Defiance of the Fall Chapter 1423: Desperate Measures

It seemed the Duplicity Core had foreseen Zac’s scheme to detonate a few bombs within the Quantum Space and end the whole endeavor. The pathway to the Quantum Space wasn’t merely sealed; an unbreachable barrier had risen, preventing both Dao and Energy from crossing. In a flash, a troubling scenario morphed into a nightmarish one.

Squeezing the core before disaster struck was no longer his lone worry. The barrier blocked only Zac, not the cosmos. Enormous volumes of unanchored energy kept surging into the Quantum Space. The Duplicity Core drew off a bit, likely to uphold the blockade, but nowhere near sufficient to dodge calamity. His Cosmic Core was already brimming over from the deliberate sluggish rhythm he’d maintained.

Forget days; Zac had mere hours before everything erupted like a supernova. Should that occur, it wouldn’t just erase his efforts—Zac would count himself lucky to endure the rampant blast.

Zac struggled repeatedly to calm his chaotic mind before slipping back into his Void State. With a composed, or at least logical, mindset, he dissected the newest complication. Seeking Esmeralda’s aid wouldn’t work. Her Technocrat perception-warping array hid the Duplicity Core and the realm’s quantum state from her view. To Esmeralda, Zac’s core appeared as an unyielding fusion of Death and Conflict.

To uncover the fix, he first had to grasp the reason. Evidently, his Kayar-Elu lineage had resurfaced after playing nice through Hegemony. Why at this moment? What aim lay behind forcing stability on his subrealm now? Was the Duplicity Core aiming to vault him straight into Half-step Monarchy?

If so, the timing was way off. Late Hegemons couldn’t access World Formation techniques in the archives. Neither Esmeralda nor Tavza grasped the precise workings of a Mortal’s World Formation, leaving Zac with just broad sketches. Even if he rashly attempted it, how? With the core locked, importing C-grade materials was out of the question.

Alternatively, the Duplicity Core might be reshaping the Quantum Space for the upcoming phase. If true, Zac wished it had let him complete his breakthrough first before hijacking control. This mess could stem from missing the Digital Nexus to guide his cultivation. Had Jeeves, with his flawless Dao mastery and command, overseen the Core Formation, the ultimate squeeze might’ve been unnecessary.

Resentment filled Zac’s heart as he probed every corner of the Duplicity Core. No methods emerged to halt the process or breach the Quantum Space. He could try prying open a slit to lob in bombs. The catch: his Cosmic Core could only persist in a quantum space. Damaging the Duplicity Core risked unraveling the entire subspace.

Ten minutes on, Zac pinpointed one viable escape from his bind—a tactic even wilder than bombing his own Cosmic Core. Time pressing, he consulted Esmeralda.

“Did you figure it out?” Esmeralda asked upon seeing Zac turn to her.

“Maybe. Can a C-grade Bloodline exert the pressure of an Inner World?”

“Generally not as much as the real thing. Sometimes not at all. Only in a few standout cases can the bloodline surpass the weight of a world. For instance, Grand Traversal Toads form subsidiary spaces because we’re Space Attuned. Even if their purpose differ from an Inner World, their combined weight is no less—” Esmeralda cut off her boast as realization dawned. “You’re not thinking of breaking through while breaking through, right? ”

“I’m afraid I am,” Zac said with a helpless smile.

Upgrading his Bloodline stood as the sole feasible option Zac envisioned that wouldn’t endanger his Quantum Space. As Esmeralda noted, success wasn’t assured, but a C-grade Bloodline offered multiple aids. Its inherent weight might destabilize the Quantum Space, sparking the final Core Formation phase. Should his bloodline prove dominant enough, it could even compress the Cosmic Core directly to the proper scale.

Even if the Void Emperor Bloodline lacked the core weight vital to C-grade cultivation, other benefits remained. His Duplicity Core lingered at D-grade, so bolstering Void control might let him skirt the barrier. He could also sever the subspace from the Cosmic Sea, starving the Specialty Core of fuel.

Leaping ahead now was far from ideal, but when had his Bloodline ever picked a perfect moment?

