564: An Unending Battle

An Unending Battle

There were eight of them in total, each one representing a different year in her life. From when she first picked up the sword to her time in the Beast Continent, each one of these doppelgangers was of her. Their bodies were somewhat clear and shimmering as they were made from countless raindrops.  0

Looking at each of them closely. Ming Yue studied them closely. 

All eight doppelgangers stood there quietly, looking back at her. With their swords in hand, all of them took their stance and made the first move. 

The younger versions sprinted forward while the older ones vanished from their place. Four attacked from the front while four struck from the back but such a tactic wasn't enough to beat her. 

As they attacked. Ming Yue vanished from where she stood causing all of the doppelgangers to miss. Meanwhile, she reappeared right behind the youngest one, striking her down. But as her sword cut through, the young cultivator felt that something was wrong and immediately retreated. 

She looked at her sword before turning towards the doppelganger she had attacked, which turned and charged at her. 

"It didn't dissipate this time, does that mean they can't die from a lethal strike?" 

Thinking this, Ming Yue gave it another try, maneuvering around the doppelgangers and attacking them all but to no avail.

"They won't die. Even if I stab their chest or cut off their heads, they'll just keep going. If that's the case, how do I kill them?" she thought quickly, looking for a solution that could work. 

But the doppelgangers weren't going to give her time to think, quickly moving on her. Ming Yue struck back, repelling their swords and retreating, maintaining a distance between the two sides. She was still far from safe as needles, lances, even sword-winds and sword-lights shot towards her.

"Of course, it wouldn't be this easy."

Even if she was nowhere to be found, they all knew where she was and where she was going. The young woman had to be on the move constantly. There has to be some weakness she could exploit, some clue that would help her. 

Little did she know, Ming Yue had already discovered it. 

"They're catching up! How are they faster than me?"

The gap between them slowly closed as even the '"weakest" of them kept up. But this was a tribulation, things are never as they seem. 

"Forget it."

Giving up on this tactic, she spun back and charge forward, dodging the barrage of attacks that the doppelgangers put out. Moving at her highest speed, her sword flashed several times before she vanished, going behind another doppelganger and then the next. 

Eight moves were made, each one was a killing blow but all that happened were their watery bodies rippling as her sword went through them. 

She moved back, looking at them before checking her sword. 

"This is much too different from the dreams, it's like I'm attacking nothing."

The doppelgangers stood up and looked at her as if nothing had happened.

And then they came for her, surrounding their target in a matter of seconds. Their swords flew out in unison, attacking from eight different directions. Ming Yue quickly moved, vanishing just as blades came for her, cutting empty air as she jumped up, creating a single Storm Lance and sending it straight down. 

Flying off, she watched the Storm Lance hit the ground, bursting into a bundle of fierce gales and lightning. There was enough power to blow a crater in the ground, dust and debris flew out, blanketing the area. 

Ming Yue stopped and looked at the scene, waiting to see what would happen. 

Unfortunately, before the dust could settle, eight figures flew out and moved to attack her. Their bodies showed no signs of damage, they were practically unfazed by the attack. 

"Of course, that wouldn't work either."

There was a tinge of annoyance as she raised Blood Moon, moving to defend herself. The first to come was the oldest doppelganger, the one resembling herself at this very moment. Its expression was cold and empty, devoid of any emotion. 

She moved to deflect the doppelganger's sword but was shocked to find that their blades didn't clash at all. In fact, the two swords passed right through each other as if there was nothing there. Ming Yue sidestepped, avoiding the watery blade before dodging the other doppelgangers. 

"Our swords didn't touch, they just passed each other... and their whole body is like that too. If they can't be touched or killed then what if I do this?" 

She then stopped and stood straight, staying in her place as the doppelgangers followed her. One by one they surrounded her, pointing their sword at the young woman. Gazing at them all, Ming Yue waited for their next move which came soon after. 

All of them raised their swords and charged forward, striking her all at once. She let the swords come down without even batting an eye. 

The moment they touched her skin, the sword and even the doppelgangers burst into droplets, splashing her entire body. It was a cold and crisp feeling, a shock that seemed to awaken her entire body.  Her mind even felt clearer compared to before! 

Despite being drenched in water, she had a serene aura surrounding her. 

She breathed out and looked at herself, cracking a small smile. 

"The doppelgangers are dealt with as well as... the village. The last thing is the war, the Idol of Chaos..." 

Knowing this, Ming Yue's small smile vanish as she put on a more stoic face. The skies suddenly flashed with lightning as she looked around at her surroundings. Because of the battle with the doppelgangers, she was far from the village. Rather, she seemed to be somewhere entirely different without ever noticing. 

The trees around her had become sparse as lightning cracked down from above. The sound of thunder was ear-deafening and the air smelled of burning trees. The sky turned black and lightning continued to come down. The wind grew stronger as the scent of blood filled the air. 

After seeing her surroundings change, Ming Yue turned her attention to the sky, waiting for the Idol of Chaos to arrive. Her heart couldn't help but pound as she looked to welcome this next trial of her tribulation. 

"What's going to be different this time?" she wondered, "The other two trials had their own tricks so what will this one be? What do the Heavens have in mind for this?" 

Gripping tightly to her blade, Ming Yue watched as the lightning strike turned into pillars of lightning, burning through the ground. The clouds split apart as a figure descended from the skies, It was the Idol of Chaos but there was something different with its body. 

"Why is it like that?" 

Her eyes widened as her enemy slowly descended from the skies. While its eyes were the same, one was pitch black and the other was white, the same had applied to its body as well. The half opposite to the black eyes was black while the opposite to the white eye was white. Furthermore, the glowing veins were of a contrasting color as well. Under the pitch-black skin were glowing white veins and vice versa, black veins under the white skin. 

And with its four arms, it wielded a cleaver of black and white lightning in each hand

But above all else, there was its core, its very weakness was exposed within a hole in its chest. Ming Yue didn't have to find it or look for it, the key to its defeat was right there. But there was a growing feeling that this trial was going to be very different. 

There were no tricks to it, it was going to be straightforward, she had to destroy the Idol of Chaos. 

However, the question was, could she do it?

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