Chapter 1,303.

‘Remember what you just said. The mission failed the first time around, and we still don’t know when or why. Stay within ten meters of me, especially if things get out of hand. My bloodline is the only thing having a chance at keeping us safe,’ Zac urged as Ivar Serpico led the fifty-man crew toward the point of entry. ‘’

Ventus had already scanned the rest of the Serpico Guild over the past week, and every single member was haunted by the shadow of death—from Guild Master to lowest assistants. The company navigating deeper into the tunnels may as well have been a funeral procession.

Two hours later, they reached an excavation already well underway. An advance party began work days ago, cordoning off the area, installing the necessary arrays, and stripping the outer layers of rock. The following part required the expertise of the veteran crew. Ivar took charge while Kalir stayed incognito.

The mine expansion was just as fraught with danger as Zac expected. Branching streaks of deadly energies permeated the mountain, some holding more than enough energy to take out the whole party. Disturbing them could trigger a chain reaction of multiple deposits erupting at once. The miners had to carefully dig a path to the streak and deal with them one by one.

Each deposit was unique, requiring a customized solution. Whenever possible, they would draw away the dangerous pockets with siphoning arrays, dispersing their payload into the mountain. The process was akin to defusing a field of mines. Thankfully, the two Monarchs weren’t just there for moral support.

Vitrus and Vatra were siblings, the former an Array Master and the latter a warrior focused on defense. While not as attuned to the mountain as Ivar, their strength and heritage more than made up for it. Zac stayed at the backlines, keeping watch of sudden dangers. The flickers of Void were getting stronger the deeper they delved, and the calamity could strike at any moment.

‘Still can’t feel anything?’ Zac asked.

‘Nothing. It’s still the usual—mostly Daos of the Grand Materia and the Inverse Peak. Metal and Stone transformed into God know what,’ the demon confirmed.

The demon never managed to sense the flickers of Void, and it was the same with the Serpico Guild. The slight disturbances they caused were taken as part of the erratic nature of the energy flows.

“Careful!” Zac suddenly said as a vine dragged a surprised miner away from the wall. He’d been in the middle of activating a stabilizing array when a flicker of Void triggered a subtle shift. Ivar appeared out of nowhere to take his place, infusing the wall with his own energy and Dao.

“Lord, this is no place to play around!” the Guild Master said, his veins throbbing from repressed rage as the foremen glared in Zac’s direction.

“Look at the array, compare it to the current energy flows,” Zac calmly said.

“What do you—huh? It’s misaligned,” Ivar said, looking at the array disk with surprise.

“I double-checked it moments ago,” a foreman said, turning to Zac for answers. “Is young master able to read the mountain?”

“Not to the point I can anticipate changes. I have a Fatewarding treasure that anticipates sudden dangers. It indicated that activating the array would have threatened me,” Zac lied to explain his actions.

With Zac’s Danger Sense and two Monarchs forcibly paving a path, progress was smooth. Digging through the miles-wide outer shell could take a week for an elite unit, yet they reached their destination in half a day.

“There’s a major hollow fifty yards ahead. Multiple miles wide and perfectly isolated,” Ivar confirmed after removing his hands from the wall, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

“A major hollow is a good thing?” Zac asked, unable to penetrate the energy-rich wall with his Soul Sense.

Ivar answered after getting the go-ahead from Kalir. “It can be, my Lord. There are plenty of veins in the mountain, but the really valuable stuff will be found in sealed spaces. But, uh, they can also be the breeding grounds for nasty things.”

“We shouldn’t encounter creepers here,” another miner offered. “I’ve mined the area most of my life. The storm that blocked this section was terrifying. Anything strong enough to survive that—”

“—Would already have broken out and razed Dipper Seven to the ground,” Zac surmised.

“Just so.”

“Don’t lower your guard. Stop when we’re five meters from breaking through,” Ivar grunted as he installed the next set of arrays.

‘Get ready,’ Zac warned as they drew closer, putting on [Ossuary Bulwark] just in case.

The miners were already wearing hazmat suits as Vatra removed the last barrier. Their preparations weren’t enough to block the tsunami of energy flooding the tunnel. It was so dense that it may as well have been liquid, and it showed no signs of abating. It was lucky the entrance had been sealed for ‘security reasons,’ with gates installed every fifty meters. Otherwise, the flood of energy would have caused a storm among the miners in the area.

