Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse Adventure, page 74
“Mighty immortal,” he said quickly, “what is happ—”
“No time. Feed him the fruit.”
“Feed him?” Edgar asked. “But he’s not moving.”
“Just shove it into his mouth! It’s crystallized Dao. He doesn’t need to chew.”
Edgar complied. He opened Jack’s mouth and pushed the fruit inside, hesitantly at first and then harder. When it touched his tongue, the fruit dissolved into orange streams that quickly turned to purple and vanished down Jack’s throat.
Edgar looked around, all too aware that he’d just force-fed a fruit to an unconscious man in front of the entire planet and multiple immortals. His stomach turned from nervousness.
Shol didn’t care. He wasn’t done yet.
“Dig into that bag again and retrieve the Rainbow Dao Pill,” he commanded. Thankfully, Jack carried everything with him. He said it felt safer that way.
Edgar’s shaky hands went through the backpack and retrieved a sphere wrapped in white fabric. He pulled the cover away to reveal a knuckle-sized pill shining brilliantly with all colors of the rainbow.
“Feed him,” Shol commanded, and Edgar complied. Unlike the fruit, it was perfectly corporeal, and it didn’t melt when it touched his tongue. Edgar wasn’t sure what to do. “Shove it down his throat if you have to,” Shol barked. “He must swallow it no matter what. Hurry!”
Edgar panicked. Shol wished he had a body to do it himself. Left without options, the wizardling pushed the pill down Jack’s throat with a finger, eliciting a few cries from the audience. Jack almost gagged, his eyelids shaking a bit before instinct took over and he swallowed.
“Good,” Shol exhaled in relief. There was a chance they would interrupt Jack’s breakthrough by force-feeding him the pill so brutally, but he would certainly fail without it.
“What… what’s happening?” Edgar asked again, panic tinging his voice. “I-Is Jack breaking through?”
“Yes.”
“Can he make it?”
“I do not know.” Shol’s eyes darkened. “He has the perfect fruit and an excellent pill. He is also highly compatible with his Dao from everything I have observed of him. There are chances. Now, it’s up to him.” He then raised his voice. “Listen up, mortals! Anyone who approaches the stage or even looks at my disciple the wrong way will immediately become the enemy of I, Deacon Shol Pesna of the Exploding Sun faction! Moreover, you will be infringing on the dignity of the Animal Kingdom, who safeguards this Tournament!”
This last sentence would hopefully stop the scions and agents of the Kingdom, who would be dying to interrupt Jack’s breakthrough. At least, they wouldn’t attempt anything openly.
His voice echoed over the arena. Almost instantly, a blur flew down from the stands. Shol cursed inwardly and prepared to blast the intruder with the full force of his Dao—even in this weak form, he could incapacitate most F-Grades.
He held himself back at the last moment. The blur landed on the sand and rushed beside Jack. It was Brock, who stood before his big bro, spread his hands, and glared unflinchingly at the audience. Even the immortals present didn’t escape his threat.
Nobody would touch his big bro.
Shol nodded. This little brorilla was much to his liking. Jack has found a good partner. If only he can survive…
“Immortal, please give us permission to come over and guard Jack as well,” Vivi Eragorn stood up from the audience and cupped her fists.
“Denied.” He’d seen too many backstabbers in his day. Even calling Edgar here had been a gamble, but he was fairly certain the wizardling was loyal.
The only one he truly trusted was Brock.
Edgar stepped behind Jack, ready to protect him against anything. He conjured a transparent blue shield around the four of them.
Vivi obeyed Shol’s command, but she didn’t back down completely. On her orders, the members of Flame River fanned around the arena, each glaring at a section of the crowd. Dorman, the Sage, Li Xiang, Brother Tao, and even Vanderdecken also stood on the arena lip, gazing toward the crowd.
