Chapter 17 – External Avatar
Morning sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting dappled shadows across the wooden kitchen table. Chen Chang'an hummed a light tune, a bundle of fresh green chives in his hand. The knife rose and fell briskly, the crisp chopping sound forming a cheerful rhythm.
"Father, what are you singing?" Chen Xingcai rubbed her eyes, standing barefoot in the kitchen doorway, her hair still sticking up messily like a just-awoken kitten.
"Oh? You're awake?" Chen Chang'an glanced back with a smile, his hands still working. "This is a song I heard as a child, called Gathering Mountain Song. It tells the story of an immortal gathering herbs."
"An immortal?" Chen Xingcai's eyes lit up. She ran over, tiptoeing to peer over the table. "Have you seen an immortal before, Father?"
"Well… an immortal…" Chen Chang'an deliberately drew out his tone, then casually pinched a bit of freshly kneaded dough from the bowl. With a twist of his fingers, he shaped it into a plump little rabbit and handed it to her. "Here, isn't this one?"
Chen Xingcai giggled, taking the dough rabbit before leaning over to peek into the pot. "What are we eating today?"
"Chive pockets, and your favorite sweet rice porridge." Chen Chang'an stirred the bubbling porridge with a wooden spoon, letting the sweet aroma spread through the air.
"Father's the best!" Chen Xingcai cheered, clutching the dough rabbit as she hopped away, mimicking her father's earlier tune in an off-key hum. "Gathering Mountain Song~ Gathering Mountain Song~"
Chen Chang'an shook his head with a smile and kept chopping. The morning breeze outside carried the fresh scent of mountain grass and trees. The porridge bubbled in the pot, and the chive pockets were lined neatly on the table like soldiers awaiting inspection.
At that moment—
The system's prompt suddenly rang in his mind:
[Ding! Sign-in successful, reward: Thirty Years of Cultivation]
[Extra reward: Supreme Immortal Art · External Avatar (Beggar's Version)]
(Note: This avatar will never have self-awareness, will be fully controlled by the main body's consciousness at 100%, sharing all five senses and thoughts—equivalent to an extra hand!)
The External Avatar was a supreme avatar art, condensing a duplicate to travel the myriad worlds—cultivating, battling, or comprehending the Dao—sharing the Dao fruit with the main body, endlessly profound.
As the saying goes: One breath becomes Three Pure Ones, and all worlds are my body! (Full version)
Chen Chang'an was momentarily stunned. Signing in for a supreme immortal art was naturally a pleasant surprise, but what was with this "Beggar's Version"? He had never encountered this before.
Yet the next moment, after reading the introduction, the corners of his mouth slowly stretched to his ears.
Clearly, the greatest significance of this art for him was—
"This means…" his heart leapt with joy, "I can finally go out safely?"
When the sound of Chen Xingcai practicing sword in the courtyard reached him, Chen Chang'an took a deep breath. Ever since Wu Bo came to the valley, he had completely taken over the duty of instructing and supervising Chen Xingcai's cultivation.
After observing for a few days, Chen Chang'an had decisively chosen to let go.
Now, his mind sank into the system's explanation:
[External Avatar (Beggar's Version)]
Cultivation limit: Return-to-Origin Realm (decreases with distance)
Sense sharing: 100%
Consciousness switching: Instant
Special note: Destruction will not harm the main body (but will hurt)
"Good enough!" Chen Chang'an was overjoyed.
From now on, he could send only the avatar out. Even if it was destroyed, it was merely the avatar—his true body would remain safe! It was like staying at home while sending a drone into a supposedly haunted empty house to explore.
He formed a seal and chanted an incantation. The room instantly filled with azure light. When the mist dispersed, another "Chen Chang'an" was standing there, tilting his head to study his own palm.
"Interesting." The main body and the avatar spoke at the same time, then stopped together. Chen Chang'an found it was just like controlling both hands simultaneously—though it required focus, it was entirely manageable.
