Jack’s message had been broadcasted throughout the constellation. Various rebeling forces received it, spreading it through their planets. His war declaration to the Animal Kingdom set aflame the hearts of his supporters, and the fact that he’d already killed a B-Grade negated any doubts about his ability.
Fireworks crackled in the sky. Cheers echoed. People ran to the streets and celebrated. Their idol, the source of their courage, the angel of freedom, had returned for them! Their liberation was no longer just a dream—they could do it!
They believed!
In a single week, the scattered rebels across the constellation united in one common front, campaigning in the name of Jack Rust. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t with them—they knew he was fighting the same war, battling against the same enemy. That was enough.
For the first time, they believed they could win.
Banners and flags flew over starships. The drums of war beat. Elite squads zipped into space, aiming to ambush the Animal Kingdom forces, while armies prepared for war.
And Jack calmly went about his own business, letting them fight their battles.
***
Developing a new Dao Fruit tested three things.
One was the cultivator’s comprehension into their Dao. It needed to be deep and multifaceted enough to support more manifestations. The second was the robustness of the cultivator’s Dao Tree—the degree to which they identified and respected their Dao. Finally, the third test was the cultivator’s ability to withstand the influx of power. In Physical cultivators, this manifested as their bodily intensity.
Needless to say, Jack excelled at all those things. Developing a new fruit was a trial for most, but for him, it was just another day.
Jack sat in meditation. Six fruits hung before him, proud and full, and one question filled his mind: Which would be the seventh?
Again, he had plenty of ideas. Perseverance, Grief, Wrath… Those and more were available, as Jack had already embraced them to a degree. This time, however, he thought he’d do something different.
He remembered Brock’s words. That he was beginning to walk down the wrong path. It wasn’t that Jack didn’t see it himself, but that he struggled to face it. No matter how tenacious his willpower, he was bound to make tiny slips, and they weren’t easy to notice. He needed someone to stand by his side and let him know when he misstepped. He needed a brother.
Brock was there for him.
Jack thought back to their previous conversation. It had been a few days, and after his defensive anger had subsided, he could see that Brock had…at least half a point. Without him, Jack would have been lost for longer. Who knows if anyone else could have mustered up the courage to tell him he was wrong.
Therefore, Jack decided to make his seventh fruit about that one critical thing. Not his composure or the correct path forward—the real kicker in this situation was the fact that someone reliable was beside him.
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. Nobody could reach the top by themselves. And Jack had Brock.
The seventh fruit was one of Brotherhood.
It grew on the branches of his Dao Tree, resembling a monkey fist. Jack smiled and bumped it with his own. “Thanks, bro,” he whispered. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
The way forward was cloudy, and his mind remained filled with darkness. He would surely misstep again. However, as long as he had Brock by his side to show him the way and the willpower to see it, he would never be truly lost.
That was the way.
After developing his next Dao Fruit, the remaining levels from destroying that outpost also arrived.
Level up! You have reached Level 341.
Level up! You have reached Level 342.
He, obviously, invested everything in Physical.
Name: Jack Rust
Species: Human, Earth-387
Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (C)
Grade: C
Class: Gladiator Titan (King)
Level: 342
Strength: 6820 (+)
Dexterity: 6820 (+)
Constitution: 6820 (+)
Mental: 1000
Will: 1000
Free sub-points: 1
Dao Skills: Meteor Punch IV, Iron Fist Style III, Brutalizing Aura III, Neutron Star Body III, Supernova III, Space Mastery III, Fist of Mortality III, Death Mastery III, Titan Taunt II
Dao Roots: Indomitable Will, Life, Power, Weakness
Dao Fruits: Fist, Space, Life, Death, Battle, Revenge, Brotherhood
Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1), Ninth Ring Conqueror, Planetary Leader (1), Grade Defier, Planet Destroyer
As Jack left meditation, he whistled in joy for the first time in a while. He was already back at the Dark Ram, so Brock looked over. “Sup, bro?” he asked. “All good?”
“All good, Brock. My seventh fruit is ready. Say whatever you want for the System, but it’s damn good for leveling up.”
“Hmm.”
“How do you think that works, anyway? How does the System give me levels?”
“Good question.”
“I know!” Salin exclaimed from a nearby chair where he lounged. “They told us that when I was studying in the Kingdom. The difference between the ambient energy of the universe and a cultivator’s inner energy is that the latter is more condensed and also attuned to the cultivator’s Dao. That is why you can’t just absorb energy; it needs to go through a purifying process. The caveat is that while you can’t recklessly absorb energy from the universe, you can steal the already purified energy in another cultivator’s soul.”
