Chapter 198 – Yin and Yang Qi
To put it simply, Jiang Zhe could now create life inside his Thunder Prison World.
Whether it was flesh-and-blood beings, energy entities, metallic organisms, rock-based creatures, or plant life—none of it was beyond his reach.
Of course, whether he could successfully create them, what kind of potential these species might have, whether they could reproduce, or whether their racial traits could be stably inherited—all of this depended on the knowledge Jiang Zhe possessed.
The broader his understanding, the more infinite the possibilities.
For example, when Luo Feng explored the path of divine power using his You Hai Clone's innate secret technique [Creation], he gave rise to countless life forms that ultimately formed the "You Hai Lineage." Each member of that lineage had extraordinary talents, with some even breaking through to True God level.
At first, Luo Feng's creations couldn't reproduce. Only after making breakthroughs in his path did he manage to create true life forms capable of breeding.
As for the Jiemu Egg—it was far greater than the Nine Nether Sea.
Even more so after it was refined into a Life Embryo, where it birthed an innate secret pattern dedicated to "nurturing" and "creation." Jiang Zhe named this pattern [Yuanling].
Now, the Jiemu Egg's signature ability—[Life Cultivation]—had been harvested by Jiang Zhe, and the [Yuanling] secret pattern from the Nether Blood Egg had also been extracted. He planted them all within the Thunder Prison World, where under the influence of the [Spirit Seeding Art], they evolved toward perfection.
From this moment on, Jiang Zhe's Thunder Prison World possessed truly limitless potential.
Jiang Zhe murmured to himself, "I really enjoy this feeling of my body constantly evolving. It makes me vividly aware that I'm walking the path of evolution. The effort I put into cultivation shows tangible results—there are rewards I can see."
Closing his eyes, he peered inward, looking at the Thunder Prison World that had opened up within the slender diamond-shaped mark on his chest.
Compared to before, the changes weren't dramatic.
The diameter of the Thunder Prison World had expanded from a mere 100 million kilometers at the peak of the Universe Level to nearly one trillion kilometers.
Everywhere he looked, there was a vast, blood-red ocean. The sea surged and roiled, and life-rich blood mist rose from its surface, so dense it seemed ready to solidify and spontaneously give birth to some new creature.
No—it wasn't just an illusion. It was reality.
At a mere thought from Jiang Zhe, the blood mist gathered, intertwined, and condensed into bones, flesh, and fur.
In the blink of an eye, a striped cat—similar to those common during Earth's "Great Nirvana" era—became the second life form born within the Thunder Prison World.
Jiang Zhe pulled the cat from the Thunder Prison World. The power of the world scanned it up and down, finding that aside from its inability to reproduce, it was no different from a normal tiger cat.
Roughly the size of a calf, it lay on the ground, mewing softly. With intelligence comparable to a ten-year-old human child, it called out to its supreme Father God.
Jiang Zhe rubbed its head, then reached out with his mind to communicate with Orianna.
"Anna, how's it going?"
"Master, just as we expected. By combining the powers of me—your [Mother of All], the Jiemu Egg, and the [Yuanling] secret pattern—as long as we possess the life structure diagram of a creature, we can recreate it inside the Thunder Prison World with a very high probability."
As she spoke, intricate blood lines wove through the air above the bloody sea, forming the exact life structure diagram of that tiger cat.
It didn't stop there. Many diagrams hovered in the sky—lions, mastiffs, wild bulls, golden condors, bloodthirsty tanks, fire-scaled trident boars, silver moon dire wolves, giant rock bears, armored dragons, hydra dragons…
Every kind of beast that had once appeared on Earth had been idly analyzed by Orianna using her innate secret art [Mother of All], reducing them to life blueprints.
Then Orianna's tone shifted. "But mere replication isn't worth boasting about. What matters to us is innovation—creating entirely new life diagrams and new species."
"Uh… Anna, slow down. Take too big a step and you might tear something." Jiang Zhe waved his hand dismissively. "We'll worry about innovating once we reach the Universe Lord stage."
"For now, let's focus on how to create bio-warriors."
Suddenly, the diagrams above the bloody sea disappeared, replaced by an incredibly vast, intricate, and profound life structure chart.
At a glance, Jiang Zhe's head throbbed, as if it were about to burst from all the knowledge crammed into it. "Whose life structure diagram is this? It's ridiculously deep."
"It's mine, Master," Orianna said calmly.
"You? Your current one?"
Jiang Zhe perked up and looked more closely at the Thunder Prison World.
