“You said to show you what I have. Isn’t this what you meant?”
“With your Daos, I mean. Do you really want to tear apart this whole building? You haven’t even begun to experience the true power you gained from reaching E Rank.”
“How are we supposed to do that without using our skills?” Talnor asked. “What are you trying to do here?”
“You’ve never just used your Dao to fight. On its own, I mean?”
Talnor scoffed. “No? The whole purpose of skills is to leverage the power of a Dao to actually achieve something. Nobody at this level just uses their raw Dao.” He paused. “Oh… I see what the problem is here. You are so advanced for your level in terms of Dao mastery that you think everyone else fights the same way as you do.”
“That could be true. But still, you’ve never ever tried to manifest your Daos?”
“We have manifested our Daos,” Eduardo answered. “But they aren’t powerful enough to harm anything. Or at least anything that actually threatens us.”
“Well, I suppose that’s why I wanted to train you. Once you get a Domain, you should be able to use your Daos a lot more efficiently.” Sam tilted his head, looking around the room. There wasn’t really much there that could help him in training the others. Eventually, he came up with an idea. “Let’s start by doing this. All three of you, manifest some Dao Energy. Don’t try to do anything with it for now.”
The three captains nodded and held out their palms. Eduardo managed to produce some Dao energy first, a glimmering sphere of what looked like sunlight over his palm. Jeffrey manifested an oblong bullet of silvery energy which spun gently on his palm. Finally Talnor summoned a tiny sword of lightning.
“Wow, you have a lot of practice with making those,” Sam said to the latter two, impressed. “My Dao just looks like a cloud.”
“That is because our Daos are physical in nature,” Talnor explained. “Your Dao is an emotional one. How would you manifest the concept of Vengeance as a single image?”
“Well, I’ve upgraded it since then, but I see your point. Damn, I must be a lot worse at this Dao stuff than I thought.”
“You have a lot of talent and raw power, but not a lot of knowledge,” Eduardo said. “That is not necessarily a problem, but now that you do not have to rush as much, you have time to rectify it.”
“I’ll take that in mind,” Sam agreed. “For now, let’s get on with the training. The three of you, send that Dao energy at me. Don’t bother thinking about using a skill. Just force it towards me.”
Each of the three captains did so differently. Eduardo grasped the tiny orb of light and drew his hand back as if holding a rapier. He thrust it forwards and a beam of light sped towards Sam. It wasn’t true light, but it was still surprisingly fast for Eduardo’s level.
Meanwhile Talnor grasped his sword of lightning in a two handed grip. It expanded many times over until by the time he swung it, it was nearly six feet long. A secondary blade of energy peeled off the lightning blade, tugging along the rest of the Dao energy with it.
Finally Jeffrey flicked the bullet of Dao energy, sending it on a trajectory identical to a real bullet, albeit if that bullet was being fired from the world’s most powerful gun.
Sam stood there and drew upon his Dao. Not to directly contest the captains’ attacks, but to simply stand in the way. A thick mist of red and blue drifted away from his skin like a cloak. When the three Dao projectiles hit home, they sank into the cloak without a trace, vanishing from existence as soon as they struck.
“That’s not fair,” Jeffrey complained. “You’re so much stronger than us.”
“That was far from the true power of my Dao,” Sam countered. “What you three have right now should be at least enough to fight back. You all are at least at the Seed stage, and probably a few tiers into it. What your problem comes from is practice. You’ve used the System as a crutch to manipulate your Daos, but they are separate things. Stats and levels are important, but it is the Dao that truly makes a cultivator a cultivator.”
“How would you suggest doing that?” Eduardo asked.
Sam opened his mouth, but Jacob beat him to it. “Take this from a man who has only ever relied on his Dao. You just have to train. Train until it feels like your soul just went through a meatgrinder. Train until the universe itself reaches down and crushes you for the temerity to challenge the natural order. Train until you can raise a fist to the universe and force it to back down. That is my advice.”
Nobody said anything for a moment, a bit shocked about the wellspring of advice that had appeared from within the normally taciturn Jacob.
“I… I couldn’t put it better,” Sam said. “Exactly what Jacob described. I’ve gained this level of mastery through countless battles and a grueling month-long training course that nearly killed me multiple times over. The Tower will serve to do the same for you, but we can at least get started here.”
“So what’s the first step?” Jeffrey asked. “How are we meant to pierce through your defences?”
“That’s easy,” Sam said. “First, you’re going to learn how to teleport.”