The avatar pushed open the window, and the mountain breeze poured in. Chen Chang'an's main body instinctively shrank his neck, yet through the avatar he felt the "touch of the wind" he had not experienced in six years.
In the distance, Chen Xingcai was moving nimbly around the courtyard, her pale yellow skirt fluttering.
"Father!" The little girl suddenly turned her head and waved toward the window.
In an instant, the two Chen Chang'ans became only the main body, who quickly waved back.
…
Once certain his daughter was still immersed in cultivation, Chen Chang'an's true body immediately lay back on the rocking chair to feign sleep, while his incarnation quietly slipped out of the window on the other side.
Uncle Wu, who was instructing Chen Xingcai in sword practice, twitched his eyelids but pretended nothing had happened.
He decided to first test the maximum distance. When the incarnation reached the valley entrance, its cultivation had already dropped from the Return-to-Origin Realm to the late Profound Comprehension Realm.
"So it really is the beggar version… This is way too shabby…" Chen Chang'an couldn't help but complain, then pinched a hand seal, causing the incarnation to vanish again.
"Not bad, I can even recall it instantly. If danger arises, I won't even have to feel the pain."
After several trials, Chen Chang'an reached a general conclusion.
The incarnation was indeed useful, but it couldn't access the system space.
Although its cultivation fell to the Profound Comprehension Realm at the valley entrance, that was because the incarnation was only at the initial stage of the Return-to-Origin Realm, so it wasn't as weak as it seemed. In fact, it dropped about one minor realm every five hundred li.
The key issue was delay — the farther the distance, the greater the delay, making it impossible to control as smoothly as one's own body.
Still, sharing five senses with himself was an absolute delight.
Chen Chang'an was very satisfied and immediately began packing for his incarnation, preparing for a spontaneous journey.
…
Meanwhile, deep in the Cold Pool Cave.
Ji Hongli's true body slowly opened her eyes on the black ice bed, ice crystals falling from her lashes.
"Strange…" Her delicate nose twitched. "This trace of aura…"
On the stone wall, a faint golden vertical mark appeared between her brows — the result of her years of seclusion.
Since her battle with Chen Chang'an, she had secluded herself in despair, and now she had actually touched a barrier above the Saint Realm.
This caused the cultivation she had been stuck with for a hundred thousand years to loosen faintly over the past few years.
It should have been a joyous matter, yet when she thought of that man next door whose cultivation improved by leaps and bounds each day, she couldn't feel happy at all.
What's more, waking up this time and catching a faint unfamiliar aura in the place of her seclusion made her uneasy.
Although this cave appeared ordinary, she had long since set up heavy restrictions here.
Yet now, not a single restriction had been triggered, making her wonder if it was just an illusion from being in seclusion too long.
Indeed, ever since her battle with Chen Chang'an seventy-six years ago, Ji Hongli had been in seclusion until now.
The "Teacher Xiao Hei" who had appeared before Chen Xingcai earlier was merely a clone she had created out of boredom.
At this moment, that clone had already been merged back into her main body, with all its experiences and emotions naturally feeding back to her true self.
"This seclusion has yielded great gains, but I still need time to digest them."
After a moment's thought, Ji Hongli sliced the air with two fingers like a blade, and another incarnation stepped out. This one wore a plain white dress, with only a simple wooden hairpin in her hair — a stark contrast to her previous black-clad image.
Though she didn't say it aloud, in her heart she disliked the title "Teacher Xiao Hei."
"Come to think of it, after a hundred thousand years of recovery, I've never really seen the scenery. Last time, the clone only went out to see the so-called Heavenly Monument."
"Let's go for a walk." Ji Hongli's true body closed her eyes, and the white-dressed clone accepted the order with delight.
But the next moment, Ji Hongli felt this incarnation's appearance was too conspicuous and couldn't help saying, "Don't cause trouble."
The white-dressed clone pouted. Even though the true body didn't say it outright, their shared mind made the meaning clear.
When she turned around again, the incarnation had become a village woman.
…
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