Chapter 118: The Unknown "Blood Bead"
Eight years passed in the blink of an eye.
It had been 22 years since Jiang Zhe entered the Ancient God World.
On this day, inside a hidden cave within an asteroid, Jiang Zhe slowly opened his eyes. A thin, black mist drifted around him with each breath.
His gaze sharpened. An invisible gravity filled the surrounding space, drawing the mist tightly to his body and forming a sturdy layer of energy armor.
"Whew..." Jiang Zhe exhaled a heavy breath.
"The Black Crystal Nine Refinements Body technique has reached the fourth level. Its defense is equivalent to F2-grade metal. Coupled with my perfect exertion technique, I gain roughly a 1.7x boost to speed, strength, and other attributes.
At its peak, the fourth level matches F9-grade metal and offers a 1.9x boost. That's basically a 1.9x bodily amplification.
Once I reach the fifth refinement, it'll officially count as a body amplification secret technique. I wonder—does the ninth refinement exceed a fiftyfold increase?"
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, he turned to look at Oriana, who stood quietly by his side.
"Anna, come on—hit me with all your strength. I want to test this F2-grade defense."
Jiang Zhe patted his chest armor with obvious confidence.
Oriana looked helpless.
"Master, you'll die."
"It's fine, I've got F2-grade—huh?" Jiang Zhe froze, realizing something.
Oriana explained patiently:
"Master, this energy armor is no different from wearing an F2-grade alloy battle suit. If a peak Domain Lord strikes it, they might not break through the armor, but the force would still travel through and severely injure you. If a Sector Lord punched you…"
"Ahaha... you're right."
Jiang Zhe scratched his head awkwardly, realizing he'd let his excitement cloud his judgment.
"How long until you're ready, Anna?"
"Master, in 37 days I'll advance to Sector Lord stage nine. Then I can begin absorbing G-grade treasures."
"Good. Carry on."
Inside the asteroid cave, Jiang Zhe closed his eyes and entered the virtual universe.
In the Holy Spirit Cathedral
Jiang Zhe met once again with his teacher, the Holy Spirit King.
Master and disciple sat across from each other, discussing the contents of the fourth illustration on the Chaos Monument of the Universe.
After more than a month of lectures, they also chatted about cultivation matters. When Jiang Zhe shared his progress on the Black Crystal Nine Refinements Body and Nine Refinements Fist, the Holy Spirit King was pleased—it met her standards. She then gave him three long-prepared gifts.
When Jiang Zhe left the cathedral, he carried away three complete secret techniques:
Nine Refinements Fist (combat secret art)
Black Hole Devour (soul defense secret art)
Black Crystal Nine Refinements Body (body amplification secret art)
These were all core extracts of the complete Black Hole Evolution. With them, Jiang Zhe wouldn't need to buy the full technique later.
"At the fifth refinement, the energy layer merges inside the body, granting a 9x amplification;
sixth, 18x;
seventh, 36x;
eighth, 72x;
ninth, 99x."
"Impressive! This saves me from having to switch techniques later. The only gap will be one final doubling to reach the universe's limit. I can fill that with the Conqueror technique."
"As for Nine Refinements Fist, nothing special—it's just a standard combat art.
Black Hole Devour, though, forms a black hole outside the soul core. It swallows incoming soul attacks. It's an active soul defense, like Beast God Roar, on a very high level.
Perfect to replace the purely passive Void Tower."
Jiang Zhe memorized the cultivation method for Black Hole Devour, then logged out of the virtual universe and began retraining his soul defenses.
Half a year later
The new soul defense technique had taken root.
Where once a four-layer spirit tower guarded his sea of consciousness, now it was gone—replaced by a black hole in the center of a swirling galaxy, defending his soul.
Any attack on his mind would either be completely devoured by the black hole or, if powerful enough to rupture it, would then impact his soul.
Back in the cave
Jiang Zhe opened his eyes.
"Anna, how long has it been?"
"Master, we've been in the Ancient God World for 23 years and 44 days. I advanced to Sector Lord stage nine about 203 days ago."
"So long already..." Jiang Zhe sighed.
"Did you finish digesting the G-grade puppet core?"
"Yes, Master. I chose a G-grade Heaven's Favor Golden Mother core. It's fully absorbed—I gained some interesting insights."
"Tell me," Jiang Zhe's eyebrows rose, intrigued.
