Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 221: Breakthroughs

Gan Salin was breathless as he watched the battle between Jack and the Final Guardian. He struggled to believe he was at the same tier as these guys. Their speed, their strength, their skills, their control over the Dao…

This was a level he could never, ever reach. At this moment, he completely and utterly submitted.

The battle carried on, and Salin’s excitement only grew. He had never heard anything about that four-armed transformation. Plus, expelling one’s Dao to counter an immortal’s Dao Domain… Who did that!?

When Jack won, Salin could no longer restrain himself, and his jaw fell so low it almost hit the floor.

“Wow…” he muttered breathlessly. A mortal had defeated an immortal. The unbridgeable chasm had been bridged. His friend, Jack Rust, had done the impossible. “Wow.”

Nauja recovered from her surprise first. “Hey,” she told Salin, “not a word about his transformation, okay? To nobody. It’s a huuuge secret.”

“Okay,” he agreed absent-mindedly. “What the hell was that?”

“Damn me if I know. He’s just Jack. How did he become so strong!?”

Soon after, the immortal was reformed, Brock was taken inside the room, and Jack promised they would be notified as he teleported out, so they could join him. Then, the door closed, and Gan Salin with Nauja were left alone in the grassland.

However, while the throne room was sealed now, Salin’s mind was still on the battle. He felt deep pride for his friend—and also a hint of envy, which he couldn’t deny but could suppress. It was natural. Everybody felt like that when their close people succeeded—the trick was to let that feeling flow without affecting you. It was a trick he’d been forced to learn.

But now, for the first time, that pride he felt for Jack had awakened something else inside him. A fear. Why?

He dug deeper into that feeling.

He really enjoyed spending time with these people. Jack, Nauja, Brock… He considered them his friends. Now that Jack advanced into the Final Ring and Salin was left behind, what was he afraid of?

That he would be abandoned. That his friends would cast him aside due to his weakness. That he would be driven back to the Animal Kingdom, where nobody cared about him—and, funnily enough, returning there had been his plan all along. Perhaps that was a mistake. Maybe he should stick with these guys. They wouldn’t abandon him. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be due to his weakness.

The Sage’s words jumped to his mind.

The road of Entropy is not one you want to walk. As you advance, you will grow deranged and disastrous to everyone around you. Eventually, your friends will become enemies, and someone will have to end you. Don’t choose that path. Water down your wine. Fuse a Dao Root of order to your Dao Seed, so you can freely walk the path of insanity without fearing entropy. Add balance to your chaos. That will be enough.

These words had sounded reasonable then. They still did. The truth was, even the insane had feelings. Gan Salin didn’t want to lose his friends…but what choice did he have? If he kept walking this path of pure insanity, he would sooner or later harm them, or betray them, or act in ways that bothered them. It didn’t matter how much he liked them. Insanity was randomness. Maybe he would reveal Jack’s secret on a whim, even after receiving the latter’s trust.

Was the Sage right? Did Salin have to angle his path in a way that would allow him to remain loyal to his friends?

The Sage had mentioned a Dao Root of order. That went against Salin’s teachings from back in the Animal Kingdom, but he now realized there was another path besides being a crazed suicide warrior.

He would alter his path. Not completely—after all, he enjoyed his insanity. Just one Dao Root, as the Sage had suggested. A root that would ensure he never lost track of what mattered most. A guide to hold the reins of his insanity.

What would it be? What life did he envision?

Somewhere deep in Gan Salin’s blood, an ancient instinct awakened, one hailing from the days of his canine ancestors. He remembered Jack’s battle—that was a friend whose level he could never reach. A man he admired.

Salin lowered his head, sinking into cultivation right where he stood. Nauja said something, but he was too engrossed to listen. Insights and understanding flickered inside his mind as a new, blue Dao Root took roots in the insanity.

He had developed the Dao Root of Loyalty. He would follow Jack and never betray him—nor anyone else.

