Chapter 41 – Opening the World!
The more Jiang Zhe read, the more amazed he became. The entire secret technique had been adapted perfectly, seamlessly aligning with the cultivation system of this world.
As long as one's consciousness was strong enough, they could begin cultivation as soon as their soul core manifested.
In theory, even someone at the Planetary Level could begin training.
His own soul core now resided at the center of his Prokaryotic Space as a micro-planet.
At the Stellar Level, it would become a micro-star at the center.
At the Cosmic Level, a black hole would form at the heart of the spiral arms.
At the Domain Lord Level, the soul would condense into a crystalline nucleus and fuse with the newly born Life Core.
At the World Lord Level, the soul and energy cores would merge into a Primordial Orb.
Then came the most unique phase of the Devour Cultivation System:
Crush the soul, merge it into the body, and form a Divine Body.
Once you entered that phase, cultivating a second nascent soul would be permanently impossible!
The amount of content hidden in this secret technique was staggering—so vast that Jiang Zhe could only describe it as boundless.
Having a visible, tangible, and dividable soul form was only the first threshold.
It simply meant you could cut the soul.
But to survive soul splitting, your soul foundation must be immensely strong.
Imagine this:
It's like undergoing major surgery. If your body isn't strong enough, going under the knife could kill you. Even if the operation succeeds, you might be bedridden for months.
Therefore, the secret technique had a second threshold:
Your willpower, consciousness, and mental force must also be strong enough!
Lastly, the third threshold:
You needed a suitable vessel to house the second soul.
From the information etched in the golden foldable page, the secret technique categorized cultivation into four tiers:
1. Minimum: Planetary Level — the "bankruptcy-style" training method.
2. Optimal: Stellar Level — where consciousness and mental power meet the standard, and the soul core is easier to split.
3. Common: Cosmic Level — guaranteed success if you have a proper vessel.
4. Hard Mode: Domain/World Lord Level — even though it's possible, the soul has hardened, and cutting it is a gamble with death.
---
"Vessel, vessel…"
Jiang Zhe scratched his head, staring at the golden foldable page on the stone table, clearly troubled. Then he turned to mystic prayer.
"Mechanical Immortal bro, I even buried you properly! Can't you leave me a second-soul vessel as a funeral service fee?"
Forget about a Heart of Space—even a single high-grade material was a luxury right now.
He could only consider immortal-grade spirit treasures from heaven and earth.
The Mechanical Race specialized in weapons, had strict material requirements, and above all—relied heavily on energy.
With that in mind, there might be some big stuff hidden in the immortal's stash!
He wasn't going to waste time hoping for space or time-related treasures—anything linked to the eight lower-level laws would serve as a decent fallback.
"Once I get out, I'm going all in on that World Bracelet…" Jiang Zhe silently resolved.
He was also weighing another question:
If I really get a vessel at Planetary Level, should I use the 'bankruptcy-style' training method described in the foldable page?
The so-called bankruptcy-style involved elevating your gene level to 7–8x, massively increasing your mental energy and awareness, and then forcing the soul core to return to the central soul sphere.
With consciousness, willpower, and mental force acting as one—one clean cut to split the soul.
Only someone with a broad brain domain and a gifted consciousness sea like him could even attempt this approach.
For normal Planetary Level cultivators, their stats would be far below what's required for second-soul cultivation.
Jiang Zhe shook his head, muttering,
"No. I better play it safe. I'm not like Luo Feng, forced to fight every step of the way. No need to take risks. The second method is the optimal one."
"First priority: obtain a vessel for the second soul at Planetary Level."
"Then raise my gene level to at least 5x. When I hit Planetary Level 8 in physical cultivation, I'll have fully absorbed the soul gift and advanced to Stellar Level 1 in mental cultivation. At that point, all three—will, consciousness, and force—will meet the standard. That'll be the perfect time to cultivate the second soul."
As he was deep in thought, Jiang Zhe suddenly frowned.
Some extra details about second soul cultivation surfaced in his memory.
For example, the "Nuwa Visualization Technique."
Or even just any proper visualization technique would do.
"Some people start visualizing from childhood, which helps split their soul early and speeds up recovery afterward."
Jiang Zhe muttered again, "Ah Tree, you gave me this entire second soul secret technique, but couldn't throw in a visualization method too?"
