Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Breaking into the B-Grade was one of the most important junctures in the entire cultivation journey. Only an extremely small amount of people reached it, and even fewer could overcome it.

Only one in ten cultivators succeeded—the rest paid the ultimate price. As a result, breaking into the B-Grade was the eternal nightmare of most C-Grades—would they spend their life in mediocrity, or would they gamble everything on a small chance to reach the stars?

This breakthrough was demonized in the eyes of the masses—they viewed it as the greatest trial every cultivator had to face. Naturally, Jack’s attempt garnered a lot of attention. Every eye in and around the Death Boat was watching. If not for needing to keep their location a secret, they would have broadcasted it across the entire Black Hole Church.

“Do you think he can succeed?” a cultivator whispered in the crowd around the asteroid—as a C-Grade, he barely had the qualifications to stand here.

“Of course he will!” another replied. “So what if nine out of ten people die? This is Jack Rust! If even he fails, we are all doomed!”

“I know he will succeed,” said a third cultivator. “I just wonder how many miles he’ll reach.”

“Sovereign Heavenly Spoon made it to eight thousand miles. I don’t know if Jack Rust can reach that point, but he shouldn’t be much worse, right? Maybe seven thousand?”

“You idiot, how can you compare a mere Jack Rust to Sovereign Heavenly Spoon? That’s the greatest B-Grade of the last hundred thousand years! I say Jack Rust will reach just a bit above six thousand miles.”

“Well, I think it will be seven.”

On forming one’s inner world, only one out of every ten people succeeded. However, even those who succeeded were separated into various levels based on the size of the world they produced. The deeper and wider your Laws, the sturdier your foundation, the more you could expand your world without it collapsing.

Most people reached between one to three thousand miles across. That was the crushing majority. Almost every B-Grade Jack had faced so far had fallen in that bracket, excluding Eva Solvig and the two Supreme Ancestors of the Animal Kingdom who’d reached around four thousand miles. Spacewind and Monk Uruselam, who were still trapped in the Green Dragon Realm, had both reached the five thousand mile mark, establishing themselves as elites amongst their level. That was also why they were so much stronger than the other B-Grades at the Green Dragon Realm—the size of one’s inner world directly affected their strength.

It also served as a reference point for their potential.

Generally speaking, only those who reached above three thousand miles had a decent chance of stepping into the late B-Grade. Four thousand miles signified one had a tiny chance of reaching the peak B-Grade, and five thousand that they had a decent chance of doing the same thing.

As for reaching the A-Grade, the records were unclear. After all, A-Grade cultivators could live for as long as a million years. The most widespread theory was that almost all A-Grades had reached seven thousand miles when forming their inner world. That was also why Sovereign Heavenly Spoon, who had reached eight thousand miles, was given so much attention.

As for whether that theory was true or not, only a true A-Grade could verify it, and they weren’t easy people to ask.

“What do you think, Sage?” the Sovereign whispered, leaning towards the homeless-looking man. “Will he reach eight thousand as well?”

“You mean, if he will surpass you?” The Sage chuckled. “I do have a prediction… But there is no fun in telling you, right? It’s much better to just watch.”

“Hey! I’m the one who withholds information!”

“How the tables have turned.”

An odd light shone in the Sage’s eyes as he gazed at Jack—one of deep hope.

“What about the brorilla?” the sovereign asked again. “Surely you can tell me about him, right?”

“I would, but… I actually have no idea!” The Sage laughed. “I guess we can only wait and see.”

Dorman, who was floating beside them, didn’t say anything. Neither did Min Ling. Her eyes were glued on Jack. She’d recently achieved seven thousand miles on her breakthrough—an extremely impressive feat.

Will he surpass me? she thought, biting her lip. If he does…

Conversation about Jack’s results spread wildly across the crowd. Even inside the Death Boat, many knowledgeable people had shared the details about how this breakthrough worked, so predictions came and went. There were even betting stands in popular shops or squares. Most people bet he’d reach around seven thousand, while stragglers ranged from three to nine.

“Come one, come all!” a large-bodied merchant shouted. “The more people you bring, the higher the rewards! The winners split the entire betting pool!”

Of course, he would keep a five percent commission as the one in charge, but he didn’t feel the need to mention that. People flocked to his stand, as they did to every other. Business was booming—Jack Rust might well be the merchants’ patron saint!

However, all the excitement outside didn’t affect Jack in the slightest. He had already withdrawn his perception completely, entrusting his safety to Elder Boatman. He was floating inside his soul world, completely cut off from everything else, facing his Dao Tree.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

There was no rush. Jack gazed upon his Dao, observing its every nook and cranny, every tiny detail. This was the complete culmination of his eight years of cultivation.

A purple fist hovered at the bottom, facing downward—its five fingers were colored purple, silver, green, red, and black. Besides the purple thumb which represented the Fist, the core of his Dao, each of the other fingers represented a Dao Root he’d once developed: Indomitable Will, Life, Power, Weakness. The foundation of his Dao.

The top of the fist was an empty wrist, inside which was buried the Life Drop—an extreme treasure of Life, a processed drop of blood from Enas himself. Above the Life Drop grew Jack’s Dao Tree—nine feet tall, with roots hugging the fist below, a solid trunk leading to a crown of green leaves and purple flowers.

Nine fruits were also there, each fully grown: Fist, Space, Life, Death, Battle, Spanking, Brotherhood, Time, and Protection. The cornerstones of his cultivation path. Every single one of them felt just right—perfectly suited for him and the rest of the fruits.

