Chapter 1,374 – Primal Life

Blinding agony tore at Zac as he was attacked by the full weight of the teardrop’s power. [Void Zone] could only slightly dull the edge of the torrential amounts of Primal Life surrounding him. The attack was all-encompassing. Muscles bulged and organs twisted, all standing right at the threshold of awakening a will of their own. Even his Cosmic Core and Soul Aperture showed signs of distress.

Zac was springing leaks all over from his inability to contain such excessive levels of energy. And yet, more energy came pouring in than what was expelled. Zac suppressed the screaming warnings telling him to escape, instead dragging himself through [Void Vajra Sublimation]’s latter stances, relying on sheer will.

Adding distance to the lotus seed waiting outside weakened his influence on its awakening, but Zac had bigger fish to fry. He observed the chains like a hawk, seeing them gradually grow increasingly corporeal. Zac had misjudged the difficulty of shattering the Earthly Chains, but he still knew this was the best opportunity he would get.

The Left Imperial Expanse was under absolute lock and key to guarantee fairness during the trial and likely to protect the last remnants of the Limitless Empire. Even the Heavens’ gaze was weakened in these deeper layers of the continent, as relics still holding Imperial Faith could survive. Accordingly, any bonds of Authority connecting to the outside would be severely affected.

Breaking the Earthly Chains after leaving the trial would be infinitely harder, and stepping into Monarchy wouldn’t make a lick of difference. Their resilience wasn’t a physical issue that could be solved with a bigger Attribute Pool, nor would evolving his Daos help. If anything, advancing his Daos would make the shackles even stronger since the amount of Authority connected to him would increase.

One Earthly Chain was more affected by the teardrop’s Primal Life than the others—the one pointing straight toward the realmgate. Unsurprisingly, the Earthly Chain representing Poised Meadow’s Authority was more receptive to the realm’s unique power of awakening. Frankly, Zac felt that his unverified gambit working at all was nothing short of a miracle.

It went to show the near-omniscient power possessed by Daos elevated to near-perfection. Kālasūtra’s Realmlord could heal wounds through Death, Margrave Wartorious could invert Dao and Void through the Earthly Peak, and Poised Meadow could breathe life into metaphysical chains.

Zac decisively went with the flow, fighting through the pain while focusing all his efforts on dealing with that particular Earthly Chain. Poised Meadow’s chain posed the greatest challenge since it wasn’t nearly as weakened as the others. The true Lower Plane should be outside the bounds of the trial, but this overlapped realm acted as some form of backdoor. If Zac could deal with this chain first, the rest should come easier.

A shimmering mist of red-tinted gold surrounded the Earthly Chain. Zac was coating it with his blood to forge a bond, and he used the connection to steer the expulsion of overflow energy. Throughout, Zac never stopped moving through [Void Vajra Sublimation]’s stances, despite the added suffering.

Pausing would disrupt his breakthrough, and the mysterious force born from the manual helped Zac resist the inner domain’s overwhelming Primal Life. Just as important, Zac wanted to guide the chain’s awakening like he did with the seed outside. The Earthly Chains were gradeless concepts rather than spiritual objects, and there was no telling what kind of lifeform they’d birth. If they turned into A-grade fetters, Zac might as well give up. Zac needed to limit its potential, or at least its starting stage, to the level of his Earthly Dao of Reborn Life.

The inner domain trembled as terrifying amounts of Divine Energy were consumed, and Zac felt the Realmgate’s blockade weaken in real time. The vast presence on the other side was growing closer, no doubt guided by the manipulation of the Earthly Chain connecting them. Zac was too busy staying alive to worry about the reaction of Poised Meadow’s Realmlord or how much Imperial Merit his actions garnered.

Zac could see his plan working above expectations. [Void Vajra Sublimation]’s effect on the lotus seed was limited, in large part because the seed was Late C-grade. The Earthly Chains had no innate spirituality, and Zac found himself gaining a surprising level of control. The chain was still much too strong to succumb to Zac’s attempts to shatter it, but it was only a matter of time. The Earthly Chain was fast becoming a representation of his Earthly Dao of Reborn Life, and that was his wheelhouse.

His Dao was represented by a cycle of rebirth, acting as a catalyst for change. Zac generally used it as a continuous process of refinement, where weakness was cast away and strength amplified. As nature showed, the cycle of rebirth could also go the other way. Instead of evolution, it often led down a hopeless spiral of decline. Just as often as not, descendants failed to emulate the glory of their forefathers. This adhered to the Law of Balance—for one to rise, another had to fall.

Each stance of Zac’s body tempering manual represented a rebirth, both for himself and the awakened chain. Through each cycle, Zac felt his body push closer to its limits while the Earthly Chain shed some of its strength. Zac could even sense a confusing mix of emotions conveyed through Poised Meadow’s Earthly Chain.

