Technological advancement begins with devouring.

Chapter 88 New Specialty, [Three Souls Transfer] (1st Update)

After confirming the value of the [Space Furnace], Jiang Chen did not immediately continue to purchase more materials or build a new [Space Furnace].

The Space Furnace is indeed very profitable, but even setting aside the work that Jarvis can handle, it would take Jiang Chen at least half a month to build one.

For the past two weeks, Jiang Chen's 'leveling progress' has been completely stagnant, and he has been unable to acquire new knowledge.

While one can reap considerable rewards by immersing oneself in this cycle of making money, it is by no means a particularly worthwhile investment.

Unless Jiang Chen can free himself up and find a suitable assistant to complete the "magical construct" task for him.

It would be even better if I had a group of deputies.

The magical constructs that were enchanted on the [Space Furnace] were not of a very high level.

While it can't be called an 'entry-level' construct, it's definitely not advanced either.

As long as Jiang Chen is willing to teach, people with a certain foundation have a high probability of learning it.

Of course, Jiang Chen couldn't meet the requirement of mastering the rules of the corresponding system.

"If we recruit people from outside, just to master the laws, they either need to be extremely talented geniuses who defy the heavens, or they need to be at least World Lords."

Jiang Chen had a headache.

Should we hire the realm lord to work under our command?

That would be too risky.

Jiang Chen had no means to restrain the Realm Lord, and if the other party turned against him, he would be in danger.

Unless it is an 'intelligent being' like Babata, who has mastered the laws, and then ensures its reliability through the process of recognizing a master.

but……

Jiang Chen tentatively inquired through the Universe Galaxy Bank, but the bank's offer immediately discouraged him.

An unowned intelligent life form that has obtained the 'Heart of Evolution' and mastered the laws is far more valuable than the entire wealth of most immortal gods.

To ensure that the other party recognizes Jiang Chen as their master, an additional fee will be charged.

Let alone the fact that Jiang Chen simply couldn't afford it, even if he could, how many [Space Furnaces] would he have to manufacture, and how much time would it take to break even?

This road is completely blocked.

Of course, if you abandon the magical constructs and directly assemble ordinary [Space Furnaces], the profits are also considerable.

The payback period will be extended to more than two years, but the profits will still be substantial.

However, in less than three years, it will be the 'Qianwu Auction'.

The regular version of the [Space Furnace], which requires more than two years to recoup its investment and can generate a large sum of money before the auction, doesn't seem so appealing anymore.

The money is spent to build a batch of [Space Furnaces] to start making money, and then the investment is barely broken even before the 'Qianwu Auction' begins.

The subsequent profits will certainly be substantial, but they won't help in the end for the purpose of participating in the auction.

"Unfortunately, the space furnace needs to withstand the pressure of spatial tearing, which places extremely high demands on the materials, resulting in high costs. If the costs could be reduced, the profit margin would be terrifying..."

A thought flashed through Jiang Chen's mind.

After hesitating for a while, Jiang Chen opened the system and decided to see if there was any way to solve the trouble he was currently facing.

The blueprint for the Space Furnace comes from the system. Among other blueprints of the same level, there is no product with a more exaggerated earning power than the Space Furnace.

At least there isn't one that fits the world of "Swallowed Star".

As for the 'knowledge' in the library, it is indeed very good and powerful, but it requires sufficient accumulation to produce a 'qualitative change'.

It seems that the only solution lies in the "Specialty" section.

Upon opening the specialization interface, a list of specializations that could be redeemed appeared before Jiang Chen.

[Exceptional Physique: Health +10%, Recovery +180%, Negative Status Resistance +8%. Requires 85 Feat Points to redeem.]

【格斗精通：力量+5、耐力+3，近战攻击力+6%，招架率+4%。兑换需要53专长点数。】

……

[Mechanical Genius: Creates mechanical equipment with 14% increased attributes, 44% faster manufacturing speed, and 22% lower manufacturing cost. Requires 666 Faction Points to redeem.]

[Three Souls Transference: Allows you to possess the bodies of three people as clones. The clones share the consciousness of the original body. As long as one clone survives, the original body will not die. However, the process of possessing clones is similar to body snatching and carries a high risk. Requires 888 Specialization Points to redeem.]

……

Jiang Chen's gaze lingered on the two specializations: [Mechanical Genius] and [Three Souls Transfer].

