Chapter 660.

A/N: As mentioned, double release today and tomorrow. In return, no chapters on the 8th and 15th May for patrons. With that, Act 2 of Defiance of the Fall begins just as we approach the 2-year mark :)

1/2.

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Zac took a deep breath as he opened his eyes, and he was greeted by the first rays of the suns piercing through the foliage of the poplar growing in his courtyard. This bout of meditation had lasted over three days, but to say that he had made any real gains would be a lie. He had been unable to properly calm his mind and enter a proper state.

Because today marked the third anniversary of the events in the Mystic Ream.

The scene of Ogras disappearing into the Dimensional Seed and the cataclysmic battle that followed was still fresh in his mind. His and Billy's life and death were still up in the air. Kenzie was still adamant about them surviving, but Zac couldn't help but lose hope as the years passed. They simply hadn’t been able to find any information to support that theory.

“Still thinking about it?” a worried voice said as Thea stepped out of their bedroom.

“It’s hard not knowing,” Zac sighed as he got up to his feet and walked over and kissed her.

“Your sister still hasn’t given up, you know. It feels like she is planning something big,” Thea said as she gripped his hand in his.

“I know,” Zac said as he felt a headache coming on just at the mention of Kenzie.

Ogras essentially sacrificed his life to save Kenzie, and Kenzie hadn’t given up on him even after three full years. Part of him believed it was because of the life-saving favor, but another part believed the two had to have been an item in secret. Kenzie was always evasive on the subject, and he guessed that it didn't really matter. But the resources she had put into finding and saving the demon were, in a word, terrifying.

Then again, he wasn’t one to talk considering how he acted with Alea back then, and it was her money.

Still, Zac could only table the matter for now as the two walked through his private forest to a secluded pergola overlooking the ocean. It was far from the shipyard and the public sector, a small section of paradise just for the two of them. They sat down, content to simply watch the suns' morning rays dance over the waves.

Dating as a cultivator came with its own set of challenges, especially when both partners were cultivation maniacs. The two had lived together for almost two years by now, but this was actually the first time they spent together in almost a week.

As the two progressed on the path of cultivation they had found that every bout of meditation took longer and longer, especially now that the Origin Dao of Earth was completely exhausted. Zac had been in a meditative trance for almost three days trying to ponder on how to further his fusion between Dao and combat, but his progress was laughable.

Thea had been off training her swordplay while simultaneously thinning out an aggressive beast horde before that. Zac often undertook similar outings as well to test his theories when he wasn’t busy working on his soul or understanding of fractals. Of course, this week-long separation was nothing compared to the seven months Thea spent in the Base Town and Tower of Eternity.

So, coming together to this secluded spot had become sort of a tradition for them, a way to get away from it all and spend some time on each other. There was no talk of cultivation or the endless duties that kept them busy the few hours they didn’t cultivate. Thea took out a breakfast set she had prepared, and the two spent the next thirty minutes just relaxing.

“Oh, I happened to track down that disciple of yours while you were cultivating,” Thea suddenly said.

“What is she up to now?” Zac sighed.

“She’s a highway bandit in the forests close to the Dead Zone,” Thea snorted. “She’s scrounged up a bunch of teenagers from somewhere and they are robbing the adventuring groups that passes through on the way to the relay stations. I found out because she robbed one of my agents who recognized her.”

“I’ll send someone to bring her back,” Zac exhaled.

“You know, Emily is acting out because she feels cramped up on this island. Why not let her walk her own path? Neither you or I got where we are now by staying in the Academy,” Thea said. “She’s a young woman now.”

“That doesn’t mean the Academy’s not effective,” Zac said. “I made enough mistakes for a lifetime getting to where I am now, and if not for my luck I would be dead a hundred times over. Only one out of a million might make it out alive when walking a path of constant bloodshed.”

“I guess you’ll have to find some middle-ground then or she’ll keep running off. Sooner or later, she’ll get her hands on a Teleportation Token, and then she won’t be in your backyard any longer,” Thea said. “I need to practice with Aigale a bit, wish Kenzie good luck from me, will you?”

“I will,” Zac nodded and kissed her goodbye before she disappeared with her movement skill.

Zac himself stayed behind to rest for a while longer.

Things had proceeded pretty much as expected after the return from the Mystic Realm. The auction was a huge success that netted him almost 40 billion Nexus Coins, which was followed by him almost effortlessly completing the Second Step of Hegemony. He had been pitted against a hundred other presumptive hegemons of the Zecia sector in a situation somewhat similar to the Battle of Fates in the Tower of Eternity. But this time there was no Iz Tayn to strike terror in his heart.

This time he was the terror.

