Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 365: Fist of Emotions

Three months flowed between Jacks fingers. He was immersed in the world of mortals, sharing their pains and sorrows, their joys and celebrations. He focused on the little things; a boys rowdiness as he reached maturity, a girls bashfulness, a fathers silent pride, a mothers love.

The Mortality Chamber didnt contain a real world. It was a large-scale illusion meant to assist cultivators in their pursuit of the Dao. As a result, the density of feelings in this village was much higher than normal. Every house that Jack visited had something special. Emotions overflowed, and he sank deeper into them with every passing day.

Until, at some point, a gentle voice reached his ears.

Excuse me. Three days have passed. It is time to exit.

Jacks eyes snapped open. Still in his ghostly form, he sighed. With great reluctance, he extricated himself from the world of mortals and return to the one of gods, where he belonged.

This illusion world wasnt meant to trap C-Grades. A low-grade cultivator might be stranded inside forever, but to Jack, just willing his awareness to surface was enough. His real eyes opened slowly, and he found himself standing upright in the same position hed been three days ago.

Three mortal months he thought with a sigh. I really should visit home. But not now. The clock is ticking, and Im at war

Such was the life of a cultivator. They could have family and friends, but they were destined to spend most of their lives alone. The Dao was their true companion.

Thank you, Envoy, Jack said, exiting the Mortality Chamber. His eyes scanned the roomthere were only two cultivators present, both of whom glanced at him before returning to meditation. Jack paid them no mind.

Would you like to reserve an appointment for next time? the octopus Envoy asked.

Its fine. Thank you.

No problem. Come back anytime!

Booking an appointment required paying in advance. Jack only had four Dao stones on his person, which was enough to book the Mortality Chamber for a single day. It was far from enough.

Besides, the future was hazy. He still needed to digest all the insights hed gotten in these three days. Who knew how his Dao would react? Perhaps visiting the Mortality Chamber again would have reduced effectiveness, and it would be better to try another chamber next time.

He calmly exited the Dao Chamber, mind still swimming in mortality. He wasnt too careful as he walked. A few people stared at him, but Jack ignored them completely. As if in a trance, his feet took him to his cabin, where he ignored Dorman and wordlessly sat on his bed.

His eyes closed. He sank in meditation.

Inside his soul, the many insights swam freely. The endless space around his Dao Tree was covered with visions of the mortals hed observed in the Mortality Chamber, each laughing, crying, or struggling in their ordinary lives.

As a cultivator advanced, their bodies and minds were transformed, but their hearts remained human. They still possessed the emotions and weaknesses of mortalsthey were just better at working with them. Understanding oneself was important, even to immortals, because it allowed them to realize their utmost potential and rise to their apex.

Copy Jack was also present in Jacks soul world. Ever since that time hed been struck by the Life Drop, hed grown cold and distant. Occasionally, he would erupt with jovialty and social mood, but most often he just liked to sit on his own, relaxing and enjoying the simple life he led inside Jacks soul. Right now, he gaped at the void, immersed in the memory fragments.

Hey, Copy Jack, Jack said with a smile.

Hey, Copy Jack replied, not glancing over. Jack shook his head, then once again sat cross-legged. His Dao Tree was at the front, and the memory fragments flowed around him.

When a mortal experienced important events, memories often lingered in their minds. What they needed to do was sit down and try to resolve them. Jack was experiencing the same thing, if a bit more directly.

His hands moved through the void. The memory fragments swirled around him, clashing with each other in sparks of emotion. Jack didnt hurry. He let the memories take their course as he slowly dove into each of them, experiencing them anew and comprehending them fully. These fragments were the distilled essence of his three months in mortalitythey were not great in number or size.

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As he absorbed their meaning, the fragments lost their luster. They turned colorless and empty, almost two-dimensional, then slowly collapsed into their most vital essence. Pure emotions now circled Jack. Moving his hands, he beckoned them closer, weaving them together into a tapestry of mortality, where opposite extremes blended together like water of different rivers.

As he held the tapestry afloat, a fist shimmered into existence before him. It was purple and cleanhis fist, a manifestation of his Dao. As it hovered there, it exuded a feeling of absolute powerbut Jack could feel that power was unorganized, disjointed from reality. It lacked purpose. Or, to be precise, its purpose lacked depth.

