Chapter 78: A Monster Clone Like a Star!
Jiang Zhe was fully occupied nurturing his clone, too busy to pay attention to anything else.
Meanwhile, the trio who had split off were living it up. With a large sum of money Luo Feng had obtained, they began splurging freely in the virtual universe.
Hong and Thunder God already had anonymous accounts in the virtual universe. Now, with their new legitimate identities, they switched to official accounts.
Jiang Zhe had once given them a sum of money, but over more than ten years, they had nearly spent it all. With this new fortune, they could once again dominate the killing fields and climb the ranks in the real-person duel arenas.
During the day, they ventured through the crystal core world, battling fierce beasts and experiencing life-and-death struggles. At night, they logged into the virtual universe to duel real opponents and hone their combat skills.
Because they now used official accounts, their information was formally recorded by the virtual universe company. Soon, the trio's profiles were placed on the desk of a slaughter arena administrator.
This administrator was an elderly green-skinned being. As he compared the trio's files to two older records, his cloudy eyes suddenly sharpened, filled with profound wisdom.
"So it's still those two. Now that they've become official citizens and hold real accounts… Hmm, previously they were slaves. The master who bought them was quite lucky."
"Contact Ming Yu. Tell him to keep a closer watch on these three. If their test scores meet the standards, recruit them. Also ask if they need help resolving their slave status. Give them some additional incentives if needed."
After instructing the AI assistant, the green-skinned elder's eyes turned cloudy again. He closed them and drifted off to sleep, looking every bit the frail old man.
In the end, even slaves could get assistance—so long as they weren't actively enslaved and had enough talent, the virtual universe company would handle the rest.
Even the genius who later plotted against Luo Feng in the Original Secret Realm was once a slave.
Now that the trio was officially exploring the universe, they soon ran into their first "angel investor." Unless something unexpected happened, they'd likely receive a relatively inexpensive genetic evolution agent.
Next, on a sudden impulse, they decided to take the universe apprentice mercenary exam and head to Canglan Star.
Before departing, they visited Orianna's clone on Earth. Each received a C9-grade laser gun as a hidden ace.
The wheels of fate began to turn.
Meanwhile
The silver-robed avatar was escorted away from the asteroid belt by the Huisha behemoth.
As for what the Huisha behemoth had told him—well, the silver-robed avatar believed about 60% of it. He had heard of the Silent Wind Belt, and its description matched the tragic end of the powerful being described by the leader of Shanhai Realm.
What was the actual truth? He still wanted to go see for himself.
Given that two sets of eight Beast God Tablets had emerged from there, it was highly likely that the secret realm contained ruins related to the Beast God.
Perhaps it was something akin to the Blood Luo World—a cosmic secret realm.
If it involved other attributes, the silver-robed avatar might not risk it. But since it touched on lightning and time, even the faintest hope was worth exploring.
As a starry sky behemoth with tenfold genetic level, his physique was far stronger than a human's, easily sustaining sub-light-speed travel.
The Huisha behemoth accommodated his slower speed. Otherwise, it would have long since crossed into dark space at superluminal velocity.
After roughly two days of flight, the two giant beasts landed on a desolate, hollowed-out planet. This was the temporary residence of the Huisha behemoth.
The silver-robed avatar finally understood how he'd been caught: when his ship was scanning the asteroid belt earlier, it must have been detected from here.
No doubt, this place was equipped with high-grade sensors that the mechanical race's ship couldn't pick up. Such tactics were common on extraterritorial battlefields.
The Huisha behemoth valued quality of life. It had hollowed out a planet and built a grand underground palace. The main hall alone was thousands of kilometers tall, with pillars of E-grade stone metal and equally solid, luxurious floors.
The silver-robed avatar sensed there were no other lifeforms on this planet besides the two of them.
Was she truly harboring goodwill toward me?
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two faint streaks of light flashed before his eyes. Instinctively, the silver-robed avatar reached out and caught them.
They turned out to be two metallic tomes over a meter tall, brimming with earthy and spatial origin law auras.
"Release your human clone—it'll make studying the secret techniques easier. Really, I don't understand why you'd even nurture such a frail human body."
"Without a human clone, I couldn't survive a step in human territories," the giant beast mumbled, rubbing its face with its claws in an aggrieved manner.
A swirl of chaotic mist rose up, enveloping the giant beast. When the mist cleared, it revealed the silver-robed figure once more.
The Huisha behemoth narrowed its canyon-like eyes, scrutinizing the silver figure in a heavy silence. Only after more than ten breaths did she speak.
"From now on, you will start comprehending earth-origin laws from scratch. Once you have my approval, you can open the next book and begin studying space laws."
"With your current level… you're honestly a disgrace to our starry sky behemoth race."
