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Chapter 1,306.
🕑 Added 2024-11-20 20:48:16 +0000 UTCThe shift in history could only have come from Pervata Wendimar entering the memory domain. The unscheduled appearance of a high-grade entity added a massive expenditure. A third of the memory domain’s accumulated Faith Energy had been drained in one go. For better or worse, the following expenditure wasn’t too bad. The domain wouldn’t collapse on its own, so they still had to face its dangers.
Zac had no idea if the token allowed communication, though exposing its location was probably enough to trigger a response from the Wendimars on the surface. Even so, Zac wouldn’t put his hopes on the kindness of strangers. He stowed the token without waiting for a response, pursuing the bedraggled Monarch with everything he had.
The confusing maze of [Apex Jungle] was repeatedly conjured and torn apart, leaving cracks across the skill fractal. Ogras, who’d reentered Zac’s shadows for safety, tried to help by conjuring shadow trees and mesmerizing illusions. It was the only thing they could do to stall Ivar’s escape. The Guild Master had timed things perfectly, rushing toward a closing gap in the Hidden Earth Abode’s barrier.
The shield didn’t seem to exceed [Void Mountain]’s phasing capabilities, but jumping in blindly was incredibly dangerous. While Ivar was at the end of his ropes, Zac wasn’t doing so great either. Beyond dealing with [Arcadian Crusade]’s backlash, he’d been punched full of holes to keep Ogras alive from the Void-imbued attacks.
There was also a war taking place inside Zac’s body. He’d forced his way through Ivar’s curtain of tainted Void Energy to deliver his final strike. His personal Void was fighting against the outside aggressor, using quality to whittle down quantity. While Zac was confident in his resilience, Ivar cultivated the Dao of Earth just like his ancestor. Geomancers often excelled at defense, and the Guild Master had a significant grade advantage.
Zac wasn’t afraid to risk his life in battle, but he didn’t have any promising follow-up, even if he followed Ivar into the abode. No matter their quality, Middle D-grade Skills didn’t have the oomph necessary to bring a Monarch to their knees. Zac also lacked the means to directly target weak spots inside Ivar’s Inner World. Even if he brought out [Extinction Event], it was unlikely to change anything.
That was why Zac called on the Wendimar Elder. Pervata Wendimar didn’t need to directly intervene. Zac just hoped the presence of an Autarch would create some form of opening. With Ivar’s destabilized cultivation, coming into contact with an Autarch’s overbearing Dao might even prove fatal.
Zac didn’t need to wait long to see the result of his gamble. The Dipper Mountains groaned with pain as countless cracks appeared across the abode’s outer wall. The pressure was relentless, like someone had thrown the mountain range into a black hole. The ceiling only put up a symbolic struggle before collapsing, opening the floodgates to a deluge of blood and steel.
A literal sea of blood was pouring into the cave. Inside were countless corpses and skeletons whose empty eye sockets burned with madness. They hated anything alive, and their Killing Intent was enough to blot out the sky. It was a Dao of Slaughter so wild and unchecked that Zac almost lost his mind. He quickly activated [Void Zone] to water down the onslaught. Completely blocking it was a fool’s hope.
Entering his Void State, the sea of blood disappeared. The only thing floating by the cave’s breach was a glowing avatar made from pure Dao. It was a rugged middle-aged man whose calm expression hid the madness of someone who’d gone to hell and back. Zac had to look away before his body was torn apart and submerged in the sea of blood. Pervata Wendimar had sent a sliver of his will to investigate, and it was enough to make Ivar Serpico lose his mind. The Monarch was desperately flailing at imagined threats around him, drawing deadly amounts of chaotic Void to his aid.
The first two grades were introductory stages where cultivator set their foundations and prepared their bodies to accept the Dao. Hegemony was sometimes considered the first true stage of cultivation, where one formed the core that would fuel the rest of their journey. In simple terms, Hegemony provided energy while Monarchs introduced mass.
Zac’s weight had increased significantly since becoming a cultivator as bones hardened and muscles grew supernaturally dense. That was nothing compared to a Monarch, whose theoretical weight was equal to their inner world. This was a fundamental force that couldn’t be shrugged off, and a Monarch could add it to any skill or attack. The sturdier their world, the more mass they could imbue.
