Chapter 117: The Moment of Harvest!
E9-Grade Orange-Gold → F-Grade Divine Orange-Gold → G-Grade Divine Gold Core.
This is the standard progressive sequence in the Original Universe.
To compare, it's similar to the progression of:
D9-Grade Crimson Bronze → E9-Grade Refined Crimson Bronze → F9-Grade Crimson Bronze Core.
The difference is, once it reaches F-Grade or G-Grade, it's no longer just a low-tier material — it becomes a true treasure.
Jiang Zhe was very interested in Divine Orange-Gold.
As an F-Grade treasure, it could greatly accelerate Orianna's advancement to peak World Lord level.
Though he often relied on Orianna's power, Jiang Zhe never considered it as relying on an external aid.
After all, Orianna couldn't comprehend origin laws on her own. Everything she used came from his own insights.
So, was that really dependence?
Objectively, Orianna's current strength was merely a glimpse of what Jiang Zhe himself would possess once he reached the World Lord stage.
88x life gene level?
He laughed.
In the future, at the World Lord stage, his life gene level would reach 181x, even 1810x — vastly surpassing Orianna's current base power.
Orianna once had the advantage of being immune to soul attacks, but now, with Jiang Zhe mastering the "Ascend to Godhood" talent technique, that edge had vanished.
The entire temple resembled the Kukulkan Pyramid from Earth's Mayan civilization.
Jiang Zhe and his servant ascended the stone steps, entering the colossal cubic shrine atop — standing over a kilometer tall.
The hall was mostly empty — no swarms of puppets as one might expect — just a towering orange-gold metal ore pile over a hundred meters high.
According to records from the Dake Family, this "ore mountain" was called so due to its endless regenerative properties.
"There must be a Divine Gold Core here!" Jiang Zhe confidently declared.
Right on cue, a faint golden force field suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire temple — exerting a pressure like a world projection.
Then, from the top of the ore pile, a uniquely radiant piece of orange-gold metal tumbled down.
It absorbed surrounding metals like a snowball, growing in size — and finally shaped itself into a humanoid metal puppet wielding a curved orange-gold blade.
So familiar…
Jiang Zhe had experienced this scene at least twelve times.
'Wait… could the puppets used to test law comprehension on the Heaven-Piercing Bridge be inspired by this ancient god race's puppet techniques?'
Just as he pondered that, a powerful shout exploded in his ears:
"Ancient God Forbidden Zone — Entry without decree means death!"
A golden flash burst forth, moving too fast to react.
Even with Jiang Zhe's reflexes, he could only watch helplessly as the curved orange-gold blade zoomed in.
This puppet didn't just have a deep understanding of Gold origin laws — it was also adept at Space laws!
A puppet? With this kind of mastery? That's not normal!
Orianna moved to intercept.
"Don't interfere — let me try," Jiang Zhe told her telepathically.
Then—
Talent Technique: Ascend to Godhood — Activate!
A surge of powerful energy erupted from Jiang Zhe's Thunder Prison Realm, releasing the stored essence — the "flesh" of an alternate body.
These energies condensed into a 10,081-faceted Life Core.
From the Life Core emerged a storm of teal energy laced with dark-purple lightning arcs, forming a 100-meter tall energy giant.
Clad in a white robe, chest half-bare, muscular and imposing — the giant hurled a devastating punch at the oncoming golden flash.
22x life gene level, in God Ascension Mode, burning his divine body!
10x power boost — Detonate!
The mighty punch collided with the golden blade.
It was a grand spectacle — but the outcome was swift.
Jiang Zhe's current form was energy-based and retained aspects of an immortal divine body. Still, the injuries directly reflected on his giant form.
In the blink of an eye — his giant form was obliterated.
Only the Life Core, over 3 meters in diameter, remained.
One clean cut!
The orange-gold blade slashed the core, cracking it violently.
The tip was about to pierce through and end Jiang Zhe's life—
Orianna acted.
Even though Jiang Zhe could resurrect inside the parasol's origin core space, she couldn't just stand by and watch him die.
Ninefold Fist!
The once-delicate puppet hand swelled into a massive iron fist, smashing the curved blade aside.
Her other hand pressed on the cracked Life Core, triggering world energy and storing it within her inner world.
Just in time.
Orianna sighed in relief — Jiang Zhe was safe now.
But then — a golden flash struck again!
Orianna raised her arm to block but lost half her right forearm.
'Too bad I can't practice the Mystic Crystal Ninefold Body. If I had an energy armor, I wouldn't have taken this hit,' she thought, grabbing her severed limb.
With a step, she darted backward, dodging the puppet's follow-up strike.
A dazzling golden arc slashed the air — hitting only Orianna's afterimage.
Her body technique, steeped in high-level Time and Space laws, let her escape easily.
She pressed her brass arm back to the wound — it began to heal rapidly.
Meanwhile, in her inner world, Jiang Zhe — severely injured — had exited God Ascension Mode.