“Keep going!” the Monarch urged while suppressing the onslaught with a defensive domain.

The company rushed inside with burning eyes. The dense yet stable energies were a clear sign of having hit the jackpot. Zac anxiously followed as a shocked exclamation came from ahead. Then, it was Zac’s turn to join the chorus.

“What the hell?” Zac gasped, his shock genuine.

Instead of a Void Treasure marked by the Earthly Peak, they’d stumbled onto a miles-wide cave holding a cultivator’s manor.

A central building hovered between two hand-carved hills the shape of mountains—one floating above and an upside-down mountain below. The former was hewn from the same white stone as the Dipper Mountains, and it radiated a blinding aura of the Earthly Peak. It may as well have taken the whole mountain range’s Dao and compressed it to fit the scale model.

The inverted hill was pitch black, its shape perfectly matching the one above like a shadow. It was absolutely bereft of aura, at least one that could be sensed through conventional means. It felt like mortal stone without any innate spirituality even to Zac. The two slowly rotated in opposite directions, meaning they’d only occasionally line up.

As if by fate, they aligned just as Zac entered, prompting his vision to double. Countless glowing runes lit up across the cave’s surface, all of them holding a sliver of Void ensconced in Dao. Together, the runes held far more Void Energy than Zac, and he had to hold himself back from gorging on the banquet beneath his feet.

The inverted hill was no different. It had come alive, suddenly filled with Void Energy and Void of Dao perfectly opposite its sibling’s. If the hills touched at that moment, both would instantly cease to exist. All that was nothing compared to the monstrous eruption of Void coming from within the central manor.

Zac couldn’t breathe as he was inundated by the aura he’d felt all the way on the surface. His bloodline trembled, no longer daring to display any hunger. Zac felt like an ant looking up at an elephant—one that shouldn’t exist under the Heavens. Thankfully, the mountains kept rotating, breaking the alignment.

The Void became rootless, and Zac almost felt like the Void Energy fled toward the manor to escape Heaven’s wrath. Most of it was extinguished in mutual destruction with the ambient energies, causing a noticeable drop in density. Zac exhaled after confirming everything was back to normal. The Void was routed, and the chamber was already filling up with new energy.

The others had only noticed the sudden drop in energy. They were busy taking in the incredible arrangement. Beyond the central abode and its replica mountains, there were four humongous satellites surrounding the cardinal directions. They looked like abstract sculptures, each one unique.

They thrummed with forbidding powers, easily surpassing Zac or the two Monarchs. They were at least Late C-grade arrays and fully functional by the looks of it. Zac also saw something familiar in them. Their odd forms represented the Four Laws, at least a decent replication of them. Getting past the arrays to reach the manor wouldn’t be easy.

Zac turned to the seven lesser manors directly carved out of the surrounding walls. The closest one was only two hundred meters away. It was also the only damaged one. A large crack had breached its wall, scarring the cave’s otherwise smooth surface. The imperfection reached all the way to their current location. It was the breach they’d exploited to enter safely.

It was clear the ancient abode hadn’t dropped out of a spatial rift. The whole cave had been reshaped to create a formation perfectly harmonized with the Dipper Mountains. The arrangement was similar to Ubo’s, the Life-attuned C-grade Elemental Zac met in the Orom World.

Ubo had hollowed out a mountain to create a cultivation cave. While the abandoned manor before them was smaller, it was built according to grander concepts. The mountain was the Heavens, the cave was the Earth, and the manor in the center connected the two through the authority of its owner.

Zac couldn’t believe the clues had led him to the abode of a genuine Void Cultivator. He knew the chasm between Void and Dao wasn’t as absolute as one could assume. The [Fuxi Mountain Gate] was proof of that, and Wal’Zo mentioned that eight Void Cultivators had reached the peak and left their mark on the Void Mountain.

The mysterious manor definitely didn’t belong to one of those supreme existences but rather one of the forgotten many who fell long before reaching the Terminus. All Void Cultivators couldn’t possibly have followed the same route as Zac, who’d unintentionally stepped onto the path after awakening his Void Emperor bloodline.

From what Zac understood of the arrangement before him, this ancient cultivator must have grasped a corner of the Void through the Inverse Peak. It was an approach completely different from the [Fuxi Mountain Gate], and a very clever one at that. When looking at the Cosmos as a layered cake with the Void Mountain as a base, the Lower Planes and the Inverse Peak would be the next layer.

