Road to Mastery 3: A LitRPG Apocalypse Adventure, page 1
ROAD TO MASTERY 3
©2024 Valerios
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CONTENTS
ALSO IN SERIES
1. New Constellation, New Me
2. Derion, the Poison Planet
3. Testing One’s Power
4. Cultivating in the D-Grade
5. Jack-Style Break-Out
6. Bros to the Rescue
7. Fighting Late Immortals
8. Tying Up Loose Ends
9. Field Nebula
10. The Exploding Sun Faction
11. Master Huali
12. The Coward
13. First Day at the Sect
14. The Library
15. Fighting Auburn
16. Pure Dao Cultivation
17. The War for Earth is Brewing
18. Bros Help Each Other Shine
19. Being a Big Bro
20. The Struggle for Grand Elder
21. The Art of Courting Death
22. Betting the Name of One’s Master
23. Breaking Dan
24. The Fate of the Those Left Behind
25. Dao Vision of Space
26. Solving the Vision
27. Slicing Space
28. The New Bro Squad
29. Elder Monsoon
30. Monsoon’s Provocation
31. Making a Bet
32. Hellish Training
33. Supernova
34. Ripping Off the Library
35. Seeing One’s Friends
36. A Cultivator’s Guide to the Galaxy
37. Entering Hell
38. Setting Hell Aflame
39. The Ball Starts Rolling
40. Hell’s Terrain
41. Animals Hunting
42. Hunting the Animals
43. Another!?
44. The Tree and the Life Drop
45. One Against Eleven
46. Battling a Leonine
47. A Mad Escape
48. Iron Will, Mind of Steel
49. Opportunity Never Ceases
50. The Reward of Suffering
51. Squeezing Water out of a Rock Bottom
52. Fighting a Late Immortal
53. Fighting at the Peak
54. Return of the Sage
55. A New Hideout
56. Visions of the Past
57. Ancient History
58. Birth of the System
59. Creating Ripples
60. Three Months
61. Being Deeply Annoying
62. Kicking the Tiger
63. Making a Decision
64. Joining the Church
65. Making an Impression
66. Entombed
67. Cornered
68. Shaping Up
69. Disaster
70. Challenging an Entire Faction
71. Devil Deals
72. An Offer Unseen
73. The Grand Duel Begins
74. The Dao of Face-Slapping
75. Jack Rust vs. Maximus Lonihor
76. Giving Zero Face
77. Leaving Hell
78. Father and Son
79. The Grace Concert Begins
80. Blowing the Horn
81. Continental Commander
82. Battle of Pawns
83. Stealing the Show
84. He Arrives
85. Two Versus Two
86. A Special Kind of Strength
87. Brock vs. Petrovic
88. Bros, Assemble!
89. Achieving Brohood
90. The Power of a Big Bro
91. War for Earth
92. A World Inside a World
93. Sparman
94. Beginning of the End
95. Helpless
96. Jack Rust vs. Galicia Lonihor
97. Planet Poaching
Thank you for reading Road to Mastery 3
Groups
LitRPG
ALSO IN SERIES
Road to Mastery
Road to Mastery 2
Road to Mastery 3
Check out the entire series here! (Tap and scan)
CHAPTER ONE
NEW CONSTELLATION, NEW ME
A starship flew through space. Stars flickered restlessly on all sides, yet the silence was deafening and the wind non-existent, giving the impression that the ship was standing still. In reality, it was moving at multiple miles per second.
A green planet was slowly growing in the distance.
“That’s the way, Brock,” Jack said, reclining in his seat. His dark hair tumbled over his shoulders, contrasting the perfectly white chair, while his eyes seemed to contain a universe of their own. If a pre-System person looked into them right now, they would probably shit their pants and bow in worship. “Keep her steady. We’re in perfect trajectory for… what was the planet’s name again?”
Brock shrugged. “No idea.”
“Noidea it is. Great name.”
The first time they’d flown a starship, it had taken both of them to be even barely functional. However, that time had been under pressure, and with “race mode” accidentally activated.
The starship they were currently flying was much more convenient. It had four rooms—a cabin, a bathroom, a helm room, and an exit room—as well as controls that didn’t jitter like a ticklish baby. It was certainly an upgrade.
As a result, both Jack and Brock could easily drive it. They took turns.
They had also named the starship, Bromobile.
“We’re almost there!” Jack shouted excitedly, the planet growing so large it dominated their view. He could clearly make out the continents and seas, as well as a large mountain ridge. The sight was nostalgic enough to almost bring tears to his eyes. It reminded him of Earth. Of home. It had only been three months since he left, but with everything that happened, it left like an eternity.