“Ai, what am I supposed to do with you,” Esmeralda shook her head. “Just as I thought you might break through like a normal person.”

“You’re preaching to the choir. And I’m sorry, I need your help,” Zac said, adding upon seeing her worried expression. “Not like last time. I might need you to take my place for a little bit while I step outside the memory. Don’t let the arrays shut down, and keep a backdoor open to let me back inside.”

“This is insane. I remember what happened last time your bloodline went out of control. You want to unleash something like that when your Cosmic Core is in such a state? We don’t even know if it’d resolve your issues.”

“Please. I’m out of ideas.”

Esmeralda exhaled. “Fine, easy. Just give me a little bit of your blood and I can keep it occupied for a day or two.”

“Give me a moment, I just need to figure out how to trigger the—huh?”

The instant Zac committed to his course, word arrived from his other self. Trouble brewed in Fuxi Halls. A tiny sapling pierced the battered Judgment plateau. Zac nearly set aside his woes watching it swell into a diminutive tree within a minute. Its dark-golden bark twisted in a rope-like spiral. Nine slender branches extended, bearing odd leaves.

Resembling upside-down teardrops that defied gravity’s pull, the leaves strained upward as if drawn to the heavens. Intricate patterns danced across them, and Zac blinked repeatedly before admitting his eyes couldn’t parse their hue despite his senses insisting otherwise.

Its aura was unmistakable too. Like the [Twin Eclipse] stashed in the Hidden Earth Abode, this tree was a Void Treasure—and C-grade no less. Even more startling, it radiated a deeply familiar presence: the [Ketumatis Lotus] seed he’d carried into Poised Gardens.

They’d been charged with nurturing a spirit and received lotus seeds from the Fertile Order templar at the outpost. Zac exceeded expectations on that quest, mainly to advance his Void Vajra Constitution. Yet his efforts spawned a remarkable spirit he’d hated to surrender upon hitting Kabaton.

To sense its singular aura anew. Equally shocking, the tree emanated a recognizable pressure. Good thing he’d lured the primordial Killing Intent into the [Shrine of Kanba] temporarily. Who knew its reaction to Saṃghāta’s Crushing Death.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Simultaneously, the Life hints diverged slightly from the nurtured spirit, and Crushing Death showed clear alterations. It was as if essences from both had fused with an extant plant to guide its growth toward a precise evolution. And that path mirrored Zac’s own.

The known Life and Death facets bridged Zac to Interment Gate and Ascension Gate’s grand Daos. Much like his journey, Void from Fuxi Halls bound it all. In essence, this tree captured Zac’s essence more truly than anything before. Not even Sendor’s Null in the Perennial Vastness had replicated his path so faithfully.

Zac scanned about, uncovering no rationale for the tree’s sudden emergence. A ravenous roar yanked his attention to the Void Tree. Monstrous Void Energy ripped from the mountain—far exceeding [Force of the Void]’s full stores. The impulse to channel it into [Fuxi Mountain Gate] died instantly.

A lone tangerine sprouted on a branch. Utterly see-through like glass, it cradled a miniature Void galaxy within. Zac teetered on glimpsing profound secrets when a thunderous quake rocked the mountain. Frowning upward, he pondered if the fruit’s ripening would summon a tribulation deadlier than his own.

The tangerine pulsed before trouble brewed, splitting into duality. Zac grasped the event, gut churning with regret. The modest tree had produced a fruit harboring Void Chaos essence. Its brief existence alone provoked Heaven’s wrath.

Now two tangerines dangled, embodying distinct Voids of Life and Death. His body’s frenzied urges eased slightly via the shift, all fixated on the Life fruit. Zac saw no cause to resist. His Luck hadn’t surged enough for treasures to spawn unbidden.

He suspected Roan or Margrave Wartorius orchestrated this for their schemes. Both knew his Void ties—perhaps better than he, given Fuxi Halls. Zac hadn’t forgotten Wartorius inverting Dao and Void, beyond even his Void Emperor Bloodline’s reach.

Playing pawn wasn’t novel. Zac might’ve embraced it absent his Cosmic Core crisis. Bloodline Breakthroughs posed little risk alone. The hurdle was amassing vast materials. The Left Imperial Expanse brimmed with wealth beyond lifetimes, yet deadly arrays and C-grade perils lurked.

