Chapter 40: The Secret Art of the Second Nascent Soul!
Consciousness is the general, commanding the soldiers of spiritual force.
But above consciousness, there exists an even higher authority...
— Willpower.
In similar fashion:
Will is the general, and consciousness its soldiers.
When it comes to willpower, it naturally ties into the cultivation of mental state. And among all beings, Earth-born souls excel in this domain.
Sixteen years ago, a wandering soul from another world drifted here.
Jiang Zhe had personally witnessed his own soul being reshaped and reborn by Earth's influence. Countless mysterious insights were forcibly crammed into his mind. Though he hadn't been able to fully grasp them—and now retained only a faint impression—the transformation gave him a natural talent no less than the three top-tier powerhouses of Earth.
Just a few days ago, he made a breakthrough in his mental cultivation, touching upon a realm akin to the legendary "unity of heaven and man."
His own understanding was—
"Heaven and I are born together; all things and I are one."
When it came to "integration," Jiang Zhe excelled. His scattered consciousness flowed seamlessly into his spiritual power, blending like milk into water.
This allowed him to surpass the most difficult phase of the secret technique "Infinite Maha".
His spiritual power, once an unrestrained wild horse, now charged forward carrying fragments of his consciousness.
But as the secret art unfolded, dominance began to shift.
The wild horse was tamed, reined in—guided by the scattered fragments of consciousness, which gradually regained autonomy. They followed the "program" preset by Jiang Zhe before his consciousness was shattered.
Within his proto-core space, the vast ocean of spiritual power was divided into 81 surging rivers—each one like a fierce dragon thrashing through the void.
These rivers devoured the surrounding spiritual mist to grow stronger, while encircling a central orb of purple-gold light.
It looked like a "dragon pearl"—and any dragon that devoured it would be reborn as a true dragon.
Was this a kind of soul-forging ritual?
Jiang Zhe suspected that the secret art carried such meaning.
As the "Infinite Maha" technique continued, the fragments of consciousness were nourished by spiritual force. His mind grew clearer, and he gradually regained awareness of his internal state—though only within the proto-core space.
It felt like being split into 81 separate beings—trying to multitask with 81 minds. Focus was almost impossible and left him very uncomfortable.
But if it weren't uncomfortable…
It would practically be 81 times the spiritual amplification.
He observed as the fragmented consciousness guided the 81 spiritual rivers—this was the "autopilot" function he had set up before scattering his consciousness. Now that his mind was clear again, it was time to switch to manual control.
But he couldn't just rush in.
Any mishandling might cause two rivers of power to collide prematurely and interrupt the secret art, forcing him to start from scratch.
In truth, the process was very similar to controlling spiritual weapons.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhe had 15x spiritual amplification. After waiting for a moment, he took full control of 15 threads of consciousness.
The remaining 66 threads were then gradually taken over with divided focus.
Though he couldn't fully control them all at once, the spiritual rivers now moved with a sluggish drag—like muddy water—compared to before. Still, they now felt "alive," awakened by his touch.
Following the next steps of the technique, he directed them to orbit the purple-gold orb, weaving around it, gradually forming a vast and majestic aura.
Then came the breakthrough.
In a moment of epiphany, Jiang Zhe sensed the time was ripe.
The "soul-forging" ritual had reached its climax. He directed all 81 spiritual rivers to collide!
The consciousness fragments, nourished to brilliance, began to merge and devour each other.
The rivers of spiritual power burst like torrential rain, crashing to the bottom of the space and reforming into a vast ocean of power.
Gradually, only 17 spiritual rivers remained.
These were the ones Jiang Zhe could now fully control—indicating his spiritual amplification had increased to 17x!
And again—collision!
Until finally, only a single spiritual river remained, with a radiant full-moon-like core of consciousness at its heart.
The discomfort from the scattered consciousness vanished. Jiang Zhe returned to peak condition.
He then completed the final step of the "Infinite Maha" technique: guiding this single, unified spiritual river to plunge into the ocean of spiritual power below!
The proto-core space returned to stillness.
Only the calm sea of spiritual force remained—along with the floating purple-gold orb.
But this ocean now held a terrifying depth, as if hiding and nurturing something in silence.
Until—the moon rose from the sea!
The merged consciousness surged from the spiritual sea, shooting straight into the purple-gold orb.
