Defiance of the Fall

"You found a city?"

Zac was about to comment on the absurdity of the notion of running into actual members of the Limitless Empire. Then he realized it was by no means an impossibility. His human half was still making his way through the Pangonian Wilds, which were filled with various lifeforms. If there were beasts, why not natives? Whatever method kept the ancient continent and the fifth pillar hidden hadn't killed all life on it.

"Well, it's not quite that simple," Esmeralda said before retrieving a crystal from the pouch on her belly.

The recording crystal projected an awe-inspiring city from various angles. It floated in the middle of a vast chasm, built atop the head of a terrifying beast. Only bone remained on the huge skull, yet it still exuded a desolate aura that could be sensed through the recording. It was the size of a mountain, large enough to house millions of citizens. The skull was kept afloat by nine huge chains that also acted as bridges to the city.

Like Esmeralda said, the city looked nothing like forgotten ruins. It was in pristine condition, and there were ample signs of movement on the streets. However, there were no roads leading to or from the city, and the surrounding region lacked any other signs of habitation. It was like the town was completely cut off from the world.

The answer was likely related to the thick beam of light falling from the sky. It looked more like warm sunlight peeking through the clouds than the overbearing pillars of the lower courts. Looking carefully, Zac realized it was made up of thousands of memory lanterns that worked together to create the effect.

"You didn't sneak inside?" Zac said, noting that the recording was only from a distance.

"I tried," Esmeralda huffed with annoyance. "I can't actually interact with it. Flying across the chasm is impossible, and I almost fell right through the chains. It's definitely not an illusion, though. After listening to your experience, I think the city is something similar out in the open."

"A city of memories," Zac slowly nodded.

Zac was disappointed the cultivators inside weren't real. At the same time, it might be for the best. A city made from Imperial Faith would allow them to test out more of their theories, and there was still the chance of running into actual people. Zac was extremely eager to get going. Unfortunately, it would have to wait.

"Give me a week to deal with my mess of a breakthrough before we investigate."

"Why do you look like someone's pooped in your mudbath? Just being alive after what you did is nothing short of a miracle. I'd be laughing in my sleep if I successfully upgraded my core after all that, and don't think I can't tell you've made other gains!" Esmeralda looked at Zac with disgust.

Zac couldn't help but laugh at how similar to Ogras she currently looked. "You're right. Being alive is a blessing, and the situation isn't irredeemable. Still, there's some work to be done."

"Take your time," Esmeralda said. "I'll head out again. I can go a bit further now that you can defend yourself."

"Again, thank you. For everything," Zac said. "I won't forget what you've done for me."

"You better not," Esmeralda grinned. "If you did, I'd keep nabbing your things until you didn't even have a loincloth to your name."

She was gone the next moment, leaving Zac to his own devices. He didn't immediately set about redrawing his pathways. He only finished his breakthrough moments ago, which was a taxing experience even in the best of circumstances. Pressing pause on his breakthrough was only enough to recover his mental and physical state from the edge of ruin, giving him the strength to finish the job.

Zac didn't have the energy to draw Late D-grade pathways while fighting his way through the Pangonian Wilds on an empty tank. Just staying awake was a struggle, and Zac had his Draugr half focus on recovering Vigor and Mental Energy while his human side looked for a hideout.

Flying or using a Flying Treasure would have been easier, but Zac wasn't about to make himself a target like that after encountering a Middle C-grade forest spirit. He kept a low profile, restraining his aura and taking the long way around any place that made his Danger Sense perk up. Even so, some dangers couldn't be avoided.

A pack of stubby creatures masquerading as boulders caught his scent. They moved with incredible speed, bounding between the trees. Zac turned around and launched a furious blitz after realizing the commotion might attract actual threats. The forest rumbled as axelights tore through stone, and pained screeches joined the forest's cacophony as intractable vines squeezed the unfamiliar creatures to death.

The leader among the rocks was a Late Hegemon, just like Zac. It was too late in realizing that Zac's weak aura didn't make him an easy mark. Its minions weren't nearly enough to overcome the enormous disparity of strength. Even wounded and exhausted, Zac was on his way only seconds later.

