Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 143: Consecutive Breakthroughs

The two fists clashed in a terrifying explosion. Both bore the Dao of the Fist. They were strong, unrelenting, indomitable. None backed down. Jack’s knuckles ground against the copy’s, and all the amassed power erupted in a ring-shaped shockwave that blasted into the ground.

The grass disintegrated under their feet, leaving a blackened crater the size of a bathtub.

Jack turned and smashed a hook into the copy, which stepped into his guard and shot a straight right into his face. Jack took it head-on, flying backward, rolling midair, and skidding on his feet. He rubbed his lip—a hint of blood was left on his fingers.

“Heh.” He chuckled. “You can fight.”

The copy smiled brightly. Of course it could fight. It was him.

Jack noticed that he couldn’t use skills in here. What he just shot wasn’t a Meteor Punch, just a punch infused with his Dao.

What he could use was the Dao, and its power was far greater than in the real world. Here, the Dao was part of everything. It existed in the air, the ground, the grass, the sky. He was simply utilizing the power that was freely available.

In the real world, trying to push his Dao outside his body felt like wedging it into something that was already full. The world was flooded with its own Dao, one that included everything, and imposing his will on that was hard. So hard, in fact, that Jack couldn’t do it. His Dao could only affect his own body, or at best influence the world in tiny manners. Every skill he used came from his own body or the System’s assistance.

Even Brutalizing Aura, his newest skill, only interfered with the minds of other people, not the Dao or the world itself. That was the domain of D-Grade cultivators.

Here, however, Jack’s Dao was one with the world’s. They were in his soul, after all.

He took another moment to consider the implications of this. The copy gave him time.

What did it mean that he couldn’t use his skills? Why? Because the System can’t reach me here, he realized. The soul is inviolable. Even the System cannot access it.

He tried to bring up his status screen as an experiment. Nothing happened. His theory was right. Was this a good or a bad thing? Jack didn’t know, but the tribe chief had warned him not to trust the System. Did Jack trust that guy? Probably. Did he know what this meant? No. But a System-free space inside his soul couldn’t be a bad thing, right? At worst, he just wouldn’t use it.

He returned his gaze to the copy, standing across a blackened crater on the grass. A thought later, the crater disappeared, leaving the ground pristine. Jack’s torn lip recovered instantly.

I cannot practice skills, Jack considered, but I can use the Dao and amplify its effects.

He tested that theory. The Dao of the Fist flooded his body and seeped out, forming a purple halo around him. He could sense the world changing. There was no tangible difference, but the fabric of reality was now under the influence of the Fist. It was like coloring the air purple. Everyone would be able to see it, but it wouldn’t really change anything. There was no conduit.

Dao Skills were that conduit. And, though the System wasn’t here… How much did it help with those skills, really?

Jack clenched his fist, imagining a meteor around it. The Dao of the Fist rushed to it, cladding his fist in bright purple, and the world shuddered lightly around it, but nothing else happened. The sounds and colors weren’t drawn in, and the power that Jack had gathered felt like a pale imitation of the real thing.

Why? he considered. Is the System amplifying my power when I use skills?

But his Dao itself wasn’t weakened. The power he poured into his fist was the same. It was just the effect that was severely lessened.

It’s because I can’t guide it, he realized, eyes shining. That’s where the System helps. It doesn’t empower. It facilitates.

On closer inspection, he could sense the Dao straining under his control. The skill he was using wasn’t less powerful than the outside world’s Meteor Punch, it was just much cruder. Power leaked out. It felt like a bunch of tiny people pulling in different directions instead of the disciplined army that the System helped him form.

Can I get better? Jack wondered. A crazy thought entered his mind. What happens if I perfect the skill by myself? What will the System do, then?

He focused on the fist. Maintaining the skill was draining, but he clamped on with indomitable will. He focused every scrap of his mind into it. In the sky, the metallic silver light that was the Dao Root of Indomitable Will shone brighter, but Jack couldn’t see it.

Controlling his Dao manually was a pain in the ass. It rebelled constantly. The fist was more than just a weapon; it was a concept, a will to go forward. It contained hints of defiance. Every time Jack willed it into his fist, a part of the Dao refused to follow his orders.

He could force it if he pushed harder, but it took a lot of power, and it wasn’t as effective. A rebellious army was far less useful than one which believed in your cause.

Could I convince it?

It felt a bit like his breakthrough into the E-Grade. The Dao was mindless, but it spoke in feelings and ideas. It told him why it refused to follow his orders. It was like a stubborn child. Jack could debate it, constantly adjusting his outlook to perfectly match the Dao’s. He explained why flowing into his fists and striking out was perfectly in line with the nature of the Dao of the Fist, why he deserved to wield it, why they were a perfect match.

