Chapter 50: Thunder Glaze Source Mother!
"It's right here!"
As Orianna spoke, a series of hidden doors embedded in the surrounding walls of the hall slowly pushed open, revealing spiraling alloy staircases descending downward.
So the true treasure trove of the Mechanical Immortal had been hidden beneath their feet all along?
"There's more—above us!"
Orianna raised her hand and pointed upward. A portion of the ceiling retracted, revealing a loft above the top floor, along with a stairway extending downward.
"Anna, do you know what's in each of the rooms below?"
Orianna shook her head. "Alpha never entered. It doesn't know. As for me, I only have access to the central control system of the tower. I wasn't given detailed intel on each room."
"So… we'll have to check everything ourselves?"
"More or less. It'll take some time... There are quite a few world rings and spatial rings in there."
World rings could contain other world rings.
They were different from the world-within-a-world type of spatial structures.
The latter was far more covert—perfect for hiding treasures. The seamless fusion of overlapping dimensions made them nearly undetectable.
After all, once a realm master casts their world projection, nothing within the covered area could remain hidden from them. Any world ring within would be easily exposed.
But worlds within worlds? Those could truly stay concealed.
Choosing a nearby door at random, the master and servant duo began their long and tedious—but occasionally surprising—inventory sweep.
Inside, they found origin-force weapons, psychic gear, spatial rings… It was a dedicated loot storage room, clearly left untouched for quite some time.
Judging by the quality of the equipment, quite a few Universe-level, Domain Lord-level, and even World Lord-level beings must have met their end at this entity's hands.
In a lab-like room, half-completed F-grade mechanical puppets sat on workbenches—clearly a research and development zone for advanced tech weaponry.
A "small" warehouse of about a thousand square meters held over a dozen world rings on display shelves. Each one housed an E9-class alloy starship—likely backup transports.
After Orianna's inspection, Jiang Zhe concluded they were the same model as the one found in the Bermuda region.
—Exceptionally powerful in terms of propulsion. Aside from defense, these ships rivaled even the Meteor Ink Starship in performance.
Considering this enemy was a spy...
These E-grade vessels wouldn't draw attention and still offered F-grade performance. Based on human pricing, each cost only a few thousand Mixed Yuan units. No doubt they were even cheaper for the Mechanical Race.
Ideal for spies navigating human territory.
…
After fully inspecting the underground vaults, the two returned to the main hall.
The hidden doors on the walls slowly closed again.
Jiang Zhe gently rubbed the spatial ring on his middle finger.
Among all the spoils, he had managed to find an A-grade thunder-element treasure perfectly suited to his current level—pure luck.
With a thought, dozens of purple, fist-sized crystal chunks appeared in the air, suspended by his psychic power—nearly a hundred of them.
"Thundervine Blood Crystals!"
"The crystallized sap from Thundervine plants, formed at their wounds. Rich in thunder-elemental energy and life force, they can promote physical evolution."
"They're like the thunder-element version of Wood Sprout Crystals, but only effective up to Planetary Level 9. Their energy is volatile, so they must be absorbed slowly."
"Most people wouldn't consume them directly—they're usually used as ingredients for alchemy," Orianna explained, relying on Babata's archived memories to identify the treasure in full detail.
"I've got a better way. I don't need to worry about volatile energy or conflicts. As long as it's thunder-element, I can use it!"
Confidently, Jiang Zhe pulled open his collar, revealing the diamond-shaped mark on his chest.
His special ability—Thunder Prison Realm!
He guided the floating crystals toward his chest using his psychic power.
As the mark lit up with a ghostly glow, each blood crystal was sucked into the Thunder Prison Realm.
Jiang Zhe could feel them being rapidly broken down inside.
They dissolved into pure thunder-elemental essence, saturating the space.
After seventy of them had been absorbed, the 10x10x10 meter Thunder Prison Realm was completely filled.
With a shift in thought—
He realized he could manipulate the energy as easily as moving his own limbs.
He could:
Infuse his body with it to enhance his physique,
Condense it into lightning that surged from his chest,
Burn part of the energy for a short burst of physical stats,
Or directly absorb it to evolve—just like a Golden Horned Beast swallowing metal.
After experimenting with each function, Jiang Zhe was very satisfied with his newly awakened ability.