In the second stage, each upgrade grants an additional 299 skill points. After entering the third level of the second stage, Jiang Chen has accumulated 912 skill points.

By exchanging for the [Mechanical Genius] feat, the cost of the standard version of the [Space Furnace] can be reduced to approximately 8 Mixed Units, while its performance can be improved by 14%.

Overall, its cost-effectiveness is roughly the same as the magic construct version of the [Space Furnace].

Over three years, Jiang Chen's wealth would increase at least three or four times.

Most importantly, Jiang Chen hardly needed to worry about the entire process. Apart from ordering materials through the 'Cosmic Galaxy' channel, everything else could be left to Jarvis or his slaves.

In Jiang Chen's understanding, the [Three Souls Transference] skill is similar to the 'Clone Technique' in the Swallowed Star world.

The only difference is that the Golden Horned Beast's clone-creating talent technique involves obtaining the genes of other life forms to create clones.

The "Three Souls Transference" method involves directly seizing the physical body of another life and possessing it.

The differences between the two are quite significant.

For example, in terms of choosing clones, the Golden Horned Beast can choose almost any race to create clones, as long as the genetic level does not exceed the limit.

The clones created by the "Three Souls Transformation" are limited to "lives with souls".

—If it doesn't even have a soul, how can it possess another body?

As for the genetic level, Jiang Chen was uncertain whether he could possess a life with genes thousands of times greater or even higher.

In short, given the current situation, if Jiang Chen obtains the [Three Souls Transference] and seizes the clone, he can have the clone complete the work of magical construction without affecting his main body's ability to improve its strength.

If you need to go on adventures in dangerous places in the future, you can send your clone to carry it out, which greatly increases the safety of your main body.

The extent to which this kind of clone ability can increase strength is not important; the ability to survive is the most crucial factor.

Of the two specializations, Jiang Chen favors the [Three Souls Transference] more.

However, Jiang Chen still hesitated.

The system offers more than one type of clone-type specialization, but [Three Souls Transfer] is the only one Jiang Chen can currently afford to exchange for.

However, Jiang Chen was unsure whether there was a limit to the number of clone-type specialties, such as only being able to obtain one.

If he had the chance, exchanging for the [Three Souls Transformation] would mean that Jiang Chen would forever lose other, more powerful clone-type abilities.

such as……

[Myriad Forms Dharma Body: Allows you to acquire the abilities and memories of a target through physical contact. Once acquired, the form can be permanently memorized, and corresponding clones can be created, with no limit to the number of clones. Requires 9999999 Feat Points to exchange.]

While the Three Souls Transformation is powerful, it is nothing compared to the Myriad Manifestations Dharma Body.

If he could obtain the [Myriad Manifestations Dharma Body] specialization, even without the system's help, Jiang Chen was confident he could reach the pinnacle of this world.

However, the cost of exchanging for the [Myriad Manifestations Dharma Body] is quite astonishing.

With nearly ten million skill points, Jiang Chen will never be able to afford to redeem this skill in the foreseeable future.

"There's no need to think about the distant future; let's focus on the present..."

After hesitating for a while, Jiang Chen decided to exchange for the [Three Souls Transformation].

Apart from the [Three Souls Transfer], even the cheapest clone-type feat requires five figures of feat points to redeem.

The process of accumulating five figures in skill points will definitely not be short.

Jiang Chen didn't want to die during his growth process.

Let's get a strong ability to survive first.

Moreover, the three clones obtained through the [Three Souls Transformation] technique can greatly increase Jiang Chen's growth rate.

Upon confirmation of the redemption, 888 skill points were deducted, leaving only 24 skill points remaining.

A mysterious and complex piece of information inexplicably appeared in Jiang Chen's mind, allowing him to instinctively understand how to activate the [Three Souls Transformation].

So-called 'talented ability' refers to the ability that one is born with.

Even without understanding the underlying principles, it can still be used.

It's as natural as how humans are born knowing how to breathe.

"For my first clone, I'll choose a human... However, there are significant differences between the various human subgroups, so I need to choose a suitable one."

Jiang Chen immediately entered the virtual universe and began to look up relevant information.

The human race is a collective term for all 'human-like flesh and blood life forms'.

In principle, anyone who is a living being with flesh and blood, has a soul, has an appearance similar to a human, and identifies as a human being can become a member of the human race.

Of course, the most important of these four conditions is 'identifying oneself as a human being'.

