Chapter 1,491.

A/N: That's it for May and spring. Thank you all for your support thus far!

In case you missed it, I really recommend reading the Summer update I posted earlier today: https://www.patreon.com/posts/summer-update-159708625

I hope you'll all have a great summer. In case you need something, you can still find me over on the Discord.

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While loath to leave his companions behind, Zac couldn’t justify spending precious time loitering outside Akke’s workshop. Even if Zac could feel the storm of Destiny gathering above the palace, it could be weeks before the next Outer Court filled in. Not to mention, it was unclear whether a single court would shift the timeline enough for Akke to finish the job.

At the very least, Zac needed to move to a different biome. The fiery heat of Akke’s mountain provided no relevant insights, and neither of the two visible rune-scars on the outer wall were related to his path. Both were connected to fire, which might explain why the small mountain could still radiate such a fierce spirituality. It had been feeding on the spill-over of the external attacks to supplement itself.

Standing in an environment with a powerful unrelated Dao was like having a fly buzzing in his ears. At the very least, Zac needed to move to a biome with Daos matching his own. Before heading out, there was one thing left to do. Zac’s eyes had never left the dozens of treasures growing on the mountain slopes, each valuable enough to generate a pull of Destiny.

Fire-attuned minerals and metals had no value for his cultivation. Zac wanted them all the same. He was approaching a stage in his cultivation where purchasing the resources he needed would only get more difficult. C-grade materials were considered strategic resources even in the Multiverse Heartlands.

Most of the treasures would be locked away in the treasuries of powerful factions, only exchangeable for merit. Those who appeared on the open markets would rarely be exchanged for Nexus Coins or Cosmic Crystals. While the System held an ubiquitous role in the cultivation world, its presence was noticeable weaker in the higher grades.

Much like in the Transformation Docks bazaar, high-grade trades generally happened through barter. Rather than auctions like the ones he’d participated in thus far, Monarchs generally preferred trade meets. If Zac encountered such an event in the future and an item he needed appeared, then he needed to have something to trade for.

His current stockpile of random treasures was currently at a low point. He’d sold off most of what he’d collected to gather materials necessary for his Peak D-grade breakthrough. He’d recovered some of his stockpiles since, but you could never have too many good items lying about so long as you didn’t flaunt your wealth.

Esmeralda needed no prodding to help in his quest to strip the mountain bare. She eagerly started jumping around the base, looking for weak spots in its fiery domain. Zac did the same by prodding the mountain with [Void Zone]. A crestfallen toad returned half an hour later.

“The lingering Dao of that old hammer is too stubborn. It’s coating the whole thing without a single gap. I found one spot that’s slightly weaker, but that’s about it,” she complained.

“Can you do anything about it? Like some technique that teleport the treasures out or opens a safe route?” Zac asked.

“No problem. Just bring this mountain to my true body and I’ll help you deal with it,” Esmeralda said with a roll of her eyes. “I told you, this clone only has wisdom to impart. Occasionally hiding you is about the extent of what I can do.”

“Fine, where’s the weak spot you found?”

Weak spot turned out to be a slight energy leak that resulted in the fiery domain to weaken by around fifteen percent. Zac still couldn’t safely approach, even with [Void Zone] active. After trying out a few other things, such as throwing items at the treasures to knock them loose, Zac finally found a method that showed promise.

A small vortex right inside the hammer-shaped indent further up the slope. It pushed against the base of the copper-colored piece of metal that jutted out, causing sparks to fly. A stream of axelights poured out of the vortex, each slamming into the same spot. The treasure shook as it silently had to endure the punishment.

The Void Vortex lasted for two seconds before it combusted from the ambient temperature. The metal only had a shallow scratch to show for it, yet Zac’s eyes lit up with delight. Attacks from the outside were suppressed by the domain, but it couldn’t stop point-blank strikes. The shakes also proved it wasn’t fused with the mountain or part of a deeper vein. It was growing like a mineral, and it was possible to shake loose.

It took dozens of tries until the block of metal finally toppled over, at which point another vortex appeared. It rushed forth like a hungry beast, swallowing the block of metal whole. The next second, a flash of heat rushed into Zac’s face as the ingot thumped onto the ground before him. His head hurt a bit after having so many vortices crushed, yet the pain was nothing before the rush of a successful haul.

Ultimately, Zac only managed to drag away four Peak D-grade minerals. The rest were either lodged or ensconced in a too powerful domain. That was especially true for the few C-grade metals at the top. His vortices burned up before they could accomplish anything, and the flames even singed his Void Realm.

Four treasures was better than nothing. He could tell that these metals were perfect for weapon smithing. They held a diluted aura of Akke’s Dao, making them extraordinarily sturdy and stable. So long as the smith could figure out a way to melt them down, they had the potential to become Supreme-quality Fire-attuned Spirit Tools.

With his efforts complete, Zac found himself standing at a crossroads. He could return to the welcoming square and the Dao Runes there. With so much of the First Era’s aura permeating the square, there was no telling what he’d come up with. Between his sparring sessions with Thea and his demonstration inside Akke’s workshop, his Techniques were drawing closer to the next stage. The pressure released from the runes might be enough to push him past the hurdle.