"Stingy… at least lend me one!"
He picked up the golden foldable page to review it again—and suddenly felt something strange on the back.
"???"
He flipped it over and saw a new secret technique engraved in Hanxia script.
"You actually did give me something?"
"Dormant Dragon Method"? By 'Fuyaozi'? Isn't that… Ancestor Chen Tuan?"
Jiang Zhe, having read ancient texts since childhood, immediately recognized the reference.
"Fuyao" was taken from the Zhuangzi, meaning:
"He who rides the wind, soars for ninety thousand miles in a single breath."
"It's completely unrelated to the second soul secret technique. It's like it was just slapped onto the back randomly."
He flipped over the Life Blueprint Foldable Page—nothing on the back.
He read the new method carefully, and as he did, his surprise grew—until he finally beamed with joy.
The Dormant Dragon Method was actually usable!
It was unclear whether it trained the heart, consciousness, or will, but it was definitely tied to soul cultivation.
"The dragon returns to the primordial sea, Yang retreats into Yin. People call it the Dormant Dragon—I call it Dormant Mind. Hide its use, breathe deeply. Sleep high in the clouds—there are no kindred spirits in this world."
"Zhuang Zhou once dreamed he was a butterfly, fluttering happily with no awareness of being Zhuang Zhou. Upon waking, he was Zhuang Zhou again. But was it Zhuang Zhou dreaming of the butterfly—or the butterfly dreaming of Zhuang Zhou?"
Jiang Zhe instinctively recited passages from the Zhuangzi.
Then murmured,
"In essence, the cultivation method is: Sleep!
Emulate Zhuang Zhou's butterfly dream, and use dream illusions to nourish and evolve the spirit!"
"Brilliant! I've learned it. When I go out later, I'm sleeping!"
The method required certain postures, transitions, and resonating with the meaning of "Zhuang Zhou's Butterfly Dream."
It sounded complex, but was surprisingly easy to learn.
After one reading, Jiang Zhe memorized it fully and felt confident he could succeed after one or two attempts.
"Perfect. The Dormant Dragon Method fills the visualization gap. I don't need to worry about soul recovery after splitting."
He stacked the two golden foldable pages on the table.
No exaggeration—if a Universe Master obtained these techniques, they'd treat them as priceless treasures.
Jiang Zhe was now looking forward to what "Ah Tree" would surprise him with next.
He began counting on his fingers.
"First, push my warrior cultivation to Planetary Level."
"Then go into space to find nutrition fluid and quickly hit Planetary Level 8. That'll fully unleash my mental cultivation."
"As for money... I'll think about it later."
"Finding a vessel for the second soul… That'll have to be left to fate."
"Right now, the priority is modifying my soul structure according to the second soul secret technique."
If he didn't alter the structure first and jumped straight into soul splitting—it would be catastrophic.
Just like Luo Feng had to reshape his soul into the Ink Star form to cultivate the Soul Seal secret technique…
Or transform it into the Demon Sound General form for the Supreme Demon Sound technique.
Once reshaped, the soul would become more adaptive and resilient, reducing the risk of it shattering upon splitting.
Jiang Zhe studied the soul modification technique again and couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"The technique in the Second Soul Secret Method not only preps for splitting, but it also lets me simulate Ink Star's exclusive mental force—meaning I can cultivate the Soul Seal without needing its inheritance or slowly modifying myself."
"But… I'm not really interested in Soul Seal. That technique is only good for controlling others. And even that has some risks—it can backfire."
"What matters most to me is that I might be able to learn any school's mental force technique across the universe—even without modifying my force to match!"
Jiang Zhe rubbed his chin and took a sharp breath:
"Hoo~ Little Formless Technique?"
He counted more fingers.
"Still need to practice '312 Basic Controller Moves,' '186 Illusionist Basics,' the Controller section, the Illusionist section, the Void Tower…"
Most were foundational—non-negotiable if he wanted to progress far.
"Also… the Dormant Dragon Method. That's mandatory too."
…
Leaving his internal space, Jiang Zhe returned to his bedroom.
"Anna, I'm ready to break through to Planetary Level!"
"Master, your mental strength and willpower are already sufficient. Your body has reached the peak of the Apprentice Level. The breakthrough will be effortless—just a few breaths."
