Jun Li let out a slow breath, calming herself as she looked towards the simulacrum. "This… isn't part of this floor's 'spiritual' trial, is it?" An extended moment of silence from the simulacrum as he looked across the room towards Junzi was all the answer Jun Li needed.

  "Well…" Jun Li shrugged, looking back towards Junzi. "I'm surprised to see you here. I thought you'd need me to find more abnormal blood before you reappeared." Although she didn't exactly enjoy seeing him, Jun Li knew that any opportunity to interact with Junzi could be valuable.

  "Normally, that would be the case, especially outside." Junzi strode around the room, feeling how ephemeral his nature at the moment was, purely spiritual in nature, pulled into a semi-tangible form by the pagoda itself. "Whichever peer of mine created this place did an excellent job."

  Junzi stepped into the air, placing a foot against the air and climbing up to stand horizontally against thin air. "...Even so, the seams of this sort of space are quite apparent when you have as much experience as I do."

  "...May I have the pleasure of knowing who I'm hosting?" Looking up towards Junzi with an expression tense enough to make his stress known, the simulacrum spoke in a stilted manner.

  "Hmm…" Junzi paused, contemplating for a moment. "...Call me Junzi, I can't quite trust this place to be completely insulated from Heaven's gaze, the risk of uttering any real name or title of mine is… too extreme, even if offering a pseudonym is a breach of courtesy."

  "How did you enter this place…? It should be impossible for two people to exist in this pagoda at the same time, even if one enters possessed by some spirit or demon, it should reject them entirely…!" The simulacrum spoke roughly, almost pleading the impossibility of the scenario to the being in front of him.

  "That is no issue, then," Junzi spoke, stepping off from the invisible wall he stood on, falling to the floor. "I am the only person in the pagoda. Discluding you, of course."

  Listening to this, the simulacrum looked towards Jun Li. 'He's saying… they are one person?' At that strange implication, Jun Li herself gave an odd look towards Junzi. "I suppose you consider me just a vehicle? Something to exploit to get from one point to another?"

  "Nothing so unsentimental… It's more like… you're another aspect of myself. Lesser, but something I consider more fondly as time goes on." Listening to those words, Jun Li was unsure whether to consider a compliment or an insult, considering who they came from.

  A long moment of silence passed, and Jun Li looked towards Junzi with an emotion she had never quite felt towards him. 'The notion that only one of us is a fully fledged person… I'm not sure it favors him the way he assumes…'

  Jun Li shook off her thoughts and sat down on the floor. "Well, you said something about me using 'our Blood Arts' wrong. Go ahead and explain, I probably won't be seeing you next floor."

  As she beckoned Junzi closer, Jun Li looked towards the simulacrum, only to see thin air. "...He's gone…? Ah… hopefully you didn't stress him out too badly." Jun Li furrowed her brows as she looked around the room, wondering where the simulacrum had retreated to.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Stress? I don't think I've done anything warranting that sort of response." Junzi lowered himself to sit opposite Jun Li, unbothered by the simulacrum's disappearance. "Let's talk about how you've been misusing our blood…!"

  Holding his arm out, Junzi pushed a solid spur of blood out from his forearm, mimicking Jun Li's previous applications of hardened blood. "This… isn't doing you any favors. It's no different than your use of the Ice Lotus Scripture." Saying this, he gripped one end of the bladed spur with his off-hand and snapped it in half.

  "It's such a waste of our technique's unique potential…" Shaking his head, he tossed the scrap of hardened blood aside, allowing it to vanish into thin air, drawing Jun Li's attention. 'Right… he's not physically here, so the blood is fake too…'

  "Although it's a… petty method. I think it's a good starting point to refine this usage, as it's what you're most familiar with at the moment. Weapons to imitate the Ice Lotus Scripture, and armor to imitate the Divine Beast Mercury…"

  That last phrase caught Jun Li's attention. "Divine Beast Mercury…? Are you referring to that silvery liquid metal I found in the Earth Dragon's Grave?"

  "Indeed, a wonderful treasure, to be sure, but quite limited in its application. It is, as I said, 'armor.' In the same way you've been using our blood." Junzi coaxed more blood out from his arm, forming it with intent into a smooth, convex plate.

  "If you were working with ice or metal, you'd likely stop here." He rotated his arm, showing off the hardened piece of 'armor' he had created. "But you're working with our blood, something more fluid and mutable than anything else at our disposal…" With those words, Junzi held his arm horizontally, allowing Jun Li to watch as it slowly darkened, from a crisp and bright crimson to a deep, almost wine-like shade of red.

  As Jun Li looked towards the strange sight, Junzi glanced up to a corner of the room, silently having noticed the simulacrum's hiding spot. A few seconds passed, and Junzi shook his head, focusing once more on the matter of teaching. "Let me elaborate…"

  … … … … … …

  'He noticed me…' Drifting intangibly through the walls of the pagoda, the simulacrum felt it the moment Junzi's eyes turned towards him. Somehow, even without maintaining a human form, the point the simulacrum used for perspective was detected, even through the complex arrays and formations that lined the entirety of the building.

  'What do I do…? Not once in my creation was it ever considered that anyone even approaching an equal to the King of Severing Thunder would enter this place, even as a spirit…' Flowing formlessly through the walls of the pagoda, the simulacrum mourned the unpredictable scenario he had found himself in.

  It was his obligation, desire, and purpose as custodian of the pagoda to ensure that the operations of the pagoda proceeded smoothly until the eventual end of its existence, when a capable and deserving Cultivator finally reaches the ninth floor and claims the inheritance of the King of Severing Thunder.

  Normally, the pagoda would adjust the difficulty of the trials to match the cultivation of whoever was presently challenging it. And although nothing had changed right now, the simulacrum couldn't help but fear that the guidance of the impossible third party that had appeared in the midst of the second floor's spiritual trial might throw everything out of balance.

  'To ensure the pagoda's operation continues smoothly… I can be a bit more invasive this time.' Looking down towards the pair of Jun Li and Junzi, discussing with one another, the simulacrum justified itself internally.

  'Unusual circumstances warrant unusual force…'