Road to Mastery: A LitRPG Apocalypse

Suddenly, there was confusion in the arena. Jack shot a last, angry glance at the head judge before looking around, finding everyone puzzled. Even the alien merchants on the stands were whispering at each other, wondering what was going on.

His anger gave way to curiosity.

That’s odd.

These merchants knew how things worked. Was something different this time?

“Gather on that side,” the head judge said, pointing at one side of the arena, the one furthest away from the Overseer Tower. Jack complied. Shard Presht did, too, though keeping his distance from Jack.

Gradually, more finalists jumped down from the stands. Vivi was the first. She landed next to Jack and said, “I saw what happened. They suck.”

“I know,” he replied.

Edgar, Dorman Whistles, and even the Sage jumped down from the stands to land on the sand beside Jack. Another member of Flame River, the man named Sadaka who had lost on the first day, joined them—he was Level 49 now and had barely clinched his way through.

Up on the stands, another member of Flame River kept Brock company.

Alexander Petrovic—the leader of Ice Peak—landed close to Shard Presht, followed by a woman of his faction—Elena Richter.

Vanderdecken—the metal guy—landed between the two groups. Soon after, Li Xiang and Brother Tao—the monk that Jack had fought before—landed beside him.

The crowd’s confusion was mounting, but so was their excitement. All finalists were coming on stage; whatever happened would be big, and doubly so since it apparently hadn’t happened before.

The finalists themselves were confused too, as well as wary. Only Presht seemed calmer, though still shooting malicious glances at Jack, who only snorted his way once or twice. Both of them were still bleeding, but djinn healers at the peak of the E-Grade quickly arrived and made them good as new, then departed again.

The curtain at the top of the stands parted. Rufus Emberheart walked out, followed by Gan Salin, and regally floated his way down to the sands, taking position in front of Shard Presht. The eagler and elef—the eagle-like man and the elephant-like woman—appeared a few seconds later and landed close to the Ice Peak and the other scions, though not too close. Even within the noble families of the Animal Kingdom, there were different groups.

Jack, Edgar, Vivi, Dorman, the Sage, and Sadaka.

Vanderdecken, Li Xiang, and Brother Tao.

The five scions, Alexander Petrovic, and Elena Richter.

Sixteen people. Sixteen finalists. And all were standing on one half of the sandy arena. The crowd could barely contain their excitement. This was the absolute peak of Earth!

A rough breeze descended from the arena’s roof. The sand swirled, and the clothes of the finalists fluttered. Jack felt the sand specks land on his bare skin like bitter kisses, while his bare feet could feel the hard, jagged rock under them. Presumably, there was hard metal below that—the hull of the Integration City starship.

“What’s happening?” he asked in a whisper.

“No idea.” Vivi shook her head.

“Karvahul didn’t know either,” Edgar said.

Everyone turned to look at the Sage, who turned his head the other way and observed the swirling sands.

Even the scions seemed confused, with only Rufus Emberheart’s maned head staring ahead like everything was under control.

This was the first time Jack got close to him. He could feel the raw power emanating from his body, and the aura of a supreme Dao leaking from his skin. His paws were clasped behind his back, and he stood straight like a ramrod, not staring at anyone in particular, but nobody could deny the threat that oozed off him.

Even Jack felt apprehensive, and his Dao Root trembled.

A heavy aura blanketed the arena, and the crowd quietened at once like all sound had been cut with a knife. Suddenly, Galicia Lonihor, the C-Grade Leonine, the Planetary Overseer, was in the air, hovering high above the center of the arena, over the level of the crowd, yet everyone could see her clearly.

Nobody saw her arriving. From one moment to the next, she was simply there.

“People of Earth-387 and Integration Tournament finalists,” she addressed everyone in a voice loud enough to shake the arena all the way to its foundation. Despite that, she maintained a rushed, bored tone as if simply completing a chore. “The twentieth assembly of the Galactic Alliance has introduced a new element to Integration Tournaments to foster even stronger cultivators. You will have the honor of experiencing it first.”

“Like beta testers,” Dorman whispered, eliciting a chuckle from Jack and Edgar. They shut up immediately afterward as a sense of danger washed over them.

“In a moment, the astral projections of sixteen D-Grade immortals from around the constellation will appear before you. They have volunteered to be the mentors for this tournament and sent over a part of their consciousness. Each mentor can select up to one disciple. If you are chosen, it will be a fate-changing point for both you and your planet…so act accordingly.”

Without waiting for the crowd to digest her words, the lioness pulled out a token and crushed it. Nothing happened for a moment. Then, the space below her began to ripple. One by one, ethereal forms appeared in mid-air, transparent like ghosts but unable to hide the towering aura of their Dao.

The weakest humans present shivered. Some had to leave, unable to take the pressure, while a rare few fainted and had to be carried outside by their friends.

The merchants were all reeling, unable to believe their luck. Such a collection of D-Grade beings and the C-Grade lioness was something they would never get to experience otherwise! As for the finalists themselves, they could only stare.

