Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1422: Ashes Fertilizing Soil

Two silhouettes hovered amid the heavens, impervious to the lingering bolts of lightning and invisible to both the Heavens and mortals below. Exposure of their presence would change nothing. In this domain, they held absolute dominion. They hadn’t come to clash blades with the Heavens—not on this occasion.

Gazing down was a naked boy, scorched from the divine strike like the day he entered the world, swaying on the verge of falling. Yet the blaze in his gaze burned even hotter. So too did the mysterious pulses from the Inverse Mountain intensify.

“Countering Extremity Lightning with Void. He’s piling on more debt,” Wartorius tsked. “Still, he displays some spine.”

“Ashes enrich the earth,” Roan remarked.

This offhand comment subtly altered the mountain’s restorative array, imbuing the healing energy flows with greater significance. The boy remained oblivious, attributing it to the superior recovery formations.

“Watch the equilibrium,” Wartorius cautioned.

“The Earth endures.”

Wartorius grunted, his face showing clear displeasure.

“A taste of victory has made him arrogant. Did he just yell at the Imperial Tutor? No wonder he dared invoke the Emperor’s name. Or does his irreverence stem from his origins?” Wartorius sneered. “To believe we must stake our trust on a Kayar-Elu puppeteer.”

“Hope emerges from the most unexpected places,” a bodiless voice resounded through the emptiness.

Wartorius peered afar, his sight cutting through time and space to the Mercurial Court. Vast distances shrank to closeness, merging their locations. Reality divided, one half the fractured mountaintop, the other a charred isle. The elder hovering unseen above the island gave a nod of acknowledgment.

“Uncertainty proves essential. We must uphold the Faith,” Grand Dream stated.

“I won’t meddle in the grand designs,” Wartorius replied. “However, this falls short.”

A portal yawned open, revealing the outer world. Though the tribulation had ended within the sealed realm, conflict between Heavens and Earth raged beyond. Still, the Heavens restrained itself, even with the lingering tribulation echoes from the Mercurial Court’s vision drawn near.

“I could compel an end. It wouldn’t fulfill our aims, but each burden lifted now strengthens the earth for its destined rise,” Roan proposed.

“Mere ox hairs. How can I kindle the signal fire with such feeble fuel?” Wartorius shot an irritated look at Grand Dream. “Your faction grew complacent, letting the boy gather excessive resentment too soon. The residue is so feeble he sealed it away.”

“We prepare the field. The children decide how the drama unfolds,” Grand Dream replied with a smile. “Honestly, he astonished me. Lacking a spiritual root yet cultivating—a marvel already. Who foresaw his prowess in spirit refinement?”

Wartorius prepared to depart when the elder shuddered. Myriad visions rippled around him, as if sprouting a million faces instantly. Ancient temporal surges compelled Wartorius to bolster their barrier lest the River of Time fracture into endless variants.

The turbulent stream settled at last, restoring Grand Dream. “Ah, understood.”

The veteran dreamer seized an intangible thread, alerting the others to the alteration.

“Trajectories have shifted,” Wartorius noted in astonishment, eyeing the boy below. “The Heavens loathe him enough for a second descent? Overkill for a Void Cultivator. Has the Grand Dao evolved so drastically since our era?”

“Opportunity strikes in thirty-three days,” Grand Dream announced as his reality dimmed.

“A month? Doable,” Wartorius pondered. “You’re sure?”

“We’ll gamble on him,” the Earth Sage confirmed.

Wartorius assented with a nod, extending his palm toward the roiling clouds. Fate reversed, ends preceding origins. Clouds over the Fuxi Plateau reversed from dispersal to furious convergence. The cycle persisted until matching their concealed path.

“Boy, don’t disappoint. We can only twist the rules so far,” Wartorius whispered as a fissure split his fingertip. “Nothing but a real tempest can wipe the board clean.”

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Every celestial relic had liquefied into pristine, pliable essence. They now embodied more traits of the Four Laws, advancing the cosmic harmony ignited by the Tribulation Throne. Bolstered by pills and the Judgment Plateau’s potent healing matrix, Zac recovered to peak form in mere hours.

By then, he’d learn if the novel lightning could break free from his Personal Void. Though superior to the black Four Desolates bolts, the pale lightning shared its essence. Briefly, he’d feared a Cosmic Destiny-forged tribulation from the Heavens.

Zac awaited developments. He sensed it’d hold, yet his Void Emperor Bloodline churned restlessly, akin to a wary predator striking at shadows. Powerless against it, Zac shifted focus to two fragments orbiting his Core Nucleus.

The pair of Shards of Creation bore no resemblance to before. Melted to fundamental purity like his core fragments, they’d shed far more essence than the Soul Aperture pieces.

Identical fate befell the two deathly Void orbs from Zac’s view. Losses in volume yielded gains in refinement. A’Zu and Be’Zi’s compendium formations proved masterful. Implantation-ready.

The ancestral archive offered myriad shard uses, including as Core Formation aids. Zac had favored this from the start, relocating four to his Quantum Space. Trial depletion of their essence cemented the choice.

