Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse C.476: Gum Worms

Stars hung in the distant space. They were above, below, and to the sides of the Death Boat, framing the world. Each was a different color. Blue stars burned the hottest, while red were the largest. Outside a planet’s atmosphere, the different colors could all reach the observer’s eye unfiltered, further amplifying the beauty of the universe.

Jack couldn’t see that right now. It was just him and Brock in a dark room. All he heard was breathing, following a steady rhythm. In and out. In and out. His own spirit was in his inner world, calmly observing it, harmonizing himself with the changes that had occurred in himself.

After breaking into the B-Grade, Jack had been reborn. A whole world now existed in place of his soul. A ten thousand mile wide sphere, supported by his Daos. Tiny particles floated about—barely enough to be called matter. It was empty otherwise.

Well, almost empty. A large, purple, fist-shaped meteor dominated its midst. The empty Life Drop was plastered on its middle finger like an encrusted gem, and Copy Jack lazily floated about, exploring this newfound space. Jack had tried talking to him, but Copy Jack maintained his non-committal stance like he cared about nothing in the world.

Jack remembered, however, how the Dao Soul’s eyes had sharpened during the breakthrough. There was something hidden under the surface. Something wrong with Copy Jack. He just had to figure out what.

He opened his eyes in the real world, releasing a long sigh. He’d finally familiarized himself with his inner world. He wasn’t particularly stronger than he had been right after his breakthrough, but he now understood it more intimately. His cultivation was stabilized.

Jack gave a sideways glance, finding that Brock was still meditating. No problem, he thought. Take your time, bro.

Meanwhile, he opened his status screen.

ERROR: PLEASE REPORT TO THE NEAREST AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY OR FACE EXTERMINATION.

Name: Jack Rust

Species: Human, Earth-387

Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (B)

Grade: B

Class: Paragon of Cultivation (Legendary)

Level: 400

Strength: 8480 (+)

Dexterity: 8480 (+)

Constitution: 8480 (+)

Mental: 1200

Will: 1200

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 III, Immortal Commune I

Inner World Size: 10,000 miles

Matter Condensation: -

Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1), Ninth Ring Conqueror, Planetary Leader (1), Grade Defier, Planet Destroyer, Challenger

The error warning at the very top remained. It had been there since he first absorbed the Life Drop, which was considered a taboo item to the Immortals. He’d just learned to ignore it.

Besides that, a lot of things had changed. His Dao Roots and Dao Fruits had disappeared, replaced by the new entries of Inner World Size and Matter Condensation. The meaning of the first was obvious. He had some suspicions about the second, but he’d ask around to make sure.

Besides those, he’d acquired a new Class and a new title: Challenger.

Challenger: Most people conform. You fight and struggle to carve your own path. You will either defy the heavens…or fall and be forgotten. Efficacy of all stats +10%.

He liked the sound of that. It was ominous, sure, but it was his path. Plus, that 10% increase was just broken at this point.

Unlike previous Classes, the legendary-tier Paragon of Cultivation had only given him a single skill: Immortal Commune. It allowed him to directly contact the Immortals for guidance. This was probably something hardwired into the System, assuming that every cultivator sided with the Immortals. It could have been a tremendous boon to others, but to Jack, who was their enemy, it was pretty useless.

No, not useless, he corrected himself. I can’t use it for guidance, but I’m sure it will come in handy.

His stat points had shot through the roof. His Physical was at almost eight and a half thousand, or almost twenty thousand after all the efficacy increases from his titles. Considering that the average pre-System human had an average Physical of five, that was a lot. Especially if he used it in conjunction with his Dao.

After familiarizing himself with his new level of power, Jack was finally ready to cultivate again. In fact, he looked forward to it, but he chose to wait a moment. He’d already been meditating for three days. Who knew what had occurred in the meantime.