Another option was focusing on his skills. Despite having been Peak D-grade for months, he still did not have a single Peak D-grade skill. Reaching the peak was different from the previous stages. The jump in power was greater, and skills often saw a transformation as the Skill Fractal was rounded out. It was currently Zac’s most accessible route to a last-minute powerup before the Flameseeking trial began.

Nevertheless, Zac turned away from the tunnel leading back to the misty ponds and its malignant ghost. He walked toward the tunnels at the opposite ends and the uncharted territories they represented. Tersephe’s outline of the Left Imperial Palace was starting to get spotty from this point on. It didn’t cover the particular route he was navigating at all.

There was, however, a general outline of what to expect. The further you moved from the welcoming square, the more chaotic the biomes grew. The risks grew, sometimes unpredictably so. Dangers even greater than that terrifying specter could appear out of nowhere. Accordingly, the opportunities were much greater.

The amount of supreme Dao leaking into the biomes from the outside could easily birth C-grade treasures. And with the Natural Treasures being washed in the First Era’s truth over countless years, they had a decent chance of also being Law-attuned. Not only that, the opportunities did not only come from the outside.

The information crystal mentioned the account of another Sealbearer. While exploring, highly concentrated enlightenment suddenly came pouring out of the palace. The Sealbearer described the experience indistinguishable from seizing a part of a seal. The moment only lasted a moment before it stabilized and never returned. Tersephe posited such events would be much more likely the further out you went.

In addition, the palace wasn’t capable of fully scrubbing its interiors of the First Era’s corruption. Some biomes were terrifying corrupted zones, as if the Left Imperial Palace used them as dumping grounds for its taint. Zac hoped to source more Corruption Crystals in those environments. The more he collected today, the smoother his ascent through Monarchy would be after the trial ended.

As if conjured by his thoughts, Zac felt tendrils of corruption leaking from one of the two passages. Zac drew a streak into himself and deposited inside [Purity of the Void]. He wanted to see if these corrupted zones actually held enlightenment within. It would do him no good if these zones were like Laondio’s purification arrays, and the corruption here was the price for the rest of the palace enjoying free epiphanies.

Zac wasn’t disappointed. Not only were there enlightenment within, it was extraordinarily dense. This was corruption straight form the source, not weakened in the least by the current Heavens.

As he walked deeper inside, all light was swallowed. The arrays lining the interior walls of the palace didn’t work, and Zac could barely feel any energy from within the structure’s grand array. Soon enough, Zac felt as though he was walking through the void of outer space.

Zac once heard that humans would begin to hallucinate sounds when subject to absolute silence. In the shrouded tunnel, the feeling was similar, the difference being that the whispers were real. Ancient madness seeped into him from every direction, uncaring of the defenses Zac raised. They tried to break his will and twist his convictions.

The Heart Realm trembled under the assault, yet it acted as a beacon in the dark. It kept him from spiraling as the whispers grew more insistent, especially when they began targeting the abandonment of his Spirit Tools. Still, Zac’s face was scrunched up from mental turmoil by the time he reached the end of the path.

The biome was shrouded in dusk. Zac could only barely make out a faltering rune on the outer wall. There was little of import inside the biome. Naturally, there were no Faith Gates or memory domains inside the corruption. The zone itself looked like a dried-out delta stemming from the palace itself. Or perhaps the spill-zone of a discontinued sewer was a more apt description.

The passage of corruption had created a fan-shaped pattern in the ground. They appeared to hold ancient secrets, like the archaic runes created by the Cosmos. Only, these truths were twisted, utterly irreconcilable with the current order. Perhaps that was why there appeared to be scorch marks from lightning strikes at various spots.

There was a circle of obelisks in the center. The thought of walking over to investigate didn’t cross his mind, despite seeing Corruption Crystals the size of watermelons growing from them. Just standing at the edge of the zone was almost driving him insane. Instead, he investigated the corners of the walls to his left and right.

The scene didn’t disappoint. Lodged in cracks were close to a hundred crystals. While neither as large nor glowing as intensely as the crystals on the obelisks, they were as good or better as the crystals he’d collected inside the Mercurial Court. Afraid of entering himself, he manipulated a spare chain to rip them out one after another.

Instead of immediately leaving, Zac stayed to fill up on corruption. Having a ready-to-go batch of enlightenment to complement the palace’s ambient spirituality couldn’t hurt. As he waited, he thoughtfully looked at the now-empty cracks close to his path. Eventually he brought out one of the smallest Corruption Crystals he’d looted on Sevona’s island.

The crystal vibrated like a critter sensing nearby sustenance, and it began drawing from the ambient taint. Its energies were growing denser at a visible speed, and Zac quickly brought out fifty more. These were the worst of the bunch he’d looted, holding very little enlightenment each. Losing them wouldn’t be much of a loss after his harvest, so Zac placed them all in the closest groves. He’d come back after collecting his weapons. With some luck, the corrupted biome would give him a pleasant surprise.

