Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 249: Breaking Dan

A cloud of dust covered the crater, and that was a good thing, because Jack’s body was mostly broken. Dan Bolon’s attack had been stronger than he expected. His ribcage was bent, multiple organs had been punctured, and he was unable to breathe. The world was swimming before his eyes, and even maintaining his consciousness was a tough task.

Then again, that wasn’t too bad. Strong immortals had the power to demolish entire mountains. Jack had only survived the impact because of the extreme defense offered by Neutron Star Body, his defensive Dao Skill. It was the evolution of Iron Fist Body, and it gave him some properties of neutron stars, making his body extremely compact and resilient, as well as resistant to the elements.

At the same time, the skill had been enhanced by the Life Drop, offering him extreme regenerative powers. Jack could already feel his body knitting itself back into health. His flesh was pulsing with the powers of life, moving around bones, sucking off the rampant blood from internal injuries, and repairing the punctured organs.

Within ten seconds, Jack could breathe again. Within a minute, he could walk. His hearing only came back then, catching Dan Bolon’s passionate speech about how one should respect their superiors and not be a reckless idiot.

Jack did not pay too much attention. As the dust was clearing up and people were gathering to see his corpse, he shocked them all by walking out of the crater. He looked like shit, and the regeneration had made him completely exhausted, but he was certainly still able to fight.

The moment Dan Bolon caught sight of him, he froze mid-speech. His eyes widened, and he paled like he’d seen a ghost. “How?” he asked. “How are you still alive!?”

“Alive?” Jack replied, his voice hoarse but understandable. “Did you think that little love tap was enough to kill me?”

He slowly rose to the sky, enjoying everyone’s respectful and shocked gazes. So what if the front of his torso remained blackened from the burns? So what if his hair was messy, he was covered in dust, and blood was visible on several parts of his body?

He was alive, and his fist looked good enough.

Slowly, Jack arrived before Dan Bolon, who remained shocked. “I have received your strike, Bolon. It was…decent. Now, I believe it is my turn.”

Only now, seeing Jack survive his full-force attack, did Dan Bolon realize that he had made a mistake. Only now he did understand why Jack had dared challenge him—because he really might win.

Bolon focused on offense. His defense wasn’t too strong. He had been confident in taking a strike before, but with the strength Jack had just revealed, he suddenly didn’t like his chances at all.

This really might kill him. He had half a mind to resign.

“Do you dare receive my strike, Bolon?” Jack asked, seeing through his thoughts. “Or are you a coward who will soil his master’s name?”

Dan Bolon’s heart was filled with bitterness. He had already used his strongest strike. Now, he was forced to defend against the attack of someone at his level of power?

Hell! He couldn’t do that!

But after what Jack said, he couldn’t quit either! If he did, head disciple Qian would come and kill him himself.

Fine, he thought, gritting his teeth. He crossed his arms before his chest, which wasn’t really allowed, and waited for Jack’s strike. He galvanized his Dao as intensely as he could and even revealed his Dao Domain, hoping to pressure Jack and lower his strength.

He did not expect Jack to completely ignore his domain, revealing his own and perfectly countering it. In fact, Jack’s was even a bit stronger.

Dan Bolon was beginning to see death, but he couldn’t back down now. He just had to hope he could take the strike.

“Give me your worst, Jack Rust!” he shouted to hype himself upup himself.

Jack laughed loudly. “Those are big words for someone who’s crossing his arms to defend. I didn’t do that. I let you hit me freely.”

Dan Bolon’s brows fluttered. Everyone could see that Jack was right, but if he dropped his arms, too, then he really might die! “We agreed not to fight back,” he retorted with a snort. “Defending is obviously allowed.”

“I guess you are a coward, then. I really expected a disciple of Elder Monsoon to have some balls, but well, it looks like I was wrong.”

The agreeing murmurs from other immortals only emphasized Dan Bolon’s ugly position. He gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke.

If I really let him attack me, will I die?No. He must focus hard on defense. That’s why he could survive my attack. His offense must be much weaker! His eyes shone. Yes, that’s it! I can do this. I can survive! It’s all or nothing!

He uncrossed his arms, stating bravely, “Very well. If you can take an attack without defending, then I, Dan Bolon, can do the same. Let no one say that I am a coward!”

Jack’s ridiculing smile did not comfort Dan Bolon at all. “Who’s courting death now?” he replied. “I respect your resolve. Very well. May you die a brave man rather thanman than live as a coward.”

Dan Bolon did not speak. He waited, chest completely vulnerable, to receive Jack’s attack.

Suddenly, the world lost its colors. Sound was gone, too. Dan Bolon’s Dao Domain was torn apart as a single purple meteor dominated the sky, glowing around Jack’s fist like it was about to fall from deep space. Just the ripples of power were enough to send shivers down Dan Bolan’s spine. It took every iota of his resolve to keep his arms from rising to defend.

I can take this, he kept telling himself. I have to.

He already regretted his decision to come here and cause trouble. He could have just stayed at home and relaxed, but he had chosen to kick the iron wall that was called Jack Rust.

Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret.

