196. Preparation for Breakthrough

Alistair stood in a restful lake that stretched to infinity and beyond, a picturesque sun falling into the water in the distance.

Bakrav and Alistair stood underneath the canopy of a five hundred-foot-tall inverted mountain. The summit connected to the lake in perfect balance; the base stretched up to the Heavens.

“Be prepared.” Bakrav closed his eyes, and the mountain groaned as it stirred to action. The tip of the mountain burrowed under the water, only a few feet, but that was all that was required.

A sound that was not a sound echoed throughout the Domain as the border between realities became messy. Two Domains pressed up against Mountain’s Invincible Bearing from below—Gloria’s void and Xu Tai’s fleshy abomination.

Alistair felt everything.

She’s alive, he thought, feeling the familiar life force of Evangeline. But not everyone was so lucky.

On their side, the old man Elbert and Ymira had fallen along the way. Thankfully, the enemies were worse off, losing all their Foundations except for two Kinetic Mages and a single female mercenary.

Evangeline and Haley were hanging on for dear life. His sister had a missing arm, the stump cauterized, while suffering numerous spiritual wounds to her meridians that were as plain as day to his enhanced senses. Haley was in a better state, but she still had a couple of missing fingers and a strange missing chunk of flesh in her stomach, almost as if she were made of clay herself.

Jindor was exchanging blows in close-quarter combat with Protokoptian and Xu Tai, the latter of whom had taken on the spiritual form of a wear-tiger, half-morphing into it physically with the assistance of the flesh of his Domain, while an avatar covered the remaining pieces.

Despite the brutal power and dexterity of Xu Tai’s feline physique, Jindor handled himself with equanimous poise, facing six bestial limbs and four mechanical limbs with his human four.

This was at the same time that the white star at the centerpiece of his Domain had to fend off the immense pressure of Gloria’s Thirteen Pillars, where she pressed upon him with kinetic bombardments.

Each time, the white star would glow and a solar flare would take care of the attack, but the star would shine ever so more dimly. Alistair was so precise in his gaze he detected a .001% difference in luminosity and size before and after.

From the size of Jindor’s Domain and star, he had been on the defensive the entire fight. The White Star was maybe half the size of its original state.

The Black Star Sanctuary disciple laughed wickedly as he felt the new arrival, falling back instantly and jumping onto the white star at the centerpiece of his Domain.

“I promised you,” Jindor shouted at the top of his lungs in jubilance. “I swore to you that Zhiyong would defeat your spoiled young master!”

Bakrav and Jindor had unspoken synergy. As the large man spoke, his star started to swirl and oscillate. Within a second, it had shrunk to the size of a small room. Jindor lifted it over his head and aimed it at the enemy Domains, where it turned into a beam of stellar energy aimed straight for the division between the Thirteen Pillars and White Tiger’s Golden Heart.

The marble titan did not let a second go to waste.

“First Law: This Mountain Cannot Be Outnumbered.”

Dev’rox filled the gaps in Alistair’s knowledge, an allowance he could make since Alistair saw the higher-level ability in person. “The Three Laws are eventually supposed to be your version of Multiversal Law that applies within your Domain. The higher you climb, the more absolute and equivalent to actual Multiversal Law they become. As a Middle Adept, that big boy has only the first, but it puts him at a distinct advantage to an Early Adept.”

The inverted mountain in Bakrav’s Domain vanished yet. At the same time, the immortal image of an earthly mountain appeared behind the star beam. It was tethered to the ground, reaching up to the almighty Heavens. It was both real and unreal, solid and ghostly.

Star and mountain, Heaven and Earth, Alistair remarked. How conspicuous. Through sheer coincidence, the Dao archetypes invoked within the paired attack were near perfect matches, a symbolic mingling that was ubiquitous throughout the annals of the Akashic Records.

At the Adept realm, Dao energy was far more than a simple “weight” that could be added to attacks that made them stronger. The meaning and purpose became apparent.

In this case, the meaning of “This Mountain Cannot Be Outnumbered” was plainly offered. A mountain was at its strongest when resisting the attempts of innumerable climbers.

The brutal wrath of stellar matter inundated all four projected spaces. Alistair wondered truly how large the impact of the technique would have been if it had not been contained within a Domain.

Bakrav’s projected space protected him from the worst of the white light and heat of nuclear fusion. Still, this was the full power of an unforgiving sun and unstoppable mountain. His face and appendages felt searing hot, like he was an inch away from a campfire.

When the explosion subsided, all three Domains underneath the mountain were gone. Bakrav pulled back his own as well, Alistair falling down into the chamber they dug out.