After planting the crystals to be nourished by the pure corruption, Zac walked back the way he came. There was simply no way for him to cross this particular biome. His [Earthly Dome] only managed to reach a hundred meters into the zone. If he tried running, he would go insane long before he reached the other side.

That left the other passage. Like all the other tunnels before, it fed into a large oblong zone next to the towering outer wall. It made no sense from a logical standpoint, seeing as the corrupted zone next to it was the same. It was like they occupied the same space, and not even Esmeralda could figure out how it was accomplished. There were absolutely no signs of spatial manipulation.

The next biome was not much better than the corrupted zone. Zac stared at the twisted landscape before him, unable to understand how it came to be. It couldn’t possibly be something that the Limitless Empire designed. He felt as though he was looking at the origin of his old skill [Pillar of Desolation].

Ten thousand languishing faces, each twisted by fury and suffering, stretched out from the ground and the walls. Even the sky was filled with clumps of distorted figures. While none of the faces moved, there was a looming sense of danger coming from the twisted gallery. Zac eventually decided to pass through. If he backed down before every biome at the first sign of danger, may as well give up on his exploration. Besides, this zone had a readily-available resource just like the previous zone, making it harder to just turn away.

Close to the biome’s center, there was a whole mound of shimmering crystals. One crystal was especially radiant. All the statues in the surroundings were looking straight at them. Whether the faces were the source of the crystals or if their powerful spirituality had drawn their attention was hard to say. Either case, Zac wanted them.

Zac tried opening two vortices, one on each ends of the biome. It didn’t work. While there was no obvious domain in the zone, there was some interference that limited his reach. Trying again, Zac opened a few vortices inside the zone. He could almost reach the pile of crystals in one bound, and opening gateways didn’t trigger any response from the faces.

“Easy enough. Open a passage, collect the loot, and leave the other side,” Esmeralda said with an eager glint. Not being able to do much in the past two zones had clearly hurt her thief’s pride. “I’ll help out.”

The first part went well. The problems arose when he entered the heart of the zone.

‘YOU’VE DOOMED US!’

The roar filled Zac’s being the moment he emerged, shaking his soul and shattering the vortex he emerged from. Zac’s eardrums burst. His vision swam, yet he couldn’t stop. He rushed past the huge pile of treasures, swiping as many as he could without slowing down. A groaning Esmeralda did the same before fleeing into the [Shrine of Kanba].

‘YOUR GREED KILLED US ALL!’

The second scream came from another voice, and it carried even greater resentment. Zac fell to the ground, and the energy he circulated in his body scattered. He forcibly pushed off with all the force he could muster, yet he moved as though trapped in quicksand. The soundwaves of the roaring statues were gaining a physical manifestation, like a trap closing around him. Squeezing a bit further, Zac bit down on his tongue to shake his mind awake. He barely managed to open two vortices before lunging inside.

‘SUFFER! BURN!’

The roar followed Zac as he fell into the tunnel on the biome’s opposite side, leaving him with an overwhelming vertigo. The world was spinning, and he was holding onto the ground for dear life. He tried to open another vortex and it failed. His sense of positioning was all out of order, and placing a vortex inside the narrow constraints of the tunnel was out of his bounds. It was hard enough to figure out which way led away from the biome and slowly crawl in that direction.

Finally, the steady hum of the Left Imperial Palace’s grand array brought some sense of order. Zac slumped onto the ground, feeling the wetness on the side of his head. Both his ears were bleeding, and not just from having his eardrums punctured. He was shocked to find fine gashes covering his ears and the side of his head. It was like something had tried clawing its way into his head.

Fearful, he added some more distance from the wailing biome. He still wasn’t ready to face whatever came next. He spent the next hour prone on the ground, echoes of the resentful roars rattling in his head. It was only at that point he dared take out one of the crystals they snatched on the stopover.

“They’re really Fiend Crystals,” Zac said as a murderous intent filled the corridor.

It felt as though a malevolent beast had been trapped inside the crystal. Compared to the Fiend Crystals he looted near the scar of the Centurion Lighthouse, these were the real deal. The normal crystals were all Peak D-grade, and the lustrous one was something greater. While not truly a C-grade material, it was not far off. It would probably have evolved if left inside the wailing biome for another decade or two.

Zac had worked his way through the Fiend Crystals he collected long ago. They were a great supplementary material for body tempering. They helped agitate his body beyond the normal bounds of his cultivation manuals, allowing them to absorb more energy. His Draugr body was already approaching Peak Shallows thanks to the Primo’s Death, he now had the perfect tool to accelerate the process.

Not only that, but the fierce killing intent was also creating a response in his [Thousand Axes Avatar]. His Conflict-attuned spiritual body had just been born, and it had plenty of room for improvement. Even now, his spiritual body was constantly being refined through the battle at the heart of his infinity-shaped Soul Core. With some experimentation, he might find a way to use Fiend Crystals to help out.

“Nothing like some goodies to alleviate the pain,” Esmeralda said with a grin.

“You’re right,” Zac smiled, “But it still hurts.”

“That only means you didn’t nab enough treasures,” Esmeralda said. “Let’s go, Doctor Esmeralda will help patch you up.”