With Supremacies’ approval, he could gorge freely. This matched Esmeralda’s early take on the trial’s secret aim. Elites could scheme freely if loot flowed. Zac would perform his role, twisting disaster into gain.

Across the Left Imperial Expanse, Zac neared the Core Formation Array’s edge. Esmeralda bypassed the island seal’s core functions in minutes. Exiting marked Dome Lake’s end for you. Now Zac entered and exited freely barring Elder detection. If spotted, he’d chalk it to fate and wrap Core breakthrough via portable arrays.

Time critical, Zac ventured briefly from lake and memory. Minutes of scouting yielded a manor with a fortified underground vault amid grand ruins boasting the area’s mightiest defenses.

The compass failed, forcing [Court Cycle Token] use past the imposing edifices. Inside, he ignited [Abyssal Drive] with Void Energy, slipping through a hair-thin fissure and sealing it shut.

By then, the Void Tangerines had ripened elsewhere. They’d sapped the mountain dry, leaving the tree a withered shell. It sacrificed all to birth its fruit. Though echoing Zac’s path, it couldn’t endure reality long.

“Damn it!” Zac sucked in his breath when he plucked the fruits.

Pain twisted his face as he eyed his left hand. Emotional agony, far worse than exploding limbs. Most Imperial Merit vanished upon detachment, leaving him near penniless.

Zac puzzled why leaders meddled post hands-off stance. They balanced via cost: two Supreme C-grade Void Treasures for almost 60,000 Imperial Merit—fair, yet Zac felt duped.

Fruits wilting fast, he pressed on. The Void-inverted Death one went to his Draugr side for consumption.

“Here goes nothing,” Zac muttered before biting into the fruit.

A ferocious pull exploded inside Zac before his tongue tasted the pulp. His Void Emperor Bloodline, restless for weeks, lunged at the inundating energies. Cell-base gateways flung open, forging billions of channels to the outer Void Space.

Light-gray lightning flickers emerged, only to be hauled back before fruit nectar cascaded in. The pent-up tribulation lingered after a month, hue signaling exhaustion. Tangerine infusion would fold Four Desolate Lightning into his ascension’s fuel.

The more cells devoured, the fiercer Zac’s hunger raged. Despite unearthly sweetness, juices tasted like brine. This time, he embraced the void, stoking it while anchoring clarity. Cosmic Core demanded no action now, so he poured focus into directing the Void.

He pushed it to quest beyond, alerting the hunger to neighborhood riches. Thus his Draugr needed freedom; Tangerines ignited the base, but breakthrough demands dwarfed them.

Mercurial Court ruins offered ideal forage. Fuxi Halls outside wouldn’t do. Vast mountains hid treasures, even Void ones, but Supremacies wouldn’t idly watch him ravage Hollow Court.

Past breakthrough focused plunder on Centurion Lighthouse, barely touching Ensolus Ruins. Body sound and Heart Cultivation boosted, Zac aimed solely at Mercurial Court for fuel.

The Void needed no urging to unleash ravenous strands. As they stretched from his lair, perception ballooned. Ancient, crumbling arrays crumbled before Void. Treasures tumbled into Void Vortices one by one. Vortices vanished tracelessly.

Awake and directing, Zac dodged ominous ruins. Still, looting stashes to material swaths left scars. Outer world quaked as ruins toppled and arrays spasmed wildly.

Zac poised to flee instantly, yet secure for now. He’d spared nearby structures; their robust formations shielded as he plundered the zone.

Zac mirrored the distant tree. His flesh was but root hub for tendrils threading reality’s cracks. They quested endlessly in voracious hunt. Soon he spanned more than his home island.

Feeding on Mercurial Court, Zac neared critical mass fast. Mind blurred as raw hunger bloomed into replete bliss. Outer tremors persisted, though Zac dimly caught a new note. Thunderclouds’ roar mingled in the din.

Wait, thunder why? Heavens withdrew post-tangerine split, Bloodlines never summoned tribulations. No answers came; darkness swallowed the world.