"Anna, the rest are yours."
"Thank you, Master!" Orianna replied with a graceful bow.
A red glow beamed from the core in her chest, pulling in the remaining thirty Thundervine Blood Crystals into her own energy core.
Both master and servant could enhance their power through devouring.
Without delay, the two began cultivating right then and there.
—
Fourteen days passed in a flash.
Jiang Zhe opened his eyes, sensing two miniature planets rotating in his dantian.
In his sea of consciousness, four mini-planets floated calmly.
Martial Path cultivation: Planetary Tier 2!
Spiritual Master cultivation: Planetary Tier 4!
From this moment onward, the title of Earth's strongest should be his!
"Anna, how long has it been?"
"Master, today is February 25th. You've been in seclusion for 14 days, 8 hours, and 32 minutes."
"Also, tomorrow is the second day of the second lunar month. Your grandfather came by to ask if the family banquet should wait for you."
"I'll be there. Have my avatar outside send him the message."
After giving his instructions, Jiang Zhe looked up toward the loft above.
"The final area... and still no suitable vessel. Do I really have to wait until…"
Wait until he reached the core of Virtual Universe Corporation? And split off his second spiritual body only after becoming Universe-level?
Jiang Zhe sighed and flew toward the staircase. Orianna followed close behind.
The loft above, over a thousand square meters, was completely empty. The dark silver alloy floor gleamed like a skating rink.
Before Jiang Zhe could even question it, Orianna activated a control mechanism.
Blocks of alloy flooring rose up, forming twenty-five cube-shaped platforms, each about 2.5 meters per side.
The top was dark silver, and the four walls were transparent glass—like display cases in a museum.
Inside those glass cases should have been rare artifacts.
But as Jiang Zhe swept his gaze across them, he noticed that only the first display on the right actually held something—a metal box. The rest were empty.
Orianna opened the glass cover remotely.
Jiang Zhe brought the metal box to him using psychic force, then passed it to Orianna.
She ran her hand across the latch.
Moments later, the intelligent lock disengaged.
This was the passive effect of her Mechanical Pioneer ability.
—Besides replicating and theorizing tech, Orianna exerted unreasonable suppression over mechanical creations and lifeforms alike.
From controlling Babata to infiltrating the mechanical empire of an immortal being, this power had already proven terrifying.
The box opened.
Its interior was lavishly decorated—clearly packaged like a ceremonial gift.
Jiang Zhe immediately realized: this was likely a present from the Mechanical Race to a traitor among the humans!
At the center of the box sat a purple crystal orb, about thirty centimeters in diameter. Its hollow core held a swirling, star-dotted liquid.
The orb radiated a dense aura of thunder-elemental laws.
"Is it artificial? Or natural?" Jiang Zhe asked sharply, tense and clenching his fists.
After nearly ten seconds, Orianna finally pulled a vague entry from Alpha's memory and spoke.
"It's naturally formed!"
That one sentence made Jiang Zhe visibly relax.
"This is the Thunder Glaze Source Mother. It originally came from the Thunder God Temple secret realm of the Insect Race, but it's now completely monopolized by the Mechanical Race!"
"If the outer crystal shell is used to forge a mechanical body, it boosts the clarity of thunder law perception for any intelligent life integrated into it."
"If a flesh-and-blood lifeform drinks the inner liquid, their body adapts more closely to thunder laws. Their ability to sense and use thunder law attacks becomes significantly more powerful!"
An incredible treasure.
Yet Jiang Zhe frowned, deep in thought.
"My main body already has thunder-element affinity. Should my second spiritual body also be thunder-based? Isn't there something better?"
"What if I drink the liquid myself…"
"And find something like a 'Heart of Space'—a treasure imbued with higher-tier laws—to serve as the second spirit's vessel?"
"That way, I get the best of both worlds!"
"But right now, I only seem to have two options—"
"Stick with thunder…"
"Or delay forming the second spirit?"
"No, even if I join the Virtual Universe Company, as a low-ranking Universe-level, acquiring something like the Thunder Glaze Source Mother would be nearly impossible—let alone anything space- or time-based."
"Wait…"
"Don't I already have another backup option?"
Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up as a realization dawned.
(End of the chapter)