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 .
Cultivation was discovery . To explore the universe and its secrets . There was no telling what you’d find . Dao was as much chance as fate , where your experiences and encounters influenced your understanding of the Heavens .
The Omnitool danced in Zac’s hand as he carved a second set of lines across the spiral , reminiscent of a snake winding between the crystals , gradually making its way up . The Mountain Heart held a fragile balance , requiring far less prodding than the Warstone] to destabilize .
Sweat formed on Zac’s forehead as thick tendrils of Life broke out of the golden spiral , trying to burrow into its other half . Death fought back , and small cracks appeared across the treasure . The seconds passed , and the situation rapidly deteriorated .
Worse , the Warstone] was already showing signs of early collapse . Zac’s heart thumped , though his hands remained steady . Then , it was finished . The winding pattern covered the spiral side to side , and Zac urgently set it on the second Nucleus Array and slammed his hand on a seal .
Both arrays hummed to life , and spatial fluctuations appeared as the treasures sank into the shimmering pattern . Zac exhaled as the items were fully consumed , and he returned to his spot on the prayer mat in the middle of the main array .
Every second of the following forty minutes stretched like an eternity , and maintaining the status quo inside the Duplicity Core wasn’t helping . At least it allowed the Healing Pills to mend his body a bit , and every explosion he prevented inside the Hollow Core] prolonged the harmonizing effect . Of course , one more material needed to be added to the nucleus to make the harmony permanent .
The Void .
Zac’s eyes shifted to the third and final box , staunchly holding onto the schedule he’d set . He meticulously watched the refinement process until it was time to move .
The third box opened , and the Void Engine] floated into his hand .
Dealing with the Void was both the simplest yet trickiest of the bunch . Simple , because he didn’t know what kind of patterns to draw on the surface to refine it , so he wouldn’t add any . Tricky , because the Void technically wasn’t part of his cultivation system , and he lacked the deep understanding that would normally go into a Cosmic Core .
The concept of the Void was an enigma , remaining as much a mystery today as it was when he first encountered it in the Towers of Myriad Dao . The answers he’d found were more related to the nature and origin of his bloodline than the Void itself . His Body Tempering Manual allowed him to get closer to the Void of Life , and the insights aided him to incorporate the Void of Dao into his Cosmic Core Blueprint . But the method was ultimately a borrowed concept from Ultom , just as Engo said seven years ago . The role of the Void was similar to that of an outside consultant to his core and a way to connect it with his bloodline .
The Void could be described as the absence of Dao , but what did that mean? Not even Cosmic Forge] allowed Zac to better understand its nature , even if its creator was a being who cultivated before there was a Heaven .
The Dao had spread through Dasorm’s universe like a plague , tearing apart the reality the First People relied on . Dasorm had accomplished something truly incredible by taking on the poison , the raw Primal Dao of the era’s birth , and using it to create a seed of hope in the shape of a hammer . Not hope for himself , but that his craft would survive the upheavals .
The existence of the First People confirmed a few things . The Void existed even when the Heavens did not , and it had been possible to use it to reach levels equivalent to today’s Supremacies . Perhaps the Void remained a constant while the Dao rose and fell with Eras coming and going .
But how did his bloodline harness it? How did it enable his talents or even activate skills? Could it even be cultivated now that the Heavens had reformed? And since Zac didn’t understand the theories that had gone into the Void Engine] , there was no way for him to refine it the way he had the other two treasures .
Neither was the Perennial Vastness able to help in this regard . Cultivating the Void was seen as a dead end , and wasn’t within the purview of the seventeen Dao Peaks Sendor sought to perfect . You could see this reflected in the Tapestry of the Void around him . What it held wasn’t true Void Energy , which made sense since it shouldn’t be able to exist with the Dao .
The key was his bloodline , and it was the only reason his impossible core would work . The Void Emperor’s unique ability broke the rule of Void and Dao being unable to mix . That power was enough to give even Supremacies a shock . Furthermore , Zac deduced it was one of the main reasons his Duplicity Core functioned as it did .
Long ago , Zac thought the Kayar-Elu Clan picked Karz’s bloodline because of his ability to infinitely raise his affinities . Today , Zac wasn’t so sure . He even started to suspect the - corruption’ was not a heavenly punishment but rather an intentional modification .
And as luck would have it , Zac already came installed with a refinery for this unique type of Void Energy .
Zac pushed the Void Engine] against his chest , which prompted a powerful thud of ancient hunger from Void Heart] . He’d kept the Hidden Node restrained until now to avoid having it swallow Oblivion , Creation , or Chaos . Zac didn’t want it distracted from its most important task . No longer needing to hold back , Zac released his hold .
Each beat was filled with greater urgency , and Zac did everything he could to empower the node . Then , a vortex appeared on his chest , and the treasure was sucked inside . The Hidden Node calmed , beginning to refine the treasure . Thank God . Zac’s bloodline and Hidden Nodes had created those vortices on a few occasions , but this was only the third time he’d managed to intentionally trigger one across hundreds of attempts . He just needed to offer a tantalizing enough prize . Clearly , the Void Engine] qualified .
If that failed , he would have been forced to cut open his chest and cram the Void Engine] inside , something Zac definitely wanted to avoid . With that , all three components of his nucleus were being prepared .