Chapter 49 – The True Treasure!
These two Origin Law tablets—Jiang Zhe had dabbled in both, so he was confident in identifying them correctly.
The dark-purple metal plate represented the Lightning Origin Law.
As for the 72 raised nodules on its surface, Jiang Zhe had some guesses.
For an Immortal-level divine being, achieving full mastery of a lower-tier law was essential. That meant the Lightning Origin Law likely had 72 fundamental mysteries.
These fundamental mysteries could be combined in various ways to form smaller subsets.
As long as one fully comprehended a single subset, they could be acknowledged by the Origin Law itself.
Depending on which subset a person had mastered, even if two people practiced the same Origin Law, the Origin Imprint on their foreheads would differ.
Many such subsets would then form larger categories—and when all were unified, one could be said to have mastered the complete Lightning Law.
The silver-white metal plate displayed the Time Law. The circuit diagram formed by the 9 nodules on it… was clearly insufficient to encapsulate all the mysteries of time.
"It's probably like the Space Law, which has 108 fundamental mysteries. The full version should be a diagram formed by 108 nodules."
Jiang Zhe speculated logically in his mind.
Without a doubt, these were basic secret techniques designed to aid in comprehending the laws.
They couldn't compare to the likes of Essays on Time and Space, but they were definitely on the same level as the Blood Drift Codex.
Still, the gap in quality was evident.
The Blood Drift Codex provided a complete analysis of all 108 space mysteries.
In contrast, these two metal plates only covered 72 lightning mysteries and 9 time mysteries.
But Jiang Zhe was already very satisfied.
These two metal plates could assist him well into the Genius War, and even beyond that.
"Praise be to the Virtual Universe. There, one can comprehend Origin Laws directly—so such auxiliary secret techniques never get lost."
"But for other races… even the tech-savvy Mechanical Race, once they leave their home territory, their virtual worlds become little more than long-distance communication tools."
"These auxiliary secret techniques, with their built-in law resonance, can't be replicated by virtual reality. That's why they must be physically carried."
"Lucky for me!"
Jiang Zhe grinned inwardly and turned to ask, "Alpha, do you know the exact origins of these two metal plates?"
Oriana had already accessed Alpha's memory upon seeing the metal plates and found relevant information.
Alpha was a posthumously awakened AI, created after the death of a Mechanical Race Immortal. Without clearance, it had never accessed the top floor of the tower and thus didn't know what had been hidden there.
However, core information about the Mechanical Race had been pre-installed in Alpha's programming. Once it evolved into a true sentient lifeform, it would be accepted as one of the Mechanical Race.
Luckily, that core data included information on these metal plates.
As soon as Jiang Zhe asked, Oriana immediately responded:
"Yes, these are known as Law Mapping Plates, fairly common among the Mechanical Race. They're indispensable tools for comprehending laws."
"Regular members just need to observe and understand the engravings on them."
"Those with more talent might attempt to replicate or even innovate their own diagrams based on personal comprehension. This involves deeply analyzing the law and expressing the mysteries represented by each nodule onto a 'circuit board'."
"Only those who choose this path of deep comprehension are qualified to possess a High-Level Law Mapping Plate of their own."
"There are three plates that make up the complete Time Law Mapping Plate."
"We have the first one—the other two had yet to be acquired by the original owner."
"As for Lower-Level Law Mapping Plates, their value is much lower. Many intelligent AIs of the Mechanical Race possess a plate aligned with their attribute."
While explaining, Oriana walked to the side of the workbench and disabled the intelligent lock on the side wall. She opened a storage cabinet and pulled out a large box filled with circuit boards.
She laid them out across the floor.
Jiang Zhe assisted with spiritual force, spreading them all out instantly.
There were a total of 72 circuit boards.
Each one had a unique circuit diagram etched into it, all radiating with powerful law resonance, interpreting the Lightning Origin Law from various angles.
"These are all works of that Mechanical Race Immortal?"
"Yes," Oriana nodded. "They are personal interpretations of the Lower-Level Law Mapping Plate—probably left behind for the benefit of subordinate AIs."
Then she reminded him:
"Master, Alpha's core memory mentions that every being's understanding and application of the laws is unique. So these 72 boards should only be used as reference—never copied blindly."
Jiang Zhe nodded, though he was a little exasperated.
Come on, I'm not that dumb…
As for Alpha's core memory—it was probably similar to the inherited memories of the Golden Horned Beast, except it lacked secret techniques. Instead, it contained detailed information on the Mechanical Race and the entire universe.
"So… it's used like this?"
Oriana's mutter caught Jiang Zhe's attention. He turned to see her rapidly entering commands into the console at the workbench.
Ka—ka—
With a series of mechanical clicks, a device resembling a large photocopier rose from beneath the alloy floor.
Even with Jiang Zhe's limited technical knowledge, he could identify a few components: card slots, control interface, and some laser gun-like structures…
Oriana casually inserted a circuit board into the machine.
Then she began calibrating the settings on the interface.
"Master, watch carefully!"
Jiang Zhe nodded and focused.
Oriana pressed the red button and simultaneously tossed a blue-gold metal block into the air.
Power—engaged!
Circuit board—activated!
The etched diagram lit up with a mysterious glow.
At the same time, the laser structure began to gather purple energy at its muzzle.
The blue-gold block arced gracefully through the air, intersecting perfectly with the device's straight beam path.
Zzzap!
A stunning, law-infused purple laser beam burst forth—so dazzling that Jiang Zhe blanked out for a moment.
The A6-grade blue-gold was cleaved in two!
Snapping out of his daze, Jiang Zhe quickly retrieved the two halves with his spiritual power.
Examining the mirror-smooth cross-section, he murmured, puzzled:
"Was that a law-infused attack?"
"Only one mystery of the law was used—it's weak."
"To unleash multi-layered, combined mysteries—or even law subset-level attacks—one must personally comprehend and trigger them."
"This machine is solely for testing your comprehension progress."
"If the diagram you create on a blank circuit board doesn't activate in this machine, it means you haven't understood the mystery yet."
"If it works and can cut through A1-grade metal, then you've reached the entry level."
"If it cuts through A9-grade metal, you've fully mastered the mystery."
Listening to her explanation, Jiang Zhe now clearly understood what he needed to do:
1. Study the Law Mapping Plates to comprehend the Origin Laws
2. Sketch out the corresponding circuit diagram on a blank board
3. Use the machine to test and quantify his progress
Understand the Law.
Put it on paper.
Measure your mastery.
Repeat.
One by one, the mysteries would be deciphered.
Once he completed all 72, his grasp of the Lightning Law would be on the verge of being acknowledged by the Origin itself.
After that came the next step—combine mysteries into subsets, and subsets into categories, until the entire law was unified…
That level was something for Domain Lords and beyond, so no rush for now.
Jiang Zhe smiled, satisfied.
"I like this kind of structured, rigorous, and quantifiable training method."
But then he couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret.
"Too bad there are only 9 time mysteries. Even if I master all of them, I'd only reach level 3 or 4 of the Heavenly Bridge…"
"Master, don't slack off!"
"Your Executor Talent is still waiting to be filled!"
Jiang Zhe: …
Thanks for the reminder. My good mood just turned cloudy.
"Anna, did you find the true treasure of the Mechanical Immortal?"
The World Bracelet was great for mass-producing soldiers.
The Mechanical Puppets were powerful in combat.
The Mechanical Factory was a great money-maker.
But none of them could truly be called an Immortal's treasure trove.
(End of the chapter)