Chapter 46: Alpha Dog, Reporting to My Lord!
"Anyone below the level of War General—leave."
"Don't make me repeat myself!"
Jiang Zhe's cold gaze swept across the room. No one dared to disobey. The group of flirtatious girls that the old man had sneakily arranged quietly filed out.
All except for one.
A young girl stood frozen in place, clenching her fists tightly, biting her lip. As the others walked away one by one, she remained rooted where she was, looking helpless.
Jiang Zhe asked coldly, "Who are you? Why haven't you left?"
"I-I'm Lei Lei, fifteen years old. I came to the Jiang Family Martial Arts School to build my foundation," she replied, her stubborn eyes meeting his boldly.
Housekeeper Wu quickly stepped forward, trying to whisper something into Jiang Zhe's ear, but Jiang Zhe raised a hand to stop him.
There was no need. He already understood just from the name.
Lei Shen's daughter.
The poor girl whose boyfriend had been killed by her father for dating too early.
This one couldn't be driven away. She needed special treatment. But he had no plans to raise kids right now.
"Uncle Ye, take her to find my cousin Sisi. Let her be under her guidance for now."
Housekeeper Wu led Lei Lei away. Jiang Zhe turned his gaze back to the remaining warriors—some familiar faces among them.
There were core talents from the HR Alliance, tough-looking military elites, direct descendants of senators and war gods…
And a few independent martial artists who had passed the old man's vetting and come of their own accord.
Jiang Zhe treated them all the same and continued screening.
"Those who want to learn Spiritual Master techniques, stand on the left. Those who want to learn martial power skills, stand on the right."
"Reporting, sir!" one young man spoke up loudly.
"Speak."
From the man's upright posture, Jiang Zhe could already guess his background.
"Teacher, I want to learn both. What should I do?"
"You think I haven't considered that? Don't overthink it. Do as I say for now!"
"Yes, teacher!"
The young man stepped forward and stood on the left, setting an example.
The others quickly followed. In less than ten seconds, the group had split neatly into two camps.
What puzzled many, though, was that Katlan, a renowned War God–level Spiritual Master, had gone to the right.
Did he not value the techniques of Earth's number one Spiritual Master?
Some noticed Jiang Zhe giving Katlan an approving nod, which only confused them further.
Before they had time to think about it, Jiang Zhe dropped another bomb—"Mental Capacity Index."
Everyone perked up, fully focused, afraid to miss even a word.
Their own organizations had taught them that Spiritual Master talent varied, but none of them expected there to be a quantifiable measurement.
Watching Jiang Zhe holding the scanning device, grown adults in their twenties and thirties broke out in cold sweat.
"Mind Index: 7!"
"Mind Index: 5!"
"Mind Index: 9!"
"Mind Index: 13. Not bad. On par with Katlan. But I still don't recommend training as a Spiritual Master."
…
With Earth's inferior genes, even cultivating physical energy (Gene Source Force) was difficult—let alone the much slower-growing Spiritual Power.
Right now, Earth couldn't even provide proper nutrient fluids to aid energy accumulation.
Jiang Zhe warned them that for anyone with a Mind Index under 10, choosing to become a Spiritual Master could mean wasting decades of their life and still not even reaching mid-level War God.
They were better off becoming martial artists. Training Gene Source Force was simpler. Reach planetary level first, earn 1,000 years of lifespan, then think long term.
Those under Index 10 were given two choices: leave, or join the martial artist group.
No one left—they all chose to become martial artists.
For the three people with a Mind Index over 10, Jiang Zhe gave them a special "Consciousness Connector" wristband, allowing them to access a virtual space built by Oriana, modeled after the War God Palace.
Inside, they'd find a manual he had just created: "The 81 Fundamentals of the Spiritual Master", far superior to the trash secret manual generated by Hong's AI.
Next, Jiang Zhe announced another filter:
"War Generals—if your force output is below 2, leave!"
"War Gods—if your force output is below 3, leave!"
"Spiritual Masters—force output doesn't matter. You may stay."
After this round of screening, only twenty-three people remained in the courtyard.
Four War Gods. Nineteen War Generals. The oldest was barely thirty.
These were Earth's true elite.
Jiang Zhe nodded in satisfaction.