So this was the life diagram of a perfect genetic lifeform.
He remembered: the tiger cat was only the second life form born here. The first had been Orianna herself.
Jiang Zhe had extracted her from the Nether Blood Egg and planted her into the Thunder Prison World, fully merging master and servant in the truest sense. She was both the first life born in this world and its world consciousness—its original will. That was the authority he'd granted her.
After undergoing rebirth and nurturing through the [Spirit Seeding Art], Orianna's state had changed again.
Now she was—
[Race]: Mechanical Spirit → Mother Queen → Thunder Prison World Spirit
[True Form]: First life born in the Thunder Prison World
[Life Gene Level]: 10,081 times baseline
[Strength]: Domain Lord, ninth tier peak
[Internal World]: Diameter of one trillion kilometers
[Innate Secret Techniques]:
—[Symbiont]: Lives in symbiosis with her master, boosting his power
—[Mother of All]: Creates entire life races
—[Master of Matter]: Devours and replicates matter
Learning of Orianna's breakthroughs, Jiang Zhe felt a brief pang of regret.
When she was first born in the Thunder Prison World, she hadn't been granted the strongest innate secret arts.
But the regret faded quickly. In the end, that unlucky Nether Blood Egg had sacrificed itself, allowing him and Orianna to achieve massive leaps. The role of the [Spirit Seeding Art] couldn't be overlooked either. If the Nether Blood Egg was a treasure mine, then the [Spirit Seeding Art] was the pickaxe that extracted it.
Orianna shook her head. "It's not my current diagram, Master. It's my old one—my 'Mechanical Spirit' structure."
"Watch."
At her words, the massive secret pattern above the blood sea split into five simpler diagrams, each labeled thoughtfully: "3x," "10x," "49x," "81x," and "100x."
Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow, finally catching on. "Anna, are you saying we can recreate your old form and build an army of Mechanical Spirits?"
"Master, forming an army is secondary. The important thing is we can create an entire race of Mechanical Spirits—likely an even higher form than the typical machine race."
"Think about it. Would a legion made of machine race members be stronger, or one where each member also controlled their own mechanical puppet army? Which would you rather face?"
Jiang Zhe's eyes shone. "A whole army of true machine race entities? I wouldn't have dared dream of it! That's outrageously extravagant."
Yet it was extravagance they genuinely had the means to achieve.
His expression turned eager. Stroking his chin, he suddenly asked, "Anna, would the new Mechanical Spirit race we create still possess talents like [Executor], [Mechanical Vanguard], and [Master of Matter]?"
"Master, I'm not sure. Should we test it?"
"Of course! Let's do it right now."
Master and servant wasted no time. Jiang Zhe activated the Thunder Prison World, letting it devour vast amounts of universe crystals to provide energy, while Orianna used the life diagrams to shape new beings.
They triggered the world's innate nurturing trait, activated the [Yuanling] secret pattern, and guided it all through Orianna's [Mother of All].
Thus, the creation of life began.
"Father God!"
"Mother God!"
A bronze woman bowed before Jiang Zhe and Orianna.
Standing side by side, the two scanned her thoroughly with the power of the world, checking her state.
"We really created this high-level life ourselves?" Jiang Zhe wore an odd expression. It felt like he'd just gained another wife and daughter…
Wait!
Was Orianna urging him to create a Mechanical Spirit race just so she could… bear his children?
He shook his head violently, dispelling the ridiculous thought.
"She's born at the planetary level, three times the baseline gene strength, with only one degraded innate secret technique… [Mechanical Apostle]?" Jiang Zhe mused.
"It grants her your power to suppress mechanical and intelligent life, plus a knack for climbing the tech tree. That's a remarkably useful research-oriented talent."
A smirk curled at Jiang Zhe's lips. He could already picture the fury of the machine race's patriarch.
Orianna added, "Master, there are a few important details I learned by communicating with her. First, her mind is currently a mere intelligent processor. Like other mechanical beings, she needs to evolve into a true intelligent lifeform to be complete."
"Second, unlike me, her life gene level won't rise as her strength grows. To upgrade it, we'd have to craft a new body for her and transfer her consciousness."
"Third, she can have offspring—but only in a one-for-one swap at old age, like the Golden Horned Beasts."
Jiang Zhe's eyes grew ever brighter. "Anna, this means we've succeeded—wildly succeeded! The Mechanical Spirit race is fully realized. Someday, it'll be as renowned in the original universe as my Thunder Emperor lineage!"
