower world for a prize such as this.”

Du Baeryong was an immortal. In the more than twenty thousand years since he became an immortal, he had never been able to increase his realm, so he was still in the early stages of true immortal. But putting aside his personal history, he still had chosen to remain in the upper world.

Yet recently, he received some interesting news. He found out that the sect to which he used to belong when he was a cultivator had fallen into a strange world overnight.

Du Baeryoung found this extremely unpleasant, especially because he had been in constant contact with his sect after ascending. The sect was still useful to him in many ways. There were materials that were hard to get in the upper world, materials he could easily obtain in the lower world.

Therefore, he wanted to return his sect to their original world.

However, an immortal was subjected to all types of restrictions when descending to a lower world because of the rules set in place by other immortals.

There was a firm rule that stated that, since beings of the upper world were omnipotent in the lower world, they shouldn’t carelessly intervene in that world. Because of this rule, an immortal lost a significant amount of their power when they descended.

There was also the problem imposed by the lack of aura in the lower world. An immortal used a huge amount of spiritual energy. In the upper world, the heaven and earth origin energy was overflowing, but this wasn’t the case in the lower world. Because of that, immortals couldn’t use their mystical arts freely in the lower world.

In other words, it was dangerous for Du Baeryong to recklessly descend to an unknown world. He couldn’t afford to act carelessly even when he heard about what happened to his sect. He deliberated for a long time what he should do before ultimately deciding to take the risk because he found out about a specific Super Galaxy Treasure—the out-of-body incarnation.

Out-of-body incarnations were hard to make, but they had a lot of uses. Mostly, cultivators used them to go through the Thunder Tribulation in their stead. Of course, a normal incarnation could only receive one or two thunderbolts from the tribulation. This was all it took for it to turn into ashes and disappear.

But an incarnation that was a Super Galaxy Treasure? Well, that was bound to be a lot more powerful than a normal incarnation, no?

Du Baeryong was looking forward to it.

“You have exceeded my expectations.”

The incarnation was way better than he had initially hoped it would be. Du Baeryong slashed Grid’s clone’s chest with a swift sword technique. The clone took a few steps back, but it didn’t have a single scratch on it. As expected from a body made of Greed. Even if it became stiff, that didn’t mean it couldn’t move at all.

Du Baeryong’s eyes were filled with even more greed. “You are the first being to be completely fine even after experiencing the Wind Flame Sword. If I get my hands on you, I won’t have to worry about Thunder Tribulations for another 100,000 years.”

Zibal kept looking between Grid and Du Baeryong. He and his companions had flinched when Grid got cut by the cultivator because they were expecting blood to spill out. They were aware of what Du Baeryong could do with that sword of his, which could slash someone as a warm wind blew. That same slash had dealt more than half of Mir’s HP in a single blow. Katz had even lost his invincibility passive.

They had thought that even Grid would be severely hurt after that slash. How could he not have a single scratch on him?

Zibal and the others finally realized what was going on.

“Wait, I don’t think that’s Grid. Isn’t that the body that he created recently?”

“I think so...”

Zibal and the others had been relieved that Grid had unexpectedly come to save them, but now they didn’t know what to feel anymore. No matter how durable Grid’s clone was because it was made of Greed, it wasn’t Grid after all. The clone would naturally be weaker, and he definitely could not handle an Absolute that was as powerful as an old dragon.

Moreover, this old dragon-level Absolute seemed to really want Grid’s clone.

“I don’t know what will happen if a powerful cultivator steals Grid’s clone.”

“That’s right. We have no choice but to fight.”

They needed to make sure that the clone wouldn’t end up in the cultivator’s hands. They weren’t the ones who needed help anymore. Instead, Zibal and his group needed to step up and help out the clone. Zibal, Katz, Mir, and Jessica were ready to die for this cause. Normally, Katz and Zibal would’ve stopped the NPCs. However, this was a special situation.

The four of them were just about to jump into the fight to defend Grid’s clone, when the clone spoke. He was staring at Zibal and Katz.

“In times of crisis, isn’t the main objective of the Overgeared members’ ensuring the safety of the apostles and tower members?”

Was it because he was made out of Greed? He looked just as Grid and admonished them just like Grid would have done.

For a second, Zibal and Katz got confused. So was this the real Grid after all, and not his clone?

The clone spoke again. “The opponent is strong. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s on the same level as an old dragon, but he could hold his ground in a fight with an old dragon. I’ll take care of this guy, so you two take Jessica and Mir and escape.”

Zibal didn’t know what to believe anymore. “Wait... Are you Grid, or the clone?”

“I’m the clone.”

What was going on?

“You have the same facial expressions and speak just like him,” Zibal said, a bit irritated. “You can even make your own decisions and give orders?”

“Does it hurt your pride to listen to a clone’s orders? I’m sorry that I didn’t take that into account.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. It’s just hard for me to understand what is going on. You’re way too impressive. Doesn’t this mean that, at this point, you can do most of the things that Grid can do? But... You are a clone. How can you even be having a conversation with me?”

“Yes, well, this isn’t exactly like other incarnations. I managed to get to this point because I used the skills Consciousness Extension and Consciousness Separation. To use simpler terms, I divided my consciousness into two and infused one of them into this body. That is how I got to where I am today.”