***
Although Sam wasn’t as good a teacher as Gordanus had been, between him and Jacob there was enough combined experience to teach three E Rankers how to use a skill that was considered basic to that Rank. After all, both Jacob and Sam had learned the basic form of Dao teleportation during F Rank. It was entirely possible for anyone with a certain level of mastery to learn.
That didn’t mean that it came easily to everyone. Jeffrey and Eduardo were able to get the hang of Spacetime Razor within a day, but Talnor wasn’t able to fully master it. He was used to using his elemental energy as a crutch in battle, and whenever he tried to use his Dao, similar in nature to his element, he always ended up destabilizing the tears in space by sending lightning coursing through them.
Sam was a bit surprised that none of the men had attempted teleportation before, given his own flagrant usage of the ability. As it turned out, all of them had their own movement abilities that until E Rank, were up to the par.
Eduardo was able to briefly become intangible, merging with a beam of light to travel short distances at nearly instantaneous speeds. Jeffrey could accelerate himself like a bullet, using his own mana and elemental energy as the fuel. Finally, Talnor could turn into a bolt of lightning, leaping up into the heavens and crashing down anywhere within a few hundred feet. The fact that Talnor was actually turning himself into a manifestation of his element was what was getting in his way. Such a skill was very rare, as for the most part Dao teleportation was simpler and easier. It wasn’t a lack of skill on Talnor’s part that was preventing him from learning Spacetime Razor, but a conflict with a preexisting skill of a similar complexity.
In the end Talnor managed to break through by utilizing a technique not unlike how Sam had unlocked purified mana. He expended all of his available elemental energy before trying to teleport. The first few times he ended up on the ground, the rips in space closing before he could make his way through. He quickly grew better, however, and because of his greater skill and experience compared to Eduardo and Jeffrey, at least in this sort of energy manipulation, was able to teleport a few dozen feet after a few hours.
After that they continued training for a bit, but eventually, what they were all waiting for came to pass. Lao’s return to Earth.
Sam’s Authority triggered as a sudden energy fluctuation sent ripples through the fabric of spacetime. Those ripples centered on the plaza outside of the city hall. Sam teleported there in the blink of an eye, opening a portal for the others to follow.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Lao emerged from a rift in the center of the plaza. He blazed with power, the light of his Dao spilling out for hundreds of feet in every direction before he got it back under control. For someone like Lao, a prodigy amongst prodigies in terms of the Dao, that lack of control meant only one thing. He had grown so much in the Tower that he was yet to fully master his own power.
People stopped and stared at Lao as if he were some sort of demigod. He was now undisputedly the third strongest person in the entire faction. His whole body thrummed with a subsonic chord of strength and authority. In fact, Authority itself. Sam sensed a rudimentary Authority holding dominion over the space around Lao. It only extended for a few feet, but it was impressive nonetheless.
“There you are!” Sam called out happily as he walked towards Lao. “How was the Tower?”
Lao smiled. “As well as could be expected. The earlier floors were hardly a challenge, but I quickly regained my humility after the fiftieth. Some of the creatures that I had to face made even the Titans pale in comparison.”
Sam grinned back at Lao. “It seems so long ago that we thought that the Titans were any sort of existential threat. Their eradication meant the whole world to us, literally, but now I’m confident that every one of us here could have erased them on their own.”
The newly ascended E Rankers shifted a little, less certain in their own power than Sam was. He looked over at them, nodding reassuringly. “Be proud of yourselves. You’ve achieved something that very few beings in the Multiverse ever have. Your mortality has gone, replaced by Enlightenment. I didn’t say that you could defeat the Titans flippantly. I truly mean that. Every one of you is stronger than I was back then, and I managed to beat Gaea.”
“You did have a lot of help,” Jacob interjected. “Don’t forget about us.”
“That’s why I only said that I beat Gaea,” Sam said, a bit exasperated. “I’m not trying to one up your Dao or something.”
Jacob smiled. “And I’m not trying to boost it. I said us, remember? Would the Overlord have ever shared the glory with others?”
Sam blinked. “You’re right. Sorry. Your personality as the Overlord was so absurdly overbearing that it overshadows your current self sometimes.”
Jacob smiled, but it was pained. “Something within me dislikes the thought of relinquishing any aspect of my old self, no matter how much I want to. I think my Dao is to blame for it.”
