Defiance of the Fall

Conflict was the underpinning concept of his path and the first Dao he encountered . It was also the universal truth that shaped his understanding of the Multiverse . His unusual introduction to the System had pitted him against the Gwyllgi Alpha in a roll for survival , but that was just the beginning . Fighting the Barghest outside his camper had been the true start of his bloody road toward supremacy .

He’d been fighting since day one , seizing the titles for being the first to slay a beast in the new order forced upon Earth . Conflict was a constant companion , molding him and pushing him forward . Now , it would become the first piece of his core .

Zac took out the Omnitool and began carving a series of lines across the stone , his hands moving in perfect harmony . Each line released immensely refined truths of War . A lot of ambient energy had already accumulated , and the Warstone] turned the environment into a replica of his cave back home . Of course , be it energy or insights , the quality here far exceeded the setup on Earth .

Conflict , Life , and Death fought and raged , though Zac only felt comfort from the disturbance , entering an optimal state of mind . You could call the clamor the natural expression of his Daos , something he didn’t get to see in his mansion here in the Perennial Vastness .

The rays of War emitted a mottled mix of truths , some echoing his Branch of the War Axe while others didn’t . As Zac added more engravings to the stone , the leaking aura started to shift .

Away from his path .

The main reason the treasure needed to be engraved was to prepare it for processing and refinement . Zac had spent the better part of a decade working on his Omnitool and Cosmic Forge] , all so he could create a better core more attuned to his Dao . Part of his effort could be seen in the mysterious patterns added to the Warstone] .

It was impossible to remold the Supreme treasure into something fully harmonized with his Branch of the War Axe . He wasn’t confident even Essence Union] would allow such a great transformation without destroying what made the Warstone] unique . However , his proficiency in Cosmic Forge] allowed him to nudge things in his favor .

Zac intentionally targeted the pieces unsuitable for his core , detaching their spiritual threads from the rest of the treasure . It was these pieces of spirituality that leaked from the treasure . Such a crude approach would irrevocably destabilize the Supreme treasure since he neither had the time nor skill to use Cosmic Extraction] the intended way . In this case , it didn’t matter .

Zac couldn’t go too far . If the treasure’s unique spirituality collapsed , the Warstone] would be no better for his core than some random , raw attuned energies .

It was a delicate balancing act , removing as many unneeded aspects as possible without getting too greedy . Once Zac finished the pattern , the timer had begun . It was impossible to say for certain , but Zac estimated he had around a minute before the Warstone] would detonate like a bomb due to his meddling if he didn’t immediately start refining it .

He gingerly placed the treasure on the Nucleus Array powered by Conflict , and an immense pressure contained the energy within . Seeing it stabilizing under pressure , Zac infused his will into a control rune . A deluge of Dao and Energy , refined by Mount Illumination and the Dao thread , poured into the small stone . It started vibrating , taking on the accumulated energy in the tapestry .

Zac had to work quickly . The Dao of Conflict was rapidly being drained from the surroundings , and the imbalance only increased when Zac opened the second box and released a gust of Life and Death . They joined the waiting energies , forming a miniature version of the Calamity above his head . Small explosions created a smattering backdrop that Zac barely registered . He confirmed both arrays and Dao Threads had no problems withstanding the commotion .

His full focus was on the twinned crystals of the Calamity Core] , Life and Death trapped in an embrace—the remaining two-thirds of his Dao .

78

THE ROAD TOWARD HEGEMONY

The road that’d led Zac to the Daos of Life and Death was more circuitous than his connection to the Axe , marked by coincidence and outside factors . It was his battle with Mhal , the Corpselord General , that accidentally steered Zac down the path of Death . It was only a short conflict at the beginning of his journey , yet the Corpselord became one of the biggest influences on his path and achievements .

His Seed of Trees was later pushed toward the Dao of Life because of the need to create a counterforce to the wound Mhal left on him . Even then , it’d taken years of twists and turns until he reached his current direction . The fact that coincidence and necessity had so greatly influenced his history with these two Daos didn’t make them any less his .