Chapter 178 – Chopping the Tree!
"Understood, Your Highness. It's expected to be ready within eight hours."
With that, the video call was disconnected.
As everyone knows, under normal circumstances:
Creating a world with a diameter of 100 million kilometers costs only a few Hunyuan units of universe crystals.
A world 10 billion kilometers across would require around 1 million Hunyuan units.
And a colossal world 1 trillion kilometers wide would consume roughly 1 trillion Hunyuan units.
When Luo Feng was at the peak of the World Lord level, he created a trillion-kilometer-wide internal world, burning through alloy scraps worth several tens of billions of Hunyuan units.
But since those alloy scraps were basically trash, not valuable resources, the actual cost was far below that terrifying 1 trillion Hunyuan units mark.
Jiang Zhe, however, wasn't so fortunate.
To build an internal world nearly a trillion kilometers across while still at the Domain Lord level, even a trillion Hunyuan units wouldn't be enough. His resources weren't mere junk alloys, but genuine C-, D-, and E-grade thunder-element treasures, far pricier than alloy scraps or even universe crystals.
Just like back in the Abyss World: expanding his internal world to 900 million kilometers in diameter cost him millions of Hunyuan units in thunder treasures—already far beyond the typical cost of a 10 billion kilometer world.
Later, when he breaks through to the World Lord stage and aims for a light-year-scale internal world, he'll be burning through E-grade thunder treasures so valuable they'd be measured in Treasure Points.
For reference, selling a single heavy treasure only yields about 100 trillion Hunyuan units, roughly 1 to 1.5 Treasure Points, with the conversion rate always fluctuating.
Now, with the birth of his third perfect-genetic clone, Jiang Zhe's proto-core once again hardened, ready to let his internal world grow even larger.
Less than eight hours later.
In fact, it took just over five hours for the resources to be gathered and delivered to his estate.
Jiang Zhe retrieved a batch of C-grade thunder treasures from his world ring, fed them into the Thunder Prison Realm, and watched as they were rapidly consumed.
Countless strands of dark purple mist crackled with electricity, spreading out and funneling into the proto-core—where they were greedily absorbed, driving a wild expansion.
Rumble! Rumble!
The very fabric of his internal world trembled.
It expanded. And expanded again.
At the center of it all, the colossal World Tree swayed violently, emitting sharp, groaning creaks that made one's teeth ache. Its trunk swelled dramatically, while its massive branches extended ever deeper into the chaotic currents, blazing a trail and opening new space.
From 900 million kilometers wide—
1 billion kilometers!
2 billion kilometers!
3 billion kilometers!
…
"Not enough. Still a bit short."
"Xiaolu, send me another 10 million Hunyuan units worth of C-grade thunder treasures!"
They seemed to have anticipated this; within half an hour, the next delivery arrived at his estate, and Jiang Zhe continued devouring the thunder treasures.
Over the next half month, more deliveries came, again and again.
Rumble! Rumble!
His internal world kept growing—
8 billion kilometers!
9 billion kilometers!
It only stopped after reaching over 9 billion kilometers in diameter.
After some quick calculations based on how his world had been expanding, Jiang Zhe concluded that once he broke through to the World Lord stage, his internal world would officially reach a diameter of 1 light-year.
Perfect!
That sounded truly imposing.
But faced with such staggering numbers, Jiang Zhe wasn't particularly surprised. By now, he was used to it.
Who would dare cultivate three perfect genetic bodies before even achieving immortality if they couldn't endure some hardship?
"Cosmic Venerables? Think your mastery over the time-space laws is impressive? Just wait till I smack you to death with a world projection! Keh keh keh…"
Jiang Zhe laughed darkly, like some villainous elder of the Soul Hall.
You might wonder how he could still be in the mood to laugh. Shouldn't he be worried about achieving immortality?
"Psh, the road appears when the cart reaches the mountain. Drink today's wine, worry tomorrow. Hehe."
"It's about time to break through to Domain Lord."
With a thought—
His freshly expanded internal world began yet another violent transformation.
What had happened over the last half month was just the appetizer.
Boom!
Countless reserves of dark purple mist merged into his continents, which began growing at a breathtaking pace, spawning vast new landmasses.
Before long, everything calmed.
His internal world was the first to complete its evolution.
From just over 9 billion kilometers, it leaped to a staggering 100 billion kilometers wide.
For reference, Oriana was a peak World Lord of the ninth rank—and her internal world was only 300 billion kilometers across.
Jiang Zhe, a mere third-rank Domain Lord, would soon overtake her.
That was the terrifying cultivation base granted by perfect life gene multipliers.
In the center of Jiang Zhe's chest, the proto-core.
