Chapter 65: The Era of Source Stars?
The bronze furnace resembled a peeled lychee, revealing its pristine white flesh.
With a thought, Jiang Zhe easily extracted the fist-sized, lustrous white crystal core.
He held it in his hand, gently caressing it. The smooth, warm texture made him reluctant to put it down.
"As expected, this is a world storage device."
Unlike a typical world ring, there were no lingering life imprints inside. Jiang Zhe's mental force easily merged into it, completing the process of recognizing ownership.
Controlling the world power inherent to the crystal core, he scanned its internal space while pondering.
"I should leave this world storage device for the Jiang family, just like the Universe Mercenary Alliance does—stock it with countless ferocious beasts for our clan members to train against."
"At least up until the universe level, it'll be highly effective. Once they reach the universe level, they'll become one-star mercenaries and still need endless trials."
Suddenly, Jiang Zhe raised his eyebrows and chuckled.
"Speak of the devil…"
In just a few breaths, he had completely surveyed the world inside the core.
This internal world had a diameter of about 100 million kilometers—roughly 2,500 times Earth's equatorial circumference. It contained mountains, lakes, oceans, deserts, and countless ecosystems.
There were also innumerable low-intelligence beasts, with the strongest among them at the universe level.
Jiang Zhe felt a slight relief. Such strength was still well within his ability to handle.
He summoned Oriana.
Wiping off the spiritual imprint on the white crystal core, he handed it to Oriana so she could also recognize it as her own. Then, he placed himself and his silver-clad divine clone into the core world.
Atop the world's tallest peak, tens of thousands of meters high, snow blanketed the summit, and the frigid winds were cold enough to instantly freeze an ordinary person into an ice block.
But to planetary-level beings, let alone stellar-level or universe-level entities, this was no threat.
Yes—universe-level.
Jiang Zhe's main body was at the stellar level, but his silver-clad divine clone had already reached the universe level.
For the clone, progress beyond the immortal stage (and even after immortality) depended solely on comprehending the laws.
Once his clone's Earth Domain reached the ninth perfection and the energy accumulation was complete, it could immediately advance to the domain lord level.
Of course, this rapid method had drawbacks; his combat power would be weak among domain lords.
Even so, Jiang Zhe never considered suppressing the clone's cultivation.
Firstly, the divine clone's foundation lay in its internal universe. As long as he practiced Original Evolution earnestly, there would be no harm to his future cultivation potential.
Secondly, domain lords could immerse their consciousness into the Sea of Laws, dramatically accelerating their understanding of the fundamental laws.
Even Luo Feng's teacher, True Yan King, advised Luo Feng to advance as soon as possible once he was ready—real power only truly erupted at the domain lord stage.
Jiang Zhe's main body had a shallow foundation and many key opportunities to consider; he couldn't afford shortcuts and had to advance step by step.
Comprehending laws, mastering lethal techniques, enhancing genetic levels—all had to progress in sync, steadily and surely.
But the second divine clone had none of these concerns.
At the summit, a plateau of several thousand square meters had been cleared of snow.
Two figures—one in green robes, the other in silver—suddenly appeared in the biting wind.
They flew onto a raised altar at the center.
Atop this altar stood a five-meter-tall monolith with eight fist-sized indentations, waiting to be filled. Once complete, it would likely trigger some mechanism.
This was the only man-made trace in the entire world.
"A world within a world?" Jiang Zhe quickly guessed.
"Quite honest of them. But where am I supposed to find the keys to open it?"
His first thought was the eight secret-pattern metal plates, but their shapes didn't match. Clearly, this altar needed eight spherical objects.
He established a mental link with Oriana, instructing her to thoroughly scan the entire world for anything suspicious.
"I bet these eight keys must be inside this world! If they'd been placed outside, all of this would be pointless, and there'd be no way to ever reunite them again. Besides brute force, there would be no other way to open this inner world."
After about two and a half hours, Oriana provided a definite report.
"Master, I've identified eight particularly unusual locations—eight universe-level beasts whose presence far exceeds typical creatures of their tier."
"But I found no key-shaped objects in the areas around them. Perhaps we should try killing them; I can't scan their interiors."
"Understood," Jiang Zhe nodded. "Take us to one of them first."
In a flash, Jiang Zhe and his silver clone appeared in a grand hall outside.
Then with another flash, they were back inside the core world—floating above a foul, stinking swamp.
"That island in the center of the swamp—the enormous crocodile nearly two kilometers long," Oriana informed them.
Roars erupted one after another.
From beneath the muck, beasts began to emerge, having sensed the two intruders.
With furious bellows, hundreds of meter-long stellar-level crocodiles launched themselves from the mire, jaws gaping to swallow these two "delicacies."
Crack!
Bolts of lightning danced. A thunder domain descended!
Meanwhile, the silver clone's body exploded into chaotic streams, quickly reforming into a colossal creature nearly three kilometers long.
A universe-level chasm beast!
Merely swaying its body shattered countless stellar-level crocodiles into bloody mist.
"ROOOAR!"
A deafening roar boomed from the swamp's heart.
The massive crocodile chieftain had opened its eyes to see this chasm beast slaughtering its kin. Rage surged. With a mighty leap, it charged straight at them.
A terrifying aura swept forth. Jiang Zhe sensed it and ordered his silver clone into action.
"You take down the chieftain. I'll handle the rest!"
