Chapter 54: Sovereign of Life
Seeing is believing.
Jiang Zhe immediately pulled his second divine soul over to test the gifted secret technique—[Reboot].
He took out three A3-grade gold plates. After the second divine soul marked their current state, Jiang Zhe used the Arc Blade Disk to slice them all in half.
"Start with the first one," he instructed.
Hearing this, the second divine soul—who looked like a young man—narrowed his eyes. A cold crimson glow flashed across them.
Behind him, a silver-white serpent formed a complete loop, silently manifesting. Clock hands floated behind it, forming what appeared to be a massive arcane formation.
The hands of the clock began to tick backward.
Gradually, Jiang Zhe felt the surrounding space and time become viscous, as if he had stepped from the riverbank into its depths. Everything around him grew heavier and denser.
And then, it was as if time itself reversed—the two halves of the golden plate flew back together and seamlessly fused into a whole, as if they had never been cut apart.
Jiang Zhe picked it up, examined it carefully, then tossed it aside without a word.
Ten minutes later.
"Second one, go."
The second divine soul once again activated [Reboot], restoring the second golden plate.
Jiang Zhe examined it again, then threw it aside to join the first one.
"Though the difference is almost imperceptible, I could tell—rebooting the second golden plate consumed noticeably more energy."
"Is it because of the longer time interval?" he guessed.
He then looked at the third cut golden plate, deciding to wait 24 hours before attempting to restore it.
"Anna, bring me the weakest Zvikka bug you can find," he ordered.
Orianna nodded and waved her hand, summoning a half-meter-long, plump, worm-like creature to the ship's floor.
It caught the scent of metal and began drooling from its grotesque mouthparts. Its saliva sizzled upon contact with the C9-grade alloy beneath it.
Once the second divine soul finished marking it, Jiang Zhe immediately sliced the bug in half with the Arc Blade Disk.
He waited two or three minutes until its life signs fully vanished before signaling the second divine soul to activate [Reboot].
The familiar time-reversal sequence began again.
The green-gold blood sprayed from the wound reversed course and was reabsorbed into the bug's body. The deep slash from its brainstem to its spine closed quickly. Its life force reignited.
Throughout the process, the second divine soul remained on high alert, ready to abort at any moment to avoid backlash.
But even after the Zvikka bug revived and began nibbling at the alloy floor again, no backlash ever came.
The two young men looked at each other, their eyes filled with confusion—and barely concealed joy.
"This is definitely a bug in the system. There's no backlash at all?"
Neither the real body nor the second divine soul cared about the massive energy cost. The price was insignificant compared to the ability to bring the dead back to life.
"It looks like time reversal, but the information from the secret technique says otherwise. So what's the actual principle behind [Reboot]?"
After pondering it for a moment, Jiang Zhe shook his head.
"I can't even touch true time-reversal powers yet. How could I hope to tell the difference? This is something I'll only understand once I become immortal."
His attention turned to the next innate secret technique: [Sovereign of Life].
"What a boastful name…"
But as he read the detailed explanation, his expression turned solemn.
"The universe births all things. That is the manifestation of the Law of Life.
As a special lifeform akin to the original universe, your life crystal core contains a 'Universe Within' that has yet to be awakened.
This inner universe can devour the biological tissue of other beings, analyze their life structures, and spend energy to recreate an identical body."
Jiang Zhe couldn't help but click his tongue. He retrieved a Thundervine Blood Crystal from his space ring and handed it to the second divine soul.
The silver-robed Jiang Zhe absorbed the blood crystal into his life crystal core.
As both his main and secondary consciousness observed internally, they saw a chaotic, egg-shaped mini-universe swirling inside the crystal core—still dormant and unawakened.
This was the handiwork of a Supreme Law. Over 99% of the crystal's essence was locked inside that chaotic inner universe.
And the key to unlocking it… was the [Primal Evolution Codex]. The Supreme Law hoped Jiang Zhe could awaken the universe himself.