Shol narrowed his eyes. His threats wouldn’t be enough to stop the Animal Kingdom’s agents from interfering, but he was ready to blast the first unlucky attacker with the full power of his Dao, killing them on the spot. That should be enough to intimidate most into inaction. These humans would hopefully be able to deal with the rest, because Shol would be out of juice after that first strike.
He could already spot various people in the audience exchanging shady looks. The scions were whispering between themselves.
Before anything could happen, a new voice cut through the clamor.
“Anyone who interrupts that man’s breakthrough will answer to the Hand of God.”
It was Vocrich, whose faction didn’t care about the Animal Kingdom. They just wanted to raise strong cultivators.
The vampire was only at the peak of the E-Grade, but his one sentence was enough to stop all in attendance. Not even the Planetary Overseer would dare act wildly now.
Nobody opposed the Hand of God. Anyone who tried didn’t live long enough to regret it.
This calmed Shol somewhat, though he still maintained full vigilance. He glanced at Jack, who remained cross-legged and unaware of his surroundings. The Dao was seeping into his body, but it still had a way to go. Hopefully, the pill and fruit would pull him through the most difficult parts, and he could handle the rest. If not…
If not, then that was fate.
In the meantime, Shol had something very important to do. “Sorry for interrupting my words, master,” he once more spoke mentally. “I must tell you something that will surely change your mind!”
Jack was lost in an ocean of purple. The aura of the giant fist was seeping into his body bit by bit. Wherever it passed, he disappeared. The fist was the master, and he was only a tool to wield it.
Jack didn’t want this. It was his fist. He was the one in charge. He didn’t want to sacrifice himself to it.
He tried to stop the aura, but it was like trying to hold back a river with your bare hands. He tried to close the floodgates, but there weren’t any. The giant fist was an emptying container. It would all flood into him, and whatever happened, happened.
Jack panicked.
And warmth filled his entire body, starting from his tongue. In the next moment, it was like his eyes opened for the first time. He was in touch with the Dao of the Fist. Revelations came to him, from simple to complicated things. A series of visions flashed through his mind, presenting the core aspects of the fist.
Some, he knew. Some, he did not, but they became clear from the visions. His understanding of the Dao of the Fist shot up.
He could see now. The purple aura wasn’t drowning him. It was challenging him. It represented the Dao Root’s understanding into the fist, the understanding he had originally created. Now, he was called to contend with it.
There were two simultaneous challenges to overcome. The first was to prove that he and this Dao Root were compatible. This challenge came from within. The second was to prove that he had mastered it. This challenge came from without. From the Dao of the Fist in the universe beyond, whose acknowledgment he sought.
Jack’s inner eyes opened as he saw what he had to do. The purple aura was made up of exactly nine hundred and ninety-nine tiny drops—he was sure of this—and each drop carried a riddle. If he beat the riddle, the drop would submit. If he didn’t, the speck would drop him to the death.
Visions filled his mind. He was thrust into a gladiator’s fight, a school room, a back-alley brawl, a knife fight, a gunfight, the trenches of a war, shouting arguments against all sorts of people. Each vision came at once, and all asked him the same question: “What would you do? How would you feel?”
It wasn’t as tangible as that. The visions all occurred inside his soul simultaneously. Jack didn’t really find himself in those situations. Instead, they were forced into his soul, and then the answer flowed out by itself, uninhibited. Everything coalesced into a phantom deep inside him which slowly took the form of a fist borne of his very soul.
Unfortunately, he was just a watcher. This battle of visions didn’t seem to be his, yet it was. Maybe not now, but to answer the riddles, his soul just used everything he’d fed it over his entire life. He’d shaped himself. That was his part in the battle, and it was over. Now, all he could do was watch and hope.
Instinct told him that the more similar this phantom got to the giant fist, the more perfect his union with the Dao Root he was internalizing.
Only now did he understand he was breaking through to the E-Grade. He was confused and worried, but the ball was rolling. He buckled down and prepared for a fight.
