Chapter 203: Golden Threads? A Colossal Treasure?
"The Silent Wind Belt?"
The demon spirit shook its head.
"Uncle-Master, no one truly knows how the Silent Wind Belt came into being. By the time we incorporated the Herod Secret Realm into our territory, it was already there."
"Before that, Herod was the stronghold of a mighty race. Their leader perished while exploring the Sea of Universe, and the entire race collapsed. The emergence of the Silent Wind Belt likely occurred around the same time."
Silver-robed Jiang Zhe's eyes brightened with understanding.
"So, 'Herod'—that's a person's name or the name of their race? The secret realm was named after it."
"It's a person's name. That powerful race called themselves the 'Beast God Clan.'"
"Herod lived in the same era as the creator of the Giant Axe. According to our Grandmaster, if not for certain unexpected events, the Herod lineage might have earned a place among the peak races of the future."
At that, Jiang Zhe thought of the Old Beast God.
That old creature had led the Starry Sky Beast Alliance into the ranks of the Nine Peak Races. The twelve supreme bloodlines of the Starry Sky Beasts were still direct descendants of the natural-born Beast Gods. Yet even he had never dared to claim the title "Beast God Clan."
Jiang Zhe voiced his doubts.
"I know what a 'Beast God' truly is. How could the race led by Herod dare to call themselves the Beast God Clan?"
"Uncle-Master, your knowledge is astonishing—far beyond what your granted permissions in the clan should allow. That actually makes it easier for me to explain."
"Herod was born into a special race of energy-type lifeforms—rare, powerful. By comparison, they far surpassed even the current Doukou Race of the Original Universe."
"Through Herod's rise, their entire race's cosmic standing reached its pinnacle. Herod successively obtained the eyes of natural-born thunder and wood Beast Gods, evolving his lifeform to the limit of a Universe Master. Even his clansmen could evolve their lifeforms by consuming the flesh and blood of these Beast Gods. Thus, they arrogantly began calling themselves the 'Beast God Clan.'"
Jiang Zhe nodded slightly.
That explained why the Herod Secret Realm contained the various opportunities the demon spirit had mentioned.
More importantly, he pieced together a critical point. His eyes narrowed.
"The formation of the Silent Wind Belt… could it be tied to Herod's death?"
The demon spirit nodded. "It can't be confirmed, but it's highly probable."
Jiang Zhe frowned.
I refuse to believe the downfall of a single race could produce an aftershock strong enough to spawn an environment capable of killing even a Chaos City Lord.
This is the Original Universe—not the Sea of Universe!
As someone whose combat strength rivaled the undying level, Jiang Zhe's thoughts moved faster than many supercomputers. Drawing on the knowledge of both his current and previous life, he arrived at two possibilities.
First, some calamity from the Sea of Universe was brought into the Original Universe by Herod and only erupted after his death;
Second, Herod's death caused some treasure or opportunity he had controlled to lose its restraint—similar to a chaos golden wing component containing a 'source.'
Both possibilities sound close to each other… I can't think of a third.
Shaking off these speculations for now, Jiang Zhe focused on more practical matters.
"Disciple-Nephew, the clan must have studied the Silent Wind Belt to some extent. Could you share the progress of that research? It might help me survive when I enter."
The demon spirit thought for a moment, then said, "The only tangible outcome of our studies on the Silent Wind Belt is the creation of 'Silent Wind Weapons.' Below the sovereign level, anyone struck by them dies instantly—no exceptions."
"In addition, there's the Silent Wind Prison, the most unique region within the Silent Wind Belt. Its cosmic environment actually allows life to survive. But a prison is still a prison. Outwardly, we promote it as a land of opportunities, using the 'Beast God Clan' name to lure countless alien elites to 'explore' it. This both drains the core strength of other races and uses them as probes to uncover the prison's secrets."
The demon spirit paused, then added with a strange look,
"According to our deductions, the birth of the Silent Wind Prison was rather dramatic—it actually has something to do with you."
Jiang Zhe blinked. "How could it possibly be related to me? I haven't even been alive that long."
"It's because of the two Beast God Slabs you possess." The demon spirit continued, "Our Grandmaster said I essentially snatched a fortune that was meant for you. Surely you know how that opportunity came about?"
Jiang Zhe waved it off.
"It wasn't really snatched. You found it first, and it's brought benefits to our human race. In that sense, the original owner's efforts didn't go to waste."
He couldn't help but blame the leader from his Source Star era—whose life was full of misfortune and poverty, so he'd greedily seized the inheritance intended for his juniors in the Mountain Sea World.
