Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 230: Cultivating in the D-Grade

When it came to Dao Skills, Jack only had a few he could test right now. He opted to start from the weakest.

Space Walk was the upgraded version of Ghost Step. It let Jack teleport anywhere within a mile from himself, which was a simple yet extremely overpower ability. Sure, it was exhausting to use, but it was teleportation. And for an entire mile.

In hindsight, calling it the weakest skill was misleading, but oh well.

Jack looked up at the mountain peak and stepped through the folds of space. He felt something resistlike he was trying to walk through a wall of extremely thick gel. A large quantity of Dao left his soul and assaulted the gel, forcing it to yield.

Jack managed to take a step. The world spun for a moment, and he caught a glimpse of darkness. Next thing he knew, the air was rushing away from him, and he was halfway up the mountain. He looked back down, where Brock was waving at himnothing more than a dot in the distance.

Heh, Jack chuckled, glancing at the mountain peak. He used Space Walk again. Instantly, he was standing at the very peak of the mountain. The clouds were closer now, and their smell reached here, reminding Jack of a rotting carcassa smell hed grown familiar with in the Forest of the Strong.

He was exhausted from the two Space Walks, too, but he had no mind for that.

The view was breathtaking. As far as he could see, he was the tallest thing in all directions. The crisp air of this planet showed off a brown wasteland stretching to the curved horizon, dotted with hills and cracks. He caught a glimpse of vegetation in the distance, but it was tinywho knew what plant could survive here.

Brock stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up at him, and the gray clouds were cracked in parts, revealed hints of the green sky beyond.

Jack took a deep breath, uncaring about the toxicity and acrid smell. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment. He couldnt stop the ends of his lips from rising.

This is it. Why I left Earth. What cultivation offers me. This poisonous beauty and this distant worldonly thanks to my power could I ever see it. Thank you, world, for trying to kill me.

He opened his eyes, letting them shine with stars. His Daothe Fistburst out from inside him and filled his entire being. Even after he left this mountain, this kind of scene, this wondrous feeling wouldnt disappear. It would stay with him forever. This would be his life from now onevery day until he died.

He loved it. Power filled him, coupled with exhilaration.

Watch me, Brock! he roared, jumping up and taking to the sky. He turned back down to stare at the mountain peak beneath his feet, a dead titan of brown rock. He clenched his fist. The sky was torn asunder and the clouds dispersed as the entire world was sucked into Jacks fist.

Of his remaining Dao Skills, he couldnt test Iron Fist Style, Brutalizing Aura, or Neutron Star Body without a sparring partner. Which left only one of them.

Light and sound disappeared. Only a large purple meteor remained, hovering in the sky above the mountain peak, silent in its lethality. Jack grinned wildly. He swung down. With all sound gone, only his roar remained, a herald of destruction: METEOR PUNCH!

The meteor was nailed into the mountain peak. A purple shockwave spread faster than Jack could react, tossing him several hundred feet into the sky. A terrible crashing sound hit him like the rumble of a giant, threatening to burst his eardrums, and the sounds of demolition filled the air. The wind was strong enough that he spun several times before righting himself. The dust cloud was so oceanically massive that he felt lost in another world.

Shit! he thought before calming himself. Well, nevermind. Brock wont die to some flying rocks.

He waited, floating in mid-air. Slowly, the dust cleared, and when it did, he was left stunned.

There was no mountain peak anymore. The top one-third of the mountain had been shattered, sent flying in all directions as rocks and dust. The mountain now ended in a bowl-shaped crater, like God had reached down from the sky and scooped up its peak.

Jack expected something similar, but not nearly at this scale. This was almost cataclysmic. The crater had a radius of at least a hundred feet, and a depth of fifty. He could fit an entire building block in there.

If it ever rained on this planet, this mountain would be topped by an actual lake.

Holy shit, he eloquently expressed his shock.

But shock was better shared. Jack glanced at the foot of the mountain, where Brock stood in a patch of empty ground surrounded by rubble. His Staff of Stone was in his hands, as hed probably used it to deflect the flying rocks.

Besides everything else, however, Brocks monkey face was stretched in an expression of utter stun. His eyes were wide, his jaw almost touching the ground, and his mouth gaping so widely that he must have swallowed at least some of the dust still flying around.

Jack admired his scene of destruction for another moment before flying to Brocks side.

Bro said the brorilla, unable to form words.

Hehe. Cool, huh? Jack replied smugly. And I didnt even use my Dao Domain.

Brocks eyes went from shock, to glee, to anticipation. He set his jaw and nodded to himselfprobably affirming his decision to become an immortal, too.

Of course you can, Jack said. I suspect youre even more talented than me.

Brock shook his head, then gave a thumbs-up. Bro awesome.

I am, Brock. But so are you.

Yes.

Jack laughed. Anyway, I think thats enough testing. We should run. This impact was larger than I anticipated, so maybe people will come check whats going on.

Brock considered it for a moment. Yes.

Perfect. Hop on.

The two of them flew away at top speed, in the direction opposite the Animal Kingdom camp, snickering all the while.

***

The rest of the day went by quickly. Jack and Brock camped at yet another canyon, far away from both the teleporter town and the Animal Kingdom camp. As they could just place their starship on the ground and live inside it, they were pretty comfortable.

They didnt have much to do, so they spent the day with Jack teaching Brock new words.

When night came, Brock retreated to the cabin, and Jack stayed in the helm room. Both were cultivating.

