My Clones Can Cultivate

Chapter 10: At Death’s Door

Chapter ELEVEN

A dull, unbearable pain radiated through every inch of Li Yu’s body. His flesh hurt. His bones hurt.

Even his soul felt as though it had been torn apart and stitched back together countless times.

The darkness swallowing his vision slowly receded.

Shapes appeared. Light returned. Sound followed shortly afterward.

Li Yu’s eyes snapped open.

"Ghk!"

He abruptly sat upright before instantly regretting it.

Pain exploded through his body.

It felt as though he had been thrown into a giant meat grinder before being carelessly stitched back together by a drunk butcher.

Every muscle screamed. Every bone protested.

Yet amidst the agony, Li Yu noticed something strange. The pain was rapidly fading. Far faster than it should.

His expression changed. He quickly touched his face. His neck. His chest. His arms.

Everything was intact. No missing limbs. No ruptured organs. No shattered bones.

"I’m alive?"

His brows furrowed. Then the memories returned. The beast cores. The overwhelming energy. The body refinement. The agony. His organs rupturing. His blood vessels exploding. His heart stopping.

The coldness. That terrifying coldness. Li Yu froze.

Back on Earth, he had already experienced death once.

He knew what dying felt like.

And during the final moments of that refinement...

He had felt the exact same thing.

His expression slowly turned serious.

"System."

For once, there wasn’t a trace of joking in his voice.

"Tell me honestly."

A brief silence followed.

"Did I die?"

The system remained silent for several moments.

Then it answered.

"Yes."

Li Yu stiffened.

Although he had already suspected the truth, hearing it confirmed still struck him like a hammer.

For several seconds, he simply sat there.

Quietly.

The cave became silent.

Eventually, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"So I really failed."

"You were warned repeatedly."

The system’s voice carried an unusual coldness.

Li Yu lowered his head.

For perhaps the first time since obtaining the system, he found himself unable to argue.

His confidence had come from the Primal Tyrant Physique description.

His certainty had come from previous successes.

Yet confidence and certainty were not the same thing.

This time... He had been wrong. Terribly wrong.

After a long silence, he finally sighed.

"Fine."

"I admit it."

"I was reckless."

The system immediately replied.

"Reckless?"

Its voice rose several degrees.

"You swallowed enough beast cores to kill cultivators several realms above you."

"You ignored every warning." "You overloaded a body that had not completed enough refinement."

"You died."

Li Yu rubbed his nose awkwardly. "When you say it like that..." "How else should I say it?"

Li Yu coughed lightly.

"Fine."

"I was extremely reckless." The system snorted.

At least the fool finally understood. Then Li Yu suddenly froze.

His eyes widened.

"Wait."

His expression changed dramatically.

"The Holy Cleansing Elixir!"

The system fell silent.

Li Yu immediately checked his storage space.

Moments later, his eyes lit up.

"It’s still there!"

He released a massive sigh of relief.

The system exploded.

"THAT IS YOUR FIRST CONCERN?"

"Of course!"

Li Yu replied.

"Do you know how valuable that thing is?"

"You died!"

"And yet the elixir survived!"

"You are hopeless."

Li Yu completely ignored the criticism.

The treasure remained safe.

That was all that mattered.

After calming down slightly, another thought suddenly emerged.

His expression slowly changed.

"Hold on."

"If I died..."

"And the Holy Cleansing Elixir wasn’t used..."

"Then who saved me?"

The moment those words left his mouth, a blue light flashed before his eyes.

The surroundings distorted. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Space twisted.

The next moment, Li Yu found himself standing inside a familiar cave.

Or rather...

A replay of it.

Inside the cave sat another Li Yu.

Cross-legged. Calm. Composed.

And casually stuffing beast cores into his mouth one after another.

The current Li Yu stared at the scene.

Then his lips twitched.

"...Was I always this stupid?" freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"Yes."

The system answered instantly. Li Yu coughed. The replay continued.