In Jiang Zhe's eyes, it was understandable.
But from the Source Star leader's perspective, he'd probably thought himself eternal, never needing to plan for future generations.
Jiang Zhe exhaled lightly.
"That opportunity came when the leader of the first civilization from my home world encountered half of a terrifying corpse just outside a nearby wormhole. His undying god body was obliterated on the spot, leaving only a few personal items…"
"Looking back, that world ring he picked up probably contained treasures from the Silent Wind Belt. As for that half-corpse, it might've been an escaped member of the Beast God Clan."
The demon spirit picked up the thread.
"That was a sovereign. The missing half of his god body remained on the other side of the wormhole. Something on him—or perhaps he himself—had unique properties that created the Silent Wind Prison."
Jiang Zhe's brows furrowed.
"But the leader of the Mountain Sea World tried sending everything from planetary to sector lord level lifeforms inside. They all died instantly. There was no sign of any Silent Wind Prison."
"Oh?" The demon spirit suddenly slapped her forehead. "My mistake! Uncle-Master, I should have explained it better."
"To survive inside the Silent Wind Prison, one must have a god body—and possess true 'immortality.' Only then can you live there safely."
She then detailed the inner workings of the Silent Wind Prison.
Jiang Zhe rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
So the Silent Wind Prison is actually mobile. It drifts slowly through the depths of the Silent Wind Belt, connecting to wormholes spanning hundreds of light-years beyond.
Half of these wormholes lead directly into the prison; the other half open where the prison once passed, deep in the belt—entering them means instant death.
That wormhole I almost entered earlier? It wasn't connected to the Silent Wind Prison at all.
These wormholes exist for alien explorers;
For humans, entry requires applying to the clan and using a token to perform a god-nation transmission inside.
Jiang Zhe gently rolled a small golden thread between his fingers and thumb.
The token resembled the fibrous white strands you'd peel off a mandarin orange.
Twisting it into a loop, he slid it onto his left ring finger.
"Demon Spirit, without this token, I wouldn't be able to leave the Silent Wind Prison at all, correct?"
"Exactly, Uncle-Master. If you lose the token, just send me a message in the virtual universe, and I'll dispatch someone to extract you."
The demon spirit's face turned serious.
"One more crucial point: after your god body adapts to the prison's environment, never use its cosmic energy to temper your god body. Otherwise, you'll be trapped there forever! Your only option then would be to let this clone perish and regrow it from your true self."
Jiang Zhe decided to use the Silent Wind Prison as a buffer instead of diving straight into the Silent Wind Belt. He wanted to explore its undiscovered secrets first.
"Understood." Jiang Zhe asked, "Anything else I should watch for?"
"Be wary of the king-level powerhouses inside. Influenced by the prison's environment, their god body amplitude far exceeds the average kings outside—usually over ten times stronger. Don't underestimate them."
"Got it." Jiang Zhe nodded. "Now, send someone to teleport me in."
The demon spirit's eyes briefly showed surprise but she swallowed her words. She didn't ask why Jiang Zhe didn't just use his own god-nation teleport. Instead, she contacted a marquis-level undying to assist.
Why didn't Jiang Zhe do it himself?
It was simple: he couldn't.
His soul cultivation had diverged from traditional systems. He had no god-nation—only a universe within.
"Lord, if you'd like, consider disguising yourself. Don't let the prison's inmates realize you're human."
"They'll covet your possible anonymous virtual accounts—and more importantly, your token to escape the Silent Wind Prison. Once exposed, you'll become everyone's target."
Leaving this last bit of advice, the marquis undying activated the god-nation teleport and departed. The churning Silent Wind around them made him unwilling to stay even a second longer.
Jiang Zhe stood on the barren surface of a desolate planet, feeling the vast currents surging around him.
It was the Silent Wind, gnawing at his god body, producing a sensation as if grit had invaded his very being.
The Silent Wind within the prison was still considered mild.
Had it been the belt outside, the "gritty" pain would've already begun disintegrating his god body.
The Silent Wind disrupts spatial fluctuations. Thus, inside the prison, neither instantaneous movement nor god-nation teleportation is possible. Only this token serves as an essential pass.
Jiang Zhe glanced at the loop on his left ring finger.
Channeling his intangible divine power into it, the golden threads unfurled, extending into ethereal strands that wove a net, rooting into the void.
Invisible ripples spread outward. The Silent Wind instantly receded, space stabilized… Just as that marquis undying had done before leaving.
However, the token only worked inside the prison.
