Chapter 3060: Test

It took a full week for the dark avatar to properly adjust to his new body.

That day, Emery stood at the edge of the field with his arms crossed, watching as the avatar went through a full combat sequence against Soltz.

"Again," Emery called out.

The avatar rolled his shoulders once before suddenly disappearing.

[Khaos Riftstep]

In the blink of an eye, he reappeared a dozen meters to the side, cutting straight through Soltz’s earth-bound defenses.

The avatar moved fluidly across the battlefield, switching between offense and defense without hesitation. One moment he was dodging a heavy strike, and the next he was already closing the distance.

Then he appeared directly in front of Soltz.

The Gravestone Ruler was already in his hands, descending in a powerful downward slash.

BOOM!

Soltz raised both arms and caught the attack with his Tier 7 gauntlets. They were a recent auction acquisition that Emery had gifted to the old man as thanks for everything he had endured over the years.

The impact shook the ground beneath them.

Soltz successfully blocked the strike, but the force behind it was enough to make even his arms tremble. He immediately countered, releasing a powerful burst of strength that sent the avatar flying into the sky.

The avatar quickly stabilized himself in midair.

Soltz followed.

The two figures collided again above the training grounds. Each clash sent shockwaves through the surrounding air as the two Grand Magus fought at full strength.

Emery watched the battle unfold, and a genuine sense of satisfaction slowly settled in his heart.

The results were better than he had expected.

The dark avatar could produce more than ninety percent of the combat power of Emery’s true body.

Soltz, for his part, had already recovered fully from his old injuries and now stood firmly at the second layer of the Three Cosmos Realm.

His strength was far from ordinary.

The moment he released his battlefield domain, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble. Thick waves of earth energy spread across the training grounds. Stone pillars rose from the ground without warning, while layers of hardened earth formed around Soltz’s body like natural armor. Every step he took caused the ground to sink slightly beneath his weight, and every movement carried the overwhelming force of a mountain in motion.

Unable to break through it directly, the avatar suddenly raised both hands.

Ten identical figures appeared around him at once.

Khaos Legion

Ten Shadow clone, surrounding Soltz from every direction.

The advantage of the True Clone’s independent Soul Core became obvious here.

Because the avatar possessed his own source of energy, he could create and maintain his shadow clones entirely from his own reserves without drawing upon Emery’s power.

Between Emery and his avatar, they could now field a combined forty Khaos legion, each capable of reaching the peak of the Full Moon Magus level.

"Show-off."

Emery couldn’t quite hide the sneer on his face.

The ten clones attacked simultaneously.

Their movements were perfectly coordinated, forcing Soltz to divide his attention between attacks coming from every direction. Earth walls erupted around him in rapid succession, thick layers of stone rising from the ground to block the incoming strikes, only to be shattered moments later.

The battlefield quickly became a storm of earth and Khaos energy.

Seeing the opening, the dark avatar immediately moved.

Space twisted around his body as he used Riftstep, slipping through the gap created by the shadow clones.

It should have been a clean finishing strike.

Instead, Soltz’s eyes suddenly gleamed.

A grin spread across his weathered face.

"Too predictable."

He stepped forward.

BOOM!

The ground beneath him exploded.

Soltz’s earth power erupted from his body, and his solid figure surged forward like a boulder given life.

Before the avatar could react, Soltz crossed the distance in a single stride and grabbed him firmly by the throat.

"Argh—!"

The avatar’s eyes widened as Soltz lifted him effortlessly.

"Thirty years too young to beat me!"

With a roar, Soltz slammed him into the ground.

BOOM!

The impact created a deep crater.

Before the avatar could recover, the earth itself suddenly came alive.

Stone and soil surged upward from every direction, wrapping around his body like enormous hands. Layer after layer of earth compressed around him, forming a thick, living cage that pinned his limbs against the ground.

The avatar struggled.

The earth only tightened.

For the moment, he couldn’t break free.

The avatar glanced toward Emery, silently asking for permission.

Emery understood immediately and gave a small nod.

"Go ahead."

The avatar’s aura changed at once.

A wild, primal energy erupted from his body as his grin widened. Primal Transformation surged through him, causing sharp claws to extend from his fingers while dark fur rapidly spread across both forearms. His muscles swelled slightly as the transformation strengthened his already formidable physique.

The change was smooth and immediate, without the slightest hesitation.

Crack!

The stone prison shattered.

Chunks of earth flew in every direction as the avatar burst free. Before Soltz could react, the avatar had already seized the old man’s wrist in a crushing grip.

"Thirty years, old man."

He tilted his head with a mocking grin.

"You sure about that?"

Soltz’s expression changed.

The avatar tightened his grip.

Crack!

Soltz’s arm buckled under the tremendous force. His Tier 7 gauntlet absorbed most of the pressure, preventing his bones from shattering outright, but even the artifact couldn’t completely protect him from the raw strength behind the grip.

"Argh!"

Soltz immediately activated an escape technique.

His entire body suddenly lost its solid form, transforming into a pool of mud that slipped out of the avatar’s grasp. A moment later, the mud gathered again a dozen meters away, reforming Soltz’s body.

He rubbed his wrist and glared angrily toward Emery.

"That’s not fair! We agreed, no transformations!"

Emery couldn’t help but smile.

He had to admit, seeing his newly improved physique displayed through his avatar’s was quite satisfying.

VIA’s readout quickly confirmed what his eyes had already shown him.

The avatar’s battle power had jumped from just under 4,000 to a full 6,000, while his Primal Integration stay stable under thirty percent.

With that level of physical strength, the avatar could now reasonably contend with any Three Cosmos cultivator in a direct clash of raw power.

Emery could clearly see how the dark avatar, in his Primal Form, quickly began to dominate the duel, crushing through each of Soltz’s defenses with overwhelming strength.

He decided there was no need to push the test any further.

"Alright. That’s enough."

Emery took stock of everything the match had shown him. Khaos arts, spatial technique, Primal Transformation — the dark avatar handled all of it at a level nearly matching Emery’s own.

Twilight Transformation and anything drawing on nature or light lagged well behind that, the shared soul simply lacking Emery’s own depth of comprehension in those particular laws. Usable, but capped at roughly half strength.

Mental defense told the same story. The dark avatar closed his eyes, and Emery felt the structure settle into place from the outside — six full tiers, stable and complete, with the innate Emperor focus a seventh beginning to form behind them, incomplete but present.

Emery let out a slow breath, more pleased than he cared to admit out loud.

In every way, this clone had become something close to a second life.

Ten days remained until the mission.

Time to finish the last of the preparations