Chapter 727: Order (1/2)

The elf was clearly gearing up for a sparring session that would push them to reach a breakthrough. However, Zac had some reservations even if the opportunity seemed good.

“Why me?” Zac asked. “If you can’t give me a proper answer I’ll have to decline.”

That was the most burning question in Zac's mind. If he was giving off clues about his situation to the young elites of the B-grade empires he needed to know immediately. Or if this elf had somehow found out about some of his most important secrets, the situation might turn into something bigger than a simple spar.

“Can you tell what path I follow?” Ventus asked as a Dao Field spread out from his body.

Zac’s thoughts whirred as he felt the ambient energy, and he looked at the elf with surprise. It was actually just a Dao Field from a Peak fragment as far as Zac could tell, which was decidedly lower than he had expected. However, the Dao Field was still far more intense than the fields of his own two peak fragments, almost a whole tier higher.

This Ventus must be right at the precipice of forming a Branch, and Zac also suspected he had an extremely powerful soul to push the Dao Field to this extent. As for the type of Dao, Zac actually didn’t have the slightest clue.

It didn’t really feel like a combat-oriented Dao; there was no bloodlust or sharpness to it. It was neither attuned to nature or the elements, and it didn’t feel like Adcarkas Dao of Space or Leviala’s Dao of Time. It did give off a mysterious and intangible feeling, but it wasn’t the Dao of Karma either.

For some reason, it made Zac think of an old academy with observatories and ancient books and scrolls filling tables.

“Books…?” Zac said from lack of better answers.

“Well, not quite,” Ventus smiled. “My path is within Dao of Numerology, one of the children of the Dao of Order.”

Zac’s brows rose a bit in surprise. The Dao of Order was a top-tier concept, proven by the simple fact that it had birthed a proper Apostate. As for the Dao of Numerology, Zac didn’t know a lot about it. He remembered Leviala mention it once, and he had read short descriptions in missives about Dao.

There was no proper faction in the Zecia sector following this Dao as far as Zac could tell, and it was apparently as hard to master as the Daos of Space, Time, and Karma.

These Daos put greater demands on affinity for some reason, and it was no wonder this guy managed to become a proper member of the Radiant Temple with this kind of accomplishment. It was probably even harder to form a Peak fragment subordinate to the Dao of Numerology compared to forming a Dao Branch of some weapon-based Dao.

That didn't mean these Daos were more powerful, though the rarity of a Dao was an advantage of its own. Zac had fought against a lot of elementalists and weapon masters over the past years, and he could trust his instincts against those kinds of warriors. But against the elf in front of him? He was still clueless on what to expect in a battle.

“Every day since entering, I have calculated the streams of fate of the Twilight Ascent, and the path gradually grew clearer. I chose this spot specifically to form a settlement, as it rests on a nexus on the way to the Twilight Chasm. A large number of those marked by fate will pass through these gates, and you are one of them,” Ventus said with an intense look. ”Even better, the presence of the Undead Empire and Havarok Empire in this area is extremely weak, with a low probability of me running into someone troublesome while collecting Twilight Fruits.”

It was just like Leviala had said. If he was speaking the truth, then Ventus Kalavan was essentially like a supercomputer that gathered thousands of pieces of information, turning them into data that helped him predict the future and his optimal path. Abbot Everlasting Peace's Dao had been different, but the end result was similar.

He had known all sorts of things that had yet happened through his insights into Karma. For a peak E-grade cultivator from a B-grade faction to be able to do the same, it wasn’t too surprising. Zac hesitated for a while, but he eventually nodded. His intuition told him that while the elf didn't necessarily explain the whole situation, he also wasn't lying.

“So, how does this work?” Zac asked.

“Come with me,” Ventus smiled, and the two walked over to a tree that twisted to form a tunnel.

They eventually reached an underground chamber that had a ceiling height of over ten meters and a diameter of almost a hundred meters. Its walls were made from the densely packed canopy of the Greengroves, and hundreds of banners with inscriptions were hung from both ceiling and walls. Zac guessed they were purifying talismans since the Twilight Energy in the area was barely as dense here as at the starting continent.

There were also eight braziers standing by the wall equidistant from each other. Zac’s eyes roved across the engravings and braziers, looking for any hint of something amiss. But neither his Danger Sense nor his skills found anything wrong with the setup, and his instincts told him that this was the kind of preparation you'd see in a cultivation cave.

In fact, there were already Dao Treasures loaded in each of the braziers, and the moment that Ventus closed the door, small fires ignited beneath the fruits. An alluring scent spread through the whole place, and the area soon felt a weakened version of the Dao chamber where they cracked open the Dao Funnel. Part of him wanted to simply sit down and gobble everything up, but he knew that doing so would just harm himself.

He was still lacking that final inspiration of what direction to take his Fragment of the Bodhi. If he just let himself get swept up by the mysterious smoke, he might end up with an imperfect Dao that didn't quite match with his path. Zac turned toward Ventus, but he hesitated when he saw the smiling elf just standing there with the large wooden frame in his left hand.

“What’s wrong?” Ventus eventually said with a raised brow. ”It’s not cheap to run this thing, you know.”

“Uh, are you going to fight with that thing?” Zac asked hesitantly as he looked at the wooden frame and the floating stones within.

“You’ll understand soon enough. Don’t worry, just fight freely,” he laughed. ”No skills though. They are just conduits to the Dao rather than its base, and it might attract the big guy below us.”

“Alright,” Zac said. “You better not regret it.”

It looked ludicrous that the elf wanted to defend against [Verun’s Bite] with stone beads and a wooden frame, but Zac guessed his reservations were simply him being a country bumpkin. Not wasting any time, Zac shot forward as Ventus flashed to the middle of the chamber with a graceful leap.

Zac launched a probing strike aimed at the elf’s chest, but he effortlessly avoided it by shifting his weight with expert precision. At the same time, the elf flicked one of the stones on his Spirit Tool, and Zac felt the universe somehow tilt when hearing the clicking sounds of gems colliding.

It wasn’t really a spiritual attack, at least not a type he was familiar with. It rather reminded him a bit of when he fought the Karmic Cultivator in the Tower of Eternity, where the man tried to impact his fate. He didn't actually feel those kinds of karmic restraints, but he still felt like a beast trapped in a cage for some reason.

Zac swung his axe once again to break out from the mental shackles by putting out some pressure of his own, and he also tried to stomp down on the elf’s foot to lock him in place. However, he was surprised to find it was rather his own foot that had been restrained, with Ventus immobilizing him with a force that belied his thin frame.

Something suddenly changed in the weird weapon as the hovering stone inside the wooden frame suddenly lit up like stars, and some of them rearranged themselves into a constellation resembling an intricately decorated shield. Zac didn't know why he thought so since a few dozen motes of light couldn't depict an image with such clarity. But that was what he saw.

In either case, there was no time for Zac to ponder on the implication of the rearrangement since the elf actually moved the abacus to counter Zac's own attack. Such a collision would normally result in a broken wooden frame and Zac’s enemy thrown across the room or cut apart entirely, but it was like the weird Spirit Tool nullified force.

The collision didn't quite halt Zac's strike, but Ventus had somehow managed to exert very little power to diffuse most of Zac's momentum, and Zac suddenly found himself getting his forehead flicked before the elf distanced himself in a flash.

“You better get serious,” Ventus laughed. “You’re no good to either of us like this.”