Jack closed his status screen, standing and leaving the room. He paced down a well-lit corridor. His previous cape had burned down during the tribulation, and he hadn’t gotten a new one. His only remaining piece of clothing were his enchanted brown shorts which reached down to his thighs. His bare feet rubbed against the metal floor. His muscular upper body dominated the corridor.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

It still felt weird to walk around a futuristic starship half-naked, but he had more important things to worry about. Plus, those shorts could magically enhance his durability, so they weren’t going anywhere. He couldn’t wear anything else either, as the shorts’ Life Dao amplification field couldn’t penetrate fabric. He was, unfortunately, in a perpetual state of commando.

The corridor led him past a glass window overlooking the top floor of the Death Boat. He saw endless people going about their lives, living, breathing, working. It was an entire world down there. An almost nostalgic sight.

He walked past the one-way glass unseen, then turned down a bend, finally reaching a meeting room. He’d already received a mental message to come here.

The door swung open. A twenty by thirty feet meeting room appeared, with a long table in the middle and little else in the way of decoration. A wall-sized window overlooked the Bone Belt, the current hiding place of the Death Boat—an astronomically long strip of astral dust and flying boulders ranging from tiny to moon-sized. The light of a million distant suns augmented the brilliant image.

Despite Jack’s expectations, only a single person awaited in the room. It was Starhair—a peak B-Grade cultivator with fluorescent hair like galaxy branches. Jack didn’t know how strong this man was, but given he was part of Sovereign Heavenly Spoon’s elite squad, he had to pack a punch.

The two of them had already met on the way to this galaxy. Starhair seemed to dislike Jack, for whatever reason, but they’d always kept things cordial.

As Jack entered the room, Starhair turned around. A condescending look was plastered to his face. “Here comes the champion,” he said. “Should I kneel in worship?”

“Don’t be a dick, Starhair. Keep your mouth shut.”

Starhair froze. Jack grinned.

When the peak B-Grade had been feisty before, Jack had always kept his composure. He didn’t give ground, but he also didn’t desire to make new, unknown enemies. That was all different now. Jack had achieved a ten thousand mile inner world. He didn’t give a flying fuck about Starhair’s opinion.

The other man was surprised. “What did you just say to me?”

“I told you to shut up. Clearly, you’ve got something against me, but I’m in no mood for your silly games. Spit it out or be quiet.”

Starhair puffed up like an angry rooster. “You are seriously overstepping your boundaries, Jack Rust.”

“Fuck off, man. The only boundary I overstepped recently was with your mo—”

A door at the other side of the room slid open before Jack could finish his words. Sovereign Heavenly Spoon walked in, his face covered by a lazy smile, followed by the Sage, Min Ling, and Bottomless.

“Good morning, guys,” the sovereign said. “Had breakfast yet? I brought food.” He swiped a hand over his space ring, filling the table with snacks. Jack spotted everything from croissants to bacon sandwiches, along with a menagerie of alien stuff he’d never seen before. There was a bowl of fat, writhing, green worms. There was also tea and coffee.

Jack raised his gaze from the table, meeting the Sage’s intrigued eyes. Min Ling waved at him. Bottomless remained under his hood. Despite traveling together for a week, Jack still hadn’t caught a glimpse of the person’s features. He didn’t even know if they were male or female.

Starhair remained with his mouth open, ready to spit bile at Jack, but he finally harrumphed and turned back towards the window. Jack shrugged. He walked to the table, grabbing a paper plate from a pile and scanning the snacks.

“What’s that?” he asked, pointing at the bowl of worms.

“Protein!” the sovereign exclaimed jovially. He manifested a silver spoon in his hand, then used it to sweep two worms into his plate. “I guess you come from an area where you don’t have something similar, but don’t worry. These are called Gum Worms, a very popular dish across the universe. They may seem disgusting, but you have to remember that the world is a large place, and disgust is only a product of your mind. Keep an open mind. Try some.”

Jack observed the worms. Each was the size of his pinky, slick in shape and not at all oily. They were plump, too. If not for their faces and little legs, he’d have assumed they were fruit.