Zac thoughtfully observed a rocky corpse in Haro's grip. No matter how he looked, it was well and truly dead. He had killed enough to tell it wasn't a trick, and Zac even had an Earthly Dao of Death to confirm. Even then, Zac hadn't received a lick of Kill Energy from his slaughter.

Not getting any Kill Energy inside the illusion was expected, to experience the same thing outside was not. With the small amounts of Earthly Taint rising from the ground, it really felt like he'd been transported to ancient times. Of course, the System hadn't completely abandoned the continent. While Zac's human side ran for his life, his Draugr half leisurely opened his Status Screen.

Name Zachary Atwood

Level 201

Class [D-Arcane] Inexorable Apostle

Race [D] Draugr - Void Emperor (Corrupted)

Alignment [Zecia] Atwood Empire – Viscount of Conquest

Titles [...] Peakmender, Exalted Destiny, Atavistic Defier, Valiant Viscount, Cosmic Entity

Limited Titles Tower of Eternity Sector All-Star - 14th, Equanimity, The Final Twilight - 1st, Gates of Rebirth, Void Road, Chosen of the Empyrean Chalice

Dao Earthly Dao of Defiant War - Early, Earthly Dao of Reborn Life - Early, Earthly Dao of Sealed Death - Early

Core [D] Inexorable Core

Strength 311183 [Increase: 256%. Efficiency: 567%]

Dexterity 148941 [Increase: 196%. Efficiency: 363%]

Endurance 182465 [Increase: 226%. Efficiency: 594%]

Vitality 187540 [Increase: 235%. Efficiency: 592%]

Intelligence 32333 [Increase: 176%. Efficiency: 363%]

Wisdom 80860 [Increase: 179%. Efficiency: 381%]

Luck 2153 [Increase: 219%. Efficiency: 488%]

Free Points 200

Nexus Coins [D] 87 831 997

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Zac had mixed feelings as he looked at the screen. He'd just overcome one of his greatest tribulations, pulling out all the stops. He'd faced off against both the Heavens and the Imperial Fate, orchestrating the death of a Peak Monarch. He'd successfully upgraded his core while defeating one of the strongest warriors of his generation.

The numerical changes were greater than he'd expected, yet they still didn't seem to match his accomplishments. Logically understanding that stepping into Late D-grade wouldn't award any extra attribute points couldn't shake that feeling. Still, his attributes had improved far more than could be explained by one level, and Zac quickly found the source.

[Cosmic Entity: Achieve a Low-grade Cosmic Attainment Reward: Base attributes +1,000. All attributes +15%. Effect of Attributes +10%.]

[Void Road (Limited): Reject destiny in pursuit of the unknown. Reward: Luck +130. Exclusive. Upgradeable.]

[Cosmic Entity] was an upgrade of the title he got from the tribulation throne, [Cosmic Introduction]. Like his nobility titles, it replaced the old one rather than providing a completely new one. Even so, it was a noticeable boost, making it his strongest base title. Normal titles generally capped out at 10% boosts, with higher numbers commonly only seen on high-grade Limited Titles. With the 1,000 base attributes, the title related to his physique actually provided more attributes than his constitutions.

The exact nature of Cosmic Attainment and its thresholds remained a mystery. Zac had found nothing on the subject in Zecia after getting a "Pseudo Low-grade Attainment." All Zac knew was that it related to his body being tempered by the Four Laws. The combination of Law-imbued treasures and the Four Desolates tribulation had finished what the Tribulation Throne started.

His physique had been further aligned with the cosmos. A cultivator would no doubt see their affinities improving after reaching this state. That wasn't in the cards for Zac, but he'd still benefited beyond the generous numerical boost. The small worlds inside his cells had grown sturdier, and his whole Soul Aperture had expanded.

