Chapter 1,415 – The Last Ray of Hope

Seeing as his companions weren’t ready to set out, Zac turned his gaze inward to inspect his upgraded Dao Avatar. It remained a carbon copy of himself, neither more nor less lifelike than before. Looking the same was to be expected since his upgrade didn’t introduce new concepts. It was rather the next step down a road he’d already staked out, a deepening of his understanding of established truths.

The difference came from the Avatar’s presence. If the old avatar was a bloodied soldier embodying the ethos of war, the Middle-stage Avatar was a veteran who’d overcome a thousand battles. It felt as solid as a mountain, or perhaps a stubborn tree stump that refused to budge. Come rain or snow, it would continue swinging its axe so long as there was a shred of strength remaining.

Zac’s perception shifted as he pushed deeper, bringing him to the Dao Continent made from his path. The constant wars raging across the lands had kicked up a notch in ferocity since the breakthrough. Most noticeably, Zac witnessed soldiers and beasts pushing beyond their limits to take down their enemies.

It was all connected. Defiance in the face of death rallied the forces of evolution, allowing the combatants to shatter their chains of destiny. Even so, they eventually encountered a foe who ended their ascent by sealing their fate.

The transformations gave Zac a better idea of the benefits from his upgraded Earthly Dao. As he theorized, it should work similarly to [Conviction of Eoz]. The stronger the foe, the more power Zac would be able to exert. His attacks would erupt with the power of defiance, pushing him beyond his limits.

It was an upgrade that built on his strengths rather than covered for his weaknesses. When stacking the benefit with his Eoz Nodes and [Spiritual Void], Zac would be able to unleash strength well beyond what his attribute points could explain. It was precisely the kind of advantage an elite needed when facing Heaven’s Chosen with their own set of opportunities.

As expected of an Earthly Dao purely belonging to the Peak of Conflict, it only provided benefits related to conflict. In comparison, Zac had already noticed that his Earthly Dao of Reborn Life could speed up his Body Tempering Progress to some degree. The effect was more noticeable on his human form, but it definitely extended to his Draugr body too.

In fact, his Draugr bloodline was ready to push into Late Shallows at any time, he just didn’t know how. Instead of smoothly transcending to the next stage, his cells had stopped absorbing any more refined death. He’d most likely reached a bottleneck that couldn’t be smashed through by unloading a full round of refined death.

Zac had tried channeling [Abyssal Revolutions], but the generalist Draugr Bloodline Manual seemingly had nothing to do with his situation. He’d been hesitant to approach Tavza with the problem since she had already uncovered an uncomfortable number of his secrets. The ability to slowly advance his Eoz bloodline by having [Void Heart] refine Death-attuned items was one of the few secrets he had left.

It wasn’t a big deal compared to having two true bodies or cultivating both Chaos and Void, but the ability came with certain implications. Tavza’s cooperation was, to some degree, based on her belief that Zac needed to visit the Abyssal Shores to unlock the true potential of his Draugr. She might do something drastic if she learned that he could cultivate Eoz’s bloodline wherever he went.

Seeing the Ancestral Runes covering Tavza’s face made Zac realize the opportunity had arrived. He could pretend that part of Avīci’s nirvanic rebirth had gone into bringing his other body to the threshold. Unfortunately, Tavza’s seclusion showed no indication of ending. Meanwhile, Zac had already realized that his breakthrough didn’t need to be consolidated in the slightest.

He suspected it had something to do with the high-tier energy provided by the platform. Even his heart was settled despite having just emerged from the Eighth Hell’s breaking torment. Recalling the crossing still left him shuddering, but it hadn’t formed a Heart Demon thanks to the nirvanic rebirth. In fact, the memories of the garden that came before Avīci had left a greater shadow on his heart.

Zac knew he should use the downtime to make adjustments to his path based on his upgraded Dao, but he found it hard to concentrate. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. Zac got to his feet, first heading over to inspect Ogras’ cocoon. Zac couldn’t get closer than ten meters, at which point his skin began prickling from the all-too-familiar flames.