It didn’t work, of course. His control and understanding of his own Dao was too shallow to debate the Dao itself. His control slipped, letting most of the gathered power escape…but some remained. A small part of the power yielded to his control. He felt his fist strengthen, forming a barely usable form of Meteor Punch. It was still a far cry from the System-assisted one in the outside world, but it proved an important point.

Jack could get better at it. Here, with no distractions, where the power of his Dao was amplified enough to let him sense the tiniest changes, he could practice. And the skills were simply sharpening stones. The real target was the Dao. In the process of mastering his Meteor Punch skill, his flaws were made apparent. He was sharpening his own understanding, which brought him closer and closer to the Dao of the Fist itself.

Jack couldn’t help grinning. Dao skills had five tiers, like normal skills, but were very hard to upgrade. None of them was at the third tier. Now, though… Now, he had a way forward.

This Dao Soul was an incredible treasure. It stabilized and enhanced his soul, letting him open up this space, and that was only half of the benefits.

Jack looked up. Not only did he have the perfect place to practice his Dao, but he also had a training buddy.

The copy grinned and clenched his fist. Jack did the same. This was like Sparman all over again, except less mocking—at least for now.

He shot forward again. The Dao roared over his fist, mustering a bit more power than his previous attack. When he met the copy’s fist, he overpowered it. Copy Jack flew away, back-flipping and landing on its feet. Its eyes narrowed. Jack felt the Dao flicker around the copy, changing subtly. He laughed.

The copy was also working on its Dao.

But that was good. It gave him yet another sharpening stone.

The copy’s Dao gathered around its fist, imitating Jack’s understanding but not exactly. There were subtle changes. Tiny insights that were more polished than Jack’s, and others that were less.

That was interesting. The copy followed his path, but it had its own mind. It could show him things he couldn’t see himself. Maybe point out his flaws.

“Come on!” Jack shouted. The copy charged him. Their fists collided. Their auras ground against each other, both pulsing with the power of the fist. They exchanged a flurry of strikes, meeting each other punch for punch before moving to more advanced combat.

This time, Jack didn’t underestimate the copy. It had his fistfighting skills, too—though they were far cruder without the System’s assistance. Still, he had experience fighting now, and the copy had inherited it.

Jack ducked under a hook, stepping in with a straight. The copy saw that coming and slapped the strike away, retreating. Jack unleashed two jabs in a row, which the copy dodged barely. The three jab was a feint. Right as the copy dodged, a heavy uppercut met its jaw, shooting it upward before it crashed hard into the ground and stayed there, its head bent at an odd angle.

Jack grimaced, panicked, and willed the copy to reform. Thankfully, it did, and it seemed just as gleeful as before.

That was a good point to remember. In this soul space, their bodies had the strength of a pre-System Jack. They also lacked his defensive skills, but they had his offensive Dao, so any attack that landed would be devastating. That was a pretty unbalanced way to fight.

However…

Jack’s eyes narrowed. The Dao of Indomitable Will above shone bright. Once upon a time, he’d used it to augment his defense. As his will was indomitable, so was his body.

Perhaps he could do the same now.

When the copy attacked again, Jack crossed his arms and took the blow, channeling the Dao Root. He was indomitable. The attack shook him, but he had defended against a weak Meteor Punch. The copy raised its brows. Jack grinned behind his guard, then smashed a fist into the copy’s teeth.

The copy fell back, then quickly stood again. It squinted at Jack, considered his defenses, then copied it. The Dao Root above shone even brighter. Jack and the copy each had fists shining purple and bodies shining metallic silver—the color of Indomitable Will. They charged each other.

Jack’s soul became a battlefield.

Fists carved the ground and shook the air. Small explosions landed on bare chests, shooting the recipient away. Though Jack was progressing in both attack and defense, one was fueled by a Dao Seed and the other by a Dao Root. There was a clear difference there.

However, this also meant that the flaws of his defense were exposed faster. Jack’s Dao of the Fist was qualitatively stronger than his Dao of Indomitable Will. As he and the copy fought, pitting themselves against each other, not only did they practice their fistfighting skills without the System’s assistance, but every attack that landed pitted the two Daos against each other.

The attacker always won, but their defense was slowly getting sturdier. They weren’t pushed back as far anymore.

Jack lost himself in the fighting. Like the dance he’d experienced in the Tri Lake tribe, it was liberating. He loved combat. This time, he didn’t have to worry about killing someone, dying himself, or holding back his power. He could let loose completely. The pain still existed, and every time he lost was agony, but it only fueled his resolve to get stronger.

Battle was an art. Punches whistled past heads. Jack and the copy targeted each other’s weakness, learning the patterns of the enemy and changing their own. Every time they clashed, someone was sent flying. As time passed, their bouts became longer. They could attack and dodge better. They knew how the other moved. Though they shared the same experiences, they were two different entities, so they each acted slightly differently.

