The Space Monster World was a realm hidden in the heart of the Spiral Stair galaxy. A realm of space monsters. Due to a seal Jack didn’t quite understand yet, A-Grades and Archons were unable to enter, which was why the space monsters were confident in defending themselves against the Immortals.

After all, while A-Grades couldn’t enter, they sure could develop inside. The space monster race had several Archons holding down the fort.

With Jack’s recent declaration of a thirty-year duel, he needed to advance quickly. It was the one-year deadline for Earth all over again. Since the New Cathedral had run out of space cores to give him, there was only one place where he could reasonably expect to find them. A place where the Immortals couldn’t chase him down.

Of course, adventuring through the Space Monster World wouldn’t be easy. Outsiders were hunted there, and that would be doubly the case for Jack, who planned on hunting A-Grade space monsters himself. In a sense, it was a desperate gamble, the only one with at least a chance of succeeding.

But Jack wouldn’t just kill himself. He had a plan. As well as a protector.

“Are we ready?” Jack asked. It was a sunny day on the New Cathedral. He and Brock were on their mansion’s rooftop, accompanied by Starhair, Sophie, the energy clone of Elder Boatman, and a new clone—that of the Arch Priestess herself. A white-clothed woman identical to her main body, except that her aura was at the peak B-Grade level instead of the Archon one.

The Church had invested heavily on Jack and Brock by now. The Arch Priestess had done so personally as well. Their survival was paramount, so they needed as capable a protector as they could get. Since A-Grades and above couldn’t enter the Space Monster World, an Archon’s peak B-Grade clone was their best bet. After all, while the clone’s energy reserves were pathetically low compared to the real thing, its Dao understandings remained far higher than any real B-Grade’s.

“I’ll miss you guys!” Sophie exclaimed, her eyes widened to the brink of tears. “But don’t worry! With all the content we’ve prepared, I’ll make sure your reputation remains as high as ever! You’ll be heroes by the time you come back!”

“They sure will,” Elder Boatman’s clone replied. “Let’s board. Arch Priestess, please.”

He took a respectful step back, motioning for the Church’s leader to go first. The Arch Priestess obliged. Her bare feet stepped on the rooftop, approaching the starship parked there. It wasn’t a new vehicle. The Iron Maiden had been the one to bring Jack and Brock to the New Cathedral, and it would be the one to bring them out of it as well. It was perfect for the job: fast, stealthy, and with high defensive properties.

After the Arch Priestess disappeared through the sliding door, Elder Boatman followed, his clone a hovering shadow. While he couldn’t enter the Space Monster World, he would be the one to drive them there. Jack and Brock went next, finally followed by Starhair, whose grumbling echoed low in the ears of everyone. He had no business going to the Space Monster World. His only job was to take care of Jack and Brock on the way as their personal assistant.

“Take care of yourselves!” Sophie cried again from the rooftop as the door slid closed. “Remember to film good content!”

Jack waved at her, a stone-like thing nestled in his palm. It was a top-grade projection stone. On Sophie’s instructions, they were to use it to record their most striking feats in the Space Monster World so she could spread them later.

“She’s a good person,” Brock said, looking at the shrinking form of Sophie as their starship slowly lifted off. “Do you think we’ll ever see her again?”

“Probably,” Jack replied, leaning against the window. He suddenly felt emotional. “I hope so. If something happens to a civilian like her, we’ll have already lost.”

Sophie and the mansion grew smaller. The New Cathedral now filled the window, a sprawling city expanding at a prodigious rate. The last stronghold of the Black Hole Church, placed on a tiny planet on a galaxy far, far away. It looked so small from up here. In the distant jungle, a brontosaurus raised its head as if roaring them goodbye.

Jack turned away from the window as the planet appeared in their sights. There was nothing to see anymore. Their home of few months was now a distant memory.

“There is nothing for me to even do here,” Starhair grumbled. The Arch Priestess had already retreated to one of the starship’s three rooms, letting him speak freely. “I’m literally useless. How can I assist you on an empty starship?”

“By not whining,” Jack replied. Starhair sighed.

“I guess I’ll cultivate. Which room should I go to, Jack? Yours or Brock’s?”

