Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Chapter 471: Shattering Expectations

Jack stood in a large, empty expanse. It resembled the vacuum of space, only filled with stardust—and, if one looked closely, they would find that its particles were shaped as fists. A massive purple fist also appeared below Jack, as if a large meteor hurtling through space, except it bafflingly didn’t seem to move—or, rather, it did move, but the entire inner world moved with it.

Jack felt his world’s boundaries reach a soft wall. He knew instinctively that it was exactly a thousand miles wide—the bare minimum an inner world needed to reach to be able to maintain itself. Making it this far meant he had succeeded. The only question was, how much more could he expand it?

Over half of his amassed energy had been used to develop his tenth fruit. In turn, that fruit stabilized his world, letting his system of laws approach perfection. He had no idea how these two facts would influence the final size of his inner world—and there was only one way to find out.

Filled with excitement, he pushed out his hands and shouted, “Expand!”

The world blasted outward. He could sense that it was perfect—expanding was an easy process consuming minimal energy, at least for now. Jack smiled and pushed.

He could not see the outside world, but they could see him. Inner worlds manifested themselves physically while forming, stealing a bit of the universe’s essence and using it to stabilize themselves. That was how, regardless of a cultivator’s specific Dao, their inner world would contain spacetime. It was also how the universe strangled those who approached nine thousand miles across—by denying them access to any more space.

The spectators saw Jack push out his hands and roar for the world to expand. They saw its walls gradually pushing outward, slowly increasing its size.

“So slow,” a cultivator muttered, shaking his head. “He did succeed, so congratulations to him, but this is a bit disappointing…”

“Well, let’s see,” another replied. “His speed is nothing compared to Brock’s, but if he can reach four thousand miles, he will still be an exceptional B-Grade.”

Heavenstar sighed, trying to console Boatman. “Jack isn’t doing too bad,” he said. “At least he isn’t expanding too slowly.”

Boatman, however, had his eyes narrowed. A hint of puzzlement could be seen through his dark hood. “This is odd,” he said. “No matter how fast or slow a cultivator, their speed of expansion will decrease as they go. Don’t you think that Jack’s is too consistent?”

“Hmm?” Heavenstar looked over. His eyes narrowed. “Oh. You’re right. That’s odd indeed.”

Most people in the audience weren’t as perceptive, nor did they pay too much attention. They remained numbed by Brock’s achievements. Watching Jack’s slow expansion felt wholly unimpressive.

“Geniuses can rise and fall. Isn’t this a prime example, Sage?” Sovereign Heavenly Spoon asked. No reply arrived. He turned around in puzzlement. “Sage?”

The homeless-looking man wore a look of extreme seriousness. In fact, throughout their travels together, this was the first time the sovereign saw him so serious—as if everything else had been a play, and only this breakthrough was important.

“What’s the matter?” the sovereign asked again, growing worried himself.

“Just watch and don’t speak to me,” the Sage replied.

The sovereign raised a brow. Such rudeness was very uncharacteristic. Still, he turned his gaze towards Jack’s inner world, watching it more carefully than before.

Two thousand miles, three thousand…

Jack’s inner world expanded slowly but steadily. To most people, reaching three thousand miles was already an achievement. Some, however, were beginning to notice he wasn’t slowing down.

“Is that normal?” a cultivator asked.

“He’s probably afraid to expand too quickly,” another guessed. “He’s keeping his speed constant on purpose. Does he want to trick us into forgetting his failure? That’s pretty lame…”

Starhair’s face, which had been twisted sour before, now wore a self-satisfied smirk. “Just as I said,” he told Min Ling. “A dog remains a dog no matter how many treasures they’re fed.”

She didn’t even spare him a glance.

Jack’s inner world reached four thousand miles and kept expanding. 4300, 4600, 4900… He had already surpassed the expectations of most, and his speed of expansion remained constant. People were beginning to pay attention. Even the most critical ones had to shut up. Whatever had happened before, a five thousand mile world was no joke.

Heavenstar sighed. “Imagine how much he could expand if he hadn’t messed up the destruction of his Dao Tree. In any case, there is nothing embarrassing about this result. Jack is worthy of congratulations.”

“There are no tears,” Boatman replied.

“What?”

“His inner world should be starting to struggle by now. There should be visible gaps caused by the imperfection of his laws. Where are they?”

Heavenstar looked over as well. Indeed, Jack’s world seemed as pristine as before. What was going on here?

5200, 5500, 5800 miles…

The spectators contacted their friends who’d left and urged them to return. Jack Rust’s breakthrough wasn’t the failure everyone expected. If anything, he was doing suspiciously well. Even inside the Death Boat, where many people had looked away from the projection screens to discuss Brock’s achievements, they were gradually starting to pay attention again.

