Defiance of the Fall

So what do you want to do now? - Ogras finally asked , perhaps to avoid any further questioning about his increased power . - Keep going or head back? -

It was a good question . They had killed a lot of the rockmen , but there were no elites in the group . The leader of the rockmen back when Port Atwood was invaded was noticeably stronger than anyone in this punitive army , meaning that they hadn’t sent the true aces of the incursions to clear out these neighboring towns .

They already knew that those three Incursions that spawned simultaneously outside his town didn’t send the real leaders , but rather a second-in-command . That meant that the big boss of the rockmen should still be alive . Furthermore , the restrictive shackles should have lessened even further by now .

According to the information he had gathered the restrictions usually lasted between 6 to 12 months , and it differed depending on how high-graded the planet was . The higher grade of the newly integrated planet the quicker the restrictions would be lifted so that the trial for the natives was tough enough .

Since Earth had become a D-Grade planet right off the bat the restrictions should be on the shorter side of the spectrum . Unfortunately , Zac had no idea exactly when it would happen , which is why he wanted to attack the incursions as quickly as possible . He wanted to fight the invaders before they gained another power-up .

Zac opened his mouth to answer , but before he had the change to speak the sounds of hurried footsteps interrupted him . They both turned around to see a male Ishiate walk over , accompanied by the woman they had spoken to up at the wooden rampant .

Zac already knew that he was the lord , or rather leader of the hunt , of this town , and his wife was something like a druid or nature priestess . What surprised Zac though was that he saw the Ishiate wear a fitted armor set made out of chitin-shells that wear clearly from the Ayr ants .

Calrin had really worked quickly .

Lord Atwood , Lord Azh’Rezak , - the Ishiate said with a bow . - I am Steelwood . My family and Everwood Refuge is ever in your debt . If there is anything we can do in return please let us know . -

I see you’re wearing the local produce of Port Atwood , - Zac answered with a smile . - Allowing the opening of a branch of the Thayer Consortia is all we ask in return . -

We would also be grateful if you helped us make some inroads with your Ishiate allies , - Ogras quickly added . - You have seen the strength of our gear , and our supply is huge . Allowing us to open more stores would save a lot of lives and allow you to grow stronger more quickly . -

The two Ishiate gave each other a quick glance , but they soon nodded .

What you say is true . The items the blue one showed us were far superior to the items we brought from our old world , though they were a bit expensive . But one cannot put a price on life . We will speak with our allies about your trading venture , - Steelwood said . - Though you should know that the Ishiate hero Starlight does also control a business . -

A burst of killing intent seeped out of Ogras , but he quickly quenched it after a glare from Zac . The fact that Starlight had somehow got his hands on a business venture was both surprising and unfortunate . It would impact their spread on Earth to a certain degree .

Of course , their main target was the human towns since they were far more numerous than the Ishiate . The beastmen were the second least populous species , only beating out the molemen in the underworld , and there were at least twenty times more humans on the new planet based on estimations .

That is fine , we will not force anyone . Our wares speak for themselves , - Zac said . - More importantly , is your teleporter still public? -

No , - Steelwood said with a shake of his head . - The moment we saw your combat prowess I closed it . I learned a bit about those that are called the Dominators during the hunt , and I feared having it open for too long . -

Zac initiated the system to set up an alliance with Steelwood , and he quickly accepted the prompt .

Please set Port Atwood to trusted . My army is standing by , - Zac said . - Since I am already here I will close the Incursion . -

It will take at least a day , probably two , - Ogras said from the side , showing a far calmer response to the proclamation compared to the two Ishiate .

Their eyes widened in disbelief and mutely stared at Zac until the female spoke up .

Lord Atwood , - she hesitantly said . - closing the incursion is easier said than done . They have set up a very strong protective array . Our scouts have also found that thousands of large boulders are flouting about the core area . We believe they might be a defensive measure as well . -

Don’t worry , - Zac said unfazed . - If you want you can join us , but if you want to stay behind it’s fine as well . -

Steelwood slowly nodded his head .

I will accompany you , I’ve raided their incursion many times and know the paths , - he said , placing a hand on his wife’s arm .

Not long after the Valkyries and the demon army started streaming out of the teleporter , immediately securing the vicinity . When they saw that there was no threat Joanna quickly walked over to Zac and bowed .

Lord Atwood , - she said . - We were afraid something happened when the teleporter closed . -

Just a safety precaution , - Zac said . - You guys haven’t slacked off . -

It was true . His eyes couldn’t help widen in surprise as he glanced over the Valkyries with Inquisitive Eye] . All of them were past level 35 , and many were even in the early 40’s . Joanna was the strongest , having reached level 44 .

It was far from enough to reach the ladder after the hunt , but it was extremely impressive considering how far behind they had been when he picked them up .

It is thanks to the resources and hunting grounds you provide , - Joanna nodded . - After we got strong enough to venture into the forests alone our leveling speed exploded . The Barghest have grown in numbers , and it’s almost impossible for us to run out of things to kill . -

That’s true . However , shouldn’t your gain be a bit limited now when you’ve passed level 40? - Zac asked .

Some of us are also hunting in squads on Mystic Island . We can only hunt in the outer rim though , where the beasts are only around level 60 . But it gives far more Cosmic Energy , and the battle experience is valuable as well , - Joanna agreed .

Keep up the good work . The Incursion here is those rockmen who invaded us before . The Valkyries will join us , but be careful . These ones are pretty tough , - Zac said .

Joanna seemed to ready to argue , but Zac held up his hand .

I have a gift for the Valkyries . During the hunt I got my hands on a few War Arrays . After you’ve learned those you will be a truly elite force . But until then you still need to be careful , - he said .

You’ve finally got one? - she said with excitement .

I also have another gift for you , - Zac said as he took out Nenothep’s spear . - This thing belonged to a crazy strong guy in the hunt , and it should be a real Spirit Tool . You were the first Valkyrie to join me and your level is proof of your effort . I hope it will help you keep pushing forward . -

Joanna mutely stared at the spear that Zac placed in her hand with wide eyes , looking completely frozen . Zac smiled at her before he turned toward Ilvere who was leading the Demon army .

We set out immediately . You’ll stay in charge of the two armies , - Zac said

No problem . I was getting bored from sitting around on the island , - the large demon said as he cracked his neck with some excitement glimmering in his eyes . - These girls need some experience as well . A real warrior is not born by fighting some dumb animals . -

Zac briefly considered waiting for the Marshall Clan to catch up , but in the end he decided against it . Closing an incursion gave a huge boost in power and wealth , and he wanted that boost to stay within his force .

Calrin had no desire to head to the incursion since there were no profits for him to be made there , so he headed back to Port Atwood . But Zac asked him to try and get his hand on language crystals that could help him read the scripts of the Undead Empire .

His language skill did not work on written texts , but it wasn’t hard to read learn to read with the help of crystals . The good ones worked just like a skill crystal , and imprinted the knowledge without the need of ardous cramming sessions .

Everything was settled , and they they left Everwood Refuge with Steelwood leading the way . In just ten minutes his army was speeding through the forests , heading in the direction of a group of mountains in the distance . The rockmen had , not surprisingly , chosen a mountain as their stronghold .

It was a pain in the ass since it would give them a topological advantage , but Zac wasn’t overly worried . Everything he knew about this invasion was that they weren’t from a too strong a force . The leader of their invasion force was nowhere as strong as the Corpse Lord , and they were essentially used as cannon fodder by the two stronger forces .

But while he wasn’t worried for himself he did worry for his soldiers . He had seen the carnage from a large-scale battle just a few days ago . The casualties had been staggering on both the sides of Berum and Medhin , and that was even though they were the elites of their respective worlds .

It took them six hours to reach their destination , allowing Zac and Ogras to restore their reserves of energy . But even then they stopped to make sure everyone was in peak condition before they let started the fight . Due to great vantage of the rockman base , a surprise blitz was already not an option , so they needed to fight the invaders head-on .

A large fort stood erect in the distance , with a grey shield enveloping it . Above the wall walk , hundreds of large boulders floated , likely ready to be launched at any incoming force . It reminded Zac of what Ogras told him a long time ago . Attacking a town was suicide unless you possessed superior force .

I wish that brute was here now , - Ogras muttered as he looked at the shield and the fortress in the distance .

Zac agreed that it would be nice to have Billy here . But he couldn’t always throw Billy to the front , risking his life to gain easier access . He knew that he would have to be the one to take the lead this time . Soon they stood just a kilometer away from the rockmen’s shield , and the wall was filled with black stoic shapes .

I’ll try to break open the shield . Can you help destroy as many of the stones as possible? - Zac said to Ogras .

No problem , - Ogras said with a shrug .

Chapter 272 - Corpsebloom Mantra

Zac panted as he popped a healing pill while looking at the surroundings . The large fortress largely lay in ruins , and much of it was his own handiwork . The battle between himself and the Incursion leader had caused widespread destruction , especially due to the stone-thaumaturgy of the rockman .

He bent over and snatched the cosmic sack of his opponent , but he didn’t join the efforts to drive the remaining rockmen toward their nexus hub . This time there were no quests rewarded or titles , just pure battle between two forces . The blitz of himself and Ogras had broken the defensive perimeter in a furious assault , and in just seconds a large part of the elite defenders was dead or dying from either his fractal blades or innumerable stabs of shadowy spears .

When the defensive line was broken Ilvere had commanded the Demons and the Valkyries forward , and Zac was shocked by their improvement . Of course , Ilvere was doing the work of ten men , though most of his efforts were spent on making sure his soldiers stayed alive .

Any time a skirmish seemed to go awry his huge metal ball flew over with the force of a truck , instantly swinging the battle in their favor . There were a few strong rockmen who had tried to do the same , but they were met by insidious attacks from Ogras .

As for the leader , Zac took care of him . He had been quite powerful , but Zac got the sense that even Ogras would have been able to defeat him in a one-on-one . Then again the demon fought without any restrictions , while the power of the Incursion leader was still limited by the System's restrictions . But Ogras kept showing new cards , and even Ilvere seemed surprised by the power of Ogras .

Zac finally learned what hid beneath that mold on his stump . It was like he had crammed thousands of shadows and forced them into the shape of his missing arm . But the arm was also able to change shape according to his will . It was very strong , but it was also clear that Ogras lacked proper control of it , and it started to fall apart after a short while in the open .

Zac hadn’t even needed to go all out in his battle , and he was in much better condition after this fight compared to after his battle with Nenothep . But unfortunately , the battle didn’t give him a level , and he realized that he would need to fight quite a few people to reach the two final levels before he reached his bottleneck . He had gained the past eight levels thanks to the rewards of the hunt , and the amount of energy that was required to reach level 74 shocked him .

The moment he killed the rockman leader the rest of the soldiers immediately initiated an organized retreat through their Nexus Hub . The hub was located inside the battle , and the support staff of their incursion immediately entered while the soldiers kept Zac’s forces at bay .

Of course , he didn’t push the matter . There was no way for them to kill all of the rockmen before they managed to flee , so their force definitely would get a report of what transpired here . There was no need to go on a widespread rampage at this juncture , causing unnecessary enmities in the multiverse .

For for the rockmen this was likely just business . They wanted access to resources and Origin Dao , and they were willing to risk their lives for it . That they would be ousted was always a real risk , and no one would waste their resources on finding Earth again . But it might be different if Zac caused a vendetta with them .

So the soldiers were mostly pushing the forces toward the Nexus Hub , killing anyone who tried to act out . In just 15 minutes no living rockmen were remaining in the fortress , at least not that hey could find .

Interestingly enough , the moment the last rockman disappeared Zac got a prompt from the system .

Annex RCKV-4433?]

Zac hesitated a bit about what to do before he agreed .

Appoint Mayor?]

Zac frowned a bit before he hurried over to Ogras who looked a bit pale as he cradled the form that contained his weird shadow-hand .

You ok? - Zac asked as he looked down at the slightly pale demon .

Just field testing . It drains more energy than I expected . What’s wrong? -

I annexed this place . Can I elect a Mayor at a later time? - Zac asked .

Not sure , but I don’t see why not? - muttered with some uncertainty . - What do you want with this shithole? -

It’s time to build a presence on the main continent . It’s good to have alternatives if our efforts at the coast doesn’t work out , - Zac said .

Fair enough , it would be nice to not have to rely on some random strangers to move about the continent . Besides , Nexus Hubs are strategic resources that are worth a lot , - the demon agreed .

Zac nodded and opened the town shop . Most of the options he had available at his main town were available here as well , though it was clear that his population in Port Awood did not count here toward structures that had building restrictions .

He quickly bought a new defensive array and a teleportation array , creating a defensible position for his soldiers .

We’ll leave a few people here until Adran can send someone over to sort things out , - Zac said .

I think the golems chose this place for a reason . Perhaps there are good things in the mountain , - Ogras said as he looked over at the towering peaks right behind the fortress where they’d fought .

Zac nodded as he stepped through the teleporter , arriving back at Port Atwood . He didn’t have time to make the arrangements for the new outpost , and he left that for others to figure out . Instead , he headed over to The Thayer Consortia , and in minutes the Sky Gnomes were back at his courtyard full of energy .

Your language crystals , - Calrin said and handed over a box . - The Undead Empire has five official languages . I could not get all of them though . The fifth one is apparently only used by the higher-ups , and it's not for sale . -

Zac nodded in thanks as he opened the box . Four black crystals lay inside , each one with a different insignia engraved . Zac picked up the first one and placed it against his head , and the next moment it was filled with a burst of information . The transfer continued for a few minutes until the crystal finally cracked and turned to black dust .

The crystals were unfortunately one-time use , but that made them much cheaper than the type of crystals that could be used repeatedly after allowing them to restore their energies . Zac was a bit woozy by the mental shock , but he kept going and soon he had absorbed the information of all four languages .

He knew he was pushing it by doing so . Absorbing this much knowledge with his very limited Intelligence could hurt his brain , but he didn’t have time to let his mind rest . He quickly turned back to the gnomes , who eagerly looked at his Cosmos Sack , and once again started to go through his treasures .

As they worked Abby also came by , updating Zac on the tasks he had given out . The renovation of the area around The Towers of Myriad Dao was underway , and over a hundred people were working at it to get it done in record speed . They had also teleported over hundreds of Zhix workers to dig as far down as possible in their mines . Since they lived underground they were natural diggers .

Regarding the Zhix , Nonet wants to speak with you at your convenience , - Abby said .

And I guess Nonet still does not want to leave its hive? - Zac asked , to which Abby simply bobbed in confirmation .

I will try to make it , but honestly there’s a bit much on my plate at the moment , - Zac sighed .

I think it’s in regards to the Dominators , but I cannot be sure , - Abby ventured .

I’ll try to speed things up . Can you call over my sister? - Zac asked .

Soon Kenzie ran over and took over the job of managing the four Sky Gnomes . In a perfect world , he wouldn’t need to waste his sister’s time for this . But he had caught every single Sky Gnome trying to pilfer a few goodies for themselves multiple times . The ancient one had especially sticky fingers , making him not a small source of exasperation .

So instead he released a small hill of treasure at the time and had Kenzie watch over the proceedings as he started looking through the things that he had found in Mhal’s Cosmos Sack . The first things he took out were information missives similar to the one he got from Ogras , though they seemed to be created by some intelligence faction in the Undead Empire .

They were quite exhaustive , and Zac learned about quite a few forces that he hadn’t heard about before . There was even a pretty decent rundown of the Allbright Empire , the place where Average and Greatest resided . It was a strong C-Graded force that consisted of seven sectors , one of which was the Empyrean Sector . The Red Sector that Greatest mentioned was ranked in the middle , and it was run by low-tier C-Graded hegemons .

It was very valuable information since it gave him a pretty good gauge of the power level of not only Greatest but also The Great Redeemer . Everything pointed toward Greatest being in the top tier of the Red Zone , though not necessarily at the peak . That meant he was likely at the bottleneck of the D-Grade .

That also meant the Great Redeemer might be around that power level as well since he seemed to be pretty close in power from the aura he released . It didn’t really change things since he had no way to defeat that man no matter whether he was D-Grade or C-Grade , but finding protection against a peak D-Grade warrior should be far easier than from a C-Grade old monster .

Of course , that was all conjecture . Zac also learned the shocking reality of The Church of Everlasting Dao . Who would have thought that the zealous cult was just a front for a large corporation that collected bodies and sold them to people running out of their lifespan?

It made Zac remember what The Great Redeemer had said when he asked if he was part of the Church . He had called them body-peddlers and that their path toward immortality was a dead end . Zac was shocked that it was even possible to transfer to a new body to prolong one’s life , but he had a feeling there were severe limitations to such a thing .

Apparently , the Undead Empire and the cult were in constant war since they fought over the high-grade corpses wherever they met .

Apart from the information on the church and the Allbright empire , thousands of other forces were listed , which was too much for Zac to go through at the moment . He placed the information crystals to the side , and he’d hand them over to someone else that could go through it all in case there was anything of importance .

The second thing he took out was the cultivation manual that Mhal’s clan used . It was called Corpsebloom Mantra] , and it said that it could boost compatible attacks up to 22% at E-Grade , and it was possible to use all the way to level 150 provided the cultivator's body was proficient enough .

Zac hadn’t looked to much into cultivation since he found that he was a mortal , but he knew that 22% wasn’t a bad percentage . Ogras had once said that a boost of 10% per grade up to D-grade was good , but after that , he wasn’t sure .

That was also why he hadn’t seen cultivators as a real threat so far . Even those with good manuals were only boosted to a pretty limited degree , but that would change in E-grade . 20-30% was completely possible , which was like a permanent boost of Hatchetman’s Rage] without any downsides .

Besides , those numbers came from Ogras whose origin was a pretty weak D-Grade clan , so it wasn’t impossible that the manuals from higher-tiered forces were even better . But that wasn’t really what was on Zac’s mind as he thoughtfully looked down at the manual .

He had already resigned to being a mortal until he could get his hands on one of those treasures that would enable cultivation , or reaching a high enough grade . But he hadn’t considered one aspect . He now had two races , which was essentially like having two different bodies .

Was the second body truly unable to cultivate as well?

Chapter 273 - Guarantee Death

Zac’s heartbeat sped up in anticipation , and he almost wanted to smack himself when he realized he had forgotten about checking his cultivation talent in his Draugr form . It felt especially likely now that he learned that the Draugr was a royal group that had extra good control over miasma compared to other undead species .

But he forcibly put away the manual again and refocused on his real task . It was not like he could try it out at the moment in any case , since he was currently in his human form . Instead , he kept looking through the documents and crystals that were written in the script of the Undead Empire .

A welcome find was that one of the crystals was actually a skill crystal that taught a miasma-based attack . It was unfortunate , but the skills in the repository were unusable in his Draugr-form since Miasma and Cosmic Energy weren’t interchangeable .

