Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 1204: Molding Talent

Zac groaned and stumbled backward, his body instinctively escaping the floating mask adorning a devilish smile. Feeling its prey escape the magic circle, the cursed mask turned inanimate and landed on its placemat. Zac's heart was hammering, and his mind was an absolute mess after listening to the sinister whispers until he reached a breaking point. He quickly entered his Void State, which gradually soothed the chaos in his heart.Lasting just under thirty minutes of real-time under the assault of the [Second-stage Mask of Seven Sins] wasn't very impressive—it wasn't even enough to complete one cycle, making the cost of 100 merit per activation sting even more. Still, it was a noticeable improvement from his previous attempt. He first faced the Heart Demons based on the seven sensations on the second day of training, and the experience made him run for the hills in only twelve minutes.

The past week of torture was already showing significant results. Most of his merit had been spent on two buildings; the Inverse Observatory and the Hall of Heroes. The facilities tackled the same field—tempering one's Dao Heart. His pilgrimage had shown with painful clarity how far his Dao Heart was from his other cultivation, and it posed a huge danger to his plans. Luckily, Rava's training regimen was almost exclusively focused on remedying this shortcoming.

The Hall of Heroes refined one's heart by targeting their path. It was filled with recordings, illusion realms, legacies, and unique treasures. Each held lofty Daos or extremely refined paths. Facing the installations was like visiting the Buddhist Sangha. Your Dao Heart was constantly under assault, forcing your path to solidify or break.

The Inverse Observatory rather dealt with mental states and traumas. The Peak of Impetus did the heavy lifting, like with the mask. It was actually a Natural Treasure and one of the more dangerous tools in the museum of madness he currently trained inside. Its whispers could dredge the weaknesses in one's heart with pinpoint precision. The mask pushed and pushed until you formed a Heart Demon, sealed the spiritual crack, or ran out of time.

The treasure's cruel training perfectly suited his current needs, exposing and sealing the weaknesses in his heart. In reality, his Dao Heart was extremely strong for someone as young as him. Most cultivators hadn't even left their homes at his age, still considered children who needed to train under the protective gaze of their elders. They'd still be in E-grade, focusing on building sturdy foundations, grasping Dao, and

Zac's communication token hummed just as he was about to disrobe and sink into the depths. His subordinates knew he was in the middle of an important training session and would only contact him if it was something important. Zac infused his will into the crystal, and it suddenly was like the exhaustion had been swept away.

"Instructor Rava, I need to take some time off as we discussed!" Zac shouted, having finally gotten the call he'd been waiting for.

"Finish your quests, and I'll permit one day of absence for one of your bodies."

Zac burned with anxiety, yet he knew better than to argue with the Eternal Servant. He entered the pond, and the energy attacked him like he were an invader encroaching on its domain. The pain exceeded the level of his body tempering sessions, and the waters around him became red as shallow wounds were opened across his body.

As human eyes closed, Draugr eyes opened, gazing at a boundless cityscape from his hiding spot. He was supposed to rest a bit longer to recover from the Heart Tempering, which affected both bodies. But how could he sit still with Catheya waiting for him? He shot out from his hiding spot like an arrow released from a bow. Just a little bit of massacre before he could see his love.