Defiance of the Fall

Part of him wanted to go through the duel as soon as possible so he could finally return to Earth, but he knew that he had to be careful. Even with his current level, the Izh’Rak Reaver said Zac only had a 50% chance of survival. That was definitely too low for comfort when fighting against a battle-crazed Peak Monarch who supposedly could confirm his Dao any time he wanted.

Thankfully, there were some things he could still do to better those odds. The most obvious step was to elevate his two Dao Fragments to branches. Even if he couldn’t enjoy the attribute boost in this place, the breakthroughs would lend greater strengths to both his stances and to his attacks. Kaldor had promised to keep his comprehension at the stage of Peak Fragments, so gaining another two Dao Branches would become a big advantage.

However, he needed some time to consolidate his gains before that. And just as it happened, Zac had a few more ideas on how to make the most of his next months. So, Zac didn’t immediately head toward his teachers or his cultivation caves, but rather toward the Contribution Store. Now that he was flush with cash, it was time to make some purchases.

The reason he took the risk and bet his whole fortune against the two Hegemons was that he didn’t want to leave the Orom World without picking up at least one of the unique treasures this huge bastard had snatched up over the eons. And there were a lot of them that collected dust in the Contribution Stores.

These were all items that would cause a storm on the outside world because of their unique benefits, but their cost-to-benefit ratio was too inefficient for most people in the Orom World. Some benefits and powerups didn’t provide Contribution points, making people unwilling to stomach the high price tag. Others might provide benefits, but they were slow to materialize, making them a viable option only if you were already safe from the relegation.

An example of the latter was affinity-boosting treasures. They were extremely costly on the outside, especially those useable in the D-grade. But they were not as useful in the Orom World where you needed quick gains to survive the continuous relegation. So what if the benefits of higher affinities would slowly accumulate over a lifetime? In the Orom World, you needed to get stronger right now.

“Welcome, young master,” the store clerk nodded as Zac entered the store.

Only one other disk was occupied, with the Orom World having completely returned to its usual pace after the excitement of the new arrivals had abated. Zac scanned the list of items, and he breathed out in relief that all of the items he had his eyes on were still available. Three particular items piqued Zac’s interest more than the others.

The first option item was an item the registry called the [Hollow Core]. It was a semi-natural treasure reportedly formed from the core of a unique being and then reforged through some unknown natural calamity. It had been turned into an extremely sturdy container, perfect for building one’s Cultivator’s Core.

The [Hollow Core] exuded some sort of pressure that would forcibly contain rampant energies as you built up the core, allowing pretty much anyone with the prerequisite Dao Stages to form at least a medium-quality Cultivator’s Core. Even a cultivator could make use of it to improve their chances of success, and the stability it provided might allow a cultivator to push their core to the next tier.

However, it had one big drawback in this place; using the treasure to form a Cultivator’s Core would drastically lessen the Contribution Points gained from the breakthrough.

When inquiring why that was, Zac found that the restrictive array of the [Hollow Core] was so unique that the prison brand didn’t manage to access the inspiration and insights from within. Certainly, if the Orom really wanted, it could probably improve the brand to gain access. But why bother exerting that kind of effort for some random unique item?

With a price tag of 32,000 Contribution Points, few E-grade cultivators could afford it. The few who could afford it probably didn’t need it. They were most likely great talents who would be able to form high-quality Cultivator’s Cores, and the additional benefits the [Hollow Core] provided couldnʼt cover the cost of both the treasure and the loss of points from their breakthrough.