The silver-robed avatar offered an awkward smile, not daring to reply. He lowered his head and looked at the two foundational tomes.
"Origin of Earth!"
"Introduction to Space!"
Two rather ordinary titles.
They felt distinctly human—probably something the Huisha behemoth had plundered. Shaking his head, the silver-robed avatar stopped overthinking and opened Origin of Earth to study its interpretations of earth laws.
"Origin of Earth is a complete secret tome, containing 72 secret techniques. You only need to master half of them to 60% proficiency before you can open the second book and study simultaneously."
"Introduction to Space—what you have are only the first two volumes, totaling 36 secret techniques. You likewise need to master them to 60%."
"Once you've mastered 72 earth techniques to 80% and 36 space techniques to 60%, then you'll be a properly qualified domain lord-level starry sky behemoth."
"At that point, I'll arrange your next training plan."
A smoky female voice that seemed ill-suited to such a colossal form drifted down. The silver-robed avatar kept his head bowed, marveling inwardly.
Was he basically freeloading now?
Why rush back to his true body at all?
Nearly seven years drifting through the starry skies without finding a true patron—now, thanks to the Huisha behemoth, he finally had one!
Back in the Milky Way
Jiang Zhe monitored the silver-robed avatar's progress comprehending earth-origin laws and felt thoroughly satisfied.
Sixty percent? Eighty percent?
No.
He wanted one hundred percent—perfect enlightenment!
Having learned about the grand path of "analyzing the essence of laws," how could he possibly settle for mere competence?
For now, the silver-robed avatar could continue enjoying this cozy arrangement.
When the time was right, he would have it die and return. After all, the journey to the Original Universe couldn't be missed—
Wait! No!
Jiang Zhe quickly shook his head. That line of thinking nearly landed him in big trouble.
"The silver-robed avatar can't enter the Original Universe. The world bracelet certainly can't hide him, and whether my internal world is safe is still questionable."
"Better for him to obediently keep freeloading off the Huisha behemoth. She doesn't seem to have any malicious intent."
"When the chance arises, he could slip into a wormhole and use that to quietly leave her side."
Having sorted out the silver-robed avatar's path, Jiang Zhe looked toward the brilliant nebula blocking half the cosmos ahead, unable to calm his excitement.
According to The Minor Trisection Body Dao Sutra, he had followed every step:
used "infatuation" as the soul,
a top-tier treasure as the core,
the flesh and blood of living beings as the form,
and after more than sixteen months, was finally about to complete his first clone!
Suddenly, the nebula gathered from absorbing cosmic origin energy began contracting, revealing a colossal umbrella-like silhouette.
As the umbrella closed, its nearly ten-light-year span rapidly shrank, soon disappearing from view.
Jiang Zhe didn't wait for it to come on its own.
He dived into the primal core, arrived at the ancient tree, and found a sinister scar on the trunk linked to the Hunyuan Umbrella.
Placing his hand on it, he followed that unique connection… and summoned!
The entire scar flared with light, forming a dazzling spot on the tree's trunk. From it, an ornate umbrella about a meter long flew out.
Jiang Zhe caught the treasure. Immediately, he sensed it was bound to his soul—intimately familiar, overflowing with life energy.
Thrilled, he left his internal world with the umbrella, had Orianna pilot the ship back to the region, and then took the umbrella into the bracelet world.
"Go!"
He threw it into the air. It swiftly rose, reaching tens of thousands of kilometers above ground in the thin atmosphere.
"Begin."
At his command, the umbrella opened, radiating ten-thousandfold brilliance.
Centered on the Hunyuan Umbrella, filaments of solid light extended in every direction. Like the branches of a fruit tree, they sprouted dense "buds."
These "buds" were dazzling, diamond-like tetrahedrons. Every 100,000 formed a sphere with 10,081 facets.
Exactly 10,000 such spheres combined into what Jiang Zhe now beheld—a gargantuan spherical lifeform, radiant like a star.
By rough estimate, its diameter exceeded 90,000 kilometers, leaving Jiang Zhe dumbstruck.
"My god!"
"At star level nine, it's already 90,000 kilometers across. If it breaks through to immortality, how massive would its godbody become? Wouldn't it be able to burn itself at will?"
Calculating based on size growth patterns, Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up with excitement.
At domain lord level, its size would certainly rival that of a same-tier World Tree!
"Even more importantly, it possesses natural affinity with both time and space origin laws!"
"It's like if Luo Feng's second clone had nurtured a World Tree instead of a Mosha clan body!"
"But…" Jiang Zhe rubbed his chin, pondering.
"Where's my Original elder brother? Shouldn't he show up to register me by now?"
"Without an Original Universe ID, I'm basically an illegal immigrant—I can't help feeling uneasy.
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