The Arch Priestess had already occupied one of the starship’s three private rooms. Elder Boatman’s clone didn’t need a room, as he’d be constantly steering the starship, which left only two rooms for Jack, Brock, and Starhair. As the least in status, Starhair didn’t expect to get his own room, though he would in normal circumstances. Jack and Brock would rather stay with each other than with him. Not because he was a dick—he’d gotten much better since Brock beat him up—but because they were brothers, and they were used to it.

This time, however, Starhair’s calculations were incorrect. None of them would need to share a room.

“Your own,” Jack said with a smirk.

“Really?” Starhair replied. “Are you sure?”

“Oh, I’m sure.”

“I’ll go rest,” Brock said, walking to the rooms. He opened the door of the leftmost one, where the Arch Priestess had gone, and disappeared inside. The door closed soundlessly behind him.

“Wait, what?” Starhair said. “Jack, you must save Brock! He went to the wrong room! The Arch Priestess will disintegrate him for trespassing!”

Jack winked. “It’s fine.”

“It’s fi— What? I mean… What?” Starhair looked between Jack and the closed door in complete incomprehension. Finally, it dawned on him. “You can’t mean… No. Really? No way. They aren’t… Are they?”

Jack laughed. “What can I say? Brock has a special charm.” He kept laughing as he paced to his own room—the middle one. “See you, Starhair. And Master, thanks for all the hard work. I’ll cultivate hard.”

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“You better,” Elder Boatman replied, hand grasping the helm of the ship, while Starhair remained frozen in the middle of the common room.

“Elder!” he exclaimed, turning around. “Is it true? Are they…”

Elder Boatman shrugged. “Brock is a very charismatic man. And the Arch Priestess is a very powerful woman. They’re a match made in heaven.”

Starhair opened and closed his mouth, no sound coming out. Finally, he retreated to the final room. His worldview had just gotten upturned.

Not only had he been defeated by a brorilla two small realms below him…but said brorilla now also had a woman far superior to any Starhair could claim. What an unfair world!

***

Jack meditated in his room. Cultivating in the B-Grade was usually a slow, gradual process. But not for him. Not only had he completely blown through the early B-Grade thanks to the New Cathedral’s resources, but he’d also received two extremely high level visions. He could sense his path unfolding in the distance.

The first vision showed a man unifying Space and Death to create an imitation of a black hole. Jack hadn’t fully explored that vision—he hadn’t had the time—but he’d definitely reaped some benefits. Both his Space Mastery and Death Mastery had reached the fourth tier.

The second vision showed a woman unifying Time and Life in what was probably a Big Bang. An explosion creating a world out of nothing. This vision was far more mystical than anything Jack had witnessed before, and it contained far too many mysteries. He wasn’t even close to unpacking it. He even had the sense that, if he managed to completely understand this vision, he would have climbed to heights surpassing A-Grades. The Dao of an Archon.

And beyond that, if he could manage to fully unify all four concepts… Who knew what would happen.

In other words, Jack had many things to meditate on. His plate was as full as ever.

The second vision was the one he chose to focus on right now. It wasn’t easy to experiment with. Creating an explosion of that caliber would require careful preparation and years of waiting for random particles to collide. Maybe if he built a particle accelerator similar to CERN’s? Then again, if it was that simple, he had no doubt the Archon woman would have done it that way.

Experimenting was difficult. However, mentally rewatching the vision was free and effortless. He dove into it, striving for just another tiny step forward. He observed the explosion, the creation of a world embryo, and how everything stabilized around a spontaneous flow of time afterward. It seemed, once again, that Time was the cornerstone of world creation, or at least one of them. It was like the main column keeping a building aloft. In this metaphor, maybe Space served as the building’s foundation, keeping both concepts around the same level.

But then, what about Life and Death? How did they fit in? Both visions had portrayed them in relation to the Dao particles, so maybe Space was the foundation, Time was the column—the main axis—while Life and Death made up the bricks?

Jack suspected that was not the case. Still, he was currently lost. He knew that Dao particles could “die,” or at least they had a tendency to protect themselves from destruction. He also knew that a powerful enough explosion could manifest life seemingly out of nowhere.

But as to exactly what those meant, he had no idea. It was a work in progress.

He sighed. At the very least, the System core inside him recognized his efforts:

Time Mastery IV: Time is a river you have learned to tame. You are diving in its waters, exploring its properties, and interacting with the fish. Before long, the bank itself will be your playground to shape as you wish. You are well on the road to mastery.