For example, the 'Yan God Clan' meets the first three conditions, but does not identify as human, breaks away from human groups, and establishes its own independent group.

Among the pinnacle races in the universe, humans and demons both belong to this type of 'multi-branched union'.

The Mech and Zerg races are relatively pure.

The former all evolved from intelligence, transforming into true life through the 'Heart of Evolution' and becoming part of the mechanical race.

The latter is entirely centered around the 'Zerg Queen'. As for the Zerg warriors created by the Zerg Queen, unless they evolve self-awareness by chance, they are not considered members of the Zerg at all.

Let's get back to humans.

In the universe, humans are not particularly powerful in terms of individual talent.

However, over the long course of evolution, there are also some branches of the human race with outstanding talents.

For example, the 'Manka Star People', the 'Tianyi Star People', and so on.

However, these extremely powerful branches are not only highly talented, but also protected by extremely powerful members of their clan. Trying to possess them and create clones from them is very risky.

If someone were to possess a member of the Manka Star race, the entire Manka Star race would be enraged if discovered.

Jiang Chen's targets are only the weakest groups without any 'background'.

Of course, if it's someone like the 'Yan God Clan' who betrayed humanity, Jiang Chen wouldn't let them go if he had the chance to possess them.

As long as you are within a human group, the other party cannot retaliate directly.

Even the leader of the Yan God Clan, the Yan God, dared not enter the territory of the human race.

He has survived to this day because the human race is unwilling to offend his teacher, the Mountain Dweller, not because humans are powerless against him.

Through the channels of the cosmos and galaxies, after paying a 'consultation fee,' Jiang Chen obtained a wealth of detailed information about the talents, abilities, backgrounds, and other aspects of various human races.

"In terms of overall racial talent, among humans, the most monstrous talents still belong to the Manka Star People, the Skywing Star People, the lineage of Planet Augustus, and the Wild God Clan..."

Jiang Chen flipped through the documents, sighing with admiration.

These major clans within the human race are all exceptionally talented, naturally reaching the level of Domain Lord upon reaching adulthood, and also possessing some remarkable 'talented abilities'.

People like the Manka aliens possess the 'Man God' talent, which allows them to unleash combat power several times or even dozens of times greater.

Once Jiang Chen possesses a body and refines it into an avatar, he will also be able to master the corresponding abilities.

However, each of these large clans has a terrifying background and is very united internally, so Jiang Chen dares not provoke them at all.

If Jiang Chen were to actually harm the 'children' in these groups, he would probably lose his life before he could even catch them.

"Those of the top three bloodline grades are not to be touched."

After reviewing the information, Jiang Chen quickly made a judgment.

Within the human race, the various branches are divided into ten ranks according to their talents.

Earthlings belong to the ninth class of bloodlines, almost at the bottom.

The top three bloodline groups are all led by powerful experts, and their influence is terrifying. They are all people who should never be provoked.

Starting from the fourth tier, there are some decent 'candidates'.

However, at this level of bloodline rank, one is ineligible for 'talented secret techniques'.

Only reaching the Stellar level upon adulthood means there's absolutely no possibility of acquiring innate secret techniques; at best, one's talent in cultivation is merely decent.

But this is precisely what Jiang Chen cares about the least.

"We still need to choose from those races that are similar to humans but not human... If the price is right, buying a 'Fire God Clan member' or a 'Troll Clan member' to possess and create an avatar would be the most cost-effective. However, these races are not weak, and even if there are suitable members to possess, the price will probably not be low..."

Jiang Chen continued reviewing the information for a while, then quickly made a decision: "First, I'll contact the cosmic galaxy and ask around. If the price is right, I'll get a powerful race to possess. If that doesn't work, I'll choose a stellar-level slave from an ordinary race to possess..."

After putting down the documents, Jiang Chen quickly contacted the Cosmic Galaxy Bank and made his request.

A moment later, the bank's quoted price directly discouraged Jiang Chen from pursuing the idea.

A living stellar-level 'Fire God Clan' requires hundreds of thousands of Chaos Units.

Although it's much cheaper than special life forms like the Golden Horned Beast that have the ability to 'create clones', this price is clearly not intended for ordinary people.

It is likely that only geniuses with astonishing backgrounds and extraordinary talents would have their elders, teachers, and others spend a great deal of money to purchase these terrifyingly talented beings so that they could possess their bodies.

Without sufficient background, even with talent, it's impossible to access resources of this level.