Chapter 1182: Unexplored Path

Chapter 1182: Unexplored Path

Like the rest of the Cosmic Core, the nucleus was supposed to be dismantled and rebuilt. You could argue it was the most important step, considering the nucleus was the foundation that kept the core stable. Zac had no intention of adhering to convention on this matter, so it was an immense relief to see it survive despite his failure to protect it during the ignition.

The nucleus's resilience only proved the merit of Zac's untested idea. It was made from materials so incredible they couldn't be properly graded and forged with the help of true Chaos and one of the best arrays in the Multiverse. From there, it had been further tempered by his fortuitous encounters.

The transformed paths, courtesy of the Tribulation Throne, were especially ingenious and elevated it beyond its original limits. Dismantling the nucleus couldn't possibly produce something better with his current resource limitations. Zac had always been reluctant to dilute it with more materials, and his Minor Enlightenment from the quest confirmed there was another path he could take.

Zac wouldn't break it down, but that didn't mean it could stay the same. Zac ate four pills after confirming his Soul Cores weren't too damaged to keep going. A tempest of energy resembling a galaxy full of primordial vigor coursed through his body. It didn't need much prodding to enter the hatch of his Duplicity Core, and Zac dragged it to the nucleus. Following it on its heels was a leaf resonating with the Temporal Chamber.

A Peak-quality Longevity Treasure. His cells screamed with desire, but Zac ignored the clamor as he had its essence join the cosmic swirl in the depths of this quantum space. With everything in place, Zac took out a ghastly spike covered in esoteric runes.

Taking a steadying breath, he stabbed the pick into his stomach, tearing through just-reformed flesh and muscle until the edge reached the Duplicity Core's hatch. Like a swarm of critters, the runes skittered off the spike and into the space. Some glommed onto the swirling fragments of Life, Death, and Conflict, resisting Zac's attempts to drag them off. Most continued into the depths, attracted by the superior energy signature emitted by the Core Nucleus.

The parasitical runes ran into the swirling galaxy from the [Realm Ether Pills] before they could reach their prey. The runes tried to break free, only to find themselves caught in a quagmire. As more runes joined the unstable soup, they grouped into repeating patterns that formed a shell around the nucleus.

The struggle between Pill Energy and runes released unstable bursts of power that tainted the harmony of his microcosm. Zac continuously had to put the pieces back into order to prevent the immense energies from ruining the hard-fought balance. Eventually, the runes stabilized into a complete array.

Unfamiliar waves of energy joined by the pure force of the stellar dust showered the nucleus, which began vibrating and spinning with increasing velocity. The pill-spike combination ran out of juice after ten minutes, having accomplished the purpose. The nucleus shone like a star in the heart of his quantum space, showering it in gold, steel, and black.

The nucleus was ready to be remolded without having sacrificed any of its spirituality for the ignition. This was something considered almost impossible, or at least so prohibitively expensive and difficult that there was no point. It had taken Zac time and effort to find the materials needed to give the nucleus the final push. The spikes, for instance, were sourced from the hands of Remoulded from the Chapter of Glorious Ascent.

True to the Kan'Tanu's aggressive cultivation system, the spikes would forcibly agitate a core with a unique array. It would speed up the formation process by sacrificing longevity. Adding the nourishing [Realm Ether Pills] removed the side effects, while the [Pexor Leaf] replaced Zac's lifespan to fuel the ignition.

The asteroid bands began spinning quicker on Zac's order. Soon, they looked like solid bands. Their revolutions generated a natural pressure on the subspace's center. The whole subspace shook when Zac activated the second feature on his Core Formation Arrays, adding another layer of pressure on the nucleus to ensure it would stay malleable.

[Void Mountain]'s illusory peaks reappeared, allowing the Void to spread through his body without clashing with the energy flows. Next, dozens of tendrils of Mental Energy descended from his aperture, seemingly fusing with strings of Void Energy.

The tendrils entered his Duplicity Core from both bodies, acting as surgical tools splitting and weaving together the complex network of paths within the nucleus. Apart from increasing the number of pathways, Zac also mended damage from the detonation and imperfections left by his previous breakthrough.

The reformation was akin to splitting strands of hair into ten strings of identical width before joining them into intricate braids. Zac's fine control was normally far from the level required to accomplish such a feat, especially when he didn't have the unique arrays of the Perennial Vastness to help. And yet, it looked like he'd performed the experimental remodeling hundreds of times before.

