Defiance of the Fall

It was for the best . While getting his hands on the refined Void Energy would be one less worry , it was liable to complicate the process . He had no idea how much control he’d be able to exert over the Void Energy , especially with the Core Formation Array unable to help .

If he could build an operational base on the other three materials first , he would simply need to push the Void into the - empty space , - similar to how he used his Dao Molds . While the models of his blueprint looked porous , that was just because it was impossible to properly express the Quantum States of his core in three-dimensional space .

In reality , he needed to infuse the Void Energy into the untouchable Quantum Death in his human form , then repeat the process with Life as a Draugr . And since he had no idea what that infusion would lead to , it was a good idea to finish as much work as possible beforehand .

Another thirty minutes passed , which meant he’d crossed his estimate on the Void Heart] .

Still nothing .

Zac slowed the rotation of the growing nucleus as much as he could while taking out three new treasure boxes . They were all top-tier materials of Life , Death , and Conflict , all sourced inside the Perennial Vastness . Zac added a set of engravings before placing them on their respective refinement array .

Just as Zac finished his work on the third treasure , a huge energy fluctuation shook his core . Zac urgently turned his focus back to the Hollow Core] . A whole section had destabilized , and Zac was forced to cut it off . He threw the piece to one corner while moving the nucleus to another , shielding it with Mental Energy .

A second later , the alloy shattered , and an unprecedented explosion raged , forcing the energies back into the nucleus just like the energy from outside , but that wasn’t the case for the physical material . Until now , the eruptions had only been energy . This time material itself exploded . That section was gone , and he suddenly had less material to work with .

It had also lost its spirituality , and he could only extract the fragments from the Hollow Core] . Zac sighed , beginning the process again with new material to patch the damage .

Meanwhile , the three new treasures began absorbing the ambient Dao from the Dao Tapestries on the Dao Platform . The treasures sank into the refinement array fifteen minutes later , just before they risked destabilizing . With his full focus back on the core , Zac didn’t lose any more material .

The explosions continued as incessant solar flares that refused to relent . But the nucleus also grew more compact , to the point the innermost regions were forcibly stabilized .

It took a full ninety-five minutes , but Zac managed to fuse all the matter from the Warstone] and Calamity Core] into an almost perfectly spherical blob of alloy . Zac’s soul trembled from the effort , having been forced to constantly split his consciousness into twenty threads to maximize efficiency .

Zac said a silent prayer of good health for Mossy . If not for the living planet’s Moss Crystals , he’d never have managed to evolve his soul . And without a Three Fates Soul , he wasn’t sure if he would have endured the process .

Unfortunately , the nucleus still only looked like 60% of what it should . If Zac began channeling energy through this thing , it’d go from a Cosmic Core into a nuclear warhead . Still , he was happy with his efforts and moved on to stage two . Mental Threads entered the pathways of Life and Conflict and began exerting pressure to expand sections and move others .

Manipulating the inner structure of the nucleus like this made its energy even more volatile , and he was forced to reform the mental tendrils twice as often . At least the blob moved closer to what it should look like .

Zac was beginning to run low on Mental Energy even when liberally using Soul Crystals , so he supplemented with Soul Recovery Pills . Each subsequent pill would provide less than the one before , but what could he do? Zac guessed it was unavoidable when working with immense energy and great pressure . As for the Void Heart] taking its sweet time? Zac couldn’t do anything about it , so he kept working on what he could affect .

It took him a full hour to improve the nucleus to 75% similarity with the blueprint , at which point progress drastically slowed . There was only so much you could do to fix the problems caused by Death without actually touching it , so Zac infused some energy into the Duplicity Core .

Life and Death inverted , and the dormant tendrils filled with his Branch of the Pale Seal woke up . The previously inaccessible black crystal of the Calamity Core] became fully malleable . Finally having access to the Death-attuned side drastically sped up progress , but it still took another hour until he reached 90% precision .