Inside, the swirling galaxy representing his Universe level strength was still dazzling. Its core was a massive black hole, with eight smaller black holes embedded in its spiral arms.
Now, with the evolution of his internal world, this spiral galaxy began its own transformation—
It devoured.
The suction of the nine black holes skyrocketed, crazily pulling in nearby planets and stars. The central black hole grew larger and larger, eventually swallowing the eight smaller ones.
In a flash, the entire spiral galaxy was gone, replaced by a single, enormous black hole.
Then, that giant black hole collapsed inward. The dark region within the proto-core rapidly shrank, until all that was left was a gray sphere.
This was the Life Core, formed from the spiral galaxy, containing Jiang Zhe's soul crystal and origin force crystal.
It quietly expanded, seamlessly merging with the proto-core.
Done. This completed the final step to break through to the Domain Lord level.
His two clones, stored inside his internal world, also began evolving.
Interestingly—
That poor Candlelight clone, whose 900 million kilometer body had once been too massive to fit inside Jiang Zhe's internal world, had finally received some affection. Only when Jiang Zhe's internal world reached 90 billion kilometers at the peak Universe level could it safely appear within.
Now, the Candlelight and Demon clones also formed Life Cores, growing even larger.
"Domain Lord level…"
Jiang Zhe spoke with a sigh.
"The birth of the Life Core means my mind power and origin force are now completely concealed. No technological means can probe my strength or enslave me. I've gained a 'pseudo-immortal body' and could easily become the founder of an early civilization's ancient kingdom…"
But soon, his serious expression gave way to excitement.
"Time to chop down the tree! Chop the tree!"
His Demon clone exited the internal world. Jiang Zhe handed over the proto-core for safekeeping and personally entered his internal world.
Even with a diameter of 100 billion kilometers, the world's central Ancient Tree still towered majestically.
Its canopy covered the entire world—his final place of absolute privacy.
Not even the Original Universe's source consciousness could extend its authority here!
Jiang Zhe stood beside a tiny stone table beneath the tree.
Just moments ago, a sudden insight made a logical prediction pop into his mind:
"Once I become a World Lord, my internal world will be able to host living beings. With 'A Tree' shielding it as a 'land beyond the law'… could my future descendants come here—into my world, my divine kingdom, my miniature universe—to inherit the 'taboo' legacies I've obtained?"
His eyes went wide, pupils constricting, breath heavy.
He suddenly turned to look at the stone table, where two golden folios, a golden booklet, and a painting were neatly laid out.
"Golden Human Life Blueprint"
"Second Nascent Soul Secret Art"
"Minor Sever Three Corpses Dao Scripture"
"Thunder God Scroll"
Recalling carefully… he realized these had no prerequisites at all!
Two hundred years ago, he hadn't passed on the "Life Blueprint" to his family because the Original Universe's source consciousness forbade even speaking the inheritance aloud.
Now, however, he belatedly realized there was a clever workaround.
Jiang Zhe licked his dry lips, quickly shook his head, and restrained his thoughts.
"It's tempting, but I have to plan carefully."
"Within the Original Universe and Universe Sea, there's a source consciousness protecting everything. Even if a soul master scanned my descendants' memories or enslaved them, these secrets wouldn't leak… like in the original work, no one could extract the 'Nine Tribulations Secret Code' from Luo Feng's mind. That loophole has long been sealed by the universe's will."
"But if we go to the Origin Continent one day, we'll need special secret arts to prevent these inheritances from leaking… Of course, that's far in the future. I'd probably have to reach the God King level before bringing my family there. No need to worry now."
"Besides, the "Life Blueprint" and "Second Nascent Soul Secret Art" aren't even that crucial."
"The first is basically the counterpart to the 'Nine Tribulations Secret Code,' meant for laying foundations. In the Promotion World, there are plenty of perfect life forms like it."
"The second? In the Savage World, practically everyone has a copy. It's only difficult to find a natural treasure to house half your soul."
"In the future, once I'm a World Lord, even if my children can't inherit the true 'Conqueror,' I could hide it with the Ancient Tree and pass these two arts to them."
"The other secrets will depend on their talent. If they lack the heart of a true powerhouse, even as my children, there's no point giving them secret arts. Better they stay at the immortal stage and enjoy life."
Jiang Zhe eventually turned his gaze to the nine sun-sized ghostly face scars on the tree trunk, collecting his thoughts.
He restored himself to his 1000-kilometer-tall true form, lifted his equally massive lumber axe, and swung a modest blow at the trunk.
"Tenth time."
"A Tree, you still don't seem to want anything in particular, so… surprise me. Actually—give me something good. Defensive gear! Armor! Robes! Pagodas! Five-Element Banners! Taiji Diagram! Chaos Bell!"
