Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse
Chapter 378: Pride and Honor

The hidden realm expedition shuttled through space. There were forty-four people in a giant starship, each with their own room.

The ship was powered by the Envoys, reaching unimaginable speeds. They were tearing through space like the waves of the sea. However, the ship remained slower than teleportation, and the Heaven Egg galaxy was far away—it would take them two weeks to arrive.

During that time, the Elders didn’t step out of their rooms once. Most people spent their time cultivating, with perhaps small breaks to enjoy the view, and Jack with Brock were the same. The two of them huddled inside Jack’s room, constantly getting stronger.

After all, they were headed to a battlefield.

But, that didn’t mean they were oblivious to the scenery. The void outside the starship’s windows was clustered with endless galaxies, shining like the stars of the night sky. Each of those bright dots housed billions of planets, potentially trillions of lives. The universe was vast beyond belief, and even A-Grades were nothing more than slightly larger ants compared to its majesty.

It was times like this that gave Jack perspective. The System had colonized a tiny part of the universe so far, a mere seventy-three galaxies. With the exception of the Milky Way, which was still young, each of those galaxies produced hundreds of B-Grades and one to several A-Grades.

If one day the cultivation world spread across the universe, to the hundreds of billions of galaxies, what would it look like? There would be infinite lives, trillions of A-Grades. At that point, being one of those trillion wouldn’t really matter. Would all those people discover new Grades and realms above the A-Grade? Would there be A+, or S, or other classifications of power? Was there a limit? Would there be more Systems, each pursuing the peak in its way? Could humans one day reach the level of Old Gods, the rulers of the universe?

And what if those Old Gods had already colonized more corners of the universe besides the System’s?

Jack didn’t know. These seventy-three galaxies were the only ones containing cultivators. In a larger bubble around System space, the surrounding galaxies also contained life, originating from when the Ancients had spread their seed as far as they could. However, all these remained nothing but a drop in the bucket.

It was terrifying to think of the cultivation world as a tiny island of light in an infinite dark sea. At the same time, it was heroic. Ambitious. They were just starting out; the universe was theirs to conquer, theirs to colonize. Perhaps in a trillion years, the entire universe would be lively, and the world would enter an era of unmatched prosperity that would echo across the eons.

By then, Jack would be nothing but dust, but how nice would it be if he could contribute even a tiny bit to humanity’s expansion?

“Thinking big?”

The question came so abruptly that Jack was startled. He hadn’t noticed anyone approaching. He turned around, finding Envoy Spacewind standing behind him, staring with those sharp eyes of his.

“Envoy,” Jack said respectfully.

“Spare me the ceremony. Just reply. Did the view inspire you to think big?”

Jack hesitated a moment. He’d never spoken with Spacewind, but he’d sensed hostility from him a few times. Still, he couldn’t just not respond. “It did,” he replied. “I find that the universe is vast, vaster than anyone can imagine. How can something that great not create great thoughts?”

“Great things create great thoughts… Well spoken,” Spacewind replied, but his voice contained a hint of darkness. “However, I would advise you to be careful. Youth brings recklessness; it is best for one to understand where they can and cannot expand, which fruits are theirs to enjoy and which belong to others. Those who reach beyond their means tend to suffer horrible fates.”

Jack raised a brow. “I should…not think about other galaxies?”

“You should not think about Min Ling,” Spacewind said directly. “She is an exceptional woman. I have to admit you are exceptional as well, but it doesn’t matter. I am already courting her. If you continue your advances, then I will no longer chalk it up to ignorance and will take it as an insult.”

Jack was stunned. This was what it was all about? Spacewind was being hostile because he thought Jack was hitting on Min Ling?

That was certainly not the case. He had only spoken with her once, and there had been nothing weird about that interaction. He was even married; well, not quite, but he did regard Vivi as his life’s partner. He wouldn’t randomly flirt with other women, even if they were beautiful and extremely talented.

He opened his mouth to explain these things to Spacewind…but then stopped.

True, Spacewind had misunderstood. This situation could easily be resolved if Jack simply explained his side. However, regardless of misunderstandings or not, Spacewind’s words had been far too imperious. He’d threatened Jack and spoken as he would to an ant. He’d also taken Min Ling as belonging to him even though that obviously wasn’t the case; Jack recalled her cold reaction when Spacewind appeared, and he easily understood she’d been rejecting his advances but he kept insisting.

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Despite that, Spacewind had taken it upon himself to discourage all other admirers. That was the behavior of a narcissistic, selfish man. Moreover, a man that had chosen to pick a bone with Jack—even if their conflict was based on shaky ground.

All of a sudden, Jack didn’t feel like patiently explaining himself to such a person, even if that person happened to be the leader of the expedition.

“I had no such intention,” he replied coldly, “but with all due respect, even if I did, I do not believe it should be any of your concern.”

“You are trying to court the woman I am courting. How is that not my concern?”

“And how is your courting going?”

