The sun had set over Notting City, the soft orange glow fading into deep indigo. In the dormitory, the other students were either chatting quietly or already asleep. Tang San, as usual, sat cross-legged on his bed, calmly cycling his Mysterious Heaven Skill. Xiao Wu had fallen asleep curled up in her blankets.
Ayan sat on his own bed, back straight, eyes closed. But unlike the others, his cultivation didn't rely on stillness alone.
With a soft, almost inaudible hum, his Seven Doppelganger Soul awakened.
Seven faint silhouettes emerged from his body — each one a perfect replica of himself, shimmering with a faint silver aura. They moved with the same posture and expression as the real Ayan, as if the air itself had birthed his reflections.
Each doppelganger sat cross-legged in a circle around him. Threads of spirit energy flowed from the air into them, drawn in from every direction like rivers feeding a great lake.
The magic of the Doppelganger Soul wasn't just duplication — it was shared cultivation. Every breath of spirit energy absorbed by each clone merged back into Ayan's body, multiplying his progress sevenfold.
The room was silent except for the faint crackle of spiritual power gathering. The pressure in the air was thick enough that the other students shifted in their sleep, sensing something but not waking.
Ayan's breathing was steady, his expression calm, but his mind was sharp. He could feel the difference already — the purity of the spirit power flowing into him was cleaner, faster, and more potent. What would take another student weeks, he could achieve in a matter of days.
Hours passed like minutes. Eventually, the seven figures shimmered and dissolved back into his body, leaving only Ayan in the dim moonlight. He slowly opened his eyes, the faint glow in his pupils fading.
Good… at this pace, even Tang San won't be able to keep up for long, he thought, a small smile touching his lips.
Without a sound, he lay back on his bed and closed his eyes. Tomorrow would look like just another normal day to everyone else — but inside, his power was already far beyond what they imagined.