Hope turned to despair. The phantom was still vague, but he could see it wasn’t exactly like the giant fist before. There were differences—malformities. The shape wasn’t quite right. The fist in his soul wasn’t as clear as it should have been. Slowly but surely, it was drifting into a travesty of a fist, and he was powerless to stop it.
Suddenly, warmth filled his stomach, and colors invaded his world. The black void was painted in rainbows. Jack drew a deep breath as his spirit expanded. All at once, his mind was clearer than it had ever been. Way, way clearer.
It was like a meditation within a meditation. A trance in a trance. Every complex thought dissolved into simple parts, and all that was difficult became easy.
Jack wanted to laugh. Why had he even struggled?
A watcher? Your mother’s a watcher!
He dove into his soul, brimming with confidence. The Dao of the Fist was strewn wide before him. He now floated between dozens of visions, each resolving at the same time, but he understood the truth.
The visions were illusions. Only one thing was real—the fist—and as long as he kept the fist in his soul unpolluted, he would always prevail.
The visions unraveled. They were foundational questions, nothing more than child’s play. And in that understanding, Jack recognized that his compatibility with the fist was perfect. From his toes to the deepest recesses of his soul, he was willing to embrace the path of the fist until the very end.
After that, the visions truly were simple. All he had to do was project his soul—the fist—and they would have their answer.
They melted like snow in the oven. The purple aura vanished as it entered his body, gathering obediently in his soul and becoming one with him. The shape of a fist became clearer and clearer in the very core of his being, and the deformities were lessening.
Jack was disgusted by them. He grabbed the phantom and twisted it into shape, using his strength to force it to obey. He ironed it out. The giant fist outside wasn’t giant anymore—it shrank as he took its aura, from a hill, to a tree, to a boulder. Finally, it reached the size of his own fist. They were indistinguishable.
The Dao asked him one question: “Will you give me everything?”
“Yes,” Jack replied. “But you will serve me.”
It was the right answer.
His soul hugged the phantom of a fist inside it and they became one. The Dao coursed through his body, empowering and transforming it. This was only a tiny part of the true Dao of the Fist and all its transformations, but it was a part Jack had thoroughly conquered. It belonged to him.
His turmoil was over. His soul and the Dao Root of the Fist had seamlessly fused, becoming one thing: the Dao Seed of the Fist.
At least, so Jack hoped.
He looked at the rainbow-colored void around him. The Dao Root of Indomitable Will now orbited around him like a satellite, admitting its inferiority to the fist inside him. From now on, Indomitable Will was a weapon, but the fist was himself.
He felt perfect. Whole. For the first time in his life, even more than when the Integration happened, he was certain he was exactly where he belonged. This was his world.
Jack roared in laughter, venting all the pent-up frustration of his life, and punched out. The void cracked and shattered like glass. Jack opened his eyes, finding himself in a blue bubble, surrounded by Edgar, Brock, and Master Shol, whose eyes were wide as saucers.
Around him, thousands of people watched his every move, but so what?
“Thank you for waiting, everyone,” he said, slowly standing. The power that coursed through his veins was euphoric, and the notifications blazed in his vision, begging to be opened. He’d practically ascended… and this was only the E-Grade. He grinned. “I’m back.”
CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
CLASS SELECTION
The arena had fallen silent. Most humans didn’t understand why, but they could tell something was wrong.
All the aliens were gaping at Jack like he was a monster. So were the most knowledgeable of humans, and even the immortals. The C-Grade lioness was gripping her throne’s armrest tightly, though no one noticed. Vocrich’s dark eyes blazed. Only the ascetic of Barren High maintained his cool, though even he was surprised.
“A perfect Seed…” Barren High muttered, sighing. “Why this planet?”
“Planetary Overseer—” Vocrich began saying.
“No,” she cut him off. “This man is a possible threat to my faction. He must be ended here and now.”
Vocrich’s upper lip twitched. “The Hand of God wants him.”