The artificial cave was larger than before and a perfect circle, as the stellar matter had escaped the Domains at the very end. Jindor fell to a knee, while Evangeline and Haley collapsed a few feet away as well. Their willpowers had held out for hours, and now they were toast.

The bodies of the Foundations didn’t even exist. As for the three enemy Adepts, Gloria and Xu Tai were but bodies on the ground. The heat of a white star had done strange things; their flesh melted and then recrystallized, skin charred to an almost unrecognizable degree.

Somehow, Protokoptian was still functional. His limbs had melted off, but his puppet torso and head were far less injured than his comrades. His golden metal body was still glowing from the heat.

Bakrav directed his huge body to fall next to the automaton. Despite weighing thousands of pounds, he didn’t create so much as a single crack on impact. He grabbed the automaton in one of his person-sized hands.

“I think it would be wise to keep this one as a prisoner. He shall not escape my grasp, I promise you that.”

Jindor got up, still swaying. His eyes were normal, with light brown irises that felt deep as Bakrav’s mountain. Alistair ran over to help him up, letting him rest on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” Jindor said. “I never doubted you.”

“Neither did I,” Alistair said truthfully. Even in a three-against-one, the muscular man felt unstoppable. He was just glad that Jindor wasn’t an enemy.

“Perhaps you should have,” Jindor laughed. “I’m not invincible. They were tough opponents, and I wouldn’t have lasted a lot longer. They were not ordinary Adepts in the slightest.”

“That’s the crux of it,” Bakrav spat with venom. “We need to figure out who these people are. This automaton needs to be questioned by an Imperial Inquisitor as soon as possible.”

“Then all we can do is wait, right?” Alistair asked.

“It seems so,” Haley said from her prone state. “Let’s just hope no new invaders come for us.”

Alistair said a quick prayer for the dead.

Elbert and Ymira. The old man and the young girl. Such a tragic loss of life. Such a preventable loss of life. Especially for the girl who had just lost her father, his heart felt the pain of a thousand stabs.

She would never become a woman. Never know true love or reach higher heights of cultivation and immortality.

May these souls, young woman and elder man,

Victims of violence and cruelty,

Cross over to the Other Shore.

--------

Alistair thanked the Sage that Haley’s worst-case scenario never came to fruition. In fact, two days later, a Profound descended from the skies.

A stern older woman crashed down in front of the central hub of Nuevo Invierno, where they were holding Protokoptian.

When she walked inside of the station, everyone bowed to her. Her aura control was impeccable to the point she felt no stronger than a level 60 Foundation—the standard for average citizens within the Final Frontier Empire. It was only because of [Reality Sense] that he detected the most minor of irregularities that alerted him to her true power.

“Huh,” the woman said. “Your auras match the signatures I have on file. I’m impressed you managed to defeat them.”

Seeing that they were confused, she explained and introduced herself. “I am Pi Zhuye, a core disciple of the Clear Water Sect. I was in the area when I got an imperial notice for all cultivators Profound and above to come deal with a possible invasion. Since you two,” she pointed at Alistair and Evangeline, “are candidates for our sect, I was assigned here. We have been combing through thousands of planets and almost all our native citizens were killed. Whoever the invaders were, they were not ordinary.”

Bakrav lowered his hand to Zhuye and opened it. “Senior, we managed to capture this automaton. Almost certainly of Sublimed Machine origin.”

“Sublimed Machine,” she said, clicking her tongue. “Our great Emperor himself cannot obtain a meeting with our liege for bug fixes. Frontier satellite polities are the least of their concerns, unfortunately. I will do what I can. You are free to leave while I scan the planet to ensure that there are no more invaders, or you can remain here. I will only kill zombies that you would not be able to defeat, and cleanse the planetary core.”

With that, Zhuye became water, dispersing herself throughout the multiple Teleportation Circles on the station. Despite no one manning the central unit like Bakrav used to, the machines went off on their own and teleported the flames across the planet.

Jindor broke the silence. “It was good to meet you two, Zhiyong and Yaxin. Or should I say, Alistair and Evangeline?”

Alistair couldn’t hide his shock, and neither could his sister. The large man gave a rare smile. “The Reverse Eyes are not to be underestimated. I surmise you’re going to the Clear Water Sect? That’s one of the few remaining sects my master respects. There are rumors that he and the Perfect were once lovers, you know.”

Jindor reached out for a cultivator’s handshake, which Alistair obliged. They had known each other for less than a month, but they had saved each other’s lives. That was a bond that few had.

