Chapter 212
Author note: This is a reminder about keeping thement section civil.
The tone in some discussionstely have been just abysmal, and it''s not something I want to see any longer.
I do not mind people discussing parts of the story they don''t like or stuff like that, but when insults start flying it stops being a conversation, instead turning into a mud flinging contest.
Since I''m tired of that kind of behavior I''ll make it easy for myself, and most of my readers, by simply blocking anyone who can''t behave.
First time the block willst for a week, the second time will be permanent. People who get blocked will still be able to read chapters, but they won''t be able to PM me or writements.
This is effective immediately.
--------------
Zac had to admit he was a bit disappointed the process to change was so arduous. He knew he already had received a top tier opportunity that would make most of the cultivators in the multiverse green with envy, but he still had hoped it would be quicker.
He had hoped to be able to change his ss in the middle of battle, enabling him to turn the tables. But there was just no way to do that with how the change worked. Not only did it take way too long, but he also lost almost all awareness of his surroundings when he changed, making it impossible.
Since the Core was only F-grade at the moment Zac didn''t give up all hope though. Every time it upgraded some parts of it function should improve. The only problem was he had no clue how to upgrade a Specialty Core at the moment.
At least it felt nice to be back in human form again. The whole time he was in his Draugr-form he felt assaulted by the Cosmic Energy in the atmosphere, causing him constant difort. He understood why Mhal brought a bunch of Unholy Beacons in his invasion of the ind.
Zac still had a few of them, as he never got around to selling those he found in the Undead Generals Cosmos Sack as well. He was seriously contemting creating a Zone on hispound where the Cosmic Energy was transformed to Miasma instead.
He needed to figure out a method to contain the death-attuned energy first though, and not let it get spread all over.
The treasure hunt starts tomorrow. Is there anything I need to do that Ive missed? Zac said as he got up on his feet.
Well, have you talked with the others? Kenzie asked.
Others? Zac said in confusion.
There are three people from Refugees Harbor whos going, and L is going as well, Kenzie exined.
Ls going? Why? Zac asked with confusion.
Everything Zac had learned about the System pointed toward the Treasure Hunt bing a ughterhouse. He roughly knew the strength of Kenzies friend, and he had to say he was unsure whether shed survive.
She wants to be stronger, and this is a chance for that, Kenzie exined with worry. Youll look after her, right?
Ill try, but I cant promise anything. I still dont know whatll happen after we enter, Zac answered.
Thats good enough. Oh, and maybe you should talk to Emily? Her birthday is in a few weeks, and you might still be gone at that time, Kenzie continued.
Right, Zac said. Can you have the other trial takers gather at the academy in two hours?
There was something he needed to do with Emily in any case, so he decided to head over immediately. The teenager still lived alone in his old camper up in the tree, and with a few jumps he scaled it andnded on therge patio.
Emily had decorated it with a sofa and a couple of recliners under a parasol, withrge potted nts creating some warmth. The whole thing gave off a veryfortable feeling. Zac had to admit it looked a bit better than his own austere courtyard as he knocked on the door.
After a minute Emily opened up with a yawn.
Whats going on? she asked with some confusion.
Eat this, Zac said and gave her some springroot.
Ugh, Im starting to get real sick by the taste of this thing, she muttered, but stillplied.
Sorry, just making sure. I didnt want to give your birthday gift to a shapeshifter, Zac said with a smile.
Birthday gift? she said as her mouth curved upward.
Here, Zac said as he took out an intricate box from his Cosmos Sack.
She immediately opened it up, and inside was a fruit giving off an extremely enticing aroma. It was the Fruit of Ascension hed kept all up until now. Ever since he found out that his sister didnt need it he had pondered on what to do with it.
In the end, he decided to give it to one of his closest allies rather than put it into the contribution system. The two people hed considered were Sap Trang and Emily, but in the end he chose Emily. He knew that Sap might be more worthy of the treasure going by his actions, but he had to think about the future of Port Atwood.
The old fisherman was a mortal just like him, but without any of the advantages that Zac had rued. Meanwhile, Emily was shown to hold good talent for cultivation, and she still hadnt even turned 16.
ording to the information hed gathered about titles for himself, there was one title that came from improving Race ranking before even stepping on the path of cultivation. That meant that he could actually put Emily on track on bing a true elite with the help of the fruit.
He wanted another human elite on the ind, and if he could help Emily gain a bunch of titles with the help of the fruit as an initial gift he felt it was a worthy investment. People of Earth might not care about the youths yet as they missed the opportunity of the tutorial, but Zac knew that Cultivation was a marathon rather than a sprint.
Not having ess to the tutorial was a missed opportunity, but so what? The multi-verse was filled with cultivators who never went to the Tutorial but still possessed power that the people of Earth could only dream of. Even if Emily missed that opportunity, others woulde along.
This is a Fruit of Ascension, Zac exined. It will help you increase your Race even before turning 16, which will put you a step ahead of most cultivators in the world. I have seen how hard youve worked, and I hope this will help you be one of the pirs of Port Atwood in the future.
Emilys eyes reddened, and she didnt say anything in response. Her arms only tightly cradled the small box, clutching it tightly to her chest. Zac only smiled and patted her head before walking toward the edge of the patio.
I am leaving for the Treasure Hunt tomorrow, and I dont know how long I will be gone. I hope youll have grown into a powerful warrior by the time Ivee back. Remember, try to defeat a monster at least at level 26 as your first enemy for the titles. It will help your growth immensely, Zac said before jumping down.
Thank you, stay safe, he heard before the door to the camper once again closed.
Next he walked over to the government building to speak with Abby and Adran. Abby actually chose to live inside the building itself, whereas Adran lived right next door, so both were essentially always there.
