Chapter 572: Flames (1/2)

Zac normally wouldn't have done something so risky as to challenge a Half-Step D-Grade Golem, but he was running out of options. He had ambushed Void's Disciple with the strongest people he could muster, but he still walked away almost scot-free. Certainly, he did seem to have been slightly worse for the wear in the security feed, but their group was in a far worse condition.

He needed another power-up.

That was his greatest takeaway from the battle, and that feeling had only increased since arriving at the Mystic Realm. The influence that the Dao of Space had over this whole base was far greater than he had expected, and who knew whether that would bring Adcarkas even more advantages.

He had tried to come up with other ideas over the past ten days, but this was the only thing with a decent chance of success. His first hope had been to quickly find some way to awaken his bloodline, they hadn't found a single useful thing inside so far. There were a lot of signs pointing toward this being a bloodline research base, but the useful stuff might all be locked in the center of the research base. Furthermore, the portal would close in a couple of days, so it was now or never.

It didn't look like his Hidden Node was gearing up to provide him with pure Dao distilled from Tribulation Lightning either, so he would have to risk his life for power once more. If he could gain access to the E-Grade skills he would gain a large boost in power, and the same went for Ogras and the elite Demons who had already evolved as well.

Besides, Zac wasn't doing anything he didn’t have a certain confidence in succeeding. Zac believed that he had found a path to victory, or at least a way to survive the attempt.

It became possible only when combining a few things that had changed over the past weeks. First of all, was the discovery that [Blighted Cut] worked just as well on inanimate objects as it did on living beings. Even rocks would rot and lose their structural integrity when hit by the E-Grade skill of his Undead Class.

Zac had also confirmed the same thing on the guarding puppets he got for closing the Incursions. It was the most similar target to the trial of the Dao Repository, and his undead skillset was extremely efficient in taking them out. Even the captains were helpless against the combination of his extreme durability and high lethality.

Secondly, it was the fact that Triv had already confirmed that the [Rageroot Oak Seed] would work on his undead form. He had been worried before that he would encounter the same issue as with the Race-improving herbs. Luckily there were surprisingly almost no Life-attuned energies inside the seed, just a fiery power that would work even on the unliving.

Finally, he had visited Brazla five times over the past week, each time finagling a little bit of information about the trial as he mainly focused on finding out about the Dimensional Seed. The takeaway was that berserking items such as the seed were allowed in the trial, whereas powerful arrays or talismans were not. The logic was that surviving using a powerful Berserker Treasure could be considered a strength of your own, and a unique perk of cultivators with high Vitality.

This meant that he could use his Draugr-class, push it to the equivalent of Middle E-Grade with the seed, and restrict and grind down the trial golem while staying safe with the toolkit of his Fetters of Desolation-class. Zac quickly turned thoughts to action as he snuck back through the Spatial tunnel, with only the guarding Valkyries knowing he had left the Mystic Realm.

Zac wasted no time back on Earth either and he immediately teleported back to his compound. Everything pointed to him having almost a week, but he still felt the risk of getting locked outside. He had already decided that he would stay in Port Atwood at most for an hour or two, even if he had to drag himself back to the Mystic Realm while half-dead.

“Oh? I thought you had left. I was looking forward to some peace and quiet,” Brazla snorted as Zac entered the Repository, but Zac still inwardly breathed out in relief when he saw that the Tool Spirit seemed to have one of his more amiable personalities today.

“I want to undergo the trial to unlock the E-Grade skills,” Zac said as [Verun’s Bite] appeared in his hands.

“So you think you’re infallible now that you’ve spent some time among the weaklings,” Brazla said with disdain. “Well, no matter. It makes no difference to The Great Sage whether you live or die.”

Brazla lazily waved the arms of his golden robes next, and a portal appeared in the middle of the hallway.

“Just step inside and you’ll be taken to the trial ground,” Brazla said with disinterest.

Zac nodded but he didn’t immediately enter. He instead swapped over to his undead class while [Love’s Bond] transformed into its shield-form. Zac didn’t stop there either, but he also activated [Vanguard of Undeath] along with [Immutable Bulwark]. This would be a trial conducted by Brazla himself, and Zac wouldn’t take any chances. He might not get the opportunity to transform on the other side.

“So cautious,” Brazla snorted, but Zac only ignored him as he stepped up to the teleporter.

”Any last-minute advice?” Zac asked.

”The faster you fail the quicker I can return to my rest,” Brazla said after some thought. ”So don't dally.”

”Great,” Zac sighed as he stepped onto the teleporter.

The teleportation was immediate, but Zac didn’t even have an opportunity to take stock of his surroundings before a stream of lava the thickness of his thighs almost hit his head. He barely had time to move his shield in time, but he was still pushed back over ten meters from the incredible force of the molten rock. If that wasn't enough Zac also was assailed by a terrifying heat until he finally managed to divert the stream in its entirety. He could feel a stinging sensation on his face, and he audibly groaned when he knew that he had become a monk once more.

However, he was still more concerned about the stream of molten rock as it wasn’t simple lava like the one in the Underworld. This lava contained a fierce spirituality, and Zac actually guessed that it could be considered a powerful E-Grade material. That fact alone made him gawk as he took stock of his surroundings. It was a huge sea of lava, with the only solid ground being the small island he was standing on.