Villain Cultivator (Web Novel)
chapter-18

Chapter 18 – Isolation Training Space (2)

When Miaomiao was respawned again, he screamed in frustration. He looked around to vent on the clone again, but it had already disappeared.

"AAAAAHHHHH!! SCREW YOU, XU XIUYING!! AND SYSTEM, WHAT THE F*CK JUST HAPPENED!?"

<<The clone has used a dual cultivation technique on you, and your Qi got sucked dry.>>

"BUT YOU SAID THAT I CAN'T USE MY DUAL CULTIVATION TECHNIQUE!!"

<<This system never said that the clones couldn't use a dual cultivation technique.>>

"..."

Miaomiao clicked his tongue. He reopened the system menu, so he could resummon Xu Xiuying's clone to fight her again. However, a red line crossed over her portrait, and a small note under the frame attracted his eyes.

[Unavailable. Please buy the familiar spirit to unlock this opponent.]

The system locked the choice after Miaomiao had lost to the clone 100 times. Until Miaomiao bought the familiar from the shop, it would remain unavailable.

Miaomiao bit his lower lips and groaned, annoyed that he couldn't get his revenge. It took him five minutes to cool his head and regain his logic.

"Forget it. How long do I have left in this space?"

<<It is 2.30AM. Four hours have passed.>>

Miaomiao facepalmed as he realized that he wasted four precious hours. Still, proper training or sparring matches could make up for the losses. He scrolled the menu to find the weakest sparring opponents that he could learn their skills.

Shockingly, in the 1st stage cultivation base section, there were over ten thousand sparring candidates to choose. Miaomiao also found a familiar face.

*********************************************

[Basic Information]

Name: Qing Yong

Cultivation Rank: 1st Stage Level 5

[Skills]

Qing Clan Swordsmanship

Water Summon

*********************************************

It was the brown robe soldier that Miaomiao had knocked out. However, the system didn't hide this man's detail as Miaomiao had once defeated him in the real world.

"Qing Swordsmanship and Water Summon? You've got interesting techniques, my dear mob."

Miaomiao grinned. If he could defeat this soldier 100 times with 200% difficulty, he could learn one of the skills on the menu.

Desiring the skills, Miaomiao adjusted the difficulty to 200% right away. But as soon as he moved the difficulty sidebar to the max, several options were disabled in the process.

Equipment tab was inaccessible, and Miaomiao couldn't undress his opponent as he did to Xu Xiuying's clone. In the previous case, the difficulty was at the lowest, so Miaomiao could tamper with his opponent's clothes and equipment.

Qing Yong's appearance was fixed with a full-body armor and a 90cm-long blade, aka a dadao. His helmet even covered his face. Thick plate armor covered Qing Yong's torso, shoulders, and neck. Even his leggings were made of steel, covering all parts of his legs.

Miaomiao's face twitched as he couldn't find a gap in this man's armor. With such gears, Miaomiao wasn't confident that he could defeat Qing Yong anymore.

"System, can I have a weapon?"

<<You can only use weapons that you keep in System Inventory. Currently, you have none.>>

Miaomiao was speechless as the setting was too hard. He came here naked, but one of his weakest opponents were armed to the teeth. He felt like he was a character from a Dark Soul series.

"Then, can I steal weapons from my opponents from a lower difficulty mode and use it in 200% mode?"

<<Yes. However, the weapon will be destroyed after the 200% mode session ends.>>

In other words, Miaomiao could steal it and use it for one match.

He readjusted the difficulty again and lowered it to 1%. Unfortunately, Qing Yong's equipment tab didn't allow Miaomiao to adjust his weapon. The clone was fixed to come out unarmed.

Miaomiao had to increase the difficulty to 50% to enable the weapon edit option. Yet, again, the weapon choices were limited to a thin sword, thin saber, and long knife. To get more weapon choices, the system forced Miaomiao to increase the difficulty.

In the end, Miaomiao stopped at 100%. Now, every weapon that Qing Yong could use appeared in the equipment editor.

"200% Mode comes with a thick blade. What kind of weapon can have an advantage over it?"

<<System detects that the host is aiming to take shortcuts. Please spar against opponents in a lower difficulty first to gain experience from real combats before you take on 200% mode challenge.>>

"..."

The system was aware of Miaomiao's plan, so it advised him that it was a bad idea.

Miaomiao came back to his senses. He facepalmed again, realizing his mistake. When he was practicing martial arts in the previous world, his mentors kept reminding him that he shouldn't take shortcuts, such as taking stimulants or drugs to boost his performance in official matches. Miaomiao had just recalled this teaching.

