Chapter 33: Mechanical Demon Spirit!
"Source Essence?"
"So that's what the 'nameless light particles' are called… They finally have a name."
"But wait… the[Conqueror]talent secret art says this Source Essence is used to transform the body and soul?"
Jiang Zhe blinked in surprise, then quickly realized what it meant.
"It's definitely not referring to the way the 'Life Blueprint' uses the light particles. Transforming the body and soul doesn't mean improving gene level."
"Even the Origin Will placed restrictions on the 'Nine Tribulations Codex.' There's no way it would contradict itself by gifting me some heaven-defying method that lets me increase my gene level just by cultivating… It's stingy even about giving me a clone! Like hell it would let me evolve that easily!"
"Transform the body and soul, huh?"
That phrasing stirred something in Jiang Zhe's mind—he couldn't help but recall Luo Feng's journey:
Practicing the Ink Star Spiritual Master method required modifying the soul.
Heaven and Earth As One involved burning countless treasures to remodel the body of a Golden-Horned Beast.
The Supreme Demon Sound technique was 99% focused on soul transformation…
"But I don't have any of those secret methods. I'm using Source Essence directly to skip all those steps and achieve the end result?"
Jiang Zhe rubbed his chin. Come to think of it… it made sense.
"If the Origin Will can casually create something like the 'I Am the Universe' secret art, then whipping up a simple talent method for enhancing body/soul resonance shouldn't be difficult at all."
"Now there's a real question—can the Source Essence drops affected by the [Conqueror]talent still be used by the Life Blueprint?"
He shook his head. "Forget guessing—I'll try it out later."
"Right now, priority one: use the Dragon Blood to push my spiritual power to its current max. I need that strength to stay safe on Earth."
"Hopefully Dragon Blood still works on me… even with 3x gene level."
"Before I left home, I tested my punch strength: 68,472 kg."
"68 tons!"
"And that's without dedicated training. I spent the past few weeks constantly fighting and mostly absorbing cosmic energy by instinct—no real focused cultivation—and I still gained nearly 15 tons of punch force. That proves my bloodline level isn't just for show."
"My base-level combat power—what we call 'theoretical realm' or life tier—is 34 tons, which corresponds to a 6th-tier Apprentice / early-stage High War General."
"Now that I've reached 3x gene level… my punch power should be over 100 tons. Physically, I'm on par with a late-stage Elementary War God."
---
Dragon Blood was currently on sale at just 80 billion credits per vial. A War God could barely afford it by gritting their teeth.
That price alone proved that—regardless of stage—the power Dragon Blood provided had its limits.
Jiang Zhe opened the small metal case he carried with him. Inside were five tubes of Dragon Blood.
Technically…
3 vials was enough.
4 was overkill.
5 would be wasteful.
But Jiang Zhe didn't hesitate.
"Am I supposed to worry about wasting a little Dragon Blood now? The priority is to fully saturate my body!"
He stripped off his SS-class combat suit and deactivated the Black God armor.
Using spiritual force, he uncorked all five vials and poured the thick golden liquid over his body, rubbing it evenly into every inch of skin.
Heat rushed through him—it had begun.
The Dragon Blood was rapidly absorbed, seeping in at visible speed. A warm current surged through his limbs and organs.
Heat!
Tingling!
Pain!
His cross-legged body trembled violently—muscles spasmed, heart rate soared, blood rushed faster.
The sound of his heartbeat thundered like war drums.
It felt just like that day on his birthday. He knew—it was his Prokaryotic Core reacting.
That solid sphere inside him was unleashing vast waves of spiritual energy, working in sync with the Dragon Blood to push his body to the next level.
"Strange… why didn't this happen before?"
"Like when I increased my gene multiplier to 2x or 3x, my spiritual energy doubled or tripled. But back then, it didn't overflow like this."
The reason became clear:
Previously, everything had increased synchronously. There was no extra energy to leak out.
Imagine the body as a wooden barrel, and spiritual energy as the water inside.
Before, the barrel was full.
Now, the Dragon Blood had raised the barrel's height—more space meant more spiritual energy could pour in.
While using internal vision, Jiang Zhe noticed something else: the solid spiritual-energy sphere in his core was also expanding as his gene level increased.
Good news… but with a caveat.
"The Spirit Master breakthrough method from Ruins No. 9 mentioned this: people with unusually large brain domains have a harder time breaking through from Apprentice to Planetary stage."
---
In his Prokaryotic Core, a misty and liquid-filled space trembled.
At the center, a purple-golden orb violently spewed fog, flooding the area until it reached maximum density.
The fog condensed into droplets that fell into a churning river of spiritual force.
---
Two hours later…
The transformation was complete. Jiang Zhe opened his eyes.
He looked like he'd crawled out of a coal mine—skin covered in thick black gunk.
Wiping it off his belly revealed a bronzed, radiant physique.
He found an underground river and washed up. Afterward, he re-bonded with his Black God suit, threw on his SS-class uniform, and restored his usual sharp, commanding appearance.
It was time to reassess his strength.
Though estimating exact values was tricky—it all depended on how much effect the Dragon Blood had. Just a 0.1x variation in gene level could mean 10 tons of punch force.
This time, however, Jiang Zhe had a baseline: his Spirit Master realm.
"Spirit Master, Apprentice Ninth Tier!"
"I finally reached the required threshold—time to chop the tree again."
He'd just cracked the secret:
Every major breakthrough granted one "tree-chopping" opportunity.
As a Pre-Warrior, before cultivating Gene Origin Energy, he got the first chop.
Upon awakening Spirit Master powers, he jumped directly to Apprentice Tier 3—but really, he'd earned the second chop at Tier 1.