Jack sat in the middle of the helm room, legs crossed and eyes closed. His chest rose and fell rhythmically, and the Dao came and went around him like it was breathing, too.

The nature of cultivation changed when one reached the D-Grade.

Before, killing things had been Jacks sole way to progress. The System awarded him levels and enhanced his body, mind, and soul, while also discreetly helping with the Dao.

Starting from the D-Grade, however, killing was no longer necessary. Jack now possessed the ability to engage directly with the ambient Dao, absorbing it into his soul to become stronger. At regular intervals, the System acknowledged his efforts, awarded him with a level-up, and helped him utilize this Dao he had absorbed to enhance himself as he pleasedthrough the use of stat points.

Old Man Spirit had explained this before Jack left Trial Planet, and it brought all sorts of questions into the fore.

Was this how things always worked? Had the System been saturating Jacks body with the Dao since Level 1? Was that where all stat points came from? And, if so, what specific Dao did it use back then?

Maybe it was a combination of all Daos, or any Dao that was readily available. Then, how did the System use it to create his Skills? How did they work? What was the connection?

And, if not for the System, would that process happen by itself? Would the excess power of the Dao naturally spread across the cultivators body, mind, and soul, enhancing them in the same way that stat points did? That would explain why Brock, despite not having access to the System, didnt seem disadvantaged compared to other cultivators. But then, why did the System go through such trouble to achieve what could be done by itself?

The more things Jack learned, the less he took for granted, and the more questions he had to answer. Everything had a reason for being the way it washe just had to find it.

Thankfully, he had plenty of time.

Right now, he could focus on absorbing enough power from the world to become stronger.

The multi-colored motes of Dao surrounded him in all directions. He could see them; particles that moved in currents and obscure patterns. There were truths in their circulation that he couldnt currently comprehend, but that was fine. His job was simple.

Relaxing himself, he spread his perception outside his body. It brushed against the particles, which got excited at his mental touch. He carefully shifted through them to discover the Daos most compatible to his, then projected his own Dao like a sieve to separate these particles from all the other Daos. When they were pure, or as pure as he could make them, he slowly drew them in, attracting them to his Dao Tree like moths to a flameor like baby ducklings to their mother.

The particles swooped in and joined his Dao Tree, merging with it and making it stronger.

A Dao Treejust like a Dao Seed or a Dao Rootwas a storage of power, among other things. It could hold a finite amount of Dao particles inside it. Currently, Jack was drawing in more than his core could take, maintaining a concentration of energy that was slightly uncomfortable. As he did that, the Dao pushed against the walls of his Dao Tree from the inside, increasing its size and storage space in a painfully slow manner.

But it did work.

Level up! You have reached Level 132.

Still with his eyes closed, he smiled.

Of course, not everyone advanced at the same speed. The better ones foundations, and the stronger their Dao, the faster they would advance, since they could draw in the Dao more efficiently and compress it harder without harming their core.

Jack had a perfect foundation. Naturally, his cultivation speed blew most other cultivators out of the water, which was how he got one level in just a few days. Most people would spend weeks to achieve the same increase.

Unfortunately, his leveling speed would decrease the further he advanced. Even at his speed, reaching the C-Grade at Level 250 would take years. And, if he wanted to defeat the planetary overseer in time, he only had eight months.

There were other ways to save Earth, which was why he was heading to the Exploding Sun, but not meeting his goal left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Well, whatever, he thought, opening his eyes. Ill try my best, and whatever happens happens. Maybe Ill find a way.

The sun blinded him.

What the fuck?

It had been night when he started cultivating, and it only felt like a few minutes ago. Yet, reality was hard to challenge: the sun burned in the middle of the sky, bright and burning. Even the clouds had disappeared today.

Brock, Jack said, looking around. Brock, who was lounging on a chair with his hands behind his head and his feet resting on a stool, jumped.

Bro.

How long was I cultivating for?

Brock raised ten fingers, then another five.

Fifteen hours? Are you kidding me?

No.

Wow. It felt like fifteen minutes. Brock shrugged, while Jack sighed. I should keep an eye out for this Oh! The teleportation!

He hurriedly fished the buzzer from his pocket. Thankfully, it wasnt glowing. Torm had mentioned the wait was usually two to three days. Who knew what happened if you missed your turn?

We should move closer, Jack said. If the buzzer activates while were far away, we may not be able to return in time.

Brock agreed and headed to the helmto which hed taken a liking. Their ship gently rose from the ground, out of the canyon, and into the sky. They could have also flown on Jacks back, but there was no need. The ship burned the infinite Dao as the fuel.

They cruised through the sky at a comfortable pacealmost at mach speed. They passed by the mountain where Jack had tested his Meteor Punch, finding a few Exploding Sun officials scratching their heads at the new crater.

They laughed as they passed far overhead.

Next, they also flew close to the Animal Kingdom encampment. They kept their distance, of course, and they were also shielded from inspection inside their starship. Nobody would realize who they were.

However, the prison camp was slightly different than theyd left it. The prisoners were no longer in their cage. Instead, they were now out of the canyon, using pickaxes to break up rocks in the vicinity. Dark iron shackles were wrapped around their wrists, and nobody was using the Dao.

The sight birthed fury inside Jack. There was absolutely no reason for the prisoners to be breaking rocksthe guards were making them do it just for fun, under this planets burning sun and in the toxic air. Meanwhile, they, the slave drivers, were resting in the shade and laughing.

However, before Jacks rage could unravel fully, it was suddenly overwhelmed by surprise.

Because he recognized someone down there.

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