The chasm between Monarchs and Autarchs was even bigger. Zac remembered the Templar Saint who’d slain six C-grade Cultivators as a Peak Hegemon, but not even the Divine Monarchs among the interred saints had brought down Autarchs. Forcing one to back down like the Eveningtide Asura was already a monumental accomplishment.
The disparity was based on the difference in Dao. Stepping into Autarchy meant erecting a ladder to forcibly integrate their Dao with the Heavens. Monarchs and below solely relied on their own power, while an Autarch could directly borrow from the Heavens to amplify their attacks. The drawback was that the Heavenly Ladder needed to be maintained.
Visiting spiritually exhausted regions didn’t just mean having less power to draw from. While an Autarch had defended their Dao, it was ultimately not a true piece of Heaven. Without maintaining its position, one’s Dao risked getting pushed out of the sky. This was why Autarchs never visited the frontier unless they had to. They wouldn’t be able to exhibit their true strength, and their cultivation would see a setback.
Zac suspected this problem would be resolved upon seizing Authority over their Dao, but he’d have to ask Iz to confirm. The important point was that an Autarch was their strongest where the Heavens were close, and what place better fit the description than a Primal Heaven? Here, they were essentially Heavenly emissaries whose mere presence could subvert the natural order of their surroundings.
That was why Kalir doubted General Percival would personally enter the Dipper Mines. His Dao could permanently alter its nature in its current fragile state, killing the goose laying the golden egg. Pervata Wendimar had no such reservations. His avatar only held a sliver of his power, and it was enough to completely overwhelm the area’s natural affinity.
Pervata’s path was a mix of Conflict and Order. Order was the walls holding the world’s brutality at bay, the stalwart soldiers defending their homeland from invaders. Conflict was the knowledge that to defeat true evil, one had to accept the evil within oneself. Only by embracing the flames of war and the battlefield’s madness would you outlive your enemy.
Ivar had failed to extract himself from the madness of Pervata’s path. Zac knew that this was the opportunity he’d waited for, but closing the distance felt like trying to lift the whole mountain range. Pervata hadn’t even sealed down the area; his avatar’s cold gaze was more than enough to suppress most of Zac’s strength.
Zac didn’t get the chance to come up with a workaround before things spiraled out of control even more. The inverted mountain floating beneath the Hidden Earth Abode suddenly shattered, exposing a pitch-black stalactite at its center. It burst into sudden motion, shooting straight for the avatar. Only Zac and possibly Ivar could see the terrifying amounts of Void Energy it held.
Its might was no less than the fully-powered [Cardinal Stoneseed Array], except it was all condensed into a stone spike no larger than a spear. Zac’s mind screamed of danger despite the weapon moving in the other direction. As if it had broken the sound barrier, the spear left a shockwave of Void Energy in its wake. Ivar, who was right at the manor’s doorstep, was hit just as he woke up from his delirious state.
The pulse directly annihilated half of the Guild Master’s broken form. Not even his Inner World had been spared. Ivar Serpico had finally lost control of his Inner World, and erratically shifting spatial tears sprung up around him. They shifted position seemingly without rhyme or reason, indicating they were influenced by the Void’s unfathomable nature. The strongest fluctuations came from Ivar’s core, which rapidly leaked pieces of his cultivation.
Zac spotted a glimmer of surprise in Pervata’s eyes when the spear impaled him. The Slaughter Dao was directly consumed by the weapon, and the avatar was dispersed. Zac felt little relief upon seeing both his target and the dangerous avatar falling prey to the Hidden Earth Abode’s ultimate attack. They were right on Ivar’s heels, and the only partly weakened pulse was approaching with inescapable speed.
The warning bells in Zac’s head explained in no uncertain terms the pulse wouldn’t be a comforting caress of a friendly force. He activated [Void Zone] and [Empyrean Aegis] with Void Energy, thanking his lucky stars the defensive skill had finally come off cooldown. The wooden wheel reeked of primordial antiquity when it appeared behind him, as did the barrier unweakened by Zac’s nullification sphere.