Moon rises, tide follows.
The ocean of spiritual power surged upward—not waves, but a tide of force, enveloping the orb entirely.
"Buzz~"
The proto-core space began to quake.
A massive gravitational pull emanated from the orb—like a black hole, drawing all spiritual force toward its core.
Buzz... Buzz...
With each pulse, the waves of spiritual power vanished, leaving behind a void—vast and desolate like the empty cosmos.
In the stillness of darkness, two spheres hung in tandem.
Above, a massive dark-purple orb—dull and lifeless.
Not a metaphor—literally dead. It had once been a crystallized form of spiritual power, but the soul it held had moved on.
Where did the soul go?
Below.
A much smaller orb radiated with soft light—Jiang Zhe's soul core.
This crystalline globe, dazzling and transparent, was composed of countless pyramid-shaped crystals, fused into a single "planet."
From within it, strange, invisible ripples spread—
Piercing through the proto-core and radiating outward, enveloping Jiang Zhe's body.
His physical form began to evolve.
Bone marrow, skeleton, organs, blood, muscles, fascia, skin—every system transformed, while his genetic structure rapidly deconstructed and recombined.
A metamorphosis of life.
A leap in his lifeform's hierarchy.
He no longer needed to breathe. He could fly freely. He could survive in deep space.
And—qualify as a citizen of the interstellar age. At least earn a living.
"Congratulations, Master. You've stepped into the Planetary Level," said Oriana, bowing respectfully as Jiang Zhe stood up.
"Ha! It's not a big deal," he replied, though the grin on his face said otherwise.
"What time is it now, Anna?" Jiang Zhe looked outside. The red sun was just rising over the window.
"October 19th, 9:32 AM," Oriana reported. "Your breakthrough took 37 hours and 22 minutes."
Jiang Zhe nodded and headed for a shower. Halfway through, he asked, "Did anything happen at home while I was in seclusion?"
Oriana reported the events of the past two days.
"Your grandfather and uncle took turns watching over the top floor of the Martial Hall to protect you. Your uncle is on guard now."
"Send a message to the family: I've broken through, lift the guard," said Jiang Zhe.
She complied and continued, "Your father and second uncle each consumed a Spirit of Flora. Their physical strength has reached peak High Warlord level. They're just waiting for a chance to break through to the Planetary level. Should we help push them?"
"No rush. Both of them can grasp intents—their talents are decent. Let them polish their consciousness slowly and break through naturally."
"The female members of the household have been taking spirit-infused medicinal wine and are steadily improving their strength."
"Your second brother, Jiang Wu, left the elite training camp. He's been in close contact with the Ye family lately—looks like he's about to get engaged."
Jiang Zhe laughed. "Haha, the black bear's hit mating season? Guess I'll need to prepare a wedding gift."
...
Soon after the message was sent, Grandpa and Uncle came by to check on him. When they saw Jiang Zhe levitate effortlessly, even though they had expected it, they were still stunned.
After all—he had reached Planetary level at just 16 years old, with less than three months of training.
And that wasn't all.
Jiang Zhe hadn't even told them—he could skip directly to Star level.
That's the perk of being a Mental Force Cultivator. Early on, it's like riding a rocket. As long as your mind-sea hasn't exhausted its "gift," your cultivation speed will never slow.
Take Catlan for example: after reaching Elementary Warlord as a Mental Cultivator, his progress became turtle-paced.
Luo Feng, after hitting Planetary level, surpassed his mental cultivation in just one year and advanced to Planetary level 3—four months ahead of schedule.
That's how a Mental Cultivator normally slows down—after burning through their "gift."
Jiang Zhe left the courtyard, visited his parents and second uncle's home, and was soon dragged away by his second brother to complete the Warlord Certification.
Just two months ago, his grandfather had been the one escorting him through the wilds. Now, he was the babysitter for his family.
The five of them looked at each other, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Three generations of the Jiang family—including his little aunt Jiang Chengcheng—formed a hunting team to complete their mid-year trial and title certification.
Along the way, Jiang Zhe tested his new Planetary-level strength.
—A single flying knife strike now carried an astonishing 5,749 tons of force!
This was with a 3x gene base, putting him at the peak of Planetary level 1—not far from forming his second micro "planet."
—Using only spiritual force to fly: over 2,000 meters per second!
