A massive burst of soul fire exploded outward from the clone, knocking Liam to the ground and scouring the air clean of soul energy. Glowing runes lit up across the entire pagoda, on walls, floors, even hanging in the air, as if the building itself had finally recognized his success. Massive amounts of soul energy started gathering. And standing at the center of it all… was the soul clone. If it could even be called that anymore. The soul clone was no longer flickering, no longer unstable. It stood tall, flames gently rising from its form, eyes burning like coals. Across its chest, a faint brand glowed, the same infinity sigil that marked Liam's soul constellations. Liam barely had the strength to stand, but he stared in awe, chest heaving with pain and pride. He had done it. He had finally done it! Almost immediately, a stream of system notifications flashed in front of him. [Ding! You have successfully created a Dao clone.] [Ding! Your Dao clone now shares your Dao of Fire comprehension and evolves independently. While active, Fire techniques are amplified by 50%.] Liam let out a broken laugh. He had lost a Dao seed. But in return… he had gained something monstrous. A soul-bound partner. A second body of fire and fate. He only barely looked at the notifications before collapsing. The last thing Liam saw before darkness claimed him was the eyes of his clone. Soul energy continued to pour into it. Flames started gathering around it, and unexpectedly, even mana continued to pour into it. Time passed in silence. Outside the pagoda, the Dralura beast, still pacing and snarling at the sealed entrance, suddenly froze. Its slitted eyes narrowed as it stared at the glowing pagoda. Something was not right. It immediately left the area to alert the others. Inside, Liam remained unconscious, breathing slowly, and his soul slowly mending. A few minutes later, he stirred awake as he sensed a massive energy fluctuation near him. "Fuck! Did I get thrown out of the pagoda?" He immediately became alert and ready to teleport to wherever his farthest soul minion was, but he stopped as he still found himself lying on the stone-cold floor of the pagoda. For a moment, everything felt unreal as his gaze shifted to his newly formed soul clone, which was now simply sitting in a cross-legged position, eyes still very much alive and not empty or devoid of life. It still lacked a physical body, but it definitely had its conscience, not like the other soul clones or the soul minions he had forged before. "What exactly are you?" Liam stared at it. However, he could immediately feel the strong connection, and his mind became one with the soul clone at a single command. Liam could suddenly see from two pairs of eyes. Once again, it was very different from the connection he had with his soul minions. This was different. He was the soul clone, and the soul clone was him. It could exist independently without him, but at the same time, it could become one with him as well. It was not a different version of him or a partial part of him. It was he wholly and completely. More importantly, he could feel the dao seed inside his new soul clone growing at a tremendous pace as if the act of tearing it free and forging it into a second vessel had removed all shackles and limitations. It was no longer constrained by Liam's main body or his soul bottlenecks. Now, unburdened and constantly nourished by the abundant ambient soul energy of the pagoda, the Dao seed of Fire was flourishing. Liam's eyes glinted with a strange mix of disbelief and thrill. The Dao clone wasn't just preserving the seed, it was cultivating it faster than he ever could. With every passing second, it absorbed not just soul energy but also latent fire-elemental mana hidden within the environment, refining itself, evolving the Dao into something even more pure and devastating. The clone's presence became heavier, more stable. Small flickers of gold appeared along its flaming aura, signs of embryonic fire law comprehension beginning to sprout. Liam exhaled shakily. "It's… surpassing me." The thought should have terrified him, but instead, it made him laugh again, more ragged and raw this time. Now he knew what he had to do. The path in front of him was clear now. He had finally stepped out of the barrier that was blocking his progress! He was now free to become as powerful as he wanted! Liam's heart beat faster as he observed the dao seed sprout into a branch. It did not stop there. The branches started multiplying, and the small seed had started to become a Dao tree right in front of his eyes. What had once been a fragment of understanding, a single flame of insight, had now begun to root itself into the very laws of the world. He could feel it. The Fire Dao he had nurtured, broken, sacrificed, and transplanted into this soul clone was now becoming something far greater than he had ever imagined. The tiny seed had cracked open, pushing out not just roots but branches of profound realization. Concepts began to unfurl like blooming leaves, combustion and rebirth, flame that heals, flame that consumes, flame that remembers. Each branch represented a possible path, a flame law in embryonic form. The fire-elemental mana in the air rushed toward it like moths drawn to divine heat. The soul clone shuddered as the process intensified, and a strange resonance passed through Liam's entire being. It wasn't painful, but it was powerful. With each new branch, the Dao Tree inside the clone became more stable, more complete. Liam closed his eyes to focus and take in everything. He did not want to miss a single second of this progress. Then it finally happened. All the progress and all the energy culminated in a burning pillar of Dao that shot up from his clone, extending even outside the pagoda. He had broken through. He had finally broken through to the Transcendent realm and even reached the peak of the Transcendent realm in the blink of an eye!