Defiance of the Fall

Thank you for all your help over the years , - Zac smiled . - I won’t let you down . -

Thank you for working so hard , - Null answered . - Good luck . -

The next moment , the connection between him and the bracelet was cut , and it disappeared soon after . He could no longer sense the guide’s presence , and she didn’t answer his calls . Zac tried sending Catheya another prompt to confirm the situation . As expected , nothing happened . The outside had been sealed off .

Core Formation was the ultimate goal for those visiting the Perennial Vastness and the guests’ final opportunity to provide Sendor with something he could use for his undertaking . There could be no distractions at this juncture .

The gates of the cultivation chamber swung open as Zac approached , and he was surprised to see it led to a spatial gate . This wasn’t what he’d heard from Null when putting forth his requirements for his Core Formation . Normally , the Perennial Vastness would add the Core Formation arrays to the chamber , which your mansion’s Mana domain then empowered . With no one to ask about the situation , Zac simply stepped through .

The surroundings shifted , and Zac found himself standing on a disk far up in the air . The scenery far below was quite familiar between his manor to the range of sanctified mountains stretching across the horizon . He’d been placed on a floating platform five hundred meters above Mount Illumination .

Zac felt like he’d replaced the gargantuan Buddha he’d seen when first stepping onto Mount Illumination , feeling somehow connected to the lands . The mountains also formed a vast natural formation , generating unfathomable amounts of energy .

Energy which was flowing toward Mount Illumination .

The gateway disappeared behind him , and incredibly complex runes lit up beneath his feet . The whole ten-meter disk was an array , and its activation was the beginning of a huge transformation of the surroundings . First , five smaller array disks flew out from beneath the platform , each emitting different aura fluctuations .

They were part of his special requests , but he didn’t get the chance to properly inspect them before the whole universe shook . One moment , the expansive vista was the same one he’d gazed at for years . The next , the air was filled with multiple sets of threads that hummed with power and pulsated like a heartbeat .

The threads formed a huge tapestry that stretched farther than Zac could see , filling the world with gold , black , and steely grey . Some tapped into the mountains , siphoning and transforming their energy reserves . Others dug into the ground or even reached deep into space . Many connected with Mount Illumination below , which eagerly supplied its already transformed energy .

The scene reminded Zac of when Yrial imparted him with a piece of his Dao , where threads had descended from distant stars . Vast amounts of energy flowed toward the ancillary arrays , who further refined the payload before depositing it on the platform .

The tapestries’ attunements were almost an exact match to his Daos , and the energy density atop the disk approached a level where they could be considered liquified Natural Treasures . A mortal with a shallow foundation could almost form a Cosmic Core using the ambient energy alone .

This kind of benefit undoubtedly came courtesy of reaching the thirteenth echelon . He didn’t just get to usurp the energy of Mount Illumination ; the whole mountain range became fuel for his breakthrough . Such treatment was one of the keys to forming his core without too many impurities . The Dao Threads were far from enough to fully satiate the demands of someone like him , but they would lessen the number of treasures he’d have to throw into his Duplicity Core by a third .

The tapestries of Life , Death , and Conflict were connected to the outer arrays . Conflict had two to itself , while the other Daos got one platform each and shared the fifth . There was also a fourth set of threads , which was quite different from the other three , and connected to all five ancillary arrays .

However , they didn’t extract any energy from the surrounding mountains nor channel energy into the outer arrays . The hidden tapestry simply accompanied the three sets of thread like a shadow , emitting weak fluctuations .

It would have taken Zac a while to notice the fourth tapestry if not for his intimate familiarity with what the environment represented . The threads portrayed his path , depicting his blueprint , where the fourth tapestry was the Void . And while it wasn’t nearly as stable or energy-dense as the other elements , Zac was quite surprised the Perennial Vastness managed to form something so closely resembling the real thing .