Zac's talent in body tempering had improved, and the same was true for his soul. Greater talent meant faster gains and higher ceilings. Zac hadn't encountered any real bottlenecks so far, but reaching the peak on the paths of Soul or Body wasn't just a matter of time and resources. Achieving Cosmic Attainment was likely a requirement for the upper layers, no matter what method you practiced. Only a vessel perfectly aligned with the cosmos could be refined to those heights.

The golden hurricanes and Abyssal ponds remained weak and were unable to take advantage of the extra room. That was only temporary. After recovering, the changes would make themselves apparent. Zac even suspected he'd see incredibly fast gains until he'd filled up his improved containers with Life and Death.

The other changed title was [Void Road]. Its improvement was straightforward, adding another 20 Luck. Zac wasn't quite sure which of his actions was the cause, but he felt it should be related to his interactions with Cosmic Destiny and Imperial Fate.

It was a shame Zac had more urgent matters to use Ultom's insight on. He'd briefly glimpsed the nature of Destiny before focusing on [Void Emperor Apotheosis]. Not much from that experience remained clear, but Zac still had a few takeaways. He suspected he wasn't the only one who'd formed his own fate—he'd only come in contact with it much earlier than most.

There might very well be no benefits beyond the title at the lower grades, but there was one group of cultivators who definitely used it for their cultivation. Supremacies. They nurtured a following in different ways, from becoming racial protectors to forming religions or empires. Zac suspected all these actions were designed to accumulate Destiny, just like how the Limitless Empire's Faith nurtured their Imperial Fate.

The surface explanation was that accruing Destiny or Faith helped stabilize a Supremacy's Heavenly Domain. But was there more to it? Zac felt it might be connected to the Boundless and Heavenly Paths. Some nurtured their individual Destiny to become pioneers of the Boundless Path. The terminus of that path meant becoming a Throne that surpassed the Heavens. The other school of thought nurtured fate to harmonize with the Cosmic Destiny, becoming Seals.

Emperor Limitless might have aimed for an even more ambitious path—for his Imperial Fate to eclipse Cosmic Destiny, turning him into the true ruler of the Multiverse. It was all conjecture, of course. For now, Zac was content with the added boost to his Luck. He would worry about the Void Road's end when he got there.

His screens were mostly the same beyond the level and modified titles. The two quests related to forming a Flamebearer seal had disappeared after seizing the final piece. The quest to upgrade his Shipyard to Late D-grade had been removed even sooner. It was gone after the System upgraded the Yphelion for him or perhaps after the tracker installed by the Creators was exposed.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Zac wasn't too broken up about it. The shipyard had provided a huge infusion of strength and capital when it was needed the most, but he was already leaning toward discarding it. It was too big a risk to allow the Centigrade Pryer's henchmen to stay on Earth. A lucrative revenue source wasn't worth risking annihilation.

Not to mention, the shipyard's importance would drastically drop after the war was over. Few on the frontier could stomach the Creators' exorbitant fees unless their lives were at stake. Zac also wasn't willing to let them touch the Yphelion again. If they even could. The Yphelion's transformation was comprehensive, to the point it had fully diverged from its original path.

The System hadn't triggered any new quests when the trial started, so Zac only had two active quests remaining.

Cosmic Forge (Unique, Inheritance): Extract two Cosmic Cycles from a three-cycle refined item. Reward: [Essence Union]. (19/34)

One by Nine (Unique, Inheritance): Form a full cycle of Sealbearers. Reward: Entry to the Left Imperial Palace (9/9) [COMPLETE] [NOTE: Multiple cycles can be formed.]

Cosmic Forge looked the same as when he got it in the Perennial Vastness. Zac had made significant inroads over the past years, but that had little to do with practicing Cosmic Forge. The gains mostly came from upgrading his Void Emperor bloodline and gaining deeper insights into the Void. However, Zac believed he'd be able to complete the inheritance's third task with a few years of practice.

The countdown timer being removed was the only thing that'd changed with One by Nine. The quest sticking around was another clue. The sealbearer cycle had yet to come into play. Seeing as there was no beacon for the Left Imperial Palace, they'd first have to complete a stage related to the Lower Courts.