Since he was a lord it was within his purview to delegate certain tasks, and give specific individuals more control over various functions of the town. Until now hed kept almost all control to himself, apart from enabling others to buy teleportation arrays.
But there were clear disadvantages to this tactic. One example was that he was unable to head to Billyville, even though they on paper were allies. But that alliance never got formalized since Zac was in the Dead Zone at the time.
After an hour-long meeting, he gave both the administrators some more control and set the course for the development of Port Atwood. Most of the inds within his control were still unexplored, and his force was still mapping things out.
Unfortunately, they still hadnt found the main continent either, making Zac wonder just how far in the middle of nowhere they were located. But every week new citizens got integrated into his kingdom, which in turn increased his ie through taxes.
Of course, since he chose a pretty generous system at the Merit Exchange his ie wasnt enormous. But if his poption doubled his ie from taxes would eclipse that of his mine.
Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted the meeting, and not long after a secretary walked inside.
I am sorry to bother you, but the Zhix ambassador wishes to meet Lord Atwood. He says its urgent, she said.
Ibtep? Send him in, Zac said with some curiosity.
It was a while since hed spoken with Ibtep, and he wondered what he was up to. He actually thought the Zhix was aboard the main scouting vessel with Sap Trang, in case they encountered another Zhix hive.
Soon the Zhix entered, this time not donning therge backpack he usually brought around.
Greetings, Lord Atwood, the Zhix said followed by a very formal bow.
Long time no see, Ibtep. Whats on your mind? Zac asked.
N of Hive Kundevi wishes strength upon you for the hunt. N also wanted to give you this, the Zhix said and took out a dagger and what appeared to be an amulet.
What are these? Zac asked curiously.
As youve noticed our kind are a bit enthusiastic in our greetings of new warriors, Ibetp said.
Adran only snorted in his chair, and Zac had to force himself to not roll his eyes. Enthusiastic greetings might just be the understatement of the year. The Zhix ignored the demons response though and kept going.
These are the relics of the hive. If you show these along with sending the regards of N when meeting another Anointed they might not immediately attack. As every day passes the Dominators grow stronger, and we believe that every race needs to work together to stop them, Ibtep said with a serious face.
Thank you for the gift, and give my regards to N. These will be a great help, Zac said as he epted the two items.
The ambassador stayed for half an hour to teach Zac some basic etiquette when speaking with the Anointed, before leaving with another round of well-wishing. Since he was running out of time Zac also ended the meeting with a final exhortation to aid Ogras in finding the shapeshifters by any means necessary.
Thirty minutester he sat in an emptied ssroom with four others. It was two men and two women. The only one he recognized was L, whereas the others were cultivators from Refugees Harbor.
Seeing the three made Zac realize that the scale of the treasure hunt might be evenrger than he expected before. If these people managed to get tokens, then so would thousands of others. L had gained another two levels since he saw herst, but she was still only in her mid-thirties.
As for the other 3 cultivators they were around the same level, apart from a woman who was level 38. Apparently she was one of the leaders of the cultivators from Refugees harbor. Zac honestly didnt feel that they would be much more than fodder at the hunt, but he wouldnt stop people from chasing their dreams.
I called you all here to discuss the Treasure Hunt starting tomorrow, Zac began.
The people from Refugees Harbor hesitantly looked at each other until they focused on their leader.
Are you confiscating our tokens? she said with a somber expression.
Zacs brows rose from that line of question. He hadnt expected that question, but after further thought he guessed it made sense. There were quite a few people stronger than these three on the ind, though they were all demons who couldnt go.
But these people still thought that demons was the fourth local race. Honestly, if he could bring the demons he would probably buy the tokens from these four, as it would be far more beneficial to bring Ogras and his generals.
No. I just called you here to tell you to be careful, and to not use my name unless as ast resort. I have essentially made the whole world government an enemy, and there are false rumors surrounding me on the main ind. Mentioning that you live here might not necessarily help you, but perhaps have the opposite effect, Zac exined with a wry smile.
I will try to help you if we meet each other, but you shouldnt rely on me either. I am just one person, and I believe that the treasure hunt will cover a huge area. In fact, if youre not confident in staying alive on your own youre likely better off not going, he continued.
However, all of them seemed adamant about going, so Zac could only respect their wishes and only reiterated a few tips. He also gave them each one copy of [Book of Babel] so they could talk it out with whoever they encountered and a couple of healing pills each.
By now he was done with all his matters, apart from finally giving himself onest power-up. He went back to his courtyard and sat down to stabilize his mind. After a while he took out the small vial containing the Dao Treasure, but instead of drinking it he closed his eyes and focused on the Dao of Sharpness.
After pondering on the aspect of sharpness he wanted to evolve for an hour he finally opened his eyes, and with one fluid motion drank all the contents of the vial. A familiar sensation overcame him as he saw the vast system of the Dao of Sharpness with his inner sight.
Seeing the whole Dao like this was straining his mind, and it almost felt like his soul was getting continuously cut by the sharpness. Zac didnt waste any time, instead quickly finding the part of the Dao that corresponded with his own insights, and started to absorb that part.
His understanding was quickly formalizing into a crystalized nugget of insight, and he effortlessly passed the threshold to the middle stage. Only secondster the simted epiphany from the drug ran out, and he opened his eyes again to check on his harvest.
Seed of Sharpness (Middle): Dexterity +25, Intelligence +5
Zac wasnt surprised in the slightest that his upgraded seed only provided Dexterity since the particr insight he gained was into that of speed. Having evolved his seed also meant that he had done everything he needed to do before the hunt.
He got up on his feet to head to his sisters ce since he knew that she was skipping going to the Academy today. They had already nned to have dinner together since he might be gone for a while.
But as he started to walk out of his courtyard he saw Ogras stand there with a determined expression on his face.
Good, youre out. We need to talk.