Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 370: Six Months

The Space Chamber was unlike anything Jack had ever experienced. As soon as he was sucked into its illusion, he found himself floating inside a small solar system. Or, maybe, it was him that was large.

His body was the size of the sun. Seven planets orbited that sun at random distances, along with a slew of other celestial bodiesmeteors, comets, gasses, moons. Jack gaped. The sun was blinding, filling this space with light, and the colorful comet tails speared through the cosmos in resplendent beauty.

It was wonderful.

Edgar would love this was Jacks first thought before he inspected the chamber more deeply. He quickly saw the point: with him being at this size, and with all other distractions cut away, the effect of curved space on this solar system was plain to see.

The entire cosmos was strung through by faint lines. They spread from end to end of this space, and although they were straight, they also curved around the celestial bodies as if this entire place was a taut sheet draped over a gap. The lines were space; they highlighted its curvature, letting Jack use his eyes to inspect them.

The sun, planets, and smaller bodies, all at his behest. Lines drawn over space itself. Jack used a finger to punch through space, finding it effortless, and discovered that even its inner void was covered in lines. They were a squiggly mess, of course, governed by unknown laws, but it didnt matter. He was finally able to interact with the mysterious space between space, the interspace.

Given enough time, the comprehensions he could gain here were endless!

Jack grinned with excitement and sat cross-legged. The entire solar system fell under his gaze. His Dao perception spread out, tracing every change. While he was acquainted with the basic principles of space from his time on Earth, knowing was one thing and seeing was another. Finally, he could interact with space as he liked, observe it in a vacuum, and see the clearly visible truths that were usually hidden.

The Dao of Space was in plain sight. Meditating on it here would offer ten times the advantages with half the effort! Not to mention that he already had an affinity to Space thanks to his previous class, Cosmic Fist.

In the Cathedral, Dao understanding had been one of Jacks weaknessesbut now, he could finally begin to make up for it.

I love this place, he thought, then sank into meditation.

***

On the first month after the hidden realm announcement, Jack had spent twelve Dao stones.

On the second, he had thirty-four. Twenty-one went to renting the Space Chamber for a week, while the rest were cleanly absorbed by Jack to enhance his cultivation.

On the third month, Osmu Sosmu raised the price of life stones to two Dao stones apiece, so Jack received sixty Dao stones. Along with his and Marcuss wage, they totalled to seventy-six.

Upon visiting the Dao Chamber, Baron Longform had sent his lackeys to book both the Mortality and Space chambers for ten days. Thanks to prices going up, it cost him ninety Dao stones. He was certainly putting in the capital, but Jack only laughed and walked away. In truth, meditating in the Dao Chamber and body tempering were interoperable. There was no harm in waiting ten days to book the chamber of his choice. Therefore, he booked the Space Chamber in the middle of the month, content with letting Baron waste a bunch of his Dao stones.

On the fourth month, Baron Longform came up with even more stones. He had to be supported by other top rankers as well, because the amount his lackeys showed with no less than two hundred! Jack let them spend freely for the first fifteen days of the month, then directly offered seven stones per day and secured the Space Chamber for a week. His own income had increased as wellthe life stones now sold for three Dao stones a piece, netting him a total monthly income of a hundred Dao stones!

At this point, their war of resources had begun to escalate. The ripples were felt across the Cathedralmany disciples wanted to meditate on the Mortality and Space Chambers, but they just couldnt. Their prices had risen from four and three stones per day to eight and seven respectively. It was madness.

It was unknown whether Baron Longform and his accomplishes had hidden stashes of Dao stones, or if they were asking for favors and borrowing from others. Either way, they were going all-out for the chance to earn the World Anchor. Entire fortunes were crumbling like sand castles.

But all their efforts could only slightly inconvenience Jack. They hadnt accounted for his newfound wealth or the fact that he could spend a lot of time tempering his body. If it was anyone else, the fastest path to advancement would be spending most of their time in the Dao Chamber. Therefore, from Baron Longforms perspective, what was occurring seemed like a victorythey had limited Jack to only using the Dao Chamber seven days a month, and they also forced him to spend over fifty Dao stones for it. They were taking away both his Dao Chamber time and cultivation resources; in their eyes, they had him cornered, and so they gritted their teeth and kept spending wildly.