His divine body had been destroyed and would take time to recover, requiring him to devour more lightning treasures.
He synchronized consciousness with Orianna, watching the battle unfold.
"This puppet uses gold and space origin laws. Its comprehension level… at least Heaven-Piercing Bridge Level Ten," Jiang Zhe noted.
Orianna replied, "Its base strength is equivalent to a World Lord Peak with 10x gene level."
Jiang Zhe was stunned.
"That's… like a humanoid Golden-Horned Beast! Actually, some weaker ones wouldn't match this."
220x Universe-level peak vs. 10x World Lord peak?
Surviving that clash was a miracle.
'But… could puppet techniques really produce something this strong?'
It didn't add up.
Ancient God puppets were supposedly mass-produced cannon fodder.
In this era, only the Mechanical Race and Insect Race were known for such swarm tactics.
Mechanical puppets? Weak. Just cannon fodder with guns.
Insect soldiers? Stronger, but nothing elite. Even a mediocre World Lord could solo-kill one.
Insect Race's true power came from team tactics and mass combined attacks.
But this puppet?
A single unit rivaling a 10x gene-level, Immortal-law-comprehending World Lord?
That's OP.
Seriously overpowered.
Not normal!
In the temple, Orianna continued clashing with the orange-gold puppet, locked in a tough battle.
Keep in mind — even an 88x gene-level World Lord Stage 4 is just slightly stronger than a 1x gene-level World Lord Peak.
Yet this puppet was already stronger than that.
Orianna managed to gradually gain the upper hand — thanks to Jiang Zhe's overpowered law comprehension and the puppet's limited intelligence and rigid tactics.
Jiang Zhe watched for a while, then turned his focus inward.
He frowned, deeply curious about the origins of this puppet technique.
If you could mass-produce these… and orchestrate a group attack…
The outcome would be unimaginable.
Frankly, the Original Universe shouldn't allow such broken cultivation methods.
Eventually, Orianna subdued the orange-gold puppet, reaching into its chest and pulling out a bowl-sized Divine Gold Core, disabling it completely.
After Jiang Zhe reappeared from her inner world, Orianna handed over the glowing, rune-covered sphere.
"Master, this is its core — made entirely from Divine Gold Core metal.
I'll need to analyze it through devouring to discover more about its abilities."
Jiang Zhe blinked in surprise.
"Divine Gold Core? That's a G-Grade treasure — can you digest it?"
Orianna nodded.
Currently, she could only digest F-Grade items using her "Master of Matter" ability. Once she reached World Lord Peak, she'd be able to consume G-Grade items.
Divine Gold Core was still technically within the Immortal-tier range — but its value was immense.
She explained:
"Its name, Divine Grace, comes from its high affinity with the Gold origin law. It's often used to forge high-end gold treasures.
"It can also help Immortal-level warriors restore their divine bodies and even produce Divine Orange-Gold (F-Grade)."
Orianna pointed to the central ore mountain.
That Divine Gold Core was what made the "regenerative" nature of the mine possible.
"Once I'm a World Lord Peak, if you permit it, I'll devour the core to try and decipher its secrets.
"Of course… I might just gain some fullness and nothing more," she added playfully.
"How valuable is it?" Jiang Zhe asked.
"Just the raw material is priced at 42 million mixed units per kilogram in the clan's treasury," she said.
Jiang Zhe's eyes widened — that core weighed at least 10+ tons!
'Damn! That's worth hundreds of millions!'
Controlling his excitement, he asked, "What if we sell it as a puppet core?"
"With its research value, the price is inestimable.
But Virtual Universe Company will always undercut — that's expected," Orianna explained.
He nodded. Makes sense.
After all, even blood Luo crystals are bought back by the VU Company for a mere 600 points per crystal, and becoming a "Black Martialist" only costs 6000 points in theory.
Same logic here.
Later, Jiang Zhe let Orianna take one-fifth of the Divine Orange-Gold to help her reach World Lord Peak.
Any more might hurt her growth potential. Consuming too much of the same treasure reduces internal world quality.
He kept two-fifths for future exchange with locals and the Virtual Universe Company.
The two then moved to the next location:
Temple Ruins Site No. 1010 — built inside a hollowed-out giant tree.
Orianna destroyed a wooden puppet.
Reward: G-Grade: Source of Thousand Lumens, F-Grade: Hundred Lumens Tree Sap — both tied to the Wood law.
Temple Ruins Site No. 997 — a massive underground maze inside a continental slab.
They defeated a stone puppet.
Reward: G-Grade: Heavy Rock Core, F-Grade: Refined Heavy Rock.
Then No. 993… No. 980… No. 962…
Their journey continued.
---
[A/N: Want to read more chapters in advance?
Check out my P@treon at "DigitalToons" for early access and exclusive content!
You can read 100+ chapters there in advance.
```And free members can read 2 chapters ahead of WN.
``` ]