Instead, he walked over to inspect the only thing left on the floor of the Hollow Chasm. The teleportation array fixed in the center looked exceedingly expensive. While active, it didn’t emit any spatial fluctuations. Instead, Zac found the usual suspects of the Hollow Chasm: Life, Death, and the Inverse Peak.

Zac guessed he shouldn’t be surprised. If one could build Cosmic Vessels that didn’t rely on the Dao of Space, why not teleporters? Although it did seem unnecessarily extravagant. Perhaps there was some reason a conventional teleporter wouldn’t work. It made Zac wonder if the Hollow Court was even located in the Left Imperial Expanse.

Approaching steps brought Zac out of his deliberations. Tavza had finally consolidated her breakthrough. Or was she worried that he would go ahead alone now that they’d reached the finish line?

“Is there something wrong?” Zac asked upon noticing her demeanor was off.

“Monster.”

“What the hell?” Zac blurted.

“Not even Lightning Cultivators following the Heavenly Dao are able to absorb tribulations, yet you’re devouring them whole. How is that not a monstrous ability?” Tavza sighed.

“It’s only because this one was pretty weak,” Zac muttered while scratching his chin.

“If you say so,” Tavza said.

The silence stretched. As usual, it was Zac who found himself compelled to break it. “So that was Avīci, huh?”

“The last ray of hope,” Tavza said with a complex expression.

“You know, that place looked a lot like Mox’s Heavenly Territory,” Zac said. “There might be some truth to the legend.”

Tavza possessed some insider information about the other Seven Hells. That didn’t always help when faced with the real thing, but it gave them something to go by. When it came to Avīci, Tavza only knew of a myth: ‘New life from Absolute Death.’

In other words, Avīci held the power of resetting one’s lifespan. Coincidentally, Avīci was also the only hell that openly accepted any visitors that could find it. Most believed the rumor was a trap set by Avīci’s realmlord. At the same time, people grew more afraid of death the longer they lived. Countless powerhouses approaching the end of their road had descended into the Lower Planes for a final chance at a comeback.

As far as Tavza knew, no one had ever emerged—not even Supremacies. Their bodies now covered the skies of Avīci, trapped in purgatory with their destiny extinguished.

Still, Mox’s situation was too similar for it to be a coincidence. It was possible that Mox had devised her sinister method of pseudo-eternity by observing Avīci. Perhaps she’d once entered and managed to escape by relying on her mastery of the Void. Either way, her method wasn’t anything like the promised nirvanic rebirth.

It was more like she’d turned her Heavenly Territory into a personal hell, stealing the providence of others to nourish herself. It was fundamentally different from Avīci, since the Eighth Hell lacked the extremely fell Karma of Mox’s tricks. It also acted in the open, compared to Mox, who was forced to hide in pockets of the Void.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

It was possible that the process relied on some Supreme relic. It could also be a matter of volition. Those visiting Avīci did so willingly. They were essentially making a bet with the devil in hopes of rebirth. Therefore, Avīci didn’t break the Four Laws when forcibly extracting their providence.

“I had the same thought. It’s very possible the two are connected. Ultimately, such matters are beyond us,” Tavza said, gazing at her left hand with a troubled expression.

“I wanted to ask, just how did you get here before me? Was there some trick?” Zac quickly asked upon seeing the mood worsening.

“No trick. I suspect we all paid the same fare, except our form of payment differed,” Tavza said, a small smile returning to her face. “Let me guess, you spent less Imperial Merit in Avīci than in Second Garden?”

The question made Zac shiver as it brought back another set of uncomfortable memories. The Second Garden was the subrealm preceding Avīci, and it came with its own flavor of eldritch terror. Zac only remembered kneeling before a primal altar made from wriggling dirt and leaves that looked like eyes. His own eyes had been gouged out, yet he was forced to see everything as he reverently placed a crying infant on the altar.

The next thing he remembered, Zac was lying outside the realmgate. Two weeks had passed, and he was 8,888 Imperial Merit poorer. Ogras and Tavza didn’t remember a thing from the crossing, though they’d both lost merit. Making an exact estimate without a Disciple Token was impossible, but the weakening of their seals was roughly half of Zac’s.