Jack heard a voice in his head: “Do you see now why the auction will be bountiful?” He turned to the side. It was the Sage, who was smiling as if uncaring about the mentors. He had somehow developed telepathy.

Soon, sixteen forms floated under the lioness. A few resembled humans. Some were animal-based humanoids, like the scions, while the five noble families had each sent one representative as well. There were also weird creatures that Jack couldn’t quite understand, like a long worm and a moving blob of…jelly?

Is that a slime?!

Each and every one of them practically shone with the power of the Dao. Jack felt invisible flames immolating him and the cold of the north seeping into his bones. He thought he saw a heaven-towering warrior and a massive cloud sitting right above the arena.

The experience was very disorienting, and he only got used to it after a few moments.

There was silence. The sixteen forms stood in mid-air, not speaking. Neither did the lioness.

They were inspecting the finalists. Jack felt naked as several all-powerful glances saw through to his very soul, and he held his breath. Suddenly, he realized he was standing bare-chested in front of seventeen gods and the entire population of Earth.

“None,” a person said, then winked away, disappearing into the air.

“None,” came a second voice.

“None.”

“None.”

Four people disappeared just like that. Jack frowned slightly. Getting a D-Grade mentor sounded great, and it would likely let him shoot for the stars, but it didn’t look easy.

“Him.” It wasn’t a voice—more like a thought—but it spread throughout the entire arena. The worm disappeared and reappeared beside Dorman. Its thought-voice sounded oddly feminine.

Dorman’s face shone like the sun. “Thank you!” he exclaimed. The worm didn’t respond—or, if it did, it only spoke mentally to Dorman.

“Him.” “Him.” “Her.” “Him.” “Him.”

The five representatives of the noble families each raised a finger and pointed at the respective scion. What a coincidence.

The scions nodded with grateful looks on their faces, while everyone else felt slightly awkward. The Animal Kingdom wasn’t even pretending anymore.

The blob of jelly disappeared without a word. A bearded old lizardman wearing blue robes pointed at Edgar and smiled. “You,” he said. Jack could swear he heard Edgar squealing in joy.

A slim, bare-chested person who looked like an ascetic smiled and pointed at the Sage.

“I am most honored,” the Sage replied, bowing deeply. For once, his voice was deeply serious, and it didn’t carry its usual aloof tint.

Only three mentors remained by now: a short, pudgy woman, a bear-man, and a bald, bearded, muscular man in orange monk attire.

On the other hand, there were plenty of mentor-less people: Jack, Vivi, Sadaka, Alexander Petrovic, Elena Richter, Vanderdecken, Li Xiang, and Brother Tao. Brother Tao, especially, looked at the mentor in monk attire with hope.

“Him,” all mentors said at the same time, raising a finger. And they all pointed at Jack.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then erupted into whispers that weren’t even hushed. The remaining finalists looked at Jack in disbelief. The lioness raised a brow. The three mentors glanced at each other, while every other mentor that hadn’t disappeared looked on with mild amusement.

The Sage, for the first time ever, looked surprised. His ascetic mentor only nodded with a small smile.

And Jack was just lost.

“What?” he said. Why would all three of them choose him? Was this even supposed to happen?

“He carries a strong soul,” the pudgy woman said.

The bear-man snorted. “He clearly belongs to my people.”

“I ask my fellow cultivators to give me face,” the monk said. Under his beard and hard eyes, his voice was steady. “This child has the Dao of my faction’s ancestor. Honor demands I take him in.”

“He doesn’t even use the fire arts.” The bear-man snorted.

“My faction focuses on raw power, too.”

“This is not even your Constellation,” the pudgy woman retorted with a frown. “You are stealing from another’s plate.”

“This planet is near the border, and we have received a formal invitation,” the monk replied evenly. “I want this boy as my disciple.”

Both others frowned. They clearly had more things to say, but in the end, publicly arguing over a disciple didn’t fit their statures. There were a million other planets to choose from.

“Very well. The Ursus Mountain will do you this favor,” the bear-man said, disappearing immediately after.

“So will the Belarian Outpost,” the pudgy woman said, disappearing too. Even if there were more people below they fancied, they couldn’t possibly go to their second choices now.

Of the three, only the monk remained, and he looked at Jack with a deep smile. For the first time, Jack dared to inspect him.

Human (Earth-44), Level ??? (D-Grade)

Faction: Exploding Sun (B-Grade)

Title: Fifth Ring Conqueror

“You are—” the monk started saying, but this time, it was the C-Grade lioness that cut him off.

“Wait. I was just informed that there was a mistake,” she said, looking straight at the monk, then turning her heavy stare at Jack. He almost buckled. “This participant received a loss for attempting to harm another participant after they had surrendered. He received another loss for submitting false information to the tournament officials. Therefore, with two losses, he is disqualified. Please depart the arena.”