Still not comfortable, Zac turned the wheel three times in succession to send out a trio of opposing waves. The disruption pulses were laughably inferior to the Hidden Earth Abode’s unrestrained might, but canceling out the attack was never Zac’s goal. Each pulse destabilized the incoming shockwave by a small degree, dislodging Void and the Inverse Dao hidden within.
The divorce was finalized upon entering [Void Zone], resulting in two separate forces slamming into Zac’s aegis. The barrier shattered after absorbing most of the force. What remained was more than enough to endanger Ogras’s life, so Zac urgently took out the [Fuxi Mountain Gate]. It didn’t vacuum the remaining energy as he’d hoped.
Not even the Void Energy hitting the entrance poured into the space beyond. Zac cursed and transported the gate back to [Purity of the Void] as he pushed his constitution’s golden cyclones to their limits. Gobs of ownerless Void Energy were pulled into his body, and Zac grimaced with pain as unsustainable amounts of energy poured into the depths of his cells.
The pathways hidden in the depths of his constitution couldn’t accommodate such a sudden influx, and the ownerless energy was difficult to control. His suffering only got worse when the disentangled Inverse Dao seeped into his wounds. The war inside Zac’s body reached new heights, and the only thing he could do was endure and shovel as much energy as he could into the [Fuxi Mountain Gate].
Vision swimming, Zac still hadn’t forgotten his main objective. He’d somehow made it through the pulse in one piece, so he released another batch of Void of Death from [Spiritual Void]. The chaotic state of Zac’s body prevented him from reentering the ultimate state of his Evolutionary Stance, but the erratic spatial tears surrounding Ivar suddenly looked normal.
Zac slipped past them to reach his prey. Holding nothing back, Zac swung [Verun’s Bite] at Ivar’s midsection. The Guild Master’s eyes were blank, and he did nothing to stop Zac from splitting his fleshy body in two to rip open a larger passage to his inner world.
‘Let me,’ Ogras said just as Zac planned to jump inside to deliver a final salvo.
A streak of darkness rushed into the tear, and Zac vaguely saw a wraith holding a familiar tool. It was the doomsday device Kator had planted in the Yphelion during their mission to the Imperial Graveyard. A shadowy hand covered in blood emerged from Zac’s shadows, and their surroundings shifted. The demon had squeezed the two through a crack in the Hidden Earth Abode’s barrier before it mended.
A strident whistle loud enough to burst Zac’s eardrums came from their previous position. Zac turned around just in time to witness Ivar’s final moment. A flower made from life-force and a life’s worth of cultivation briefly bloomed before the corpse and his leaked energies were swallowed by an intense implosion that even managed to swallow some of Perata’s lingering Dao. Zac looked at the fading spatial tear with wide eyes.
Getting a glimpse of Ivar’s utterly demolished Inner World was a rare opportunity to see a cross-section of a Monarch’s cultivation. It was filled with broken rubble, and space inside looked like a broken mirror. The windows into other realities were split between four camps. Zac felt the distinct presence of two different Lower Planes, one of which was the source of the Hidden Earth energy. The other matched the Dipper Mine’s ambient energy.
A third was not so much as windows to another plane as pockets of Void Energy that created a black backdrop. The final was the most surprising. He’d actually seen patches of dense mist, the very same haze filling the Dipper Mine’s crater outside. The bomb had actually blown a hole in the memory domain, though the breaches disappeared when the spatial tear closed.
“Leave it to the goblins to build bombs,” Ogras whistled as he emerged from Zac’s shadows.
“Give K’Rav my regards,” Zac exhaled.
Galau had already repaired the bomb during the countdown, but he never managed to rearm it. It was K’Rav’s idea to make some alterations and let it absorb the Dipper Mountain’s energy. It worked even better than expected, though Zac would have kept it at hand if he’d known it was powerful enough to blow a hole in the memory domain. Zac wasn’t keen on entering the mysterious mist, but there were much worse dangers on the inside.
Still wrestling with the chaos inside his body, Zac scanned Ogras to confirm he was bloodied but okay.