The past Li Yu finished swallowing the beast cores before settling into a cultivation stance.

His face remained calm. Almost confident.

Watching himself from a third-person perspective felt strangely uncomfortable.

Back then, he had thought he looked mysterious.

Wise. Unfathomable. Looking at it now...

He simply looked like an idiot marching toward his own grave.

The energy hidden within the beast cores erupted.

The past Li Yu frowned.

Moments later, the discomfort intensified.

His jaw tightened. His muscles trembled. Sweat poured down his face.

Then the real nightmare began. Veins bulged throughout his body. His skin stretched unnaturally.

The energy rampaging through his body resembled a flood of wild beasts tearing through flesh and bone.

Rip!

Tiny tears appeared across his skin. Then more. And more. Blood sprayed outward. The current Li Yu watched silently.

The cave floor quickly turned crimson.

The past version of himself no longer looked human.

He resembled a blood-covered corpse somehow still clinging to life.

Crack. Snap. Crunch.

The sounds of breaking bones echoed continuously.

His spine fractured. His ribs shattered.

His entire skeletal structure began collapsing beneath the monstrous pressure.

The past Li Yu finally screamed. The sound was horrifying. Raw. Animalistic.

The kind of scream no sane person should ever produce. The current Li Yu found himself unable to laugh anymore.

Because now he could see everything clearly.

The confidence. The certainty. The arrogance.

At some point, he had become convinced that the Primal Tyrant Physique could solve everything.

That he could never truly fail. That he could never truly die.

Looking back now...

The thought felt ridiculous. The screams continued. Minutes passed.The injuries worsened. More blood poured onto the cave floor. The past Li Yu trembled violently.

Yet even then, he forced out several words.

"I..."

His voice was barely audible.

"...will survive..."

The current Li Yu’s expression stiffened.

Back then, those words had sounded determined. Now they sounded desperate. The replay continued.

Another wave of energy exploded throughout his body. The past Li Yu convulsed violently. Blood poured from every wound.

His breathing weakened. His movements slowed. Eventually, he collapsed into a pool of blood. The cave became silent.

His chest barely moved. His heartbeat weakened. Slower. And slower. And slower.

Until...

It stopped. Complete silence filled the cave. The replay froze momentarily.

Li Yu stared at his own corpse. No movement. No breathing. No heartbeat. Nothing.

The reality before him was undeniable.

He had died. Not almost died. Not nearly died. Actually died.

For the first time since awakening, Li Yu truly understood how close he had come to losing everything. Then something happened.

The silver mirror necklace around his neck suddenly began moving. Li Yu’s eyes widened.

The chain loosened itself. The silver surface expanded.

Liquid-like strands spread across the corpse. They flowed over his arms. His chest. His legs. His face.

The sight was strangely beautiful. Yet equally terrifying. Soon, the entire corpse became enclosed within a translucent cocoon.

A mirror coffin.

"What..."

Li Yu stared in disbelief.

Inside the coffin, everything became still.

Then...

Thump. A heartbeat echoed. Weak. Faint. Yet undeniably real.

Li Yu’s eyes widened. Thump. Another heartbeat followed.

Then another. Then another.

Blood slowly began circulating through dead veins. The corpse’s chest rose slightly. Then fell. Life had returned.

The shattered organs inside his body began repairing themselves. Broken bones fused together. Destroyed muscles regenerated.

Torn flesh sealed itself. The process continued for what felt like an eternity. Every injury vanished. Every flaw disappeared.

Yet the restoration didn’t stop there. The mirror coffin continued refining his body. Strengthening it. Perfecting it. Transforming it.

By the time the process ended, the person inside was no longer the same Li Yu who had entered.

He was stronger. Far stronger. The mirror coffin slowly began shrinking. The silver shell folded inward.

Layer after layer disappeared. Until eventually, it returned to its original form. A simple silver necklace resting quietly around his neck.

The replay ended.