Chapter 129: The Demon Race! (5,000 words)
"Is there anything else?"
"No, teacher. Just these three requirements. They should be easy to meet, right?"
"Over 5,000 times? Are you sure? Can you truly nurture it successfully?"
Jiang Zhe nodded confidently.
A mere clone with 5,000 times the life gene level? In theory, even a clone at the perfect life gene level could be cultivated using the "Minor Severing of Three Corpses Enlightenment Method".
Last time, he'd only cut it off at 81 times to avoid attracting the ire of the Original Universe's source will, planning to complete it later.
Speaking of the perfect life gene level, why not nurture a clone of a natural Beast God?
Jiang Zhe had indeed considered this possibility, but ultimately gave up.
First, while natural Beast Gods were a type of lifeform, they were also incarnations of the laws, deeply intertwined with the Original Universe. Was the source will likely to allow such a clone to exist?
Never underestimate the Original Universe's source will. The last being who thought, "I'm invincible among mortals, who else but heaven can I fight?" had already been suppressed.
Secondly, becoming a Beast God was akin to attaining a "fruit position," much like a Dao Saint under Heaven in the legends. Similar positions included the seventy-two Divine Generals and three thousand Divine Envoys—once seated, it was like being on an Investiture List.
Trying to create a clone of a natural Beast God? Who knew what pitfalls lay hidden in that? That wasn't something to be tried lightly.
Even nurturing a clone of an old Beast God was wiser than meddling with the idea of a natural one.
The Lord of Darkness didn't press Jiang Zhe about where his confidence came from, instead giving him privacy.
But he did look puzzled. "Didn't the Holy Spirit King ever teach you how to pick a suitable clone?"
"Teacher, the Holy Spirit King did mention that it's best to pick a clone with an enormous size, a high life gene level, and strong affinity with higher origin laws."
"Then why these demands?"
"Teacher, I already have a clone—something similar to the World Tree in the Virtual Universe's records. It satisfies all three criteria."
As he spoke, Jiang Zhe handed over a world ring. "Please take a look, Teacher."
The Lord of Darkness took the ring, infused it with phantom-like divine power, and saw what looked like a "small star" hanging in the sky. It had a diameter of about 900,000 kilometers—a truly massive being.
It radiated dense time and space origin law fluctuations, and inside was a surging energy reaction that proclaimed its extraordinary life gene level.
He wasn't lying—this really was a Second World Tree!
No, even beyond a World Tree!
The Lord of Darkness couldn't hide his delight. Looking at Jiang Zhe seated on the cushion, it was as if beholding a priceless treasure.
For the human race to produce such a flawless genius…
—A will of iron, unmatched comprehension, a clone, and a life gene level so high that even among special lifeforms it was rare!
It was no exaggeration to say that once he grew up, Jiang Zhe would surpass the likes of the Celestial Eclipse Palace Lord, the Ancestral Tree Exalt, and the Star Prison Demon Lord, becoming the number one universe hegemon of the human race—or even of the entire Original Universe.
If he advanced to Universe Lord, he could be the second Chaos City Lord. With his heaven-defying clone, he might even surpass his senior brother!
Picturing such a future, the Lord of Darkness was invigorated and began to think seriously.
But soon his brow furrowed.
"Jiang Zhe, among our race, I've certainly seen more special lifeforms than anyone else.
But special lifeforms with over 5,000 times life gene level are exceedingly rare. Wanting them in the form of a Universe-level piece of flesh? That's practically impossible.
You'll likely have to lower your standards—by quite a bit."
The Lord of Darkness looked helpless.
He didn't want to let Jiang Zhe down, but even if the entire race pooled its resources, finding a suitable Universe-level piece of flesh would be nearly impossible.
If it were a Sector Lord-level piece of flesh, there might still be hope.
But Jiang Zhe smiled. "Teacher, you misunderstand."
"Oh?"
"Teacher, I don't need Universe-level flesh."
Jiang Zhe explained, "My clone technique is very special—it doesn't require flesh of my own level. Even if you gave me a chunk of Undying flesh, I could still use it to nurture a clone."
"How is that possible? That defies the universe's rules!"
"Otherwise, how do you think I produced a clone that surpasses a World Tree? Have you ever seen a World Tree sapling below the Sector Lord level?"
The Lord of Darkness suddenly understood—and realized this disciple of his was cloaked in many miracles.
He had no intention of prying.
Since Jiang Zhe said there was no issue, he'd simply prepare according to Jiang Zhe's requirements.
A flash of insight crossed his mind, and his cold face broke into a smile.
"If we disregard power, body size, and origin law affinity, there are quite a few suitable options."