The chasm beast nodded, rising on its hind legs.
It instantly transformed from a "pangolin" into a towering "Godzilla," its stout hind limbs stepping through the air before pouncing on the crocodile chieftain.
Earth-Shattering Impact!
Among the countless secret arts within the chasm beast's inherited memory, the silver clone had chosen to cultivate only a few.
This was one of them—best suited for charges, collisions, and tail strikes.
This crocodile chieftain had truly picked the wrong opponent.
Boom!
The dull crash sounded like two small mountains colliding.
A terrifying shockwave rippled out. Jiang Zhe and many stellar-level crocodiles were blasted thousands of meters away.
That was the lucky outcome.
Some unlucky ones couldn't withstand the aftermath of this universe-level clash and were reduced to clouds of blood.
Even with his force armor and Oriana's copper armor mitigating the damage, Jiang Zhe still felt his organs shift and bones crack, coughing up a mouthful of blood.
Far away, the silver clone had knocked the chieftain nearly a hundred kilometers away, smashing it into the swamp and creating a massive crater, completely gaining the upper hand.
But Jiang Zhe had no time to watch.
A horde of stellar-level crocodiles had surrounded him.
And since they had survived that previous shockwave, these were the elites among stellar beasts.
However, that was all they were.
Had they been stellar-level humans, Jiang Zhe might have been wary. But with their pitiful intelligence, they weren't even on par with Earth's mutated beasts—just mindless brutes.
Jiang Zhe stepped lightly, dodging dozens of massive maws with ease.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
He split into more than a dozen temporal clones, dazzling the beasts and disrupting their encirclement. They scattered, each chasing what they thought was the true body.
Jiang Zhe's left forearm was clad in the Devastator Gauntlet. With a thought, a lightning domain enveloped the area, beginning the slaughter.
Three-foot-long spears of heavenly lightning crackled with a chilling aura of annihilation.
Within the domain, four such lightning spears danced.
Ordinarily, a stellar-level mental force couldn't drive the Devastator to such a degree.
But with his formidable law comprehension and monstrous mental strength, Jiang Zhe forced four lightning spears into existence.
Infused with lightning and time laws, they moved at unbelievable speeds, piercing the brains of one giant crocodile after another. Hundreds of massive corpses rained down into the swamp like dumplings.
A crimson flag-shaped mark glowed on Jiang Zhe's brow, drawing sparse essence from the beast corpses.
"I'm a third-level stellar, yet after killing these seventh-level stellar beasts, why is the harvest so meager?"
"Could it be because these beasts lack intelligence, so there's no concept of 'conquest'?"
Suddenly enlightened, Jiang Zhe felt he'd guessed the truth.
His [Conqueror] innate secret technique described subduing the target's body and mind. But how could you conquer a bunch of dumb beasts?
Even as more died and blood thickened the air, the remaining beasts showed no fear.
The cultivation of Life Blueprint offered no loopholes.
For example, trying to get a Zerg mother to breed domain-lord-level Zerg for him to slay would never yield much essence.
The crocodiles' low intelligence made them utterly fearless.
More and more stellar-level beasts gathered, nearly blanketing the sky, leaving Jiang Zhe with little room to maneuver.
ROOOAR!
Far off, the chasm beast roared.
Linked in mind, Jiang Zhe knew the clone had succeeded.
He no longer lingered. Four lightning spears swept around him, carving a bloody path, then he darted away on his phantom steps.
The short-legged crocodiles roared helplessly behind him, watching his figure grow ever smaller.
They slumped back into the swamp, gnawing on their fallen kin. Occasionally, they'd bite into a still-living companion, immediately triggering a savage death roll.
Having retreated, Jiang Zhe narrowly dodged the ambush of a universe-level bird beast.
It crashed straight into the waiting arms of the chasm beast, which embraced it, ripped off half its snowy wings, crushed its skull, and tossed it into the mountains below.
Suddenly, Jiang Zhe felt a pulling force.
Neither he nor the clone resisted as they were pulled from the core world.
The silver clone, back in human form, handed Jiang Zhe a pungent stone taken from the crocodile chieftain's body.
Jiang Zhe didn't accept it—just examined it. The shape seemed right; it would fit into the altar's indentations.
They set out again.
Seven more hunts, totaling 54 minutes, allowed them to gather all eight keys.
The ninth time they entered the core world, they returned to the altar atop the highest peak.
Piece by piece, they embedded the eight stones into the monolith.
RUMBLE!
The entire core world suddenly shuddered.
Mountains trembled. The world seemed to quake.
Before Jiang Zhe, the altar split open, expanding into a pitch-black hole dozens of meters wide.
A world within a world—finally opened!
With the two realms connected, Oriana was able to guide the core world's energy inside to probe it.
After just a few seconds, she brought bad news.
"Master, most of the universe crystals in this inner world have already been mined. What's left only barely sustains the world's stability. You should prepare yourself."
Jiang Zhe's face darkened, but he said nothing.
With the silver clone, he flew into the darkness and descended into the inner world.
At its center stood the only structure—a towering wooden pagoda, reminiscent of archaic Hanxia architecture but rougher, exuding a wild, primal majesty.
At the top of the tower, a creature resembling a tiger with nine human-faced heads poked out.
"It's been… over 8.2 billion years, hasn't it?"
"Hey, you two kids—out there, is it still the era of Source Stars?"
End of the chapter