She handed him the breakthrough method she had long prepared.
Nine guided movements similar to a channeling technique.
Jiang Zhe performed them one after another.
His body turned hot, every cell bubbling with excitement.
The lingering nutrients from the spirit plants fully activated.
The previously unabsorbed gene energy began to gather like droplets, flowing into streams, then rivers…
Warm currents surged through his body, spinning and converging—all drawn into his lower abdomen.
BOOM!
In that instant, a Dantian that had never existed—was born!
Just like his earlier mental breakthrough, there was gathering, compression, and collapse.
His mind trembled.
His body convulsed from the pleasure.
He nearly moaned aloud—it felt that good.
Inside the now-spacious Dantian, a micro-planet took shape.
It was not transparent, but dark purple, composed of countless six-faced crystalline fragments.
It spun, emitting mysterious ripples.
At his command, threads of dark-purple energy flowed from it into his body.
Just like before—only this time, stronger!
His bone marrow, skeleton, organs, muscles, tendons, meridians, and skin—all began rapid evolution.
Suddenly—
"AH—IT HURTS! What the hell!?"
Jiang Zhe yanked off his dark-blue robe and looked at his bare chest in disbelief.
It was as if someone were chiseling a sculpture into his torso!
A dark purple vertical mark emerged—longer, sharper—seven centimeters, then it began spreading sideways.
It looked eerily like a third eye forming on his chest… with stylish purple eye-shadow.
He felt something taking shape in his chest, like the Dantian earlier.
From that spot, thin threads—like veins—spread throughout his body.
These threads were connecting every part of him—bone marrow, organs, skin…
Jiang Zhe realized: This change was trying to replace the Dantian and mind-sea as the new body core.
More importantly—it had formed exactly where his Prokaryotic Core usually hovered:
The Crimson Palace.
The Prokaryotic Core had already merged into it.
A space within a space?
Who taught you to play like this?
Eventually, the change finished.
Then suddenly—tightened.
It pulsed like a heartbeat, tugging on all those threads at once!
The cramp-like agony was unbearable.
But that was the final wave.
His physical evolution to Planetary Level was complete.
And in the Prokaryotic Space—
As his body evolved, the dark purple soul sphere erupted, ejecting mental energy.
Gather, swirl, collapse—
A second… and a third… smaller transparent micro-planets formed, orbiting the central one.
Mentalist Cultivation: Planetary Level, Stage 3!
That's the terrifying thing about a brain domain width of 40!
Most mentalists who could reach 40x mental resonance were already Stellar Level 9.
But Jiang Zhe didn't care about that.
He lay on the floor, gasping for breath, drenched in sweat—as if he'd just wet himself.
Orianna circled around him like she'd just discovered a rare species.
He rolled his eyes and asked:
"Anna… any guess what kind of special ability I just awakened?"
Babata had guessed Luo Feng's "Vajra Body" from the cracking sound of his bones during his transformation.
Orianna had read Babata's memories and studied all the Ink Star's legacies.
She must be able to identify this.
Especially something this obvious.
Jiang Zhe looked down at the 7cm-long, 2-finger-wide dark purple diamond-shaped mark on his chest.
"Master… you may have hit the jackpot. This special ability doesn't exist in the Ink Star records."
"From the signs… it looks like you've developed a second internal world?"
An inner world?
Yes—it really did feel that way!
Jiang Zhe frowned and activated the ability.
"It's a 10-meter cube—composed entirely of lightning energy."
"I can feed it lightning-element treasures. It breaks them down and stores a unique type of energy…"
"I can use that energy to boost physical stats, or unleash it as an attack in emergencies…"
Jiang Zhe was thrilled by the discovery.
After all, in the vast universe, human physical strength wasn't worth much.
Some species at World Lord level could travel the Dark Universe—humans couldn't even with 3x gene levels. You'd need 10x.
Even immortals with divine bodies had racial differences.
Metal and rock lifeforms had monstrous defenses—nearly indestructible divine bodies.
Energy beings could form divine bodies even before reaching immortality—and were often harder to kill than even immortal military lords.
[Note: These traits are not fan-made—they're based on Luo Feng's experiences in the Outer Battlefield.]