He reached out a hand, then gulped. “Maybe later,” he said. He picked up a sausage instead. “How did you even store these, anyway? I thought you couldn’t put living creatures into space rings.”

The sovereign gave him a stare. “Come on, Jack. They’re worms. Food. Don’t be that guy.”

“They don’t have souls,” Min Ling explained from the side. “I’m not sure why, but it makes them very convenient to transfer. They’re certainly alive, though.”

Jack shrugged. “Whatever. So, how have you guys been? It feels like ages.”

“It’s only been three days,” the Sage replied. “Three eventful, important days. The kind that counts like a hundred dull ones.”

“Who cares about us?” Min Ling said, her voice filled with excitement. “How have you been? You broke all records! You are immortalized as a legend! Tell me, how did that feel?”

“Scary,” Jack replied. “I really thought I was going to die. But, you know, I’m used to that.”

“Oh, don’t dodge the question. Spit it out. How did you manage to reach ten thousand miles?”

With the exception of Starhair, who was still looking away, and Bottomless, whose expression was hidden by his hood, the others all sported expectant smiles. Their squad should have taken off the day before, but they’d stayed precisely to ask Jack about his experience. They hadn’t had the opportunity after his breakthrough as he’d been exhausted and injured, and he’d quickly run off to meditate.

Jack rubbed the back of his head. He considered lying, but most of these people had helped him greatly in the past. As for Starhair… Well, fuck that guy. “I developed a tenth fruit mid-breakthrough,” he explained. “I thought my nine were perfect, but as I was about to break them up into an inner world, I suddenly realized they were not. I took a risk to form a tenth one. Luckily, it worked out.”

“Just like that?” Min Ling asked. “It can’t be that simple. Everyone would have ten fruits.”

“It wasn’t easy. The first nine fruits had felt natural, but this one showed resistance. It was like the laws of cultivation refused to accommodate me. I had to push real hard. I almost failed.”

“And that’s coming from someone who would have reached close to nine thousand miles even without the tenth fruit,” the Sage said. “I suspect that this tenth fruit really does go against the laws of cultivation. Perfection of the nine is the prerequisite of pursuing the ten. Even then, Jack achieved perfection of the ten fruits, reaching exactly ten thousand miles.”

“That’s what I think as well,” Jack agreed.

“Do you think there can be more fruits?” Sovereign Heavenly Spoon asked as he tossed a grape into his mouth. “Beyond the tenth, I mean.”

Jack frowned. “I don’t know. My Dao system feels pretty perfect right now. Maybe I could have tried to develop an eleventh fruit if I knew beforehand, but I think it’s a good thing I didn’t. The tribulation would have slaughtered me, Elder Boatman or not.”

“That’s the point of cultivation,” the Sage said. “We pave the way for future generations. Now that we know it’s possible, the apex talents of the universe will try to reach ten fruits. Some will succeed. Maybe they’ll make more breakthroughs later. And the cultivation world marches forward, every generation one step higher.”

Jack nodded. “Exactly. Even my idea about a tenth fruit didn’t come completely out of nowhere. The inheritance of Archon Green Dragon contained a hint. I think he suspected it was possible, but long after he’d reached the B-Grade.”

“I feel for him,” the sovereign said with a sigh. “If I wasn’t already at the B-Grade, I would try to go for a tenth fruit myself. Maybe more. Seventeen is a nice number.”

Jack smiled. In his experience, manifesting a tenth fruit was as difficult as reaching well over eight thousand miles, but he chose not to say anything. No sense discouraging his friends.

“What are we gathered for, anyway?” he asked. “Elder Boatman had told me to come when I was ready, but he didn’t mention a reason.”

“I don’t think he knew either,” the Sage replied. “Many things happened after your breakthrough. This is the time to find a way forward.”

As if hearing his name, Elder Boatman suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. He didn’t teleport in. It was like part of reality perished, defaulting to him instead of death. “Greetings, everyone,” he said. “Let’s get started. Are those Gum Worms?”