Time flowed freely. Jack was engrossed in the fighting, like a particularly intense video game. He got slightly sharper with every clash. It was the first time he trained like this, so his improvement was fast, and so was the copy’s.

The annoying thing was that they still couldn’t block. They were forced to always dodge. Every time an attack connected, the defender was blown back, and the defense of Indomitable Will only weakened the blow, not negated it. That greatly limited their options.

And, worst of all, there was nothing Jack could do about it. The world around them was his soul, which was one with the Dao Seed of the Fist. The Dao surrounding them was that of the Fist. Even though Indomitable Will was compatible, and even though Jack felt he had a pretty good understanding of it, that Dao simply had far less of a pool to draw from.

Unless I can use the fist to defend, Jack thought. But the Dao of the Fist is offensive. Hmm…

When they clashed again, Jack didn’t use the Dao of Indomitable Will to defend. He used the Dao of the Fist, drawing it around him like a mantle.

It failed. He was thrown backward. The copy scoffed at him.

“I’ll show you when I get it,” Jack thought, narrowing his eyes. “Again!”

They clashed. Jack tried different things. He made the Dao of the Fist into a shield, armor, or even a series of tiny fists that protected him. Every time, it failed.

Damn it! he thought, panting on the grass. The fist is attacking!

No matter how he used his understanding to rouse the Dao’s power, its nature by itself was offensive. He could convince it to fight with him, but he couldn’t talk it into changing its nature. It had to be the Dao of Indomitable Will.

Oh!

But those two Daos were compatible. What if he convinced the power of the Dao of the Fist surrounding him to transform into the Dao of Indomitable Will? If one was part of the other, it should be possible.

He stood back up. He and the copy clashed another dozen times. Jack kept failing, but he sensed he was on to something here. The Dao resisted, but every time, he found new ways to counter it. When it claimed that the fist was meant to crush through anything, he showed how indomitability was a part of that. When it claimed the fist was power, he proved that indomitability was included. When it asked why indomitability was present in every aspect of the fist, he simply explained that indomitability was a part of the fist. The two Daos were interlinked, doubly nested.

He kept pushing. The Dao challenged every part of his understanding. It demanded that he fuse every aspect of the fist with indomitability. It was difficult, but his understanding of both was sharp enough. Eventually, he succeeded.

And the Dao complied. When he used the Dao of Indomitable Will to defend himself, it was powered by the same Dao of the Fist that fueled his Meteor Punch. Metallic, silver armor appeared on him. The copy’s punch exploded on it, and Jack had to take a step back…but he remained standing.

The entire soul space shook. Jack looked up. The silver star that was the Dao Root of Indomitable Will stirred. Its color washed out, no longer stopping at its boundaries, and spilled into the air. In return, the air flowed in. The Dao Root shone purple for a moment, then turned colorless, becoming one with the soul world. Root-like lines stretched out of the Dao Root and into the air, fading as they went further out until they eventually disappeared. They stilled. Now, the Dao Root was colorless and anchored to the soul world, fused into it.

Suddenly, everything turned more solid. More real. Jack felt like the entire world had gotten denser, containing more power in every molecule. The grass was greener.

The copy looked at him in astonishment, and even he was surprised. He hadn’t expected such a change. However, he realized what he’d done, and he smiled. He also realized he was exhausted.

How long was I in here?

“That’s enough for today, Copy Jack,” he told the copy. “Thank you. See you soon.”

The copy waved at him.

Jack opened his eyes to find himself still cross-legged in the real world. He had no idea how long it had been, but since nobody had disturbed him, probably less than the agreed-upon hour. Brock was nowhere to be seen—probably standing guard outside.

Whatever the case, Jack couldn’t stop a wide grin from spreading on his face. He perused the screens waiting for him.

Congratulations! The Dao Root of Indomitable Will had been successfully fused with your Dao Seed.

Constitution +30

Will +30

Congratulations! Skill Iron Fiend Body (II) upgraded into Dao Skill, Indomitable Body (II).

Indomitable Body (II): You possess more than mere physicality. The Dao of the Fist reinforces your entire body, making it indomitable. You have significant durability, quick regenerative powers, and heightened control over your body, including its natural limiters. Additionally, your mind is fast enough to keep up.

Trial Planet was a gift that kept on giving… Though, the Dao Soul came from earlier. This was his delayed reward for winning the Integration Tournament, and Jack could now understand why the Animal Kingdom would put such a huge bounty on his head. This thing was extremely precious. They probably hoped to recover it before he used it, but now…

Now, the tiger had been given wings. Even just today’s benefits were incredible. He wouldn’t have such explosive gains all the time, but it was as the head judge had said. This Dao Soul would increase his cultivation speed by a lot.

He grinned. Trial Planet, here I come!