Now, breaking through to Apprentice Tier 9 gave him the third chop.
He predicted the fourth would come at Planetary Level 1.
"One at the beginning, one at the end… A cycle, perhaps?"
He shook his head to clear his thoughts and dove into the inner world of his core.
His strength had expanded the land to 70 meters in length and width. The ancient tree at the center had a trunk 7 meters thick.
Its leafy canopy covered over 5,000 square meters, with branches stretching into the surrounding chaos.
All of this validated his assumptions.
"70 meters… that places my Warrior realm at Apprentice Tier 7, and Spirit Master at Tier 9."
But his true battle power was far beyond that—multiply it by 3 for the actual measure.
Approaching the ancient tree, he saw that the second wound had healed into a knot. Fresh bark covered the once-visible "new flesh."
He grabbed the woodcutter's axe and swung again, striking a new wound just beside the others.
"Hey Tree! Hey Axe! Don't forget to give me a clone this time!"
Clang!
Golden light burst forth. The axe was ejected, and a golden orb shot from the tree wound and rolled to the ground.
The axe grew heavier and flew back to the stone table.
Jiang Zhe crouched down, touched the orb—and the gold light dispersed, revealing a bronze sphere the size of a human head.
"Not a clone, huh?" Jiang Zhe sighed, a little disappointed.
The sphere was etched with complex runes and gear patterns. A clear steampunk vibe radiated from it.
Two bronze rings wrapped around it—one full circle, the other a half-circle—crossing each other at a dull sapphire embedded like an eye.
As soon as Jiang Zhe touched it, a stream of information flooded his mind.
His eyes widened.
He re-emerged from his core world, bronze orb in hand.
---
Jiang Zhe knew that as long as a genius didn't reveal anything too crazy, Chaos City and the Giant Axe Guild wouldn't pry into their secrets.
To him, this thing probably wasn't even enough to draw attention—likely wouldn't even get a "low-grade" evaluation.
Because… it was just a subsidiary metallic lifeform.
---
In the dark cave by the underground river, Jiang Zhe held the bronze orb aloft.
Slice! A spiritual-force-controlled SS-grade flying dagger cut open his wrist, spilling blood onto the orb to complete the bonding process.
His cells were so active that the wound healed too quickly—he had to cut again.
Finally, the blue gemstone turned deep red, and the orb emitted a crimson glow.
Time froze.
A terrifying, oppressive will descended—the Origin Will had returned.
To be honest, even it was confused.
"Another new species? What's going on here?"
Still, it ran through its usual protocol:
Aid the emergence of the talent secret art
Record the life structure of the new species
Update its cosmic database
Only after completing the routine did the Origin Will depart.
Time resumed.
Jiang Zhe sensed it but didn't dwell on it.
The bronze orb rose to chest height and shrank to the size of a fist, emitting red light.
A female humanoid figure formed in the glow.
Then, she solidified—becoming a beautiful brass doll woman.
"Pleased to meet you, my noble master. Please grant me a name!"
She curtsied with a refined western-style bow.
Even without a skirt—she was elegance incarnate.
Her voice echoed in both the cave and Jiang Zhe's mind.
Jiang Zhe had expected something like this.
Subsidiary lifeforms were entirely subject to their master's will. He accepted her presence without hesitation.
"I'll name you…" A mischievous impulse struck him. "You'll be called Mechanical Demon Spirit—Orianna!"
She bowed again. "Thank you for the name, Master. Orianna will never let you down!"
Jiang Zhe nodded in satisfaction and began studying the brass doll in more detail, switching to telepathic communication.
"Anna, you've adapted to this universe, right? What's your current state? Do you have a talent secret art?"
"Yes, Master. Based on the knowledge you transmitted to me, I belong to a 'subsidiary metallic lifeform' type, bonded to your existence."
"I am a special lifeform—similar in structure to the Mechanical Race. I can serve as a battle armor, reducing damage you take, while also functioning as an intelligent AI."
"Additionally, I can fight independently. My current strength is Planetary Level 1, with a 3x gene level."
Jiang Zhe's eyes widened. "Did you say… 3x gene level?"
"Same as me? Are you able to synchronize with my gene multiplier?"
Orianna shook her head. "I am a special lifeform. My gene level increases with my power."
"At Planetary Level: 3x."
"At Stellar Level: 10x."
"At Cosmic Level: 49x."
"At Domain Lord: 81x."
"At Sector Lord: 100x."
Jiang Zhe gasped. "That's your limit? Can it go higher?"
"Please watch, Master."
The brass doll dissolved into light, leaving behind the floating bronze core.
Suddenly, it split into three smaller orbs, each the size of an egg.
Three red beams intertwined again, projecting three Oriannas.
They solidified into three brass dolls, standing proudly in the cave.
Jiang Zhe understood.
"So… it's 3x gene level because you literally split into three!"
"Exactly, Master. 100x is our natural limit. To go beyond, we must assimilate metal lifeforms similar to us."
Jiang Zhe's heart thumped. "You mean… like the Mechanical Race?"
"Correct, but I need direct contact with one to be sure."
"Good. Good! That opportunity will come soon," Jiang Zhe said, excitement bubbling in his chest. "There's one Mechanical Race member on Earth. It's a corpse—but we'll take a look."
"Thank you, Master!"
"There's no need for thanks. We're in this together."
"Understood, Master!"
Yet, despite his words, Orianna's demeanor didn't change at all.
Jiang Zhe didn't push it further.
He simply sighed to himself:
"Any gift from the system is guaranteed to be elite."
"I thought she'd be an ordinary minion… but her gene potential might rival World Trees or Devouring Insect Kings."
"Anna, you mentioned a talent secret art?"
"Yes, Master. I possess three innate secret arts."