In truth, Jack was fine. He possessed more Dao stones than they could fathom. Seven days per month at the Dao Chamber was his optimal point; he also needed to spend roughly two weeks tempering his body, as well as a few days digesting his insights from the chamber. Finally, two days every month were spent at the Heavy Pagoda, where Jack absorbed Dao stones like candy. Under the combination of the stones and the pagodas extremely dense Dao, his cultivation was advancing by leaps and bounds, steadily approaching maturity of the first fruit.

Jacks progress was close to optimal. All Baron and his accomplishes were achieving was to waste their considerably deep pockets. The only real winner here was the Dao Chamber itself, which brought in massively increased profits. If this was all part of the Head Envoys plan, Jack would have to tip his hat.

Moreover, due to this war of resources, the anti-Jack movement was beginning to lose ground with the other disciples. Most top rankers had already spent so much time at the Dao Chamber that they didnt mind staying away for a bit, but that wasnt true for the hundreds of mid-rankers. They were the ones who suffered from the Dao Chamber prices going up, as well as the permanent occupation of certain chambers.

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At the same time, the bro squad discreetly but steadily advertised their brotherhood, forming a stark contrast against the top rankers selfish behavior.

On the fifth month, the price of life stones remained at three Dao stones apiece. It had stabilized, but the profits were more than enough for Jack. A hundred Dao stones entered his pockets every month. Then, fifty were spent at the Dao Chamber and another fifty were absorbed while cultivating in the Heavy Pagoda. He also saved a few for later.

As for Baron Longforms camp, even their coffers had begun to empty. They could no longer up the ante. Jacks Dao Chamber usage remained at seven days a month, which was plenty. He spent all of that time in the Space Chamber. Unlike the Mortality Chamber, space was practical and played to Jacks strengths. It could refine his teleportation, indirectly increasing his speed, and also contained many meteors on which he could meditate to increase his awareness of Meteor Punch.

While Meteor Punch itself didnt evolve, another skill did.

Congratulations! Dao Skill Space Walk III has been upgraded to Space Mastery II.

Space Mastery II: The power of space lies at your fingertips. This versatile skill allows you to incorporate the Dao of Space into your movements and attacks, as well as teleport quicker, farther, and with less preparation time.

The description was simple, but the skill itself was godly. It added a whole new weapon to Jacks repertoire. So far, he had only been using space as a medium to teleport, but the more he meditated in the Space Chamber, the more uses he discovered. It was the fabric of reality; how could it be useless? How could it not be practical to the extreme?

The more time one spent at a Dao Chamber, the smaller their benefits would be. However, Jack had just gotten started. His comprehension advanced by leaps and bounds, increasing his combat strength.

The Space Chamber was a gift that kept on giving.

As the sixth month came and went, the situation didnt change. Jack spent seven days at the Space Chamber and another three digesting his new insights. He spent nine days tempering his body, one painful fusion at a time, and then two days in the Heavy Pagodas fourth level, where he cultivated using the dense Dao and the many Dao stones he had available.

Throughout these six months, his training regime had been absolutely luxurious. Even most top-rankers couldnt afford seven days at the Dao Chamber each month, let alone using fifty Dao stones to cultivate. Thankfully, Jack kept his wealth carefully hidden, or anyone who heard might have suffered from apoplectic outrage.

On the end of the sixth month, Jack exited the Heavy Pagoda and calmly floated down. Everyone who saw him felt their vision tingling. It was like his mere physical body carried the aura of stars, as if he was a solid mountain in human form. Most people didnt know the cause of this aura and attributed it to Jack cultivating some weird Dao.

Thanks to his body tempering, Jacks body contained an immense, overbearing, tyrannical aura. If he let it loose, it would frighten everyone sillybut he kept it closely contained, revealing only the slightest hints of his power.

