The astral chart opened in front of Ning to show the location of that which he could find. The system quickly showed him the location which was somewhere at the edge of his galaxy.
"Here?" Ning asked with a frowned look on his face. If it was in the Milky Way galaxy, then it was a bad choice.
However, he also had to improve his Mana. That was an entirely separate problem that he had been intending to solve right now as well.
"How long will it take me just for this one task?" Ning asked, not even bothering to learn about the time it would take to gather the mana.
<At least a year>
Ning's frown only got deeper. "What is that in earth time?" he asked.
<around 10 days>
That was much better, but it was still quite bad. When adding onto that the time it would take for him to be a Tier 8 mage, that was even worse.
"I will need to be away for so goddamn long," he thought to himself. That was on top of the already exhausting amount of tasks he had to do here on earth.
"I can't do this all by myself," Ning thought to himself. He wondered what he could do for a few minutes as an idea came to his mind. When he thought of the idea, he couldn't help but smile like a child who had just thought of something mischievous.
"Let's start a new day with a new me," he thought to himself. "System, I'll be needing your help."
* * * * * *
Ely watched as her brother walked out of the bathroom alongside Blue who had helped him through his breakthrough.
The filth was cleared up and Chase was looking around with a weird look on his face, not understanding what was happening to him. What the hell even was this cultivation bullshit that his apparent sister was forcing him to go through? Was this how he got abducted? Or was this just a way to make him work for the aliens?
"Good, you're—"
She stopped speaking and looked in a certain direction with a confused look on her face. Blue was confused too.
She quickly walked outside and saw a portal opening right in front of the house that lead to somewhere that didn't seem habitable.
Outside of the portal, Ning was standing with a curious look on his face. However, even as she walked towards him, Ely could tell something was wrong.
"Honey?" She called out to Ning.
"Hmm?" Ning turned around. "Hey, what are you guys doing out here?"
"We sensed the portal," Ely said as she pointed to the portal in front of her, but even as she said that the portal closed. "Why did you open it?"
"I needed something that was there," Ning said.
Ely narrowed her eyes. "Did you get it?" she asked.
"No, it will take some time," Ning said. "But I'm certain I will get it."
Blue returned back to the house, but Ely stood there. She could tell something was wrong, but she couldn't tell what it was.
She walked close to him and suddenly punched him in the face. Ning tried to dodge the attack, but the attack was too fast for him.
Her punch landed on his face, breaking not just his nose, but also a couple of his teeth at the front.
"Ely, what the hell?" Ning cried out as he held his face to stop the bleeding.
"Hah! Imposter! You're not Ning," she said. "My husband wouldn't be injured by such a weak attack of mine."
"Geez, that's why you attacked me?" Ning asked. "You couldn't have just asked? I would've told you."
"Told me what? That you're an imposter?" Ely asked. "Who are you and where is my husband?"
Ning's face slowly changed as his wounds reverted back to normal and even his fallen teeth grew back. "I'm not an imposter," he said. "It is me, your husband. Well, I'm a clone, but that shouldn't change things much."
"What? You're a clone?" She asked with an absolutely gobsmacked look on her face. "Where is the real Ning then?"
"Away," Ning said. "On an important job."
"And he didn't think to let me know before leaving?" Ely asked.
"I mean… I am telling you right now," Ning said. "There was no point in telling you since I would still be here anyway."
"That man needs to learn to control his impulses," Ely said while shaking her head.
"Hey! I'm still here. Don't speak badly about me while I'm in front of you," Ning said.
"But you're not him," Ely said.
"I am," Ning said. "Just because this is another body of mine doesn't make me a fake. Both my body are made up anyway."
"So you two are the same?" Ely asked.
"Well… not physically I suppose," Ning said. "I don't have a system, so I'm lacking a few skills aside from the ones I put into this body. But I do have all the memories and feelings, so on the inside, I'm essentially the same person, capable of making the same decisions. Also, I'm connected to the body with the system, so that can override me and use my body when needed."
Ely was having a slightly hard time understanding what was happening. It didn't seem like a clear case of real and fake as it would usually happen with clones that were made using Qi. This was something else.
"So you are just a worse version of Ning," she asked.
"In a way, yes," Ning said.
"And why did you do this?" she asked.
"I had multiple things to do, and doing it all back to back felt exhausting. So, I decided to go do the important tasks far away, while I take care of the less important tasks down here with this body," Ning said. "Once I am back, this body will be taken in by the system and all our memories will join together."
Ely thought for a bit. "What was so important that you needed to leave?" she asked.
"Let's go in," Ning said. "I will tell you all about it."