He had grown so much since then. In three short months, he had risen through the entire E-Grade and broken through to become an immortal. He had also inherited the Life Drop—a drop of blood from Enas, the Old God of Life who was trapped in a black hole—and achieved a King Class called Cosmic Fist—which he looked forward to exploring.
Jack still struggled to comprehend how strong he’d become. He was an immortal now, with a lifespan of a thousand years. He possessed the power to level mountains. And he was, what, twenty-eight?
Time was weird like that. The four months since the Integration had felt like a century. For some reason, even the two hours it had been since he teleported out of Trial Planet, killed the three Hounds, and declared war on the Animal Kingdom—though they didn’t know that yet—felt like months.
Unfortunately, even though those Hounds were fifty levels above him, they had only given him enough experience to level-up six times, reaching Level 131. Leveling would become harder from now on.
I really should complete my PhD at some point, he thought, absent-mindedly watching the planet approach through the starship’s windshield.
“Bromobile down,” Brock said. He pulled on a lever to reduce their speed, then tilted the steering wheel upward to make them glide in parallel with the planet’s surface instead of hurtling straight at it. They descended through the atmosphere smoothly, unfettered by gravity. Clouds filled their vision. When they cleared, an entire world stretched beneath their feet, with valleys and mountains and forests.
“Wait,” Jack said. “This place isn’t empty, is it?” After all, they needed to find a teleporter and head towards the Exploding Sun.
Fortunately, it only took him a moment to discover a large dirt road wrapping around a mountain in the distance. Since they were still in the Animal Kingdom constellation, which was part of the System-Integrated space, civilization meant cultivators—and, most importantly, teleporters.
Brock brought the starship to a halt and approached the windshield. A moment l
“Let’s go ask him,” he said.
Brock grabbed the controls again. They descended like a comet next to the horse rider, who froze in terror and went pale as a sheet. He was a thin man with a long black mustache, whose hard face looked out of place twisted in such terror. He was also surprisingly young—maybe twenty years of age?
“Angh,” he tried to say.
“Hello. Do you not speak our language?” Jack asked, having used Space Walk to teleport outside the starship.
Human (Galipede), Level 32 (F-Grade)
Faction: -
The man jumped back in fright. His horse frothed at the mouth and started bucking, throwing the rider, and running away.
Jack was having none of that. He flew after the horse, grabbed it from the back, and lifted it over his head so that its legs kicked harmlessly at the air. He then deposited the horse gently before its rider, leaving both shell-shocked. If they could, they would have probably hugged each other.
“Sorry,” Jack said. “We didn’t mean to scare you. We’re just looking for directions.”
The man managed to utter a few words, “Directions to what?”
“The nearest teleporter that can take us off-planet.”
“I, uh… It’s that way, venerable immortal,” the man said, pointing to the far-off mountain. He had regained his composure somewhat. “A city in the middle of a lake. It’s called Califrede. You can’t miss it.”
“I see. Thank you. Is there any way I can repay the favor?”
The man’s eyes went wide. Once again, he mustered his courage to say, “I, uh, I was heading in the same direction, venerable immortal. I need medicine for my daughter. If you could carry me along, even in the trash compartment of your starship, I would be beyond grateful. Extremely grateful.”
“No problem. Can you open the door, Brock?”
A door at the side of the starship slid open. There was no ramp, so Jack simply carried both horse and man inside, fitting them in the helm room—which was suddenly a bit cramped.
Needless to say, the man was simultaneously scared, relieved, and unable to believe his good luck. The horse was frozen in fear.
“Brock,” Jack said, “can you inform this horse that good bros don’t defecate in each other’s starships? It looks scared, so you never know.”
Brock nodded and mimed the instruction. To everyone’s surprise—including itself—the horse nodded.
“No need to be scared, man,” Jack said, smiling at the pale horse rider. “I may be an immortal, but I’m a pretty friendly guy. I won’t harm you. What’s your name?”
“Lionel, venerable immortal.”
“Well, Lionel, enjoy your flight. Can you point us in the direction of this lake city within the mountain range you mentioned?”
The horse rider—Lionel—numbly pointed in a direction. Brock grabbed the helm and smoothly led the starship over the grassland then the mountain. With their speed, it only took ten minutes to reach the city—a horse rider could have easily taken half a week.
“Looks like you hit the jackpot, Lionel,” Jack said. “Completely pun intended.”
Lionel nodded numbly. “You have my eternal gratitude, venerable immortal. I can never repay the help you have given me.”
“It’s no big deal. No need to get all formal.”
