Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 404: Inheritance Trial

The lava lake welcomed them yet again. It was calm and silent—evidently full of hidden danger.

Yet, after reading the skeleton’s last message, they suspected it was safe.

Jack took the lead. He stepped on the first stone over the sea of lava. Each stone was barely large enough for a foot—one slip could end at a dip in condensed lava.

Of course, Jack could fly, but he didn’t do so. He thought it disrespectful. Instead, he followed the stone steps through the lava, experiencing its blazing heat which made even him sweat. Every root that stood out from the lava was like a dragon head staring him down.

Nothing jumped out. No monster rose with jaws wide open to swallow him. Jack smoothly crossed the lava lake and arrived before the massive tree. He was a speck of dust before it—barely an ant. As he looked up, his gaze was lost in endless leaves and verdant greenery. Though ancient, this tree was full of life.

Back under the volcano, Jack and Brock had discovered a tree that lived and thrived in an underground pool of lava. They did not know its name, but it was certainly a heavenly treasure, a medicinal plant of the highest quality.

But this current tree was far, far superior. Whereas the previous tree lived in underground magma, this one was rooted in lava dozens of times hotter, like substantialized Fire Dao. Moreover, the previous tree had only been the size of a human, while this one rose for miles. Its branches possibly ran under the entire hidden realm.

Jack suspected that this place was the very heart of the realm.

He took a deep breath. Reverence filled him. Then, he took the last few steps and arrived before the tree.

A small square indentation met his gaze. Its edges were straight, as if purposely cut, and innumerable tiny lines spread over its surface. Jack didn’t need to look to know that the size of this square matched perfectly with the key in his hands.

“Insert the key,” a voice rang inside his mind. It was not the voice of someone present, but a pre-recorded message that reached whoever approached the tree. Jack could only imagine that the dead cultivator had heard this message countless times, agonizing over his lack of a key. He must have received no other clues, no messages, no acknowledgement of his existence besides this impersonal requirement he could never fulfill.

Such a death was truly cruel. Who knows how many times the cultivator had shouted at the tree, receiving only silence as a response? How many times he attacked, only for his sword to be bounced back?

Thankfully, Jack had solved the cubes before diving into the hole. He raised the key in his hand and gently pressed it into the indentation, finding that it matched. All the innumerable tiny lines of the key and indentation combined. A perfect union was formed. The key shone green, and suddenly, Jack saw green lines flare to life. They started from the location of his key and spread outward, snaking across the tree. They were like runes—like a divine tapestry that hugged this entire tree, this entire realm.

Before long, the tree was covered in these runes. They were faint, yet clearly present—and they spoke of secrets Jack was not the least privy to. This was not about Life or Death; it was something else.

Suddenly, the tree flared to life as if awakened. The cavern shook. Blazing green erupted from within the bark, and the leaves far above stood straight, suddenly filled with vigor.

“I am Archon Green Dragon,” a voice calmly intoned. It echoed everywhere—the majesty inside it was so dense it gave Jack a sense of awe, as if staring at the endless starry heavens. “And this is my inheritance trial!”

Jack’s mind was shaken. Suppressing the urge to bow, he looked back at his friends, who were busy gawking at the tree runes.

Inheritance trials were not an unknown concept—back in Trial Planet, the Space and Labyrinth Rings were filled with all sorts of inheritances left behind by ancient powerhouses. An inheritance was the sum of its creator’s life, the path of cultivation they had carved into the universe—and they were always accompanied by a trial. Nobody wanted their inheritance grasped by weaklings. The ancient masters set harsh trials for their descendants, testing their talent to deem them worthy.

Across the universe, inheritances and trials were not uncommon at all. However, the inheritance of an Archon was a completely different matter.

This was a being at the very peak of the cultivation world. Throughout the years, how many Archons could there have been? Ten? Twenty? A hundred? Even the Old Gods were only strong Archons.

The inheritance of such a character was absolutely world-shaking, but that was not the first thing that came to Jack’s mind.

The stronger the master, the better the inheritance. And the better the inheritance, the stricter the criteria with which a trial taker was judged. The trial of an Archon would be hundreds and thousands of times harder than a random B-Grade’s. Only the very peak geniuses of the universe could hope to meet the exacting standards of such a powerhouse.

Was Jack such a person?

It wasn’t that he underestimated himself. He was the most talented cultivator of the Cathedral, with potential that vastly outstripped his contemporaries. Yet, before an Archon, that was nothing.

Archons could live for a million years, or maybe even more. Being the greatest genius of a generation meant nothing to them, because they had seen thousands of generations come and go, and their trial would be open to challengers for many more thousands.