Zac had to keep his face impassive as he looked at the manor with even greater hunger. While dusty, it was clearly built during the Limitless Empire’s reign. It was almost fully intact, and not enough time had passed for repositories and treasures to lose their spirituality. There was a chance the manor held a Void Cultivator’s complete heritage.

It was clearly a flawed path, seeing how the Void could only momentarily rise to the surface. Instead of true integration, the Void was an external power like the remnants. Even so, the method could very well provide insights more valuable than any First People’s inheritance. This was the approach of a modern cultivator grasping the Void while living under the Heavens.

“It’s intact…” Ivar whispered with a trembling voice, his eyes a mix of desire and fear.

Zac could almost see the two opposing impulses duking it out in the Guild Master’s head. The Serpico Guild could toil away until the day they died without coming close to the wealth of some Monarchs, and the ruins before them could very well hold such a fortune. Only, you needed to be alive to enjoy such riches.

A series of vibrations made Zac turn around. The last miners had been dragged into the cave, and the exit was sealed with a much sturdier barrier. Meanwhile, Zac’s communication crystals lost contact with the outside. They were trapped, and Kalir no longer kept up the charade of a butler. His face morphed back to normal while the Monarchs took up protective positions around him.

“Thank you, gentlemen. We’ll take the lead from here on out.”

Zac didn’t mind the development. The Whitecrest Consortia stopped at erecting a barrier, and Zac could easily pass right through with [Void Mountain]. Of course, he maintained a displeased expression while apprehension replaced the greed among the Serpico Guild.

“I’ve brought you inside as agreed upon,” Ivar said with an ugly smile, prompting his men to look over with confusion. “I understand the need for privacy. How about I take the boys out of here so the young Masters can work undisturbed?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. My employers cannot have any rumors leaking before we’ve performed our investigation and made suitable arrangements. This is both for your and our safety. The wrong kind of attention can trigger a tragedy. Work hard, everyone. The sooner we get what we came for, the sooner we’ll get out of here.”

The fifty elites of the Serpico guild could only swallow their anger and go along despite their role being evident to everyone involved. The manor was bound to have defenses installed, and the Monarchs saw no reason to test the waters themselves. Any mutiny was destined to fail. The miners were Early or Middle Hegemons, with the three foremen being Late Hegemons. A single Monarch was enough to thoroughly suppress the group.

The Guild Master turned toward Zac with pleading eyes. This was why Ivar had caused a scene before—force Kalir into the open. Zac would either join the expedition or add enough uncertainty that Kalir would cancel the mission. If Ivar had to go, he hoped having a powerful outsider to act as a witness would improve their chances of survival. Unfortunately, he was barking up the wrong tree.

‘There’s no need to pity these men. The Serpico Guild is one of the most crooked outfits in the area. They’re more bandit than miners. Their crimes are more than enough to be sent to the frontlines as cannon fodder.’

Kalir’s message was unnecessary. Zac wouldn’t risk his and Ogras’s lives for long-dead people, especially not the Serpico Guild. The merchant’s description wasn’t an exaggeration. No faction in Dipper Seven was clean, and the Serpico Guild was dirtier than most. ‘Sacrifices are an unfortunate necessity of any great undertaking.’

To Ivar, Zac only spared a halfhearted promise. “I’ll continue to monitor our surroundings.”

“As expected of the noble Wendimars,” Kalir praised. Ivar just sneered, no longer bothering to keep up pretenses.

“Let’s go,” the Monarch barked. “Keep order and no funny business. Countless arrays are embedded in the walls, and we’re surrounded by unstable energies. We’ll kill anyone acting on their own.”

The group walked toward the outer building, with Vitrus performing scans every step of the way. The crack was essentially a safe passage all the way to the entrance. The lack of visible dangers gradually relaxed the crew, proving to be a huge mistake. One careless step was enough to trigger a hidden array. The miner was bisected by a flash before anyone could react.

A stone blade had silently risen out of the ground before crumbling to dust. Zac sensed a shadow of Void hidden within a cocoon of Earthy Dao. The Void had given the attack the same unpredictability as when Zac infused the Voids of Life and Death into his technique at the cost of stability. The bloody display only made Zac more eager to explore the manor. This cultivator had clearly made some inroads in fusing Void with skills, which was still out of Zac’s grasp.

