Defiance of the Fall

"You're breaking through? Now?" Kator said, and Zac could see how the muscles beneath his armor clenched. "Have you forgotten about our situation? You're putting all of us at risk."

"If anything, it's the opposite. Look around. The heavenly presence is subduing the region, scaring away the resentment that was coming our way," Zac countered. "Seeing as we're stuck anyhow, I might as well get it out of the way. I'll be better equipped to protect our crew in case we run into more of the cultists."

Zac had already been pushing against the threshold of his Earthly Daos since the Atavism. Weeks of bitter fighting inside the Imperial Graveyard had let him digest the insights at a record pace. He'd still been some ways off from taking the step, lacking the spark of inspiration to fully fuse the two aspects of the Daos of Life and Death.

His battle with the pugilist solved that issue, pushing him ahead of schedule. The beautiful tapestry when [Desperation's End] and [Judgment of Arcadia] clashed filled in the blanks, and Zac wanted to advance while the inspiration was fresh in his mind. He'd even been prepared to break through while fighting the beastmaster in case the battle dragged out, or they started to lose.

The Black Heart captain fell without Zac needing to use his tribulation as a weapon. Zac could have managed, but it would have been a waste of an opportunity. Forming an Earthly Dao was a major step forward that would greatly impact his cultivation. He wanted to fully focus on the Dao, ensuring the Dao Treasures or distractions didn't lead his path astray.

The only thing standing in the way of a breakthrough now was the spiritual damage he'd suffered because of the [Solidarity Link]. Kator's warbones cracking meant cracks had appeared on Zac's soul. Thankfully, the damage had been split between his two Soul Cores, making the situation manageable. He'd been in a far worse state for other breakthroughs, and his cores were already on the mend.

Zac looked at Kator with a raised brow, seeing him veritably oozing with irritation. "Why? Do you feel this is your opportunity to strike?"

"That's funny," Kator spat, glancing at the sky. "Are you trying to take me out using a borrowed dagger?"

"You'd be long gone if something as simple as an Earthly Dao Tribulation could do you in," Zac scoffed, waving his hand with the seal. "Remember, you were the one that forced this thing on me. You should have seen this coming since I dealt with the Remnants."

Kator said nothing for a few seconds until a loud clap reminded them they didn't have much time. "Be careful about choking on your greed."

The reaver teleported into the Yphelion the next second, and Zac relaxed upon seeing him make a beeline for his chambers. Kator locked the door, but his actions couldn't escape Zac's administrator access. He took out a large vat Zac hadn't seen before. It was filled up with something resembling milk, and Kator jumped inside after activating a set of arrays on the tub.

Zac felt no feedback through [Solidarity Link], assuming the vat was a specially designed healing bath for reavers with damaged skeletons. Seeing that the reaver wasn't planning on causing any trouble, Zac focused on the task at hand. A series of recently installed isolating arrays were activated throughout the Yphelion, which should prevent any spying from within.

Still not fully satisfied, Zac released a canister of isolating haze while reactivating [Fields of Despair]. Zac grimaced after leaving the Yphelion's protective shielding. The spatial integrity was way worse after the Void Beast blew up. Deadly winds of turbulence whirred about, putting him on edge.

"I need your help again," Zac said within the shrine of Kanba.

'Fine. Remember, no more than two meters.'

The tribulation lightning could most likely find its way into the hidden spatial pocket in his chest, but Zac didn't want to take the risk of undergoing a tribulation within. He had no backup scroll in case the shrine was damaged, and there was no way he was going to add more toad-like features to his appearance, even if Esmeralda had one. Catheya had already teased him enough over the added webbing between his fingers since she'd noticed, asking if he was preparing for his visit to the Abyssal Lake.

The tribulation clouds had already reached saturation at that point, and a huge reddish vortex was staring down at him like Heaven's eye. Zac stared right back up, his eyes filled with determination and solemnity. Forming his Earthly Dao of Defiant War hadn't posed much of a challenge. He could even use it as a tool for purifying Vilari.

Now, no one intervened with his tribulation to boost its power, yet the energies forming above were already approaching the levels of the third bolt. It was unavoidable. The Peak of Chaos belonged to the Boundless Path, not yet integrated with the System. Cultivating Pure Daos of this peak required him to bear the full brunt of the tribulation.

There was another reason for the cataclysmic scene. Zac had chosen to do things differently this time by forming his last two Earthly Daos simultaneously. It was one fewer than last time when he advanced all three, but only his Dao of Conflict elicited a tribulation that time. Today, Zac faced a two-for-one punishment.

Fusing two tribulations into one was possible, though there weren't many good reasons for doing so. You generally wouldn't see better results than enduring them sequentially, and the dangers involved weren't a simple one plus one equals two.