The buzz resurfaced. The excitement returned.

Six thousand miles! With another push, Jack’s inner world surpassed another mark and kept going.

It was only now that Brock finished integrating his inner world and opened his eyes. Literia stood beside him. “Congratulations!” she said. “You reached 8800 miles. That’s phenomenal!”

“What about big bro?” Brock asked.

“His breakthrough isn’t over yet.”

Brock smiled. “How great is he doing?”

“I… I actually have no idea.”

The smile turned into a frown. “Take me there,” Brock said, then didn’t wait and directly teleported them both to the other side of the asteroid, joining the audience.

“Come here, Brock,” Elder Boatman messaged him telepathically, and Brock, after waving Literia goodbye, teleported to the side of the Elders.

“Congratulations from both of us,” Elder Boatman said. “Do you have any idea what’s going on with your brother?”

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Brock looked over, grasping the entire situation. “I do,” he replied. “He’s the best.”

The two Elders glanced at each other and shrugged. They turned back towards Jack, watching silently, while Brock crossed his arms and wore an expectant smile.

In the time it took for these conversations to happen, Jack’s inner world had already reached seven thousand miles. It was still expanding.

“What the hell is going on?” someone asked. “Is this a joke? He clearly almost failed before, how can he be doing so well now?”

“And where are the gaps in his inner world?” another replied. “Even Brock had them!”

Starhair looked like he’d swallowed a fly. Min Ling was giggling proudly. The Sage remained fully focused, while the Heavenly Spoon Sovereign was just puzzled.

Jack was deaf to the audience. He kept expanding his world, calmly perceiving his Daos in the process. The only reason he was slow was because he wanted to familiarize himself with his new fruit as much as possible—otherwise, he could have expanded much faster.

It was only after he reached 7500 miles that he began to sense some resistance, but he just pushed with a little more power. By 8000, the resistance was becoming significant. Jack could no longer afford to meditate on his tenth fruit—he had to push with all his power. It wasn’t that his laws or energy were insufficient, but that the universe was opposing his advance.

Thankfully, his perfect Dao system let him consume far less energy than other cultivators at his level.

Jack’s world reached 8300 miles before it finally slowed down. By now, everybody was stunned. They expected a failure, not another triumph. Such breakthroughs should only occur once every several hundred thousand years—how come two happened at the same time?

People were beginning to believe. Jack had slowed down, but he was still pushing on. Could he also reach the 8500 mile point? Could there be two future Archons born today?

Jack knew he could probably reach the 8500 mark if he kept pushing. However, he wasn’t content with going slowly. He still had much to give. A light blazed from the purple meteor below him—the World Anchor he’d absorbed a long time ago finally revealed its function, stabilizing his world even further. It fused with the large meteor fist, acting as the core of Jack’s inner world.

His expansion accelerated again. From 8300, he jumped directly to 8600.

The audience cheered in surprise. He’d crossed 8500! The Sign of Archon! This was…unprecedented!

Even the Elders had stood up again, their hands shivering. “What monsters did you take in, Boatman!” Heavenstar cried out. There was no jealousy in his voice, only excitement. This war could still be won!

Boatman laughed. All his worries melted away. He hadn’t felt so carefree in several millennia. “Good job, Jack!” he shouted.

Jack couldn’t hear him, but even if he could, he wouldn’t reply. He still wasn’t done. He reached into his space ring and took out the neutron star fragment, tossing it into the world anchor. The fragment melted, increasing the density of his inner world. Elemental particles sprayed everywhere, along with a bit of green foam. His world was even further stabilized. Not only were there no gaps, but it was even more stable than at the start of his breakthrough!

However, every bit of expansion was hard at this point. The neutron star fragment and his willpower together could only achieve minimal progress.

8700 miles. 8750. His expansion had slowed to a crawl, but he was still advancing, rapidly approaching Brock’s record. The brorilla felt no fear or jealousy, only pride. Go, big bro, he thought. Show them who you are!

Jack knew he was approaching the nine thousand mile limit, but he wasn’t satisfied. In his mind, the only thing worth pursuing was the apex. The greatest obstacle to his expansion right now was the universe refusing to give him any more of its essence. It wasn’t that he couldn’t push out, but that he would be sacrificing some of his inner world’s stability. After all, his Dao of Spacetime wasn’t advanced enough to support a world yet—he needed to take some from the universe, which wouldn’t let him.

Thankfully, he had another way.

His thoughts flew into the realm heart, which still orbited him. “Go,” he whispered. The realm heart suddenly froze in place. It ruptured. Endless spacetime runes flew out. His inner world was covered in ripples of spacetime which focused on the edges and started pushing.