So the large treasure trove of skills that he possessed was completely useless for his undead form unless there were some undead skills on the higher tiers that he still didn’t have access to . That was also why he had been forced to enter the hunt without an offensive skill to complement his Undying Bulwark class .

Unfortunately , it wasn’t the skill that the Corpse Lord used where he summoned two fearsome miasmic beasts , but rather something that seemed a bit more mundane . The skill was called Unholy Strike] and it was a simple skill that allowed one to force a large amount of Miasma into your arms to unleash a mighty strike .

It could either be used on its own to empower one’s strike or in conjunction with another skill . For example , he could use it to strike harder with Verun’s Bite] against sturdy enemies . It wouldn’t help much against hordes of beasts , but it would actually be even better than Chop] against stronger foes . Furthermore , if he had been able to use Chop] in his undead form he would have been able to empower it with Unholy Strike] for a combined attack .

Zac remembered that Mhal had used it in conjunction with his bone scythe , and the effect had been pretty good . It was a skill that got stronger from physical attributes as well , and it even mentioned that the better the constitution one had , the more miasma one could push into the arms .

And if there was something that he excelled at in his Draugr-form , it was Endurance . Zac quickly put the skill together with the cultivation manual , and he couldn’t help but feel eager to swap to his undead form to test his new gains .

But he pushed on through Mhal’s notes , and finally his eyes turned to a ragged journal bound in some black leather . He had seen it before lying together with piles of other crystals and books , but he hadn’t checked it out before after learning that all the documents in the Corpse Lord's possession were in illegible scripts . He took it out of his sack and looked over it briefly before he made to open it .

Wait! - someone suddenly shouted , and Zac stopped himself with a start .

It was the old thief-turned-appraiser that looked over in his direction with alarm .

What’s the matter? - Zac asked with some confusion .

Do not open that , - Gemidir quickly said as he hurried over . - It has tampering-protections in place . If you open it you will destroy the contents . -

What? - Zac exclaimed with shock as he quickly moved his hand away from it .

It’s a common protection in case your things get stolen . Sometimes it’s not the treasures that hold the value of a snatched bag , it’s the information , - the old man said as he nimbly gripped the book . - And when there are protections there are solutions . -

Suddenly a small white rat popped out from nowhere on top of the old man’s hand , and Zac realized it was likely a skill since the mouse was covered in small fractals . But it was extremely lifelike , making Zac believe that the old man might actually be in the E-grade even though he gave off a very feeble vibe .

But suddenly both the old man and the mouse froze , and both looked over at Zac with an odd look .

What’s wrong? Can’t you open it? - Zac asked with some urgency .

This old man can’t be sure , - the elderly Sky Gnome said with an exaggerated sigh . - As you know our family has hit hard times lately . My house has been repaired but the wind goes right through , freezing me to my bones . My skills aren’t what they used to be due to that . -

Uh , - Zac said with some confusion , but some realization dawned upon him when Gemidir kept talking .

Nothing like those fancy houses I’ve seen you humans build . With your insulation and temperature-control , with all kinds of miraculous appliances that could improve the living situation of a poor old man . -

I’ll commission a mansion with for you if you can successfully open this thing up without harming the contents , - Zac said with some amusement .

This old man is honored , but I don’t even have the furniture to fill such an extravagant three-story mansion , - the old man said .

When did I say three-story? Zac thought to himself with some resignation .

I’ll also provide furniture , - Zac added .

What abou- -

Don’t push it , - Zac cut him off . - I am sure there are many others who are willing and able to lift some restrictions . -

This old man finally realized how to open this thing , rest assured young man , - Gedimir quickly said , and the next moment the mouse jumped up onto the cover of the book , sniffing around .

Zac curiously looked on as the small mouse seemed to be looking for something until it indicated a corner at the top of the book to Gemidir . When the old thief got the signal he channeled some Cosmic Energy into his finger and lightly tapped the spot the mouse found .

The old man gave off the aura of a safecracker as he and his sidekick lifted the restrictions one by one . In total , they found 9 spots at which point Gemidir nodded in affirmation as the mouse disappeared . Zac took the leather-bound book , looking over at the old man with some skepticism .

The book looked exactly the same as before , and Zac honestly couldn’t tell if he had just been scammed out of a mansion or whether the old man had been telling the truth . But it was too late to regret anything now , and Zac felt it was better to be safe than sorry .

If Mhal truly was doing some experiments with Draugr-DNA or something similar it was reasonable that he wanted to keep that secret . Doing something like that might draw the ire of the noble clans , getting both himself and his clan into trouble .

The old man nodded at him with a smile before he joined the others as they kept going through treasures under Kenzie’s direction . He noted that she had placed a few things in a small pile by herself , and he guessed she had found a few things that she needed .

Zac didn’t mind if she took some things for herself . Some might see it as nepotism , but he didn’t really care . He was the one who found everything , so he decided how things would be distributed . Instead , he focused on the journal in front of him , and just after a few sentences he was hooked .

Little brother , I am sorry about the secrecy , but some things cannot simply be said out loud . I will explain why I gave you those odd instructions , and I hope that you can create a miracle .

During my travels two hundred years ago I fell through a spatial crack while I explored a mystic realm . I was sure I would perish to the vacuum of space , but instead I found myself in a tomb with a body encased in Eternal Ice . A Draugr warrior . Just digging him out took me three years .

In his possessions were a journal , and I realized that this man had been entombed in this odd space for billions of years . According to the archaic scrips , I quickly realized that this man came from an era from even before the Undying Empire was founded . Can you believe it , an ancestor from the dark era?

He was a lone warrior and had no children or other next of kin , and he had met his demise while traveling to find a way to gain a breakthrough , just like I did . I quickly put the body inside my pouch and after twenty-four years I managed to escape through the very same tear that finally reappeared for a brief window .

At first , I was planning to provide the body to the Mendelosa-clan in hopes of attaining their favor and perhaps some resources . After all , returning an ancestor of their kin should count for something , right?

But then I had an idea . In my possession I had a Draugr specimen in prime condition , and more importantly , the body seemed to have no connection to the current lineages . You know how they can crack down on experiments through threads of Karma , but there shouldn’t be any Karma between this man and the current clans , no?

That’s when I got the idea for my experiments . Imagine , gaining the superior miasmic aptitude of the Draugr race while still having the great constitution of us Corpse Lords? The moment the thought entered my mind I couldn’t let it go .

Unfortunately , it’s hard for me to perform such experiments in my current position . There are too many eyes watching my moves since I became patriarch . If I start procuring large numbers of the living and the unevolved to experiment on I fear I might be found out .

That’s why I spent so much money to give you this chance . Certainly , the chance to bask in the resources of a virgin world is a great opportunity . But the experiments are more important . You are young , but you have always had a clever mind with your manipulation and augmentation of the lower undead . I ask you to use that insight now .

Enclosed are 1000 small samples from the Draugr body . I hope you can use them to push the research further . I honestly haven’t made much progress thus far , and this all might just be a pipe dream . Every subject thus far has failed due to their bodies not being able to withstand rebuilding the core composition .

Get strong test subjects , the longer they survive the more data you will be able to collect . I wish you the best of luck little brother , and I hope you will come back with news that can push the two of us to new heights .

And most importantly , remember to never tell anyone about what we’re doing . None of us will survive if it gets out .

The following pages were meticulously kept experimentation logs , where the Corpse Lord recounted various trials where he tried to infuse both undead and the living with the - Essence of Draug’ as he called it . The results were abysmal .

After a while the script slightly changed , telling Zac that Mhal had taken over the experiments at that point , whereas the earlier ones were performed by the elder brother .

The reading was a chilling experience for Zac because it showed just how close to death he had been . Hundreds of zombies and humans had been caught by Mahl and forcibly imbued with the essence , and not one had survived . The strongest had lasted less than a day before dying a true death .

It was due to this that Mhal had even started mentioning using the essence as a poison rather than a medicine , which brought Zac to a short and succinct note in-between two experimentation logs .

Forced to use three stored essence seeds as a weapon in the fight against particularly strong native to guarantee death . Unfortunately unable to retrieve the body for study . Over three hundred samples have been used already , I need to portion out my trials from this point forward .

Zac’s eyes lingered on the two words - guarantee death’ for a full minute as he tried to comprehend what had happened . He had been injected with a large dose of the essence , which should have killed him like all others . But not only was he fine after a pretty harrowing experience , but he even got a specialty core and a second race .

What made him different from the hundreds of others that had died from the injections? A possibility that he had avoided until now couldn’t help but appear in his mind . Their mother had implanted Kenzie with the AI chip that helped and protected her , but was that all she did?

Had he been experimented on as well?

Chapter 274 - Final Tally

The more he thought about it the likelier it almost felt to Zac . He might not have an AI that guided him in his cultivation , but there had been several instances where he was fine when he should have died by all accounts .

The most notable instances were the time he jumped into the pond of cosmic water and came out unscathed with an improved race afterward . Next , there was the incident where he killed almost a hundred thousand zombies and absorbed a huge amount of miasma .

That incident should have killed him by all accounts , but instead he emerged with the duplicity core . There were also various times that almost anyone should have died , but he just passed out due to excessive wounds and woke up a bit later . He was like an unkillable tank , even though it was only just recently his Endurance started to become monstrous .

Had his mother somehow fiddled with his constitution to make his body able to endure when it would normally fail?

Zac quickly shook his head and closed the journal . There was no way for him to find out unless he met his mother again . But at least he knew the root of his undead race , and it seemed he was mostly in the clear . There was some elder brother to Mahl who also knew of the Draugr-issue , but there shouldn’t be much he could do .

If he was the patriarch of his clan he should be far stronger compared to the Corpse Lord he fought and unable to come here in person . Perhaps he would order some people to find him since Zac killed his brother , but he shouldn’t know anything about him becoming a Draugr .

Mahl himself had thought Zac dead until the moment they ran into each other , and just a minute later he was dead . There shouldn’t be any loose ends , and if he ever ran into Draugr in the future he could just feign ignorance and say he grew up on an unintegrated world or something .

There was the issue of the missing samples though . According to the notes there should be hundreds of samples remaining , but he couldn’t find anything of the sort in the Corpse Lord’s cosmos sack . Perhaps he had kept it hidden at a separate spot , which might spell problem . When he assaulted the Undead Incursion he would have to look for them so that there were no loose ends .

The note left from the big brother also made a poignant point about karmic threads . It truly seemed that one needed to be careful when traversing the multi-verse . One couldn’t take for granted their actions would go unpunished when doing misdeeds .

Gemidir , - Zac suddenly said as he looked up , drawing the attention of the old Sky Gnome .

Yes? - he asked when he walked over .

When you stole things in your youth , weren’t you worried about getting tracked down by karmic threads? - Zac asked .

Stole? This old man remembers no such things , - Gemidir started , but changed his tune when Zac’s eyes thinned . - Taking treasure I as much knowing which target to hit as taking the right valuables . Find someone who won’t be able to find you . Or just steal things that aren’t valuable enough for them to expend enough resources to track you down . -

But karma is truly a bane for most thieves , which why the higher-tiered ones all try to find ways to obscure the heavens and hide from the karmic eyes , - Gemidier added .

Zac’s eyes lit up since it felt like he had found another direction that was worth following up on . If they could somehow block the Karmic Link between the Dominators and The Great Redeemer they might even be able to protect their planet even without fighting those monsters .

And a quick discussion with the Sky Gnomes proved that it was actually possible . However , he was dismayed to find that arrays that could block out karmic links were prohibitively expensive , and D-Graded arrays at the lowest .

Zac could neither afford them or even set them up even if he had the money . An adept array master , preferably one with insights into Karma , would be needed to make the array worked . That was why Calrin didn’t even mention the possibility during the meeting .

There were also treasures that had similar effects , though they only worked on individuals , and not a whole planet like they needed . So it seemed to Zac that he would have to stick with the current plan , at least for the moment .

Since he was done looking through the Corpse Lord’s belongings he returned to Kenzie’s side to find the Sky Gnomes all work with sullen expressions .

What’s going on? - Zac asked with confusion .

Your little sister must have been an Imperial Adjudicator in a past life , - the old sky gnome said with a hurt look at Kenzie , who only sweetly smiled back at him . - She must have eyes in the back of her head . -

Turns out I’m pretty good at figuring out when they try to sneak some valuables for themselves , - Kenzie explained with a smile .

Zac was confused for a second before he realized that her AI might be able to help her out in more ways than one .

Please help out with the rest as well , - Zac said with a smile .

Fine , but I’m missing a lot of cultivation time . So I’ll take a few goodies for myself , - Kenzie said .

No problem . Better yet , I’ll show you something good after we’re done , - Zac agreed .

It was time to take her to his cultivation cave . He needed to check up on his seed in any case . Either the seed should have germinated and stabilized by now , or it would have been absorbed by the pond . In either case , it shouldn’t hurt to allow Kenzie to cultivate there by now .

The organization of items took most of the day , and the final tally was shocking to Zac , even though he had been the one to gather everything . Of course , while the wealth that he had accumulated was vast , it was nothing compared to what a D-Grade Sect should possess .

The simple explanation was that the System had adjusted the treasures just like it likely had adjusted the danger . For example , a peak E-Grade Elder should have thousands of high-grade crystals , but he only got his hands on two D-Grade crystals .

And while Ogras never had provided a complete explanation about his Grandfather’s wealth , he knew it was far beyond what he gathered the past month . And that was even when he was considered extremely poor for a D-Grade powerhouse . But Zac knew he couldn’t get greedy , and he had received far more than he had expected .

The pile that Zac would keep for himself was the smallest , but it was also the most valuable . It’s value easily surpassed billions of Nexus Coins , and that was even when there were multiple treasures that even the four sky gnomes were unable to figure out the function of .

Zac already knew about some of the treasures since he picked them up himself during the first two weeks , but there were a lot of happy surprises as well . Most of them seemed to come from Nenothep’s pouch , but gems were also extracted from the chaotic mess that Zac snatched from Salvation .

His eyes turned to a neatly stacked pile of jade boxes . Inside them were over a hundred Attribute Fruits . Each of them was only of use at F-Grade and worse quality compared to the ones he bought in the Contribution Store , but it was a huge gain for Zac who had only gotten his hands on two of them so far .

The problem with the fruits wasn’t their price , but their scarcity . He had a standing order for them at Calrin’s since the start , but the Sky Gnome was completely unable to get his hands on them . It was truly a mountain of treasure that had fallen into his lap .

The huge pile was also proof that the System adjusted the rewards in the hunt . If he got this many there should have been at least a thousand Attribute Fruits spread throughout the hunt . It was far more than what a D-Grade sect should have lying around . Not that they couldn’t afford it , but they would use them on their disciples rather have them lying around .

But what was most curious was that he couldn’t even remember picking up these boxes . If he knew he had attribute fruits in his possession he would have immediately eaten them rather than left them in his bag .

The only explanation that he could come up with was that the System either added them at the end or made people pick them up but ignore them afterward . Perhaps the System didn’t want people who were doomed to die to waste the attribute fruits , so it only made them available after the hunt was over .

A lot of them , but the real prize are these four , - Calrin said and pointed at a few more intricate boxes on the side . - Two Luck and two all-attribute fruits , one of each mid-grade . Unsurprisingly , the last four are worth as much as the rest combined . If you gobble them all up yourself you should reach your limit , though you would a lot of efficiency that way . -

Zac nodded , unable to hide his excitement . The limit the Sky Gnome referred to was the limit of how many attributes this type of treasures could provide . There was no strict limit that the system imposed , but the limit was generally 15 to 25 in every attribute .

Some of the differences were based on race , where some races could accommodate more bonus points . Humans were completely unremarkable in that regard , so they were on the lower end of the spectrum . But there was also a pretty large component that simply was having good genes .

Being a mortal and not someone possessing special constitutions and bloodlines , Zac suspected that he might be on the lower end of the scale . Unless his unusual sturdiness also translated into having a higher ceiling for bonus attributes as well .

Unfortunately , it usually didn’t work to eat the same fruit over and over . You usually only ate one of each type since the following ones had reduced effect . Eating the same type over and over was extremely extravagant , and something only extremely wealthy scions could afford .

Quite a few of the fruits in the collection were duplicates , so Zac would likely give them to others instead of hoarding them all . He even briefly considered giving all of them to others , apart from the two special fruits . A few bonus attributes might do a lot more good for others than himself .

But in the end , he chose to be a bit greedy . A few points in each attribute might not be a huge boost , but every little bit counted when he was risking his life almost every day . It might allow him to pass the inheritance , or reach a higher floor in the Tower of Eternity .

How do you suggest I should allocate these? - Zac asked of Calrin .

Take what you need , and then take a decent amount for your elite . But you should leave some for the Merit Exchange or the store . People understand that some of them goes to the elites , but you need to show that hard work is also rewarded , - the Sky Gnome said .

How do you mean? - Zac asked . - I expect the treasures here will not be leaked to the public . -

We’ll keep our word , but no secret stays that way forever , especially if you start handing out treasures to all the elites in Port Atwood . So you need to find a balance . Show the population that hard work will be rewarded and that everyone can become a powerhouse with our help if they struggle enough , - Calrin explained .

Zac slowly nodded as it made some sense . Perhaps it would be optimal to give out all the fruits to the people in his inner circle , but it might sow discontent amongst the army or his craftsmen . It might create the image that working hard was meaningless since the leadership would keep everything good to themselves .

Zac wanted a culture where people worked hard to improve themselves , and if putting a few attribute fruits in the Merit Store helped make that happen , it was worth it . These fruits only gave 1-2 attributes each , after all , and spread out over 10 elites it wouldn’t make all the difference .

Soon they had split up the attribute fruits so that Zac would gain roughly 10 points in each attribute , then an even 50-50 split amongst the remainders . Zac gave half to Kenzie who would distribute them amongst the warriors .

Kenzie had spent all her time in the Academy lately , so she had a lot better understanding of who was worth nurturing and who wasn’t . Zac himself had been too busy with so many things that he almost only interacted with a small group at the top .

A decent amount of them were also earmarked for Emily , who he still hadn’t seen since he got back . He had already invested a Fruit of Ascension to nurture a powerhouse from the ground up , so adding a couple of attribute fruits was nothing odd . Zac had asked Kenzie about Emily’s situation but she only told him she was fine .

He was curious about her progress during the past month . Her 16th birthday should have taken place roughly two weeks ago , and he wondered if she had gotten her class yet . But when Zac asked his sister about it she only smiled and said that Emily wanted to tell him about it herself .

Chapter 275 - Billions

It allowed Zac to relax somewhat about Emily’s situation since he could tell it wasn’t bad news going by Kenzie’s expression . She was apparently out on a hunting trip at the moment , but she should be back pretty soon . It made Zac worry a bit that she still pushed herself to such a degree , but she was always accompanied by demon guards to keep her somewhat safe .

Apart from the attribute fruits , there were also three Dao Treasures , and Zac unhesitantly kept those for himself . He had five seeds to work on now , and he would need every bit of help he could get . Zac only needed to figure out a direction for his seeds before he ate the treasures to increase the likelihood of improving his seeds .