Life Mastery IV: Life is the beginning. The kickoff, the inevitable starting point of creation. It is also just another power you control. You can spread this power to everything, even the Dao itself. You are well on the road to mastery.

The absence of these two skills had troubled him for a while. Only now they did appear, directly at the fourth tier. Was this some kind of threshold? Were they considered part of the Death and Space Mastery skills until the third tier?

That was the only explanation Jack could think of, especially with how similar their respective descriptions were. Hell, the Life one was identical to Death’s, except for the first two sentences.

Additionally, while the skills were fused, were Death and Space the overall name because those were the first he developed, or were they somehow superior to Time and Life? Probably the former. Jack felt that balance was key.

So many questions, so few answers. The path kept widening. Jack couldn’t wait for the moment when it all snapped together, when his path became singular and all mysteries turned clear.

Though, of course, such an event was still far away.

Shaking his head, he got up and left his room, heading for the common space. He felt a little bad for Elder Boatman, who had to constantly steer the ship while everyone else relaxed, so he tried to keep him company as often as possible.

“How is it going, Master?” Jack asked.

“Good. Peaceful. We haven’t run into any Hand patrols as I expected, so I can say this has been smooth sailing.”

The hooded figure’s voice held a rare hint of joy. Apparently, he’d half expected them to come under attack. Go figure.

“Maybe it’s because you’re such a good captain,” Jack said.

Boatman laughed. “Don’t flatter me, disciple. You have nothing to gain from it.”

“Perhaps.” Jack smiled. “But, can I ask you something, Master? Feel free not to answer if it’s too personal. How high is your Death Mastery skill?”

Boatman fell silent. For a moment, Jack worried he’d overstepped. Such information was generally kept extremely private, as it could give a cultivator’s enemies an advantage.

Just as Jack was ready to apologize, however, Boatman spoke up. “I no longer possess a System core inside me,” he said. “It’s harmless, but it’s also useless after you reach the A-Grade. Some keep it because they’re addicted to the numbers. Most get rid of it. Anyway, since I don’t possess a System core, there is nothing quantifying my skills. If I had to guess, my Death Mastery would be somewhere between the fourth and fifth tier. At the peak of one or the very start of the other. It’s hard to tell.”

“I see,” Jack replied. “Thanks for sharing it with me. I promise to never tell anyone.”

Boatman finally turned around, his pale face giving a hard smile. “I know you won’t. But, if you want my advice, don’t fixate on the numbers. They can take you off track or discourage you. Focus on making progress, one little step at a time. It’s a long road ahead, but if you just keep walking, you’re bound to reach very far. Especially in your case.”

Jack nodded deeply. “I will try. Thanks, Master.”

“No problem.”

Jack took some time to consider his master’s words. At the same time, he looked backward. They’d been traveling for a few days now, but Brock hadn’t emerged from his room once. Neither had the Arch Priestess. Jack thought it was natural—privacy would be harder to come by in the Space Monster World.

“Are we close, Master?” he asked.

“Very,” Boatman replied. “In fact…”

The light of teleportation cleared around the starship. A vast emptiness was revealed. Stars glittered all around, redder here than in the outer reaches of the galaxy, as well as denser.

Ahead of them, however, in the distance, a different shape hung. A swirling portal, similar to a mini-galaxy except far smaller. It was only a few miles from end to end. Jack could see it from this distance only because of his superhuman vision.

“We’re almost there,” Boatman replied with a content smile. “Just a few minutes and—”

The starship shook. A tremendous impact rocked the roof, cracking it apart and making the starship spin wildly. Jack almost flew out of it. He just barely managed to grab onto a steel column and remain attached. The void had already infiltrated from the outside, sucking in the air of the starship. Nobody needed it, thankfully, but that was not the point.

Everybody flashed outside the starship in an instant. Far in the distance, a figure blazed like the sun. Power radiated off of it in waves, searing the surrounding space, burning time so heavily it slowed down. Jack couldn’t even look straight at the figure. His entire body was burning. His Dao perception was going haywire. Whoever this was, they were far, far too powerful. Overwhelmingly so.

He knew without the shadow of a doubt. His heart reached his throat.

This was an Archon.