"I know of one special lifeform race with eight lineages. Pureblood members of each lineage have a life gene level of 1,260 times, and in their history, they've even produced leaders with over 10,000 times.
Their only drawback is that their bodies aren't very large. But they're all savage, fierce warriors. Some lineages even resemble humans—making them practically perfect for your needs."
Jiang Zhe mulled over this information, his eyes slightly doubtful. A race with 1,260 times life gene level, and it could form an entire population?
"Teacher, what is this race?"
"The Abyssal Demons!"
"Master, no such record exists in the database," Orianna reported after searching the Virtual Universe.
Jiang Zhe turned to the Lord of Darkness, waiting for more details.
The Lord of Darkness smiled. "This race lives in the 'Purgatory Abyss,' ranked number one among dire-level mission worlds. If you take that training mission, you'll naturally meet them. Whether to pick them as your clones, that's for you to decide."
Jiang Zhe wanted to ask more, but the Lord of Darkness cut him off. "The secrets of the Abyssal World… you'll have to explore on your own."
"Yes, Teacher."
"Come with me into the Virtual Universe. Let's go meet your senior sister, the Dream Sovereign. She'll teach you the fusion of thunder and time laws."
Their consciousnesses entered the Virtual Universe one after another.
Jiang Zhe appeared in a manor in the primal region. Orianna sent an application, and soon they were transported to the "Dark Divine Nation."
It was a vast, gloomy land shrouded in dark clouds.
The pair appeared on a floating black circular platform orbiting a massive black pyramid.
Looking down, they saw an endless bustling city, where people with jade-like skin walked the streets—clearly all kin of the Lord of Darkness.
This private domain was the clan land of the Lord of Darkness' people within the Virtual Universe.
"Master, the platform is leaving its orbit," Orianna reminded.
Jiang Zhe glanced down to see the platform automatically flying toward the pyramid's tip, so he paid it no mind.
As they neared the top, intricate carvings divided the pyramid's black-gold peak into many majestic temples.
The floating platform stopped before a broad terrace, where a graceful purple-haired woman awaited, surrounded by a faintly unreal dream-like aura.
The distortion of time around her marked her unmistakably as a time-type Exalt.
Jiang Zhe flew to the platform, respectfully walking up to her.
The purple-haired woman introduced herself. "Junior brother, I'm your ninth senior sister, the current Dream Sovereign."
Current?
The 1,008 Universe Sovereigns had all lived for an incredibly long time, witnessing the rise of the human race.
A less polite way to put it—having remained at the Universe Exalt stage for so long, this was likely their lifetime limit.
But hearing the term "current" here—did it mean the Dream Sovereign position had a term limit?
Jiang Zhe pondered silently, then bowed. "Ninth Senior Sister."
"Mm." The purple-haired woman nodded, then gestured for him to follow. "Junior brother, I'll take you to greet Teacher first."
Jiang Zhe followed her into the tallest black-gold temple ahead.
As they walked, the Dream Sovereign explained.
"There are 23 temples here, representing Teacher's 23 personal disciples. Six are abandoned, for the six who have died. Including you, there are now 17 living disciples—all Exalts or higher."
"The height and position of each temple reflects the disciple's strength.
The tallest at the center is the 'Dark Temple,' Teacher's residence;
The second-tallest on the right, 'Shadow Marquis Hall,' is home to our fifth senior brother, a Universe Lord;
To the left, the third-tallest, is 'Dream Hall,' my residence.
I'll introduce the others later."
Jiang Zhe suddenly glanced at the smallest "doghouse" on the fringe and fell silent.
Cough cough— He decided he'd stay at Ninth Senior Sister's place, then return to the primal region after learning what he needed. This "Dark Divine Nation" wasn't somewhere he wanted to linger.
'Still… with Ninth Senior Sister's strength second only to Fifth Senior Brother, she's probably not just an ordinary high-level Exalt—likely a Universe Hegemon.'
The human race didn't just have three Universe Hegemons.
Those three were simply the top-tier ones—Celestial Eclipse Palace Lord, Ancestral Tree Exalt, and Star Prison Demon Lord.
There were easily another 20 to 50 ordinary Universe Hegemons. Otherwise, how could they stand as one of the Original Universe's six pinnacle races?
After all, the Insect Race had two top-tier Hegemons and 81 ordinary ones.
Jiang Zhe followed along, silently calculating.
They greeted the teacher.
Then Jiang Zhe accompanied Ninth Senior Sister to the left "Dream Hall," beginning his lessons.
"To train in the fusion of thunder and time laws, the most established path is the Thunder Beast God way. I recommend taking the warrior's route."