Those who couldn't even grasp the first two or four levels of Ninefold Thunder Blade had no hope of understanding the deeper secrets of complete power transmission techniques.
He handed out standard "Consciousness Connectors" to the remaining twenty-three, then sent them away.
Their true learning would take place inside the Virtual Martial Hall, guided by a smart training program.
Each personal training room inside contained a martial manual titled:
"New Form-Intent Style: Tiger Form (Version 1.0)"
Fully mastered, it could allow for 3x power transmission—covering speed, strength, defense—aligned with the universe's standard metrics.
Jiang Zhe could have written manuals with 10x or greater power efficiency, but Earthlings weren't ready.
Instead, he chose to release entry-level manuals—layer by layer—imbued with correct fundamental concepts to rebuild their foundation.
And where there's a Version 1.0, there will be future upgrades: 2.0, 3.0…
The virtual space also included many auxiliary tools from Meteor Ink Star. Even so, this didn't count as revealing the true secrets of Meteor Ink Star.
Jiang Zhe felt that, in doing this, he was showing enough respect to Teacher Huyan Bo and Babata.
When he returned inside, he found Oriana seated calmly on the sofa, mid-practice—absorbing a chunk of B-grade metal into the core in her chest.
This was her unique method of cultivation.
These star-level metals were from the World Bracelet's storage—originally prepared by a Mechanical Immortal for the Zweika Insect Race as fuel.
And according to Oriana, the insects hadn't had production tasks for tens of thousands of years—the stockpile was still more than half full.
Jiang Zhe nearly laughed out loud.
They had a mine at home now! Wasn't this the cosmic travel fund he needed?
B-grade metals—unless they were extremely rare—went for 1 to a few dozen Black Dragon Coins per ton.
C-grade? C-grade Uyi Metal sold for 3,000 per ton. But C-grade Flowing Silver? A staggering 160 million Black Dragon Coins per ton!
The Mechanical Immortal had stockpiled both types.
Oriana could sneak some out occasionally, but if she moved too much, the regularly auditing mechanical puppets would notice.
So, to truly take over the benefits inside the World Bracelet, they needed to eliminate that pesky AI lifeform.
Luckily, after half a month of effort, Oriana said she had results today.
Jiang Zhe passed through the living room without urging her and headed straight to the training room to practice the nine foundational skills of a Control Master:
Condense, Toughen, Scatter, Sharpen, Soften, Harden, Dance, Illusion, and Merge.
…
"Welcome to the Virtual World: Martial Heritage Hall!"
An electronic voice rang in every participant's ear. They had only just begun exploring their private rooms when the smart tutorial began.
Once they got a sense of what the Martial Hall offered, everyone turned to the martial manual on their desks.
After reading the preface, many frowned.
Only 3x power output? Is this trash what we came to learn?
They forced themselves to stay calm, but the deeper they read, the more confused they got.
Wait, why can't I understand even this 'trash' manual?
—Three times the force? How is it so complex and hard to grasp?
Two or three hours later, they staggered downstairs, their heads spinning.
But once they tried out the auxiliary tools for body movement, power training, and combat—they were hooked.
Excited and overwhelmed, they all locked themselves in training rooms, reluctant to leave.
…
By evening, Jiang Zhe exited his training room and found Oriana sitting on the sofa, clearly waiting for him.
"Looks like it's done. What's the result?"
Oriana waved a hand over the coffee table.
A basketball-sized purple-gold mechanical sphere thudded onto the tempered glass.
The sphere's surface lit up with blue lines, projecting a half-meter-long mechanical dog into the air.
"Woof!"
"Intelligent lifeform Alpha Dog, reporting to my lord!"
Jiang Zhe: "..."
He turned to Oriana, giving her a look that clearly asked, You summoned this thing to play chess with me?
But Oriana just smiled and replied vaguely, "Master, let's take you to see the full extent of the World Bracelet."
She pulled Jiang Zhe's consciousness into virtual space.
In the chaotic void, a massive map unfurled before him—the size of nearly half a city.
Seeing the scale, Jiang Zhe frowned.
"Anna, how big is this world inside the bracelet?"
"Woof!"
"Reporting, my lord. The internal world's diameter is nearly 10 billion kilometers!"
(End of the Chapter)