“Thanks to you, my daughter may survive,” Lionel continued, tears glistening in his eyes. “I was going to ride day and night to arrive in time. Thank you. Thank you!”
“Oh… Well, glad we could help.”
The lake city was, indeed, a city built on a lake. Jack couldn’t tell if there was an island under it or not, but he could see random spots of water everywhere, so he suspected not.
It was an architectural wonder. Floating platforms and small boats made up most of the city, which was inhabited by human and amphibian-looking humanoids alike. They seemed to be getting along just fine.
It also smelled a bit, but Jack had been through worse. When undergraduates fucked up in his laboratory, the stench was often putrid enough to burn his nose.
“Do you have enough money to buy that medicine, Lionel?” Jack asked.
“I do, venerable immortal. You have already provided me with enough fortune to last me ten lifetimes!”
This Lionel fellow had a particular way with words, but he seemed like a good man overall—even likable. Jack and Brock deposited him at a pharmacy—or apothecary shop, as the sign indicated—and Jack joined along to buy some stuff of his own. They then insisted on giving Lionel a lift back home, so he could treat his ailing daughter. They could spare a half-hour round trip to save this guy days of ceaseless riding.
Lionel accepted with superfluous words of gratitude. His horse wasn’t relieved by any means, mostly due to not understanding, but it should have been, because Lionel’s plan of ceaseless riding included the horse dying of exhaustion mid-way.
To punish him for that, they dropped him off a few minutes away from his village. Though it was more of a prank. Unless the horse learned how to speak, nobody would ever believe him.
“Thank you for choosing the Jack and Brock Airline,” Jack said as they dropped Lionel off. “Enjoy your stay!”
After once again accepting Lionel’s superfluous and oddly-worded gratitude, they flew back to the lake city and landed near a furnace-shaped building that served as the teleporter. Jack willed the starship to shrink to the size of a needle—a very handy function—then stored it in his pocket.
He took another look at the surrounding people. They were dressed in thigh-long, airy robes, kept their hair long, and walked around on wooden shoes. The amphibian humanoids didn’t have hair, but fins that stuck out from the top of their head, as well as gills on both sides of their throat, and webbing between their fingers. Besides those, they resembled humans.
“Huh,” Jack said, scanning a random amphibian person, “would you look at that.”
Fishfolk (Galipede), Level 14 (F-Grade)
Faction: -
His biologist instincts insisted he stay for a while and study them. Unfortunately, he had a job to do—and little time to admire the galaxy’s wonders. The Exploding Sun awaited.
There was a long line before the teleporter. Just as Jack braced himself for a wait, someone scanned him and exclaimed. The surprise spread like a wave, with everyone moving aside and bowing. Murmurs of “venerable immortal” spread through the crowd, making Jack feel slightly awkward.
“It’s all right,” he said, lifting his hands. “At ease.”
They were not at ease. Apparently, the immortals of this planet enjoyed extremely high status. Jack thought back to the stories of Vlossana, the passenger of the Trampling Ram—her continent only had a single D-Grade cultivator. If this planet was similar, it was no wonder people reacted like that.
He felt like a celebrity.
Therefore, Jack and Brock skipped the line and arrived before the door of the teleporter building. They escaped the outside noise and found themselves in front of a peak E-Grade guard who was busy scribbling something down on a piece of paper.
“Wait outside the door,” the guard barked, not raising her gaze from the paper.
“Are you sure?” Jack replied.
The guard looked up. A moment later, her face went pale. “Venerable immortal! My deepest apologies! If I knew who you were, I would never—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jack cut her off. “Apology accepted. Can you help me teleport to the Exploding Sun constellation?”
“I—Certainly, venerable immortal,” the guard replied, straightening her back in a military salute. “Do you have a specific destination in mind?”
“I am headed to the Exploding Sun headquarters, so the closer to it, the better.”
“Of course, sir. May I recommend Earth-309?”
“Sure.”
“Also, pardon me for daring to ask, but could I have your name and affiliation, please? It is for record-keeping.”
“You cannot.”
The guard froze. “I cannot?”
“You cannot.”
After all, Jack was currently wanted by the Animal Kingdom. When news of him escaping Trial Planet reached the Hand of God, they would probably join the hunt, too. He had to travel incognito as much as possible.
The Bare Fist Brotherhood was usually visible when people scanned him, giving away his identity, but Jack had thought ahead. When they stopped by the apothecary shop earlier, he’d bought a Disguise Potion—the same kind he’d used at the start of the Integration Tournament. When he drank it on the starship, it changed his facial structure and hid his faction from System scans. As for titles, he’d already removed them all from showing. Only his Level remained unchanged, but that didn’t matter much.