A much larger section of his private stock was filled with high-quality gear that the Sky Gnomes felt had too much value to directly put in the merit exchange . They would cost too many points , making it so that no one would be able to exchange for them until the war with the invaders was over .

The most interesting item for Zac was a large glistening shield that radiated weight and ruthlessness . It was a bulwark in the true sense of the word . It was made in black E-Graded metals and was roughly 160 centimeters high and a meter wide . The width was almost the same across the whole thing , apart from the top where one end reached a bit higher than the other .

It was also clear it was meant for more than simple defense since five large spikes jutted out from the front , and the bottom also had jagged spikes sticking out like teeth . No matter if he bashed someone or slammed down the lower edge he would cause gruesome wounds .

Better yet , it came with a skill . And interestingly enough it wasn’t a defensive shield like the one his old robes possessed , but an offensive one . He could slam the shield down into the ground , which would unleash a barrage of steel spikes at his opponents in front of him . It was a pretty good area attack , and it only needed 5 minutes to recharge rather than a full day .

It was a great complement to Zac’s somewhat disappointing offensive force in his undead form . His thorn aura was an amazing skill , but it took some time to whittle down his enemies . Smarter enemies would also figure out some workarounds after a while , like using defensive tools while attacking to neutralize Deathwish] .

Unfortunately , the shield wasn’t a Spirit Tool , but its quality was top E-Grade , and far sturdier than the shield he took from Thea’s bodyguard . It would likely last him quite some time before he needed to swap it out .

The Sky Gnomes had also figured out the workings of the Spirit Vessel . Zac needed to use the elder token that he found at the same time as a key . When activated the large ball changed form into a large floating disk . It looked quite a bit like the array disks that he got from Ylvas , only a lot larger .

It was about four meters across , so it wouldn’t be able to transport a whole army , but it would be able to fly a small strike squad with himself and a handful of others without a problem . Its speed was nothing to scoff at either . According to Calrin , it wasn’t anything special , but it was far faster than Zac could run , and over twice as quick as Zac’s fastest Creator Vessel .

It even had a defensive shield that both blocked out any wind and weaker attacks . But it wasn’t a flying fortress , so using the shield to block out too strong attacks would ruin the disk . Kenzie had put the ball into her own pile , but it was one of the few things he took back for himself .

You should take this to David and Hannah when you visit them , - Kenzie suddenly said as she handed him another disk .

What’s this? - Zac asked as he curiously took the package of array disks .

They looked pretty similar to the array disks that he got from Ylvas , though the five disks that he held seemed to be meant to be used together .

They are farming disks , - Calrin explained . - We found a total of 16 such sets . The one you’re holding is of average quality , and covers a smaller area . -

Farming disks? - Zac asked with some confusion . - What do they do? -

Farming arrays help with farming , of course . These ones combine five different arrays . It provides energy gathering , energy infusion , irrigation , fertilization , and low-grade pest control , - Calrin said . - Better ones also can also speed up maturity times , though that’s usually done by the farmer’s skills . -

Zac looked down at the nifty arrays with surprise . Planting these on a field would truly make life a lot easier for a farmer , and it was a good gift to David if he truly had his mind set on farming in seclusion . But he wasn’t ready to meet up with Hannah at the moment , even if Janos had worked on her mind . Getting stabbed by your ex wasn’t something you got over in a day , not even in this new ruthless world .

Even more surprisingly there were four Spirit tools in the collection . There was a large golden bow , a seemingly unremarkable sword that possessed a dense killing intent , a mage’s staff that seemed to continuously absorb the Cosmic Energy from the area , and finally a small paintbrush .

Zac was especially surprised to learn that the small brush was a Spirit Tool , but he soon understood its use after Calrin’s explanation . It could both be used for inscriptions and attacks for certain classes like Calligraphers .

Kenzie had already laid claim to the staff , but since he didn’t have any specific people in mind for the other three spirit tools he decided to put them in the Merit Exchange as top prizes instead of hoarding them . Hopefully , it would motivate some people to work harder if they saw they could even get Spirit Tools with merit points .

There were also dozens of pieces of gear that weren’t Spirit Tools but as high-quality as his new shield . Zac would gift have Kenzie gift them just like the attribute fruits , as long as there were proper recipients . They could be of great assistance in the upcoming battle , after all .

Zac took two Defensive rings and a Defensive amulet for himself and gave the same to Kenzie who put them on . She already had the protective array on her that he bought before the hunt , but that only worked on the island . Having a few back-ups wouldn’t hurt .

Apart from the gear , there were also a ton of convenient items that would be a great addition to any Cultivator’s survival kit . There was a small mountain of healing pills , all of them better than the standard-grade items that the General Stores sold .

There were also quite a few one-time items in the vein of the Thunder Punishment Array that he used during the beast hordes . Most of the ones he had found were useless for himself , but they might save the lives of the soldiers .

Zac decided to make two such items a part of the standard kit for the Valkyries and demons , which would hopefully improve the survival rate in the upcoming battles . They were things such as fireball-talismans or shield beads that soaked up some damage for the user for a short duration .

There were a few stronger items as well , and Zac ended up saving two of them for himself . One was a pitch-black glass ball that the old Sky Gnome called a Void Ball] with some fear in his eyes . It was a truly dangerous item that actually caused a temporary tear in space .

It was only an E-Grade ball , but it would destabilize over a hundred meters around it . If Zac himself wasn’t far enough he would kill himself since he couldn’t withstand spatial rifts even with his recent upgrades to his Endurance . In fact , almost nothing in the F-grade could withstand the spatial storms from the Void Ball] , meaning that it could be used for anything from widespread carnage to destroying arrays .

The second item he kept for himself was a defensive item . It looked like a golden walnut , and it was simply called Bramble Wall] . If he infused it with cosmic energy it would turn into an enormous dome of thick brambles that could protect against almost any attacks .

Better yet , Zac had a feeling he would be able to strengthen the item even further with the help of his Dao of Trees . It wasn’t very useful for him personally , but it would make great last-ditch protection if his whole army was in danger for some wide-spread attack . The Bramble Wall] could spread a lot further compared to even his Souped-Up Nature’s Barrier] , which wasn’t designed for large area protection .

Unexpectedly the simple-looking prayer-mat he found in the first temple also ended up in his own treasure-pile . It was a very valuable item made from D-Grade materials . It was mainly used by cultivators , but it could even help a mortal to absorb Cosmic Energy faster . Sitting on the mat after a battle would allow Zac to get back to a fighting condition almost twice as fast .

Zac felt that his force would gain a huge all-around boost by the large pile he had just gone through . Some items were even upgrades for himself who already possessed some of the best gear on Earth . They would be enormous upgrades for the Valkyries and the Demon Warriors . And all this was just the smallest of the three categories of loot .

The second smallest pile of treasures was the one that Calrin would sell through the Thayer Consortia since most would be placed into the Merit Exchange . Port Atwood was simply lacking just about everything at the moment , so most items would be kept . Still , Calrin estimated the sell-off would bring Zac another 250 to 300 million nexus coins .

A large portion of the items in the sell-off pile was things like gear from the thousands of fallen that had accumulated in his pouch . Each item was only worth a couple of thousand Nexus Coins , but Calrin believed he could sell the items in bulk to some low-grade planets . It was the same with the various pills of average efficacy .

There were also a few dozen low-grade Cultivation manuals that Calrin didn’t recommend keeping in the Merit Store . It would almost be a disservice to allow his own citizens to cultivate using such shitty manuals since it could cause trouble for them down the line .

Instead , the Sky Gnome would pawn them off to hapless rogue cultivators in the multi-verse for a few million a pop . Zac felt a bit bad about it , but he needed money and the cultivators could only blame themselves if they bought such an important item without understanding it properly .

The final pile would be used to stimulate every sector of Port Atwood , and it ranged from everything from Nexus Crystals to weapons and armor to knowledge . The information crystals that Zac got from Anzonil was the best collection he got , but not the only one . There were multiple other crystals that Zac got , mainly form killing the Emperor .

Those crystals covered everything from Blacksmithing to Alchemy , though Zac knew that those were just minor paths in the Eastern Trigram Sect . Still , they would bring a great boost to the productivity and skill of the artisans of the island , especially when combined with The Celestial Artisan heritage .

The sky gnomes estimated the final pile to be valued at roughly 700 million Nexus Coins , excluding the Information Crystals . That meant that the two piles of average treasures were worth around a billion Nexus Coins , and that was only a small part of the total wealth he brought back . It was an enormous number and much more than what he possessed before .

Zac couldn’t even imagine the total wealth he’d bring back if the System hadn’t adjusted the trial ground and removed the real valuable items . What if the odd Mystic Realm in his possession possessed equivalent wealth as the original Eastern Trigram Sect? Ogras seemed to believe that the realm had roughly the same power levels as the sect after all .

It all depended on what the rest of the odd structure Ogras described contained , but even if they turned into salvagers and stripped the metals from the walls they would likely make billions . That meant that there might be some really valuable things further in .

Zac had thought that hunting beasts was the most efficient way for him to get richer since he was able to gain tens of millions of Nexus Coins in a Day if he pushed himself . But exploring ruins in Mystic Realms or looting enemy forces was clearly more lucrative , and Zac understood why there was so much conflict in the multiverse . War was an extremely profitable business , as long as you won .

Zac couldn't help but feel a bit morose as he thought about life in the multi-verse . He would likely never be able to just sit back and relax since there would always be other people improving while eyeing his wealth . But Zac was soon brought out of his slightly morbid musings by some movement outside his courtyard . He looked up and slightly smiled when he saw who it was .

Emily had changed quite a bit in the past month .

Chapter 276 - Runic Shaman

Zac put away the last of the treasures before he deactivated the arrays surrounding his courtyard . In the end , he needed over thirty Cosmos Sacks to fit everything he wasn't keeping for himself , and it would have been higher if Calrin hadn’t taken care of the pile that was to be sold off . Luckily , all of the things he would keep for himself would fit in his personal Cosmos Sack without trouble .

Emily perked up the moment the shields surrounding the courtyard deactivated and rushed inside . Zac couldn’t help but feel a bit amused when he saw her . For some reason , she had stylized herself as a barbaric warrior , with different wolf pelts as armor all around her . It was a pretty odd look considering how temperate the island was .

Her hair was braided backward like a Celtic warrior princess , perhaps to not get in the way during battle . She even had some paint markings on her face while the rest was covered in a veneer of dirt from days in the woods .

There were also clear indicators of her having been through harsh battles as she was bandaged in multiple spots , and Zac even noted a few scars with a frown . Still , the small wounds hadn’t put a damper on the teenager as she ran over .

Unsurprisingly there were also two axes attached to a belt on her hip , meaning she had stuck to her decision to try to get a class related to the same weapon type as himself . But as she got closer Zac finally noticed one startling change . She looked younger .

Even before she had been pretty scrawny for her age , but now she almost looked like a kid . Zac couldn’t put his finger on what exactly had changed , but she reminded him of when his sister was around twelve years old .

Zac’s brows rose when he suddenly understood why she had changed in this peculiar manner . It must have been the Fruit of Ascension that made her look younger when she evolved . It was the same with himself when he evolved to the E-Grade race . He was already 30 but he looked like he was in his early twenties now .

Evolving seemed to remove markings of age due to things such as lifestyle and environment apart from slightly improving one’s features . It just wasn’t quite as pronounced with Emily due to her young age . But it still looked a bit comical to Zac , and he couldn’t help snorting when he realized she might look like a brat for decades due to her improved longevity .

It’s your fault! - Emily snarled like an enraged wildcat , clearly having figured out the reason for Zac’s amusement . - Your stupid fruit! Alyn told me will look like a kid for like 20 years now . -

A lot of old ladies would give anything to be in your position , - Kenzie said from the side with a smile . - Besides , you will be able to slightly change your appearance when you reach peak E-Grade according to Alyn . -

Looking young is a sign of great talent in the multi-verse , - Calrin added . - It means you have quickly progressed on the path of Cultivation . Sometimes you would see great powerhouses looking like children . Those are the ones you need to be extra careful around . -

Zac smiled and was about to respond as well when a blazing axe suddenly materialized in Emily’s hand while she looked at them with wild eyes . It looked like a small tomahawk wrought out of scorching flames . The next moment she unhesitantly threw it straight at Zac . Had the teenager finally snapped?

His eyes widened in alarm , but he didn’t feel any danger so he didn’t move . He didn’t think that Emily would be able to harm him even if she wanted to . The flaming axe unerringly flew at him and to his surprise it entered his body without resistance .

The next moment he felt a flash of heat spreading through his whole body , but not in a bad way . It was like he had drunk a warm beverage on a cold day . He even felt a bit invigorated by it .

Hehe surprised? Did I scare you? - Emily said with a wide smile . - That’s what you get . -

Zac snorted and shook his head . She had clearly been waiting for a while to use this thing on him , so he would let her have this one . Rather than arguing he instead looked inward to see the effect of the warmth spreading through his body . It was beneficial , and it slightly reminded him of the energy from Hatchetman’s Rage] , without the detriments .

He quickly opened up his status screen , and he quickly realized he was right . His Strength and Dexterity had both increased by a whopping 5% , meaning he had gained 40 attribute points . Zac quickly looked up at Emily to see her whole form blaze with the same types of flames the axe was made from before subsiding .

Wow! Your attributes are crazy , no wonder you’re on the top of the ladder , - Emily exclaimed .

What is this skill? - Zac asked . - How long can you keep it up? -

Emily didn’t immediately answer , and instead glared at the four Sky Gnomes who were still in the courtyard . Calrin rolled his eyes in response , but soon the four of them said their goodbyes leaving only Zac , Kenzie and Emily in the courtyard .

It should boost you with 5% Strength and Dexterity , right? - Emily said , making Zac nod .

I can keep it up for an hour right now , but I'm sure it will get longer as I level up . During that time I get the same amount of bonus attributes as you do . But even during normal times it gives me a 5% bonus . I also have an Earth Axe that gives Endurance and Vitality , and a mage axe , - Emily proudly said . - But I can only use one at the time . -

You get the bonus as well? - Zac exclaimed with shock .

Five percent of his Strength and Dexterity was a pretty big boost for someone at her level , and her defensive axe would give even more attributes .

Yeah , I get almost fifty bonus Attributes from this skill now . You will have to come with me when I hunt later! And you can’t leave me on the island any longer . I can protect myself and even help out now , - Emily eagerly said .

Just what is your class? - Zac couldn’t help asking .

It’s called Runic Shaman . I can buff one person at the time with my axes , and also fight with magically infused axes . It’s the coolest class ever , and it’s even Rare! - Emily said with pride .

Zac smiled and nodded . Clearly , the Fruit of Ascension had helped her get a great class , but the fruit alone wasn't enough . And he had to admit it would be great to keep her around while traveling . If she could boost him this much right now , how would it look when she gained higher mastery of the skills?

But she was still not very strong on her own , and he was afraid that she would be targeted if his enemies found out she could empower him . He remembered all too well how he himself had handled the Medhin warriors who used the war arrays . Emily noted Zac’s hesitation , and a scowl started to appear on her face .

You told me you would take me with you after I gained a class , and now I have! - she said with a glare . - You have already found your family , but I am still looking for mine! -

Zac sighed as he looked at the irate teenager . What she said was true . A big reason why she worked herself so hard was that she still hoped to find her two siblings . Zac knew that the likelihood of both of them still living was slim , even if they were both cultivators . But she had the right to look for them .

How about this , - Zac said after mulling it over . - I am going to Westfort tomorrow , the base of operations of the Marshall Clan . They have as good an information network as The New World Government . Why don’t you come with me? Perhaps they have found the town where your siblings were dropped off -

Great! I’ll start packing , - Emily exclaimed , her demeanor making a complete turn . - I’m going to go pack! -

The next moment she left the courtyard like a whirlwind before Zac had a chance to change his mind . He didn't even have time to ask about her level and titles . But Kenzie apparently knew what was on his mind and explained Emily's situation .

She can protect herself against most warriors already , she's stronger than you think . She has pushed herself extremely hard since she gained her level . She even managed to kill a level 51 beast as her first kill , - Kenzie explained .

What? - Zac said , extremely surprised . - How the hell is that possible? -

He knew that the only reason that he was able to get the 'Slayer of Leviathans' title was that he lucked out on his roll against the Herald . For Emily to defeat such a powerful beast by herself was shocking . He remembered how he barely survived the fight against Vul , the Barghest Alpha . At that time he was almost level 20 , and he had a slew of titles to empower him .

She gained two very strong advantages before even turning 16 . She both attained a Dao and upgraded her race . You know how good those titles you get from that . After that we found a very weak beast on Mystic Island , - Kenzie explained .

She formed a Dao Seed!? - Zax exclaimed before calming down . - But still . -

Between an offensive Dao and a high-quality weapon she almost killed the beast in one surprise strike , - Kenzie continued . - After that , she slowly killed it with the help of a fireball skill she bought from the Nexus Crystal . The beast only managed to get in one blow , but she used her defensive gear . -

Zac slowly nodded , realizing that Emily had quite a few advantages that he never had when fighting Vul . An offensive Dao added a huge spike in power , and it was such a Dao Seed that allowed him to kill an E-Grade beast in his Draugr-form . Using a Dao Seed to kill a level 50 beast made sense .

Still , he hadn’t expected Emily to even attain a Dao seed before officially embarking on the path of cultivation . According to Ogras , it was practically unheard of on his own homeworld . With all those titles Emily might actually be stronger than the Valkyries by now .

Learning about Emily's situation was like a rock having been lifted off his shoulders . He truly felt he had made the right decision . His only regret was that she seemed to have gained a hybrid class that was part-support . Such a class would be invariably weaker in battle compared to a pure combat class .

Has anyone else on the island managed to form a Dao Seed before turning 16? - Zac suddenly asked .

Not that we know , but Alyn increased the amount of meditation for all children in the Academy after learning of Emily’s situation . I think it’s extremely rare , even with the help of Origin Dao , - Kenzie said hesitantly . - But perhaps we can luck out and get another one . -

Zac simply shrugged in response . He didn't hold too high hopes for that happening . Once was already a miracle without the help of a powerhouse showing the way . Besides , the Origin Dao would disperse and integrate with the world the following years , making the window of opportunity pretty brief .

Speaking of meditation , - Zac said as he started walking toward the teleporter on his compound . - Come with me for a bit . -

Wait , what about those things? - Kenzie said and pointed at the gardening golems idly standing in a corner of the courtyard .

Zac stopped with a start since he had completely forgotten about those things . When Kenzie and the gnomes had taken the golems out they were completely lifeless unlike when Zac snatched them from the Alchemist’s mountain . No matter what kind of prodding they tried they were completely inert , so they simply placed them to the side before moving on .

After some hesitation , Zac put them into his private pouch . He did sort of want to leave them there to see whether they would wake up by themselves and start cleaning , but he was afraid they would freak out instead and start demolishing the whole place . He needed to be present in case that happened .