Zac would have preferred the quest gone. He wasn't planning on joining the competition for the Left Imperial Palace and the Ultom Courts. That went double after learning about the ritualistic altar and surge of Imperial Fate. As Esmeralda said, there was no point in joining those muddy waters when there were so many other riches to seize.

Provided the System would even give him the option of bowing out.

That was another worry for later. Zac closed the screens and swallowed another set of recovery pills. Five hours later, Zac's human side sat down inside a cave hidden in the depths of a narrow crack. The sole entrance was filled with brown moss that absorbed any energy fluctuations, acting as a natural isolation. After adding a few arrays, Zac had a decent hideout.

Zac had been running on fumes for a while, and he couldn't hold back any longer. Both bodies fell into a deep slumber, only stirring a full day later from an unfamiliar fluctuation. Zac shot to his feet, his Soul Sense scanning every nook and cranny around his human half. Thankfully, the spatial ripples didn't come from an enemy.

The disturbance came from the Wendimar Seal he'd stowed in a pocket. Zac's first guess was that the item was about to return to its illusory state, but he realized that wasn't the case. The seal was just as real as before, and the Imperial Fate it held remained steady. The weak ripple came from a spatial crack so small that it couldn't be observed with the naked eye.

Curious, Zac prepared some contingencies before infusing a wisp of Mental Energy. What he saw made his heart thump. There was actually a small subspace hidden within the seal. It was obvious the space wasn't an original part of the emblem. Its aura was almost identical to Kristvan's. The Formations Master must have hastily attached a temporal space, perhaps even using a piece of his Inner World.

It was extremely unstable, worse than the cheapest Cosmos Sack Zac had seen. It wouldn't last more than a few days, and it probably wasn't meant to. A few days was enough to transport his final gift. Kristvan had used everything to buy time for his daughter, including his body and soul. However, it looked like he'd held onto three items until the bitter end.

Zac inspected the items trapped inside protective formations, confirming that all three emitted powerful fluctuations that made Zac's body hum with greed. The first was a sealed flame emitting intense heat. It was a Spiritual Flame, something that everyone from Alchemists to Fire Cultivators dreamed of encountering.

Such flames could be used in various ways, from transforming one's constitution to creating a personal flame that almost acted like a secondary core. If Terea used it, she could have improved her affinities or deepened her foundations. A Spiritual Flame wasn't much use to Zac. Perhaps he could use it as replenishment for his drained Void Space, though doing so would be a huge waste.

The next item was different. Zac could barely believe his eyes as he looked at the iridescent gemstone. He had actually seen a description of that very crystal while perusing the library during the brief breaks in Rava's training regimen. It was a [Heavenmend Crystal], and its purpose was exactly what Zac needed—aligning one's Cosmic Core with the Heavens.

In other words, it was an extremely rare treasure that could upgrade the quality of one's Cosmic Core. The one inside the Wendimar Token even looked superior to the descriptions. There was an extremely profound array engraved on its surface, surpassing what a Monarch could draw. Zac could even sense weak fluctuations of Law.

Both treasures were qualified to be called Supreme Natural Treasures, yet they paled before the third item. Trapped inside the strongest formation was a pristine C-grade herb emitting strong spatial fluctuations, a Natural Treasure that was almost impossible to find on the frontier. The powerful formation keeping it trapped couldn't fully contain its immense aura, and it was the reason for the subspace's rapid deterioration.

Zac had never seen or read about this particular herb before. Still, its use wasn't hard to guess, considering how its bud seemed to contain a whole world. It had to be a special treasure that was helpful when forming one's Inner World. Together, the three items would drastically improve Terea's chances of stepping into Monarchy.

Zac sighed, wondering if Terea ever got the chance to see this inheritance. In the original Timeline, Kristvan had been forced to throw her into a Spatial Tear. Enduring such turbulence, the flimsy subspace wouldn't last more than a few minutes. Terea had been fully occupied with her rampaging core, and what little attention she had to spare would have been used on avoiding the spatial storm.

Instead, it was Zac who became the recipient of Kristvan Wendimar's care. Fate was cruel sometimes.