Zac’s axe had already been on the verge of taking the next step, and the blood of the largest rats was enough to push it to the next level. But evolutions of this kind were very diverse, and after asking around back in Port Atwood he learned that there was no cohesive method of the process.
That left him wondering what he should do now. He had no idea how long it would take for the axe to finish its evolution. He also had no idea whether he could put the crystal into his Cosmos Sack, or whether that would interrupt the process.
In the end, he chose to move the crystal to a corner of the large den, hiding it in an alcove behind a couple of more carcasses. Luckily the axe didn’t give off any energy emanations during the process, so hiding it didn’t require any arrays.
He surveyed the scene for a while, and after some alterations, it was impossible to notice anything was hidden there. Next, he created a second hiding spot and sat down inside. Initially, he hadn’t planned on staying in this den, but the evolution of his axe had forced him to change his plans.
But it was just as well. His miasma wasn’t spent from the long battle, but his body was wounded all over and he had lost quite a bit of ichor. He popped a pill into his mouth and closed his eyes to focus on recuperation, and it was only two hours later he opened them.
He wasn’t completely back to top shape, but his Endurance and Vitality had improved him to fighting condition at least. But he still couldn’t leave since he had no idea what lay past this cave. There was no guarantee that this was the only thing blocking his path to the treasure, and he wasn’t confident in fighting anything too strong without his axe.
But he wasn’t just sitting around while he waited for his axe to get done. He was itching to check out his Dao fractal, but he held off on that in favor of a few other things first. The intense fight had brought him all the way to level 39, giving a huge boost to his attributes.
Gaining this many levels in just a few hours would have been unthinkable back when he was around this level the first time around, but then again he was far weaker at that time. He had another 6 free points to allocate, but he held off on that until he saw what he gained from his new Dao Seed.
Next, he opened his quest menu, and as he suspected there was a new quest waiting for him there. At level 35 Hatchetman he gained the quest for [Loamwalker], and this time around he got another skill quest as well.
Immutable Bulwark (Class): Survive the strike of three evolved beings. Reward: Immutable Bulwark (2/3)
Zac believed ‘evolved beings’ was referring to an E-Grade Class beasts or cultivators, and he felt this quest wasn’t very hard since it didn’t specify how he should survive it. With the help of Fields of Despair and a shield he would have no problem blocking a strike from something like the E-Grade rat, let alone surviving it, which was proven by two thirds of the quest already being completed.
As for the skill itself, Zac guessed it was a pure defensive skill going by the name. He felt it was about time since none of the three initial skills were purely defensive skills like his [Nature’s Barrier]. In any case, he didn’t think it would take long to find out since there clearly were E-Grade beasts down here in the tunnels.
Zac got to his feet and walked over to his axe once again, but there was still no response from it. Since he was finally done with what he needed to do, he properly concealed himself and turned his sight inward toward his heart. Just like he expected a large pocket space had formed inside his heart, and Zac wasn’t very surprised to see that the fractal looked like a large shield. But he didn’t have time to inspect it any further, as his vision quickly changed.
The place he was sent to was quite different from the desolation of the dead world of the axe-man. He found himself standing in a beautiful park that was meticulously tended to, and Zac almost forgot why he was here from the soothing atmosphere.
It truly felt like he was in paradise from the array of beautiful plants and trees forming a harmony that could only be said to be perfect. Even the sky shone in a warm golden luster, and looking up at it Zac almost felt like he was being caressed by the heavens themselves.
Surprisingly enough people were walking past him, but it was as though he was a ghost. No one noticed him as they kept going forward. Some even walked straight through him, which was a pretty weird experience.
The people were of varying races, some of them humans, but many were things that Zac had never heard of. They were also of extremely varying power, ranging from weak mortals to great powerhouses clearly stronger than the E-Grade. But one thing was the same for each and every one of them. They were all orderly walking in a line, and everyone was holding what looked like a small gift in their hands as they streamed in the same direction.
Curious, Zac followed the train of people, and soon found himself in the middle of the garden that held an enormous square made of marble. But the moment he entered there he realized he wasn’t in a park, but rather a gravesite.
In the middle of the square was a mausoleum, and all the people he had followed walked toward it as though they were on a pilgrimage. Zac walked over as well and soon he stood just twenty meters away from the golden inlaid arch leading inside.
However, no one entered the building, instead simply bowed before placing down whatever they had brought in front of the building, before turning away and leaving the square.
There were already large mounds of offerings, and interestingly enough they ranged from simple things like a small wood carving to Nexus Crystals that emitted such immense power that Zac was afraid his soul would shatter just by standing close to them.
He instinctually knew those things were at least C-Graded crystals, but possibly even higher. He knew that only one of them would be enough to live like a king for thousands of years, yet no one even gave the treasures a second glance before leaving.