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Jack raised a brow. “You can?”
“Damn right you can! Stealing is always on the table!” Salin laughed. “It’s not easy, of course, but the System is good at its job. When you kill an enemy, that causes their soul to implode, harmlessly releasing all their gathered Dao into the atmosphere. The System uses the Dao of Swallowing to absorb part of that energy for you.”
“But then how is it attuned to my Dao? If I kill someone with the Dao of Water, do I absorb Water Dao?”
“Not really. The System can’t make it into your own Dao but it can transform it into distilled energy—similar to absorbing a Dao Stone. It can then use this energy to either enhance various aspects of you, like your body and mind, or feed it to your soul so you can rapidly rise in cultivation. At the C-Grade, it does a bit of both.”
“Oh,” Jack replied. “I didn’t know that.”
“You never asked.”
“I’m pretty sure I did.”
“Then whoops.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “And I guess that the higher you go, the more energy goes into your soul compared to being used to increase your stats?”
“Yeah!”
“Bullshit. The stat gains per level become larger the more I rise in Grade. By what you’re saying, they should be lower.”
Salin narrowed his eyes. “Oh, you want to play hard. Okay then. The full explanation is that the higher you rise, the smaller the fraction of energy which goes into your stats. However, your opponents are also much stronger, meaning that the total volume of stolen energy is larger. That is why the actual stat increases are greater. They’re a smaller piece of a larger pie.”
Jack cupped his chin. “Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”
“See? Never doubt me again, Jacky.”
“I’ve told you not to call me that.”
“So what? You think I’m afraid of you just because you destroyed a planet or two?”
Jack raised a brow. Salin coughed in his palm. “Okay, I’m a little afraid. Can you not murder me please?”
Jack stared for a moment, then burst into laughter. “Just kidding, man. You should have seen your face.”
“You should have brought a mirror.”
“Never change, Salin. Never change.”
“I hear someone left seclusion,” a new voice came from the corridor. Nauja emerged, chewing on a piece of hexagonal candy. “Congratulations on your new fruit, Jack. I guess it’s time for a strategy meeting?”
“High time,” Jack agreed.
Nauja plopped down on a chair, as did he. They were flanked by a large glass window showcasing the colorful emptiness of space. Stars twinkled in the distance, a symphony of innumerable suns, while the branches of the galaxy stretched overhead.
Underneath the starlight, the four of them sat in comfortable chairs, reclining into the pillows and enjoying this moment of peace. It was only after Bomn and Vashter arrived that they kept talking.
“The rebellion is proceeding in full,” Nauja reported. After learning how to read, she enjoyed it, so she’d become the crew’s information gatherer. It paired well with her excellent eyesight. “Since we forced the Kingdom’s C-Grades to retreat, there are only D-Grades on the battlefield. It’s the equivalent of a D-Grade faction against a constellation. Unless the Hand of God acts somehow, the rebels are going to win. The Animal Kingdom will lose its constellation—that is not a price they can afford. If we just sit back and wait a bit, they will be forced to send out their C-Grades again, at which point we can go around assassinating them.”
“That’s a good idea,” Jack said, “but I don’t want to wait. I like how they’re all grouped together. I want to storm their capital and kill them all at the same time.”
Salin raised a brow. “I appreciate the bloodthirstiness, but how exactly are you going to do that? They have Eva Solvig, a late B-Grade, and who knows what else.”
“I need to level up just a little more,” Jack said. “If I can reach nine fruits, I’m confident in defeating Eva Solvig. Even if a peak B-Grade shows up, I should be able to escape.”
“Strong,” Brock said.
“Thanks. I try.”
“Speaking of storming their capital and killing everyone,” Salin said, “my father is a C-Grade of the Kingdom. We aren’t in touch anymore, and he’s a little bit cooked in the head, but would you mind sparing him?”
“Absolutely,” Jack replied. “You’re my friend. I wouldn’t kill your father.”
“Thanks. You know it’s a bit weird that you had to say that.”
“Yeah.”
“Can we not talk about this like we’ve already succeeded?” Nauja asked. “The Kingdom is a hard nut to crack! Eva Solvig must be shivering by now—she might call more late B-Grades to assist her, or maybe she’ll even summon her mother, that late A-Grade Elder of the Hand of God. We can’t afford to take this lightly!”