Finally, a transparent, heart-shaped crystal filled with Dao runes orbited the tree crown—it was the realm heart he’d inherited from Archon Green Dragon, the foundational block of a separate world. It hadn’t helped him much so far, but it was a great treasure—this was where it would begin to show its worth.

Between it and the Life Drop, alongside many inferior treasures, Jack could be considered extremely well equipped for this breakthrough.

There wasn’t much else in his soul, currently. Copy Jack was floating about, eager to watch the change, eyes filled with deep anticipation. The door on the trunk of the Dao Tree remained shut, with the turtle—or Saint Venerable Thousand Shell—sleeping behind it. Who knew how long it would remain like that. Jack worried a bit about what would happen to the turtle during his breakthrough, but he could neither contact it nor wait for it to awaken. He just hoped for the best.

His eyes snapped into focus. He drew a deep breath, summoning energy from everywhere inside his soul. Power shimmered at his fingertips, flooded every inch of his being. In the real world, the ground beneath him shattered, creating a small crater on which he sat. Space shivered. Purple winds cracked.

And the breakthrough began.

Jack reached out—his eyes brimming with resolve. He pointed a finger at the large fist at the base of his tree. With a decisive move, he beamed pure energy at it, destroying it completely. The five fingers flew in different directions before dissolving, becoming masses of energy which Jack kept hovering at his side.

Beads of sweat ran down his face. Not of exhaustion, but of worry. The process of creating one’s inner world began with completely demolishing your Dao. Any mistake from here on out would cause his soul to implode and kill him instantly.

However, Jack was too hardened to cave at simple pressure.

The large fist had dissolved, leaving his Dao Tree floating alone through Jack’s soul. Already, it was trembling, its stability failing. Without a base, it would soon wilt, but Jack wouldn’t let that happen. He flew over and smashed a fist into his Dao Tree. Splinters flew everywhere. His hand bled.

Only a small crater had been formed on the trunk, but Jack persisted. Fist after fist smashed into the tree, steadily widening the crater. Purple juice flowed out, and the pain was intense, as if Jack was ripping apart his own heart. Yet, he continued. The crater kept widening until Jack’s fist penetrated the hard bark to strike something deeper inside the tree.

The moment he did, his world trembled. With a loud, earthly moan, the tree shook and began to disappear from the base down, unraveling into pure energy. Everything Jack had spent years to create, he was now destroying. It felt terrible. He could choose to stop it, use his Dao to seal the wound and try to save the tree, but that would be meaningless. He would still die if he tried. The only way out was forward.

He let the tree unravel. He watched its roots wilt and break into scraps of wood which then completely dissipated into energy. The trunk followed, starting from the base. The Life Drop was left hovering alone, a green star in the void, as the tree above it disappeared.

Inch by inch, the tree was gone. Jack watched as it went from being nine feet tall to eight, then seven, then six. The door on the trunk faded, and the lower branches began to fall. Before long, only a little bit of the trunk and the crown remained. Even the leaves were wilting by now, the fruits seeming weaker.

He let the slow process continue as he watched those fruits. They were nine—the number of perfection, the apex of beauty. Ten would be too much—only nine could perfectly encapsulate the totality of human existence.

A bit of a shame, he thought. I could have continued. Growing fruits is trivial now.

He gazed upon his fruits again. Concepts and energy jumped from one to the other—they formed a complete whole, a system of thought and understanding. It was these nine fruits which would serve as the foundation of Jack’s inner world. The more perfect they were, the better his world would be.

So why did he suddenly feel something off?

A persistent feeling crept though his mind. A sense that something was missing—something was gone. Imperfection.

With the large fist gone and the Dao Tree almost disappeared, the fruits were now allowed to interact freely. He could see their concepts touch and bounce off each other. The system they created was complete, sure—he could sense that using it to create a stable inner world would be easy. Coupled with everything else, he was sure to reach far.

But would he reach the apex?

Every step he’d taken so far had been perfect. What about this one? Could it be…incomplete?

Worry gnawed on Jack’s mind. He kept all the gathered energy still, waiting for the last of the trunk to dissolve before beginning on the fruits, but his previous suspicion suddenly spiked in intensity. His instinct was screaming. He was making a mistake. His fruits were perfect, but the system they created was not. It was almost perfect. Something was missing. What?

What had he missed during his cultivation journey? Where had he gone wrong?

Intense regret welled up inside him. He had vowed to pursue the peak of cultivation. Was he dooming himself to never reach it? Had his breakthrough been too hasty? Even if he had, there was nothing he could do about it now except regret. He couldn’t stop now.

There has to be something! he thought, gnashing his teeth. There is just one thing missing! One concept I cannot put my finger on! If I can identify it, maybe I can find a solution! I can fix it.

Yet, no matter how much he hoped, he knew it was hopeless. The breakthrough had begun. Finding the root of the problem now would be as difficult as reaching the sky. Even if he found it, it wasn’t like he could just add a new concept to his Dao. He’d already reached the limit.

Suddenly, an old memory flashed into his mind. Back when he’d absorbed the heart of the Green Dragon Realm, he’d caught a glimpse of the entire realm, including the massive tree which supported it. That tree stretched from the base to the top, rising for endless miles. It also contained nine fruits, capturing that image of perfection.

Yet, Jack suddenly remembered catching a glimpse of something else. A tenth fruit, hiding between the leaves.

Could it be… he suddenly thought. Could it be true? Could there be…ten fruits!?

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