There was also a hint of something familiar that Zac couldn’t quite place, hidden beneath the unbreakable bonds of perfected life. It felt like an outside party lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to pounce. There was no point in worrying about the ramifications of his actions now that things had reached this point.

A torrent of Void Energy carved a path through his body, turning into a sigil on his right hand. Zac swung down at the chain with everything he had, draining it with [Void Mountain]’s Dao-annihilating brand just as he finished the next step of [Void Vajra Sublimation]. Striking the newborn chain felt like being stabbed all over his body, yet Zac tried again and again as he continued moving through stances. His intense desire infected the surroundings, causing unstable undercurrents in the inner domain.

Without warning, the chain snapped, and Zac felt the potential of his body instantly skyrocket. The intangible part of the chain faded away, while pieces that had taken physical form were consumed and turned into fuel for his breakthrough. There were still dozens of chains keeping him fettered, meaning the breakthrough was still underway, yet the hidden spaces inside his cells ballooned in size.

Zac was no longer bursting at the seams with unbearable levels of Primal Life. The golden hurricanes consumed the excess, rapidly expanding after having been contained for so long. His jubilation was short-lived and almost immediately replaced by a new round of pain.

The teardrop erupted in blinding light, and a shockwave threw Zac out of the inner region. Dozens of bones snapped, only to be immediately mended by the overwhelming amounts of energy coursing through his body. Zac’s vision swam while urgently recovering his form to continue his breakthrough, but he could still see the chaos surrounding him.

The few minutes he’d spent inside the inner domain were enough to completely redraw the landscape. The stillness was utterly, irrevocably broken. The uniform perimeter of cultivating islands was gone, as was the clear border of the teardrop’s domain. Some of the locals were locked in heated clashes, others were frantically consuming dislodged pieces of the pure Primal Energy. A few had thrown caution to the wind and rushed toward the embattled teardrop. The last group was only a dot on the horizon. They wanted nothing to do with the upheavals and were running for their lives.

The most pressing issue was the [Ketumati Lotus] seed on the verge of going out of control. The small spirit that sprouted from the blessed soil felt like a child having a meltdown after losing sight of their parent. Its aura had destabilized, and it lashed out at anything in its surroundings. Zac suppressed his nausea and flashed over, dodging a wayward streak of unfettered life.

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“I’m here, I’m here,” Zac soothed as he continued the stances.

The seed actually listened and slowly calmed down, but Zac could sense the turmoil had left a lasting mark. He inwardly sighed, knowing he’d lost the chance of nurturing a perfect awakening, but he wasn’t too broken up about it. Awakening the seed was only a side mission, and a slightly lower grade wouldn’t make much of a difference. Dealing with the remaining chains was far more important.

Zac shut out the chaos around him, relying on the seed’s deterrence to keep them unbothered. He was approaching the end of [Void Vajra Sublimation]’s cycle, and dozens of Earthly Chains remained. Even so, Zac was full of vigor as he contorted his body into the next stance. Intent was conveyed through movement, and the boundless energy trapped in his body responded.

Two more chains snapped without having to rely on [Void Mountain] or other tricks. The damage he’d done by performing a partial awakening helped, but the real reason was breaking the first chain. Sometimes, taking the first step was the hardest. Now, he was already half a foot into the next stage and able to borrow some of its power.

Zac could vaguely sense distant presences trying to lock onto him or calculate what was going on. The uncomfortable gaze coming from the shadows also resurfaced. Zac wouldn’t let the fear of the unknown stop him from pursuing his goals, and he was confident the System would prevent any further interference.

Deafening snaps echoed through the area every time Zac moved. His body had already devoured the previously overwhelming energies and had resumed its frantic absorption of ambient energy, and the lotus seed followed suit.

The fluctuations coming from the teardrop grew more urgent as it struggled to retain control over the mayhem. More than a dozen islands were directly disintegrated and turned into primal soup, but that only made the other locals more frantic. The Natal Treasure could only push back for so long. It was clearly under assault from the other side of the Realmgate. While anxious, Zac maintained a steady pace as he moved through the most taxing finishing stances. Finally, he returned to where he started the cycle and placed his hands together in a thunderous clap.

“Ka!”

A wave of boundless life erupted from within, shattering the four Earthly Chains that had held on until the last second. Zac became a black hole, consuming the surrounding life to fuel his rebirth. Bottomless strength and endless Vigor coursed through his veins. Each individual cell was a living, breathing world unto its own, capable of miraculous rebirth. Zac might not have reached the level of rebirth through a drop of blood just yet, but he certainly wouldn’t need to rely on Creation Energy to regrow limbs any longer.