“You were right. The safest place really is within your shadows,” Ogras said, looking at Zac with a grin. “I’m surprised we actually took him out. Too bad it was on this long-forgotten piece of rock.
“Don’t remind me,” Zac grimaced.
Taking out a Bonafide Monarch at the threshold of Middle C-grade would have yielded a monstrous surge of Kill Energy, even with the penalty of finishing the job with an external device. Even Zac would have gained a couple of levels in one go. Now, he only had wounds to show for his efforts. There wasn’t even any loot since Ivar was a Monarch who had no need for Spatial Rings. Casting the depressing thoughts aside, Zac took in their surroundings.
They’d stopped just within the Hidden Earth Abode’s barrier out of fear of triggering another hidden weapon, floating roughly a mile from the disk holding the actual manor. The environment was surprisingly energy-starved, which felt like a blessing after being submerged in such deadly concepts.
Zac didn’t get the chance for a proper inspection. The terrifying pressure returned, and the ceiling started bleeding again. The Void spear was only able to briefly disperse Pervata Wendimar’s avatar, and it was about to descend again. That couldn’t happen. Zac took a deep breath and brought out the Wendimar Seal again. This time, his message was preempted by a rough voice.
‘Child, explain yourself.’
‘Senior, please retract your aura, or you’ll destabilize the abode! The manor you saw holds a Void Treasure with enough power to erase the whole mountain range. I’ll explain everything after I’ve stabilized it. If everything goes according to plan, you and the Whitecrest Clan will be able to exchange for great merit when Margrave Wartorius takes over the Hollow Court.’
Zac exhaled upon seeing the tides of madness recede, returning a semblance of normalcy to the Hidden Earth Abode. Zac was about to put away the token again before he was caught in a lie. The raw pain in Pervata’s voice made him hesitate.
‘You’re of my blood, yet not. You hold the Wendimar’s Fate in your hand, yet it’s foreign to me. Its glory is so faded there’s barely a shadow left,’ the Autarch lamented, sounding like he’d personally witnessed his clan’s bleak future.
‘That’s…’
‘You’re not of my time.’
Comments
EsoEasy
Thanks! So maybe if Zac somehow helps Pervata, he may end up strengthening clan Wendimar, which then may increase the standing of his Terea mark?? This could be the biggest boon of the whole domain.
Matthew Hay
There has to be a reason the river of time is being directed through the realm and a whole bunch of supremacies (all thrones and seals?) are in a viewing gallery.
Hartmann
Pervata lived in the later stages of the construction of the Imperial Road on the Left Imperial Expanse. Terea and Kristvan lived long after that during the time of the activation of the System. They were part of a guard station for a node in a remote section of the Imperial Road.
EsoEasy
I’ve gotten a bit mixed up on the order of things. In the original timeline, does Pervata come before or after Terea? And by how much? Thanks!
Owen Stevens
If Pervata has any idea about what Zac represents, I wouldn't be surprised if he asks Zac to tie his chariot to the Wendimar Clan completely. He says, "You're of my blood, yet not." which could mean he realizes Zac isn't a literal descendant even though he is recognized by the Wendimar token. As it stands, Zac is only really borrowing the Identity of the Wendimars, but maybe he'll agree to actually consider himself a member of the clan. Even if he doesn't actually restart the clan, it might have karmic implications that lift the fate of the clan. Also, we did see that one cultivator with immense faith energy in the trial that seemed to be a modern member of the Limitless empire. Maybe there are some founding families still in existence, but are somehow hiding there
FriendorFo
Honestly it’s been more difficult to follow for me as well, but I’ve found that saving up a few chapters to where I read a week or 2 worth at a time has really helped. Otherwise it’s a bit too disconnected and choppy to get into the flow where my brain is chugging along and sucked into the story. Still a huge fan and this is in my top 3 favorite series. This arc in particular has been 🔥🔥🔥
Lampshade Sr.
I would recommend, if you do want to do that, come back every 3-6 months to see how the series is going, a quick skim or reread to see if it was just a hiccup or if you actually can’t connect with the story anymore.
psxc
I believe this is where I will get off. To me, it's important to be able to visualize what i read in my head. It's been quite a while since I've easily could've done that, and this latest progress with memory lanterns, fighting concepts and whatever else esoretic is just beyond me. It's a shame, because the first books really hooked me. Thank you for the many hours of reading I did enjoy.