Soon the two stepped through the teleporter and appeared in Azh'Rodum . They quickly exited the town before they attracted any real attention and then entered the mines from a side-tunnel . Zac then quickly led his sister through the winding paths inside the mountain until they stood in front of the unassuming rock leading to his cultivation cavern .

These mountains really are amazing , - Kenzie said with a sigh when they stopped . - Jeeves says this place is probably among the top ten Zones on Earth for cultivation . After they have been doused in the Cosmic Energy for a few centuries they will become true Sacred Mountains . -

If you the mountains are good you’ll like this , - Zac said with a grin as he undid the arrays hiding the cavern before he moved the boulder out of the way .

Dense cosmic energy poured out of the cavern like a punch in the face , and Kenzie’s eyes widened in shock as she took a deep breath . Zac indicated for her to go inside , and then placed the boulder back behind them to hide the entrance again . Next , he quickly activated the arrays again to prevent the energy from leaking out .

This place… It’s crazy! - Kenzie said as she looked around in wonder at the extremely dense flora growing in the cavern . - Even the mundane plants have gained spirituality from the enormous amount of energy . Did you make this place? -

However , Zac didn’t answer as all his focus was on the pond with Cosmic Water . His heart quickly hammered with wild elation as he hurried over , only stopping right at the edge of the pond . His mouth curved upward as he looked at the sight .

A lotus no larger than his hand lazily bobbed on the surface .

Chapter 277 - Cultivation Cave

Kenzie noticed Zac’s preoccupation and walked over next to him in front of the Cosmic Water pond .

What is that flower? - Kenzie said with interest after seeing Zac's stare .

A present from Abbot Everlasting Peace , - Zac explained . - He gave me a seed from a D-Grade Lotus , I wasn’t sure it would germinate . But the effect here is even better than I anticipated . I thought it would take much longer for it to start growing . -

What does it do? - Kenzie said .

Zac hesitated a bit , but in the end he decided to not tell Kenzie about the horrible state that the Abbot was in . He trusted his sister to not tell anyone else about it , but he felt he shouldn’t betray the old man’s confidence .

It produces massive amounts of Life-attuned energy . So it can both heal people and prolong life . It’s small now , but it will grow a lot bigger later . Sitting on it will probably speed up your cultivation by a large degree when you cultivate later , - Zac explained instead .

It was true . The old Abbot had lost a few placements on the ladder the last month , but in the end he had pretty much kept pace with the people on the ladder even though he didn’t go to the hunt . The massive number of beasts had boosted the average levels on the ladder by a huge degree , far quicker than the average speed was on earth , yet he held on .

Jeeves says it contains intricate signs of life , - Kenzie said as she looked down on the lotus . - But he needs to upgrade to understand it properly . -

Upgrade? - Zac asked with confusion , finally tearing his eyes away from the small flower .

Yeah . Jeeves is like a Spirit Tool . He needs to upgrade to keep helping me after I reach E-Grade , - Kenzie said , a small frown forming on her face . - But he doesn’t know what he needs . -

You didn’t find anything from my treasure pile that could help? - Zac asked .

No , nothing… - Kenzie said with a sigh before looking up at him with steady eyes . - Zac , I still think we should find mom . Especially now with the Great Redeemer . -

Zac was about to immediately reject the proposition , but his sister sped up when she saw the frown forming on his face .

Wait , just listen . If she’s really a Technocrat she can help , right? Aren’t they some of the most powerful people around? - Kenzie hurriedly explained . - Besides , don’t you want to meet her again? -

Zac froze , not really knowing what to think about what Kenzie said . Leandra was no longer a part of his life , so he hadn’t even considered her as a solution since he learned about The Great Redeemer . But honestly , what Kenzie said made some sense .

The Technocrats were at least a B-grade force , though Zac guessed that it consisted of lower-grade families and groups as well . But taking care of someone like The Great Redeemer shouldn’t be too large a problem . If their mother had the ability to create something as miraculous as Jeeves , she should possess a lot of other terrifying means as well .

He suddenly remembered the story about the Technocrat who visited the Creators . That man had weapons that could blow up whole planets without breaking a sweat , so creating tools that could kill off a rogue D-grade cultivator shouldn’t be a problem .

However , bringing the attention of the Technocrats might bring more trouble than good . Jeeves was too big a cheat . It didn’t only fuse technology and cultivation , it even seemed to upgrade every single part about her , from her basic constitution to Class choices .

Such a thing would cause a storm the moment it became known in the multiverse . Everyone would want it for themselves , and not just the technocrats . No one would say no to having a tool that worked like a continuous source of free improvements that made them stand out from the rest cultivators .

I don’t think it’s a good idea , there are too many risks involved , - Zac eventually said .

Kenzie seemed to gear up for an argument , so Zac quickly started to explain his thoughts .

Wait , you should have asked around about the technocrats by now so you know what kind of a force mom might belong to . Almost all forces in the multiverse are their enemies . If we start sending out probes through Calrin we have no idea what kind of problems we would attract . I don’t even think we have the qualifications to start looking for her or the technocrats at the moment , - Zac said with a shake of his head .

We can’t even buy low-tiered goods . Finding someone from a B-grade force? There’s no chance we can even afford a scrap of information , - Zac continued . - Besides , there are too many things we don’t know about mom . -

But that’s why we need to start looking , - Kenzie retorted . - Don’t you want to find some answers? -

I do , but I don’t have anywhere to start . I looked through our house , there was nothing , - Zac said . - Besides , we don’t know what she was even doing on Earth before the integration . Was she in hiding? From who? Perhaps she fled the technocrats and is no longer part of them . If we start asking around for her we might inadvertently cause her trouble . -

The two kept going back and forth for a while , not getting anywhere . Zac could only sigh and somewhat relent in the end .

I’ll try to figure something out , I promise . But we have to be careful . I don’t want to have some angry Technocrat flashing over here and blow up Earth just to spite mom or something , alright? - Zac sighed .

Alright , fine , - Kenzie said and sat down to cultivate some distance away .

But Zac saw that she didn’t agree , and he could only shake his head as he sat down himself a few meters away from her . He trusted his sister , but the lives of billions of people were at stake . He didn’t want to muddy the waters any further by dragging a bunch of Technocrats into the mix , so he made a mental reminder to himself to make sure Calrin didn’t do any probes for their mother .

Zac couldn’t cultivate , but just sitting in this extremely nourishing environment felt quite nice as well , and Zac was content to just relax for a bit . He hadn’t realized it until now , but he had been awake almost non-stop for three days .

He had been frenziedly hunting beasts at the end to beat out the Medhin Princeling for the 3rd position on the Hunter Ladder , and as soon as he got back there were various things to take care of for two straight days . He had even closed a whole incursion without skipping a beat .

But Zac was tired to his bones , and it only took moments until he was deep asleep . It was only 6 hours later he woke up , making it his longest nap for months . He cracked his neck and stood up , and to his surprise he saw that Kenzie was still deep in cultivation .

Energy was slowly swirling around her before it entered her body through all her pores , and Zac was shocked at the amount she was able to absorb . It was so much that he could sense it , and he couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous . In just a few seconds enough energy to match a barghest kill entered his sister’s body .

Kenzie somehow noticed that Zac had woken up .

Don’t overwork yourself , - she said with some worry after seeing his tired state . - You’re not alone , you know? There’s a lot of people here that can share your burden . -

I know , - Zac said with a smile . - I’ll leave this place to you . You can bring Emily as well if you think the energy is enough for the two of you , but no one else , not even your two friends . And look after the flower , please . -

Thanks , I’ll take care of it . You know , I thought about it . You should make a miasma chamber next to this place , - Kenzie said . - Like dig a second pond and turn it into Miasma . -

Zac’s eyes lit up at her suggestion , but he was unsure about the feasibility . It would be nice to have a Miasma-zone on the island , especially so close to the flower . But he was afraid things would get out of hand in case he put up an Unholy Beacon next to the pond , so he would have to wait a bit before he tried those things out .

It’s not a bad idea , - Zac nodded . - But I’ll wait until I can make sure I don’t ruin this place and the valley above . I’ll hopefully do the Inheritance today before heading to Westfort , are you staying here? -

I’ll stay here for a bit more . The cultivation speed here is amazing , but unfortunately I think I would hurt the environment if I stayed here around the clock . The energy needs to be released from the pond to restock the atmosphere , - Kenzie said .

After Kenzie mentioned it Zac actually noticed the density of Cosmic Energy in the cave had decreased somewhat , but it was still far and beyond above anything else on the island .

Well I’m sure you have a handle on it , - Zac said as he fiddled a bit with the town shop menu . - I’ve given you control of the arrays around this place as well , you should be able to come and go as you please now . And don’t jump into the water , it’ll kill you . -

I know what Cosmic Water is , - Kenzie said with a roll of her eyes . - I’m not an idiot . Be careful in there , and tell Ogras not to overdo it . I don't think Brazla will do anything bad , but he refuses to tell me what to expect from the trials . -

Zac only coughed , relieved he never mentioned how he jumped into the pond to escape the poison back in the day . He left Kenzie to her devices and headed back to the town . The suns were starting to rise , meaning it was close to 4 am . However , Azh’Rodum was already coming alive , with a lot of miners already heading toward the mineshafts .

Since people were paid a portion of what they mined a lot of people spent most of their time in the tunnels for a week , and then a week on cultivation with help of the crystals they had mined . Zac no longer had full insight into how much the mine yielded , but it was a substantial amount of crystals each day . His small refinement machine had gotten a dozen big brothers that were churning out over a million crystals every week .

A large part of it went to the academy to nurture his army and the young , and another chunk to power the increasingly numerous arrays that helped with everything from protecting the town from the wildlife to farming . He was also providing the whole population with a small allowance to boost everyone's base power , for now . But a lot of it went straight into the town coffers , which essentially was his own private property .

Unfortunately , he had no use for F-grade crystals at the moment , and he didn’t possess any means to reliably convert them to higher-grade crystals . Of course , he could sell them for Nexus Coins , but he didn’t see the need for it since there wasn’t a lot he could do with money at the moment .

Earth essentially had been placed under a trading embargo for strategic resources until they had proven their strength by booting out all the invaders . Calrin could only get a very limited quantity of high-quality goods , and that was only if there was a surplus supply .

He took the teleportation array in Azh’Rodum to the main teleporter in Port Atwood and immediately headed over to the government building . Between Adran and Abby , there was always at least one of them working , and he quickly found the Stargazer looking through a bunch of documents that hovered in front of her .

Lord Atwood , - Abby said as she looked over at him . - What brings you here so early? -

I wanted to check in on the progress of our projects? - Zac said as he sat down in a chair in front of her .

I have tasked Mr . Trang to send one of his vessels back to the desert continent to set up a proper base camp , - Abby began without missing a beat . - As for the digging operation in the mines , we have hit a bit of a snag . -

Snag how? - Zac asked with surprise .

There are whole biodomes of subterranean animals the further down we dig . Everything from large white lizards to thousands of vampiric bats , - the Stargazer said with some annoyance . - But luckily the beasts are not too strong . I had Alyn send a few companies down the mines to clean them out . It will do them good to fight something else than barghest . -

So how long until you think we reach the bottom of my influence? - Zac sad .

It depends on what else we find in the depths . They are surprisingly full of life , perhaps because we got merged with a subterranean planet? But I would guess at least two weeks , - Abby estimated .

Zac slowly nodded as he mentally planned out his next course of action . It was a bit disappointing to hear about the delay since he had somewhat wanted to head down to the underworld before he put himself against the Undead Incursion .

It felt like the undead might be his strongest enemies apart from the Dominators , and he wanted to reach level 75 before he challenged millions of zombies and the Lich King . Not because he planned to immediately evolve , but rather that he would gain his two ultimate skills upon reaching the max level . Closing the underground incursion first had been his idea to quickly reach level 75 .

But there was another opportunity ; The inheritance . Perhaps those old powerhouses had left something nice behind that could give him the final push of the F-Grade .

As for the… beautification around the towers , - Abby added as if reading his mind . - They’re all done . Even that Tool Spirit should be happy with the result . -

Chapter 278 - Inheritance

Great , - Zac said with some excitement .

He had been looking forward to the inheritance for quite some time now , and it was finally time to see what one of the old powerhouses had left behind for future generations . It could affect his whole future in a sense .

Inheritances weren’t as narrow as a heritage , who usually showed how to attain a certain class . An Inheritance didn't pigeonhole one's progress like that , but they were simply the treasures and insights a predecessor left behind . They could contain anything from a mountain of crystals to specific Dao insights . But the most common thing was that the things left behind were meant to nurture a possible successor from beyond the grave .

A successor didn’t necessarily need to have the same class , but he would generally walk down the same path . The Umbra would no doubt be related to darkness and shadows , for example . So it would most likely be far more valuable for someone like Ogras than for Zac .

Perhaps the demon would receive a supreme Spirit Tool that would suit a certain fighting-style or some treasure that made his shadows stronger . The possibilities were endless . But before he could undergo the trial there were a few things to do .

Keep up the good work , - Zac said as he made to leave .

One second , lord Atwood , - Abby said , making Zac stop and turn back toward the Stargazer .

I mentioned the wish of the Anointed to speak with you earlier , - Abby said . - I relayed how busy your schedule was , and that you might not be able to visit in the near future due to heading to Westfort . So the Anointed came here in person . -

Nonet is here? - Zac said with some surprise .

The large Zhix had never left its hive since meeting Zac as far as he knew . That Nonet showed up now proved that it really needed to speak with him .

Do you know what Nonet wants? - Zac asked .

Not sure , it didn't say , - Abby admitted . - But I believe the Zhix wishes to accompany you to Westfort . -

Zac’s brows rose in surprise , but after mulling it over for a few seconds he thought it might not be too bad an idea . There was a hive not to far from Thea’s town , and considering that they had fought quite a bit without a clear winner it should be a pretty strong one .

He still wanted to come in contact with the so-called council of Anointed in order to start coordinating a response to the Dominators , and bringing Nonet themself would probably expedite that even more than even bringing Ibtep would .

Make sure it’s ready later . I plan on hitting the inheritance in a few hours , but according to Ogras it shouldn’t take long , - Zac said .

Abby bobbed in agreement .

You shouldn’t worry too much . The first trial of orthodox inheritances are usually largely based on suitability , - Abby said .

Zac was reminded that Abby herself came from a species that excelled at information gathering , and quickly tried to fish out some more information while she was in a giving mood .

What do you mean? - he asked with interest .

Most who leave an inheritance are people with regret their path ended , and they want someone to pick up the mantle where they fell short . They hope that someone will reach grand heights using their Dao Vision . It’s in a sense a way for them to prove to the world that their path of cultivation was correct , - Abby started .

So the first tests are usually a test of suitability and a test of talent , - Abby explained . - You will need to prove you walk the same general path , and that you are talented enough that you have the potential to walk at least as far as the predecessor themselves . -

I’m a mortal , - Zac said with a frown . - Will that be a problem? -

Not sure , but I doubt they would test for that . A test for talent might be to kill something ten levels above you , or have enough points in the right attribute , - Abby said . - The spirit might be a bit disappointed that you show up as a mortal , but they can’t stop you . Inheritance sites are created with certain rulesets , and a Spirit usually isn’t able to change those rules . -

Spirit? - Zac said with some confusion until he remembered Anzonil .

The old Supreme Elder had left behind a part of his soul to maintain the cleansing array for his disciple , so it wasn’t out of the question that the powerhouses who left the inheritances did something similar .

Zac asked a few more questions , but in the end there was no strict form to an inheritance . Each one was designed by the predecessor according to their will and preferences . The largest risk was that they encountered unorthodox inheritances .

Unorthodox inheritances could take many forms , but entering one was seldom an opportunity . They were mostly left behind by sinister cultivators , and some were simple deathtraps to kill as many as possible . Some cultivators even tried to use an inheritance to find suitable people to possess or turn into puppets .

But there was almost no chance that the system would give out unorthodox inheritances as a reward , so Zac didn’t worry too much about it as he hurried back to his courtyard . As soon as he got back he sat down and took out the jade boxes containing the attribute fruits .

He didn’t waste any time as he stuffed one odd fruit after another into his mouth . They had all kinds of tastes and textures , and the only thing they had in common was that they were extremely delicious .

At the beginning of his feast , he only felt a growing warmth in his body , but when he had eaten half of his personal collection he started to feel uncomfortable . His body was wracked with chaotic swirls of energy , and it almost felt like his body would explode .

Normally one would eat these things slowly one by one , but Zac had no time for that . Besides , he had absorbed far more chaotic energies than this before , so he knew that his body could take it . The minutes passed and he was soon proven right as all the cells in his body started to absorb the energies , and after two hours he dared to start eating more of the fruits .

It was around 10 am he had completely absorbed the 33 fruits that he had put aside for himself , and the results were pretty good .

Name

Zachary Atwood

Level

73

Class

F-Rare] Hatchetman

Race

E] Human

Alignment

Earth] Port Atwood - Lord

Titles

Born for Carnage , Ultimate Reaper , Luck of the Draw , Giantsbane , Disciple of David , Overpowered , Slayer of Leviathans , Adventurer , Demon Slayer I , Full of Class , Rarified Being , Trailblazer , Child of Dao , The Big 500 , Planetary Aegis , One Against Many , Butcher , Progenitor Hegemon , Duplicity Core , Apex Hunter , Heaven's Chosen , Scion of Dao , Omnidextrous , Eastern Trigram Hunt - 1st

Limited Titles

-

Dao

Seed of Heaviness - High , Seed of Trees - High , Seed of Sharpness - Middle , Seed of Hardness - Middle , Seed of Sanctuary - Early

Core

F] Duplicity

Strength

582 Increase : 60% . Efficiency : 121%]

Dexterity

290 Increase : 45% . Efficiency : 121%]

Endurance

715 Increase : 71% . Efficiency : 121%]

Vitality

353 Increase : 61% . Efficiency : 121%]

Intelligence

131 Increase : 45% . Efficiency : 121%]

Wisdom

146 Increase : 45% . Efficiency : 121%]

Luck

132 Increase : 65% . Efficiency : 121%]

Free Points

0

Nexus Coins

F] 296 516 043

He had gained 11 points in Strength and Dexterity , 10 points in Endurance and Wisdom , 9 points in Vitality , 8 points in Intelligence and 7 points in Luck from the fruits . Together with the 20 points in Strength and 4 points in Dexterity he had allocated from his free points he had made another pretty huge leap .

He was even closing in on 2500 attribute points , something that very few people in the F-grade would ever accomplish . He remembered that was would also give him another title , perhaps even an upgraded one since he would no doubt be the first on the planet to accomplish such a thing .

Satisfied , Zac closed the status screen and stood up and turned toward a shrouded corner of the courtyard . Zac had sensed that Ogras had appeared some time ago , but he had been busy absorbing the attribute treasures .