"First, like the E9 orange-gold puppet cores before, it contained traces of an unknown substance I couldn't break down. I've classified it as a new type of material.
I suspect this is why puppets exhibit lifelike traits and faint intelligence."
Jiang Zhe nodded for her to continue.
"Second, the G-grade core had intricate secret runes with many functions, but the most critical was this:
It can detect life a certain distance away. If a living being approaches, the puppet awakens and attacks.
It also senses the unique aura of Ancient Gods. The stronger that aura on an intruder, the weaker the puppet's power. That's why after drinking Ancient God blood, it's safer to explore the Pilgrimage Path."
Jiang Zhe frowned.
"Detecting life force—does that include flesh-based, energy-based, and metal lifeforms?"
"Yes, Master. It's very sensitive. But I have a way around it."
"Oh? How?"
Oriana raised her fist, then opened her palm to reveal a droplet of blood-red liquid.
"What's this? Someone's blood?" Jiang Zhe asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure. But it's formed from those unknown substances in the G-grade core. I couldn't digest them, so after removing them, they merged into this form."
"Do other G-grade cores have it too?"
"Master, 93 days ago, I took the liberty of consuming a G-grade Heavy Rock Mother core…" Oriana opened her other hand, revealing another blood droplet.
"All of them have it. And these droplets are attracted to each other."
"Anna, release the world force holding them. Let's see what happens when they merge."
She complied. Freed from restraint, the droplets shot together like magnets and fused into a larger, stronger bead.
Jiang Zhe focused his mental energy on it, his eyes narrowing.
"It draws my spirit toward it. I feel like my soul is craving to merge with it—like standing naked in a snowstorm, longing to wear warm clothes to become 'strong.'"
His interest fully ignited.
"Anna, I'll have you consume the remaining sixteen G-grade cores. I want more of this unknown material."
"Master, that would be wasteful. I'm already at Sector Lord stage nine. But I can carefully extract the unknown substance without damaging the cores."
"Excellent. Do it your way."
Four months later
Oriana finished her work. Eighteen blood beads merged into a single lump the size of a fingertip, radiating an even stronger allure, though still incomplete.
"Anna, earlier you said you could exploit this?"
"Yes, Master. I can disguise myself as a puppet from the temple ruins. With the help of a blood bead, I can infiltrate their alert range without triggering them."
"Meaning we could stroll right in, pluck out the guardian puppet cores, and leave?"
"I'm 80% confident."
"80%? That's amazing! Let's try it immediately. If it works, we'll get even more cores."
Oriana coated her brass core with a thin blood membrane. Blood-red runes crawled over her body, completing her disguise.
They set off for Temple Ruins No. 921.
This floating continent stretched nearly 15,000 kilometers across, a vast desert with few oases. At its center stood a colossal sandcastle complex covering 300,000 square kilometers.
At the heart of the main fortress slept a massive sand crocodile puppet, with undying-level power. Last time, it forced them into a sorry retreat.
Beneath the sands, countless other sand beasts slumbered—millions of them, ready to awaken at the slightest sign of life.
This time, Oriana boldly walked across the dunes, yet nothing stirred.
"Perfect!" Jiang Zhe, linked through Oriana's world, clapped in delight.
If they could slip past the sand crocodile leader too, they'd crack this loophole wide open.
"Anna, do you think anyone else could extract these blood beads from G-grade treasures?"
"I doubt it. Normally, if these treasures were used to enhance a divine body, the unknown material might either dissipate or lurk inside like a virus.
Immortals and Universe Venerables probably couldn't detect it. As for Universe Lords or True Gods—hard to say.
The top refiners, who deeply understand all materials, might notice something odd. But even then, actually extracting it? Impossible."
Jiang Zhe trusted her judgment.
Inside the main fortress
Oriana entered the top floor hall.
Thousands of square meters in size, the floor was scattered with black sand. Toward the center, it turned into chunks of coal-like stone. Last time, these pieces fused into a monstrous crocodile puppet with undying might—an ordeal that had forced them to flee.
This time, while the guardian lay dormant, Oriana quietly gathered the core fragments. Jiang Zhe swept up most of the black sand.
"So easy!
F-grade, Dark Heavy Sand;
G-grade, Dark Heavy Essence."
"Come on, Anna. Next ruin.
The Holy Spirit King told me someone great would take me as a disciple—must be a Universe Lord. I should act like I own this place. Might as well grab what I can first."
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