Dan Bolon’s thoughts disappeared as he devoted his entire being to defense. “Meteor Punch!” Jack’s voice rang across the sky, the only sound in existence, a divine decree of destruction. The meteor hurtled forward. Before it even reached Dan Bolon’s body, he could feel his skin caving in by its ripples of power.

Dan Bolon’s Solar Punch contained a heavy element of fire. That was painful and disorienting for enemies, but it wasn’t really deadly. If anything, the power that went into creating the flames was removed from the punch’s physical power.

Jack’s Meteor Punch, on the other hand, was different. Any explosion was just an afterthought. The sound and light effects were just a result of the ambient Dao bowing to the punch’s superiority. The entire power of the strike was focused on punching as hard as possible.

Shit, Dan Bolon realized, but it was too late. He no longer had time to defend. The meteor exploded on his chest. Dan Bolon sensed his ribcage bend and shatter into a million tiny bone fragments. His back burst open from the impact, and that was the last thing he ever felt.

As light and sound exploded back into existence, Jack watched Dan Bolon’s broken body fly to the other mountain and crash into it like a meteor, forming a crater slightly larger than Jack’s. Of course, he would never stand up again, because he was dead before he even hit the ground.

Level up! You have reached Level 145.

Level up! You have reached Level 146.

All the free points went to the Physical substats, obviously.

Unlike Bolon, Jack did not give a long speech of condolences to make himself appear virtuous. He didn’t need to; seeing the level difference between the two of them, as well as Dan Bolon’s previous conduct, everyone could tell who started this fight.

As all the immortals of Striple City stared at him in shock, all he said was, “Huh. I guess the disciples of Elder Monsoon are not that strong after all.”

The city burst into an uproar, but Jack didn’t pay them any mind. He returned to his table at the terrace restaurant, still bloody and dusted, but nobody would dare tell him anything. The woman accompanying Dan Bolon screamed like a banshee and flew away at top speed.

As soon as Jack landed under everyone’s incredulous gazes, Auburn looked him in the eyes and said, “Wow.”

Jack shrugged. “He got what he was looking for. After all…he was courting death, wasn’t he?”

She burst into laughter, the tension suddenly melting off them both. “I guess he did,” she replied.

Their food was already there, and the two of them ate in peace. Nobody else bothered them, and they soon left the city, flying all the way to Elder Huali’s Estate.

“Thanks for the tour, Auburn,” Jack told her as he dropped the bags of herbs—which he’d volunteered to carry—at her door. “It was fun.”

“I don’t know if fun is the right word for what happened, but… Yeah. I did have fun.” She smiled at him. “What will you do now?”

“Take a shower, obviously.” He laughed. “After that, I think I’ll go see brother Shol…and then, we’ll see. Maybe visit my friends at the outer planet. In any case, starting tomorrow, I’ll be cultivating.”

“Don’t lose yourself in it again,” she said with a caring look. “You are good company. There is more to life than cultivation.”

“Not when I have a planet to save. In any case, we’ll both be around—I may be able to take some time off my busy schedule.”

She stuck her tongue out. “Damn you, Jack Rust. Is this how you treat all girls?”

He laughed as he flew away. “See you around, Auburn. Next time, let’s have some tea at a place without troublemakers.”

“Sure!”

And Jack flew away.

At the same time, in a far-off estate that looked quite different than Huali’s, a man with long, blond hair sat cross-legged in the middle of a small pond. The water was perfectly still under him, supporting his weight as easily as it would support a leaf.

A knock on the courtyard’s door shook him out of his meditation. “Yes?” he replied.

“A thousand apologies!” a man cried out from outside. “Can I come in? This is urgent.”

Head Disciple Qian frowned gently. “You may.”

A short man dressed in purple opened the door of the courtyard and walked in, his head lowered in respect. “A thousand apologies for interrupting your cultivation, head disciple, I only—”

“Just speak,” Qian said coldly. “And be quick about it.”

“Yes. Brother Dan Bolon went to Stripe City today to cause some trouble for two weak disciples of Elder Huali…but things got out of control. It turned into a huge spectacle, where brother Dan and one of Huali’s disciples bet their honor and master’s name into a duel. Brother Dan lost, and he even died in the process, but both fighters had already announced to the entire city that death was an acceptable result.”

Qian frowned. The water under him rippled gently, but even that was enough to instill fear in the messenger’s eyes. “Was Dan a brainless fool?” Qian said calmly. “Why did he pick a fight with someone he couldn’t beat? And he even had to drag our master into it… Now, everyone will ridicule us. If Dan wasn’t dead already, I would kill him myself.”

“Head disciple, if I may speak, brother Dan was an absolute idiot, but his opponent was surprisingly strong. Nobody expected him to win. He was forty levels weaker than Dan.”

That gave Qian pause. “Someone surpassed a forty-level difference to beat Dan?”

“Yes, sir. A new disciple of Elder Huali. A man named Jack Rust.”

Qian’s brows fell. A thousand calculations occurred inside his brain in the blink of an eye. “I see. Tell me everything you know about this…Jack Rust.”