It’s time , - Zac said , looking over at Ogras .

Finally , I was going crazy over here , - Ogras muttered with an excited gleam in his eyes .

The two walked over toward the towers , and Zac had to say that he was impressed with what he saw when they arrived . The repository now stood in the middle of a large square shimmering in gold and white , giving it an almost celestial feeling . Someone had even created or found several large marble statues and had placed them at the edge of the circular square .

In each cardinal direction there was also a fountain that continuously sprouted out glistening cascades of light . Since there was no proper plumbing in the area Zac could only assume the effect was somehow powered with the help of arrays .

It was a huge contrast toward the somewhat desolate area before , and Zac felt that even Brazla had to be satisfied with the change . The only slightly odd thing was that the square was not connected to anything at the moment . The placement of the repository was within his inner wall , and there wasn't anything else close-by . So the square simply ended after a bit and gave way to the inner wall on one side and forest on the other .

Ogras was suitably impressed as well judging by his expression . The tiles that Zac had snatched from the summit palace were truly extravagant , and Zac had a feeling it would be extremely expensive if he wanted to buy something similar for his own courtyard .

Those craftsmen you brought from New Washington are really coming in handy , - the demon said .

Those people did this? - Zac asked with surprise since he had mostly assumed that the demons would have been responsible for the construction .

With all that had been going on , he had no time to focus on the artisans that he brought with him after the auction , but he was happy he took the chance with them all that time ago . If the engineers could produce something as impressive as this in just two days , perhaps the others had made as impressive strides in their respective crafts .

It was about time that his investments started to pay dividends . He was funding everything from inscribers to all kinds of artisans at the moment . He even offered free Nexus Crystals so that everyone could get a class without risking their lives against beasts .

Yeah , they were a bit rambunctious in the beginning , but after a few beatings and a few incentives they settled in properly , - Ogras shrugged . - I think they worked especially hard now that the Heritage is getting added to the merit list . This construction probably had pretty big merit incentives since we needed it done quickly . -

Zac nodded thoughtfully . He had already heard that it was as though people had been injected with adrenaline after hearing about the treasures and heritages getting added to the merit list . People were working with an almost fanatical fervor to gain access to those things .

A large reason was due to the effect of the contribution store that the System provided during the monster waves . Those who had survived and racked up a lot of contribution had made huge improvements between the contribution rewards and getting access to a skill in the Repository . Many saw the effect of gaining contribution points and wanted the same for themselves .

Some had a hard time getting accustomed to this odd new reality , but most had started to come around . There were no safety nets any longer , but hard work could conversely bring untold benefits . Who didn’t want to live a few hundred years longer for example?

The two stepped into the towers , and both’s faces couldn’t help but scrunch up when Brazla slowly descended from the roof , shrouded in a golden light .

Your offering is passable , though barely , - Brazla said . - But do not become complacent . This is just the most rudimentary improvements for the surroundings of the Great Brazla . But I recognize that your force is poor as paupers at the moment , and I will not be unreasonable . -

Zac felt his blood pressure increase , but he forcibly kept his temper in check .

Glad you like it , - Zac tersely said . - We’re here to take two of the inheritance trials . -

Oh? Finally , - Brazla said , looking mostly disinterested . - Which ones? -

I’ll be taking The Umbra , - Ogras immediately said .

Unsurprising , you are a shady type , - Brazla said with a dismissive shrug before turning to Zac . - What about you? -

Chapter 279 - Proving One's Worth

The Lord of Cycles , - Zac said with resolve in his eyes .

This was the final decision that Zac had arrived at after weeks of deliberation . He did consider taking Undying Fiend in hopes it was a Defensive Inheritance that might contain a Spirit Tool shield . But in the end , he chose the one that seemed to fit best overall with his current skillset .

Zac didn’t know exactly what to expect from such an inheritance , but there might be various things that might increase the synergy between his two classes . The best would be to find a way to use both his classes at the same time . If he managed that he’d be almost invincible .

Oh , Lord of Cycles? Interesting . It’s the first of the two C-Grade inheritances as well , well chosen , - Brazla said with a nod .

Which is the other one? - Zac quickly asked when he saw the Tool Spirit was in a sharing mood .

I don’t want to tell . Build something nice for me and I might become more accommodating , - Brazla snorted . - Now , enter the portals . I won’t assist you at all while you undertake the trial , and there is no exit . Final chance to change your mind . -

As he spoke two fractals lit up in front of two of the huge statues that lined the hall . One of them was a humanoid whose features were hidden in a large cowl , each of his hands gripping a dagger . It was pretty clear it was the creator of the Umbra inheritance , and the demon immediately walked over .

The other statue that lit up was of a man or woman that looked human . The face was completely androgynous so he couldn’t tell its gender at all , but since he was called a Lord , Zac guessed he was male . He wore a loose robe and held his two hands together forming a circle in front of his chest , and behind him was a large disk split in the middle .

As Zac walked over he tried to understand what type of class this person had , but he truly couldn’t tell . The disk might work as a weapon , but Zac rather leaned toward this person being some sort of magic user , which might not be what he needed . The odd circle behind was split into two , one side looking like flames , while the other was ice .

He even hesitated for a second , considering whether he should switch over to The Undying Fiend even though its grade of inheritance likely was worse . He had a feeling that the last C-Grade inheritance was the Crown of Despair , likely personified by the statue of the woman holding her head in her hands , but that one was likely an even worse fit for him .

But his eyes once again turned to the circle of fire and ice behind the Lord of Circles . It was this duality that made Zac believe that the Lord of Cycles tried to do something similar to himself ; merge two opposing elements .

For better or worse Zac had already started walking the path of life and death . One of his classes veered toward nature , and the other side was an undead warrior turning the area around himself into a projection of the underworld .

He was hoping that the Lord of Cycles Inheritance could help him create a coherent system of his two opposing sides , and create something greater than the sum of its parts . Granted , each side of his two identities had its strong points , but there was currently no synergy between them apart from the extra attribute points .

He wanted to find a path that made sure both his classes were pushing toward the same goal , even though they were the opposites of each other . He had a feeling that something amazing would be created if he was able to fuse his two sides in the future , and this was the step to attain that .

Since he had already made his decision he resolutely stepped inside his own portal . The next moment he found himself in front of a huge metal plaque in an otherwise empty field , and he quickly took out his axe as he looked around for any threats .

But no matter where he looked he only saw a hazy mist , and his senses didn’t warn him of any hidden dangers lurking about . So Zac put away Verun’s Bite] again as he looked at the large slab of metal in front of him . It was completely smooth and rectangular , apart from a large engraving in the middle .

The engraving was not a large fractal , but rather a circular pattern containing inscriptions of smaller fractals . There was an outer circle containing at least one hundred fractals , and there were multiple rings inside . For every concentric circle inside there were fewer and fewer fractals until it reached the center .

The innermost part was just a dot , and the row outside consisted of just two crudely drawn fractals . Zac was confused about why they had such shoddy workmanship compared to the others , but he barely had time to look at them before a familiar feeling entered his mind .

The splinter of oblivion became restless the moment he looked at one of the two fractals , and its tendrils started to furiously pound the miasmic runes that had locked it away . Zac quickly closed his eyes until the splinter calmed down . Luckily it seemed that the prison in his mind still held strong .

But the eruption was an uncomfortable reminder that he hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out what to do about the alien object in his head . However , now was not the time , so he once again refocused on the patterns on the monument , though he avoided looking at the innermost part .

Creation and oblivion , - Zac suddenly muttered with understanding .

The circle in front of him was a Dao Chart following the same system that Anzonil mentioned . The center was the origin of Dao , the Primordial Chaos . From that came Creation and Oblivion , and the splinter in his mind reacted to the crude fractal in the center of the chart .

That would explain why the details of the fractals got increasingly crude the further in they were placed on the chart in front of him . Creation and Oblivion were the top two Daos of the multi-verse , and even if the Lord of Cycles was a great C-Grade powerhouse he likely was far from grasping such esoteric knowledge .

Those Daos were likely reserved for the top tier powerhouses of the multiverse , those who stood at the apex of whole planes .

As night begets day , so does oblivion beget creation , - a voice suddenly echoed across the field . - The cycle restricts and empowers . Prove your duality . -

Zac quickly looked around for the source of the voice , but no matter which direction he looked there was nothing . The source of the gentle voice was nowhere to be seen , and he was still alone in the mists with the metal plaque in front of him .

However , he wasn’t worried , but rather elated . The voice had essentially confirmed that that the Lord of Cycles walked the same path as himself . The problem was how he would go about to prove his own cycle , that of life and death . Did he need to first force some Dao of Trees into the inscription , then kill himself to infuse miasma next? It seemed extremely cumbersome .

Besides , did he need to know which fractal to infuse? All of them were completely inert , and it looked like someone had simply carved the fractals into the metal without empowering them with any Dao or other energies .

Zac chose to simply touch the monument in the end , and he quickly saw that he was on the right track . A deep hum erupted from the monument , and an invisible wave pushed out from it , trying to enter Zac’s body .

The second that the wave came in contact with him the bracer on his arm became scorching hot , and the invading force was immediately rebuffed . Nothing happened for a while and Zac moved his hand away .

He hesitated for a bit , but he finally chose to remove the bracer that Greatest had given him before he once again touched the monument . He didn’t love the idea of exposing his secrets like this , but he was inside a closed-off inheritance of a long-dead powerhouse . No one could spread his secrets from here , at least not as long as he was alive .

The wave entered his body one more time after he activated the monument , and he felt something was digging around and inspecting his whole body . The wave had turned into tendrils that poked and prodded him all over . The tendrils quickly honed in on the Duplicity core , but they also went over to the thee Dao fractals in his body . 3

Even the one that was in his heart was found somehow , even though it belonged to his other class . The hidden compartment in his heart had simply appeared after the mysterious energies prodded around inside , and it was a huge clue as Zac saw it . If the Dao Fractal could be made to appear like this while he was in his human form , what about his other skills? Perhaps even his pathways?

Zac's heartbeat sped up in anticipation , and he truly hoped that the spirit of the Lord of Cycles would be as accommodating to provide information as Anzonil was . Perhaps he would be even more helpful since Zac would essentially become his in-name disciple if he passed the trials .

The moment the Dao fractal touched the tree he got from seeing the Lifegiver vision one of the fractals on one of the outermost rows lit up , emitting a strong aura of vitality . It represented one of his main paths , the one of moving toward the Dao of Creation . Of course , he was still only on the periphery with his basic Dao .

At the same time , he saw that a Dao on the opposite side lit up , but its light was far weaker . When he sensed the fractal it felt like he was prodding a dead carcass or something rotten , and after a second Zac felt that fractal might have lit up due to the nature of his Dao Seed of Trees . His major insights into that were centered around life through death , and it was what connected his Dao to his Draugr side .

To his surprise , he also noticed that the Dao of Hardness slightly lit up a rune at the rim , and it gave a sense of stability like he was looking up at a mountain . However , the Daos of Sharpness , Heaviness , and Sanctuary did nothing it seemed . After the inspection had looked at those Daos they moved on , completely disinterested .

The next moment two more fractals lit up , and both were pretty close to the core of the rings . In fact , they were only two layers outside the Daos of Creation and Oblivion . Better yet , they were almost exactly the opposites of each other , meaning they would hopefully allow him to pass this inspection with flying colors . After just a glance he knew they represented life and death , and they were the results of the two energies his Duplicity core contained .

They were by far the best combination , but he didn’t know if the inheritance would accept it since the two energies were simply the representation of his two races and classes . They were not really a result of his Daos , and Zac felt the Dao was the core of this test .

Finally , the tendrils reached his head and they even found the miasmic prison for the splinter . The crude fractal in the middle resonated for a fraction of a second in response , but it immediately grew dim again , leaving the other five fractals in various states of illumination .

As soon as the inspection hit upon the runic prison in his mind they immediately dissipated , and afterward they stayed clear of the area . Zac wasn't too surprised since the prison was created by the mysterious Draugr woman . He couldn't be sure , but he had a feeling she was one of the powerhouses of the Draugr-race , and likely more powerful than the Lord of Cycles .

The monument kept checking his body for a bit until the inspection ended , leaving Zac feeling slightly violated . It was like he had been stripped naked and every nook and cranny had been inspected . Keeping one's cards close to the chest had been ingrained into him since the integration , and this was the complete opposite of that .

But at least it was over , and Zac looked around to see what would happen next .

Understanding the self is understanding the Cosmos , - the same voice suddenly echoed out , as the two fractals that Zac believed represented life and death lit up with far more power compared to before , while the other three fractals dimmed down .

The next moment the monument started to vibrate , and it looked like it was melting as it bent and twisted . All the fractals were quickly smoothed over , leaving only the two illuminated inscriptions .

The two fractals kept growing larger and larger as the monument turned into a large hovering metallic ball that started to pulsate with the powers of life and death . Soon the two fractals had grown to over a meter in size as they moved next to each other on the sphere . Both of them radiated the power of life and death , two extremely profound concepts that Zac had only glimpsed before .

As Zac sensed the great Dao energies that coursed through the inscriptions he started to believe that this might be the first gift of the inheritance . Unfortunately , there wasn’t much he could do with the Dao of Death since he had no matching Daos , but he might be able to glean some insight from the fractal representing life . That , in turn , might be the key to pushing the Dao Seed of Trees to Peak mastery .

But just as he was about to sit down to ponder on the secrets of the Dao of Life his mind suddenly screamed of danger .

Chapter 280 - Fight Fire with Fire

Zac’s mind was screaming at him to get away , and he had learned to not question his danger sense by now . He unhesitantly pushed backward with the help of Loamwalker] only to see a spurt of liquid metal from the sphere lash out at him like a whip .

The air cracked as the line of darkness ripped through it , and Zac sensed a horrifying finality contained inside it . He wasn’t simply being attacked by some liquid metal like when he fought Salvation . He was being attacked by death .

Luckily he had reacted in time and was able to quickly create enough distance from the ball , allowing him to understand what was going on . The sphere made out of the metallic plaque had started to transform , not only in shape but also in composition .

It looked like the inert nature of the former monument was changing as it started to teem with both exuberant lifeforce and desolate death . One half of it was gaining a golden sheen as the other half turned pitch-black .

It reminded Zac of his Duplicity core as it shared similar characteristics , with the difference that the sphere in front of him lacked the intricate inscriptions on the surface of his core . Another pretty obvious difference was that the ball in front of him was over five meters in diameter .

The sudden attack that had come at him had stemmed from a part of the death-attuned part of the sphere and had felt like a tentacle of death . But the whip was long gone , having returned to the main form , which now seethed with chaotic powers .

Zac had already taken out his axe and summoned a fractal edge . He still wasn’t sure what was going on , but the thing had already attacked him , so he wouldn’t just stand around . That ball contained extremely dangerous Daos , and he couldn’t let it act as it pleased . He felt it was best to destroy it first , then ask questions .

He imbued the fractal edge with the Dao of Sharpness , and with a grunt unleashed it straight at the sphere so that he could destroy it before it managed to undergo whatever transformation it had in store . However , the moment the edge was about to slam into the floating ball the golden side flashed , and a protective glow spread to cover the whole thing .

Luckily the ball didn’t retaliate , but instead it kept changing form at an extremely rapid pace . It looked like it consisted of two different colored shapes of clay that were pushed together , and currently some unseen hands were twisting and reshaping the ball .

The object elongated again into an oblong shape . It almost had the form of an enormous matryoshka doll , apart from being slightly more rectangular and having two arms . One arm was mostly golden with some black veins running through it , but instead of a hand it just had a large circle that reminded Zac of the object that was behind the statue depicting Lord of Cycles .

The other arm was mostly black and was the only part of the construct that still looked mostly liquid . It was this arm that had attacked him before it had properly formed , and it still radiated a terrifying aura . He truly didn’t want to know what would happen if that thing hit him , but it felt extremely dangerous .

One thing that differed from both his Duplicity core and the sphere from before was the main part of its body . It didn’t simply have one side that was golden and another side that was black , but it had created an intricate mesh of the two colors , where neither side dominated the other .

Zac couldn’t be sure , but he felt that the pattern that had been formed on its body was an enormous clue that could help him immensely if he only had proper time to study it . It was as though it represented the fusion of life and death . But unfortunately , he was in no position to ponder on the mysteries hidden in the body of the enormous doll . It floated toward him at a steady pace , and black motes of light started to rotate around the arm of death .

The moment it got within twenty meters of Zac the arm once again lashed out , and Zac was forced to reposition himself again . The attack wasn’t impossibly fast , but he didn’t dare to intercept it until he had a better understanding of what the effect of the arm was .

Perhaps his Draugr form would be immune to the Death-attributed arm , but he had no way to swap mid-battle . He would have to fight the thing as-is . Zac quickly used Inquisitive Eye] , and to his surprise it actually worked even though the information was a bit sparse .

Life-Death Construct – Dao Vessel . Level 83]

The good news was that the thing was only level 83 . The bad news was that it was clearly much stronger than some random early E-grade beast . Even worse , it possessed two very strong Daos . He wasn’t sure how it worked with these particular Daos , but he suspected they were like the Dao of Time and Space - advanced Daos that had no basic seeds to attain . They were much to strong to gain as an F-Grade cultivator .

That meant that the power they imbued was also far stronger than one should encounter at this stage in cultivation . He had a feeling that he truly had been boned by this combination , and it reminded him of the desperate fight with Inevitability . Life and Death were truly the most appropriate paths to fuse of the fractals that lit up , but they were far more dangerous than any others as well .

It would have been more reasonable for him to encounter a construct that consisted of the Dao of Trees and the Dao of Rot , or whatever that murky fractal represented . It would still have been a challenge , though not as bad as this one .

But since Zac knew its level he also felt more confident . If it came down to it he should be able to brute-force the thing . The only thing that was holding him back from summoning the giant hand of Nature’s Punishment] and smashing the construct to bits was that he wasn’t sure if there was something else to this test than just destroying the construct .

He didn’t want to slip up and ruin his inheritance , so before he went the usual route he decided to test the thing out for a bit , and perhaps glean any insights from the intricate pattern on its chest . Zac kept his distance from the large construct by occasionally flashing away with his movement skill as he peppered the thing with fractal edges .

The construct had multiple ways of handling the attacks . Sometimes the golden circle on its left arm lit up and formed a shield that blocked out the attack . However , after seeing the shield a few times he realized that it wasn’t a traditional mage’s bubble or array defense .

The golden layer was pure life-attuned energy , and it didn’t block the attacks as much as it somehow swallowed them . The attacks entered the golden shield , making it flicker a bit , but nothing exited at the other side .

Zac couldn’t quite grasp what type of concept it utilized to neutralize his attacks . If it just used the Dao of Life to heal itself after getting hurt he could have understood it , but this was something else entirely .