“This is our territory.”
“You would refuse our request?”
“We can pay the price.” She tore her eyes off Jack to stare at Vocrich. “This boy will die today. If you interfere and break the Star Pact, so will I.”
Vocrich hesitated, then slicked back his dark hair, flashed her a charming smile, and said, “Let’s not argue. There are other perfect Seeds. We could forget about him, but…” he trailed.
“I have no time for games. Name your price.”
“A hundred spots into Trial Planet, and a hundred promising recruits over the next ten galactic years,” he offered confidently. “New generation for new generation.”
“I will add another hundred of both, but you must guarantee that the Exploding Sun will stay out of this.”
Vocrich smiled. “Deal.”
Both satisfied, they turned back to the arena. In the blink of an eye, Jack’s fate had been sold and bought.
Meanwhile, right next to Jack, Master Shol was about to have an aneurysm. “My boy,” he said with a tremble. “You…”
“Thank you for your protection, Master,” Jack responded, bowing deeply. “You fed me the Rainbow Dao Pill and the Dao Fruit of the Fist, right? You saved me.”
“Nonsense, nonsense.” Shol quickly waved it away. “Quick! Check your notifications and tell me what they say.”
Jack was rather taken aback at the enthusiasm, but he complied regardless. He, too, was extremely curious to see what the System had to say. The lioness’s soul influence had disappeared, for whatever reason, making him breathe a sigh of relief.
Congratulations! Dao Root of the Fist → Perfect Dao Seed of the Fist (early)
Congratulations! F-Grade → E-Grade
Congratulations! Your body has been infused with your Dao, taking on its attributes.
All stats +10
Free stat points per Level up: 2 → 5
Level Up! You have reached Level 50.
Congratulations! The Bare Fist Brotherhood faction has reached the E-Grade. New functions unlocked in the faction screen.
Congratulations! For being the first cultivator on your planet to develop a Dao Seed, you are awarded the Title: Planetary Torchbearer (1).
Planetary Torchbearer (1): A Title awarded to the first cultivator to develop a Dao Seed on an Integrated planet. A sign of great potential, marking the owner as a person worthy of the Immortal System’s assistance.
Efficacy of all stats +15%
Class Upgrade available. Please choose your new Class:
There was a long blue screen after that, detailing his class choices, but he put it aside for now. As much as he couldn’t wait to choose, it sounded like something that would take time, and he didn’t know if he had time.
He was already plenty excited, anyway. All other benefits aside, the Planetary Torchbearer (1) title… It was humongous! Coupled with the Planetary Frontrunner (10), he now had a 25 percent increase in the efficacy of all his stats—assuming the effects was additive. That would put him head and shoulders above everyone else at his level.
The truly strong people in the galaxy would doubtlessly have some titles of their own, like Rufus, but Jack could get more in the future, too. For now, he was definitely way ahead of the curve.
Finally, he opened his status screen.
Name: Jack Rust
Species: Human, Earth-387
Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (E)
Grade: E
Class: Pugilist (Elite) (Upgrade pending)
Level: 50
Strength: 129 (+)
Dexterity: 129 (+)
Constitution: 129 (+)
Mental: 22
Will: 22
Free points: 5
Skills: Fistfighting (III), Drill (III), Pugilist Body (III), Parkour (III)
Dao Skills: Meteor Punch (II): Daos: Perfect Dao Seed of the Fist (early), Dao Root of Indomitable Will
Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1)
It was glorious.
“It says a lot of things, Master,” he replied.
“Your Dao Seed, boy. Tell me what that says!”
Master Shol was really flustered, which worried Jack. Had he done something wrong? He felt that everything had gone smoothly. Maybe breaking through now was a mistake?
“It says I got the Perfect Dao Seed of the Fist, and then the word early in parentheses.”
Just when he thought Master Shol’s eyes couldn’t widen further, they did. His mouth trembled as he spoke. “Perfect? Are you sure?”