One week before the six-month duel, Jack sat alone in his cabin. He shut the door. Even Dorman had been temporarily pushed out, because breakthroughs warranted absolutely no distractions.

After six months of intense cultivation, Jacks first Dao Fruit had finally reached maturity. It had doubled in size since its creation, and the aura it contained was far more potent. However, it could no longer grow, making all the energy that filled Jacks soul world obsolete.

It was time to create a second fruit.

The minor breakthroughs inside the C-Gradethe development of new fruitswere not difficult. As long as ones foundation was solid and they had enough energy, it was only a matter of deciding which Dao manifestation to use.

However, being not difficult didnt mean that all fruits were created equal.

Jack sat in meditation, considering his insights. The Dao of the Fist dominated his soul, the lenses through which he viewed the world. It was also his very first fruit. For every fruit after that, he would need to infuse another manifestation of his Dao.

Thankfully, hed just spent five months meditating on the Dao of Space.

The ten Dao stones around him turned to dust, their energy easily sucked into his pores, yet it wasnt even nearly enough. It sank into his body like a drop in an empty bucket.

Jack grinned. This was exactly what he expected.

When developing new fruits, the more energy one had, the larger the fruit they could create. Most cultivators gathered all the Dao stones they could, but they were constrained by their bodily endurance and soul stability. In both of those respects, normal cultivators couldnt hold a candle to Jack.

Fifteen stones were enough for most cultivators. Jack had fifty.

All those crystals were spread in concentric circles around Jack. The second circle contained fifteen stones, while the third contained twenty-five. All of them disintegrated at once.

A vast amount of energy invaded Jacks body like galloping horses, wrecking his flesh and bones. Under such pressure, most C-Grade cultivators would have had their bodies broken and their organs melted. Jack could barely handle it.

Gritting his teeth, he drove all that energy into his soul, enduring the pain of the red hot flows searing his flesh. His soul world was about to burstendless currents of energy flared through the void, drawn in by the Dao Trees roots. The entire tree lit up like Christmas. Jack was floating in the soul world, enduring the pain of the tree almost exploding and his body breaking apart. He sealed the flowers, forcing the energy to remain contained inside the tree, slamming into the trunks insides like raging dragons.

A normal cultivator would have long exploded, but Jacks Dao Tree had been enhanced by the Life Drop and was extremely stable. Moreover, his Dao of the Fist was powerful, his foundation was perfect, and the hardness of his body carried over in his soul world, stabilizing it from the outside.

But the strain remained extreme.

Jacks eyes were bloodshot. Converge! he shouted, his voice echoing across the entire world. The Dao stilled. Under the guidance of his will, it then rammed towards an end of the branches, nearly blowing them up. All that energy dove into a single flowerthat flower did not explode, but rather expanded, bloating until it transformed into a deep blue shape. Golden points dotted it like stars, while meteor tails streaked through its surface.

The new fruit sucked in energy like mad, growing at a painfully slow rate. Jacks hands were shaking as he drove more and more power into the fruit, until his Dao Tree, his soul world, and his entire body were devoid of energy. He felt empty. Finally, the energy ran out.

Jack slumped to the floor, falling into a deep slumber. Deep inside his soul, two fruits now hung from the tree branches, proud and carefree; one was purple and shaped as a fist, while the other was spherical, dark blue, and dotted like the starry night sky. This second fruit contained all of Jacks insights into the Dao of Space, enhancing them and representing how the fist interacted with space.

When Jack finally awoke, he felt rising excitement. Only six months after his last breakthrough, he was now a two-fruit C-Grade. Moreover, his fruit was larger than what most cultivators could achieve.

After completing his breakthrough, Jack spent a week stabilizing his foundation. Finally, his eyes opened, seeming like they contained endless stars. Six months had passed, his strength had risen by leaps and bounds, and he was itching to test his might against some of the brightest geniuses in the universe.

The time of his arranged duel had come. And Jack was determined to absolutely knock it out of the park.