Suddenly he sensed some danger again , and he started to reposition himself as he kept his eyes on the tentacle of death . But to his surprise it wasn’t the death-attuned side that attacked him , but rather the golden arm . A bright light lit up in the middle of the golden circle at the end of the arm , and the next moment an energy ball shot straight at Zac .

Zac’s brows rose in alarm as he quickly flashed away , but it didn’t help one bit as the energy attack followed him like a bloodhound . It was also much faster than Zac was , even when utilizing Loamwalker] , so in the end he was forced to stop and erect his defenses .

Shimmering leaves whirled around him , each imbued with the Dao of Trees , as he took a defensive posture where he imbued his body with the Dao of Hardness . The energy ball zoomed straight toward him , and the leaves moved to intercept .

But the moment the ball touched the first layer of defense the leaves lit up in a blazing emerald luster . Since Zac was the one who summoned it and imbued it with his Dao he could sense what was going on , and he couldn’t make heads or tails out of it . The leaf wasn’t getting damaged , it was getting empowered .

Unceasing and vast energies of life were flooding the leaves , and they shone brighter and brighter as they actually grew larger . But in just a second the effect drastically changed , as the lights dimmed and the leaves started to wilt .

The next moment it crumbled and the light passed straight through . Zac’s brows rose in alarm since he had acutely sensed what happened . The ball of life had pushed too much lifeforce into the leaf , and even though they weren't real the ball had forced the leaves to go through their natural state of life in just a second .

Zac immediately gave up his defense and tried to flash away again , but it was to avail as the ball slammed into his back . The Dao of Hardness didn’t help him in the slightest as it enterest his body like a burning sun .

Zac’s whole body turned red in an instant , veins popping out all over his body . It felt terribly similar to when he had been in the pond of Cosmic Water . Terrifying amounts of life tried to force themselves into his cells , overtaxing them and forcing them into death . It was the opposite of his own insights ; this was death through life – an attack using the natural lifecycle .

Zac felt his lifeforce getting spent at an alarming rate to exhaust the energy ball , and he was out of ideas of how to deal with the alien force in his body . It was just too strong and vast , and it felt like his Daos were children trying to push away a grown adult when he tried to utilize them to isolate the attack .

But suddenly his Duplicity core woke up and started to frenziedly absorb the energies in his body . It looked like the life-attuned energy was getting sucked in by a black hole , and the ball fractured while its energies were drawn inside . In just a moment the core had absorbed the whole attack , and it’s golden half buzzed with energy .

Unfortunately , it was not all good news . There were limits to how much energy the Core could contain , at least in its current state , and the absorption of the pure Dao of Life had pushed it to its limits . Worse yet , the balance between the two sides had become lopsided due to the lack of death-attuned energy .

It felt like when the core had just been formed , and there was a massive lack of life-attuned energy inside . However , now there was nothing for the core to absorb , and Zac sensed that it was getting more and more out of control .

He didn’t know what would happen if the core got damaged or cracked , but he didn’t want to find out . At the very least it would cause massive damage , but it wasn’t impossible it would deprive him of his second class . Or even kill him . He quickly took out one of his miasma crystals , but the rate of absorption was nowhere near what he needed .

The energy in the crystals was a lower grade compared to the real Dao of Life , and it was like he was trying to divert a river by throwing some gravel in the waters . Perhaps it would work after a while after he had absorbed enough crystals , but he sensed his core wouldn’t be able to take it until then .

Out of options Zac grit his teeth and pushed straight toward the construct . It lifted its golden hand again , but Zac growled and launched a quick succession of Dao-empowered fractal blades at it , each aimed at the same spot .

Another golden shield erupted around the hand , but the force of a dozen blades was not something that even the construct could handle . The first handful of blades were cleanly absorbed by the shield , but at the 7th one , it flickered and disappeared . The next two attacks actually landed right on the golden arm , pushing it away and causing some dents to form .

But just a second later another golden shield was formed and started to absorb the remaining strikes . Luckily Zac had already accomplished his goal at this point , and he was closing in on the thing while its golden arm was occupied . The black tentacle launched straight at him with terrifying speed , just as he had expected . Even though his mind screamed of danger Zac chose to stand fast this time , allowing it to hit him square in his chest and throw him away .

Zac spat out a mouthful of blood and unsteadily got to his feet . His face was pale as a sheet as he sensed a horrible energy rampage through his body . It felt like his whole being was quickly withering away , but he forcibly ignored his decaying state , his all attention being on the Duplicity core .

He was already in desperate straights , and his only idea was to fight fire with fire .

Chapter 281 - Life Versus Death

A wave of relief flooded Zac as he sensed that the Duplicity Core once again woke up and finally started to absorb the sinister energies that were coursing through his body . In just a second it had absorbed it all , but Zac’s body was still left in a state of disrepair .

Between the two attacks his body felt beyond feeble , and he knew that he was running out of time . His core might have stabilized , but there was no way he would be able to absorb another set of those terrifying Dao-empowered strikes . Neither his body nor his core would be able to handle it .

He couldn’t worry about whether there were any hidden components to this trial any longer , and he immediately started to charge up Nature’s Punishment] the moment that his core stabilized . It would take a few seconds , and the construct seemed to notice that something was up .

Extremely strong energies ripped through its body as it flashed forward with more than twice the speed compared to before , it’s black tentacle already hurtling toward him . Zac knew he had to stall for a bit longer , so he shot a fractal imbued with the Dao of Hardness at the tentacle as he backed away .

However , the fractal immediately withered and broke apart even though it was imbued to be more resilient and the attack kept moving toward him . When Zac saw what happened to the fractal he suddenly had an idea , and he imbued the next Chop] with the Dao of Trees . The edge flew toward the arm of death , and as he hoped it didn’t immediately break .

The two attacks clashed , neither gaining ground for a whole second . But soon enough the Dao of Death seemed to finally whittle down the Dao of trees , and the edge crumbled just like Zac’s earlier attacks . The difference in efficacy between the two last attacks gave Zac a clue into the proper way to deal with this trial , but he also realized it wouldn’t work for him .

Luckily the clash had bought enough time and the familiar wooden hand emerged out of a crack in space above him . It rippled with the Dao of Trees since Zac believed he would hopefully be able to restrain the death-attuned side of the construct that way . Besides , apart from slightly restraining the Dao of Death it also gave an all-round boost to the attack .

Zac wasted no time as he pushed the hand to slam straight down at the construct , and even though it erected a golden shield it still was slapped like a fly down into the ground . The attack didn't end there , as even though Zac's hand was burning from the golden shield he still forced it to continue its trajectory and slammed down into the downed construct with tremendous force .

The next moment the huge hand gripped the construct , though it barely managed to fit the whole thing in its hand . Zac used all his might to try to crush the golem in his hand , but the Life-Death Construct wasn't going down without a fight . Radiant flashes of both gold and black lit up the whole area , and the transmitted damage from the hand was almost enough for Zac to pass out .

The wooden hand was extremely resilient with the help of the Dao of Trees and its power was unparalleled to anything else he could throw at his enemies . However , both the Daos that the Construct possessed were extremely corrosive to the wooden hand . It was like a feedback loop was caused inside the hand where it was continuously pushed between life and death .

The pain was unbelievable , and Zac's eyes were completely bloodshot by this point , but he kept pressuring the construct with all his might . Creaking sounds of metal being torn and twisted could be heard until a wide shockwave containing concentrated Death erupted from the golem .

Luckily most of the attack was blocked and absorbed by the hand , but the sudden burst of death was too much and Zac was forced to release the attack . The hand was already disintegrating from the frantic retaliation of the construct and the speed of its dissolution rapidly sped up when Zac decided to relinquish control .

His final action before he let the hand go was to throw the distorted metal into the ground once more , causing another shockwave to spread . He hoped that the construct was already destroyed from how dismal it looked , but he wouldn’t bet his life on it .

As he looked at the unmoving scrap of metal in the crater he saw that its composition had undergone one more change from Zac’s massive assault . The pitch-black metal had turned ashen grey , and it looked completely devoid of energy . He had completely destroyed the death-attuned half with the combination of brute force and the Dao of Trees .

However , he still couldn’t breathe easily . While the other half of the construct was twisted and deformed , it still shone with the same golden luster as before . Worse yet he could sense the Dao of Life inside it . Zac sighed in disappointment , but he readied himself for one more round .

Another hand was already emerging from a crack above him , even though such a rapid consumption of energy was pretty harmful to his body . This hand was imbued with the Dao of Heaviness though since it felt useless to fight against the Life-attuned half of the construct with a worse version of its own element .

The construct was slowly rising from the crater as it smoothed out its deformed shape . But luckily the grey area was still completely lifeless and showed no signs of regenerating . Zac felt empowered by the sight and roused the remaining energy in his body as he pushed the second hand straight at his enemy .

The wooden hand slammed into the construct like a falling meteor , the attack causing a far larger shockwave compared to the first punishment . The whole field that held the inheritance trail was cracking , making Zac wonder if the trial area would break apart from the battle .

Zac hesitantly looked at the crater to see whether his attack was effective , but some panic erupted when he sensed the familiar deluge of vitality flooding the wooden hand . The next moment an almost blinding golden glow erupted from beneath the hand , almost completely swallowing it .

Zac quickly canceled the attack as he wracked his brain for some way out . Would he have to take the Coward’s Escape after all? But Zac grit his teeth in stubbornness again , feeling the same unwillingness to back down as he felt in his battle with the Dominator . His eyes followed the movement of the construct as it once again picked itself up from the ground .

He had a feeling that no matter how many attacks he launched at the thing it would keep regenerating , as long as he didn’t use a proper element for an attack . He needed to use death to vanquish life .

The construct was quickly returning to its original form as Zac’s mind moved a mile a minute trying to figure out a way to destroy that thing . Finally , he took out an E-Grade Miasma Crystal and launched it straight at the construct like he had done so many times with rocks to kill beasts .

The crystal ripped through the air like a bullet and slammed straight into the golden arm with enough power to push it back a few meters . The crystal itself exploded into thousands of splinters , but unfortunately , it didn’t result in an explosion of death-attuned energy . Instead , the miasma stored in the crystal simply spread out like a cloud which didn’t seem to particularly affect the construct .

Zac sighed in disappointment , but seeing the cloud of miasma actually gave him an idea . He barely had time to formulate it as another ball of light started to shine inside the golden circle on his enemy’s eye . This was no time to second-guess himself since if that ball hit him like the last one he would likely die . He desperately moved his arm to his pouch , and the next moment an enormous monolith appeared in front of him .

It reached around ten meters into the air and was wrought from some cursed black stone . Zac had never been so close to an Unholy Beacon before , and he started to feel nauseated by the aura it emitted almost immediately . At the top of the monolith a turquoise light radiated outward , and it had immediately started to convert the Cosmic Energy in the atmosphere .

Without waiting Zac grabbed the base of the monolith . But to his dismay he realized that he barely managed to lift the thing , and worse yet he noticed that the attack by the construct was almost fully formed . Out of better options he activated Hatchetman’s Rage] , and with a roar properly lifted the Unholy Beacon as he started running with heavy steps toward the construct .

He didn't want to use this skill at first , afraid that there would other trials would await after this one . Undergoing another battle while weakened by the side-effects of Hatchetman's Rage] might prove lethal , so he wanted to avoid using it against the construct . But it was Hail Mary-time .

Zac's muscles burned with strain , but the unnatural power and rage brought by the skill pushed him forward . An all-consuming desire for wanton destruction filled Zac’s mind , and this time he didn’t try to curtail it . With a bestial roar he finally jumped up in the air , causing huge cracks to spread from where he stood .

The construct lifted its arm toward Zac , but he didn’t care as he heedlessly swung the enormous monolith as though it was a club . A golden ball of life flew straight at him , but it was swallowed into the turquoise haze at the top of the pillar . Putting a ball of pure life into the conversion chamber of an Unholy Beacon was clearly a pretty bad idea since extremely erratic energies immediately started to radiate from the monolith .

Zac sensed that the Unholy Beacon was highly unstable even in his muddled state , but he didn’t care as he slammed the tip straight into the head of the Life-Death construct in a thwonk that would make Billy proud . Life and death clashed in a blinding explosion , and Zac was thrown away like a ragdoll from the shockwave . Luckily he activated Nature’s Barrier] at the last second , protecting him from some of the damage at least .

As he was falling he at felt a huge surge of Cosmic Energy entering his body , pushing him to level 74 . He breathed in relief since that meant the construct was truly destroyed and the gambit had worked out .

He remembered that both Ogras and Karunthel had told him that it was possible to turn the Unholy Beacons into weapons , which made him try to use it against the large life-attuned golem . They might not have meant such a direct method of utilization , but at least it worked out in the end .

Zac knew that there must be some strong death-attuned item inside the monoliths to be able to continuously turn Cosmic Energy into miasma , and his gambit was that it would cause proper damage in contrast to the Miasma Crystal .

A groan escaped his mouth as Zac slammed into the ground , every part of his body aching . But without giving himself a breather he got back on his feet and quickly ate a top tier healing pill as he scanned the surroundings for any change .

He wasn't necessarily safe just because he had destroyed the construct .

He quickly spotted that one thing had changed after he had destroyed the construct . The field the battle had taken place in was surrounded by a gray haze since he arrived , but in one direction the shroud had given way to a path that led away from this place . However , Zac ignored the path for now as he walked over to the crater with the broken monolith .

The clash between life and death had quickly snuffed out each other , but not before it had utterly destroyed the area . Zac looked into the pit and sighed in disappointment when he looked at the mangled remains of the Life-Death construct . The pattern on its chest had been a great clue to the path he wanted to walk , but it was demolished from his attacks .

In the end he put both the broken Beacon and the crumpled remains of the construct into his Cosmos Sack , but instead of heading over to the exit he instead sat down and started to absorb energy from an E-Grade Nexus Crystal . A few seconds later a huge wave of weakness hit him as the effect from Hatchetman’s Rage] ran out .

He realized that one more positive effect of either his improved Vitality or Endurance was that the side-effect of the berserker skill had become far more manageable compared to before , though he still wouldn’t want to start another fight in his current condition .

But he wasn’t completely out of it like before , so instead of heading to the next stage he instead took out one of his Dao Treasures as soon as he felt his state was somewhat stable . Time was of the essence while the pattern and the Construct’s attacks were fresh in his mind , and without hesitation swallowed it and closed his eyes .

He knew the next step he needed to take on his Dao Path .

Chapter 282 - The Lord of Cycles

Zac actually gained two insights from the past fight and he was eager to try to formalize at least one of them while the feeling was fresh . That’s why he immediately went into meditation as soon as his body allowed it .

However , he did not ponder upon the Dao of Trees , even though he had a hint of the direction he wanted to take that Dao seed . Pushing a Dao Seed to the peak was no easy matter , and he felt he needed some more time to prepare before he tried to push the seed to the limit . The hints he had gained from the Dao of Life was great , but it was just a start .

Zac was instead focusing on something completely new . He was planning to attain a Dao Seed that he hadn’t gained a Dao vision for . Every Dao Seed so far had been attained through his class skills , but he had realized that there was one component he was missing .

Ever since Zac gained his second class he had been thinking about creating a holistic - build’ for himself , one that focused on building both great Offense and Defense through his classes . He would empower them with both Life and Death , and while he would use the axe to launch devastating attacks containing these concepts . He had a far-off vision of combining it all into an invincible power .

There were still many question marks of how he would fit everything together , and the fight just now had proven that he had been thinking too much inside the box . He had felt that the Dao of Trees and later the Dao of life was useless for offense against anything except the undead , but that clearly wasn't the case .

That glowing ball had been terrifying , and if he didn't possess the Core to absorb the damage he would have exploded from one attack , even though he possessed over 700 Endurance . But there was one realization that was more important than any other ; he was lacking a Dao Seed that could eventually evolve into the Dao of Death . He had no opposite for the Dao of Life .

He had always considered the Miasma as the part representing death , but in the end it was only the equivalent of Cosmic Energy . His Undying Bulwark class was also a class purely focused on defense , and Zac didn’t believe that he would gain any more Dao visions from it . He would rather unearth more improvements to Hardness and Sanctuary through the extremely profound vision .

That meant that he needed to adjust his toolkit a bit . He needed another seed that could be the complement to the Dao of Trees . In the long run it would hopefully allow him to become truly powerful , and in the short run it would help him get through this Inheritance . He couldn’t slam an unholy beacon onto everything that barred his path after all .

Luckily he believed he had gained enough clues through being undead and from his time in the inheritance to formalize another Dao Seed . He based it upon the hints that he had gotten from the monument before it turned into the construct . A second fractal had slightly lit up from the Dao of Trees that had felt rotting and decaying , and that was exactly what he was going for . His mind focused on the feeling of life faltering , exuberant life slowly giving in to decay , and finally death .

The Dao Treasure had put him into a trance , and he felt he was on the cusp of grasping the kernel of truth that would allow him to gain a seed . Zac didn’t know how much time passed as he held fast to the images of faltering life and the unstoppable decay of anything living .

But just as he felt he was about to grasp the Dao Seed the trance ended , and he opened his eyes with frustration . He knew that it never was a good idea to force the Dao , but he was so close that he could taste it . So Zac unhesitantly swallowed a second Dao treasure and once again closed his mind .

Finally , everything clicked and he sensed a mysterious energy appearing in his body . Zac had initially thought that it would either add itself to one of the three Dao fractals in his body , or create a new one , but instead it simply formed a small seed in a separate space located in Zac’s mind .

Zac could only guess that it was because this was a seed that was naturally formed by himself without the assistance of a skill , but he would have to investigate whether he needed to somehow create a fractal to house it later . Since he was done he quickly opened his status screen in anticipation , and as he expected he saw the sixth Dao Seed of his .

Rot (Early) : Wisdom +10 , Intelligence +5

This was exactly what Zac had aimed for , though he was a bit disappointed the attributes did not really suit him . The wisdom would help him with his resilience against mental attacks , but he still hadn’t found any use for Intelligence for either of his classes .

As he sensed the seed in his mind he was certain that the fractal that he had slightly lit up was the Dao of Rot . His Dao of Trees slightly encompassed the concept of Life through death , and Rot was placed right on the crossroads between these two concepts .

He hoped that he could lead the Dao of Rot toward the direction of Death through life , and with the Dao of Trees form a complete cycle . But for now , it was a simple Early-stage Dao Seed that he guessed would add some corrosive effects on his attacks .

Zac quickly summoned a fractal edge with Chop] and just as he thought the fractal gained a murky green color when it was imbued with the Seed of Rot . Unfortunately , there wasn’t anything living in the area that he could test it out on , so he simply attacked the ground .

There was no added power to the fractal edge , and the scar that was created by the swing didn’t corrode as though it was attacked by acid . However , a wet sheen of some green liquid was left around the rift , meaning that the attack was more akin to adding poison to the blade . It would be useless against inorganic things , but it might contain surprising power against living enemies .