He had only three reincarnation cycles to succeed. If he failed, his soul would decay, and the law would seize the treasure to create its own primordial universe.
The blood crystal fell into the inner universe like a raindrop into an ocean—barely causing a ripple.
Seconds later, the silver-robed Jiang Zhe received a burst of chaotic data. Most notably—a complete biological blueprint of the Thundervine species, revealing all their hidden traits.
His silver-robed form suddenly collapsed into particles.
From the exposed life crystal core spewed chaotic mist, which quickly condensed into a thick, dark purple vine body.
Wide, leaf-like membranes sparked with crackling arcs of lightning.
Jiang Zhe approached, sliced it open with his Arc Blade Disk, and watched as fragrant sap oozed out. It fell to the ground and solidified into blood crystals—identical to the real thing.
"Amazing. It's hard to believe how real this is."
"This is a technique supposedly only possible after achieving a hundred-thousand-fold gene level."
Jiang Zhe picked up several crystals and stored them in his Thunder Prison Realm. As the energy within was analyzed, his eyes lit up.
"The yield is a bit lower than the real thing, but… these are actual Thundervine Blood Crystals, not just energy replicas?"
He knew that when the Demonkill race got injured, their blood and flesh seemed real, but it was all energy mimicry.
Touching the vine body again, Jiang Zhe confirmed it—it wasn't an energy construct. It was a real, living plant!
"That means… instead of simulating its aura, [Sovereign of Life] transformed you fundamentally into a Thundervine?!"
His heart leapt with excitement.
"Quick! Transform back and try using my blood!"
His own blood dripped into the silver-robed divine soul's life crystal and was absorbed into the inner universe.
Moments later, the returned information allowed Jiang Zhe to understand his own body at an unprecedented level.
The crystal core reconstructed the silver-robed form—still youthful, still handsome—but now… a true blood-relative clone.
"Conqueror!"
At Jiang Zhe's command, a crimson battle flag flared between the silver-robed one's brows.
"Mighty Strength!"
Mysterious dark-purple sigils spread across his body beneath the silver robe. His aura surged.
Jiang Zhe licked his dry lips, fully realizing—he could use both of his gifted secret techniques!
A perfect, no-dead-angle copy, excluding only the soul (perhaps).
"If I could get my hands on the flesh of a Golden-Horned Beast…"
Jiang Zhe shook his head.
"No good. Even if I could replicate the clone ability, it's useless."
"Because the second divine soul's lifeform would be permanently locked as the Golden-Horned Beast. Switching forms would cause all spawned clones to collapse, and we'd be back to square one."
"The clone secret technique won't work. But some lifeforms have truly broken abilities. It's worth studying their life structures to understand their innate techniques."
"Take the Destroyer Behemoth, for example. With its thunder-time affinity, it has the innate ability [Time Freeze]. Perfect for comprehending time laws!"
After fully understanding the function of [Sovereign of Life], Jiang Zhe drafted a plan to maximize its use.
One last innate secret technique remained—[Origin].
The effect was simple:
"Allows direct access to the Law Sea of the universe's source, enabling energy absorption at unimaginable speeds."
It functioned like a universal treasure, though it had little else to offer.
Clearly, this one came from the will of the Original Universe.
Jiang Zhe found it a little underwhelming but dared not dismiss it entirely.
"[Reboot] is likely built into the divine crystal. The Eternal Serpent's lifeform is probably the crystal's original owner's race.
[Sovereign of Life]—definitely tied to the Supreme Law, since the inner universe was its creation.
[Origin] was bestowed by the Original Universe itself. Even Universe Lords would go mad for it."
He smacked his lips. "Not bad."
Later, he tested if the second divine soul could enter his inner universe—it could. So Jiang Zhe had him stay there to cultivate for now.
"Once I return to Earth, even if Giant Axe finds out, he'll just assume this is an energy-based clone."