Zac still felt taking the risk was the right move. For one, it would allow him to hide Branch of the Kalpataru's breakthrough within his Dao of Death, giving him another hidden card. Zac didn't need the [Lucky Beads] to sense how fate was moving toward a crescendo, and the sudden appearance of the Black Heart Cult only increased his feeling something big was brewing in the Imperial Graveyard.

Their destination was also drawing closer. The [Centurion Beacon]'s signal had grown noticeably stronger after crossing the storm curtain, and Zac expected they'd arrive in two weeks unless something else went wrong. If Kator planned something, he would make his move there. Zac was the same. He wasn't willing to maintain the status quo of being held hostage with his people, knowing it would only get worse if they dragged the conflict into the Left Imperial Palace.

The biggest reason for fusing his tribulation wasn't related to Kator, though. Life and Death had increasingly become mirrors of each other. One was light, the other darkness, yin and yang. One couldn't exist without the other. Zac felt simultaneously advancing them to Peak Branches had brought great benefits, further adding to their symmetry.

Zac wanted to keep that going into Earthly Daos, provided he could deal with the increasingly ferocious tribulations it would elicit. Every little bit on that end would help with his long-term plans, whether it was fusing his bodies or forming an Inner World.

A deafening roar shook the region, overwhelming the tearing whistles of the spatial winds. The clouds heaved, releasing the first pillar of angry red. Zac absentmindedly noticed the Heavenly Thunder didn't damage space as it passed before it was upon him. If anything, it cauterized the tears on its descent.

Neither isolating haze nor [Fields of Despair] could do anything to stem the descent, and the tribulation pillar only split at the last second to target Zac's bodies standing side by side. Zac's vision went white as the lightning swept through his body, purging the embedded pieces of hostile Dao in its desire to tear Zac apart. Zac's teeth clattered from muscles spasming, and small cracks were forced open.

It was within Zac's limits, and he methodically exhausted the lightning with sheer willpower and resilience. The largest contributors were his Dao Avatars, which acted as lightning rods. Their rebirth had already begun, ushered on by the sea of lightning.

A second bolt descended just as Zac dealt with the first. A groan escaped Zac's lips as the damage to his soul worsened. He staunchly held on, putting his heart and soul into the two Dao Avatars in the center of it all. Truths he'd held onto since the Atavism were being fused into his Daos of Life and Death one after another, using the Dao Treasure energy as a medium. The moment the infusion waned, Zac threw another set into his mouth.

The vibrant Kalpataru Tree began radiating a hunger for change, for something more. Zac's Dao of Life was one of Evolution, of ascension through a cycle of rebirth. Stability was stagnation; contentment meant death. To live was to struggle, to push beyond the boundaries you and the world put on you. It was to paint beyond the lines, to explore the unknown.

The tree writhed and twisted in an accelerated evolution, a stark contrast to the deafening stillness coming from the other side of his Soul Aperture. Death had become an island in a stormy sea of heavenly lightning, enduring and welcoming. Streaks of lightning were dragged into the darkness, never to escape.

It reflected the inexorable Death of his path, where strength and certainty set the path toward the future. Death was the end of struggle, the ultimate divider that would even come for the cosmos one day. It was the boundless unknown, the final destination of the journey.

The third bolt descended, and Zac almost passed out from the pain. Wounds opened and were scorched shut in an agonizing cycle of destruction and rebirth. [Void Heart] keened with hunger. Zac endured with all his might, annealing his Daos in the heavenly judgment as long as possible. Only when his Soul Cores approached levels of debilitating damage did he release the hold on his Hidden Node.

A dual tribulation fared no better than a normal one against the voracious black hole in Zac's heart. Most of it was dragged into the depths in four gulps, and the rest turned tail and escaped back into the atmosphere. An impotent, furious clap of thunder shook the area. Zac found it difficult to celebrate the clouds reluctantly dispersing. His vision was swimming to the point his human side almost stumbled out of Esmeralda's obscuring domain.

He quickly righted himself and disappeared into the shrine. He sat down, focusing on recovery. Meanwhile, Draugr Zac flew back toward the Yphelion, too drained to deal with the deadly environment much longer.

Zac's mind was a messy mix of truth and pain. He only woke up upon realizing he'd reached his quarters, with Catheya standing before him.

"Are you okay?" Catheya asked with worry in her eyes.

"I'll be fine after some rest," Zac said, his voice dry as parchment.

He was about to continue toward his cultivation chambers, only stopping when he noticed a few spots of immense chill on Catheya's body. He recognized those marks. "Are you wounded?"

"I'll be fine after some rest," Catheya mimicked with a wink. "I can't believe you helped that brute of an orc instead of me, though. Chivalry is dead."

"I knew my amazing wife could handle herself," Zac grinned, his smile turning crooked when a wound in his side opened.