Mir, who was quietly watching the situation, chimed in. “You truly are an incarnation. I’ve heard that, since ancient times, the main gods would send incarnations to the surface to watch over humans and even spread their doctrines...”

In other words, Grid’s clone wasn’t particularly bizarre. Grid had simply created a perfect incarnation using Consciousness Separation and the body manufacturing method obtained from Judar. The only unusual thing was the material—Greed.

“Are you all done talking?” Du Baeryong asked. “Do you have any final words?”

The incarnation had completely withstood the power of the Wind Flame Sword that Du Baeryong had fired as a test. Du Baeryong was becoming increasingly more enthusiastic. He realized that coming to the lower world would be a rewarding experience after all. He pulled out a sword that released red flames.

Grid’s clone asked him, “Can you even steal someone else’s incarnation?”

“That’s a common occurrence. If you are curious about the principle, experience it yourself.”

A hot wind blew in. The whole area became engulfed in flames. Zibal and the rest saw nothing but fire. A very tall and thick wall of flames completely surrounded the clone’s group.

“Is this a hallucination?”

Zibal reached out to confirm whether the flames were real or not, but Grid’s clone stopped him.

“Stop. You will be reduced to ashes if you do that.”

Just then, the gem at the end of the clone’s staff emitted a chilly air. A blizzard raged and froze the whole area. The flame barrier, which was on the verge of engulfing their group, was trapped in ice.

Zibal and Katz were surprised. They recognized the spell. “Frozen Tempest?”

It was the ultimate ice attribute spell.

Frozen Tempest was a spell that continuously inflicted deadly debuffs such as chill, slow, and freeze. It was also an AOE spell. Because it had the capacity to debuff a large number of targets, it was an incredibly powerful spell.

However, others barely used it because it was one of the ultimate great spells. In fact, Frozen Tempest was treated as a spell unique only to Braham.

Even Bondre, a master of ice magic, could only use a downgraded version of Frozen Tempest as his ultimate move, similar to many famous great magicians who couldn’t use Meteor and instead only used an inferior version called Meteor Strike.

However, Grid could cast Frozen Tempest even though he was not a magician. The range was small compared to Braham’s Frozen Tempest, which had the power to freeze the entire world, but that was normal. Braham’s Frozen Tempest was the result of him not being able to handle and control the outburst of magic power. However, Braham’s recent Frozen Tempest was now similar to the Frozen Tempest used by Grid at this moment.

This meant that Grid was able to recreate Braham’s magic.

‘This isn’t just the result of his high Intelligence stat.’

Grid had a lot of points in Intelligence. He claimed that he had been forced to put his points in that stat, but it was useless for him to have that many points in Intelligence.

Even Braham had half given up on teaching Grid magic. But now Grid could use Frozen Tempest? And not only that, this was the clone’s doing, not the real Grid’s?

The party was shocked. Grid continued casting more spells. The heat of the Wind Flame Sword had melted the ice in the meantime. Therefore, Grid suppressed the heat and teleported using space magic, switching his and the immortal’s positions.

His spells were on the same level as Frozen Tempest. He cast the strongest spells belonging to each attribute one after another.

“You...”

Du Baeryong couldn’t even get close to Grid. At some point during Grid’s assault, the cultivator got frozen, and he couldn’t move to avoid the subsequent magic. He was injured.

He found this whole situation rather ridiculous. He couldn’t even use his Treasures. Every time he tried to take out one, a subspace appeared and swallowed it up.

Grid’s clone chuckled. “A magician is a bit nasty.”

Thanks to his expanded consciousness, he could cast five or six spells at the same time. His expanded consciousness gave him a lot of advantages over his opponent. He could cast a spell that countered whatever his enemy did. He found this much more satisfying than fighting with a sword.

For the first time in ages, he really enjoyed fighting.

“Bah!”

Just then, Du Baeryong completely shook off the chill. He leaped from the ground to close the distance, only for him to stumble. Grid’s clone had read his thoughts and predicted his move by casting Grease.

However, Du Baeryong floated in the air and regained his balance. He used a move similar to Shunpo and got close to the clone. However, by this time, Grid’s clone had already completed casting his spell.

Gravity was a spell that increased the gravity of the area by tens of thousands of times. Because this was Grid’s clone casting it, the spell was thousands of times more powerful.

“Darkness.”

He cast a series of spells and Du Baeryong’s vision went black. He got blinded.

Of course, Du Baeryong was so resistant that the blindness lasted for only a split second. In that split second, Grid’s clone attacked. He strongly gripped the sword of flames, which was moving slowly under the influence of Gravity, and snatched it away.

“Weapon Break.”

He also cast a spell that destroyed the target’s weapon. A weapon of this level meant that intermediate level spells could only slightly damage it. Nevertheless, this small amount worked for Grid’s clone, because he was incredibly powerful. The moment the slightly damaged the Wind Flame Sword, it broke into thousands of pieces like shards of glass.

Zibal clicked his tongue. “Is he relying more on pure strength rather than wisdom?”

He did not dare intervene in the fast-paced fight that happened too quick for his eyes to follow. He could see Braham’s influence in the clone’s actions. For someone to become the strongest magician, they also needed to have high raw strength... That was the conclusion that the group had come to.

An asteroid fell from the sky. Grid had cast Meteor.