So what if the universe didn’t give him any more spacetime to use? He had his own! The realm heart had once created a separate world—it could do it again!

The audience was stunned. Jack’s inner world broke through the 8800 mark, then the 8900. It reached 8950 miles, 8970…

Nobody even cared that he’d surpassed Brock any longer. Nine thousand miles was the limit. Nobody had ever achieved it. The best they could do was converge to it, but never reach it.

Boatman was shaken. He’d read many ancient documents. From the start of the cultivation world until now, nobody had reached nine thousand miles. Even the brightest of Archons stopped somewhere around 8950. He would need to research a little more, but he suspected that Jack’s current inner world was the largest in history…

And was he still expanding!?

This was insane! What was happening here surpassed the scope of the Black Hole Church and the Hand of God, it surpassed everything they knew. Would he really reach the limit? How was that possible!?

Nobody knew how Jack had achieved this, but he did. He’d developed a tenth fruit. His system of Daos was perfect. Even now, there were no gaps, which meant he could devote the entirety of his energy and willpower into pushing back against the universe. Moreover, his foundation was incredibly solid, his body was extremely sturdy, and his battle power was through the roof. He’d even used the realm heart, the greatest creation of a spacetime Archon, to stabilize his inner world.

8980. 8990. 8995.

Everyone was stunned. This had probably never happened before. The two Elders were shivering, unable to speak. Sovereign Heavenly Spoon had forgotten to close his jaw, while the Sage’s eyes were shining, his thoughts kept hidden. Starhair had grown pale.

It felt like time had slowed down. Jack’s world shivered, then pushed out—and surpassed nine thousand miles!

9010 miles!

All jaws hit the floor. How was this even possible? Wasn’t nine thousand the limit? Could everyone have been wrong? Just how did this happen?

“Holy shit,” Heavenstar exclaimed, completely forgetting his position. “It’s over nine thousand!”

Boatman was too stunned to reply. Brock, however, did. “Of course it is,” he said calmly. “That’s my big bro.”

“Look!” someone shouted. “He’s still going! The madman is still going!”

Everyone was already staring, unable to believe their eyes. Jack hadn’t stopped yet. He had slowly but steadily reached 9050 miles and was still expanding, if slowly. Boatman tried to form words but failed. He was in utter disbelief.

How high can it go… was all he wondered. They had never actually confirmed that nine thousand miles was the limit. They’d just assumed so because everyone seemed to converge there.

His confidence in his own knowledge suddenly wavered.

By now, the audience was beginning to stir. They’d waited 9500 miles away from Jack, as was customary. Did they need to move?

As for the asteroid below Jack, almost half of it had been torn away by Brock. The remainder was now swiftly disintegrating. It was like two giant space monsters had taken a bite of the asteroid each, leaving nothing but a strip of rock in the middle.

Inside his inner world, Jack was fully focused. He knew he had surpassed nine thousand miles, but that was something he already expected. His talent had been at the very top, and he’d developed a tenth fruit. The only question was, how far could he go?

He wouldn’t stop until he fell.

The universe resisted more fiercely with every mile he pushed forward. The integrity of his Daos had never been an issue. After using the realm heart, neither was spacetime stability—now, it was just about power, about pushing back the universe.

“Life Drop, go!” Jack shouted. A green light suddenly enveloped him. Endless energy flowed into his inner world—the Life Drop’s reserves, which hadn’t even been depleted halfway since he started using it, suddenly erupted without limit. There was so much life. It flooded his inner world, pushing it forward, forcing it to expand beyond its limits. Spacetime had solidified around the boundaries of his inner world, resisting with all its might, but Jack forced his way through the shackles.

The Life Drop was the most powerful treasure he’d ever possessed, probably one of the greatest in the universe, and he was spending its energy without restraint. The walls of his inner world didn’t just expand—they blasted outward.

9500 miles!

That was roughly the distance the audience was watching from. They never expected anyone to reach it—they didn’t even think it was possible. Many were too dazed to react quickly, but a tremendous wave of Death Dao smashed into them and flung them away.

“Retreat, you imbeciles!” Elder Boatman shouted. “Give him space!”

Things had already surpassed his scope of understanding. Nine thousand miles was supposed to be the unattainable limit, but Jack had just ignored it. He’d taken the combined history of the cultivation world, rolled it up, and used it to wipe his butt. He’d forced every Archon in history to eat shit.

Elder Boatman had no idea what was going on, but he knew one thing—Jack’s breakthrough could not be disturbed!

He forcefully pushed everyone away, then turned to watch this historic moment.

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