Jack was very talented, sure. He had worked hard and fought hard, securing all sorts of lucky chances. Amongst C-Grades, his current potential could be said to be one of the greatest in the universe. But wasn’t that the case for all the peak geniuses of every generation?

Jack’s true competition was not his contemporaries, but the greatest talents that had emerged over the last hundreds of thousands of years. In such a gathering, even Min Ling could only be considered average. As for Jack, he had no idea how he stacked up.

There was a saying in the universe: Three years to the D-Grade, ten to the C-Grade, a hundred to the B-Grade, and a thousand to the A-Grade. That was the minimum cultivation speed of a prime genius at every Grade. They were so far ahead of the power curve that their cultivation galloped forth at great speeds, rushing to the ends of their potential very quickly. When it began to slow down, that was when they knew they were approaching their limit.

Of course, being a prime genius at the C-Grade did not mean they would be a prime genius at the B-Grade as well. After all, the crowd they competed against would grow vastly more competent with every breakthrough. Everyone that reached the middle B-Grade had been a prime genius in their youth.

Jack was one of those prime geniuses, but in the entire universe, such a character would emerge every few centuries and live for hundreds of thousands of years. They weren’t too rare. The only reason he hadn’t met many of them was that they spent too little time at the low Grades, making it hard for two prime geniuses to coincide.

That all goes to say, the pool of candidates that an Archon’s trial looked at was far more expansive than what Jack had seen in the Cathedral. Even if he was the greatest C-Grade in the current universe, that was not too great a title.

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The only hint he had of his standing amongst prime geniuses of other generations was the Life Drop trial he had passed at Trial Planet. That was a trial for a relic of an Old God. It had to have high standards—a point proven by how Jack, who was above and beyond any other E-Grade at his level, had only barely survived.

And, a drop of blood from an Archon was naturally inferior to another Archon’s true inheritance. It was highly probable that the Life Drop trial was not even arranged by Enas, but by his followers.

The difficulty of this trial would be even higher. And that was why, as soon as Jack heard the words inheritance trial, he blanched.

Quickly, however, he recovered his composure. He had not failed yet—facing an opportunity to compare himself against the highest standards, he felt his competitive spirit boil over, his excitement rise.

Could he succeed? If he did…just how precious would the reward be? That was the inheritance of a Archon! A peak existence of the universe!

The green runes spread fully across the tree, then stopped. Their glow slowly receded to the point where they were barely visible. However, the tree remained in a vigorous state, and the energy density remained high.

The voice of Archon Green Dragon resounded again, regal and impartial. “I was born as a green dragon. My body follows the Dao of Life, but I reached transcendence through the path of Space and Time! That is my highest inheritance, and I refuse to see it wasted. From my true heir, I demand no less than perfection!

“Only those who understand Life can solve my Life Cube test and earn the key. Now, you must meditate on my spacetime runes and unravel the complexity of this cavern. Only then will you possess the qualifications to attempt the true trial and, should you succeed, refine the Dragonlife Realm Heart supporting this minor realm I have created!”

Hearing this, Jack was finally enlightened. No wonder the diviners misjudged the grade of this place. It wasn’t a dead powerhouse’s inner world, but a separate dimension that Archon Green Dragon had once established!

What power was that! This green dragon had comprehended spacetime to such a degree that he sundered it apart, creating his own realm within the folds of the universe!

The spacetime inheritance of such a character would be nothing short of heaven-defying!

But, that was only on the condition that Jack could claim it.

“There is no time limit for this trial,” the ancient voice resounded again. “You may meditate on these runes until you succeed. If you fail, you will have to die here—your life is a small price to pay for the chance to acquire my legacy.”

“Hey!” Brock shouted in the distance. “Not cool!”

However, the voice could either not hear him or completely ignored him. “No further assistance will be provided. This cavern will be completely sealed up until you succeed or die—nobody will be able to enter or exit unless their understandings in spacetime surpass mine. Moreover, to avoid the interference of other Archons, the entire realm will be sealed off as well. I wish you luck!”

With that, the voice echoed away, leaving Jack stunned. The entire realm is sealed… Could it be…

“Jack!” Min Ling shouted. “The entrance!”

He turned around just in time to see the hole they’d fallen through disappear. Only stone stood in its place as if there had never been a hole. Moreover, Jack felt heavy spacetime restrains cover the entire cavern. The stone became even harder, and the already-locked space became completely impenetrable.

It was like the magic formation running this place had been in energy-saving mode before, but it was now fully activated!

Jack looked at Min Ling and Brock, then at the tree. “Guys…” he said slowly. “I think we’re stuck.”