One more miner died investigating the entrance before Vitrus gave the go-ahead. Vatra stayed behind to guard the crew while his brother led Kalir and Zac further inside. Zac’s Soul Sense was blocked by the high-grade materials, yet he felt his vision expand as he stepped into the dimly lit corridors. It was Ogras who’d linked up with the local shadows and transmitted what he saw in real time.

The building wasn’t designed for habitation, nor were there any treasuries or libraries. Like the structures on the Centurion Lighthouse, it was a large-scale array disk with service corridors. As far as Zac could tell, it was partially responsible for the tremendous amount of energy filling the abode. Only the central chamber was out of Ogras’s reach, and Vitrus made short work of the damaged gate.

“No wonder the manor hasn’t drained the whole mine dry,” Zac muttered upon seeing a morphing gate trapped in the central chamber.

It looked a lot like the breach he’d found at the depths of the tainted lake inside the Void Star, shifting in dimensions exceeding his senses. There was no corruption of the Lost Plane, instead an intense and alien aura somewhat matching the Dipper Mountain.

“Its Dao is incomplete. Is it a gate to a Lower Plane?”

“Almost. It’s the relay to one. The Hidden Earth Abode should be drawing directly from Dipper Mountain’s energy source. “

“It’s a modified [Seven Leap Array]—a shoddily constructed one, at that. What a waste of valuable materials,” Vitrus said, looking personally insulted as he inspected the complex array keeping the relay stable.

“We should be thankful. The manor would have stayed hidden far longer if it was properly constructed,” Kalir smiled. “Can you install the shunt?”

“Certainly, Young Master.”

Zac silently observed the Monarch place Array Flags around the twisting gate, seamlessly integrating a new array with the old system. After confirming his actions wouldn’t blow them to kingdom come, Zac turned to Kalir. “This is the point where you tell me the whole story. What’s the Hidden Earth Abode, and what are you really after? Is what you said about the Margrave even true?”

“I wouldn’t dare lie about the Scales of Earth,” Kalir said. “Upon learning about the Margrave’s request, our investigators scoured the Left Imperial Expanse for suitable offerings. It’s even become a competition to decide succession within the clan. It was my aunt who found scattered mentions of an unusual wandering cultivator. Following the clues eventually led me here.”

“Must have been some warrior for the Whitecrest to put in such effort,” Zac commented.

“His Daoist name was Hidden Earth, a Peak Void Herald active around three million years ago. We believe he failed in confirming his Dao,” Kalir explained.

Zac wasn’t surprised. Becoming a Divine Monarch was already a monstrously difficult feat without throwing the Void into the mix. A cultivator’s manor was a reflection of one’s path, and this one was fraught with danger.

“Will the Margrave even be interested in a Pre-Celestial Heritage? The courts wouldn’t lack such things.”

“Specifically, we’re after a certain ability of his. Daoist Hidden Earth was unremarkable for most of his life. He was the elder of an upcoming clan, presumed dead after its annihilation. When he reappeared, he’d advanced from a Middle to Peak Herald in just twenty thousand years. Not only that, but he displayed shocking prowess for his stage.

“Hidden Earth appeared outside the ancestral manor of his clan’s killers. He dispersed their Clan Protection Array with a wave of his hand and slaughtered their whole clan, including their Celestial Herald ancestor. After that, there are only a few scattered mentions of him appearing in public. He used his new ability to break into restricted areas and steal rare materials for his cultivation. I found the Hidden Earth Manor by following a trace on one of those treasures.”

“But you’re not interested in the treasures,” Zac said with conviction. “You’re after the array-breaking technique.”

“Exactly. Hidden Earth must have encountered a great stroke of luck. My aunt believes he discovered a previously unknown Lower Plane, one with extremely useful characteristics. Its potential should be far beyond what a random Void Herald could exhibit. This information would be extremely valuable to the Margrave.”

The Whitecrest Clan were only here for the repository, and they were even kind enough to pave a path to the central manor. Zac had to hold back a laugh. Things were looking up. They couldn’t even sense the Void Treasure! He’d snatch it while they dealt with the repository, then demand a copy for the Wendimar Clan. Ogras ruined the beautiful picture with a sarcastic remark.

‘Oh, I know that look. Disasters always follow.’