—Using magnetic fields and mental energy: 2,462 m/s!
—With all methods combined (including his Stealth Skimmer): 5,048 m/s!
The fastest speed on Earth, bar none.
...
After seven days of wild-zone training, they returned on the evening of October 27th.
Autumn winds blew, the cold was setting in, and the servants were wearing sweaters. But Jiang Zhe stood beneath the stars in his dark-blue Daoist robe.
He gazed toward the constellation Wu Xian.
A faint, distant call stirred within his soul—fragile like an infant's cry, yet full of life.
"Was it born because of me?"
Jiang Zhe murmured, then turned back inside.
In his room, he shut the curtains tightly and instructed Oriana to stand guard.
Then—Jiang Zhe vanished from sight. If one looked closely, a near-invisible bead of stone remained where he had stood.
His internal space.
Now it spanned over 90 meters wide.
Once his Origin Force cultivation broke into Planetary level, his internal world would reach 100 meters, the starting point. Until Universe level, there wouldn't be tenfold leaps between major realms.
"Later expansion should follow this world's scaling laws," Jiang Zhe guessed, mentally calculating.
Planetary level:
1st to 5th tier = 100 to 900 meters
6th to 9th tier = 1 km to 9 km
Stellar level:
1st to 9th tier = 10 to 90 km
At the Universe level, a massive leap occurred—from 99.99 km to 1,000 km!
Jiang Zhe mock-prayed to the cosmic system, "Dear Primordial Universe Bro, just follow this curve, okay? If it spikes too fast, I'll get stuck at the World Lord level."
Then he grabbed the lumber axe and walked toward a giant tree with a trunk over 9 meters thick.
He aimed for the area near the three large knots and swung!
Turns out his guess was right. Tree-chopping opportunities came with realm breakthroughs—each symbolizing a beginning and an end.
And yes, it was based on the higher of his soul/body cultivation levels.
Only once per breakthrough. Second-time breakthroughs didn't count.
His breakthrough as a Mental Force Cultivator to Planetary level gave him one such chance.
He'd waited eight days, spent seven of them doing family errands, and only now had time to come in and swing the axe.
"Come on, Tree Bro! Give me a golden legend!"
Jiang Zhe roared and brought the axe down—
Clang!
Golden light burst forth, ejecting the axe blade from the tree. A golden orb rolled from the cut.
As usual, the axe grew heavy and flew back to the stone table on its own.
Jiang Zhe bent down, touched the glowing orb, and the light faded—revealing a golden folded page, just like the one from "Blueprint of Life".
Opening it, the first inner page had a column of unfamiliar characters.
Jiang Zhe didn't recognize them, but understood their meaning instinctively.
"Secret Art of the Second Nascent Soul"!
His eyes widened in delight.
—Not just a "clone" technique. It was possibly even superior.
"Wait... could it really be the one I'm thinking of?"
It was a signature ability from Desolate Era, potentially longer-lasting than this world's clone techniques, with unexpected side benefits.
For example:
In Desolate Era, the real protagonist didn't appear until Book 11. (coughs)
Of course, in terms of life-saving, it wasn't as strong. If your second soul or main body died, you died. You couldn't resurrect through the other.
But there were perks. When becoming a Universe Supreme, a Second Nascent Soul wouldn't disappear like clones would.
For bonus insight into laws, you just needed a suitable medium—
Like the One Qi Water Bead, which, when used as a vessel, enhanced one's comprehension of the water laws.
In this world, there was a known material from the original novel:
The Heart of Space!
A high-tier primordial treasure material containing spatial laws—almost like the One Qi Bead, but likely even better.
Jiang Zhe estimated: if you could find a vessel of that caliber—especially a law-infused natural treasure—you'd meet the requirements.
Just as he was deep in thought, the golden page suddenly reacted!
"Wait—I'm not done reading!" he yelled in panic.
The engraved text rapidly faded. Within seconds, the page was blank.
Then, as if a chisel was carving into it, familiar Chinese characters reappeared.
"Damn! You were just translating?! Scared the soul out of me!"
Jiang Zhe calmed himself and quickly memorized the contents. Slowly, understanding dawned on his face.
So it wasn't just a translation.
The "Secret Art of the Second Nascent Soul" had been adapted—perfectly aligned with the rules of this universe.