***

The changes weren’t limited to Jack’s cavern. Outside, the B-Grades had been holding council, debating whether to enter the hole or not. Suddenly, the entire temple shook. They sensed the walls harden, and space was completely locked down around them. Even Spacewind was completely unable to affect it. Let alone teleporting, he couldn’t even make it budge!

“What’s happening!?” everyone shouted, but it was too late. Before their very eyes, the hole leading deeper inside vanished, replaced by solid stone. They glanced at each other, then came to an instant agreement. They rushed through the corridors. Only seconds later, they arrived at the location of the nearest exit portal, only for their eyes to widen in horror.

“No…” Spacewind muttered. “This is impossible!”

Where an exit portal used to stand, there was now only stone. It wasn’t hard to imagine that the rest of the portals had disappeared as well.

They were stuck.

***

On the outside world, the four A-Grades had been calmly meditating before the entrance of the hidden realm. They wouldn’t let anyone enter or affect it. Suddenly, however, all their eyes snapped open. “The portal!” Heavenstar shouted.

The egg-shaped opening flickered. Then, it simply winked out of existence.

Boatman’s eyes widened. “No!” he growled. He instantly arrived at the portal’s previous location and jabbed his hand into spacetime, using his considerable understandings to keep the portal from collapsing.

However, how could Elder Boatman’s spacetime Dao compare with Archon Green Dragon’s? Not only was his cultivation boundary lower, but he also didn’t focus on spacetime to begin with.

Heavenstar did. He arrived only an instant later and spread his perception over the location, investigating the tiniest abnormalities. Everyone looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Finally, Heavenstar opened his eyes, his expression tinged with disbelief.

“Well?” Purity asked. “What happened? Did the portal collapse?”

“That’s not it…” Heavenstar said slowly, in a voice as if even he struggled to believe himself. “It did not collapse. It just…closed.”

Boatman frowned dangerously. “Did someone interfere?”

To affect a portal so close to them without leaving a trace, one would need to be at least a late A-Grade focusing on spacetime. Possibly even stronger.

“I don’t think that is the case.” Heavenstar shook his head. He still sounded puzzled. “It’s like…the portal no longer exists. Any connection it had to our universe has been cleanly severed. Reopening it is far beyond my powers. I dare to say that even if a spacetime Archon arrived here, they would still be unable to open it, because there is simply no connection between here and there anymore.”

“What are you saying?” Ocean asked. “How can there be no connection? Are you implying that the hidden realm is in another spacetime altogether?”

“I believe so,” Heavenstar replied.

They all frowned. Hidden realms were normally adjacent to the universe, like a pimple sticking out of someone’s skin. That was their nature. If this hidden realm was not such a case but was located in a separate spacetime instead, then it could not be the inner world of a dead expert as they expected. There were a few more alternatives, but they were all equally terrifying.

“What can we do?” Boatman asked.

“Nothing. The realm was cut off by its own inner workings. Whether it chooses to reappear or not is completely up to the realm. It could even reopen in a completely different location of our universe—though I estimate it will still be within the Heaven’s Egg galaxy.”

“So our disciples are trapped in there but there is nothing we can do about it.”

“Correct. The only other way would be for someone in the hidden realm to shatter space and reconnect with our universe, but that is completely impossible for them. Even I might fail. So… We can only hope.”

Boatman snorted. His gaze was dark and dangerous—not only was Jack in there, his most recent disciple, but also the incomparably precious death cube! Losing it would be terrible.

If he had known this would happen, then no matter how much he appreciated Jack, he would have never given him the cube.

But, not all was lost. The cube contained a wisp of Boatman’s soul; he had a deep connection to it that could even penetrate spacetime to a degree, and even while being cut-off from him like this, it could still persist for at least a year without extinguishing. If he found a peak A-Grade who specialized in spacetime…perhaps there was a chance.

Naturally, he wouldn’t let anyone else know about this.

“If that is so, there is no point in staying here,” Boatman said. “I’m leaving.”

Space parted and he departed without waiting for an answer. As for Heavenstar, he quickly ran away as well—he wouldn’t stay near Purity without Boatman for support. The two Hand of God Elders also left after some time—there was no meaning to Heavenstar lying about something so minor as a B-Grade hidden realm.

Boatman had rushed to find a peak A-Grade cultivator he had some relationship with and who also practiced spacetime. However, his attempt was doomed to fail. How could the dimension hidden by an Archon be so easy to discover? The only chance was if someone appeared who had considerably deeper understandings into spacetime than Archon Green Dragon, but…that was a pipe dream. Even if the spacetime Old Gods personally arrived, they still might not be enough.

In other words, the green dragon hidden realm had been completely isolated. And the only one with the power to change things…was Jack.

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