It was all thanks to the combination of [Void Mountain] and [Cosmic Forge]. Dasorm's crafting technique could only be used with Void Energy, where Zac possessed far greater control. If not, he wouldn't have made such rapid progress with [Cosmic Infusion] and [Cosmic Extraction]. In fact, his skill with [Cosmic Forge] had improved noticeably as a result of evolving his bloodline.

However, the first layers of [Cosmic Forge] only dealt with energy and refinement. They couldn't even interact with physical matter. That was why Zac had to use the Omnitool to engrave patterns on the materials he worked on and why he hadn't used [Cosmic Forge] much when forming his core.

An optimal solution would have been to replace all the damaged pieces with better ones. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. His core was still one unit despite being turned into a field of debris. Each piece held a sliver of the core's essence, and swapping them out was like using pieces from another puzzle.

Days passed as Zac integrated new with old. Refinement Arrays were constantly running while two sets of tendrils dragged one piece after another from the asteroid belts. It was crushed by the immense gravitational forces and joined with white-hot Middle D-grade treasures before being added to his growing Cosmic Core.

Meanwhile, [Void Heart] was refining and spewing out incredible amounts of Void Energy. Having evolved the Hidden Node to D-grade drastically lessened the pressure Zac faced. Even then, the core formation only became more taxing as time passed. The biggest strain came from using [Void Mountain] to control the Mental Tendrils.

It wasn't designed to keep going indefinitely, at least not at its current stage. Three months of experimentation had shown the path forward. [Void Mountain] could be upgraded, and it wasn't very difficult. He simply needed to have [Void Heart] consume Peak-quality treasures of all seventeen Dao Peaks. A small amount of the refined energy would bolster his Bloodline Talent.

Unfortunately, it had become painfully clear the upgrade was a long-term project. The sigil had barely seen any improvements despite [Void Heart] running around the clock. It was obvious some treasures worked better than others, but Zac hadn't figured out the rules behind the differences. It seemed completely random, where some mediocre treasures worked better than top-tier materials.

[Void Mountain] wasn't the only way for him to refine his core, but it was much better than relying on the Core Formation Arrays and supportive tools. They were slower and imprecise, leading to mistakes and imperfections.

The other problem Zac faced was the deteriorating situation within the subspace. As a temporary dimension, the subspace became less stable by the day. The energy infusion grew erratic, which created constant disturbances. Even the core formation process made exerting control more difficult.

It was the asteroid belts that kept the energy flow stable and helped generate the gravitational pressure. Zac lost some of his control with every piece removed and integrated with the core.

All this was accounted for in his original plan. He'd planned to slow down the formation process while recovering his Void Vigor, taking that time to reinforce his subspace. It wouldn't be a problem so long as the ignition formed a subspace strong enough to give a few days' worth of leeway.

With a seventeen-day deadline, that wasn't an option. Zac had to keep going, even if it meant making some compromises and relying on outside help. Pills, Talismans, and Natural Treasures began sharing his burden as he passed the ten-day mark. Each came with side effects, though some were better than others. For instance, Zac had some that destabilized the subspace and shortened its lifespan. Since he had to wrap up his work ahead of schedule, that wasn't much of a downside.

Eventually, Zac saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The asteroid belts had been reduced to one solitary piece each, and those were added to the almost fully formed Cosmic Core. It was more than five times larger than his old core, and the last pieces added some additional heft.

The core looked incredible, like a newly forged world teeming with energy and potential. It wasn't just appearance. Despite the rushed process, Zac had managed to accomplish everything he'd set out to do. Relying on so many treasures to make the deadline had added more imperfections than he'd anticipated, but he was still in a good position. [Cosmic Forge] had let him remove some of his old mistakes, so it should still be counted High Quality.

Its size wasn't a good thing, though. It couldn't even fit inside his Duplicity Core after the subspace dispersed. It wasn't a mistake on his part; it just meant there was one step remaining to the formation.

Zac ate a pill teeming with Spatial Energy and put a matching talisman against his belly. Coruscating waves of Space entered the Duplicity Core, fusing with the failing dimension. It began convulsing, which kicked the large amounts of ambient energy into a frenzy.

Each contraction unleashed the force of a world on the newly formed core. More energy was crammed into its pathways while the immense energies forced the core to compress. The process was incredibly painful, and Zac held on for dear life while guiding the compression the best he could. And then the universe imploded.

Zac briefly passed out from the shock, but an angry thunderclap immediately woke him up. He urgently turned his gaze inward after confirming the System still held the Heavens at bay. And there it was: his upgraded core floating within his Duplicity Core, surrounded by a haze of energy. The subspace was gone, having accomplished its purpose.

The formation was a success, which meant it was time to face the music.