Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 1021: Transience

Zac's first entry into the hostile Red Zones was the Imperial Spire. The incredibly high mountain had seemed like a perfect place to start his collection of items. Even then, he had found himself at an impasse after pushing himself close to the peak. The final 2,500 meters were impossible to climb, at least for Zac, who lacked a Dao of Gravity.So he started looking for a treasure at the maximum altitude he could stomach. But even after 16 days, he had come up empty-handed except for a few more orbs. That was when he'd been given a poignant reminder of the importance of Luck.

He'd just changed form and applied a new set of talcum on his hands as day turned to night. The dust from the chalk had made him sneeze, prompting him to turn to the side. At that exact moment, he'd seen an odd flicker in the mountain wall a few hundred meters down. It looked like a shadow appearing out of nowhere. But the shadow was gone a second later, and the spot looked the same as the rest of the mountain.

Zac trusted his eyes and his gut and spent the next 6 hours reaching the spot, but he couldn't find anything. Then, a few hours later, night turned to day, and Zac was surprised to see the wall suddenly disappear. The shift between night and day had deactivated a natural formation that exposed a hidden alcove. Inside, a small flower swayed. A flower even heavier than the Revolution Orbs that became the first fodder for the Omnitool.

Accruing Low to High-quality material was just a matter of having land, time, and resources. Peak materials were mostly things you had to take some risks to farm. However, materials considered beyond the "peak" could only be found by chance. And chance was governed by Luck and Providence.

Until that point, Zac hadn't felt the need to rush himself when it came to Mount Illumination. It seemed pretty dangerous, and he already had a lot on his plate. He'd pick up the Dharmic Treasure before leaving. But things changed after inheriting [Cosmic Forge]. Zac suddenly needed to brave at least 17 dangerous Red Zones, each with environments he'd normally have avoided in favor of realms better suited to his path.

The difference between being lucky and unlucky in a Red Zone wasn't just a matter of Thousands of Mana and finding valuable treasures or not. It could be the difference between life and death. Zac obviously wouldn't trust his life to something as flakey as Luck, but it was better to have it than not. He definitely could have used some extra Luck inside the mind-bending maze of the Chrono Well.

Since then, Zac had started to prepare an assault on the hidden temple. He'd re

Far in the distance on the opposite side, Zac could vaguely make out the enormous Buddha he'd seen in the sky. It was sitting at the main position of the temple, mostly obscured by a thick haze of incense smoke. Zac couldn't even see its face as it was so far up in the sky, but he felt a huge presence staring down at him. In an instant, dozens of cracks appeared across the [Mind's Eye Agate], and the [Void Engine] flickered ominously.

Luckily, the feeling only lasted a moment, and Zac breathed out as he took a step forward, still silently mumbling his anchoring words. But just as he was about to step into the gate, he found himself unable to so much as move a finger. Two huge Niō had appeared to the sides of the entrance, each looking down at him with scornful eyes. And then they spoke.

"IS THE COSMOS ETERNAL?"

"IS THE COSMOS TRANSIENT?"

The words rumbled like an angry sea or claps of thunder. The words were the Dao itself, and Zac groaned as he felt a deluge of impressions sweep through him. A universe moving toward infinity, slowly growing with each beat. A universe slowly crumbling, each beat a little weaker than the last.

The two questions reverberated through Zac's mind, the words only growing in ferocity and power. There were more questions somehow superimposed on those two, clamoring for dominion over Zac's soul. The words felt like grindstones intent on grinding his self to dust, sending a pure stream of consciousness into the wheel of Samsara.

Zac was about to go mad. His consciousness couldn't withstand the timeframes and concepts conveyed. His Daos were shuddering, his path bending under the strain. The talismans were even less capable of withstanding the onslaught, all turning to dust without dampening the roar. Orange splinters fell like rain from his back, and golden links failed. Only the [Void Engine] was unscathed, but it was essentially drained, so he quickly put it away before it was damaged.

Without his treasures, he was as exposed as a candle in the wind and felt the Dharma breach the Void in his heart. But a primal fury took hold in Zac's heart and pushed it back. He could tell those were questions without answers, traps meant to destroy his path. But he wouldn't give in. He wouldn't be broken by something like this.

"I don't care!" Zac roared as he unleashed his bloodline and opened the floodgates to his Void Energy.

Zac couldn't tell whether it was the determination in his words or the outburst of energy that created a massive shockwave. It was both tangible and intangible, spreading out with him as an epicenter. Large cracks appeared on the Niō, and Zac could suddenly move. He was about to flee before he was caught again, but a flicker ahead threw those plans in disarray.

The insides of the ghost temple had become unstable, flickering back and forth between two vastly different scenes. One contained the endless halls and the enormous Buddha, while the other was much simpler. It showed a normal temple that consecrated a chest without any engravings. No deity was displayed, but Zac sensed a hair-raising aura from the box.

In front of the shrine were three unadorned wooden cups, each holding a different fruit. Zac didn't know why, but it was as though a world hid in each of those fruits, and Zac's body screamed with both hunger and fear upon smelling their aroma. Finally, there was a small tray on the ground in front of the three bowls, upon which a string of Buddhist beads lay. It didn't look exactly like the prayer beads he'd seen in the vision upon first arriving at Mount Illumination, but it wasn't far off.

Zac knew the temple represented a power far beyond what he could deal with, but he could not back down when his target was just five meters away. He gritted his teeth and shot forward when the gateway led to the simpler temple. He could feel the temple trying to resist his entry, but he activated [Void Zone] to force a path.

The whole temple shook, and the constant hymns gained an aura of reproach that bore down on him like a mountain. It was just like when he first tried to cheat with his Bloodline Talent to cross the peak, and Zac realized his Void Energy wouldn't last more than a second under this kind of suppression. But the restrictions no longer held him, and a lot could be done in a second.

Zac lept forward and snatched the string of beads from its plate. The temple shook as reproach turned into righteous wrath, and Zac groaned as bloody tears appeared across his body. The temple was trying to switch back to those vast halls consecrated by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but the presence of [Void Zone] acted like a lynchpin keeping the reality in place. Somehow, the damage was transferred through the bloodline talent to Zac himself.

The fruits and the chest still stood there, but Zac sighed as he jumped out of the temple gates. They looked like great treasures, but Zac could tell they were traps. Dealing with the Sangha was to dance on a tightrope. You had to know when to back down, or you'd eventually get consumed. The world shuddered, and Zac found himself standing at the gates of his manor, looking at the ghost temple across the peak.

The familiar view made Zac's mind short-circuit for a moment. There were no statues, no wheels in the sky. All was calm and tranquil, with not so much as a ripple in the atmosphere. He'd been prepared to fight his way back across the peak, but it suddenly felt like he hadn't even set out.

Had it all been a dream?

The odd disconnect only lasted a moment before the smarting tears across his body confirmed his experience had been all-too-real. It was further confirmed by the sound of glass shattering as the agate on his back shattered, turning into a fine dust that spread around his feet. Zac sighed as he looked down at the sand. The [Mind Eye's Agate] had been a silent companion for over a decade, always guarding his back when he cultivated his soul. Today, it had made the ultimate sacrifice to keep him sane.

Zac's eyes turned to the string of beads in his right hand with mixed emotions. Hopefully, it'd be worth it.