Of course , Null had a point . It wouldn’t do to jump in blindly . And he had technically exploded just hours ago . Something like that was enough to create a Heart Demon , even if it was an opportunity disguised as a calamity .
Zac spent the last ten minutes of his free trial on stabilizing his mind , including using Void Zone] a few times while no one was around .
Alright , take me to my manor , - Zac said after the ten minutes were up , placing his hand on the teleportation pillar .
The pillar split in two , but there was no hint of what was going on the other side . There was only a glimmering swirl in gold , steel , and black . That didn’t mean something was wrong , but that portals leading to manors had a privacy filter . Zac stepped through and found himself in a large living room with a similar design to his storefront .
If not for the incredibly dense energies , he’d have thought he’d been returned to Vastness City . The Samsara Energy was so dense that small golden numinous clouds floated in the corners and rafters of the room like large mothballs . Looking at them filled him with wonder , even causing his elevated Dao Heart to ripple .
Zac was still delighted to find the truths inside the ambient atmosphere slightly muted , even without him running his Dao Fields . Part of it was undoubtedly thanks to his approaching the first echelon already . He could tell there was a weak hint of discordance emitted from the manor itself , destabilizing the Buddhist Path on the mountain .
His gaze turned to the six pillars that held up the ten-meter ceiling . They were identical to each other , covered in dense engravings . The pillars reminded Zac of the seventeen pillars lining the square when he arrived , though the engravings echoed his Daos rather than the seventeen peaks of cultivation .
These pillars seemed to be the source of the disturbance , and Zac could sense over twenty similar sources spread through the manor . Their aura was still far from reforging Mount Illumination in his image , but it was an important first step . It injected a sense of imperfection and doubt into the Dharmic Perfection , allowing Zac to withstand the pressure more easily .
The problem , if one could call it that , was that the energy density and Dao-attunement had noticeably increased since he left . The energy density was over ten times what he enjoyed in his cultivation cave back on Earth , and it felt like someone was constantly crushing Nexus Crystals to push the environment to this level .
More importantly , the Dao was much clearer here than back home . It was akin to the difference between a normal attuned Crystal and a top-tier attuned treasure . Even if only a third of it related to his Daos , it was almost beyond what he could deal with . Zac wryly smiled , almost happy he was an affinityless mortal . It must be torture for cultivators to live in this kind of magical environment , only to be unable to meditate on their Daos because of the Time Dilation .
The environment had transformed just like he’d hoped when he placed his manor on the only loophole on the mountain peak . Unfortunately , it meant Mount Illumination was still not suitable for permanent habitation . Even with his Void Self , Zac was forced to release his Daos soon enough .
Thankfully , it wouldn’t be much longer . Perhaps by the third or fourth echelon , Zac could stay as long as he wanted without having to use Void Zone] or his Dao Fields to actively resist the environment . For now , Zac let his Dao suffuse the whole mansion as he carefully walked toward the closest window .
Zac breathed out in relief upon confirming neither ghost temples nor towering thousand-eyed Buddha had been permanently summoned to the peak . Neither could he feel the presence of the entity that seemed to have been forming inside the monastery’s main temple . It was all gone , leaving an empty peak covered in pebbles .
In fact , Zac didn’t see the golden nimbus that covered the peak earlier , either . Instead , he had a free view of a sprawling mountain range , a scene reminiscent of the Eastern Trigram Sect he visited during the hunt . Plugging up the leak in the array must have meant the energy the nimbus received was reduced to the point it dissipated .
Hey , Null , are those mountains part of Mount Illumination? - Zac asked .
Yes , but this peak should be the best one of the low-grade peaks the boss got his hands on . -
And I can explore them for free? - Zac asked to confirm .
Sure . If you travel somewhere without using our teleportation system , you won’t be charged . Technically , you can even find a few top-tier Red Zones and stay free of charge . But I should warn you , the Perennial Vastness isn’t just a simple continent . It exists simultaneously in multiple states and dimensions , and many of the best realms are in their specific subdimension . -
I won’t waste time like that , - Zac said . - I just figured it might help solidify my Heart Cultivation if I ascended different Buddhist Peaks . -
Sure , you can do that . -
Exploring the sprawling mountain range wasn’t something he needed to do right away . But he did want to at least figure out the situation with his own peak before leaving . His compound was completely square if you included a large walled courtyard out front . The building looked like a fortified temple , and the entrance and outer gate were perfectly aligned with the main ghost temple on the opposite side of the peak .
Zac walked out on a pebble path of his courtyard , noting that the native pebbles of the peak had been replaced within his manor . Instead of marble white , the stones were all black , gold , and steely grey . They formed a mottled Zen Garden , where the seemingly random placements of pebbles held some truths about his path .
A few minutes passed as Zac wordlessly looked at the ground before taking out a spear he had lying around in his Spatial Ring . He drew a few runes in the sand , his eyes gleaming as he saw the transformation of colors and their distribution . Zac shook his head and continued to the exit .
The outer gate looked like a larger version of the door leading into his storefront , with his blueprint emblazoned on both sides . There was no door or gate , but Zac saw how the air almost vibrated in the doorway . The Dao of Mount Illumination fought with the Dao powered by his Mana . For now , it was just a feeble struggle , but Zac smiled as he imagined how his path would one day swallow the whole peak .
His gaze moved from the air to the opposite side , and he took a steadying breath as he calmed his mind and conjured the Void . He didn’t need to close his eyes or activate his Void Zone] to become one with the Void any longer . He was the Void , and the Void was he . And as though summoned by his will , the scene on the mountain peak drastically changed .
The enormous Buddha was gone , but the ghost monastery remained . The main temple had , however , gained a halo . It emitted an immense aura of providence , like it carried the fate of the cosmos . The scene made Zac’s eyes widen , and not just because of the incredibly powerful Dharmic pathbreaking truths it exuded . It was because he’d briefly sensed this same aura before , only thousands of times stronger .
The band of beads in his vision .
When he first stepped foot on Mount Illumination , he was shown a brief glimpse of a mysterious lotus and a band of prayer beads . Back then , he’d felt there was more to the vision than it being some random hallucination . What if the beads were real? That had to be a true Fate-augmenting treasure , one of the rarest kinds of items in existence . Something that magnified one’s Luck .
If it were real , he had to find a way to snatch it .
20
STRUGGLE AMONG THE HEAVENS
Zac looked at the distant ghost temple with desire burning in his heart . Fate was gathering within , and the special sense he’d gained from his huge accumulation of Luck indicated a powerful treasure waited there .