Flush with success , Zac considered taking another Dao treasure in hopes of pushing his Dao of Trees forward as well , but in the end he forced himself to calm down . His instincts told him that he was too far away from being able to push the seed to its peak , and he probably wouldn’t reach it even if he ate all three of his Dao Seeds .

Zac checked his watch and to his surprise 7 hours had already passed . It was more time than Zac had planned on spending inside the inheritance in total , but there was no getting around it . At least they knew he was still alive since he maintained his position on the ladder . He had also gained a level so they should understand that he was in a battle of some kind .

The weakness from using Hatchetman’s Rage] during the battle had already passed , and his Cosmic Energy was mostly full thanks to his passive absorption of energy during his meditation . So Zac didn’t waste any more time and immediately headed toward the passage .

He held Verun’s Bite] ready in his arm , prepared for any kind of situation . But the passageway was completely barren , with not a single object or being in sight . It was only fifteen minutes later that the scene changed , and Zac stared wide-eyed at the world in front of him .

Paradise . That was the only thing that Zac could think of as he looked at the lush atmosphere around him . The hazy mists had given way to an exquisite field where each and every strand of grass seemed to be meticulously crafted to give a sense of beauty and harmony .

Small rivers were running through the fields of flowers , and various small pagodas and patios were placed along the field . Even more miraculously there were floating islands drifting about in the sky above him , each of them connected by steps wrought from fire and ice .

It slightly reminded him of the vision of the floating cultivation palaces in his vision with the axe-man , though these islands were far smaller and rather seemed to be there for aesthetic reasons . It was like someone had wanted to create a multi-layered garden , and had even bent the laws of nature to make it happen .

There was no sun in the sky , but instead there was a beautiful night sky unblemished and undiminished by any light pollution . Yet everything was completely illuminated thanks to a huge moon spreading a silver luster at the area , which added a mystical and dream-like ambiance to the scenery .

But Zac wouldn’t relax just because the scene was breathtaking , and he hesitantly proceeded with his axe at the ready . He strained his mind to find any clues of hidden traps or arrays , but he couldn’t sense anything . He couldn’t even sense any Cosmic Energy being used to keep the islands afloat , which made him question whether he was stuck in an illusion .

That , of course , raised the question of where the inheritance actually took place . Was this whole zone even real , or did it all take place in some dreamscape? But Zac’s instincts told him it was real , as it would be odd if he was able to gain a Dao Seed and gain a level while asleep .

I hade some hopes , but alas , - a sad sigh suddenly came from one of the islands above . - You fail . -

It was the same voice that spoke at the start of the trial , and Zac’s heart lurched when he heard its proclamation . Had he really failed the inheritance because he used brute force to kill the construct earlier? But there was simply no other way for him to pull through .

The idea was to use death to snuff out the life and life to overcome death , but he didn’t possess either of those elements in a way that he could properly utilize them in a fight . In the end , he could only win with the help of overwhelming might .

You are far too ugly to even become an honorary disciple of mine . I might be dead , but I’m not that desperate , - the voice continued with an unmistakable note of disdain , and Zac’s blood pressure immediately spiked .

The way of speaking was way too similar to a certain tool spirit , and Zac started wondering if Brazla had somehow weaseled himself into the trial . The voice was different , but Zac saw no reason that Brazla should be stuck to one voice since he wasn’t technically a living being . Zac quickly ran up the shimmering ladders toward the floating island that he heard the voice come from .

The sceneries on the islands were even more exquisite than on the ground , but he had no time to admire them as he hurried up toward the top . His anger had even made him forget the very real possibility that there were hidden tests on the islands , but luckily it seemed that he had already passed the only trial at this stage .

Zac was ready to blast off a tirade at the arrogant Tool Spirit , but the moment when he reached the top his words got stuck in his throat as he stopped in his tracks .

It felt like he had arrived at the garden of a fairytale castle , where every detail shone with beauty and perfection . Hundreds of different types of flowers that all had their own unique charms spread out in a seemingly haphazard manner across the island , but somehow there was order to the chaos .

A small pond was placed in the middle , and a brook that ran through it gave off a soothing sound . However , neither the flowers nor the brook was as striking as the celestial form of the Lord of Cycles sitting and basking in the moonlight . Where the statue had depicted a fine-chiseled but androgynous male , Zac saw a picture-perfect beauty in front of him .

He looked like he was chiseled by a master artisan as he looked up at the moon with a sorrowful gaze , one hand outreached as though trying to grasp it , with the other held over his heart . It was a scene of frailty and longing , and the silver light of the moon gave it a haunting feeling .

Don’t fall in love with me , child , - the Lord of Cycles said with a long-suffering sigh as he turned his limpid eyes toward the gaping Zac .

But suddenly Zac realized there was a sense of wrongness , and with a grunt he pushed Mental Fortress] to the limit . The result wasn’t reality cracking , showing him that he had escaped an illusion . But everything he saw had shifted somewhat .

The flowers , the brook , and the pond were still there , as was the Lord of Cycles , but while the environment was beautiful it was not enough to gobsmack him any longer . And the man in front of him was no longer the personification of perfection , but rather a somewhat feminine man who wore a robe that might be mistaken for a dress .

Everything about him was ambiguous , from his hairstyle to his choice of clothes , but that wasn't what terrified Zac . That was some extremely scary illusion he had been put inside . What would have happened if he didn't notice something was wrong? Would he have become the lover of a long-dead ghost?

Zac's back was immediately drenched in cold sweat , and he thanked the stars that he had gained some experience in spotting illusions from his time in the hunt . The being in front of him was clearly not completely benign , and his vigilance rose to the peak to protect his mind and his butt .

Tsch , so you broke my beautification field? How boring , - the man muttered and swapped out his elaborate pose to a more laid-back one . - So you are the one who passed the first inheritance trial? As I said , your face is pretty pathetic , I can’t take you as a disciple . Not that I was planning to take one in any case . -

Chapter 283 - Mortals and Cultivators

Zac was starting to regret choosing the Lord of Cycles rather than the Undying Fiend inheritance . This person was almost as bad as Brazla . Or had perhaps all the predecessors gone crazy stuck with the Tool Spirit for those untold ages? If that was the case then the inheritances might be useless .

He barely survived his trial and he was far stronger than anyone else on the island . How could he in good consciousness let his sister enter the trial for the Invoker if this was how it was going to be? But still , Zac had pushed through the trial and he wasn’t ready to give up just yet .

I’m sorry , I can’t do much about my face , but I guess it’ll get better as my race ranking improves . Why did you set this place up if you didn’t want to find inheritors? - Zac probed .

Because of that stupid Brazla , - the man said as he leisurely ran his fingers through the pond . - I needed him to create something for me , and he wanted me to set this place up as payment . -

Brazla? - Zac asked with confusion . - You made a deal with the Tool Spirit? -

That little spirit is not Brazla , - the man said with a chuckle . - It has just confused its own identity with his creator and ours over the years . Brazla was a peak D-Grade artificer , and he also called himself The Celestial Artisan . That a D-Grade cultivator dared call himself that tells you all you need to know about his temperament . -

Zac’s brows rose in surprise from that little tidbit . He finally understood why the Tool Spirit acted so haughtily . It had taken various traits from the 8 predecessors , including his own master’s . And if Zac was a betting man , he guessed that the narcissism came from the individual in front of him .

So you made a deal with the real brazla . He created something for you , and you set up an inheritance . Why did he want to create this place? And may I ask what your name is? - Zac probed .

Money isn’t enough to create a true heritage for a clan . Brazla was rich , but money can only buy unimpressive and widely distributed skills and cultivation manuals . Things that might take you to early D-Grade but leave you with a pitiful core that can’t evolve , - the man said with a disdainful snort . - And my name is Yrial , so you can call me Lord Yrial or Beauty Yrial . -

Zac really wanted to roll his eyes , but he held himself in check since Yrial seemed pretty capricious . Who knew how he would react if Zac did something that he considered disrespectful .

So why not go to someone else? Don't you need to cut off a piece of your soul to create an inheritance? - Zac probed .

Do you think it's that easy to hire skilled craftsmen that are at peak D-Grade or C-Grade? They are extremely scarce , and most are snatched up by superior forces . Rogue cultivators such as myself can't hire them no matter how beautiful we are . Brazla was simply unattached because he was obsessed with creating a force of his own for some reason , - Yrial explained .

Zac frowned when hearing that . He was hoping to hire a blacksmith to create a real Spiritual Tool Shield for him , but if things were as Yrial said it might be harder than he expected . Still , that was a problem for later . He first needed to make this narcissist cough up some valuables .

Well , anyways . I’m here now . I proved my cycle and I defeated the construct , - Zac tentatively said .

Don’t you think I don’t know your so-called cycle is fake? Those fractals shouldn’t have lit up at all , - Yrial snorted as he threw Zac a disdainful glance . - But I have to admit , using the spy core for such a thing is pretty novel . I’m not sure what you encountered to allow your Duplicity core to work like that . -

Spy core? - Zac asked with confusion .

That’s what the duplicity core usually is used for . You take the race of those you wish to spy on . But usually , you shouldn’t get a true copy as you have , but rather a watered-down version that only gives a fraction of the bonus power . For some reason your variant seems a lot stronger , - Yrial said with a shrug . - Even I can't understand the fractals covering the core . -

Zac wasn't too surprised that the ghost knew about his situation . He had been probed by that monument just a few hours before , and he guessed that whatever the monument found out , so did the Lord of Cycles .

I did some research on it when I was exploring my path since it contains the potential for duality , - the ghost added . - But in the end , I didn’t feel it was a good fit . -

What do you think caused the difference with my core? - Zac eagerly said .

It appeared that this man was far more knowledgeable about his specialty core than anyone he’d met so far . And if the construct was any indication it was pretty likely that Yrial might be able to help him fuse his classes , or at least improve upon the core .

Who knows? - the Lord of Cycles said with disinterest . - The multiverse is full of odd chances and miraculous things . Almost everyone who reaches any distance on the path of cultivation has survived some insurmountable odds and encountered some strange opportunities . You made your specialty core much better than normal , which is good but nothing too exciting . -

Zac slowly nodded , though he wasn’t really sure what to believe . Greatest seemed to have been of another opinion , and Zac truly felt that getting two classes was a pretty huge deal . He was more inclined to believe that the man in front of him downplayed or simply didn’t understand the greatness of his Duplicity core . Or perhaps nothing that wasn't related to himself could enter his eyes .

So , I might not be what you’re looking for in a disciple , but I still passed the test , - Zac said , focusing on what was important . - I should be given some treasures , right? -

I guess , - the man grumbled , and reluctantly got to his feet . - It’s not like I need any of the things stored here in any case . Come here and let me sense your talent . -

Zac was elated and hurried over . Yrial indicated for him to hold out his hand , and it looked like he was going to inspect him directly . However , the moment before their hands touched the spirit seemed to have a change of heart , and first conjured a napkin to place over Zac’s hand .

Zac couldn’t help but feel pissed off . Was his hand that disgusting that a damn spirit needed some extra layers of separation? But he held his tongue since he knew that this was not the last time he was seeing this infuriating ghost . He would also administer future trials when he reached the E grade and higher .

So he endured the injustice as he waited for the spirit to finish his inspection . Zac didn’t know exactly what Yrial was looking for , but he guessed it had something to do with the Dao runes he lit up . Perhaps he was trying to choose which category of impartment would suit him best .

But Zac started to get worried as the frown on Yrial’s face only deepened the longer the held Zac’s hand . Soon he even felt some powerful pressure bear down on him , and he caught a glimpse of an extremely vast aura from the spirit .

It was tightly controlled , but it was far beyond the impressions he had of both Greatest and The Great Redeemer . He didn't know why , but it felt like he was pressured by the weight of a world when he felt the aura . That proved that the man in front of him had truly been an existence of a higher tier once upon a time , even though he was pretty annoying .

This is unbelievable , - Yrial finally said and looked at Zac with wonder .

Zac looked up at the spirit , suddenly filled with anticipation . Perhaps he had realized how special his core was , or that his body was far stronger than normal due to his numerous titles . Making a good impression would perhaps help him gain better treasures and guidance .

You are beyond trash . You have absolutely no talent in any way manner or form . How are you even alive? - he said as he looked at Zac like he was a zoo animal . - I don’t know whether to call you ultimate garbage or a genius . -

I know I’m a mortal , - Zac said with grit teeth , stabilizing his heart from the emotional freefall it had just endured . - But I have been pushing along just fine until now . And with my special core I don’t think I’ll be worse off than any cultivator , even if my road will be bumpier . -

No , you don’t understand , - Yrial said with a shake of his head . - This goes beyond being a mortal . I knew you were a trashy mortal the moment you stepped inside my trial . -

Then what do you mean , - Zac asked exasperated .

Do you know what the difference between a mortal and a cultivator is? Apart from the obvious , - Yrial said as he conjured up a divan to lie down on , making Zac shake his head .

Being a cultivator is having a certain amount of affinity with the deeper truths of the universe . Some call it spirituality , - Yrial said as he formed a ball of burning ice in his hand . - However , it’s not a binary situation where you either have it or you don’t .

Simply put you can have various affinities with all the Daos , and you need a minimum affinity with at least one Dao to become a cultivator . Let’s say that an affinity is a number . Someone with an affinity of 120 to an element will have an easier time learning that Dao than someone with an affinity of 80 , - Yrial continued as a second ball , this one frozen fire , appeared next to the earlier ball .

Some races have extremely high affinities with certain Daos , essentially turning their whole population in a certain direction of cultivation . But many races , like us humans , don’t have any racial affinity , - he continued as the two balls started to dance around in his hand .

I am a supreme genius who showed an extremely good affinity with both fire and ice , which is why I embarked upon my path . But most people aren’t talented enough in any element that they would choose their class by their affinities . They simply get whatever class they get , - Yrial continued , not forgetting to tout his own horn .

No one knows the exact cut-off , but let’s say the minimum to be able to control Cosmic Energy and push it through their pathways according to a cultivation manual to be 50 , no matter which element .

Both someone with an affinity of 60 and 160 will be cultivators in other words , though the one with the higher affinity might have an easier time pondering the Dao and breaking through the smaller bottlenecks , - Yrial continued . - Most also have multiple affinities , though not as high as myself . Apart from fire and Ice I also have an affinity with dozens of other Daos , though I don’t focus on them .

Choosing a path that both fits with your affinities and your personality is the best way to go as far as possible when it comes to cultivation . That’s why children are tested when young . -

Zac thought back to Emily , and how Alyn and Alea had tested her to confirm her great talent for cultivation . This was no news for him , but it was interesting to learn that nothing was completely clear-cut .

In the same way , mortals can both have an affinity of 20 and 40 . Both are trash , but different degrees of trash . And the one with an affinity of 40 will have an easier time of forcing open nodes or turning into a low-grade cultivator in the future , - Yrial continued .

So what’s my affinity , - Zac said , already having an inkling of the answer going by Yrial’s earlier reaction .

Zero . No affinity at all , not to any element , which technically shouldn’t be possible . Cosmic Energy is the basic building block of the universe , and it should be impossible to at least not have a small connection to it , - Yrial said . - Especially you who have already walked on the path of cultivation for a while . Yet I can’t find a speck of spirituality in your body . -

I seem to have pressed on fine , though? - Zac asked hesitantly . - I even have a pretty good tolerance of energy , I can absorb crystals pretty damn quick even without being a cultivator . And I have formed multiple Dao Seeds . -

That’s what’s so mind-boggling , - Yrial said with wonder . - You’re ugly , but you are pretty interesting . Perhaps your trashy constitution might even be an opportunity . -

How is it an opportunity to have no talent? - Zac asked with a helpless smile .

Because you are free . We’re all prisoners to the System , playing within its ruleset . The system won’t let you chose a class that is not in line with your talents since that would statistically lower the chance for you to become a powerhouse . And that's just one of the ways the System limits the boundless Dao . But you who have no talents are unfettered , able to do anything , - Yrial said , growing more and more excited .

I’ve decided , today is your lucky day . I’ll lower myself to make you my disciple after all , - the Lord of Cycles said , truly looking like he was throwing Zac a bone . - Hurry , kneel down and accept me as your master! -

Chapter 284 - Beauty and Brawn

Now you want to make me your disciple? - Zac asked with hesitation since the situation seemed a bit fishy . - I thought I was too ugly? Also , I'm not really interested in kneeling . -

Well , you are a bit ugly , but I’ll make an exception . A supertrash that’s also a progenitor and having two classes through a variant core? It’s too interesting to pass up , - the Lord of Cycles said with excitement . - And the kneeling is just figurative , though there is one thing you need to do to become my disciple . -

Zac frowned at the explanation . It almost sounded like the Lord of Cycles wanted to take him as a disciple as a novelty . But he was long dead , so why did he bother about these things? And what would a shady person like Yrial have him do to become a disciple?

There had been too much new information in too short a time . He didn't even know if Yrial was telling the truth about his aptitude , and there was no way for him to double-check . But something inside him was telling him that he wasn't lying , and his mind immediately went to his mother .

Was this what she had done to him? Or was this simply the constitution of a technocrat , someone who hated the system . Various emotions flitted through his mind as he tried to fathom why she would do something like this . Kenzie's AI he could understand , even if it put her in extreme danger . It would undoubtedly help her get further on the road of cultivation than if she didn't possess it .

But why would Leandra want to give him an awful constitution like this?

Let's just say I'm taking a chance here . I only have one shot unless I set up another trial ground after I made this place . Your combination of unique traits might lead nowhere , but it might also turn into something amazing . So if you make it big , remember to resurrect me , - Yrial suddenly added , perhaps afraid the silence was due to Zac not wanting to become a disciple .

Resurrect? - Zac gaped . - Is that even possible? -

As long as you reach the peak of cultivation you can resurrect people as long as you possess a piece of their original soul or at least know where they died . Luckily I am such a piece , - The Lord of Cycles nodded . - Though from what I've heard it is extremely taxing , so even the most powerful people in the multiverse can only do it a handful of times . -

Resurrection and immortality are two of the most common reasons people push themselves toward the peak . Who doesn’t have friends and loved ones who have fallen? This only becomes more poignant as you get stronger and the millennia pass , - Yrial sighed . - Some of my companions fell to battle , others due to old age since they got stuck and couldn't progress . The road of cultivation is paved with not only the bones of your enemies but also your loved ones . -

The only reason this place was created was that I needed Brazla to create a specialized item that I required for an expedition into an unexplored B-Grade Mystic Realm . Since I never came back to update this place I am guessing I died inside , - he said with surprising equanimity . - Such is fate when defying the heavens . Anyone can die at any time . -

Zac's thoughts immediately went to his father . Was it actually possible to bring him back if he got powerful enough? Or if he got stuck due to being a mortal , then perhaps Kenzie could do it .

Of course , even with your odd advantages reaching even B-Grade is a dream within a dream , so don't start planning who to resurrect just yet , - Yrial added with some disdain , clearly understanding what Zac was thinking about .