Sam bit back a futile explanation of the real situation, knowing that Jacob mind would simply go blank as soon as he mentioned anything to do with Isabella Dantorian. Instead, he changed the subject. “Anyway, Lao, these three wanted your advice on the Tower. Is there anything you can tell them about the floors?”
“Yes,” Lao replied. “There is quite a lot. What exactly were you looking for?”
Sam shrugged. “Ask them. I didn’t have the same experience in the Tower than most people do. I wouldn’t know what to ask for.”
“What are the floors like?” Eduardo asked. “I did a bit of research, but all I could find was that there are ten larger floors, each divided into different layers and that those layers grow harder the further you progress.”
“That is mostly correct. However, some of the later floors lead to other universes, or at least, they are so large that they seem to be nearly infinite.”
“Yeah, that happened to me,” Sam added. “Although it was quite a bit earlier. The System likes to outsource whenever it can, and if there are preexisting problems in the wider Boundless Expanse that it can fix by sending a cultivator there, then so be it. Otherwise it would have to expend more energy than it made back by creating realms difficult enough for elite challengers.”
“The first few times that happened,” Lao continued, “it was very similar to the previous floors. I simply had to travel further to fulfil my objectives. However, as I progressed further, I found myself dealing with more complicated quests, often revolving around sapient civilizations.”
Lao gave the full rundown of his time in the Tower, and after a bit, Sam checked out. He already had gone through the Tower, and had little use for the information. Instead he pulled up his stats. It had been quite a while since he had done so.
Sam Atlas
Human: D Rank
Enlightened Tier
D Rank
Class: Lesser Dao Paragon
Level 206
(1800 stat points unspent)
- Health 4112957/4112957
- Mana 2666348/2666348
- Stamina 4005860/4005860
- Karma: 59
- Road to Zenith
Stage 4
- Dao
Dao Echo of Inspiration
Dao Sapling of Karmic Retribution(Second Step)
Dao Seed of Travel(First Step)
- Skills
1x Rare, 3x Epic, 4x Legendary, 6x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Primal, 1x Ethereal 1x Unique
- Titles
1x Legendary, 3x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Transcendent, 2x Divine
- Temporary Titles
1x Epic, 1x Legendary, 1x Mythical
- Dao Heritage
Dao Incarnation of Existence(Second Step)
- Authority
Mid D Rank
- Party
None
- Skill Branches
Karmic Cultivator(Level 1)
- Weapon Style
Flowing Water Style
- Weapon Mastery: Brotherhood Stage 8
- Elemental Affinities
Earth: 20% Mastery
- Elemental Boons
Elemental Infusions: Stoneskin, Mountain’s Flesh
- Quests
The Sacred Bond: Impossible
Engines of the End Times: S
- Professions
Smith: Apprentice Stage 9
Dao Smith: Apprentice Stage 9
Lao finished up his explanation as Sam finished reading his stat sheet. There were many changes all around the board, most of them coming from his Dao upgrade. Because of his unique situation, with all of the bonuses of D Rank, but without an actual D Rank class, the points he gained from his mere E Rank class seemed like nothing. If not for his absurd title multipliers, he would be gaining more in free stat points just from his race than he gained from his entire class. The E Rank classes had seemed ridiculously powerful in comparison to what had come before, but now it barely made a difference in the grand calculus of Sam’s overall power.
“Was I really that boring?” Lao asked humorously, giving Sam a look that told him that the Chinese cultivator knew exactly what he had been doing instead of listening.
Sam laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t really see the point. None of that information was useful to me as I’ve already left the Tower, and even if I was heading there myself, my trajectory would be much different.”
“Maybe you should have done what Jacob did,” Lao advised.
“What did he do?” Sam asked, only to realize that his father was gone. “Oh.”
He was met with four unblinking stares from the others. Then they started laughing. A moment later, Sam joined them. “I guess I can be a bit fixated on my power at times.”
“At times?” Jeffrey said. “Try always.”
“Ok, that’s enough,” Sam replied with a chuckle. “You’ve had your fun. Isn’t the Tower waiting for you?”
“The Tower can wait,” Eduardo said. “Getting one up on the strongest man on Earth? That might never happen again.”
Before Sam could respond, all three of the newly ascended E Rankers used their tokens and were carried away to the Tower by beams of rainbow light.
“What is that expression you Americans love?” Lao asked. “Ah, I remember. A mic drop. That might have been the most impressive one I have ever seen.”
Sam, for the life of him, couldn't come up with a response.