Wu Ling followed Ghost back to Spirit City. By then, his Spirit Power had already reached level sixty-five.
Logically, even if he raised the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's Spirit Ring to one hundred thousand years, part of that age had come from Spirit Masters. The portion truly usable for improving him should still have been based mainly on the original ten-thousand-year Soul Beast foundation.
With Wu Ling's current physique and Spirit Power, the power contained in that ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring should have helped him reach level sixty-one at most, let alone level sixty-five.
He had reached this point thanks to Angra Mainyu's strengthening. Most of that energy had been used to modify the Spirit Ring, but the tiny remainder that spilled out was still enough to raise Wu Ling by four levels.
As for his foundation, Wu Ling had already checked it. Back when he faced Angra Mainyu, the tens of billions of cells in his entire body had united on one front. They had compressed and absorbed the Spirit Power pouring into him layer by layer, leaving his foundation even steadier than if he had cultivated it himself.
That discovery gave Wu Ling the idea of trying to practice Enbu. But during the trip back, Wu Ling tried every method he could think of, including letting Rose use his body directly for experiments. He still could not recreate that feeling of total bodily unity. In the end, Wu Ling could only attribute it to the difference between cultivation systems.
After returning home, Wu Ling waved the steward away. His shadow moved, and his first clone, Ember, through his fifth clone, Berserker, all appeared inside the room, forming a circle around Wu Ling.
Then his shadow continued surging. In the center of the group, a sleeping black figure was slowly pushed out of the darkness.
That clone had dark brown skin and black hair. His entire body was covered in pictographic markings. His clothing consisted of a tattered red loincloth, a large cloth of the same color, and black bandages wrapped around his forearms and calves.
Most important was his face. It was unmistakably Angra Mainyu's face from FGO.
As Wu Ling's clones, Ember and the others had inherited some features from the original FGO characters, but only a portion. In the end, they were still based mostly on Wu Ling. The ratio was roughly eighty-twenty, with Wu Ling providing eighty percent and the original character providing twenty.
Even the most special case, Berserker, had mainly been adjusted because Wu Ling felt it would be too strange for his own handsome, delicate face to sit on top of that enormous mass of muscle. Not everyone could match that kind of King Kong Barbie style, so he had deliberately adjusted Berserker's appearance when separating him.
This sixth clone, however, was separated based on the Servant Angra Mainyu, and it looked almost ninety percent like the original. Add in the descent of true Angra Mainyu, and ever since summoning it, Wu Ling had been using the main body's authority to suppress its awakening.
"Rose, how is the research?"
Wu Ling looked toward Rose, who had been studying the clone the whole way back, hoping she could give him reassuring news.
"According to the research data..."
Seeing Rose speak so seriously, Wu Ling listened even more carefully.
"The child's mother has amazing genes!"
"...That's it?" Wu Ling frowned.
"Mm... or maybe your genes are not... wait, wait, wait! Let me reorganize my words!"
Seeing Wu Ling clench his fist, Rose immediately admitted fault and hurriedly corrected herself.
"Do not worry, main body. I am certain this is your sixth clone. It is definitely not Angra Mainyu or anything like that."
"Are you sure there are no hidden tricks? And what about his appearance?"
Hearing that Wu Ling's tone still held unease, Rose explained, "I am sure it is not a hidden trick. I can clearly distinguish that just from the power inside his body. Also, the one who descended back then was at most a thread of consciousness and aura. If a hidden trick of that level were left behind, I would be able to see it."
"As for the appearance, it is like I said earlier. Angra Mainyu modified your sixth Spirit Ring, and your clones are created based on your Spirit Rings. Inside that Spirit Ring, the portion composed by Angra Mainyu is far greater than the portion from you."
"To put it simply, it is like making a child. Angra Mainyu's genes, or energy, are stronger than yours, so the created clone resembles her."
"Look on the bright side, main body. According to the Type-Moon worldview, maybe the true Angra Mainyu is female. And since she could cross from Type-Moon to here, that means you might be able to go from Soul Land to that side. With this connection, someone up there might directly cover you when you arrive, right?"
"You mean living off a woman?" Wu Ling looked at Rose dangerously.
Rose quickly changed her wording. "Ahem. Borrowing influence. Only borrowing influence."
"So, main body, when you agreed to become Bibi Dong's disciple back then, was that also borrowing influence rather than living off a woman?" the previously quiet Ember suddenly said something astonishing.
"..."
After the room fell silent for a while, Wu Ling suddenly smiled and hooked an arm around Ember's shoulders.
"I understand. Have you been too idle lately? In that case, Azure, Shade, and Berserker, the three of you should train properly with Ember today. I will join you later."
"Hey, wait..."
"No problem, main body."
"I have not agreed..."
"I will definitely train Ember properly."
"Let me finish..."
"Shade, Berserker, move out."
After receiving Wu Ling's order, Azure completely ignored Ember's protests. With a brilliant smile, he instructed Shade and Berserker to lock arms with Ember and carry him out.
Thanks to Ember's interruption, Wu Ling felt his mind relax considerably. Thinking back on Rose's explanation, he felt that it was actually not bad.
After all, only the living had a future. That was why he had decisively joined Spirit Hall and become Bibi Dong's disciple back then, instead of trying to build his own force with no foundation and no capital, or going to Shrek Academy and living from one hungry meal to the next.
"Right, main body. I found one more thing," Rose said. Seeing Wu Ling's brow, which had been furrowed because of Angra Mainyu the whole way back, gradually relax, she brought up another matter.
"What is it?"
"From him, I saw the possibility of crossing worlds."
Wu Ling froze.
"What do you mean?" he asked urgently.
This time, Rose did not joke around. She explained in detail.
"When Angra Mainyu's aura leaked out, it seemed to pass through other worlds. If I use the energy inside him as a lead, I might be able to research a method for world crossing. Of course, for now it would probably be limited to those few worlds tainted by Angra Mainyu's aura."