CHAPTER 256: CAN’T FOOL ME

Li Yao was humming a cheerful melody to herself as she waited patiently outside the spirit vein’s entrance.

Suddenly, the shimmering wall of energy that had been blocking her path began to fade away. When the formation dissolved completely, Li Yao’s face lit up as she eagerly dove forward into the spirit vein.

However, the moment she stepped inside, Li Yao came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes widened in confusion as she took in the unexpected sight before her. Standing before her was not one, but two identical figures—both looking exactly like her senior brother in every possible detail.

"Senior brother?" she spoke uncertainly, her gaze drifting back and forth between the two identical men. She blinked several times, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Before she could process what was happening further, both versions of Xiang Yu suddenly raised their arms and pointed directly at each other.

"Junior sister, quick, get him! He’s an imposter!" they both shouted simultaneously.

"Quickly, get him!" they repeated again, both maintaining their accusatory pointing while trying to convince her that the other was fake.

But to both Xiang Yus’ complete surprise, Li Yao didn’t hesitate or show any signs of confusion about which one to choose. Instead, she immediately jumped forward and wrapped her arms around the hand of the original Xiang Yu. She then turned to look at the clone with sparkling eyes full of excitement.

"Senior brother, you can use cloning techniques! Quick, teach me how to do it too!" she spoke with enthusiasm.

Xiang Yu wore a confused expression as he stared down at his junior sister. "Huh? How did you know which one was the real me?" he asked, he had somewhat expected her to be able to tell them apart but he was completely taken aback by how easily she had identified him despite the clone being a perfect physical duplicate.

"Hehe," Li Yao smiled proudly. "Although he kinda smells like senior brother, he still can’t fool me," she said confidently, puffing her chest out with pride.

Xiang Yu’s lips twitched slightly. What smell? The clone lifted its hand and sniffed at itself with a puzzled expression, unable to detect whatever Li Yao had noticed.

"Hehe, aren’t I smart?" Li Yao spoke again, looking up at Xiang Yu with expectant eyes, hoping for praise.

"Umm...well...yeah, very smart," Xiang Yu spoke, gently patting her hair. He had planned to prank her but it seemed his junior sister wasn’t easily fooled.

[You...what happened to your soul?] The Empress’s voice suddenly rang out as she materialized between the two. She looked at Xiang Yu with a shocked expression.

As expected of the Empress, she immediately noticed, Xiang Yu thought to himself.

Xiang Yu’s main soul materialized from his body... He then explained to the Empress what he had done. (merging with the flame)

[You...you are just as crazy as your junior sister,] the Empress spoke after hearing his full explanation.

"So...did I cook, or am I cooked?" Xiang Yu asked.

The Empress held her chin thoughtfully. [Well, it’s hard to say. The creature you saw was probably the original void flame. No need to worry about him—he wouldn’t spare a glance even if the entire world went up in flames, so there’s no need to be scared,] she spoke with a dismissive wave.

Hearing this, Xiang Yu’s expression brightened considerably. Internally, he felt genuinely grateful to the original flame for being so chill and allowing this ignorant junior to live a few more years. When he grew stronger in the future, he would definitely find a way to properly thank the flame.

[But...there are still other problems,] the Empress continued, her tone becoming more serious.

"Other problems?" Xiang Yu asked.

[That’s right. There were people who were interested in the flame before you merged with it. Now that you’ve completed the fusion, they will definitely sense that something significant has happened and come to cause trouble,] the Empress explained.

Hearing this, Xiang Yu’s expression hardened.

Noticing the change in his expression, Li Yao, who had been sitting on the shoulders of the elemental clone and playing with its hair suddenly jumped down to the ground. "Don’t worry, senior brother! When they come, I will protect you!" she declared firmly, placing her hand over her chest.

Xiang Yu smiled warmly at her declaration. Well, no matter...Even before merging with the flame, he had already heard from the Empress about there being people pursuing it. But he had still chosen to proceed with the fusion despite knowing the risks involved.

If it had been his earlier, more cautious self from when he first arrived in this world, he probably would have been terrified after learning that someone was actively hunting the flame. He likely would have given it up immediately to avoid any potential conflict. But surprisingly, even knowing the full extent of the risks, he had still chosen to merge with it anyway.

The flame had always helped him deal with mental demons and resist intimidation. It seemed that its influence had been slowly rubbing off on him over time. Now that he had completely merged with it, that effect had become even stronger and more pronounced.

Behind his sweet smile, Xiang Yu thought to himself: let them come. He would prepare thoroughly for whatever challenges awaited him.

...

Author’s Corner

"they will definitely sense that something significant has happened" not like sensing his location and stuff, just like before when they sensed that it had been refined, now they’ll sense that something has happened to it and maybe speed up their plans. I felt the story was slowing down and decided to speed things up a bit.

As for Xiang Yu, no, this doesn’t mean that his cautious personality has changed. He’s still extremely cautious, probably even more than before. It’s just that he isn’t as timid as before. I feel like this is the character dev he needed and I’ve been slowly leading up to this. Hope it didn’t come off as abrupt.