Slowly, Jack morphed the tapestry of emotions into a thin sheet, then draped it over the fist. He could feel the two concepts colliding. His willpower pressed down and forced them to merge, until the fist was covered in shadows of laughter and tears, joys and sorrows.

Like forged metal, part of its aimless power had been transformed into a blade of emotions.

Jack admired his creation. Then, he gently pushed a palm forward, urging that fist to sink inside his Dao Tree, making it part of the whole. Finally, he felt something click inside himthe insights had been digested, and his Dao had grown. The process was complete.

His eyes opened in the real world. He felt physically and mentally drainedhe could use a nap.

Dorman? he asked. How long did I take?

The meditating cultivator stirred. Six days, he replied.

Jack nodded. Absorbing the insights had taken twice as long as getting them That felt about right, for now. But it had still been nine days. In his one-year deadline to reach the top hundred, and in the six months it would take him to duel that large woman, nine days were not a negligible amount of time.

At least, his troubles were not without gain.

Congratulations! You have developed the Dao Skill, Fist of Mortality I.

Fist of Mortality I: One fist contains a thousand emotions. Through this skill, you can add a Will component to your attacks and attempt to confuse the opponent.

Jack gave a thin smile. It had been a while since the System spoke to him, much less acknowledge his efforts. In truth, after reaching his current level, the System was becoming less and less useful. Even this skill had been entirely developed by Jack. The System had not helped with forming it, nor could it help with using it. It was simply stating the results of his meditation.

But, still, having his insights confirmed felt nice.

One more skill he thought, looking at the ceiling. Is it enough?

Spending nine days to earn a Dao Skill was more than worth it. It wouldnt be too useful, at least not at the first tier, but it could enhance his battle prowess by a small degree. If he could achieve such results every nine days, he would be happy.

Unfortunately, that was impossible. The first time in each Dao Chamber would yield the best results. If he wanted to double his current comprehension of Mortality, he would need to spend ten or fifteen days in the Mortality Chamber, if not a month. That was just impossible. He could only slowly progress like everyone else.

But Jack didnt want to be like everyone else. He wanted to be better. He was still soaring through the ranksif he wasted his momentum to focus on slow comprehension, it would just be ridiculous.

I should try a new Dao chamber next time, he thought. But which one?

There werent many compatible chambers for him. Life was one, as was Space. As for the rest, they mainly pertained to the elements, with which hed never had any special contact. At this point, comprehending a new Dao from scratch just wasnt worth it.

Without a tremendous amount of Dao stones, he couldnt get significant benefits from the Dao Chamber within a year. At least, not significant enough to catapult his strength forward.

Likewise, his cultivation couldnt grow too quickly. Even if he could cultivate in the third or fourth floor of the Heavy Pagoda, where he could progress many times faster than other geniuses of his level, it just wasnt enough. Cultivation in the C-Grade happened over centuries. Wishing for meaningful advances within just a year was empty talk. The only way would be for him to possess a great number of Dao stones, which could directly increase his cultivation as long as his Dao understanding could keep up.

As for his body tempering, while it was extremely useful, it was also constrained by time. The stronger his body was, the more difficult it would be to reach the next level. Within a year, he would at most be able to increase his bodily strength by another thirty or forty percent.

Combining the three approaches of cultivation, Dao meditation, and body tempering, Jack was confident he could achieve his deadlines. He would defeat the large woman in six months and reach the top hundred ranks within a year.

But his goal wasnt those things. He yearned for the peak of cultivation. To reach it, he had to completely shatter every expectation and progress at speeds that others found impossible. Meeting those deadlines was only the floor of his dreams; he hoped to rise even faster.

Moreover, the hidden realm expedition in a year would contain some of the top nine-fruit C-Grades. If he just reached the top hundred ranks, he couldnt contend with themhow could he hope to secure any important lucky chances?

No. He needed to advance even faster. He had to progress with unstoppable momentum, even if that made his foundation a bit shaky in the short term. He could always stabilize it later.

And the only way to progress as quickly as he hoped were Dao stones.

Once again, Jack ran into the wall called wealth. If he just had infinite Dao stones, all his problems would be solvedbut, unfortunately, he didnt. The nine stones he received per month seemed like a fortune, but they were wholly inadequate to fully utilize the Dao Chamber, let alone using them to cultivate.

Luckily, Jack had a plan to make Dao stones. A ton of them. He hadnt become a healer for no reason, goddammit!

It was time to finally utilize Jacks Life Stones.