In the broader Silent Wind Belt, it had no effect whatsoever—divine power would vanish like stones dropped into the sea.
The Virtual Universe Company had long experimented with this. Countless think tanks from the peak races found no loopholes for Jiang Zhe to exploit.
Jiang Zhe mused to himself—
The Silent Wind Prison has many similarities to the Doukou Race's Ice Prison.
Which is why I suspect it's actually a massive treasure. If I could make it recognize me as master, I might be able to pilot it through the belt and retrieve the 'Beast God Clan' relics hidden deep inside.
Naturally, he wasn't the only clever one—others in the human race had thought of the same possibility.
But they couldn't find the prison's core. Even Universe Masters had probed its depths and found nothing.
All of this, the demon spirit had candidly told him beforehand.
There's also a strange substance within the Silent Wind. Refining it into the god body can greatly boost amplitude…
But the trade-off is dependency. Once refined, the god body will disintegrate if it leaves the Silent Wind's domain.
I'm not afraid. I want to try it.
Jiang Zhe's boldness stemmed from his unique confidence.
I refuse to believe mere Silent Wind could corrupt my divine crystals. At worst, this god body gets ruined… Other undyings treat theirs like lifelines, but my god body resembles that of a true god. Even total annihilation wouldn't affect me.
As the Silent Wind gnawed at him, Jiang Zhe couldn't hold back his thoughts.
He even spared a glance into his world ring.
As expected—
The Silent Wind had seeped in unnoticed, obliterating every living thing inside that pocket world.
Jiang Zhe shook his head with a wry smile.
"I'd hoped to hide inside a mechanical puppet carrying this world ring to traverse the belt… but that clearly doesn't work."
"Of course, if there was such a loophole, the Chaos City Lord wouldn't have lost a clone in the depths of the belt."
Abandoning these ideas, he sat cross-legged on the planet's barren surface, allowing the Silent Wind to temper his god body as he carefully observed the changes.
Virtual Universe, Dark God Nation
Jiang Zhe stepped into the most imposing of the dark temples, bowing low before the roiling currents of chaos at the temple's heart.
"Disciple Jiang Zhe greets Teacher. I seek your guidance."
The chaos surged, and a figure appeared before him, lifting him up with ethereal divine power.
"My disciple, you've just conquered the World Tree of the sector lord level—right now you're at your peak momentum. What guidance do you need from me?"
It was none other than the Lord of Darkness himself.
The coldness on his face melted into a kind smile as he patted Jiang Zhe's shoulder.
Jiang Zhe's lips twitched into a modest smile.
"Teacher, I'm still far from satisfied with what I've achieved."
The Lord of Darkness gave an approving nod.
"Good. Only with that attitude can you become stronger. Tell me—what do you seek guidance on?"
"Teacher, I wish to create an ultimate technique. I hope you can give me systematic instruction."
He added seriously,
"I'm not satisfied with creating an immortal-level technique. I want to forge one at the sovereign level. You know my situation—if I fail to develop such a technique, I may never break through to the undying realm."
In truth, he was being conservative.
With three perfect genetic lifeforms and an internal universe twelve light-years across… even a sovereign-level technique might not suffice.
To exaggerate further could startle his teacher.
The Lord of Darkness frowned slightly, then asked,
"So you plan to stay in Chaos City to develop this technique? When will you undergo your life-or-death tempering at the sector lord level?"
"Teacher, once I form the embryo of an ultimate technique, I'll leave Chaos City to begin that tempering."
The Lord of Darkness nodded.
"Have you decided where to go? The outer battlefield?"
Jiang Zhe muttered,
"Teacher, given that no sovereigns intervene, would the outer battlefield still temper me?"
Their eyes met, both thinking of that unfortunate near-invincible Zerg Mother Queen.
Based on Jiang Zhe's ludicrous performance at the World Tree, sending him to the outer battlefield was like unleashing a lion into a flock of sheep.
Not merely to harvest military merits—more like shopping in a slave market.
When had humanity ever produced such a monster? There was no precedent for cultivating one.
The Lord of Darkness massaged his forehead.
"Forget it. I'll arrange for you to explore a secret realm outside human territory."
"Now, let's discuss your sovereign-level technique. How far have your law insights come?"
Jiang Zhe replied,
"I've fully comprehended the laws of thunder and earth, and I've been acknowledged by the laws of time. I'm now striving toward fully grasping time stop."
"That's not enough. With just that, you can't craft a sovereign-level technique."
The Lord of Darkness shook his head.
"Show me the progress of your fusion of thunder and time laws."
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