Remnants spiraled toward ruin. Energy replenishment lagged behind ancient mastery, damage accelerating decline. Zac’s demands for Creation- and Oblivion Energy surged ever higher.

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Zac aimed to merge them into his Core Nucleus pre-collapse. Initial yields might dwindle, but Inner World formation should resolve it. Bonus: remnants would recalibrate his nucleus to his evolved path.

Hours elapsed until Zac readied for Core Formation’s second phase—elevating High D-grade core segments to Peak D-grade. Bittersweet, confronting his mortality. Ignition excelled for a Heaven’s Chosen, no core losses. Yet external aids remained essential for upgrades.

Thus, his flawless core faced imperfection. Fresh Cosmic Alignment would dilute sans Law traces in treasures. Flawless integration defied possibility. [Cosmic Forge] purged most impurities, but path-perfect materials eluded Zac’s skill.

Zac intended [Cosmic Forge]’s advance to [Essence Union] during foundation work. Fate intervened, spawning crisis. Patchy practice yielded progress nearing 33/34, fueled by Peregrine Ocean crafting epiphanies. That last hurdle dwarfed priors. Extractions bore flaws, barring dual perfect cycles.

Zac drew steadying breath, banishing distractions. Perfection chased illusions. His breakthrough outshone precedents.

Mountaintop fissures proved superficial, sparing embedded arrays—including treasure-refining ones. Ancient rigors normalized core infusions of Natural Treasures among cultivators. Some methods demanded specific integrations.

Zac mirrored his cultivation start: deploying a supreme Conflict-attuned treasure onto the refinement array. Kator’s prime pick for his path. Zac claimed Supreme Core Formation sets from the Izh’Rak Reaver’s Spatial Ring.

Usable: Conflict- and Death-attuned. Latter reserved, lacking Life-attuned counterbalance. Former joined nucleus for Life-Death-Conflict equilibrium.

War spoils merited primacy, anchoring subsequent efforts.

[Omnitool] materialized; Zac expertly stripped foreign spirituality from the brain-like metal. Impending ruin triggered array placement. Imbuing Earthly Dao of Defiant War linked the Conflict Peak array.

Treasure dissolved to raw essence; array’s final forge attuned it nearer Zac’s Dao. Mirror of Perennial Vastness core forging—Limitless Empire echoes ensured seamlessness.

Remnant infusion succeeded; Conflict metal refinement concluded. Prompt nucleus addition quelled instability. Full fusion awaited third phase. Sufficiently robust base forged.

Days blurred as treasures refined maximally fused into Quantum Space stars. Enlarged segments turned insatiable voids for cosmic pure energy influx.

Sixteenth day: final integration. All segments infused, bridging Late-to-Peak. Unified Dao parts awaited trinity synthesis for full might.

Zac meticulously probed swirling core asteroid belts repeatedly, spotting no anomalies. Core shed ‘perfection,’ yet maxed his prowess. Error-free, interference-free. Arguably thriving.

Ogras would mock his chaos craving if privy. Grain of truth, yet anomaly loomed. Far from crumbling, Quantum Space realm strengthened.

Weakness cues overdue. Spatial storms should rage, hastening collapse. Formations raced ticking clocks previously.

Plateau stabilizers and talismans primed. Shortcuts plotted for quality trade-offs. Unneeded as myriad pieces coalesced into sections.

Solo deduction futile. Esmeralda summoned for inspection.

“Peculiar indeed. Peak Hegemony subspaces stabilize utmost, but this exceeds norms,” Esmeralda murmured. “Yet decay traces exist.”

“They do?”

“Counterforce renews it pre-rupture,” Esmeralda eyed fractured spire. “Arrays malfunctioning?”

“Doubt it,” Zac replied.

“I’ll devise fixes,” Esmeralda vowed.

Ogras brought scant tidings next: gravedigging mentor vanished, archives silent. Zac hoped overreaction, refocused on core reconstruction. Trickier than anticipated.

Superior parts outclassed past marred breakthroughs. Yet crammed with potent energies, minor flaws risked cataclysms.

Two weeks crawled by, Zac painstakingly reassembling. Exhale marked final outer-shell pieces integration. Could’ve hastened week prior, but deliberate slowness prevailed.

Avoided finale stumble. Crucially, awaited instability. Time expired: Cosmic Core glow dimmed. Malleability waned; rekindling via treasures bought a day, undesirable.

Ominous aura intensified. Suspected consumed tribulation culprit. [Void Heart] dormant; bloodline roiled. Four Desolates lurked, poised to strike.

Action imperative. Finished core eyed warily. Final step: subrealm collapse pressure-forges Cosmic Core. Essential for fusion, compression to fit. Superior assembly, yet shrank to third size needed.

Third phase simplest—now impossible. Unyielding space resisted pressure. Plateau arrays aided stability, added force—insufficient solo for core.

Backup treasures, talismans same: mortal-adequate, not for his foundations. Peak D-grade demands immense.

Revert to explosive well? Destabilize sans core harm. Esmeralda consultation neared when shift hit.

“No!”

Zac’s bellow ignored as Duplicity Core’s clasp snapped shut.