Chapter 126: The Legion!
A gold-red gemstone, about the size of a fingernail, flew out from Oriana's chest.
Bathed in radiant golden-red light, strands of flesh and blood materialized, finally forming into a pale woman clad in a crimson crinoline gown.
Shame and anger filled her eyes, yet she could only bow respectfully to Jiang Zhe.
"Greetings, my esteemed master. You may call me... Mary," she said with the same familiar cold voice.
She was the infamous "Blood Shadow." As for "Mary"?
"Bloody Mary? No, she looks more like the Scarlet Lady from my memories—the beheaded queen of Gaul," Jiang Zhe said, instantly identifying the image's inspiration.
Immediately after, he received a mental transmission from Oriana.
She had given her that name.
Although Mary retained an independent personality and remembered past grievances, she posed no threat to the master-servant duo.
She was now merely a projection of Oriana. Despite her prideful personality, everything else about her was under absolute control by Jiang Zhe and Oriana.
This was a fate worse than enslavement—physically controlled, mentally tormented.
Jiang Zhe showed no courtesy as a "boss." He asked bluntly, "Do you have any treasures left that we haven't found?"
"All my treasures were used to create life puppets," Mary replied meekly. "Those in that former continent, along with the 10,081 temples in the upper star region—those were my entire collection. I don't think the Virtual Universe Corporation took everything."
Jiang Zhe slapped his forehead, exasperated. "Why did you throw everything out? Didn't it occur to you to save some resources for your next partner?"
Mary: "…"
She had no response. But in her heart, she didn't think she had done anything wrong.
To her, those were just useless scraps. Besides being refined into life puppets and strengthening her guards, what else could they be used for?
She inherited memories from the Netherblood Egg, which made her yearn for Origin Continent and hold her pride high. In her eyes, only true god-level treasures were worth collecting—everything else was beneath her.
Oriana sensed Mary's thoughts and shared them with Jiang Zhe.
The difference in values made Jiang Zhe shake his head helplessly.
"Forget it, just step down."
He waved his hand, not wanting to see this "money-waster" anymore.
Before Mary could say a word, Oriana lifted her hand. Mary's figure vanished like a bubble, and the pseudo-core—the gold-red gem—returned to Oriana's body.
Her life gene level instantly recovered to 3,000 times normal.
Despite undergoing a life evolution, Oriana retained the ability to create clones by reducing her gene level.
"Master, shall we go collect some life puppets? I can control them as easily as mechanical puppets."
Jiang Zhe, slightly gluttonous by nature, was tempted.
With her [Queen of All Beings] talent and the innate secret patterns of the Netherblood Egg, Oriana could create an entire race and employ the infamous "human wave tactic."
But at their current level, the creatures they created wouldn't be much stronger than Zerg warriors. So it wasn't necessary—for now.
Using life puppets instead of Zerg warriors to protect them during their time as World Lords or immortals sounded like a solid plan.
Anyone who annoyed them could be blasted by a puppet legion's joint attack—visually stunning and devastating.
Just like how Luo Feng used the Zerg Queen and her puppets.
With the decision made, the two returned to the floating continent in the crimson zone via spaceship and gathered over 10,000 life puppets that met their energy and size requirements.
Over 10,000 puppets had combat power equivalent to several dozen World Lords. Among them, over 1,000 had the strength of hundreds of World Lords—top-tier specimens.
However, their individual powers varied significantly, and their energy attacks were difficult to synchronize. They couldn't easily execute coordinated strikes like the Zerg.
Oriana had to refine them.
Using the first-level innate secret pattern of the Netherblood Egg, she heavily modified all 11,000+ life puppets, keeping only their cores intact.
Once the reconfiguration was complete, she reported to Jiang Zhe:
"Master, the final composition of our puppet legion is 11,000 units. Of these, 10,000 are standard puppets with ten times World Lord strength, and 1,000 are elite puppets with 200 times World Lord strength."
"If we execute a joint strike and it hits, we can eliminate a peak King-ranked warrior."
Jiang Zhe nodded, satisfied with the outcome. Its power was on par with a million-strong World Lord Zerg legion.
For context, a Zerg commander costs up to 2,500 mixed-element units. A million-strong legion would cost up to 2.5 billion units (based on Universe Crystals).
"Anna, how long will the puppet modifications take?"
"Three years will suffice, Master."
"Good. I'll leave it to you."
"One more thing, Master—what form should the puppets take?"
"What form?" Jiang Zhe thought briefly, then dismissed any fancy ideas. "Just human form. Use your previous look as the template. That'll make it easier for you to channel laws through them."
"Will that be difficult?"
Oriana shook her head. "Not at all, Master."
All in all, this training mission in the Ancient God World had been immensely rewarding.
Praise be to the almighty Netherblood Egg. Praise be to the wealthy Lord of All Saints. Praise be to the rebellious Ancient Gods. Praise be to the generous Virtual Universe Company...
