With that pact created between the two men, the liberation of Earth went far smoother than before. Over the next three weeks, Sam and the Overlord led teams of the strongest fighters from the faction across Earth, freeing the major cities. The more cities freed, the more humans were released from stasis by the System, as the planet was deemed safer for their habitation. For the aliens belonging to the great sects of the Multiverse, there was no mercy, but many of the mercenaries were granted second chances as citizens of the city. As a result, the population had dramatically increased, and the city covered a large portion of the plain around it, stretching out for almost a hundred miles.

Sam grew closer and closer to reaching E Rank, and another momentous occurrence shook the faction. Lao gained his Dao Seed. The man was the thirteenth in the universe to do so, aided by the Dao Tree and all of the other bonuses that came from the faction. Then, shortly after, the Overlord followed suit. It really exemplified Lao’s true power in the realm of the Dao, as he possessed no Dao Heritage or other benefits to aid his passage, yet he was already at the top of the universe. With two more Dao Seeds in the faction, it was now truly a power to be reckoned with.

Teams of fighters farmed the dungeons of Earth to gain levels, increasing the fighting capabilities of the city. So far, there had been no permanent expeditions to recolonize the planet, but there would be as soon as all of the threats were gone. The average level among the defenders was level 100, and many of the captains were approaching the peak of F Rank.

Slowly, the Overlord had made himself more palatable to the citizens of the city, and he was now seen as more of an ally than anything else. It helped that he could act normal when he needed to, although that had become harder with his Dao upgrade. Fundamentally, he still had a large part of him that was Jacob Atlas, but that had been covered over by his Dao, and the ministrations of the A Ranker who had corrupted him.

Every day, Sam sat within his house, which now boasted a private mediation chamber, warded from any outside distractions. Although he professed to know much about his path in the Multiverse, it was still immensely difficult to fully encapsulate it enough to provide the kick that would allow him to ascend to E Rank. And even there, there were still untold dangers. The latter ranks were trials of the soul as much as of the body, and were even more dangerous than any that had come before. It was only due to the immense scale of the Multiverse that there were so many powerhouses at all.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

He slowly came to terms with his place in the universe and what exactly it meant to be the bearer of his Dao Heritage. It was a difficult journey to conceptualize, but every tiny shred of insight that he gained would help. E Rank was not like the previous ranks in that trying it in battle would be a recipe for disaster. Almost everyone who tried it died. The process fundamentally rewrote the building blocks of one’s body, and the process could take hours, if not days. Only prodigies were able to do it any quicker.

Perhaps Sam could do it, but he had no reason to try. All that it would do was speed up the process, rather than adding power as it did in F Rank. Going up a Tier was far different than going up a Rank. He was starting to understand how people were bottlenecked at the later ranks. Even with his clarity, this was taking far longer than anything he had experienced before in the realm of progression. However, he had plenty of time now, time that he wanted to use to great effect. Or so he thought.

Low Earth Orbit, over North America

Three beings, two men and a woman, watched the Earth from above. All were from the same race as the Athari scion who had sparked their arrival. A cloak of Dao energy surrounded them, filled with the power of their Dao Seeds, preventing the vacuum from harming them.

E Rankers all, they were junior elders of the Athari sect, here for a historic event. It was rare indeed that E Rankers were allowed into a newly initialized universe, and rarer still that they were there for battle. However, against all odds, not just one but two beings had arisen on a singular planet that possessed at least a semblance of E Ranked power. Now that they were here, they could detect all sorts of oddities among the inhabitants of the planet.

“What was the name of this shithole again?” One of them asked. “Dirt? Something like that, right?”

“Earth.”

“What an inane name.”

“Still, it more than makes up for that. I sense three Dao Seeds down there, as well as a few peak stage Fragments. There is even a man actively trying to break through to E Rank right now, down in that city.”

After saying this, the woman pointed at the speck of light that was the only inhabited city on the surface of the planet.

“Well, they might be impressive, but we are actual E Rankers. I’m not sure why the grand elder even sent three of us. It must have been a pain to do all the paperwork.”

“It was his son that the natives killed,” the third fighter said.

“Oh. I feel sorry for them then.”

The cloaks of Dao energy flared, and the three E Rankers descended from orbit, heading for the city.