Zac’s curiosity only grew as he turned his eyes toward the mausoleum. He already knew that his visions came from supreme existences, and he guessed that the one he was about to receive was based on whoever was interred inside.
Zac gave a small bow just like the pilgrims before resolutely walking toward the entrance. As he got closer he noticed that two old men sat in front of the gate with closed eyes, likely guarding the place. However, the moment he turned his eyes toward them it was as though his soul was about to be crushed by immense pressure, and he had to quickly look away.
Even though he was just a wisp of consciousness he had to stop and take a few deep breaths, his hands shaking from the experience. He was shocked to realize that both the old men sitting in front of the mausoleum were far more powerful than Greatest, the strongest person he’d met so far.
Their auras were as immense as a galaxy, and Zac couldn’t even get close to the door due to the passive aura that they emitted. But suddenly the weight disappeared, and Zac was shocked to see that both the old monsters were looking straight at him.
“Enter, inheritor,” one of the old men said, each of his words echoing with the Dao itself.
Zac was starting to be unsure whether this was actually a vision, or if the system had sent his consciousness to this place. Was it the same with the desolate world only housing the enormous axe back then?
But he felt this wasn’t the place to ask, so after bowing once more he passed by the two old men who once again closed their eyes. Anticipation was rising as Zac entered the structure. Just how powerful would one have to have been to have cultivators that were at least C-Grade sit in vigil over one’s gravesite?
Zac reverentially held his breath as he looked around the mausoleum, but it was surprisingly simple. The insides were lit up by six braziers that burned along the sides, though interestingly enough they didn’t emit any smoke. Apart from the sources of light only two more things were housed in the building. The first was a tomb wrought out of the same type of marble the square was made off.
The second was a shield that emitted an immense aura. It was almost shaped like a coffin, and it was mostly unadorned apart from a blue fractal that was the source of the aura. It felt like the shield would be able to protect him even it the sky collapsed, and Zac immediately understood it was a supreme treasure at least at the level of the axe he saw in the other vision.
In front of the tomb was a simple plaque that only said three words.
Eternal and Unbroken.
There was no mention of whose resting place this was, or what sort of thing he or she had accomplished. Then again it didn’t seem it was necessary, going by the constant stream of pilgrims that found their way here.
After silently looking at the plaque for a minute Zac finally walked over toward the shield.
—–
Death loomed as he roused himself with some effort. Murky eyes that hadn’t opened for tens of thousands of years gazed at the richly decked man kneeling in front of him with a face marred by worries.
“Shield,” he said with a raspy voice, and soon after five men entered from a passage.
Every one of them emitted auras powerful enough to subdue the heavens, but their faces were red with strain as they had to cooperate to carry an object covered in dusty cloth. They finally arrived in front of him, and when they placed down the item the would building shook from the weight.
His decrepit hand slowly reached forward, and the cloth disintegrated as his old companion rose toward him. As he looked at the blue fractal on the shield he felt as though he was back on the battlefield those millions of years ago, but this time he didn’t he didn’t fasten it to his arm.
“This is goodbye, old friend,” he said with a sigh.
A smile adorned his face as he slowly caressed the edge of his shield, and it hummed with sorrow as he rose to his feet. He walked outside his small palace and rose into the skies, the six hegemons silently following behind.
Outside the town, a sea of people silently stood waiting, millions upon millions of them.
“Grand Protector,” they immediately shouted, kneeling in reverence.
He never had any family, but he saw all these people as his children. He had watched over this world for innumerable years, seeing it grow to the beacon of freedom and enlightenment it was today. He had staved off countless attacks from those who had wanted to take their land and wealth.
But he knew he was needed one final time as he looked up at the skies. The beautiful blue sky was replaced by a dizzying blur of all colors of the spectrum as rampant energies clashed. Most of the smaller worlds had already been destroyed, ripped into nothingness by the primordial chaos.
The death of a universe.
The next moment his old and hunched-over body released enough power to blot out the skies as he rose to meet the incoming chaos. Space itself was cracking, but he didn’t even notice the void edges that pelted his body. They were simply pushed away by the force of his latent will.
In just a second he left the atmosphere, and he looked down on the massive continent beneath. There had once been tens of thousands of worlds circulating around it, but now only a scant few survived, protected by immense arrays.
“Eternal and unbroken,” he said, his voice carrying across the countless miles.
The next moment his body started to shine brighter and brighter, and soon it far eclipsed any star in the universe. The golden shine quickly expanded and formed a shield that encapsulated the whole continent and its trillions of inhabitants.
The next moment the chaotic energies and spatial tears slammed into the shield with enough power to rip even the Dao to shreds, but the shield didn’t even shudder. His consciousness slowly faded as he became one with the shield.
Countless years passed as the universe faded, the continent set adrift in the chaotic spatial folds between realities. But the shield held true, protecting its inhabitant from the endless void. Forever.
For he was Immutable.