Why should I accept you as a master though? - Zac hesitantly said . - What benefits do I get apart from just getting the inheritance treasures? -

If you decide to only become an inheritor I’ll just throw some treasure at you and then kick you out . Since I’ll be pretty pissed off the treasure might not be too exciting , - the spirit said without an inkling of shame . - But if you become my disciple I’ll go above and beyond to help you each time you enter here . I’ll not only help you progress , but I’ll also give you the best treasures I’ve got stocked here . -

Zac looked at the spirit with some helplessness as he knew that he couldn't say no to such an offer , even if there were some hidden considerations behind Yrial's offer . Getting the guidance of a C-Grade powerhouse was something extremely valuable for someone like him . But he didn't immediately say yes since he did have other considerations .

There is a rogue cultivator believed to be at Peak D-Grade heading toward my homeworld to enslave it . Are you able to help out against that? - tentatively asked .

I can kill him for you if you manage to get him inside here . D-Grade warriors have only taken the first step on cultivation , it's nothing I can’t handle even in this limited form . But I don’t see how it's is possible for you to bring him here , - the spirit said with an unconcerned shrug . - So you would better off putting me and the repository in a portable mansion and fleeing to another planet . -

Zac sighed in disappointment , but it was worth a try .

I plan to find a force in the multiverse that can protect my planet from that man . Would that conflict with becoming your disciple? - Zac asked next

Of course not , most walking on the path of cultivation will have many teachers and benefactors throughout their lives . There’s no point in trying to reinvent the wheel all by yourself . Some puritans think that taking pointers from others would impact their path of cultivation , but that’s only true if their path is fragile and built on unstable foundations , - Yrial said .

But you should also be ready that you might not be as sought after as you hope without exposing your secrets , - the Lord of Cycles added . - Taking someone on as a disciple is a huge risk and a drain on resources . Both the risk and the drain is multiplied hundredfold when you’re a mortal . Bringing a mortal to the D-Grade can bankrupt a sect , and that’s just the start . -

So I should display my core? - Zac probed .

I wouldn’t recommend it . Between your odd body and your variation core , you would be lucky to last for a month before someone decided to cut you open . Your situation might not be very interesting for peak existences , but it would certainly be even for some C-Grade beings . If I wasn’t dead would already have cut you open to study that core , - Yrial said .

You’d really do something like that? - Zac asked with shock .

That’s nothing . You don’t understand how hard it is to progress after the D-Grade . You can spend thousands of years without being able to take a single step forward . If your unique constitution even gave me a minuscule chance of advancing I’d rip you apart in a heartbeat . Those lofty existences from elite families wouldn’t be any different either , even if they pretend otherwise , - Yrial said .

Cold sweat started to run down Zac’s back when he saw the ruthless determination within Yrial’s eyes , and it reminded him of the stark reality . Might made right in this world , and he was wrong to consider people like The Great Redeemer as crazy outliers . There were innumerable people who were ready to do anything to progress on their path of cultivation .

In any case , what do I need to do to become your disciple? - Zac said , eager to change the subject from his dismemberment .

Just a small test . I admit I slightly phoned in the trial for the trial . I mean I simply bought and modified a Dao Golem . But in my defense , I did not really want to do this thing so I was annoyed , - Yrial said with a straight face . - But I did put in another small test in case I actually found someone acceptable to take on as a disciple . -

Weren't you already ready to accept me? - Zac hesitantly asked . - Is there really a need for another trial? -

Well , perhaps not if I was still alive , but I am a construct now , - Yrial snickered . - I am created by a set of rules that I cannot bend . To become a disciple you must pass my test for disciples . Don’t worry , seeing your strength you should survive . Though I admit the trial tests not only your brawn but also your beauty , which might be a problem for you . -

Alarms started to go off in Zas’s mind , and he quickly turned around to run away . The trial for discipleship sounded extremely suspicious , and he wanted no part of it . Especially when he mentioned the risk of death .

Naïve , - the Lord of Cycles simply laughed , and with a wave of his arm Zac was lifted up and brought back to where he stood earlier .

No , wait! - Zac shouted , but it was too late , as an odd wave was released from an amulet around Yrial's neck .

Zac helplessly glared at the man waving him goodbye from his spot by the pond until the scenery started to blur around him . Were all old ghosts scammers in the end?

Zac didn’t have time to complain over the similarily shady methods of Anzonil and Yrial as the odd pressure continued to build up in his mind . He had already realized that the was being put inside a dreamscape or an illusion so that the trial wouldn't take place in reality . Zac tried to resist the growing confusion with all his might , even activating Mental Fortress] .

But the might of the illusion wrought by a C-Grade powerhouse wasn't something he could resist , and his defensive skill was effortlessly broken through by whatever Yrial did . Ceaseless information was crammed into his mind , and he realized it was memories from when Yrial was young . There was a flood of impressions and sights , and Zac started to become unsure who he even was until he finally blacked out .

Zac shook his head with a groan before looking around to see where he was . He was currently sitting at a camp in a forest , though the trees were a bit different from anything he had seen on earth . It was the middle of winter , and the barren trees were covered in a layer of snow . However , he didn’t move , and instead tried to sort out the new information in his head .

The confusion he felt during the impartment had abated , and he knew that he was Zac and that he was inside a dream trial for discipleship . Nothing he saw around him was actually real . But the problem was the parting words of Yrial . Even though this place an illusion it appeared there was a distinct risk of death .

The place he found himself in was modeled after a real place , and it was the homeworld of The Lord of Cycles . The forest around him had no name , and it was simply part of the untamed wilderness that spanned between the established influences in the area .

Zac quickly opened up his status screen , and it was with some relief that he found that all his attributes and skills were intact . Verun’s Bite] was also by his side , though his own Cosmos Sack had been replaced by a much worse one with only some simple necessities and a few Nexus Crystals inside .

Zac wasn’t too worried though since he believed that the object was to finish the trial without the assistance of his vast wealth . He had to admit that he had taken a shortcut with the Unholy Beacon , and Yrial perhaps didn’t want such a thing to happen again . His real Cosmos Sack was no doubt still with his real body inside the trail .

He was also curious to note that he had gotten an actual quest this time around , rather than just being thrown into the ring against the Life-Death construct . Even the type of quest was new , meaning discipleship might not be something as simple as a verbal agreement between two people .

Fire and Ice (Unique , Discipleship) : Acquire a Profound Yin Orchid and a Ruby of Everlasting Yang . Reward : Discipleship of The Lord of Cycles . (0/2) . Remaining : 04 : 23 : 58 : 23

Zac blanked out for a second as he looked at the quest . He had no clue what those two things were , but he soon found them inside the added memories from Yrial's youth . And the more he looked through the memories the worse his face got . How the hell was he supposed to finish this quest?

It truly was a test of beauty and brawn .

Chapter 285 - Profound Yin and Everlasting Yang

It seemed like a straightforward enough task , but Zac groaned inwardly when he saw it . The burst of information he had received included all the information he needed regarding the two treasures , and Zac knew this quest would be a pain in the ass .

Neither of the treasures were readily available . The Profound Yin Orchid was a top tier E-Grade flower that gave an enormous boost to the Ice-attributed cultivation manual that the Disciples of the Profound Yin Sect in the area used . It was so integral to them that they even named their Sect after it , and the gardens containing the flowers were strictly guarded deep inside the core of their sect .

The Profound Yin sect was nothing special in the multiverse , but its ancestor was a high-level E-Grade cultivator . All its elders were between the Low and Mid-grade E-Rank as well , and their force was not something Zac could handle even if he went all out .

Interestingly enough the Profound Yin sect was exclusively a female sect , and any association with males was strictly prohibited . There was no way for Zac to simply walk up to the sect in order to trade with them as he would be attacked on sight . Not that they would ever sell their core resource anyway .

The situation with the Rubies of Everlasting Yang was pretty much the same . They only slowly grew inside a volcano sitting atop a Nexus Vein , and it was strictly controlled by Everlasting Yang Sect . The sect was the exact opposite of the Profound Yin , and only fire-attributed males could join the sect .

The two sects were actually located quite close to each other , and not surprisingly there was non-stop contention between the two forces . Since both the sects were of roughly the same strength neither was able to root out the other , and it seemed like the elders of both the sects used the conflict as a whetstone to hone their disciples .

The mission was a replication of a feat that the Lord of Cycles accomplished when he was roughly the same level as Zac himself . In fact , Yrial was a lot weaker in terms of total attributes and power when he stole the two treasures in short succession .

The memories that Zac received while he fell into the dreamscape even went so far as to give him a few partial memories of how Yrial managed to snatch the two treasures , and the method Yrial used was the reason Zac was so vexed . A test of beauty and brawn was an apt description .

He had actually openly infiltrated the Profound Yin sect . He had utilized his ambiguous looks by ambushing a Profound Yin Disciple who was out hunting beasts in the woods , and then stolen her disciple’s uniform . With that in hand , he simply waltzed into the gates looking like a woman . He even used an early version of his beatification field to gain access to the garden from the presiding elder .

Getting the ruby was a lot simpler . Yrial had walked up to the Everlasting Yang sect , proclaiming that he had beaten a core disciple of the Profound Yin sect in a duel , showing the orchid as proof . From there he taunted the disciples of the Profound Yang sect until one of their own core disciples stepped forward , putting a ruby as the wager .

The core disciple was stronger than Yrial in reality , but the Lord of Cycles once again used his beatification field to confuse the poor disciple , and then Yrial ruthlessly attacked him while his emotions were in turmoil .

It was not much later that his trickery had been exposed , and he was summarily hunted by both the sects for a good while . Zac’s imparted memories stopped there though , and he didn’t know how the story ended . However , since Yrial had become a C-Grade powerhouse in the end he had clearly gotten away .

Zac understood why Yrial had taken the risk . He had already started walking on the path of fire and ice , the two concepts that would allow him to reach the peak C Grade in the end . But he was a poor rogue cultivator , and getting his hands on those two treasures was his idea to push both his Daos forward .

Both of them helped a cultivator foster a constitution that was especially suited for the cultivation of their respective element . Zac guessed that Yrial later combined the two to create the foundation of a real fire-and-ice constitution .

The problem for Zac was that there was no way for him to replicate Yrial’s feat . At least not in the same way . There was no way he would be able to pass as a woman , even with the help of Thousand Faces] . There were limits to the skill , and not possible to change enough to pass off as a woman , except perhaps from a great distance .

He believed he could replicate the second half of the mission though , though he would be able to defeat the core disciple without the use of trickery . He had accompanied Brazla enough to know how to enrage a few cultivators , but he knew that they wouldn’t offer up a Ruby for the wager unless he could put up one of the orchids .

A large part of the reason they were ready to duel Yrial was that they desperately wanted to succeed where the Profound Yin failed in a game of one-upmanship . If they could show the world that they had one of the prized possessions of their rival sects it would no doubt make their enemies lose a lot of face .

Finding another treasure to wager instead was out of the question as well . The time limit was pretty restrictive , and he would only have time to visit the sects one by one with little room for leeway . Since time was of the essence Zac would simply take it step by step .

That in of itself was a problem to Zac , who was already running late for his real-life obligations . He was supposed to go to Westfort today , but he might be stuck inside this place for another few days . However , Zac suddenly had an idea as he sat down and started to ponder upon his Daos .

But no matter what he did or which Dao he pondered upon , everything was just a haze in his mind . It was like he had lost one of his senses , where the truths of the world were completely blocked to him or even missing . Zac wasn't worried though , but quite satisfied with the results .

Being unable to improve one’s Dao could be indicative of time dilation . Since the Dao of Time was a thing , creating spaces that had a different flow of time was quite possible . However , no matter whether you sped up time or slowed it down it was essentially impossible to improve inside those time chambers .

The different passage of time somehow messed up the connection with the Dao , and it all became a mess . Similarily it was apparently impossible to properly use cultivation manuals since they somehow were connected to the Dao as well .

You could advance , but it was extremely arduous and left your foundation unstable , so you would only hurt yourself in the long run if you tried to take a shortcut and cultivate inside a place with a different time-flow . That’s why such spaces were never used to improve .

They did have some uses though . The current situation was one use , where one could perform a trial without wasting time in real life . Another example was whether you needed to slow down your aging to be able to protect your clan for longer or just stay young enough to be able to enter a Mystic Realm that only opened in set intervals .

Of course , time dilation chambers cost a fortune to build and run , and it was only something Ogras had mentioned that supreme forces might utilize . D or even C-Graded forces were very unlikely to own such an extravagant thing .

Zac was happy that he might not waste as much time as he feared , but he still immediately set out for the Profound Yin Sect . For one he didn’t know how much time was passing in the real world , and he wanted to get back to Yrial . He had been whisked away before he could get all the answers he was looking for .

Yrial was the key to so many things that were currently stumping Zac . He obviously knew a lot about Specialty Cores , and he no doubt knew the means to evolve them . How to combine two opposing concepts was also the specialty of Yrial , clearly displayed through the two balls that he summoned to play around with .

Zac felt that the orchid part of the quest was the key . If he managed to figure out a way to get it , he was most likely set . If not he would simply sit out the five days and miss out on the opportunity of becoming the disciple of the Lord of Cycles . He simply wasn’t ready to risk it all for this quest since there were too many people depending on him .

It was only ten hours later that he was hiding along a cliff wall , overlooking the female-dominated sect . His memories had unerringly led him to the Profound Yin sect , and his travels had once more proven he was in a dreamscape . The forests were full of beasts between the levels 50 and 75 , but when Zac killed them he received no Cosmic Energy , meaning the animals weren't real .

The sect was placed in a large basin , and Zac noted that the whole area was far colder than the surroundings . It was winter in the rest of the forest as well , but the valley seemed to be permanently in this state , and frigid winds rose from the valley floor .

The problem Zac faced as he looked down was how to even get close to the outer walls . There was barely any cover in the valley , making it extremely hard to sneak up on the sect . Apart from some boulders , there were only some odd trees that seemed to be almost made out of rocks , but they were extremely thin and sparsely placed .

Zac decided on the same course of action as Yrial in the end , though not as brazen . He roamed outside the valley for a few hours until he finally spotted disciple on her own , and she even had roughly the same hair color as himself . Zac wasted no time and flashed over with Loamwalker] , and the next moment an unconscious girl lay in front of him .

Zac silenced the inner voice calling him a creep as he lifted the girl and took her away . He repeatedly reminded himself that this was all a dreamscape as he took her outer coat and placed it over himself . After some hesitation he also bound and gagged her , but he believed that a cultivator should be able to extricate herself in an hour or so after waking up .

He didn't choose to kill her , even though she wasn't real . He felt it would impact his personality if he heedlessly killed like that . If he started wholesale slaughter of innocent people in a dreamscape now , then before you know it he might feel it was okay to do it in real life .

Besides , it might backfire if someone found a murdered disciple . It might even alert the sect leader . A knocked out one should elicit a much more restrained response if it was discovered . Perhaps the disciple would even be so embarrassed that she wouldn't report it if she came to early .

Next , he activated Thousand Faces] for the first time in a long time , and he grimaced when he was reminded of how extremely painful it was to utilize due to the mismatch with his pathways . But only a few moments later he had a face that bore a passing resemblance to the girl in front of him , but if he was properly looked at one would immediately notice he was a man .

No matter what he tried he wasn’t able to change his features to those of a woman , the level or quality of the skill was simply not high enough . But after he had grown out his hair and covered his face slightly he felt it was good enough for his purposes .

He also took her disciple token and used Inquisitive Eye] on her to find out her name before he left . Just a few minutes later he was trekking down the valley , his heart rapidly beating as he neared the sect . His eyes scoured the walls in the distance for any response to his approach .

He did not immediately walk toward the main gate since it was continuously guarded , but he rather chose to meander a bit so that he approached the sect from the side . He wasn’t too worried about this since he saw steps in the snow everywhere . It seemed taking a walk outside the walls within the safety of the valley was nothing uncommon .

Zac strolled for twenty minutes until he could confirm there weren’t any guards along the wall . An array covered the whole sect , and it would be a waste of manpower to continuously guard the walls as well . The only guards were the squad that was placed at the gate .

The disciple token should be all that was needed to pass through the array , but he didn’t know whether something else would trigger if he jumped over the wall instead of passing through the array through the wall . There was no answer in his new memories , so there was only one way to find out .

When he noticed the vision of the guards was blocked by a boulder he suddenly flashed forward with Loamwalker] , and the next moment he was above the walls .

Chapter 286 - Sneaking Inside

Zac’s heart was beating like a drum as he hurried along a secluded path of the Profound Yin sect . Things were starting to get a bit out of hand , and he had already left 8 unconscious disciples in his wake . Honestly , he was unsure whether he had actually killed a few of them by mistake , but he pushed down any such thoughts at the moment .

The initial infiltration had gone just fine . Some sort of silent alarm went off , but he had already anticipated such a thing and he hid to see what kind of response sneaking past the wall elicited .

Three guards arrived a minute later , and Zac had already hidden inside a nearby house , knocking out the occupant . She had only been level 31 and was likely a pretty fresh recruit to the sect .

Judging by the conversation of the guards they didn’t put much weight to Zac jumping over the wall . His token belonged to the disciple named Tilri , and they believed it was her who had crossed the wall rather than passing through the gate for some reason . They noted a demerit in her name then went on with their day .

However , everything didn’t go as smoothly from there . He took a very roundabout way toward the small garden that housed the Profound Yin Orchids to avoid people , but it was impossible to avoid them altogether . The garden was against a mountain wall in the back of the sect , and he had to pass a lot of structures to get there .

It only took Zac 30 seconds to get spotted , and the girl he encountered only need another second to realize he was a man . Luckily one second was all Zac needed to flash forward and tap her forehead with enough power to knock her out cold .

He dragged her into the nearest house , which alerted another person inside . Soon another disciple was lying unconscious with a large bump on her forehead next to her sect sister . From there one mishap after another happened , and he felt it was only a matter of time before he would hear sirens blaring across the whole valley .

But he still hadn’t given up . As far as he knew everyone that had realized who he was had been knocked out , and the sect was only so big . He just needed to endure for another minute before he reached the garden .

A petite figure suddenly appeared from around a corner , and Zac instinctively slammed the hilt of his axe in her temple before she had even come into full view . Zac grimaced when he saw that she was barely as old as Emily , but what done was done . She was stuffed behind a few sacks of rice inside a shed before he kept speeding forward .

A wave of relief spread through his body as he saw the cave that was his destination . The orchids grew inside , perpetually secluded from the sun . Their only nourishment was water an extremely cold stream rising from the underground and the Nexus Vein that was placed beneath the valley .

The cave was off-limits to normal people , and there were no buildings or disciples close to the entrance . But Zac knew from his memories that a low-level E-Grade elder sat inside to tend to and guard the flowers . It was mainly to keep any greedy disciples away , while also being a reward to the elder . Sitting amongst the flowers to cultivate drastically improved one's cultivation , though not as much as directly imbibing them .