“Elder Purity is not going to come,” Jack replied with certainty. “The war between the Church and Hand must be proceeding in full force. If not, Elder Boatman would have arrived first. Either that or he’s dead.”
“I hope Grandpa Dead is okay,” Brock said. “He was cool.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “We should find a way to contact him. We need to go over after we’re done here.”
“Guys. Focus,” Nauja said, waving her hands to get their attention. “Animal Kingdom, B-Grades, danger. Stay on subject, please.”
“I’m so proud of them,” Salin said, wiping a fake tear from his eyes, while Bomn and Vashter glanced at each other and shrugged.
“We can go after more Hand of God outposts,” Jack said. “Just one of them gave me sixteen levels. A couple more and I’ll reach the nine fruits boundary.”
“That couple more will be difficult,” Nauja argued. “They know we’re after them now. They’ll either evacuate everyone important or send late B-Grades to secretly guard the outposts.”
Jack sighed. “I know that, but it’s the only plan that comes to mind.”
“Then we need to think a bit harder.”
So, they thought. Five minutes later, Gan Salin said, “Sorry, I fell asleep. Are we done yet?”
“I have nothing,” Jack said, slightly annoyed. “We could go to other constellations and try to hunt down random C-Grades, but I don’t want to involve innocents. It’s not like I have any more enemies right now. Who knew a lack of them would become a problem?”
“True,” Brock replied. “That used to be our strong suit. What went wrong?”
“We can always go after Hand of God outposts in other constellations,” Nauja said. “They can’t possibly evacuate the entire galaxy. However, constellations are large… Traveling there would take a long time if we want to avoid major teleporters, and if we don’t, we might fall into a trap. If it’s our only option, it’s predictable.”
“Can you fight a late B-Grade, bro?” Brock asked.
Jack shook his head. “Maybe, maybe not… It would be hard. But I can probably run away.”
“Then, we can afford some risk.”
“True.”
“Only if the ship stays at a safe distance,” Bomn said—this was the same trick they’d utilized when Jack assaulted the previous outpost. “That way, if things go wrong, Jack doesn’t have to think about protecting us. He can just escape.”
“As much as I hate saying so, I’m good at that,” Jack said. “But I don’t think the Hand would make such a mistake. They know I’m fast. If they predict our next move and prepare a trap, escaping will not be so simple.”
“Then, what?” Nauja asked. “We’ve come full circle and we still have no idea.”
“There is only one solution,” Jack said. “If they find us, we lose…but they can’t know what we’ll do if we don’t know what we’ll do. Salin?” He turned to the canine. “You’re insane, therefore unpredictable. What do you suggest?”
Salin gave everyone a triumphant smile. “I know just the thing,” he said. “Let’s attack Hell again.”
“What?” everyone replied at the same time.
“What? They won’t expect it.”
“But what’s the point?” Nauja asked. “They’ve already recalled everyone. Hell has no objective for us.”
“They say they’ve recalled everyone,” Salin explained, “but I don’t believe it. Hell is full of D-Grade disciples. Most remain there even at times of war, and they’re too many to evacuate into Animal Planet. I don’t think they’d just leave the planet unprotected—if only to defend against sabotage from another major faction. There has to be at least one C-Grade there—probably at a pretty high level, too.”
Everyone looked at each other.
“But it’s so close to Animal Planet,” Nauja said. “Eva Solvig might make it in time.”
“Unless she’s setting up a trap elsewhere.”
“So you want us to assault Hell, risking being found, just in case they’ve left a late C-Grade to watch over the D-Grades.”
“Hey, you are the ones who asked for an insane plan.”
“I don’t know,” Jack said. “I think we can get in and out pretty quickly, but is it even worth it? A late C-Grade will only give me a couple levels.”
“You said that destroying Earthen Gemini last time gave you a bunch. You can just destroy Hell. Plus, it will throw them off, and we can more safely assault a high-value target next time.”
They mulled over it. “I mean, sure,” Jack finally said. “Even I feel a bit bad for bullying Hell so much, but what the hell? They deserve it.”
“I agree with big bro,” Brock said. “This is war. The more they fear us, the more we can harm them, the better.”
Everyone else eventually agreed. For the third time in his life, Jack was about to visit Hell—one of the Animal Kingdom’s most important locations. Unlike the other two times, however, he wouldn’t sneak around. He would arrive in force.
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