For the first time, Gan Salin had the sense that things would be alright. The world was finally looking up for him. Everything would go great.

He opened his eyes, and they were filled with new light. Ignoring the screens that popped up in his vision, he turned to Nauja and said, “Fuck the Animal Kingdom. I’m going back to Earth.”

***

Alexander Petrovic stood in the ruins of the Iceberg Palace’s left wing. Chunks of ice lay everywhere. Blood stains were frozen on the ground. A hand stuck out from under a single, large ice block that had fallen from the iceberg ceiling.

Alexander grabbed its edge and violently tossed it aside. Under it, the crushed corpse of his son was revealed.

“Vladimir…” he muttered, voice trembling. “Why?”

“Because this is war,” a person said from his side. It was an E-Grade lycan merchant, the representative of the Animal Kingdom in Ice Peak. “This man was not innocent. He fell in battle.”

“He was my son,” Alexander rumbled, raising his voice to the lycan. “Am I meant to treat him like a normal soldier?”

“I didn’t mean that, commander,” the lycan replied, bowing slightly. “War brings casualties. The longer it goes on, the more people will die, and some of them might be dear to you. Choosing to not rely on the Animal Kingdom is a worthy ambition…but, even if you can win this war without us, this is the price.”

Alexander fought hard not to slap this man in the face. Instead, he turned his eyes to the ceiling, where light was streaming from a hole.

For the duration of this war, he had repeatedly refused the assistance of the Animal Kingdom. It would not come cheaply. If he accepted, higher tax rates and generally stricter conditions would be applied on Earth as soon as the grace period came to an end. They would strangle the people into poverty.

Alexander didn’t want that to happen. He planned to dominate Earth—under the flag of the Animal Kingdom—so he wanted its people to be as prosperous as possible.

However, the war did not end as quickly as he had anticipated. The Bare Fist Brotherhood and Flame River had played their cards well. To this day, three months after the start of the war, they were resisting and holding their ground. If this carried on, they would just be dragged into a world war that would decimate the entire planet.

And he might lose. After all, his enemies now had an E-Grade cultivator, and he did not.

He had tried to maintain some semblance of mercy in his soul. Now, he felt the pressure, and it was heavy. He could no longer afford sentimentalism. He had to be cold.

Clenching his jaw, Alexander looked the representative in the eye. “Fine,” he said, standing over the corpse of his son. “Tell the overseer I accept her conditions. Send us help, and I will oppress the people of Earth for you.”

The lycan nodded so that his smile couldn’t be seen.

Right then, Alexander sensed something. A new strand of ice was born inside his soul, cold and calculating. He had just suppressed his grief to make a callous decision. As soon as he came under pressure, his heart had frozen over, eliminating all emotions to achieve a harder edge.

The Dao sensed that, and it finally acknowledged him. Finally, he saw the path he would follow. The path of True Ice.

“I will break through immediately,” Alexander said, advancing towards his chambers. He didn’t wait for the lycan’s response before continuing, “Take care of Vladimir’s body. My previous message remains unchanged, but I will not wait. That man killed my only son. The moment I break through”—his eyes narrowed, his gaze a storm—“I will destroy him myself.”

***

Brock watched his big brother sit cross-legged and close his eyes, preparing for his breakthrough. He noticed that the air felt alive here, brimming with energy and understanding. His head was clear, and his heart felt serene enough to comprehend the world.

Watching his big bro’s significant moment was important, but a good bro knows to set priorities. And right now, in this place, he had a great chance to finally tackle a thought that had bothered him for a while: the Big Thought of Density.

He could already feel its essence in his muscles and the way they clenched. It was just that, every time he tried to consider it, something was always missing. A spark of inspiration, like the final hurrah of strength when you lift a particularly heavy dumbbell. Something to make the whole thing click.

As he sat here, where the Dao was far denser than normal, that something clicked.

Therefore, with a joyful cry, he took a seat on the soft grass and used his bro powers to comprehend the Big Thought of Density.