It was like reciting a menu.
Thud!
Golden light burst forth. The axe embedded itself into the trunk, then bounced off.
At once, its weight skyrocketed. Even with Jiang Zhe's new Domain Lord strength, he couldn't hold it. The axe slipped from his grasp, flying back to rest on the stone table.
A wound opened in the trunk, spitting out a golden orb of light, which rolled to the ground.
Jiang Zhe shrank back to normal size, dropped from the air, and bent down to touch the orb.
The light faded, revealing a jade scroll.
On its leading slice of jade, elegant script was etched in golden lacquer, proudly proclaiming the contents—
"Mastering Five Thunders"!
Though Jiang Zhe didn't recognize the four Dao characters, he instantly understood their meaning.
"Whoa, A Tree—going this big? Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Techniques?"
"But our world doesn't practice Daoist magic. We cultivate the ten primal laws, the Chaos Law, the Ultimate Dao, the Hunyuan Dao… Won't "Mastering Five Thunders" fail to integrate properly? Actually, if you gave me "Nine Breaths Refining Qi", I'd believe that could adapt cross-world."
He muttered, then sat cross-legged and unrolled the jade scroll.
The script on the jade strips was unfamiliar. But after a glance, the characters broke apart into golden light, then reassembled into Chinese—for his convenience.
"General Principles: Thunder is Heaven's command. The so-called Five Thunders are in truth Five Qi, each linked to the five viscera. When the Qi of the five organs gathers as one, it may ascend the Dao, unlocking the marvels of mastering Five Thunders…"
The final part blurred.
Following a hint from the scroll, he infused a trace of his thunder-genetic origin force into it. The characters, tinged purple-gold, became clear.
"Hm? "Mastering Five Thunders – Immortal Divine Spirit Chapter"?"
Jiang Zhe looked up at the towering tree, broke into a wide grin, and felt deeply satisfied.
"My bad! I shouldn't have doubted you, buddy. Forgot you'd adapt it for local cultivation… Good brother, forever!"
He gave the tree root a comradely pat.
Then Jiang Zhe sat down and delved into the profound mysteries of this Heavenly Gang art.
Three days later.
He lifted his head with a satisfied sigh, carefully rolling up the jade scroll and placing it back on the stone table.
"Whew… exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!"
"Turns out it's a fusion law secret art. The 'Immortal Chapter' guides merging the thunder law with gold, wood, water, fire, and earth—the five lower primal laws, pairing them up. The 'Venerable Chapter' later covers merging thunder with time and space—the two upper primal laws."
"Later sections aren't visible yet, but I bet it ultimately leads to 'Destruction Thunder,' 'Life Thunder,' and 'Chaos Thunder.'"
"Maybe even the God King level 'Ultimate Thunder Dao'… or 'Hunyuan Thunder?'"
"Never underestimate a God King who pushed a single fundamental law to the ultimate realm. That Undying Nether Emperor who ruled Core World cultivated nothing but a Fire Ultimate Dao."
Jiang Zhe rubbed his hands eagerly, already itching to dive deeper into "Mastering Five Thunders".
But he knew he still had plenty of mundane matters to handle.
"No rush, no rush. I'll take it slow. The jade scroll's not growing legs anytime soon."
"I'd better focus on stockpiling energy to reach Domain Lord rank nine. Then I can chop the tree again."
Jiang Zhe exited his internal world and logged into the virtual universe.
Inside his study.
Just as he was about to contact Xiaolu, she beat him to it, sending a video call request.
"Your Highness Jiang Zhe, the virtual universe network has detected your advancement to Domain Lord level. I need to confirm this with you."
"Yes, I've broken through. You'll probably want to verify it in person too, right?"
"Indeed. When I come, I'll also bring resources to help you advance to Domain Lord rank nine. You currently have a free quota worth 10 billion Hunyuan units. How many D-grade thunder treasures would you like delivered?"
Jiang Zhe did a quick mental calculation, a wry smile appearing on his lips.
"Xiaolu, just convert my entire 10 billion Hunyuan units into D-grade thunder treasures and send them over."
10 billion Hunyuan units—the fortune of a peak King.
Enough?
Not even close! It wouldn't fill the gaps between Jiang Zhe's teeth!
(Author's note:
Some might say the Five Thunders are supposed to be 'Heaven Thunder, Earth Thunder, Water Thunder, Dragon Thunder, Society Thunder.'
This is a simplified 'Small Five Thunders.'
Modern cultivation novels rarely mention the traditional 'Great Five Thunders.' Most readers wouldn't grasp it, so the Small Five Thunders are more intuitive—
and easy to integrate into the Swallowed Star cultivation system.)
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