After connecting with his Third Clone through their consciousness link, Kael begins investigating the whereabouts of the mysterious fragment. The connection allows Kael to experience what his clone has discovered while simultaneously directing its investigation from a distance.
Their investigation eventually leads them to Katuka, a massive and chaotic trading town located within the territory controlled by the Zhang Rui Family.
Katuka is not an ordinary town.
It is a meeting point for powerful noble families, merchants, cultivators, and influential organizations from different regions. Expensive spiritual treasures, rare medicinal materials, weapons, cultivation resources, information, and other valuable items are openly traded throughout the city.
But beneath the legitimate businesses exists another side of Katuka.
Behind closed doors, powerful individuals conduct illegal auctions, underground trading, stolen artifact deals, forbidden cultivation techniques, assassinations, intelligence exchanges, and other secret transactions. Because many noble families secretly participate in these activities, Katuka has developed a reputation as a place where almost anything can be bought—provided one has enough money or power.
For Kael, this makes Katuka the perfect place to search for information about the fragment.
Kael's First Mistake
However, Kael makes a serious mistake the moment he enters the town.
He forgets to suppress his Emperor Aura.
The instant Kael steps into Katuka, the atmosphere around him changes.
Cultivators nearby suddenly feel an overwhelming pressure descending upon them. Some merchants immediately stop talking. Others instinctively step aside. Even powerful cultivators become tense, believing that an extraordinarily powerful master has entered the town.
People begin whispering among themselves.
Some assume Kael has come to punish someone.
Others believe that a powerful noble family has offended him.
Because nobody understands why such an overwhelming aura is suddenly appearing in Katuka, panic begins spreading through the surrounding streets.
Kael quickly realizes something is wrong when ordinary people refuse to approach him.
Whenever he attempts to question a merchant or gather information, the person immediately becomes nervous and struggles to speak.
Kael becomes confused.
He then contacts the System through his consciousness.
A familiar notification suddenly rings inside his mind.
Ding!
The System informs Kael that the problem is his Emperor Aura.
Because Kael's current realm and bloodline have caused his natural aura to become extremely oppressive, he has been unconsciously releasing a portion of it.
The System then provides him with instructions for suppressing his aura, allowing him to conceal his true presence and appear like an ordinary cultivator.
Kael follows the instructions.
Slowly, the terrifying pressure surrounding him disappears.
The people around him finally begin breathing normally again.
Kael realizes that if he wants to investigate Katuka without attracting unnecessary attention, he cannot simply walk around displaying the presence of an Emperor.
A New Identity
After successfully suppressing his aura, Kael decides to change his appearance as well.
The black coloration surrounding his current appearance changes, transforming into a silver-colored appearance that makes him look like an entirely different person.
With his Emperor Aura hidden and his appearance altered, Kael can finally move through Katuka without immediately alarming everyone around him.
However, Kael knows that investigating the fragment alone could still expose him.
So he decides to use another ability.
Kael summons a clone.
But this clone is not an ordinary copy.
Its appearance resembles Brown.
Kael then activates one of his abilities:
CONSCIOUSNESS OF COMPANION
This special skill allows Kael's companions to share their consciousness with any clone he creates.
Rather than simply creating a clone controlled entirely by Kael, the ability allows one of his companions to temporarily transfer their consciousness into that clone.
Kael chooses Brown.
He allows Brown's consciousness to enter the newly created clone, causing the clone to suddenly become an extension of Brown himself.
For the first time, Brown can operate through one of Kael's clones while remaining connected to the others.
This gives them a major advantage.
Kael can investigate Katuka personally while Brown operates independently through the clone, allowing the two of them to search different areas simultaneously.
More importantly, the Brown clone can move through the darker side of Katuka without immediately revealing that Kael is involved.
With Kael disguised as a silver-haired cultivator and Brown operating through the clone, the investigation finally begins.
Neither of them knows exactly where the fragment is.
But they now have access to a city where noble families, merchants, underground organizations, and powerful cultivators constantly exchange secrets and treasures.
And somewhere within Katuka, someone may already know exactly where the fragment is.
The search for the fragment has officially begun.