He realized something and said, "She needs a name."
"Anna, why don't you name her?"
The bronze woman looked at her mother god, eyes full of hopeful longing.
"Master, can she take your surname?" Orianna asked carefully.
Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Aren't I her Father God?"
"Then let's call her Jiang Yuanjun."
"Jiang Yuanjun thanks Father God and Mother God for this name." The bronze woman half-kneeled in solemn salute.
"Come now, we're family—no need for so many formalities." Jiang Zhe stepped forward and personally helped her up.
Orianna stood smiling, clearly delighted by this display of fatherly affection.
Jiang Zhe sealed away the insights he'd gained from creating Jiang Yuanjun. For now, the principles of life creation were too profound. But in the future, when he reached the level of a Universe Lord, these sealed insights would become a priceless treasure.
They could create 10x, 49x, 81x, even 100x Mechanical Spirits, but the resources required were astronomical—something to attempt later.
Jiang Zhe took Jiang Yuanjun to meet the four little ones.
He introduced their new sister, urging them to get acquainted and support each other in the days to come.
Then he departed, transforming into a streak of light that shot toward the inner sea, descending into the vortex world to chop wood.
Little did he seem to notice the astonished looks the four exchanged behind his back, as they frantically messaged one another.
"As expected of Dad—Aunt Orianna's position is now thoroughly secure."
"Wait, shouldn't we be more concerned with how Dad and Aunt Orianna had a child? Isn't there supposed to be reproductive isolation?"
"Yeah, I get the logic, but how does a flesh-and-blood being end up with a mechanical child?"
"Dad is mighty. Enough said."
"Well said. Dad is mighty. Enough said."
Paying no mind to his little ones' gossip, Jiang Zhe passed through the vortex into the inner sea and arrived once more beneath the ancient tree, by the stone table.
This little world under the vortex was now his alone. The castle still floated among the branches, but stood empty—Lelei and Joline had left with their second souls to explore his inner world. Only when reading the [Thor Codex] did they and the four youngsters return.
Beneath the ancient tree, Jiang Zhe resumed his towering form, nearly 100,000 kilometers tall, and raised his massive axe high.
"Thirteenth time!"
"Hey, Old Tree, I'm getting bored. Give me something interesting."
Then he seemed to reconsider and quickly amended, "No, wait—Old Tree, give me a piece of flesh. I still have one avatar slot left."
"You and I are like brothers. You absolutely have to help me out!"
THUNK.
The axe bit deep into the trunk, leaving a savage wound before bouncing away. A golden orb popped from the wound and rolled onto the grass.
The axe shrank and flew back to the stone table. Jiang Zhe returned to human size, dropped to the grass, and reached for the golden orb.
As his fingertips touched it, the golden glow vanished.
Suddenly, a powerful current of air surged around him.
Right before his eyes, a wisp of chaotic airflow split apart, transforming into strands of endlessly mysterious black and white qi—roughly the thickness of his thumb and a foot long.
Clearly defined, the black and white writhed like two little snakes chasing and twining around each other, faintly forming the shape of a yin-yang fish.
As always, the moment he touched the light, Jiang Zhe instinctively understood what it was.
"Solidified, stable Yin and Yang Qi?"
This wisp of Yin and Yang Qi had physical substance, yet it represented the birth of 'two' from 'one'—symbolizing all things in the universe, every pair of opposites that were also unified. It was light and dark, fast and slow, life and death, creation and destruction, origin and end…
Jiang Zhe rubbed his forehead, taking a long moment to piece together at least one use for the [Yin and Yang Qi]. "I suppose it could serve as an enlightenment treasure?"
After all, within the swirling black and white qi, he could see traces of the eight lesser laws—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light—along with hints of time and space. Someday, when his understanding grew, he might even perceive the true essences of destruction and life.
But it felt like overkill…
He raised his hand, and the Yin and Yang Qi slid up to his right palm, curling playfully around his fingers.
Fascinating, yet hardly benign. Only because Jiang Zhe was their master did they not unleash their oppressive might on him. Like the chaotic air currents drifting through the cosmic sea, this primal mother qi held terrifying power.
As he toyed with it, Jiang Zhe's brow lifted at a sudden thought.
"If the [Yin and Yang Qi] embodies all things in the universe, what would happen if I used it to forge my final avatar of Greed?"
The idea alone made his eyes blaze with intense curiosity.
And once the thought was there, he simply couldn't hold it back.
---
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.