"When I've mastered enough laws and combat techniques, I'll head into the wider universe. I can't stay holed up on Earth forever."
With that decision made, he turned to Orianna. "We're going to the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield—specifically, Qiu Long Star."
Thanks to the C9-grade mechanical alloy ship, far faster than the C5 Black Dragon Mountain model, Jiang Zhe arrived at Qiu Long Star's orbit in just three days.
Following the navigation signal, he descended into the atmosphere and docked in Sector C of the starport.
The ship and its mechanical escorts drew attention. A squad of C-grade combat droids disembarked first, shocking the crowd.
Passersby instinctively moved aside. The port manager broke into a cold sweat—clearly, this visitor had a powerful background.
Only after Jiang Zhe paid the docking fee and left did people dare to breathe normally again.
Once inside Qiu Long City, he went straight to the Dry Witch Universe Nation's administration office and officially registered for citizenship.
Then he visited the Universe Galaxy Bank, using his mentor's credentials to open an account.
It required a mind-power scan.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhe had refined his soul via the [Second Divine Soul Secret Technique] and, after studying the [Soul Seal] technique, could perfectly simulate the mental signature of the Yunmo Planet lineage.
Without Babata monitoring him, the limitations that had constrained Luo Feng no longer applied.
Even so, Orianna—possessing Babata's memories—could calculate the ever-changing password and security codes.
Jiang Zhe easily obtained access to a five-star account.
He opened a new personal account, sold off miscellaneous "junk" from his World Bracelet, and deposited the universe crystals found in his storage rings.
His account balance soon hit 11.3 Mixed Yuan Units, automatically upgrading his status to a three-star client—granting privileges like attending Dry Witch Nation's primary-level auctions.
Next stop: the Virtual Universe Company.
He created an account and bought 50 anonymous logins and consciousness detectors.
These were for his family, not outsiders. Earth wasn't ready for interstellar contact just yet. Best to wait until after the Genius War to avoid chaos.
Final stop: the Slave Market.
He purchased two Universe Rank 4 Spiritual Force Users, plus twenty Stellar Rank 9 girls resembling Earthlings.
Due to the strict requirements, the two Universe-levels were pricey. Altogether, the purchase cost 800 million universe coins. The other twenty were throw-ins.
This would be the temporary security force for the Jiang family—he couldn't always stay on Earth to protect them.
The two Universe-level slaves had to be transferred from other planets, so Jiang Zhe waited on Qiu Long Star for over 20 days.
Orianna had stationed a clone with the Jiang family to stay in touch.
She reported that the old man came to check the courtyard every couple of days, likely sensing something off, worried that Jiang Zhe had fled.
Jiang Zhe could only shake his head and laugh.
He didn't idle during his time on the alien planet. Instead, he diligently cultivated the Dormant Dragon Technique, healing his soul wounds.
On the 18th day, Jiang Zhe inspected his Proto-Core Space and saw that the micro-star representing his soul had finally reformed.
A heavy burden lifted from his chest.
The soul's "aura" was still dim, but that would recover with time.
It was time to pause and fully digest his dream-realm harvest.
Among them, the most fruitful was the Thunder Dragon Dream.
On the 24th day, Jiang Zhe received notice—the two slaves had arrived.
Una, two meters tall, with dark red hair and short, black, curved horns—Universe Rank 4 Mental Power User.
Arin, shorter at 1.6 meters, had seaweed-green hair and otherwise looked human. Also a Universe Rank 4 Mental Power User.
Jiang Zhe brought them aboard his ship.
After calming them down, he promised freedom after a thousand years.
Then he had Orianna fire up the ship—destination: Earth.
The return trip would take around four days.
During that time, Jiang Zhe and his second divine soul focused on studying compatible elemental laws.
They discovered four elemental affinities in the second divine soul—Earth, Fire, Water, Wind.
A chaotic mix… but when viewed as a composite of the Primordial Elements, it all made sense.