"I am a warrior—a 'illusion-type' warrior. If you learn my peak techniques and study the Beast God tablets, it'll be a very smooth path."
"When you reach Sector Lord level, you'll inevitably create your own secret techniques. I still suggest they be warrior techniques… but that's up to you."
Jiang Zhe nodded, listening carefully without stating a preference.
This was an old topic.
When Luo Feng chose the Beast God path but focused on spiritual mastery over warrior techniques, even the Chaos City Lord was a bit displeased, waiting to see him suffer.
If Jiang Zhe insisted on creating spiritual techniques, he'd likely face the same.
Actually, after comprehending the "Heart of the Beast God," the two paths were the same.
But before that, warriors did have an edge in studying the Beast God way.
Also, "Beast God Seven Killings" was merely the strongest technique humans had for the gold-type Beast God line.
For other elemental Beast Gods, humanity possessed even stronger secret techniques.
For example, the top-tier Hegemon Star Prison Demon Lord trained in the Beast God way—his techniques certainly surpassed "Beast God Seven Killings".
Inside Dream Hall, the Dream Sovereign continued organizing Jiang Zhe's cultivation.
"What weapon do you use now?"
"Time-Space Hand, Void Core."
Jiang Zhe summoned the two items via the Virtual Universe.
"The Void Core is good—it'll serve you up to the Undying level. Only a treasure will replace it then."
"As for the Time-Space Hand…"
The Dream Sovereign recognized its make, her elegant brows tightening slightly. She gently shook her head as if looking at a child's crude craft project.
"The secret patterns are very rough. The fusion of two top-level origin laws is clumsy, and it even crams in Beast God insights. A messy hodgepodge… forget it."
She sighed, hand to forehead.
"Little junior brother, Teacher is still by your side, right?"
"Yes, Senior Sister."
"After you leave the Virtual Universe, give that to Teacher. Have him refine it. Its upper limit can then reach the King level. After that, you'll only replace it with a treasure."
Jiang Zhe looked embarrassed. "This… it's such a small thing to trouble Teacher with?"
"It's fine. Don't be intimidated by his aura—he's very kind to us."
Seeing Jiang Zhe still hesitate, the Dream Sovereign offered directly:
"Or I can modify it for you. I'd cut away the space law engravings, turning it into a pure thunder-time Beast God spiritual weapon."
"Or, let Teacher adjust the patterns so it can handle thunder, time, space, and thunder-time fusion insights."
"Your choice."
Jiang Zhe gave an awkward laugh. "Better not trouble you, Senior Sister. I'll ask Teacher."
"Hmph!" She shot him a glare. "Continue. Tell me about all your foundational secret techniques."
She continued his plan.
"According to the Holy Spirit's arrangement, keep training your body with "Crystal Nine Refinements". It can reach 99 times body amplification—few techniques go that far."
"You don't have a soul amplification technique, do you? What's your current multiple… no, your spiritual amplification?"
"5,000 times."
The Dream Sovereign's eyes widened, sitting straight. "How much did you say?"
"5,000 times spiritual amplification, 50 times soul amplification," Jiang Zhe repeated.
She gasped. "How is it that high?"
"It's a secret of the Ancient God World. I obtained it there."
The Dream Sovereign understood, though clearly curious. She didn't pry.
"No need for soul amplification techniques then. Wait until you're Undying to find ways to improve further."
"For soul defense, keep training "Black Hole Devouring". You'll never need to switch from it."
"As for "Nine Refinements Fist", "Black Hole Evolution", etc.—just practice them casually."
"When you grasp the fourth picture of the Universe Chaos Tablet, come learn my techniques and prepare to fully embrace the Beast God way."
Leaving the Virtual Universe—
The Lord of Darkness was still in the study.
Jiang Zhe brought out the Time-Space Hand, asking for help with its patterns.
The Lord of Darkness didn't take it but let phantom divine power flow out to fully analyze the weapon.
"I'll optimize its inscriptions and forge you a new one. In three to five days, staff will deliver it."
"Thank you, Teacher." Jiang Zhe bowed.
"Thank me? Don't blame me later, then."
A faint smile appeared on the Lord of Darkness' face.
He continued,
"When you go to other training worlds—aside from the Purgatory Abyss—don't let your attendant lifeform act. A Sector Lord pinnacle with 3,000 times life gene level… even the local Undyings of those worlds aren't enough for you two to slaughter."
Jiang Zhe readily agreed.
As long as he could still do training missions and reap rewards in cultivation worlds, everything was fine.
At the very least, he had to visit the Blood Luo World.
There, he could collect Blood Luo Crystals for his Candlelight clone, using their gene power to restore the missing 81 times life gene level.
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