"Ugh, fine!" Miaomiao chose 100% mode and picked the default weapon for Qing Yong, the 90cm blade. He pressed [Summon] without caring if he could defeat Qing Yong or not.

Miaomiao's sparring partner manifested. Qing Yong's clone appeared with his dadao and hard leather armor gears.

"Come!"

Even though Miaomiao was still naked, he got into a fighting stance, getting ready to defend against a weapon attack.

Qing Yong glared at Miaomiao and lowered his stance. He drew his large saber sideway.

Then, he kicked the ground, charging at Miaomiao from the front.

Seeing the oncoming saber user, Miaomiao focused on Qing Yong's weapon.

But the clone didn't move his saber. He pointed his palm, aiming at Miaomiao's face.

After getting struck by Xu Xiuying's ice bullets too many times, Miaomiao learned that this move indicated an oncoming magic skill. He tilted his head to avoid Qing Yong palm.

*ZAAA*

Betraying Miaomiao's expectation, water gushed out of Qing Yong's palm. Even if it hit Miaomiao, it was harmless.

But Miaomiao had lost his momentum. Qing Yong rotated his shoulders as he swung his giant blade. Light blue aura covered the dadao as it suddenly increased the weapon trajectory speed.

*SWUA*

The blade sliced through Miaomiao's left forearm, severing it from the latter's elbow.

Miaomiao stared at his lost arm in shock as Qing Yong's speed suddenly increased. When he looked back at Qing Yong's face, the latter already corrected his stance for another strike.

*SWUA*

Qing Yong cleaved Miaomiao in half, splitting the latter's body into two.

<<Ding>>

<<You have died.>>

<<Your health has been restored.>>

<<Sparring Match Result: Qing Yong: 0W 1L>>

Miaomiao was respawned 3 seconds later. He sat up and stared at Qing Yong in disbelief.

"WHAT THE HELL!? WASN'T HE WEAKER THAN THIS WHEN I FOUGHT HIM!?"

On the grassland, Qing Yong's movement was rigid and slow, but this clone's skill and speed were far superior to the original.

<<The difficulty mode reflects the original cultivator's potential had they performed at the selected potential percentage. At 100% strength, the clone can perform at their peak strength and utilize their cultivation techniques to their true potential, including using tricks and tactics that the original could do if they try hard enough.>>

"But Qing Yong was much weaker!"

<<The original Qing Yong that you fought only used 3% of his true potential, and you launched a preemptive strike before he could even get to a fighting stance. Also, the original's peak strength is at 20% of his true potential due to the lack of training, weak technique mastery, impurity in his circulation system, and the underdeveloped dantian that couldn't store enough qi to use the techniques. Therefore, at 100% difficulty mode, Qing Yong's clone can perform what the original is supposed to be able to do if he possessed an adequate amount of qi and mastered his cultivation techniques.>>

In other words, the original Qing Yong was a delinquent slacker that hadn't completely mastered his crafts, but the clone was the embodiment of a master with Qing Yong's physique, secret techniques, and cultivation base.

Miaomiao's jaw dropped in astonishment and awe. He understood it now as he used to fight hoodlums and professional fighters. Of course, the professional fighters were a lot stronger than inexperienced thugs even if the latter had the same physique as the pros. The factor was the mastery of their techniques, and the system made it clear.

<<At a higher level of difficulty, the clone will be given extra buffs, such as a more developed physique, combat experience, high-graded equipment, higher stamina, more qi, and firmer foundation. At 200% difficulty, you will spar against a supreme genius that has mastered the original's techniques for several decades, and they will come out with their best weaponry. Unless you have a firm understanding of your limits and your opponent's skills, you cannot defeat them, even if you choose a malnourished child with the lowest cultivation level.>>

Miaomiao sighed and gave up trying to pick a fight with 100%-mode Qing Yong for now. He unsummoned the clone and searched for the weakest cultivator in the list as he didn't believe that he couldn't beat a child with 200% difficulty mode. Moreover, he wanted to test what kind of monster he would encounter.

It wasn't hard to find another opponent. There were a few children on the list with level 1 cultivation base.

Miaomiao picked a 6-year-old boy as his opponent and set the difficulty to 200%. It was a despicable move as he had to kill a clone of an innocent boy to gauge his strength against the system A.I.

A dirty boy in ragged beggar-like clothes appeared. He was 110cm tall with a lanky constitution because of his malnourishment. However, he came with a short knife in his hand.

Miaomiao got into a fighting stance again. He didn't let his guard down as he treated the boy as a psychopath with a weapon.

"Come! I don't believe that I can't even beat a child here!"