Of course, if only they'd return those 108 King-class puppets and 9 Venerable-class ones, it would be perfect.
Despite the slight loss, Jiang Zhe left the Ancient God World completely satisfied.
Over two months later, their spaceship exited the treacherous asteroid belt, accelerated to light speed, briefly entered the Dark Universe, and then arrived at the Virtual Universe Company's outpost near the Ancient God World.
Docked in the port, Jiang Zhe used an external view simulator to survey this floating port the size of Earth.
Compared to the Blood Luo World, control here was more relaxed—on par with Mount Magic.
A white-robed steward came to guide him to meet King Anming at the Black River Hall.
Unlike Luo Feng's experience on Mount Magic—surrounded by dozens of immortals—this meeting was private.
Jiang Zhe came quietly, and left just as silently.
Likely because his mentor, the Holy Spirit King, had given strict instructions to avoid exposing Jiang Zhe's secret methods in front of immortals.
In his dealings with King Anming, Jiang Zhe reported having collected 15,000 units of Ancient God Blood, secretly keeping over 600 units for personal gifts.
He sold 4,500 units to King Anming at 300 points per unit, and the remaining 10,500 units directly to the Virtual Universe Company.
Total earnings: 6.6 million points. Final account balance: over 8 million points.
Wealthy—filthy rich!
Even better, all projected expenses for Oriana were now unnecessary. He saved over a billion points.
After a lucrative harvest in the Ancient God World, Oriana only needed Jiang Zhe to create an ultimate secret technique to break through her core and ascend to immortality.
Additionally, Jiang Zhe retained a huge trove of G- and F-grade treasures the Virtual Universe Company hadn't confiscated.
They probably never expected a "sunshine boy" would bring a World Lord-level affiliated lifeform with 100x life gene strength to farm loot in their training world.
As is often the case, where there's a crouching dragon, a hidden phoenix follows.
Jiang Zhe used his World Lord-affiliated lifeform to harvest Ancient God Blood in the Ancient God World.
Meanwhile, Luo Feng did the same in the Blood Luo World using his Mosha Clan avatar.
Tens of thousands of Blood Luo Crystals yielded over a hundred drops of Beast God Blood—extremely valuable in the Hong Alliance.
Both had bright futures.
This windfall made mixed-element units feel like mere numbers to Jiang Zhe. At least enough to splurge freely as a World Lord.
Escorted by King Anming's guards, Jiang Zhe returned to the Primal Secret Realm.
Villa 114, a stilted bamboo house by the mountains and water.
Dressed in a navy-blue robe, Jiang Zhe meditated in the study while his consciousness entered the Virtual Universe to spend time with family.
It was July, 2224, by the Hanxia calendar.
He had spent nearly 50 years in the Ancient God World.
Time flew. Jiang Zhe sighed—he had cultivated for over 108 years and was just six years away from his 200th birthday.
—Peak Universe Level Strength
—1810x Life Gene Multiplier
—5000x Spiritual Force Amplification
—Time-Space Law Comprehension: Tongtian Bridge Levels 13 and 14
This was the result of a century of effort—and he was quite pleased.
After spending over a month with family, Jiang Zhe met with Hong, Thunder God, and Luo Feng. The Four Giants of Earth reunited, reminiscing with emotion.
Hong and Thunder God, now in the Qianwu Secret Realm, were receiving direct mentorship from World Lords and occasional guidance from immortals—a much smoother path than in the original storyline.
Jiang Zhe planned to eventually transfer them to the Apocalypse Secret Realm when he was assigned elsewhere. Their talents would allow them to rise slowly.
There was no need for them to rush to the Domain Lord level and risk their lives in external battles—basically cannon fodder.
After the gathering, Jiang Zhe and Luo Feng met privately in the public area of Rainxiang Mountain to discuss their missions.
Luo Feng subtly hinted at great opportunities in the Blood Luo World, though he didn't reveal specifics.
Jiang Zhe nodded in agreement—but deep down, he wasn't too interested.
"With my 1810x life gene multiplier and lightning affinity, there's no way some Blood Luo Crystal could enhance me."
Over drinks, the two shared thoughts on cultivation and life, before logging out.
Back in the bamboo study, Jiang Zhe stretched lazily. Spending time with loved ones filled him with a rare longing for the mundane world.
Maybe this is what being a genius feels like—his state of mind had subtly evolved.
"Time to sleep."
"Sleep like an immortal, sleep like a sage. Stone roots lie dreaming, timeless and still.
...
People say I'm a muddle-headed man, half-asleep, half-awake."
As the soft chanting faded, snoring began.
Coiling Dragon Technique—activated!
But what Jiang Zhe didn't know was...
While his consciousness drifted into a serene dream state, a figure shrouded in black robes and dark mist stood silently on the corridor outside his room.
"His consciousness didn't enter the Virtual Universe... He's just asleep?"
"Interesting. Very interesting."