FriendorFo
Man that’s an excellent point. Didn’t even consider the fact the Old Man River was so engaged with this and then they started mucking about in memory lanterns. Huge facepalm on my part, and big kudos to you
JB
From what I've gathered, that's the idea. Atleast the memories of the past
Douglas Davis
Actually it would be "bona fide". Two latin words meaning genuine.
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
Alexander Johnson
Love the continued exposition of Monarchy and Autocracy. I'm so siked to see Zac at pinnacle D grade. Also fun to have reconfirmed the true nature of the memory lanterns - makes sense seeing as Old Man River is heavily implied to be overseeing/a part of this event. The First Defier never disappoints! 😁
Jack Dawson
You know what would be crazy, if once the trial is over and they all return to the regular multiverse all the changes they made in the memories of the past actually occured
Lizy Flore
You know, I keep thinking about their altercation… and I keep thinking about it and it keeps popping up in my head, and I started remembering every other interaction he’s had in memory lanterns/domains. I realised it’s not the first time Zac could interact with someone that could understand - to a degree - what he was and what was going on. Remember, Roan ? I remembered that scene, and the feeling I had when I read it. To me, it felt like a *present* supremacy reach across time to rectify a mistake/change the course of their action. Except, it would be specific to the trial/that memory. And now here’s an autarch… who understood so much in only seconds. Makes me wonder… what if the memory lantern/trials doesn’t just change the memory of the multivers of what happened there… what if it’s a way for past high level cultivator to communicate with the present, and a way for present high level cultivator to communicate with the past. That could explain the presence of imperial and their purpose, if they are aware of the nature of this trial. For some time, it was said that the emperor possibly knew the outcome of creating the system, and he would have used Ultom to set up this backup measure to… set things right ? Idk. But, the fact that the trial takers can influence (the memory of) past events to even move autarchs is more important that it is shown, I think. It goes beyond just correcting errors/regrets of the past.
Owen Stevens
lol how does Pervata know it's the past, rather than the present. Time is relative not absolute. Clearly concerns about timeline integrity didn't stop the drauger Aoz. we can assume that Aoz didn't retcon the past since the future was not altered. Yet Aoz clearly affected zac and the draugers of the present without breaking the world.
MacMahon Wenzl
But can he? Is this the type of situation where he knows the future but also knows that he must go along with it because for the future to occur the past cannot be changed.
Porter
What it implies to me, is that these are not actually memories. If they were memories generated by the trial, the trial could set the rules. I think there has to be some actual connection to the past.
John
Imagine Zac alters the fate of the Wendimar clan to such a degree that history is overwritten and they end up surviving the dark age of the System birth. Then when Zac eventually leaves the Ultom trials it’s the Wendimars who swoop in and save his bacon from all the high grade factions out for blood
Jeff McCulley
Just going to point out…don’t worry, Zac and this Autarch should get along famously. After all, the Deviant Asura just met a powerful Perv. Right? “Ancestor, can I call you by your first name?” Zac probably still has Leyara’s lacy lingerie tucked away in a spatial ring somewhere, too! I mean…at the very least, they can lament their nicknames together over a beer!
