Defiance of the Fall

gth by now.
It was still restrained by the Shard, but it wasn’t in a completely half-dead state any longer.

The two remnants were still interlocked and unmoving inside the improved cage, but the amount of cleansed energies that was seeping out was gradually increasing without him feeling any negative effects from it.
His mind had gained a few boosts during the climb, but it couldn’t completely explain his balanced state of mind.

The small improvements that came from the array couldn’t be the reason for his tranquil state either.
His soul was definitely a bit stronger, but Soul Strengthening was a slow grind and not something that gave instant results.
It was more likely that the spiritual dialysis also helped with the hidden corruption from the Splinter, either by design or by chance.

If that was true it was a huge boon, though it also meant that skipping cultivation sessions would harm his mental state.

Zac finished up the session after ten hours as usual before he walked over to the inner cave that housed the [Seed of Undeath].
He found his ghost butler cultivating by silently hovering in the air, and there was a supersized pestle by its side.
Inside was a silvery compound, no doubt the [Bone-Forging Dust] the ghost had prepared for him.

”Young master, it is all done according to the specifications, ” the ghost said as it woke up.
”There should be enough for 8 to 10 applications. ”

Zac nodded in understanding, though he felt a bit disappointed.
The powder had roughly the same effect as the medicinal baths according to Calrin, and ten medicinal baths on the road to D-Grade would just scratch the surface.
It should be able to increase his attribute limits by a few hundred points though, which was the most pressing matter.

”And the pain, ” the ghost hesitantly added.

”I know, ” Zac said as he sat down and disrobed.
”Not much of a choice right now.
Help me apply it. ”

The ghost nodded and a stream of the silvery powder rose from the pitch-black mortar, controlled by the ghost ’s miasmic tendrils.

Zac sat motionless for over a minute, waiting with a mix of fear and anticipation for the dust to start working.
However, he started to worry about the dust not working after all, which would mean that he had wasted over 300 million Nexus Coins.
However, his fears soon abated as he started to feel some warmth covering his whole body.

”It seems to be working, ” Zac said with excitement to Triv who waited upon him to the side, but the smile on his face quickly turned crooked as the warmth turned to pain.

’

First, it just felt like an itch he couldn ’t scratch, but that was just the appetizer.
It seemed as though the powder was slowly getting absorbed through the skin, and the pain just kept getting worse as more and more of the powder entered his pores.
The itch turned into a stabbing pain after ten minutes, and after another ten minutes he felt almost like he was on fire.

The slowly mounting degree of agony was torture by itself, as Zac still didn ’t know where the limits lay.
There were no timeframes indicated in the crystal either, meaning he had no idea how long the torment would last.
He could only try to keep his mind stabilized and bear with it, while not even using his Daos to counteract the powder.

Doing so would no doubt counteract the effect, and it would be the same if his [Void Heart] activated.
However, even he couldn ’t stop himself from shuddering as the pain suddenly spiked to a level he previously thought was impossible.

”My lord, are you okay? ” Triv worriedly asked.

”Ow…
My bones, ” Zac spat through grit teeth as veins danced all across his body.

He didn ’t trust himself to open his mouth again, afraid that he would start screaming on top of his lungs.
The powder had just entered his bones, and it felt like some sort of parasite was gnawing at him, slowly breaking down his body from the inside.
It was beyond painful, and it almost made him look back at the ordeal with the cultists with longing.

Zac quickly realized what the powder was doing.
It was continuously breaking down his body parts, especially his bones, before forcibly mending them, each time leaving them slightly stronger.
It was a bit like his Soul Strengthening Array which utilized the clashes between life and death to strengthen his soul, though the powder was far more crude and brutal.

”All the powder has entered your body by now, ” the ghost suddenly said.
”Young master just needs to bear it a bit longer. ”

Zac stiffly nodded, no longer able to speak.
He didn ’t know how long he sat in the death-attuned sanctum until the pain finally abated, and he took a deep ragged breath even though there actually wasn ’t any need for oxygen in his current form.
He slowly put on his robes once more, but his hands didn ’t really listen to his commands.

”Let me, young master, ” the ghost said and hurriedly dressed Zac.

”Thank you, ” Zac said with a hoarse voice.
”How long did this take? ”

”Around forty minutes, ” Triv said.

”Forty minutes?! ” Zac exclaimed, his voice cracking.
”It felt like days. ”

Zac shakily threw a healing pill into his mouth, though he knew that he wasn ’t really hurt.
The soothing stream of energy that spread through his boy helped him stabilize himself a bit at least, but he still needed over 30 minutes before he felt ready to stand up.

’

”What do young master want to do with the rest of the powder? ” Triv asked.

”I ’ll take it, ” Zac sighed.

”If I may, if you just- ”

”Enough, ” Zac said, not in any mood to hear about how great the Undead Empire was and how this all was unnecessary.
”When can I use this next time? ”

”Three days, ” the ghost sighed.
”Your body will need to rest and recuperate for three days. ”

”Fine, ” Zac nodded.
”By the way, ready yourself for war.
You will need to come with me and activate the Jamming Arrays, perhaps as soon as today.
I could do it but I don ’t want to expose my identity. ”

”I would have loved to, but I can ’t, ” Triv said, clearly relieved.
”Those arrays can ’t be activated by just anyone.
There are restrictions in place. ”

”We ’ve removed them, ” Zac said.
”Anyone wielding miasma can activate them now. ”

”What?! Impossible! ” the ghost said with shock.
”There ’s no way we would leave such a weakness that it could be used against us…
Hm? ”

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”You figured it out? ” Zac snorted.
”It might be impossible for the living to take control of those things, but it ’s not like the protections against other undead are as strong.
But don ’t worry.
You just need to activate the array then hide while we do the fighting. ”

”It ’s my pleasure to assist, ” the ghost said, clearly void of any sort of pleasure.

”Oh, and that insane Tool Spirit at my Dao Repository wants a natural spirit gathering array because he thinks he ’s a cultivator, can you start thinking about how such a thing would look? It needs to be pretty too, or he ’ll probably start shooting lightning bolts at people, ” Zac added.

”Naturally, ” Triv nodded.
”Anything else? ”

”No, that ’s it, ” Zac said as he left.
”Pretty calm day for Port Atwood. ”