After he passed as the clear first-spot-holder, he was given a simple follow-up quest. He had proven that he had what it took to become a leader, afterward he just needed to hold onto that power. Of course, with Thea being his girlfriend and the remains of the New World Government integrated into Port Atwood, there was not much opposition. Most of the Ishiate didn’t care one way or another. In fact, it turned out that Starlight had actually left Earth already thanks to some sort of opportunity he had gained.

The Zhix were solidly in his camp as well, and that alone was enough to make others think twice before making their move. The only potential threat was the natives of the fallen Mystic Realm, but Zac had already made his arrangements for them. The Gemlings were now part of Port Atwood and mostly stayed in his Underwater Town, crafting and looking for treasures on the seabed.

He hadn’t expected those stone turtles to actually be amphibian in nature, but it turned out they preferred to either live close to the shores on his islands. Many of their crafting techniques were even water-based, though some had swapped over to follow the same path as Brazla.

The survivors of the True Sky Faction were in a similar situation as Clan Volor. The leaders had mostly signed the same sort of contracts as external elders did and stayed on with Port Atwood, with a few purchasing Teleportation Tokens from him to leave Earth and stake out a path on their own. Most of those who chose to remain, including Hekruv Vira, took up positions at the Atwood Academy, splitting their time between cultivation and research.

The Cartava Clan had been eradicated by the Lunar Tribe, and the werewolves were now a weak isolated faction under strict observation, forming just a small village with less than a thousand households. They lived up in the desolate North now, far from any other civilization. Ogras would no doubt have wanted Zac to take them all out, but Zac simply didn’t have the stomach for it. There had been enough bloodshed in those last frantic days of the Mystic Realm.

Besides, Zac felt he owed a debt of gratitude to their leader. Things would probably have turned out a lot differently if he hadn’t shown up at the eleventh hour in the battle against Adcarkas. To look after his tribe in return was the least he could do, especially considering their top elites were all killed. Of course, this courtesy only remained as long as the Lunar Tribe didn’t do something stupid.

So, things were stable on Earth for the moment, but that wasn’t to say that there hadn’t been any attempts to stop his power grab over the following years. But every coup had been utterly crushed, often without Zac even needing to lift his finger. He had mostly left things to the Valkyries or the Zhix while he kept to himself as he worked on his foundation. One exception took place half a year ago though when a man called Mark Kaufman appeared out of nowhere.

He quickly gained a following as he proudly displayed his level, a whooping level 106, in the middle of the square of New Washington while simultaneously challenging Zac for the position of the leader of Earth. This guy had never been on the ladder while it still existed, and he wasn’t listed on the Marshall Clan’s booklet called Earth’s Champions. His background was a complete mystery.

Of course, this Mark guy had obviously never heard of the term haste makes waste. Zac learned of the challenge and appeared ready for battle, but Mark Kaufman wasn’t even able to withstand Zac’s Dao Field. The pressure alone crushed his bones as he was forced to the ground. He was still in recovery from what Zac heard.

It quickly became clear that this guy was as lowly as cultivators came, and he was actually an E-Grade Common Cultivator, someone who had given up on future progression. He had almost no titles and no accomplishments to speak of, barely meeting the minimum requirements for evolution thanks to an herb he had chanced upon.

The way he had gained so many levels was directly linked to this; with such a shitty foundation he barely required any energy to level up. If Zac had such low requirements, he would probably have been level 150 by now, rather than still sitting at level 101.

In fact, Mark wasn’t the only one who had passed Zac in level by now. The Earth’s Champions booklet listed over two hundred humans having passed level 100 by now. Of course, they had only surpassed him on the level ladder. He still held an undisputed first position on the power ladder that the Marshall Clan also put together.

Zac briefly thought back to the System-run ladders of old, and he couldn’t help but applaud Alyn’s prescience. She had told him that less than half of the elites would be remembered in a few years, and this was exactly the case. The names on the Marshall Clan’s level lists were almost all new names, with the old ladder geniuses occupying less than a quarter of the top.

Most of the ‘old guard’ were still stuck in the F-Grade, and only a few of them voluntarily so according to what he had heard. Earth being flooded with Origin Dao essentially supercharged early cultivation, and there really was not much reason to hanker on at F-Grade for more than a year or two on a recently integrated planet. They were given the gift of huge momentum, and it would be foolish not to make the most of it.

But only now did the people of Earth realize what an opportunity had passed them by during the early stages of the Integration. The training wheels were off now.

The Origin Dao was gone, and the opportunities to rack up massive achievements were sparse with no remaining Incursions, making it extraordinarily hard for those who had picked higher-rarity Classes to advance. Not everyone could be like Thea, returning victoriously from the Tower of Eternity and gaining an E-Grade Rare Class in one go.