Jeff McCulley
Under the category of “Supremacies and Autarchs ain’t dumb”, Pervata’s comments: “You’re of my blood, yet not.” He’s reading that Zac is a Wendimar Clan member, and yet has absolutely no record or knowledge of such a descendent. After all, Zac is pretty distinctive. Whether he’s seeing anything more divergent is yet to be seen. However, I suspect that he can likely spot the Void Emperor bloodline—and knows that part is not of his family. “You hold the Wendimar’s Fate in your hand…” This statement holds more than one meaning. Remember this statement a couple chapters ago? “It was something only the Clan Master should possess, and possibly his heir. There could be millions of direct descendants but only one heir at any given time” So, Pervata is recognizing that this is the authentic Wendimar token, and if Zac is holding it, it can only mean two things to him. Zach is a Late Hegemon. So, either a Late Hegemon is the Wendimar Heir…or even worse (and more likely), said Late Hegemon is the actual Clan Head. *which, in truth, Zac effectively is. Anyway, in either case, to Pervata it’s a direct indication of just how far the family has fallen. “…yet it’s foreign to me.” I.e., he’s seen the one of his own age recently, and this ain’t it. “Its glory is so faded there’s barely a shadow left,” And he knows full well how that glory would get faded. Not only by diminishment of the Clan, but by massive withdrawals of Imperial Merit. And I’m pretty sure he’s in a position to know whether the Clan was planning to make any withdrawals—and how much. In short, Zac being a completely unfamiliar family member, plus the multiple implications of the simple fact of the Clan token in his hand, all lead to the simple conclusion. However it happened, Zac is there from out of his own time. Just as the Supremacies at the Abyssal Shores immediately understood what was happening when Eoz started reaching through time. They had no questions, just acted. And Pervata’s biggest reaction isn’t anger at Zac, or confusion as to what has happened. It’s heart rending grief that his family has fallen so far.
Jeff McCulley
Suggested Edits *I don’t get a chance to do this every chapter, but I try to help. “end of his ropes” >The aphorism is “end of his rope”. “Bonafide Monarch” > bonadide “not so much as windows” >”not so much windows” or “not so much a window as…” “Ivar, who was right at the manor’s doorstep…” >Umm…the barrier’s doorstep? Because later: “…floating roughly a mile from the disk holding the actual manor.”
Lex Luther S
He literally says he can tell zac is a Wendimar yet not so zac, to Pervata Wendimar, is an anomaly existing in both states and it's probably the only reason he didn't barge back in there capturing zac and ogras.
Lex Luther S
Not necessarily what?
Matthew Hay
Edit: Perata’s -> Pervata's
Omiso
Best title there is.
Jeff McCulley
No, he can’t tell that Zac isn’t a Wendimar. He literally said that he is. He’s seeing him as a distant descendant. What he *can*tell is that the family token doesn’t match up with the one he knows, see its diminished fate, and draw the obvious conclusions. He’s accepted that Zac is a member of the Clan…and, being intelligent, is fully aware of the *only* way the Clan could reach such a state. Time. Presumably, that will come with a willingness to accommodate Zac make changes. TGINF! !
Jeff McCulley
Well, he certainly has all the incentive in the world now to listen to Zac—and make some changes he suggests.
Omiso
Pervata is an important member of the military so it makes sense he has some idea of what the intended purpose of the Left Imperial Palace would be. Now the real question is what will plotting across time bring about, because there is no way a falling house will let an opportunity like this go away.
Thomas Todd
Not necessarily, Zac holds the fate of a Wendimar far into future at the point when they were at their lowest. He can probably see that Zac isn't properly part of the Wendimars since the family was essentially gone at the point Zac received her fate
bltth26
Wow what a cliffhanger sigh
DrSubterfuge
Again!
James Getgood
Great ending
Lex Luther S
Very good chapter. Well, this lets us in on more of the rules for the memory domains. It seems zac is "considered" a Wendimar yet to someone of such a high cultivation base, he can tell zac also isn't one. It's likely because he's a late stage autarch, but he can even tell the fate zac holds with his clan and even how far faded his clans glory is and was even able to piece it together that zac is from the future. This makes me wonder how far this can go. I imagine at least a cultivation of autarchy would be needed to notice such an incongruity like this. It might only be possible for those at late autarchy, given those are 7th-8th step autarchs, they're near or at the cusp of turning their dao into a heavenly territory and no way such a being wouldn't be able to feel the echos off of something even from a far distant future. I truly can't wait to see where this whole arc goes and what mad plan Laondio was cooking up with this. I'm even more excited to see where this thread of karma goes; will zacs actions in the dipper mountains actually rekindle the entire Wendimar and whitecrests fate? Maybe it'll lead to both clans joining together becoming a far greater whole? Fuck friday GET HERE.
Henry Wartemberg
The continue living Title
The Lost Pages
Makes me curious what kind of title they would have gotten in the outside world for such a feat.
Porter
Oh shit, called out.
Indy
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The Lost Pages
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