Spacewind paused. His gaze grew frigid. “This is not about success. If you aim for the same target as me, you are working against me, therefore you are my enemy. That is not something you want.”

“I’m just not in the habit of cowering away,” Jack replied calmly. “You cannot own people just because you saw them first. If you have some issue, bring it up with her. However, I will say this again; I had no intention of “courting” anyone. And now, if you don’t mind, I have some galaxies to look at.”

Spacewind’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “I am your superior. You do not get to dismiss me.”

“With all due respect, sir, I can do whatever the fuck I want.”

Jack left Spacewind standing alone and walked away, feeling the other man’s gaze bore into his back all the while. However, Spacewind said nothing more. Jack made it to his room and entered, finally heaving a tired sigh.

“What am I doing wrong, Brock?” he asked. “Why is it that everywhere I go, someone strong wants to beat me up?”

Brock, who was meditating, opened one eye. “Maybe you’re just too cool.”

“Yeah, that must be it.”

Jack lay on his bed, once again sighing. At this point, creating powerful enemies was a routine. It would feel weird if there wasn’t someone gunning for his back.

First Baron, then Spacewind… The hidden realm will sure be interesting.

However, even if Jack often created enemies, he didn’t do so thoughtlessly. His enmity with Spacewind wasn’t particularly deep; at best, they had a stressed relationship. He didn’t believe that Spacewind would act against him on the battlefield against the Hand of God—after all, regardless of internal problems, everyone was unified against external enemies.

Moreover, even if Spacewind did harbor such intentions, they wouldn’t be together inside the hidden realm. The B-Grades would explore the core areas, while the C-Grades would wander around the edges. Even if something did go wrong and Spacewind tried to act against him, Min Ling would definitely take Jack’s side. She was the leader of the C-Grades and also exceptionally strong—there shouldn’t be any problems.

After that, when they returned to the Cathedral, just one B-Grade enemy wasn’t too much. He’d been through worse.

These had all been Jack’s considerations as he refused to yield to Spacewind’s intimidation, but they didn’t negate the fact that he’d just created more problems for himself. He sighed again.

“What’s the matter, bro?” Brock asked.

Jack explained the situation. At that point, Brock’s mouth formed into an ‘o’. He explained to Jack how he had joked about this with Esmeralda and the bros, which may have reached Spacewind and created some confusion.

“You did nothing wrong,” Jack said when Brock was done. “You were just playing around and increasing my reputation. There was nothing weird about it. The only reason there are problems is because Spacewind is an asshole. Even if you didn’t give him an excuse to act against me, he would have gone off sooner or later. The fault remains squarely on his shoulders.”

Brock nodded.

“Any ideas?” Jack asked. “I don’t mind the current situation, but resolving it would also be good.”

“I could throw some poop?”

It wasn’t a real suggestion, and Jack laughed, feeling a weight sliding off his shoulders. “Remember that time you threw poop at Rufus Emberheart? Those were the days.”

“He was being an asshole,” Brock added, nodding along with a big monkeyish grin. “I will give you poop in bag. Handy weapon. When asshole becomes big asshole, just throw.”

“Please do,” Jack replied, laughing again.

***

The two weeks passed easily. To cultivators of their level, their sense of time was greatly slowed down, meaning that two weeks were nothing but a cultivation session. Jack used up half his remaining Dao stones, also giving some to Brock, and advanced his third fruit to fifty percent maturity.

At some point, Jack sensed the starship moving oddly. It slowed down and teleported in random directions, hiding their direction of origin. “We’re here,” he said.

He and Brock flew out of their room, followed by many other cultivators. Everyone headed for the front window.

A egg-shaped opening shimmered in the distance. It looked like a portal, its surface swimming with colors that nobody could see through. This was the hidden realm. Surprisingly, however, it wasn’t too large—barely a thousand feet across.

“That’s only the entrance,” Shi Mo said from beside Jack. “The inside is a different dimension. It could be a thousand miles wide, a million miles, or maybe even larger! Nobody knows until we’ve entered.”

“I see,” Jack replied.

Close to the hidden realm opening was another starship, even larger than their own. It was simply gigantic. Multiple decks lined its interior, and its prow alone stretched for a mile outside the ship. Teleporting something that large must have cost an ungodly amount of energy.

The Black Hole Church’s starship approached the other and stopped a hundred miles away. At this distance, Jack could make out a small crowd floating outside the other starship, but they weren’t just standing there—they sat on tables and chairs that floated in the void, enjoying all sorts of drinks and delicacies.

Of those people, two seemed particularly mighty. They sat on the largest table all by themselves, and their auras were so powerful they pushed against Jack like powerful astral winds.

They were another two A-Grades. And Jack, who was a high and mighty C-Grade, suddenly felt like a big fish surrounded by sharks.

As Jack and the others waited inside the starship, not exiting yet, Elders Heavenstar and Boatman appeared over their heads. “Follow us outside, everyone,” said Elder Heavenstar, pulling out a chair from his space ring. “Let’s celebrate a little.”