They clasped each other by the elbow, channeling their Daos in equal proportion.

Darkness, Alistair felt. A man that is born from the darkness yet fights the darkness. An unyielding fist that shines bright yet is untouched and unblemished by the world.

“We’ll see each other again one day,” Jindor said. He gave Evangeline a hug. “I owe you as well, junior sister, but our paths do not intersect like your brother’s and mine.”

“It’s nothing,” Evangeline said with a smile. “Good luck and may the Heavens shine brightly on you.”

Jindor nodded to her as he jumped up on to the largest Teleportation Circle. This time, Bakrav hustled over to the control spot at the center of the spacious dome, which looked comical because of his height and muscles.

“Ah’Drezakh,” Jindor confirmed. “It is guaranteed we shall meet again, Alistair. When I see you next, you have better be my equal.”

“That’s a promise!” Alistair shouted.

A flash of blue light and Jindor was gone. It was just him, his sister, and Bakrav in the ice dome that could fit thousands of people. Most likely, they wouldn’t accept anyone new until Zhuye had finished her search. If there were any stragglers, they risked death by continuing to hunt for zombies.

When did that stop a cultivator? Plus, he found it highly unlikely someone like Kadeus wouldn’t have used all his cards to save his own life.

“I’ll join you two,” Bakrav said. “It’s been too long since I’ve been on a proper hunt.”

--------

Thankfully, no hidden invaders attacked them. Zhuye informed them two days into their hunt that she had cleared the planet.

Despite the craziness of what happened, hundreds of intrepid explorers came to Nuevo Invierno every day after that, since they caught wind of numerous cultivators while killing zombies.

Alistair and Evangeline became angels of slaughter. Alistair was at level 86 after defeating Kadeus, while Evangeline was at level 78. They still had five months, but they both knew that the higher they climbed, the more experience it would take.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. Bakrav had left long ago, going back to his post. His assistance as a Middle Adept was more than they had realized, easily able to herd tens of millions of zombies for the Tan siblings to eliminate.

It was four months and nineteen days after leaving Earth that Alistair reached the zenith of level 99. He had been fighting a powerful zombie warrior, most likely an Adept swordsmen during his zenith.

That was irrelevant. Alistair, whose hair had grown down to his chin, punched him to smithereens like all the others. It came after an eight-day long slaughter they had started in a valley where the zombies had accumulated.

Alistair dealt the final blow with a triumphant roar, falling to the ground out of sheer exhaustion.

He was expecting another level up notification, but nothing happened. Curious, he peered inside his soulcore.

Alistair slapped himself in the face. I’m an idiot. I can’t level up to 100, because that would make me an Adept. I’ve done it! I’m a Peak Foundation.

Nothing felt markedly different. A Peak Foundation just meant that Alistair had reached the utmost Mana saturation that his cells, meridians, and soulcore could handle.

For a regular cultivator, if their physical cultivation outsped their soul cultivation too much, it would result in becoming a Martial Jiangshi. The normal path was completely closed at that point, and most Martial Jiangshis became heretical cultivators on a path of evil.

Of course, simply having slightly too much aura for one’s Dao progression wasn’t a pathkiller. It just made future cultivation more treacherous and increased the chance of heart demons—inner fears, desires, or obsessions that obstructed cultivation—down the line. That was why the Pathfinder AI used its algorithms to create a very reasonable stopping point.

As he allocated his 100 free Attribute points, from both leveling up and “Deliverance of Justice,” he got a notification of a new Badge.

Badge Acquired: “Triple Threat” (Untiered Legendary Badge): Achieve 1,000 points in three Attributes before level 100. Lowest three raw Attributes +17%.

Alistair checked out his stats.

Strength: 676

Agility: 1,696

Constitution: 641

Endurance: 695

Intelligence: 1,001

Wisdom: 651

Charisma: 1,133

There was one thing that disappointed him more than any other—he wouldn’t be getting the Jack of All Trades upgrade. That required at least 7,500 in total points and 750 in every single Attribute.

What monsters are fitting that requirement? Alistair wondered. I have three Dao Nodes, one of which has a Third Deepening, a Subclass, and a stat-granting Badge and I’m not all that close. This requirement is way harder to hit than the previous one.

His Agility was becoming a focal stat, which he didn’t mind. Unfortunately, that wasn’t at the level of getting a Badge, which based on Alexandra’s Strength Badge, was probably at 2,000 or 2,500 points before level 100. Alistair could have accomplished that one, but only if he had eschewed all his other stats.