Frictions were already starting to appear between forces, where desperate cultivators saw war as the only opportunity for them to break through their bottleneck. Cultivation was normally not this rushed, but the situation on a fresh planet was a bit unique. There were no elders to stabilize the situation, so those who progressed the fastest were also those who got to enjoy the best resources, no matter how shaky their foundations were.

Of course, the people of Port Atwood were mostly insulated from that hectic grab for levels and resources, with the Academy staunchly maintaining a more prudent curriculum. Zac himself was the same, with him having gained just over 10 levels over the past three years, a sharp decline compared to his earlier speed.

Part of him was a bit worried about losing momentum, but he didn’t have much of a choice at the moment. He had chosen to walk an extremely perilous path, a path containing three top-tier concepts and fusing them into one system. He had been muddling along until now, but it was high time for him to shore up his foundations.

Outwardly it might have seen as though he had stopped working after securing a century-long breather for Earth, but the truth was anything but. He had spent a herculean effort on his F-Grade skills, all of which had now reached Peak Mastery. This was normally something that was done before even evolving, so Zac had been lagging behind on that department.

Unfortunately, him shoring up his lacking foundation wasn’t the only thing that kept his level suppressed. There were far more troublesome issues that caused him headaches. First of all, there was the ever-present issue of his Draugr Race constitution. Three years had passed but his improvements were simply pathetic.

The [Bone Forging Dust] was no longer effective on his body, which honestly was a bit of a relief. Calrin had managed to find a few minor treasures that worked on him as well, but he was still a long way from reaching D-Grade, especially since his undead side seemed to require far more resources to take that step.

Added together with his other gains he couldn’t help but worry about hit his attribute cap, and the thought alone made Zac nervously open his Status Screen.

Name Zachary Atwood

Level 101

Class [E-Epic]  Edge of Arcadia

Race [D] Human - Void Emperor (Corrupted)

Alignment [Earth] Port Atwood - Planetary Lord

Titles Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer I, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao, The Big 500, Planetary Aegis, One Against Many, Butcher, Progenitor Hegemon, Duplicity Core, Apex Hunter, Heaven's Chosen, Scion of Dao, Omnidextrous, Eastern Trigram Hunt - 1st, Tyrannic Force, Achievement Hunter, The First Step, Promising Specialist, Tower of Eternity - 8th Floor, Heaven's Triumvirate, Fated, Peak Power, Monarch-Select, Frontrunner, Pathstrider

Limited Titles Tower of Eternity Sector All-Star - 14th, Weight of Sin

Dao Fragment of the Axe - High,  Fragment of the Coffin - High, Fragment of the Bodhi - High

Core [E] Duplicity

Strength 4032 [Increase: 93%. Efficiency: 228%]

Dexterity 1967 [Increase: 67%. Efficiency: 187%]

Endurance 3970 [Increase: 101%. Efficiency: 228%]

Vitality 3134 [Increase: 91%. Efficiency: 228%]

Intelligence 949 [Increase: 67%. Efficiency: 187%]

Wisdom 1803 [Increase: 72%. Efficiency: 187%]

Luck 397 [Increase: 91%. Efficiency: 197%]

Free Points 0

Nexus Coins [E] 107 298 

His other two Daos had caught up to his Fragment of the Axe by now, but he didn’t feel like any of his Daos were close to taking reaching peak mastery. Inspiration was found in the heat of battle, which was doubly true for his Fragment of the Axe, and he hadn’t been forced to push himself since the cataclysmic battles in the Mystic Realm.

But there was one more reason, something Zac hadn’t realized until now. It really seemed his progress was a lot worse compared to even normally talented people now that the Origin Dao was gone. It was like his Dao Progress was extremely quick as long as it had some fuel to run on, be it Origin Dao or treasures, but the moment there was no fuel supplied, progress simply stopped.

Others could at least make some progress through meditation, but Zac didn’t feel like he was doing that at all. Perhaps he was making some inroads, but it wouldn’t be realized until he got his hands on an E-grade Dao Treasure. There was no doubt about it in Zac’s mind; this, too, was related to his Void Emperor-bloodline. Zac believed he wouldn’t have many bottlenecks, but he would need to find treasures or treasure lands to push his progress forward.

Of course, his Daos having stagnated a bit was for the best with his current situation.

His attributes had increased by almost 50% thanks to his levels and improved Daos over the past years. Just the thought of gaining another level in his current situation filled him with worry. He had reached Middle E-Grade by now, and the boosts had doubled. What if he hit the attribute cap? Of course, that wasn’t the only reason why breaking open a node filled him with trepidation.

The dangers of grinding had taken a sharp and drastic turn the moment he hit Middle E-grade.