"It's good that you remember," Catheya said. "Go, rest up. Your navigator is all in a tizzy."

Zac nodded and stumbled into the energy-dense cultivation room. Even Zac was worse for the wear after enduring two simultaneous tribulations. The pain was worth it. He first turned to his Deathly Dao, seeing the Iron Maiden was gone. It had melted and been flattened, now looking like an obsidian gate held closed with layers of chains.

There was a narrow gap between the gates, allowing Zac to catch a glimpse of darkness so absolute it swallowed everything that touched it, including thought. Zac pressed further and suddenly saw the sprawling continent locked in a deadly war. Zac felt as though he saw the scene from a new lens, where each death on the battlefield led to a ripple of change.

Switching his focus, Zac observed his Life-attuned Dao Avatar. It hadn't seen quite as large changes as his Dao of Death. It was still a tree, though its snaking trunk more resembled a bonsai tree than the Kalpataru from before. Trunk and branches remained golden, while its canopies had become explosions of vibrant colors.

Not two leaves looked alike in shape, and they kept changing as they rustled under an invisible wind. Focusing on any leaf took Zac's consciousness to a particular warrior on the illusory continent. Like the leaves, they were transient, soon to be replaced with something else. The experience was truly novel, giving Zac access to an everchanging gallery of his Dao.

It was impossible to miss the changes even if he turned to his Dao of Conflict. He felt complete after two layers had been added to the Earthly Realm he'd erected when forming his Earthly Dao of Defiant War. The illusory continent felt, for the lack of a better term, alive. The sprawling sea of warriors weren't just wisps of conflict.

They were living, breathing beings, with drives and convictions. The desolate, war-ridden continent was already transforming as a result. The soldiers weren't fighting without reason. It was to protect their homes, seize the resources needed to expand, or simply settle grudges. Civilizations rose and flourished, as did primal kingdoms governed by beasts. And like a hidden hand, Death waited for them to stumble.

Those at the summit would eventually fall under the blade of the next generation, and their Death became fuel for the next round of war. Such was progress; such was fate. Life, Death, and Conflict formed the virtuous cycle that drove all existence toward the Zenith. Zac took in the scene with satisfaction, feeling he'd been shown a glimpse of his future Inner World.

His Cosmic Core would be the canvas; his Earthly Daos would be the brush that would paint a world in his color.

Zac observed a while longer before opening his eyes. He opened his Dao Screen, eager to see the result.

[Earthly Dao of Sealed Death (Early): All attributes +100, Strength +3500, Endurance +23000, Vitality +6000, Wisdom +5000. Effectiveness of Endurance +30%.]

[Earthly Dao of Reborn Life (Early): All attributes +100, Dexterity +3500, Endurance +6000, Vitality +23000, Wisdom +5000. Effectiveness of Vitality +30%.]

Zac was slightly surprised at reading the names of his Earthly Daos, and not because they'd moved away from their original naming sense. He'd already expected as much after seeing how much the Avatars had changed. Not to mention, he'd still been reliant on outside concepts to express his understanding of Life and Death when forming the preceding Daos, leading to the Branches of Kalpataru and Pale Seal. Today, his Daos were a self-sufficient, self-made system.

He was, if anything, relieved to move away from the Buddhist symbology with his Dao of Life. The meeting with the B-grade Arhats was an unwelcome reminder they still wanted to mess with his fate. Furthermore, the monk's words indicated their interest stretched beyond Ultom and the Left Imperial Palace. The sooner he drew a line with that shady cabal, the better.

Zac was more surprised the Daos hadn't been named Inexorable and Evolutionary after his path. Then again, his vision of Evolution wasn't Life alone. Conflict was equally needed, and the same was true for Inexorability. To name a Pure Dao after those mixed-meaning concepts meant ignoring half their truth.

The naming sense was still related to his path. Sealed Death echoed the restrictive aspects of his Inexorable Stance, of controlling fate of yourself and others. Reborn Life carried the meaning of growth through reinvention while breaking the chains of fate and Samsara.

There wasn't much to note with the attributes, except the boost to Wisdom was higher than he'd expected. Perhaps it was the result of focusing so hard on the matters of Heart and Soul lately. It was a welcome change, seeing as he had more than enough Endurance and Vitality to spare. A higher growth in Wisdom would help round out his defenses.

Apart from the Dao, he'd also gained another level, finally pushing him to the peak of Middle Hegemony. There weren't any titles or added benefits to doing so, and he didn't get any new class quests like normal class rarities would. Not that it mattered, considering he had no more skills to upgrade. Besides, he didn't need the System's help any longer if he found himself needing a new ability unless it was something far from his usual wheelhouse.

Zac eventually put the free points into Dexterity and closed the screen. For a while, he didn't do anything. He felt lost, his mind empty as he looked at the crystals gently gliding about around him.

Now what?