Being relatively balanced was his path, and he wasn’t going to change that now. The diversity of his techniques was going to save him one day. Using all three quintessences as well as Karma and life force meant that whatever weakness his opponent had, he could target it.

It cost him 500 of his 806 Upgrade Points to unlock his 10th Badge Slot—Cosmic Blood didn’t count towards the total.

A strange message about “Deliverance of Justice” popped up.

“Deliverance of Justice” (Tier 4 Mythical Badge): The most important aspect of justice is the saving of innocent lives. Each life you personally save grants +2 free Attribute point, capped at 3 per level.

Warning: “Deliverance of Justice” has reached the limit of Attribute granting. Intrusion from outside source detected. Intervention from Pathfinder AI necessary to correct mistake. Please wait. Please wait. Please wait.

The “please waits” continued for several seconds, though in Alistair’s mind, it felt like an eternity. He had always wondered if the boon he got from the Sage was going to attract the attention of the Pathfinder AI. It looked like it had noticed something was up.

But when I talked with the Pathfinder AI, or Ai Ai as it wanted to be called, it didn’t say anything.

“Deliverance of Justice” removed. Replacement Badge offered:

“Sage-Touched” (Untiered ??? Badge): One of the million cultivators granted insight by the Sage of Eternal Mercy. Grants more insight into Justice-centered Daos when fighting true evil or despair.

Alistair couldn’t say this new Badge was bad at all, but it also was very unspecific. If it somehow doubled his Dao progression in Justice, that would almost certainly be better than a 6 extra Attribute points per level, but if it was a 1% bonus, then the stats seemed better.

But perhaps that was the wrong way of thinking about things. The Dao was not some gimmick that he used to beat up bad guys. A deeper understanding of the Dao of Justice would make him a more complete person. It would elevate his understanding of the world.

Alistair spent another 205 Upgrade Points bringing [Lightning of Justice] and [Draconic Roar] to Tier 4 and 3 respectively.

Tier 4 [Lightning of Justice] added optional nue to the Skill, at a tenth of his nue pool. He had been planning that for some time.

The multiverse seemed to run on threes, and Alistair wasn’t one to ignore that. [Blood Hand] targeted the body, increasing his own vitality and absorbing blood essence. [Frozen Claw] attacked the meridians of his opponents. Now, [Lightning of Justice] would target the mind, a weak point in most cultivators who weren’t Wisdom based.

[Draconic Roar]’s Tier 3 was a simple upgrade—it reduced the nue cost to a tenth of his pool instead of a fifth, equaling his lightning Skill. Despite the reduced cost, it became more efficient, so it retained the same power.

With those upgrades complete, Alistair used 100 of his remaining 101 Upgrade Points on the Talent Tree.

Previously, he had progressed pretty far into the Sanguine Empowerment Branch of the Blood of the Devil Tree. Now, he obtained the fourth-level leaf, {Crimson Bones}.

{Crimson Bones} Allows user to unleash one sharpened crimson bone each from their palms, foot-long blood-aspected bones that conduit blood affinity Mana at 150% efficiency. 100 Upgrade Points.

The main reason that he got {Crimson Bones} wasn’t actually for the offensive aspect, but because once he got 200 Upgrade Points, he could get the fifth-level leaf, {Crimson Bones II}.

{Crimson Bones II} Allows user to unleash up to thirteen Crimson Bones at any point of their body. 200 Upgrade Points.

Imagine if he could pop out a deadly spear from any point of his body when someone tried to attack him. Combined with the [Steel Body] and Dragon’s Blood Mastery, melee attackers would be in for a world of hurt.

“Too fast for long-range attackers to escape,” Dev’rox joined in, “but too tough and spiky for short-range attackers to deal with. It’s nice. You have many dualities and triads, which aligns with the numerology of the cosmos well.”

“Thank you,” Alistair said. “Also, I did let your hear those thoughts on purpose. I’m getting pretty good at controlling my mental state.”

“I’ll grow terribly bored if you lock me out so much,” Dev’rox said. “This is imp cruelty.”

Alistair and Dev’rox. They had been partners for just about half a year, but it felt far longer. The imp knew he had been preparing. It was time to open a true Domain.

“If you think it’s too risky, it’s your call,” Alistair said. “I know the pain of a Heavenly Tribulation.”

“You know nothing,” Dev’rox said, shaking his head. “You might think you know what it’s like, but you don’t. So that’s how you knowI’m not craven, despite the stereotypes. Of course I’ll join you.”

Evangeline caught up to him, her spiritual fires decimating the zombies that had started to swarm around Alistair. “You good?”

“It’s time,” Alistair said. “I’m going to break through to Adept.”